Abstract:
A sound source transmitting device includes a sound source plug, which has a main terminal and parallel auxiliary terminals at the front side and a cable at the back side, which main terminal has a front tip, and a sound source socket, which has a main plughole for receiving the main terminal and a plurality of auxiliary plugholes for receiving the auxiliary terminals, and a switch disposed at a back side of the main plughole and controllable by the front tip of the main terminal to selectively set between a stereo sound source signal output for stereo sound source signal output through the main plughole and a multi-channel sound source signal output for multi-channel sound source signal output through the main plughole and the auxiliary plugholes.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to a sound source transmitting device, and more particularly to a multi-channel sound source plug and corresponding socket thereof for enlarging the applicative field of the sound source device.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0002]     A sound source transmitting device is generally comprised of a sound source plug and a sound source socket. Upon insertion of the sound source plug into the sound source socket, sound source signal is transmitted from the sound source socket to the sound source plug and then through the cable of the sound source plug to a speaker or the like that converts sound source signal into audible sound.  
         [0003]      FIG. 1  illustrates a conventional sound source plug  10  used with a headphone  51 . The sound source plug  10  comprises a housing  15 , a cable  17  extended from the rear side of the housing  15  and electrically connected to the speakers  511 ,  512  of the headphone  51 , and a cylindrical terminal  11  forwardly protruded from the front side of the housing  15 . The cylindrical terminal  11  has a plurality of contact electrodes  111 ,  113 ,  115 . The contact electrodes  111 ,  113 ,  115  are connectable to the first channel contact electrode, the second channel contact electrode, and the grounding electrode. Therefore, this design of sound source plug  10  is practical for transmitting a sound source signal of two channels only.  
         [0004]     Following fast development of information technology, a variety of audio and video apparatus have been developed. Regular audio video storage medium, magnetic disks, video tapes, DVD, and etc. provide the function of a multi-channel surrounding sound effect. For example, a sound source signal may be set to provide 5 channels, 5.1 channels, 6 channels, 7 channels, including the left channel, the right channel, the central channel, the rear left channel, the rear right channel, the extra low frequency channel, and etc. International sound source designs are numerous, including Dolby Pro Logic, Dolby Digital (Dolby AC-3), DTS (Digital Theater System), SDDS (Sony Dynamic Digital Sound), THX, and etc. In order to fit multi-channel sound source output, multi-channel sound source transmitting devices are developed.  FIG. 2  illustrates a prior art design of multi-channel sound source plug  20  used with a headphone  51 . According to this design, the multi-channel sound source plug  20  comprises a housing  25 , a cable  27  extended from the back side of the housing  25  and electrically connected to the multiple speakers  511 ˜ 516  of the headphone  51 , a main terminal  21  forwardly extended from the front side of the housing  25  at the center, and two auxiliary terminals  23 ,  24  forwardly extended from the front side of the housing  25  and equally spaced from the main terminal  21  at two sides. The main terminal  21  comprises a plurality of contact electrodes  211 ˜ 215 , which includes a first channel contact electrode, a second channel contact electrode, and a grounding electrode. The auxiliary terminals  23 ,  24  comprise a plurality of contact electrodes  231 ,  233 ,  242 ,  244  for transmitting sound source signal from the third channel to the sixth channel.  
         [0005]     The aforesaid multi-channel sound source plug  20  must be used with a specially designed multi-channel sound source socket. It is not connectable to a conventional stereo sound source socket. Therefore, the application of the aforesaid multi-channel sound source plug  20  is limited. Further, a multi-channel sound source socket fitting the aforesaid multi-channel sound source plug  20  is not practical for use with a stereo sound source plug. When inserted a stereo sound source plug into a multi-channel sound source socket fitting the aforesaid multi-channel sound source plug  20 , the stereo sound source plug can only receive two main channels of the discriminated multi-channel sound source signal, but cannot receive stereo sound source signal, therefore the received sound effect is incomplete and not natural.  
         [0006]     Therefore, it is desirable to provide a sound source transmitting device that eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is therefore the main object of the present invention to provide a sound source transmitting device, which allows output of stereo sound source signal as well as multi-channel sound source signal from a sound source to an audio output device. It is another object of the present invention to provide a sound source transmitting device, which uses a switch in the sound source socket thereof to control different sound source signal outputs. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a sound source socket for sound source transmitting device, which fits different sound source plugs. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a sound source plug for sound source transmitting device, which fits different sound source sockets. To achieve these and other objects of the present invention, the sound source transmitting device comprises a sound source plug, the sound source plug comprising a main terminal and a plurality of auxiliary terminals, the main terminal having a front tip axially forwardly extended from a front side thereof; and a sound source socket adapted to receive the sound source plug, the sound source socket comprising a main plughole adapted to receive the main terminal of the sound source plug, a plurality of auxiliary plugholes adapted to receive the auxiliary terminals of the sound source plug, and switch means disposed at a back side of the main plughole and controllable by the front tip of the main terminal of the sound source plug to selectively set between a stereo sound source signal output for signal output through the main plughole and a multi-channel sound source signal output for signal output through the main plughole and the auxiliary plugholes. Further, the auxiliary terminals of the sound source plug are biasable so that the sound source plug is connectable to different sound source sockets. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0008]      FIG. 1  illustrates a sound source plug according to the prior art.  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  illustrates another structure of sound source plug according to the prior art.  
         [0010]      FIG. 3  is an exploded view of a sound source transmitting device according to the present invention.  
         [0011]      FIG. 4  is a schematic drawing showing the sound source plug connected to a headphone through an amplifier.  
         [0012]      FIG. 5  illustrates a status of use of the present invention.  
         [0013]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an alternate form of the present invention.  
         [0014]      FIG. 7  illustrates another alternate form of the present invention.  
         [0015]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of still another alternate form of the present invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 9  is a perspective view of still another alternate form of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0017]     Referring to  FIG. 3 , a sound source transmitting device in accordance with the present invention is shown comprised of a sound source plug  30  and a sound source socket  40 .  
         [0018]     The sound source plug  30  is shown comprising a housing  15 , a main terminal  31  and an auxiliary terminal  32  forwardly extended from one side, namely, the front side of the housing  15 , and a cable  37  backwardly extended from the other side, namely, the rear side of the housing  15 . The main terminal  31  is a cylindrical member comprising at least three contact electrodes, namely, the front contact electrode  311 , the intermediate contact electrode  313  and the rear contact electrode  315 , and a front tip  317  axially forwardly extended from the front end of the front contact electrode  311 . The auxiliary terminal  33  is comprises of a plurality of auxiliary contact electrodes  331 ,  333 ,  335 ,  337  arranged in parallel.  
         [0019]     The sound source socket  40  comprises a socket body  43  and a switch  41 . The socket body  43  comprises a main plughole  431  and an auxiliary plughole  433  adapted to receive the main terminal  31  and auxiliary terminal  32  of the sound source plug  30  respectively. The switch  41  comprises a press button  413 . The sound source socket  40  is normally installed in a circuit board  49 , which is mounted inside an audio/video apparatus, for example, a radio, a mobile CD player, CD/VCD/DVD player, or the like.  
         [0020]      FIG. 4  illustrates an application example of the present invention. As illustrated, the cable  37  of the sound source plug  30  is connected to the input port of an amplifier  39 , and an audio output device, for example, a headphone  50  is connected to the output port of the amplifier  39 . The headphone  50  comprises multiple pairs of speakers  511 ˜ 516 . After connection of the cable  37  of the sound source plug  30  to the amplifier  39  (alternatively, the cable  37  may be directly connected to the headphone  50 ), the front contact electrode  311  and intermediate contact electrode  313  of the main terminal  31  and the auxiliary contact electrodes  331 ,  333 ,  335 ,  337  of the auxiliary terminal  33  are respectively electrically connected to the speakers  511 ˜ 516  (see also  FIG. 3 ).  
         [0021]     Referring to  FIG. 5 , upon connection of the sound source plug  30  to the sound source socket  40 , the front tip  317  is pressed on the press button  413  to cause the switch  41  to provide a signal to the circuit board  49 , thereby driving the circuit board  49  to execute or set a multi-channel sound source signal transmission function, and therefore sound source signals of five channels, 5.1 channels, or six channels including the left channel, the right channel, the central channel, the rear left channel, the rear right channel, and the extra low frequency channel are transmitted through the main plughole  431  and auxiliary plughole  433  of the socket body  43  and the main terminal  31  and auxiliary terminal  32  of the sound source plug  30  to the amplifier  39  and then the speakers  511 ˜ 516  of the headphone  50 .  
         [0022]     According to the aforesaid embodiment, the circuit board  49  (or the control unit of the audio/video apparatus) determines main channel (stereo) sound source signal output or multi-channel sound source signal output subject to the position (pressing status) of the press button  413 . In an alternate form of the present invention, the switch  453  of the sound source socket is provided at one peripheral side of the circuit board  49  for manual control. The user can switch the switch  453  between two positions manually, driving the circuit board  49  to select main channel (stereo) sound source signal output or multi-channel sound source signal output (see also  FIG. 5 ). In another alternate form of the present invention, a detecting device  473  is installed in the auxiliary plughole  433  of the sound source socket and adapted to detect the presence of the auxiliary terminal  33  in the auxiliary plughole  433 . The detecting device  473  can be a mechanical device, or an electronic sensor or optical sensor. Upon detection of the presence of the auxiliary terminal  33  in the auxiliary plughole  433 , the detecting device  473  immediately gives a signal to the circuit board  49 , driving the circuit board  49  to select the discriminated multi-channel sound source signal output. On the contrary, if the detecting device  473  detects no signal, the circuit board  49  selects the encoded and mixed main channel (stereo) sound source output (see also  FIG. 5 ). In still another alternate form, a control device  493  is installed in the circuit board  49 , and controlled by an external signal input device, for example, a mouse, keyboard, button, or remote controller to select multi-channel or stereo sound source signal output (see also  FIG. 5 ).  
         [0023]     Referring to  FIG. 6 , when inserted the sound source plug  30  into the sound source socket  40  partially without causing the front tip  317  to press the press button  413  of the switch  41 , the circuit board  49  or the control device  493  immediately selects standard sound mix (for example, DownMix) stereo sound source signal output, enabling stereo sound source signal to be transmitted through the main plughole  431  of the socket body  43  and the main terminal  31  of the sound source plug  30  to the output device (for example, the aforesaid headphone). At this time, the auxiliary plughole  433  gives no signal output.  
         [0024]     Referring to  FIG. 7 , the sound source socket  40  of the present invention can be used with a conventional sound source plug  10 , which comprises a housing  15 , a terminal  11  at one end of the housing  15 , and a cable  17  at the other end of the housing  15 . Upon insertion of the sound source plug  10  into the sound source socket  40 , the terminal  11  of the sound source plug  10  does not touch the press button  413  of the switch  41 , and therefore the circuit board  49  or the control device  493  selects standard sound mix (for example, DownMix) stereo sound source signal output. Therefore, stereo sound source signal is outputted through the main plughole  431  of the socket body  43  and the main terminal  31  of the sound source plug  30  to the output device (for example, the aforesaid headphone), and the auxiliary plughole  433  gives no signal output.  
         [0025]      FIG. 8  shows still another alternate form of the present invention. According to this embodiment, the sound source plug, referenced by  70  is substantially similar to the embodiment shown in  FIG. 3  with the exception of the design of the auxiliary terminals  73 . According to this embodiment, the auxiliary terminals  73  are biasable so that the sound source plug  70  is connectable to a conventional sound source socket that has only one single cylindrical plughole for stereo output. Alternatively, the auxiliary terminals  73  can be made retractable.  
         [0026]      FIG. 9  shows still another alternate form of the present invention. According to this embodiment, the circuit board  49  and the sound source socket  40  are installed in an adapter  90 , which has a signal line  89  connected to a sound source  80 . The signal line  89  can be a coaxial cable or fiber optic. Alternatively, infrared or microwave transmitter receiver means may be used to substitute for the signal line  89 . The sound source  80  can be a CD/VCD/DVD player, MP3 player, game machine, PDA, or mobile computer. The adapter  90  is used with the sound source plug  30  for stereo and multi-channel sound source signal output.  
         [0027]     The sound source  80  has a sound source socket  85 . The sound source plug  30  can be directly connected to the sound source socket  85  of the sound source  80  for signal output.  
         [0028]     In the aforesaid embodiments, the auxiliary terminals  33  are arranged in parallel at one side of the main terminal  31 . Alternatively, the auxiliary terminals  33  can be arranged in two sets at two sides of the main terminal  31 .  
         [0029]     A prototype of sound source transmitting device has been constructed with the features of FIGS.  3 ˜ 9 . The sound source transmitting device functions smoothly to provide all of the features discussed earlier.  
         [0030]     Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.