In-ear type and ear-plug type earphone with adjustable volume of front chamber between speaker and housing

An earphone with adjustable volume of a front chamber between a speaker and a housing is provided, which includes a speaker unit, a housing and a movable element. The speaker unit is disposed within the housing, and the housing includes an earplug formation formed in front of the speaker unit. A chamber within the earplug formation has a volume, and the movable element is disposed on the housing and moves correspondingly with the chamber, so as to adjust the volume of the chamber. Therefore, the frequency response of the sound sent by the speaker unit varies depending upon the variation of the volume of the chamber.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 95123493, filed Jun. 29, 2006. All disclosure of the Taiwan application is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to an earphone, and more particularly, to an earphone with adjustable volume of a front chamber between a speaker and a housing.

2. Description of Related Art

With the rapid progress of the science and technology, the electronic product has gradually become light, chic and miniaturized, and people can use the miniaturized electronic products, such as radio or walkman, at anytime and anywhere. Moreover, the personal digital product, such as common MP3 walkmans, cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) or notebooks, has increasingly become popular, and thus being indispensable in the daily life. In addition, the cell phone integrated with functions of both radio and MP3 has immerged.

No matter what kind of electronic products, the earphone has become an essential fitting for the electronic product, so that the user can listen to the sound information provided by the electronic product without interfering others. Moreover, the earphone also provides a preferable sound transmission for the listener, such that he/she can hear and understand the content of the sound more clearly, unlike the circumstance that the sound is unclear when transmitting from computer speakers. Especially, when the user is moving, for example, when doing exercises, driving, conducting acute motions or in a noisy environment, since the earphone is used, the sound transmission will not be influenced.

However, since the size and structure of the ear and the ear canal are different from person to person, and a different person has a different favor for the music, thus, the judgment for the sound quality of the earphone varies as for different persons, and it is hard to meet the requirements of each person. Meanwhile, the frequency response curve of most earphones available in the market is fixed, and if the frequency response on high tone portion or low tone portion of the signal is to be changed, it requires changing the distribution characteristics of the sound field by an electronic equalizer or relevant software. Even though the additional electronic equalizer may change the frequency response of the earphone, the time delay caused by the inductance or capacitance within the electronic equalizer cannot be compensated. Therefore, it is an unavoidable task to improve the structure of the earphone.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide an earphone with adjustable volume of a front chamber between a speaker and a housing, so as to change the sound field characteristic of the earphone body in terms of the structure.

The present invention provides an earphone with adjustable volume of a front chamber between a speaker and a housing, which comprises a speaker unit, a housing and a movable element. The speaker unit is disposed within the housing having an earplug formation formed in front of the speaker unit. The earplug formation has a chamber, and the chamber has a volume. The movable element is disposed on the earplug formation and moves correspondingly with the chamber, so as to adjust the volume of the chamber.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the movable element comprises an inner sleeve, which is disposed within the chamber and suitable for extending out of the earplug formation. Moreover, the housing correspondingly has a locking part for being locked with the outer surface of the inner sleeve.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the earphone further comprises an ear cushion for covering the earplug formation and the inner sleeve. Moreover, the inner sleeve correspondingly has at least one phonating hole exposed from the ear cushion.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the movable element comprises an outer sleeve extending out of the earplug formation. Moreover, the housing correspondingly has a locking part for being locked with the inner surface of the outer sleeve.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the earphone further comprises an ear cushion for covering the earplug formation and the outer sleeve. Moreover, the outer sleeve correspondingly has at least one phonating hole exposed from the ear cushion.

The present invention employs the movable structure for adjusting the volume of the chamber, and the movable structure moves relatively to the chamber via the movable inner sleeve or outer sleeve, so as to change the volume of the chamber. Therefore, each person may adjust the frequency response of the earphone body directing to different music, such that the earphone may meet different customers' requirements.

In order to make the aforementioned and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention comprehensible, preferred embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Referring toFIG. 1, it is a schematic cross-sectional view of an earphone with adjustable volume of a front chamber between a speaker and a housing according to an embodiment of the present invention. A speaker unit110is disposed within the housing120, and is electrically connected to an external host (e.g., MP3 player, cell phone, walkman or computer etc.) via the transmission line112, such that the speaker unit110can send out sound information that is acceptable for the human ear. The inner structure of the speaker unit110is not shown inFIG. 1. The profile size of the speaker unit110substantially matches with the volume of the internal chamber of the earphone housing120, and the speaker unit110can be inserted into the cochlea of the human ear (not shown), thus, this type of earphone100is generally referred as an ear-plug type earphone or an in-ear type earphone. However, the earphone100with adjustable volume of a front chamber between a speaker and a housing may be widely applied in various types of earphones, and is not limited to the ear-plug type earphone or the in-ear type earphone as shown inFIG. 1.

As shown inFIG. 1, the earphone housing120forms an earplug formation120ain front of the speaker unit110, and there is a chamber122in the earplug formation120afor generating a resonance effect, such that the sound field properties of the voice sent by the speaker unit110are different in the front chamber122. For example, the frequency response of high tone portion or low tone portion is changed to make either the high tone portion or the low tone portion outstanding on the curve of the frequency response. Generally, when designing the sound field property of the earphone, the actual volume of the front chamber122is also taken into consideration in order to analyze the influence of the volume of the front chamber122to the frequency response of high tone portion or low tone portion.

Referring toFIG. 2, it is a frequency response curve diagram of the volume variation of the front chamber on the sound field characteristic of the earphone. Difference frequency response curves are presented with different symbols. Within the audio frequency range that can be heard by human ear (20 Hz-20 KHz), it is known from the result of an artificial ear test that, as the increase of the volume of the front chamber (from 23 mm3to 90 mm3), the frequency response of the high frequency part will be changed. Therefore, the frequency response curve diagrams for the front chambers with different volumes are different. If the front chamber122only has a fixed volume, and the volume cannot be adjusted as desired, the function of the front chamber122is restricted, thus, the performance cannot be further improved.

Therefore, the earphone100of the present invention employs a movable structure for adjusting the volume of the front chamber between the speaker and the housing, and the movable element130moves relatively to the front chamber122, so as to overcome the above problem. As shown inFIG. 1, the movable element130is disposed within the chamber122of the earplug formation, and movably extends out of the earplug formation120a, thereby increasing the volume of the front chamber122. The movable element130is, for example, a sleeve with a smooth surface and firmly contacted with the sidewall of the earplug formation120a. Under an external force, the movable element130stretches freely along the direction for applying the external force.FIG. 3andFIG. 4are schematic views of the movable element according to another two embodiments of the present invention respectively.

As shown inFIG. 3, the movable element140comprises an inner sleeve142disposed within the front chamber122for adjusting the volume of the front chamber122. Moreover, the outer surface of the inner sleeve142further has a first locking part144(e.g., threaded part), and the inner wall of the earphone housing120correspondingly has a second locking part124(e.g., threaded part). The two locking parts are locked with each other, so that the inner sleeve142is screwed out with respect to the front chamber122and extends out of the housing120along the axial direction, thereby increasing the volume of the front chamber122. When the inner sleeve142is screwed into the front chamber122, the volume of the front chamber122is reduced.

Moreover, an ear cushion160is further disposed on the earplug formation120aof the housing120for annularly covering the earplug formation120aand the inner sleeve142, which may be inserted into the cochlea for preventing external noises from entering into the ear. The material of the ear cushion160is soft rubber, such that the user may not feel uncomfortable after a long time of use. Moreover, except that the inner sleeve142is used for adjusting the volume of the front chamber122, one or more phonating holes146may be disposed to expose from the opening162of the ear cushion160, so as to make the sound of the speaker unit110reach the inner of the ear from the phonating hole146.

Next, referring toFIG. 4, the movable element150comprises an outer sleeve152disposed out of the earphone housing120for adjusting the volume of the front chamber122. Moreover, the inner surface of the outer sleeve152further has a first locking part154(e.g., threaded part), and the outer wall of the earphone housing120correspondingly has a second locking part124(e.g., threaded part). The two locking parts are locked with each other, so that the outer sleeve152is screwed out with respect to the front chamber122and extends out of the housing120along the axial direction, thereby increasing the volume of the front chamber122. When the outer sleeve152is screwed into the front chamber122, the volume of the front chamber122is reduced.

Similarly, an ear cushion160is further disposed on the earplug formation120aof the housing120for annularly covering the earplug formation120aand the outer sleeve152, which may be inserted into the cochlea for preventing external noises from entering into the ear. The material of the ear cushion160is soft rubber, such that the user may not feel uncomfortable after a long time of use. Moreover, except that the outer sleeve152is used for adjusting the volume of the front chamber122, one or more phonating holes156may be disposed to expose from the opening162of the ear cushion160, so as to make the sound of the speaker unit110reach the inner of the ear from the phonating hole156.

To sum up, the earphone with adjustable volume of a front chamber between a speaker and a housing according to the present invention comprises a speaker unit, a housing and a movable element, wherein the movable element is disposed within or out of the housing, and moves with respect to the front chamber between the speaker unit and the housing, so as to adjust the volume of the front chamber, which no longer has only one fixed volume. The sound field characteristic of the sound from the speaker unit in the front chamber varies depending upon different volume of the front chamber, thus, the present invention changes the sound field characteristic of the earphone by using a movable structure for adjusting the volume of the front chamber between the speaker and the housing in terms of the structure of the earphone body. Therefore, each person may adjust the frequency response of the earphone body directing to different music, such that the earphone can meet different customers' requirements.