TELEPHONE AID

Abstract: A telephone aid of for looping over the ear of the user, comprising a loop-shaped upper part (11) hingedly attached at (12) to a lower part (13), said lower part (13) forming a cradle to support and contain the lower edge of an earpiece (14) of a telephone handset (15). The upper part (11) is looped over the user's ear and the hinge (12) allows the earpiece and mouthpiece of the handset to swing in towards the user's ear and mouth, thus leaving both hands of the user free for other purposes.

Description: T " FIELD OF THE INVENTION THIS INVENTION relates to a telephone aid and is more specifically concerned with a device capable of being easily an cheaply manufactured and which can be fitted to a telephone 5. handset to enable the handset to be "worn" by the user so that his hands are free. STATE OF THE ART Various devices have been proposed to enable a telephone handset to be used while leaving the user's hands free. 10. One such device is the headband. This comprises a springy C-shaped member which is sprung over the user's head and has a hanger on one side which grips the earpiece of the telephone handset. Examples of such devices are to be found in United States Patent Specifications Nos. 1,866,043; 3,225,147; 15. 2,408,720; 2,721,234, and 2,843,680. A different form of device resembles a cup having its rim portion turned inwardly to provide a cavity into which the flap portion of the user's ear can be comfortably accommodated. A telephone ear piece is supported in the floor of the cup. When 20. the user wishes to use the telephone, he inserts the flap- portion of his ear into the cavity of the cup so that the telephone earpiece is held across his ear. Such a device is illustrated in United States Patent Specification No. 2,606,255; West German Patent Specification No. 1,112,118, and Italian 25. Patent Specification Nos. 413,957 and 514,149. Neither of the devices mentioned above are completely satisfactory. The former device using the headband is awkward to use unless the user is prepared to wear it continuously. The latter device using the ear-cup supports the weight of the 0 handset on the flap of the ear, which is not comfortable, and if the shape of the cavity is to correspond to the shape of the ear flap to make the device more comfortable to wear, a different shape of cup must be used to suit the user's left ear from that used to suit the user's right ear. A completely round cavity able to accommodate either ear of the user is possible, but then 5. the cup is necessarily a loose fit on the user's ear and this is not comfortable for the user. OBJECT OF THE INVENTION An object of the invention is the provision of a telephone aid which is simple to make and enables the user to support a 10. telephone handset stably from either ear or to be free to use the telephone comfortably without the aid if he so desires. THE INVENTION An aid for supporting a telephone handset with its earpiece next to the ear of the user, comprising: a lower part having means 15- for supporting the earpiece; and an upper part shaped as a loop for passing over the user's ear so that it supports the weight of the aid and handset on the outside upper surface of the root portion of the user's ear. PREFERRED FEATURES OF THE TELEPHONE 20. The two parts of the aid and the hinge are suitably integrally moulded from a flexible plastics material, the requisite flexibility of the hinge being obtained by using a reduced cross-section of plastics material at that point in the moulding. 25 • Conveniently the loop, when viewed in side elevation, is of C-shape with the obtuse angle of the C facing away from the handset. In the preferred arrangement the lower part of the aid is of arched channel shape to support within the arch the ' earpiece of the handset. The hinge preferably provides a resilient bias which urges the earpiece of the handset towards the user's hear The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic 5. drawings, in which:- IN THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 shows a telephone aid in side elevation, the portion of the telephone handset being shown in broken outline as also is a flexed portion of a 10. looped part of the aid; FIGURE 2 is a front elevation of figure 1 as seen from the right of that figure; and, FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the opposite side of the aid of figure 1. 15. DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED " EMBODIMENT Referring jointly to all three figures, they show an aid 10 for supporting a telephone handset 15 from an ear of the user with an earpiece 14 of the handset 15 stably held across the ear. The aid 10 is moulded from a resiliently flexible plastics 20. material providing an upper loop-shaped part 11, a lower arched part 13 for cradling the underside of the earpiece 14 of the telephone, and a hinge 12 joining the upper and lower parts and provided by portion of the moulded plastics material of reduced cross-section. 25. As is apparent from figure 1, the loop-shaped part 11 is of L-shape when viewed in side elevation and can be moved about the hinge 12 from the position 16 shown in full outline, at which it lies around the marginal portion of the upper portion of the earpiece 14, to the position 17 of use, shown in dotted outline 1, at which the loop 11 is flexed resiliently forwardly from the earpiece so that it can be comfortably and easily looped over the upper portion of the user's ear flap and rested on the root 5. portion of the ear at its junction with the user's head. The natural resilience of the plastics material is such that the hinge 12 provides a natural resilient bias urging the telephone earpiece 14 across the user's ear. The rounded cross-section of - the looped part 11 ensures it fits the user comfortably. 10. An arcuate lip 18 provided on the forward face of the cradle 13 assists the retention of the earpiece 14 in the aid 10. MODIFICATIONS TO PREFERRED EMBODIMENT It is not essential for the loop part 11 to be closed, it may, in some circumstances be preferred to have it open. Also, the 15. hinge need not incorporate a resilient bias although it is preferred that it does so. The parts of the aid may be. made separately and the use of an integral moulding technique is not essential. Finally, the loop part may be resiliently flexible throughout its length and this may make the hinge unnecessary. 20. An easily separable connection may be provided between the earpiece and the lower part of the aid to enable the latter to be detached quickly from the former when the aid is not required. The connection may, for example, comprise a strip fastener having two bands attached, respectively, to the 25. earpiece and the device and formed from.fastening materials such as that sold under the Registered Trade Mark VELCRO.

Claims: THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:- 1. An aid for supporting a telephone handset with its earpiece next to the ear of the user, comprising: a lower part having means for supporting the earpiece; and an upper part shaped as a loop for passing over the users ear so that it supports the weight of the aid and handset on the outside upper surface of the root portion of the user's ear. 2. An aid as claimed in claim 1, in which the loop is closed. 3. An aid as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, in which the two parts are hinged together. 4. An aid as claimed in anyone of the preceding claims, including a resiliently yieldable bias urging the loop against the earpiece. 5. • An aid as claimed in any one of the preceeding claims, in which the loop is L-shaped when viewed in side elevation with the external angle of the "L" pointing towards the μser's ear. 6. An aid as claimed in claim 3 or either of claims 4 or 5 when dependent thereon, in which the two parts and the hinge are formed from an integral moulding of resiliently yieldable plastics material. 7. An aid as claimed in any one of the proceeding claims, including a two element detachable fastener for holding the earpiece of the handset to the lower part of the two elements being attached to the lower part and the other element being attachable to the handset earpiece. 8.. An aid as claimed in claim 1, arranged and adopted to be used substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

Inventors: COCKBURN PAUL ANTHONY, WHITE LYNETTE ROSALIE, COCKBURN, PAUL, ANTHONY, WHITE, LYNETTE, ROSALIE
Applicants: TECHNICAL AID TO THE DISABLED
Application year: 1985
Main classification: H04M1
IPC codes: H04M1