Abstract:
A connector arrangement comprising an elongate member with electrically conducting areas forming a first connector and a second connector being arranged inside said elongate member? The second connector is usable independently of the first connector.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to connector arrangements. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Connectors and connector arrangement are commonly used to electrically connect two devices with each other. One type of connectors are audio connectors which are for example used to connect headphones or loudspeakers to audio equipment, for example portable or non-portable audio equipment, cell phones, personal computers, and the like. Commonly used audio connectors include 6.35 mm, 3.5 mm or 2.5 mm audio connectors. The male form of such audio connectors usually comprise a generally elongate member with different areas of the circumferential surface being electrically insulated from each other to provide a plurality of contacts. Conventional arrangements of such contacts are referred to as TS (Tip Sleeve), TRS (Tip Ring Sleeve) or TRRS (Tip Ring Ring Sleeve) connectors, indicated that a tip contact is insulated from a sleeve contact which is generally adjacent to the head, with no, one or two so-called ring contacts in between. For example, a TS connector may be used for mono audio, a TRS connector may be used for stereo audio and a TRRS connector may be used for stereo audio with an additional signal, for example a video signal. 
         [0003]    Corresponding female connectors to the above-described male audio connectors may have an elongate hole with contact elements arranged therein corresponding to the positions of the insulated areas mentioned above. 
         [0004]    These audio connectors have a basically standardized shape, such that for example headphones manufactured by one manufacturer may be used with portable audio equipment like a MP3 player from another manufacturer. 
         [0005]    Besides female audio connectors, many audio devices have further connectors for further purposes, for example an antenna connector, a power connector, a data connector and the like. Such a plurality of connectors sometimes makes it difficult for a user to use the device since each device, cable or the like has to be plugged into the right connector. In case a device like loudspeakers or headphones are provided with additional functions, such a device may have more than one connector, for example to receive audio signals and power from the audio device, which makes connecting the device with the audio device somewhat inconvenient. 
         [0006]    Therefore, there is a general need for improved connector arrangements offering more flexibility. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0007]    In an embodiment, a connector arrangement is provided, comprising: 
         [0008]    an elongate member, said elongate member comprising at least two electrically conducting areas on its outer surface, said at least two electrically conducting areas being insulated from each other and forming a first connector, and 
         [0009]    a second connector being arranged inside said elongate member and being accessible from an end face of said elongate member, said second connector being configured to be usable independently of said first connector. 
         [0010]    Said first connector in an embodiment may be an audio connector. 
         [0011]    The audio connector may be a 2.5 mm audio connector or a 3.5 mm audio connector. 
         [0012]    The audio connector may be a tip sleeve (TS) connector, a tip ring sleeve (TRS) connector or a tip ring ring sleeve (TRRS) connector. 
         [0013]    The second connector in an embodiment may comprise an elongate hole opening to said end face. One or more contact elements may be arranged at a sidewall of said elongate hole. 
         [0014]    Said at least one contact element may be configured as a contacting area in said sidewall. 
         [0015]    In another embodiment, said second connector may comprise a first contact element surrounded by a second contact element. 
         [0016]    Said first contact element may be chosen from the group comprising a contact pin and a contact channel, and said second contact element may be chosen from the group comprising a sleeve and a cylindrical member. 
         [0017]    In an embodiment, said second connector may comprise an optical connector. 
         [0018]    According to another embodiment, a connector arrangement is provided, comprising: 
         [0019]    an elongate hole, 
         [0020]    at least two contact elements arranged at the side surface of said elongate hole and forming a first connector, 
         [0021]    a second connector being arranged essentially coaxial with said elongate hole, said second connector being usable independently of said first connector. 
         [0022]    The elongate hole with the first connector may be configured to receive an audio connector like a 2.5 mm audio connector or a 3.5 mm audio connector, and may be arranged to receive audio connectors in tip sleeve, tip ring sleeve or tip ring ring sleeve configuration. 
         [0023]    Said second connector may for example comprise an elongate member protruding into said elongate hole. 
         [0024]    In an embodiment, said elongate member may be retractable from said elongate hole. 
         [0025]    The connector arrangement may further comprise a resilient member coupled with said elongate member to bias said elongate member to protrude into said elongate hole. 
         [0026]    In a different embodiment, said second connector may comprise a first contact element and a second contact element surrounding said first contact element. 
         [0027]    In another embodiment, said second connector may comprise an optical connector. 
         [0028]    It is to be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments and features may be combined with each other unless specifically noted to the contrary. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0029]      FIG. 1  is a side view of a connector arrangement according to an embodiment, 
           [0030]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the connector arrangement of  FIG. 1 , 
           [0031]      FIG. 3  is a perspective cut-out view of the connector arrangement of  FIG. 1 , 
           [0032]      FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of a connector arrangement according to another embodiment of the present invention, 
           [0033]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of two connector arrangements according to further embodiments of the present invention, and 
           [0034]      FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of two connector arrangements according to others embodiments of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0035]    In the following, various embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that the following description and the drawings are given only for the purpose of illustration and are not to be taken in a limiting sense. 
         [0036]    It is to be understood that in the drawings various elements are depicted in a manner to give a clear understanding of the respective embodiment to a person skilled in the art and are not necessarily drawn to scale. Moreover, any directional terminology like “left”, “right”, “top”, “bottom”, “up” or “down” is merely used to indicate certain elements in the drawings and is not to be construed as indicating any preferential orientation of the actual embodiments of connector arrangements described hereinafter, since these may be orientated in any desired direction. 
         [0037]    The scope of the invention is not intended to be limited by the embodiments described hereinafter, but is intended to be limited only by the appended claims and equivalents thereof. 
         [0038]    In  FIGS. 1-3 , a connector arrangement  10  according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.  FIG. 1  shows a side view of the connector arrangement,  FIG. 2  shows a perspective view of the connector arrangement and  FIG. 3  shows a cut-out view of the connector arrangement. 
         [0039]    As can be best seen in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the connector arrangement  10  has the general shape of a standard audio connector, for example a 2.5 mm audio connector or a 3.5 mm audio connector. The connector arrangement  10  comprises a head  13  and an elongate member generally designated  18 . The elongate member  18  of this embodiment has three conducting areas on its outer surface, namely a tip portion  11 , a ring portion  12  and a sleeve portion  17 , which are electrically insulated from each other by insulating ring portions  14 ,  15 . Such an arrangement of conducting areas serving as contacts is also referred to as a TRS-connector (Tip Ring Sleeve) and may be used for stereo audio signals, wherein for example sleeve portion  17  is used as ground contact, and tip portion  11  and ring portion  12  are used as contacts for a left channel and right channel, respectively. However, other uses of the conducting areas are equally possible. The connector arrangement  10  will also be referred to as a male connector arrangement hereinafter. 
         [0040]    The male connector arrangement  10  of  FIGS. 1 ,  2  and  3  may serve as a standard audio connector, i.e. be used with any device having a standard audio female connector for receiving connector arrangement  10 . 
         [0041]    Connector arrangement  10  of the embodiment of  FIGS. 1 ,  2 ,  3  comprises an elongate hole within elongate member  18  extending from an opening  16  at an end face of tip portion  11 . The elongate hole itself may best be seen in  FIG. 3 . The elongate hole is electrically insulated from the outside of elongate member  18 , in particular tip portion  11 , by an insulation  26 . Inside the elongate hole, in the embodiment of  FIG. 3  conducting contact areas  23 ,  24  and  25  are provided which are insulated by insulating rings  20 ,  21  and  22 . Contact areas  23 ,  24  and  25  serve as a second connector besides a first connector formed by the conducting areas on the outside of elongate member  18 , i.e. tip portion  11 , ring portion  12  and sleeve portion  17 . The first connector and the second connector may be used independently from each other. For example, as mentioned above the first connector may be used to transmit audio signals, while the second connector may be used to transmit data, DC power, identification data or any other kind of desired signal. 
         [0042]    It should be noted while in  FIG. 3  the second connector is provided with three contact areas  23 ,  24  and  25 , any desired number of contact areas may be made available, for example a single contact area, two contact areas or more than three contact areas. 
         [0043]    The connector arrangement  10  of the embodiment of  FIGS. 1-3  as mentioned has the general shape of a male audio connector and may be used for example to establish audio connection with a standard female audio connector. Furthermore, with reference to  FIG. 4  an embodiment of a corresponding female connector arrangement  30  will be discussed which enables contacting both the first connector on the outside of elongate member  18  and the second connector inside elongate member  18 . 
         [0044]    Female connector arrangement  30  comprises an elongate hole  41  configured to accommodate an elongate member of a male connector like elongate member  18  of connector arrangement  10  of  FIGS. 1-3 . Elongate hole  41  may for example be incorporated in a portable audio device, a cell phone and the like. 
         [0045]    In elongate hole  41  at a sidewall thereof, in connector arrangement  30  of  FIG. 4  three contacts  31 ,  32  and  33  are provided. Contacts  31 ,  32  and  33  each may comprise resilient conducting member having some resiliency to securely establish electrical contact with conducting areas like portions  11 ,  12  and  17  of elongate member  18  of  FIGS. 1-3  of a corresponding male connector. Contacts  31 ,  32  and  33  may then be connected via wires (not shown) with further elements of a device where connector arrangement  30  is incorporated. Contacts  31 ,  32  and  33  form a first connector of connector arrangement  30 . 
         [0046]    Furthermore, connector arrangement  30  of the embodiment of  FIG. 4  comprises an elongate member  34  which is arranged substantially at a central axis of, i.e. coaxially with, elongate hole  41 . Elongate member  34  which may have a cylindrical or rod shape is provided with contacts  35 ,  36  and  37  on an outside thereof to contact corresponding contact areas like contact portions  23 ,  24  and  25  of male connector arrangement  10 . Contacts  35 ,  36  and  37  form a second connector of connector arrangement  30 . It should be noted that while contacts  31 ,  32  and  33  are arranged on the same side of elongate hole  41  and contacts  35 ,  36  and  37  are arranged on the same side of elongate member  34 , these contacts may also be distributed circumferentially around the elongate hole and/or elongate member  34 . 
         [0047]    In the connector arrangement  30  of  FIG. 4 , elongate member  34  may be retracted into a channel  40 . A spring  39  is provided to bias elongate member  34  to the position shown in  FIG. 4 , i.e. to protrude into the interior of elongate hole  41 . In case a connector arrangement like male connector arrangement  10  is inserted into connector arrangement  30 , as mentioned contacts  31 ,  32  and  33  establish contact with portions  17 ,  12  and  11 , respectively, and contacts  35 ,  36  and  37  establish contact with portions  25 ,  24  and  23 , respectively. In case a conventional male audio connector is inserted into connector arrangement  30 , which conventional audio connector does not have an elongate hole within an elongate member like connector arrangement  10 , elongate member  34  is pushed into channel  40  against the biasing force of spring  39 . Therefore, also a conventional male audio connector may be used with female connector arrangement  30 . 
         [0048]    In another embodiment, elongate member  34  of female connector arrangement  40  may be non-movable. In such a case, only correspondingly adapted connector arrangements like connector arrangement  10  of  FIGS. 1-3  may be inserted in female connector arrangement  30 . 
         [0049]    As already mentioned, in connector arrangement  10 , the number of contact areas  25 ,  24  and  23  of the second connector may vary. Correspondingly, also the number of contacts  35 ,  36  and  37  may vary. Furthermore, while the audio connector is shown as a TRS connector having a tip contact portion, a ring contact portion and a sleeve contact portion, also a TS-type audio connector having only a tip contact portion and a sleeve contact portion, a TRRS-type connector having two ring contact portions insulated from each other or any other connector with an elongate member having a desired number of contact portions may be used. Correspondingly, also the number of contacts  31 ,  32  and  33  and their arrangement may vary in order to match a corresponding male connector arrangement. 
         [0050]    In the male connector arrangement according to the embodiment of  FIGS. 1-3 , the second connector is formed by an elongate hole having contact portions, and correspondingly in the female connector arrangement  30  of the embodiment of  FIG. 4  the second connector is formed by an elongate member  34  having contacts  35 ,  36  and  37  at an outside thereof. However, in other embodiments other configurations of second connectors are possible, some of which will be discussed below with reference to  FIGS. 5 and 6 . 
         [0051]    In  FIG. 5 , a male connector arrangement  10 A according to another embodiment and a female connector arrangement  30 A according to another embodiment are shown. Male connector arrangement  10 A is based on a male audio connector similar to male connector arrangement  10  of the embodiment of  FIGS. 1-3 , and the same or similar parts bear the same reference numerals. In particular, also male connector arrangement  10 A comprises a head  13  and an elongate member  18 , the elongate member  18  having contact areas  11 ,  12  and  17  separated by electrically insulating rings  14 ,  15 . Contact areas  11 ,  12  and  17  form a first connector of male connector arrangement  10 A. These parts serve the same function as in the embodiment of  FIGS. 1-3  and will therefore not be described again in detail. Inside elongate member  18 , a second connector is provided comprising a conducting sleeve  50  and a conducting pin  51  arranged in an essentially coaxial manner. The second connector comprising conducting sleeve  50  and conducting tin  51  is accessible via an opening  52  at an end face of elongate member  18 . The corresponding female connector arrangement  30 A similar to female connector arrangement  30  of the embodiment of  FIG. 4  comprises an elongate hole  41  having contacts  55 ,  56  arranged at a side surface thereof. In the connector arrangement  30 A of the embodiment of  FIG. 5 , only two contacts  55 ,  56  for contacting portions  12  and  11 , respectively, are provided on opposing sides as elongate hole  41 . Sleeve portion  17  in the embodiment of  FIG. 5  may be a ground connector directly contacting a conducting portion of elongate hole  41 , thus establishing electrical contact. Contacts  55 ,  56  may be resilient contacts, and contact  56  may be designed to engage with a groove in tip portion  11  thus securing male connector arrangement  10 A in female connector arrangement  30 A. In another embodiment, contacts like contacts  31 ,  32  and  33  of  FIG. 4  may be provided. Contacts  55  and  56  form a first connector of female connector arrangement  30 A. A second connector of connector arrangement  30 A comprises a cylindrical member  53  which has a conducting outer surface and a channel  54  for receiving a connecting pin and establishing electrical contact therewith. In other words, the second connector of female connector arrangement  30 A is configured to match the second connector of male connector arrangement  10 A. 
         [0052]    The second connectors of connector arrangement  10 A and  30 A are coaxial connector with an inner contact formed by pin  51  and channel  54  and an outer contact formed by sleeve  50  and cylindrical member  53 , respectively. The respective outer contacts may in an embodiments be used as a shielding. The second connectors of the embodiments of  FIG. 5  may for example be used to transmit radio frequency (RF) signals. For example, male connector arrangement  10 A may be coupled to a headset, the headset additionally comprising an antenna for example to receive radio transmissions. The antenna may be coupled with pin  51 , and sleeve  50  may be coupled to a shielding of a corresponding wire coupling pin  51  with the antenna. 
         [0053]    Similar to the embodiment of  FIG. 4 , the second connector comprising cylindrical member  53  and channel  54  may be retractable from elongate hole  41 , for example using a spring mechanism as discussed with reference to  FIG. 4 , such that also standard audio connectors may be inserted into connector arrangement  30 A. On the other hand, male connector arrangement  10 A may be inserted in female audio connectors without using the second connector. 
         [0054]    In the embodiments of  FIGS. 1-5 , the second connector of the male connector arrangement  10 ,  10 A and the female connector arrangement  30 ,  30 A are electrical connectors having one or more contacts. In another embodiment, the respective second connector may be an optical connector. An example for such an embodiment will now be discussed with reference to  FIG. 6 . 
         [0055]    In  FIG. 6 , a male connector arrangement  10 B according to a further embodiment and a female connector arrangement  30 B according to a further embodiment are shown. The first connector and general shape of male connector arrangement  10 B and female connector arrangement  30 B correspond to those of male connector arrangement  10 A and female connector arrangement  30 A, and corresponding elements are marked with the same reference numerals. These portions which are similar in  FIGS. 5 and 6  will not be described again. 
         [0056]    In contrast to the embodiments of  FIG. 5 , in the embodiments of  FIG. 6  optical connectors are used as the respective second connector of male connector arrangement  10 B and female connector arrangement  30 B. In male connector arrangement  30 B, in tip portion  11  an optical transmitter  61 , for example a light emitting diode (LED) is provided which is supplied via an electrical connection  62  by a control unit  63 . Control unit  63  is configured to modulate the light emitted by light emitting diode  61  according to data to be transmitted. Light emitting diode  61  is protected by a transparent window  60  at an end face of tip portion  11 . 
         [0057]    In female connector arrangement  30 B, at a bottom of elongate hole  41  a lens arrangement  65  for capturing light emitted by optical transmitter  61  is provided. Adjacent to lens arrangement  65 , an optical receiver  66 , for example a photo cell or a photo transistor is provided. Optical receiver  66  converts optical signals received for example for optical transmitter  61  to electrical signals and sends them via an electrical connection  67  to a processing unit  68  which for example demodulates the signals received to recover the data originally sent. 
         [0058]    With the arrangement of optical transmitter  61  and window  60 , male connector arrangement  10 B may also be inserted into standard audio female connectors to establish an audio connection. On the other hand, standard audio connectors may be inserted into female connector arrangement  30 B for establishing for example an audio connection via contacts  55 ,  56 . 
         [0059]    In the embodiment of  FIG. 6 , an optical transmitter is provided in male connector arrangement  10 B, and an optical receiver  66  is provided in female connector arrangement  30 B, thus enabling data transmission from male connector arrangement  10 B and female connector arrangement  30 B. In another embodiment, an optical transmitter may be provided in female connector arrangement  30 B, and an optical receiver may be provided in male connector arrangement  10 B to enable data transfer from female connector arrangement  30 B to male connector arrangement  10 B. In still another emobidment, these two possibilities may be combined enabling bidirectional data transfer. 
         [0060]    The above embodiments are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention, and numerous modifications and alterations are possible for persons skilled in the art. For example, as already mentioned, while as first connectors in the above embodiments standard audio connectors are shown, in the male connector arrangement  10 ,  10 A,  10 B generally an elongate member having a plurality of contact areas may be provided, and in the corresponding female connector arrangement an elongate hole for receiving the elongate member with contact elements arranged corresponding to the contact areas may be provided. In another embodiment, resilient contacts like contacts  31 ,  32 ,  33  or  55 ,  56  may be provided on an outside of an elongate member like elongate member  18  of a male connector arrangement, and corresponding contact areas may be provided in a female connector arrangement. The present invention is intended to be limited only by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.