Abstract:
A sound delivery device is provided which includes a headband having a first end and a second end, and an earpiece and a speaker are mounted adjacent the first end of the headband. The earpiece is constructed and arranged to be rotatable with respect to the speaker to optimize comfort, fit, and performance. The earpiece can include a cylindrical section constructed and arranged to cooperate with a spherical section of a joint, and arranged to be rotatable with respect to the joint.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates generally to the field of headsets such as those used for communications and headphones for sound delivery to a user. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Many different types of sound delivery devices have been used to position and stabilize an audio transducer or speaker adjacent to a user&#39;s ear or ears to deliver audio communication to the user. Most commonly, these sound delivery devices comprise either headsets, which allow two-way communications or headphones, which are used for listening to music and other audible waveforms. The terms “headset” and “headphone” will be collectively referred to below as a “headset,” in order to simplify the discussion that follows, but with the understanding that description applies to either a “headset” or a “headphone”. 
         [0003]    Some types of headsets include an ear cushion or similar structure located adjacent the speaker and the user&#39;s ear. With these types of headsets, it is important that the ear cushion(s) be positioned next to the plane of the wearer&#39;s ear(s) when the headset is being worn, in order to provide a good acoustic seal with the user&#39;s ear(s) and provide comfort. Unfortunately, because the size and shape of users&#39; heads vary widely, the ear cushion(s) of a headset can often be positioned improperly relative to the user&#39;s head and ear(s). This is a widely acknowledged problem, and many solutions have been proposed over the years to address it. One proposed solution to the problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,505 to Gattey et al., entitled “Communications Headset Having a Ball Joint-Mounted Receiver Assembly”. 
         [0004]      FIGS. 1-2A  are drawings of the headset  10  disclosed in the Gattey et al. patent. The headset  10  includes a generally U-shaped, resilient head band  11 , which can be fitted over the top of the user&#39;s head, and a housing  12  attached to one end of the head band  11 . The headset  10  also includes a receiver assembly  13 , including a speaker  16  connected to the housing  12  which can be positioned over one of the user&#39;s ears, and a microphone boom  14  having a microphone  15  located in its distal end, which can be positioned adjacent the user&#39;s mouth. The resilience of the head band  12  biases the receiver assembly  13  against the user&#39;s ear. The headset  10  also includes means for rotating and pivoting the receiver assembly  13  with respect to the housing  12 . 
         [0005]    The receiver assembly  13  is pivotally attached to the housing  12 , by way of a ball and socket type spherical joint  17 . The housing  12  has a spherical recess  18  molded into its surface facing the inside of headband  11 . A speaker shell  19  has a spherical portion  20  for insertion into the spherical recess  18 , and is pivotally and rotationally retained by the housing  12 . In operation, limited spherical and rotational movement is permitted between speaker shell  19  and housing  12 . Speaker wires  22  electrically connect the speaker  16  to circuitry (not shown) in the housing  12  by passing through a hollow stem  23 . 
         [0006]    While the Gattey et al. patent indicates that the means for rotating and pivoting the receiver assembly  13  provides improved acoustic coupling to the ear and improved comfort for any size or shape of ear, there are certain disadvantages with this proposed solution. First, it should be understood that when the receiver assembly  13  moves relative to the housing  12 , the speaker wires  22  can flex and may rub against portions of the device such as the hollow stem  23 . Over time such flexing and rubbing can damage the wires  22 . Second, the ball and socket type spherical joint  17  can become loose over time. Third, the ball and socket type spherical joint  17  and hollow stem  23  increase the size of the headset, but decreasing the size of the ball and socket type spherical joint  17  and hollow stem  23  can decrease the stability and robustness of the system. 
         [0007]    Considering the foregoing problems and limitations of the prior art, it would be desirable to have a headset that can accommodate a variety of shapes and sizes of users&#39; ears and heads, while also providing improved durability and longevity. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    Sound delivery devices (e.g., headsets or headphones) with rotatable earpieces are disclosed. An exemplary headset includes a boom which has a microphone connected in one end and at the opposite end of the boom a joint is connected. The outside of the joint includes a first rib, which extends around the upper periphery of the joint, and a second rib, which extends around the joint and is spaced apart from the first rib. The external surface of the joint between the first rib and the second rib is shaped in the form of a section of a sphere. Inside the joint a conventional speaker assembly is mounted. 
         [0009]    An earpiece is mounted to the joint, and the earpiece includes a cylindrical section which surrounds a portion of the joint. The earpiece may also include a flange mounted to one side of the cylindrical section, and an earpiece rib is located around the periphery of the bottom of the cylindrical section. An ear cushion can be mounted to the flange. The earpiece and ear cushion may be the same part. 
         [0010]    When a user places the headset on his or her head the ear cushion abuts the side of the user&#39;s head and the user&#39;s ear. The earpiece can rotate to a variety of orientations with respect to the joint so that the earpiece will assume an appropriate orientation relative to the user&#39;s head. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is a drawing of a conventional headset; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a sectional drawing of a portion of the conventional headset in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2A  is another sectional drawing of a portion of the conventional headset in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is an isometric drawing of a portion of a headset having a rotatable earpiece, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a partial cross-sectional drawing of the headset in  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  a partial cross-sectional drawing of the headset in  FIG. 3 , similar to the illustration in  FIG. 4 , but with the earpiece of the headset in a different position; 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  is a drawing of a headset having a rotatable earpiece, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0018]      FIG. 7  is a drawing of a headset having a rotatable earpiece, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0019]    Embodiments of the present invention are described herein. Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the following detailed description of the present invention is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other embodiments of the present invention will readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons having the benefit of this disclosure. Reference will now be made in detail to implementations of the present invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The same reference indicators will be used throughout the drawings and the following detailed description to refer to the same or like parts. 
         [0020]    In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the implementations described herein are shown and described. It will, of course, be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to achieve the developer&#39;s specific goals, such as compliance with application- and business-related constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from one developer to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. 
         [0021]    The inventions below are described in terms of a “headset,” which is a device commonly understood to include one or more headphones coupled with a microphone for allowing two-way communications. For purposes of this disclosure, however, and as will be readily appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, the novel aspects of the present invention are applicable to any type of sound delivery device that operates to position one or more headphones next to a user&#39;s ear or ears. In other words, while the inventions described herein are applicable to headsets used for two-way communications, they are also applicable to one or more headphones that are not equipped for two-way communications, but are rather used solely for listening to music or other audio waveforms. 
         [0022]    Turning now to  FIG. 3-5 , there is shown a headset having a rotatable earpiece, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The headset includes a boom  50 , which has a microphone  52  connected in one end, and at the opposite end of the boom  50  a joint  54  is connected. A headband  56  is connected to the joint  54 , and it should be understood that only a portion of the headband  56  is shown for the purpose of clarity. It should also be understood that instead of headband  56  other means can be provided for securing the device adjacent the user&#39;s ear. For example, a conventional ear loop can be used to hook over the user&#39;s ear. 
         [0023]    The outside of the joint  54  includes a first rib  57 , which extends around the upper periphery of the joint  54 , and a second rib  58 , which extends around the joint  54  and is spaced apart from the first rib  57 . The external surface of the joint  54  between the first rib  57  and the second rib  58  is shaped in the form of a section of a sphere. 
         [0024]    Inside the joint  54  a speaker assembly  59  is mounted. The speaker assembly  59  includes ports  61  to permit sound from a speaker  44  to exit from the speaker assembly  59  toward the user&#39;s ear. Electrical wiring  40  is connected to the speaker  44 , and the electrical wiring  40  may be connected to an electronic processing system  46 , which can be a printed circuit board, for example. The electronic processing system  46  may or may not receive and process signals from the microphone  15 , and the electronic processing system  46  is conventional and will therefore not be discussed in detail herein. The electrical wiring  40  may be connected directly to a signal and power source. Electrical wiring  47  may be connected to the electronic processing system  46 , and the electrical wiring  40  and/or  47  may pass through a hole  48  formed in the joint  54  or boom  50  to be connected to a signal and power source such as a computer or telephone system. The electronic processing system  46  may also be wireless and may or may not transmit to an external signal source. The electrical wiring  40  and  47  can be affixed to speaker assembly  59  or elsewhere to be maintained in a fixed position relative to the boom  50 . 
         [0025]    An earpiece  60  is mounted to the joint  54 , and the earpiece  60  includes a cylindrical section  62 , which surrounds a portion of the joint  54 . The earpiece  60  also includes a flange  64  mounted to one side of the cylindrical section  62 , and an earpiece rib  66  is located around the periphery of the bottom of the cylindrical section  62 . A conventional ear cushion  67 , which is only partially shown, is mounted to the flange  64 . Alternatively, the earpiece and ear cushion may be the same part. 
         [0026]    The earpiece  60  is substantially circular, except that the earpiece  60  includes a slot  68  so that the earpiece  60  has a first end  70  to one side of the slot  68  and a second end  72  located to the other side of the slot  68 . The earpiece  60  is formed of resilient material such as rubber or plastic and thus it can be seen that to install the earpiece  60  around the joint  54  and remove the earpiece  60  from the joint  54 , the earpiece can be deformed by moving the first end  70  away from the second end  72 . After the separating force is released the earpiece resumes the configuration it had before deformation. Alternatively, the earpiece  60  can be formed of a material which is sufficiently flexible so that the slot  68  can be unnecessary and the earpiece can be stretched to install it on the joint  54 . 
         [0027]    The operation of the device can now be understood. When a user places the headset on his or her head, the ear cushion  67  abuts the side of the user&#39;s head and the user&#39;s ear. At this time the earpiece  60  can move, as indicated by the arrow (see  FIG. 5 ), to a variety of orientations with respect to the joint  54 , which are schematically represented by  FIG. 4  at one extreme and  FIG. 5  at the opposite extreme. It should be understood that the joint  54  can be considered to have a point of rotation which is coincident with the center of the spherical portion of the joint, and the earpiece  60  essentially rotates about the point of rotation. 
         [0028]    The earpiece rib  66  is sized so that it can move in frictional engagement against the joint  54  with moderate force required to move the earpiece, and the range of motion of the earpiece is limited by the interaction of earpiece rib  66  with ribs  57  and  58 . It should be understood that  FIGS. 4 and 5  illustrate the movement of the earpiece  60  in only two dimensions, although the earpiece can, in fact, move in three dimensions. Thus, depending on the position of the headset with respect to the user&#39;s head and ear, the earpiece  60  will assume an appropriate position. 
         [0029]    It should now be appreciated that although the earpiece  60  moves relative to the boom  50 , the speaker assembly  59  and the speaker  44  remain stationary relative to the boom  50 . Accordingly, the electrical wiring  40  to the speaker  44  does not flex as the earpiece  60  moves, and therefore the longevity of the electrical wiring is enhanced. Another advantage is that in certain applications the user can adjust the position of the boom and microphone relative to the user&#39;s mouth without uncoupling the ear cushion  67 . 
         [0030]    Turning now to  FIGS. 6 and 7 , alternative embodiments are shown. In  FIG. 6 , a plurality of grooves  80  are formed around the joint  54 . The circumference of the earpiece rib  66  is correctly sized so that the raised elements between the grooves  80  act as detents with respect to the earpiece rib  66 . Thus the position of the earpiece  60  can be changed in increments. 
         [0031]    In the embodiment of  FIG. 7 , the upper rib  80  of the joint  82  includes a plurality of keyways  84 . An earpiece, not shown, includes a plurality of keys which correspond to the keyways  84 . Thus the earpiece can be installed and de-installed by rotation to the proper position so that the keys match the keyways  84 . In this embodiment the earpiece  60  is formed of a relatively inflexible material. 
         [0032]    In another alternative embodiment, the earpiece includes two ribs while the joint includes a single rib. The single rib of the joint is located between the two ribs of the earpiece to permit substantially the same movement as illustrated in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . 
         [0033]    While embodiments and applications of this invention have been shown and described, it would be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure that many more modifications than mentioned above are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims.