Abstract:
An apparatus includes a ear piece case housing, a receptacle within the ear piece case housing and configured to hold an earpiece, an earpiece connector at the receptacle and configured to electrically connect with the earpiece, and electromagnetic shielding materials integrated into the ear piece case housing to electromagnetically isolate the earpiece while the earpiece is contained within the case housing. The ear piece case housing may include a charger and a removable slide cover adapted for sliding over the charger.

Description:
PRIORITY STATEMENT 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/358,779, filed on Jul. 6, 2016, and entitled Shielded case for wireless earpiece, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to wireless earpieces and accessories. More particularly, but not exclusively, the present invention relates to a shielded case for wireless earpieces. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Wireless earpieces may be placed within a case when not in use. However, there may be problems with doing so. For example, when not in use it may be desirable to not permit wireless connections between the earpieces and other devices. Therefore, what is needed are new improved cases for wireless earpieces. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    Therefore, it is a primary object, feature, or advantage of the present invention to improve over the state of the art. 
         [0005]    It is a further object, feature, or advantage of the present invention to shield a smart case from magnetic radiation. 
         [0006]    It is a still further object, feature, or advantage of the present invention to shield a smart case from radio frequencies. 
         [0007]    Another object, feature, or advantage is to screen out high wavelength electromagnetic radiation. 
         [0008]    In one implementation, an apparatus includes a smart case with at least one receptacle configured to hold an earpiece, and a slide cover composed of shielding materials to encase the smart case. 
         [0009]    One or more of the following features may be included. The slide cover may be composed of magnetic shielding materials or RF shielding materials. A liner may be attached to the inside of the slide cover which may be scratch-resistant, magnetically shielded, RF shielded, or a combination of one or more of the aforementioned. A metal mesh configured to restrict one or more wavelengths may be attached to the inside of the slide cover, which may be printed onto the slide cover. The liner may be layered over the metal mesh. 
         [0010]    One or more of the following features may be included. The slide cover may be include magnetic shielding materials, RF shielding materials, or both. A liner may be attached to the inside of the smart case, which may be scratch-resistant, magnetically shielded, RF shielded, or a combination of one or more of the aforementioned. A metal mesh configured to restrict one or more wavelengths may be attached to the inside of the slide cover, which may be printed onto the slide cover by vapor deposition, additive manufacturing processes such as 3D printing, or any number of other ways. A liner may be layered over the metal mesh, which may be scratch-resistant, magnetically shielded, RF shielded, or a combination of one or more of the aforementioned. 
         [0011]    According to another aspect, an apparatus includes an ear piece case housing, a receptacle within the ear piece case housing and configured to hold an earpiece, an earpiece connector at the receptacle and configured to electrically connect with the earpiece, and electromagnetic shielding materials integrated into the ear piece case housing to electromagnetically isolate the earpiece while the earpiece is contained within the case housing. The ear piece case housing may include a charger and a removable slide cover adapted for sliding over the charger. 
         [0012]    According to another aspect, an earpiece case housing includes a charger and a removable slide cover adapted for sliding over the charger, a first receptacle within the ear piece case housing and configured to hold a first earpiece, a second receptacle within the ear piece case housing and configured to hold a second earpiece, a first earpiece connector at the receptacle and configured to electrically connect with the first earpiece, a second earpiece connector at the receptacle and configured to electrically connect with the second earpiece, and electromagnetic shielding materials integrated into the ear piece case housing to electromagnetically isolate the earpiece while the earpiece is contained within the case housing. 
         [0013]    One or more of these and/or other objects, features, or advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the specification and claims that follow. No single embodiment need provide each and every object, feature, or advantage. Different embodiments may have different objects, features, or advantages. Therefore, the present invention is not to be limited to or by an object, feature, or advantage stated herein. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0014]      FIG. 1  includes a view of an earpiece case housing have a slide cover and a charger. 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  illustrates the charger adapted for receiving earpieces. 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  illustrates one example of the slide cover. 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  illustrates a cross-section of the earpiece case housing including a liner and a filter. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0018]    The present invention provides an earpiece case with shielding.  FIG. 1  illustrates one embodiment of the earpiece case housing  10  which includes a charger  12  and a slide cover  14 . The charger  12  includes receptacles  11  for placing left and right earpieces. When the left and right earpieces (not shown) are placed within the charger  12 , connections are made between contact points on the earpieces and connectors  13 . The connectors  13  may be magnetic connectors to make it easier for a user to properly connect the earpieces to the earpiece case housing. Thus, when the earpieces are placed in the charger  12  the earpieces may be charged by the charger  12  such as by using a battery also disposed within the charger  12 , or through connecting the charger  12  to a power source such as a USB power source, or other type of power source. In addition, data may be communicated through the connectors  13  as well for various purposes including to upload data to or download data from the earpieces.  FIG. 2  further illustrates the charger  12  configured to receive earpieces  15  into its receptacles. 
         [0019]      FIG. 3  illustrates the slide cover  14 . The slide cover  14  includes shielding which can serve several different functions. First, the magnetic shielding may be used to shield objects outside of the earpiece case from any effects of the magnetic connectors  13 . Second, the shielding may be used to shield the wireless earpieces which may include one or more radio transceivers in at least one of the earpieces from connecting with other devices while the earpieces are within the earpiece case and not in use. Thus, for example, while the earpieces are within the earpiece case, a mobile phone or computer which is sometimes paired via Bluetooth the one or both of the earpieces would not be able to find the earpieces or try to connect with the earpieces or vice versa. 
         [0020]    The slide cover  14  may be constructed in various ways in order to provide shielding. For example, the slide cover  14  may be formed from a high permeability such as an alloy having high nickel content (e.g. 50 percent or more). Examples of alloys which may be used include Permalloy and Mu-Metal. Of course, any number of other materials may be used provided they allow for adequate shielding. The slide cover  14  may also include mesh material to provide RF shielding and/or a liner. 
         [0021]      FIG. 4  shows a cross-sectional view of the ear piece case  10 , including the charger  12  and the slide cover  14 . The charger  12  may be placed, positioned, or disposed within the slide cover  14  and may be removed from or placed into the slide cover  14  as needed by a user. The charger  12  may be configured to hold one or more earpieces, and may have one or more electrical components installed that may be used to power, operate, or otherwise control an earpiece. The slide cover  12  may be manufactured using scratch-resistant materials, or any materials that would reduce the likelihood of becoming damaged, and may be configured to withstand the force of impact from falls without becoming damaged to the point of inoperability. In addition, the charger  12  may have magnetic and radiofrequency (RF) shielding in addition to any shielding the slide cover  14  provides in order to improve the operability of an earpiece. For example, one or more ends of the charger  12  may have shielding. The charger  12  may also be readily transportable by the user. The slide cover  14  may be configured to encase the charger  12 . The slide cover  14  may be composed of scratch-resistant materials, magnetic shielding materials, and/or RF shielding materials depending on the requirements of a prospective user. 
         [0022]    The slide cover  14  may have a liner  16  attached to the inside of the slide cover  14  and/or a metal mesh  18  attached to the inside of the slide cover  14 , with the liner  16  layered over the metal mesh  18 . The liner  16 , may include shielding materials, such as magnetic shielding materials or RF shielding materials. Where used, a metal mesh  18  may be attached to the slide cover  14  wherein the apertures are sized, shaped, positioned, or otherwise configured to block EM radiation such as radio waves, especially radio signals at frequencies associated with Bluetooth, or matching the frequencies of the wireless transceiver(s) of the earpiece(s). 
         [0023]    The charger  12  may also have one or more additional components installed within, including, but not limited to, a processor, a battery, a data storage device, one or more sensors, a display, or one or more transceivers. The processor may be used to monitor or control one or more earpieces present within the earpiece case housing. The battery may be used to power the processor and other components present within the earpiece case housing or power one or more earpieces present within one or more receptacles of the earpiece case housing. The data storage device may be used to store programs used to modify, monitor, operate, or otherwise control one or more earpieces present in the earpiece case housing. One or more transceivers may be used to communicate with the earpiece case housing when the case is not shielded. One or more sensors may be used to determine when the slide cover  14  removed and potentially terminate the powering of any earpieces present within the earpiece case housing or even to turn one or more of the earpieces on. The charger may also include one or more status lights and/or one or more power or data connectors. The status light may show the status of the power within the earpiece case housing. For example, the status light may illuminate green when the charger is fully charged, yellow when the charger is less than fully charged, and red when the smart case is in need of power. The status light need not have more than one color, however; a single color light that conveys information through changes in luminescence intensity or intermittent flashing may also be used. For example, a solid light may represent a fully charged battery, a light of lower luminescence may represent a less than fully charged battery, wherein the luminescence gradually falls in proportion to the battery level, and a flashing light may represent that the battery needs to be recharged, wherein the flashing may become faster and more pronounced the closer the battery is to running out of power. The power source connector may be configured to connect any type of electrical wiring that is suitable for the earpiece case housing. 
         [0024]    According to another embodiment instead of a slide cover, the smart case may be of a clamshell design. One or more hinges may be present to hinge a top portion of the smart case to a bottom of the smart case. The case housing includes at least one receptacle configured to hold an earpiece and at least one connector for each earpiece. The shielding materials may be integrated into smart case to provide for shielding. The case housing may include a first portion and a second portion wherein the first portion and the second portion are moveable with respect to each other to define an open position and a closed position. One of the first portion and the second portion may be a slide cover. The other of the first portion and the second portion may be a charger. Alternatively, the first portion and the second portion may be, for example, a top portion of a clamshell case and a bottom portion of a clamshell case. Of course, any number of other types of configurations are contemplated. 
         [0025]    Therefore, a smart case for earpieces has been shown and described which includes magnetic shielding. Although various embodiments have been described, the present invention contemplates numerous options, additions, and variations.