Abstract:
An earphone to fit with a plurality of audio cables with difference application lengths includes an earphone body and a first buckle structure. The earphone body further includes an audio jack to couple with an audio terminal of a relevant audio cable with an appropriate application length. The first buckle structure is located at the audio jack for providing a firm connection between the audio terminal and the audio jack. By providing the earphone body to engage firmly the audio cable with an appropriate application length in a separable manner, any application situation featuring a particular application length can be easily overcome.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    (1) Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    This invention relates to an earphone, more particularly to an earphone that provides connection-ability to various cables. 
         [0003]    (2) Description of the Prior Art 
         [0004]    In the art, an earphone usually has a fixed extension cable. Referred to  FIG. 1 , a typical conventional earphone is shown. The earphone  1  includes a left earplug  11 , a right earplug  12  and an audio cable  13 . The audio cable  13  further includes an audio terminal  131 . The left earplug  11  is electrically connected with the right earplug  12 , and the audio cable  13  is particularly electrically connected to the left earplug  12 . The audio terminal  131  is to couple with an audio jack (not shown in the figure) of an audio source device so as to capture audio media provided by the audio source device. Through the audio cable  13 , the audio media can be then transmitted to the left earplug  11  and the right earplug  12  for broadcasting therefrom. 
         [0005]    It is noted that, in a conventional earphone design as disclosed in  FIG. 1 , the earphone  1  has a fixed inseparable audio cable  13 , which is connected electrically to one of the earplugs  11  and  12 . For the length of the audio cable  13  is fixed, the applicable length of the earphone  1  to the audio source device is limited to the particular audio cable  13 . Such a fixed-length application of the earphone  1  may cause some inconvenience. For an instance, for a lengthy audio cable  13  to be used in a short-length application environment, the audio cable  13  is usually forced to be wrapped, bent or rolled to fit the limited space. However, such a physical means to shorten the usage length of the audio cable  13  is sometimes led to a short service life of the audio cable  13 . On the other hand, in the case that a short audio cable  13  is used to a lengthy application environment, an additional extension cable is usually needed to be connected to the audio terminal  131  of the audio cable  13 . Otherwise, the audio terminal  131  is opt to be pull off the audio jack of the audio source device due to unexpected pull forcing from the short-length cable. It is easy to see that the extension cable is definite a cost and may cause some carrying inconvenience. 
         [0006]    Therefore, the need to provide an earphone structure that can resolve the aforesaid inconvenience in conventional earphone usage is definitely obvious 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an earphone for replaceable cables. The earphone of the present invention applicable to adapt cables with various lengths comprises an earphone body further having an audio jack to electrically couple with one of the cables. 
         [0008]    It is another object of the present invention to provide an earphone that can ensure the separable connection between the earphone body and the cable by providing a first buckle structure to the earphone body. 
         [0009]    In the present invention, the earphone includes an earphone body that can receive, in a separable manner, one of plural audio cables with different lengths. Each of the audio cables has an individual audio terminal. The earphone further includes a first buckle structure to ensure the separable connection between the audio jack of the earphone body and the audio terminal of a respective audio cable. Preferably, the first buckle structure can be located at the audio jack. 
         [0010]    By providing the separable connection between the earphone body of the earphone and one of the audio cables with various application lengths in accordance with the present invention, the earphone can then be applicable conveniently to various application environments of the audio source device without the aforesaid problems described in the background section. 
         [0011]    All these objects are achieved by the earphone for replaceable cables described below. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]    The present invention will now be specified with reference to its preferred embodiment illustrated in the drawings, in which: 
           [0013]      FIG. 1  shows a typical convention earphone; 
           [0014]      FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2B  show a first embodiment of the earphone for replaceable cables in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 3A  and  FIG. 3B  show a buckle-up operation of the first embodiment; 
           [0016]      FIG. 4A  and  FIG. 4B  show a pull-off operation of the first embodiment; and 
           [0017]      FIG. 5A  and  FIG. 5B  show a second embodiment of the earphone for replaceable cables in accordance with the present invention 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0018]    The invention disclosed herein is directed to an earphone for replaceable cables. In the following description, numerous details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that variations of these specific details are possible while still achieving the results of the present invention. In other instance, well-known components are not described in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention. 
         [0019]    Referring now to  FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2B , a first embodiment of the earphone for replaceable cables in accordance with the present invention is shown. The earphone  2  of the invention is to go with a plurality of audio cables  3  with various application lengths. Each of the audio cables  3  has an individual audio terminal  31 . The earphone  2  includes an earphone body  21  and a first buckle structure  22 . In this embodiment as shown in  FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2B , the first buckle structure  22  is formed as an anchoring hole□ 
         [0020]    The earphone body  21  further includes a first earphone body  211 , a second earphone body  212  and an audio jack  213 . The first earphone body  211  and the second earphone body  212  are electrically connected. The audio jack  213  is constructed to the first earphone body  211 . 
         [0021]    In the present invention, the earphone body  21  can be selected from the group of earplug-type earphones, ear-hang-type earphones, head-hookup-type earphones and ear-shielding-type earphones, and the audio jack  213  can be any of the standard 2.5 mm, 3.5 mm and 6.3 mm jacks. 
         [0022]    The anchoring hole  22  is located at the audio jack  213 . Upon while the earphone  2  is coupled with any one of the audio cables  3 , the audio terminal  3  of the audio cable  3  is plugged in the audio jack  213  of the first earphone body  21 . 
         [0023]    Further, the audio cable  3  can include a second buckle structure. As shown in this first embodiment, the second buckle structure is formed as a latch  32  built at the audio terminal  31  to match with the anchoring hole  22  of the first earphone body  21 . 
         [0024]    The latch  32  as shown includes a stop protrusion  321  and a spring element  322 . The stop protrusion  321  is to plug the anchoring hole  22  while the audio terminal  31  mates the audio jack  213 . One end of the spring element  322  is connected to the stop protrusion  321 , while another end thereof is contacted to the audio terminal  31 . 
         [0025]    Referring now to  FIG. 3A  and  FIG. 3B , a typical buckle-up operation of the first embodiment of the earphone is shown. In the present invention, the user of the earphone  2  can choose one of the audio cables  3  with an appropriate application length to match the first earphone body  211 . In connection, the audio terminal  31  is sent along a first movement direction D 1  to plug the audio jack  213 . Meanwhile, the stop protrusion  321  is compressed by the interior wall of the audio jack  213  to further depress the spring element  322  inward so as to firmly hold the stop protrusion  321  inside the audio jack  213 . 
         [0026]    By providing the elastic forcing of the spring element  322  while the audio terminal  31  mates the audio jack  213  along the direction D 11  in accordance with the present invention, the stop protrusion  321  can buckle up with the anchoring terminal  31  can firmly engage together. 
         [0027]    Referring now to  FIG. 4A  and  FIG. 4B , a typical pull-off operation of the first embodiment of the earphone is shown. While in a pull-off operation, the stop protrusion  321  is firstly depressed to deflect the spring element  322  inward so as to have the stop protrusion  321  leave the anchoring hole  22 , and then the audio terminal  31  can be pulled off the audio jack  213  along a second movement direction D 2 . 
         [0028]    While the audio terminal  31  totally leaves the audio jack  23 , the spring element  322  can resume to its original free state. 
         [0029]    By providing the present invention, the user of the earphone can arbitrarily choose a proper audio cable  3  with an appropriate application length. With the help of the buckle-up operation between the stop protrusion  32  (i.e. the latch) and the anchoring hole  22 , the audio terminal  31  of the audio cable  3  can be firmly held by the audio jack  213  of the first earphone body  21 . Upon such an arrangement, since the appropriate application length can be provided to the audio cable  3  to meet various application situations, any abrupt movement that shocks the combination of the audio cable  3  and the earphone body  2  cannot separate the earphone assembly of the present invention. 
         [0030]    Further, in the case of applying a huge-occupation audio device which is hard to be moved in any time, the application of the earphone can become versatile with the help of plenty extension audio cables  3  with various application lengths. 
         [0031]    Referring now to  FIG. 5A  and  FIG. 5B , a second embodiment of the earphone for replaceable cables in accordance with the present invention is shown. The earphone  2 ′ of the invention is also to go with a plurality of audio cables  3 ′ with various application lengths. Each of the audio cables  3 ′ has an individual audio terminal  31 ′. The earphone  2 ′ includes an earphone body  21 ′ and a first buckle structure  22 ′. In this embodiment as shown in  FIG. 5A  and  FIG. 5B , the first buckle structure  22 ′ is formed as a latch  22 ′. 
         [0032]    The earphone body  21 ′ further includes a first earphone body  211 ′, a second earphone body  212 ′ and an audio jack  213 ′. The first earphone body  211 ′ and the second earphone body  212 ′ are electrically connected. The audio jack  213 ′ is constructed to the first earphone body  211 ′. The earphone body  21 ′ can be selected from the group of earplug-type earphones, ear-hang-type earphones, head-hookup-type earphones and ear-shielding-type earphones, and the audio jack  213 ′ can be any of the standard 2.5 mm, 3.5 mm and 6.3 mm jacks. 
         [0033]    Upon while the earphone  2 ′ is coupled with any one of the audio cables  3 ′, the audio terminal  3 ′ of the audio cable  3 ′ is plugged in the audio jack  213 ′ of the first earphone body  21 ′. 
         [0034]    Further, the audio cable  3 ′ can include a second buckle structure. As shown in this second embodiment, the second buckle structure is formed as an anchoring hole  32 ′ built at the audio terminal  31 ′ to match with the latch  22 ′ of the first earphone body  21 ′. 
         [0035]    The latch  22 ′ as shown includes a stop protrusion  221 ′ and a spring element  222 ′. The stop protrusion  221 ′ is to plug the anchoring hole  32 ′ while the audio terminal  31 ′ mates the audio jack  213 ′. One end of the spring element  222 ′ is connected to the stop protrusion  221 ′, while another end thereof is contacted to the audio jack  213 ′. 
         [0036]    Beside the aforesaid structural differences between the first embodiment and the second embodiment in accordance with the present invention, the foregoing buckle-up and pull-off operations of the first embodiment are also applied to the second embodiment. Therefore, details thereabout are omitted herein. 
         [0037]    By providing the separable connection and the firm-engagement buckle mechanism between the earphone body  2 ,  2 ′ of the earphone and one of the audio cables  3 ,  3 ′ with various application lengths in accordance with the present invention, the earphone can then be applicable conveniently to various application environments of any type of the audio source devices without the aforesaid problems described in the background section. 
         [0038]    While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.