Patent Publication Number: US-9854373-B2

Title: Headphone socket

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a national stage application of international patent application number PCT/CN2014/079014 filed on May 30, 2014, which is incorporated by reference. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to the field of mobile communications technologies, and in particular, to a headphone socket that can be used to charge headphones. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Headphones are people&#39;s portable stereo. Nowadays, there is an increasingly elaborated requirement on classification of headphones, and selecting appropriate headphones according to different occasions has become a symbol of a fashion lifestyle. 
     With an increasing requirement on sound quality, headphones such as active noise reduction headphones for improving sound quality frequently appear. The active noise reduction headphones receive an external sound by using a noise reduction microphone integrated on the headphones, and then generate a sound whose phase is opposite to that of external noise, to offset the noise, so that a user can listen to a better sound effect. Therefore, the active noise reduction headphones are especially suitable for people who are often on a business trip, for example, businessmen and office workers, to use in an aircraft cabin, a railway carriage, or a subway in which there is much noise. By using the noise reduction headphones, these users can not only keep away from interference of noise, but can also adjust mood by using the headphones, so as to fully enjoy the trip. 
     However, the active noise reduction headphones generally need to be powered by an external battery, and further, considering requirements for portability and appearance, there is a specific limitation on a size and weight of the external battery. Consequently, a capacity of the external battery is designed to be small, which cannot meet a requirement for long time use of a user. The user needs to frequently charge the headphones separately, which causes some inconvenience to the user. 
     SUMMARY 
     Embodiments of present disclosure provide a headphone socket, so that not only a function of a standard headphone socket but also a function of charging headphones can be implemented without increasing dimensions of the headphone socket. 
     According to a first aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a headphone socket, including: a headphone socket body and spring plate part; the spring plate part is clamped into the headphone socket body, and the spring plate part includes: a microphone spring plate, a grounded spring plate, a right-earpiece spring plate, a charging detection availability identifying spring plate, a headphone availability detection spring plate, and a left-earpiece spring plate; and the charging detection availability identifying spring plate is in contact with a right-channel terminal of a headphone plug that is inserted into the headphone socket, so that a device at which the headphone socket is located charges headphones by using the microphone spring plate that is in contact with a microphone terminal of the headphone plug. 
     In a first possible implementation manner, in a process of inserting the headphone plug into the headphone socket, the charging identifying detection spring plate is in contact with the right-channel terminal after the microphone spring plate is in contact with the microphone terminal of the headphone plug. 
     In a second possible implementation manner, in a process of pulling out the headphone plug from the headphone socket, the microphone spring plate breaks off contact with the microphone terminal of the headphone plug after the charging identifying detection spring plate breaks off contact with the right-channel terminal. 
     In a third possible implementation manner, a headphone jack is disposed at one end of the headphone socket body; there are opening structures respectively on two side walls of the headphone socket body; one end of each of the microphone spring plate, the grounded spring plate, the right-earpiece spring plate, the charging detection availability identifying spring plate, the headphone availability detection spring plate, and the left-earpiece spring plate stretches out of the headphone socket body from a corresponding opening structure and is connected to a circuit of the device at which the headphone socket is located; and the other end is in contact with the headphone plug that is inserted into the headphone socket. 
     According to the headphone socket in the embodiment of the present disclosure, a charging detection availability identifying spring plate is used to conduct a connection between a right-channel terminal and a circuit of a device at which the headphone socket is located, so that a microphone spring plate that is in contact with a microphone terminal of a headphone plug charges headphones. In this way, not only a function of a standard headphone socket but also a function of charging the headphones can be implemented without increasing dimensions of the headphone socket, so that it is more convenient for a user to use the headphones, and user experience is greatly improved. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded schematic diagram of a headphone socket according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is an assembly schematic diagram of a headphone socket according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of a first state of a headphone socket according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of a second state of a headphone socket according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram of a third state of a headphone socket according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic diagram of a fourth state of a headphone socket according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     The following further provides detailed descriptions of the technical solution in an embodiment of the present disclosure by using accompanying drawings and the embodiment. 
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     The following first describes a headphone socket provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure in detail with reference to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , where  FIG. 1  is an exploded schematic diagram of a headphone socket according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and  FIG. 2  is an assembly schematic diagram of a headphone socket according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the headphone socket includes: a headphone socket body  1  and a spring plate part  2 , and the spring plate part  2  is clamped into the headphone socket body  1 . The headphone socket body  1  is made of an insulation material, such as plastic; the spring plate part  2  is made of a conductive material, such as metal. 
     The spring plate part  2  includes a microphone spring plate  21 , a grounded spring plate  22 , a right-earpiece spring plate  23 , a charging detection availability identifying spring plate  24 , a headphone availability detection spring plate  25 , and a left-earpiece spring plate  26 . 
     With reference to  FIG. 2 , a headphone jack  11  is disposed at one end of the headphone socket body  1 , and there are multiple opening structures  12  on side walls of the headphone socket body  1 . One end of each of the foregoing spring plates stretches out of the headphone socket body  1  from a corresponding opening structure  12 , and is used for connecting to an external circuit, for example, connecting to a printed circuit board (PCB), where the connecting may be specifically implemented in a welding manner, or the like. The other end is used to be in contact with a terminal of a headphone plug. 
     Specifically, the microphone spring plate  21 , the charging detection availability identifying spring plate  24 , and the left-earpiece spring plate  26  are sequentially clamped into one side wall of the headphone socket body  1  from an opening of the headphone jack  11  to the inside; the grounded spring plate  22 , the right-earpiece spring plate  23 , and the headphone availability detection spring plate  25  are sequentially clamped into the other side wall of the headphone socket body  1  from the opening of the headphone jack  11  to the inside, where a position of the left-earpiece spring plate  26  is corresponding to and may be swapped with a position of the headphone availability detection spring plate  25 , and both the left-earpiece spring plate  26  and the headphone availability detection spring plate  25  are bending structures, and are used to clamp the headphone plug into the headphone socket when the headphone plug is being inserted into the headphone socket, so that the headphone plug is not prone to slipping out. A position of the charging detection availability identifying spring plate  24  is corresponding to a position of the right-earpiece spring plate  23 , and a position of the grounded spring plate  22  is corresponding to a position of the microphone spring plate  21 . 
       FIG. 3  shows a case in which the headphone plug is completely inserted into the headphone socket. The headphone availability detection spring plate  25  and the left-earpiece spring plate  26  are separately in contact with a left-channel terminal  31  of the headphone plug, the right-earpiece spring plate  23  and the charging detection availability identifying spring plate  24  are separately in contact with a right-channel terminal  32  of the headphone plug, the microphone spring plate  21  is in contact with a microphone terminal  34  of the headphone plug, and the grounded spring plate  22  is in contact with a grounded terminal  33  of the headphone plug. 
     When the headphone plug is completely inserted into the headphone socket, the charging detection availability identifying spring plate  24  is in contact with the right-channel terminal  32  of the headphone plug. The charging detection availability identifying spring plate  24  is used to conduct an electrical connection between the right-channel terminal  32  and a control circuit (not shown in the figure) of a device at which the headphone socket is located, so that detection performed by the control circuit of the device on headphones is in an effective charging detection connected state. The control circuit can generate a charging signal, so as to control the device to charge the headphones by using the microphone spring plate  21  that is in contact with the microphone terminal  34  of the headphone plug. In an actual operation, the control circuit further needs to consider whether a microphone is in a state of receiving an external sound. For example, when the device (such as a mobile phone or a tablet computer) at which the headphone socket is located is in a call, the microphone needs to receive a voice of a user, and in this case, the device does not charge the headphones by using the microphone spring plate  21  that is in contact with the microphone terminal  34  of the headphone plug; when the microphone is idle, that is, does not need to receive an external sound, the device charges the headphones by using the microphone spring plate  21  that is in contact with the microphone terminal  34  of the headphone plug. 
     To avoid a problem that noise is generated due to instability of contact between the foregoing spring plates and the terminals, in a process of inserting the headphone plug into the headphone socket, the charging identifying detection spring plate is in contact with the right-channel terminal after the microphone spring plate is in contact with the microphone terminal of the headphone plug; in a process of pulling out the headphone plug from the headphone socket, the microphone spring plate breaks off contact with the microphone terminal of the headphone plug after the charging identifying detection spring plate breaks off contact with the right-channel terminal. Specifically, in the process of pulling out the headphone plug and in the process of inserting the headphone socket, a preferred solution for a sequence in which the spring plates break off contact with and are in contact with the terminals is described as follows: 
     First, as shown in  FIG. 4 , when the headphone plug is being pulled out from the headphone socket, the charging identifying detection spring plate  24  and the right-channel terminal  32  of the headphone plug are critically disconnected, so that an electrical connection between the charging detection availability identifying spring plate  24  and the right-channel terminal  32  is disconnected. Detection performed by the control circuit of the device on the headphones is an ineffective charging detection connected state, and in this case, the device does not charge the headphones. In this case, contact respectively between the headphone availability detection spring plate  25  and the left-channel terminal  31  of the headphone plug and between the left-earpiece spring plate  26  and the left-channel terminal  31  of the headphone plug, contact between the right-earpiece spring plate  23  and the right-channel terminal  32  of the headphone plug, contact between the microphone spring plate  21  and the microphone terminal  34  of the headphone plug, and contact between the grounded spring plate  22  and the grounded terminal  33  of the headphone plug still exist. 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , as the headphone plug continues to be pulled out from the headphone socket, the charging identifying detection spring plate  24  completely disconnect from the right-channel terminal  32  of the headphone plug, the microphone spring plate  21  and the microphone terminal  34  of the headphone plug are in a critically disconnected state, and the contact respectively between the headphone availability detection spring plate  25  and the left-channel terminal  31  of the headphone plug and between the left-earpiece spring plate  26  and the left-channel terminal  31  of the headphone plug, the contact between the right-earpiece spring plate  23  and the right-channel terminal  32  of the headphone plug, and the contact between the grounded spring plate  22  and the grounded terminal  33  of the headphone plug still exist. In this case, the headphones are in a critically pulled-out state. 
     As shown in  FIG. 6 , as the headphone plug continues to be pulled out from the headphone socket, the spring plates of the headphone socket completely break off contact with the terminals of the headphone plug. In this case, the control circuit of the device detects that the headphones are not available, and the headphones are in a completely pulled-out state. 
     A process of inserting the headphone plug into the headphone socket is exactly the reverse of the foregoing process. In the process of inserting the headphone plug into the headphone socket, after the headphone availability detection spring plate  25  and the left-earpiece spring plate  26  are separately in contact with the left-channel terminal  31  of the headphone plug, the right-earpiece spring plate  23  is in contact with the right-channel terminal  32  of the headphone plug, and the grounded spring plate  22  is in contact with the grounded terminal  33  of the headphone plug, the microphone spring plate  21  is in contact with the microphone terminal  34  of the headphone plug, and finally, the charging identifying detection spring plate  24  is in contact with the right-channel terminal  32 . In this way, noise generated due to instability of contact between the headphone plug and the headphone socket can be avoided. 
     A structure of the headphone socket in this embodiment of the present disclosure can be applied to various headphone sockets of different specifications, which may include but are not limited to a surface mount headphone socket and a sink board headphone socket when classified according to techniques, and may include but are not limited to a normal headphone socket and a waterproof headphone socket when classified according to purposes. When being classified according to spring plate arrangements, the headphone sockets may include but are not limited to a headphone socket with an arrangement in a time sequence of a left earpiece, a right earpiece, a microphone, and a ground, or in a time sequence of a left earpiece, a right earpiece, a ground, and a microphone. 
     According to the headphone socket provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure, an idle spring plate in an original headphone socket is used as a charging detection availability identifying spring plate, and the charging detection availability identifying spring plate is used to conduct a connection between a right-channel terminal and a control circuit, so that the control circuit controls a power supply circuit to charge headphones by using a microphone spring plate that is in contact with a microphone terminal of a headphone plug. In this way, not only a function of a standard headphone socket but also a function of charging the headphones can be implemented without increasing dimensions of the headphone socket. Therefore, a requirement on a capacity of an external battery of the headphones is also lowered, so that it is more convenient for a user to use and carry the headphones, and user experience is greatly improved. 
     In the foregoing specific implementation manners, the objective, technical solutions, and benefits of the present disclosure are further described in detail. It should be understood that the foregoing descriptions are merely specific implementation manners of the present disclosure, but are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present disclosure. Any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made without departing from the spirit and principle of the present disclosure should fall within the protection scope of the present disclosure.