Patent Publication Number: US-2005124391-A1

Title: Ear wearable type wireless terminal

Description:
PRIORITY  
      This application claims priority to an application entitled “EAR WEARABLE TYPE WIRELESS TERMINAL”, filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Dec. 4, 2003 and assigned Serial No. 2003-87728, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a wearable type wireless terminal, and more particularly to a headset worn on the user&#39;s left or right ear, which is freely selected in accordance with the user&#39;s preference.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      Generally, the term “portable wireless terminals” refers to electronic devices that are portable and enable owners of the devices to communicate in a wireless way. Such portable wireless terminals tend to be much leaner and lighter in consideration of portability thereof, and their functions have been rapidly diversified so as to provide various multimedia services. These tendencies towards miniaturization in size and weight as well as diversification in functions and applications of the portable wireless terminals will continue in the future, and accordingly futuristic portable wireless terminals will be developed so as to adapt to various multimedia environments or internet environments. Nowadays, the use of portable wireless terminals is generalized without regard to the age or sex of the user, or the time and place of use, and thus portable wireless terminals have become recognized as ever-present necessities of daily life.  
      On the basis of their shape, for example, conventional portable wireless terminals may be classified into a bar-type wireless terminal, a flip-type wireless terminal, and a folder-type wireless terminal. The bar-type wireless terminal comprises a single housing having a bar shape, the flip-type wireless terminal comprises a bar-type housing and a flip part hingably attached to the housing, and the folder-type wireless terminal comprises a bar-type housing and a folder part hingably attached to the housing in a foldable manner.  
      Further, on the basis of the manner or positions in which they are worn, portable wireless terminals may be classified into a neck wearable type wireless terminal configured to be worn around the user&#39;s neck using a string or lace known as a lanyard, a wrist wearable type wireless terminal configured to be worn on the user&#39;s wrist, or an ear wearable type wireless terminal configured to be worn on the user&#39;s ear.  
      Furthermore, on the basis of the way in which they open or close, portable wireless terminals may be classified into a rotation type wireless terminal, and a sliding type wireless terminal. In the case of the rotation type wireless terminal, its two housings are hingably connected to be opened away from each other in a rotatable manner while in a closed state their facing surfaces are in contact with each other. In the case of the sliding-type wireless terminal, its two housings are opened away from or closed towards each other by longitudinal sliding movements of the housings relative to each other. Those skilled in the art will easily appreciate the variously classified portable wireless terminals as described above.  
      Viewed with respect to function, further, conventional portable wireless terminals have been developed to enable high-speed data communication, in addition to voice communication. Since a consumer&#39;s desire for high-speed data communication continues to increase, in the near future, portable wireless terminals may provide various associated services by the aid of a wireless communication technique enabling high-speed data transmission.  
      Currently, conventional portable wireless terminals may also have installed therein a camera lens for the transmission of video signals, etc. According to this latest trend, generally, portable wireless terminals may internally or externally include a camera lens module, and enable video conferencing between a user and another party, or the filming or photographing of a desired subject.  
      However, for conventional portable wireless terminals designed to be worn, especially, ear wearable type wireless terminals, the following problems are generally encountered.  
      Among conventional portable wireless terminals, a headset to be worn on the user&#39;s ear is usually designed to be worn on only a predetermined one of the user&#39;s ears. Therefore, a headset designed only to be worn on the right ear is troublesome, from the user&#39;s standpoint, if the user wishes to wear it on the left ear. Such a problem is due to a speaker fixedly mounted to the headset.  
      Moreover, such a conventional ear wearable type headset is configured to be worn on an upper portion of the ear, and this causes trouble and inconvenience in relation to the way in which the headset is worn. Such an inconvenience caused in wearing of the conventional ear wearable type headset is further increased due to the speaker fixedly mounted thereto.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an ear wearable type wireless terminal configured to be worn on the user&#39;s left or right ear, which is freely selected in accordance with the user&#39;s preference.  
      It is another object of the present invention to provide a wireless terminal configured to be worn around the earlobe, resulting in improvement fixing the terminal to the user&#39;s ear.  
      It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a wireless terminal having a rotatable speaker, thereby enabling a user to freely adjust wearability of the speaker.  
      In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of an ear wearable type wireless terminal comprising: a first housing extending in a longitudinal direction; a second housing rotatably connected to a first end of the first housing so as to extend in the longitudinal direction; a third housing located at a first end of the second housing so as to face a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction; and a holder having a first end fixed to the first housing at a position adjacent to a second end of the first housing, and a second end of the holder being subjected to a force causing it to incline toward the third housing, thereby allowing the holder to engage a lower portion of a user&#39;s ear. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
       FIG. 1  is a front view illustrating an ear wearable type wireless terminal in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a front view illustrating a state wherein a second housing shown in  FIG. 1  is rotated 90°;  
       FIG. 3  is a front view illustrating a state wherein the second housing shown in  FIG. 1  is rotated 180°;  
       FIG. 4  is a front view illustrating a state wherein a tensile member of the terminal shown in  FIG. 1  is forcibly subjected to a tension; and  
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view illustrating an exemplary state wherein the wireless terminal in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention is worn on a lower portion of the left ear freely selected in accordance with the user&#39;s preference. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      Now, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the annexed drawings. In the following description, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention unclear.  
      As shown in FIGS.  1  to  4 , a wireless terminal in accordance with the present invention is of the wearable type, more particularly, of the headset type to be worn on a lower portion of the user&#39;s left or right ear, which is freely selected in accordance with the user&#39;s preference.  
      The ear wearable type wireless terminal of the present invention comprises a first housing  10  preferably having an elongated cone shape extending in a longitudinal direction, a second housing  12  also preferably having a cone shape and rotatably connected to one end of the first housing  10 , a third housing  14  located at one end of the second housing  12  so as to face a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, and a holder  16  fixed, at one end thereof, to the first housing  10 . As the other free end of the holder  16  is subjected to a force, which causes it to incline toward the third housing  14 , the holder  16  is adapted to engage a lower portion of the user&#39;s left or right ear.  
      The first housing  10  has a first end  10   a , and a second end  10   b  facing a first end  12   a  of the second housing  12 . A microphone  102  is mounted in the first housing  10  at a position adjacent to the first end  10   a.    
      The second housing  12  has the first end  12   a  facing the second end  10   b  of the first housing  10 , and preferalby, second end  12   b  has pointed shape. The respective first and second housings  10  and  12  therefore combine to have an overall cone shape.  
      The third housing  14  is integrally coupled to the second housing  12  so as to rotate along with the second housing  12 . A speaker  142  is mounted in the third housing  14  to face a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, so as to emit sounds into the use&#39;s ear. The second housing  12  is connected to the first housing  10  so that it is rotatable by an angle of approximately 180° or more, and the speaker  142  of the third housing  14 , integrally coupled to the second housing  12 , is adapted to rotate along with the second housing  12 . With such a configuration, therefore, the speaker  142  can be inserted into the user&#39;s ear in an appropriate orientation.  
      The holder  16  has a tensile member  18 , which is preferably made of a rubber or silicone material, and is positioned closer to the first and second housings  10  and  12  than the holder  16 . The tensile member  18  preferably has an arcuate form, and has a first end  18   a  fixed to the first housing  10 . Starting from the first end  18   a , the tensile member  18  curvedly extends away from the first and second housings  10  and  12 , and then a second end  18   b  thereof, conversely, curvedly extends in a direction approaching the second end  12   b  of the second housing  12 . The tensile member  18  has a width gradually increasing toward the second end  18   b  thereof. Here, the second end  18   b  of the tensile member  18  always retains a force having a tendency to incline it toward the second housing  12 , and thus the tensile member  18  is adapted to provide a tension when moved away from the second housing  12 .  
      The holder  16  preferably increases in width from second end  186  toward first end  18   a , and further has one or more keys  162  arranged at certain positions on the wider surface thereof. In the drawings, two keys are shown for providing functions for the terminal.  
      With such a configuration, a certain space, designated as reference numeral  17  (shown in  FIG. 4 ), is defined between, on the one hand, the first and second housings  10  and  12 , and, on the other hand, the holder  16 . Into the space  17  a lower portion of a user&#39;s ear fits, and the tension provided by the tensile member  18  acts to firmly fix the wireless terminal to the ear.  FIG. 5  illustrates a worn state of the wireless terminal according to the present invention. The wireless terminal as shown is a headset to be worn on a lower portion of the user&#39;s ear.  
      Although  FIG. 5  illustrates a worn state of the wireless headset on the user&#39;s left ear, it can be worn on the user&#39;s right ear in the same manner by rotating the second and third housings 180°. As shown in  FIG. 5 , the headset in accordance with the present invention is designed to be worn from a lower side of the user&#39;s ear, so that the first and second housings  10  and  12  and the speaker  142  are disposed on the lower portion of the user&#39;s ear. In this case, since the tensile member  18  is a portion to be in contact with the ear, it is preferably made up of a silicone or rubber material.  
      Additionally, in order to enable wireless communication, the headset of the present invention may use a known Bluetooth module.  
      As is apparent from the above description, an ear wearable type wireless terminal of the headset type in accordance with the present invention results in several advantageous effects. First, it can be worn on a lower portion of the user&#39;s left or right ear, which is freely selected based on the user&#39;s preference, resulting in an improvement in convenience in relation to the way in which the terminal is worn as well as convenience in use. To this end, according to the present invention, a speaker is installed in the wireless terminal so that it is rotatable by an angle of approximately 180° or more, thereby enabling a user to freely select the ear on which the headset is worn, and to insert the speaker into the ear at an appropriate position.  
      Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.