Patent Publication Number: US-7583810-B2

Title: Fixing unit for microphone

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
   The present invention relates to an adapter-mount system fixing unit for a microphone, and more particularly, to a technique of a fixing unit for a microphone which allows, when fixing the microphone to a base such as a desk, the direction of drawing a microphone cord to be easily changed without removing a connector from the microphone cord. 
   BACKGROUND ART 
   Microphones are used to allow a large audience to listen to the voice of a speaker through speakers at various international conferences or lecture presentations. As a microphone used in such cases, a goose neck type microphone (hereinafter simply referred to as “microphone”) which allows a speaker to freely bring a microphone unit close to his/her mouth using a flexible support pipe by hand is often used. 
   As shown in  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 7 , this type of microphone  1  has a slim appearance consisting of a flexible support pipe  3 , to an end of which a microphone unit  2  is attached, and a cable C connected to and drawn from a power module section (not shown) at the other end of the support pipe  3 . 
   The following two methods are available to fix the microphone  1  to a table. As shown in  FIG. 6  and  FIG. 8 , according to a first method, a tubular fixing sleeve  6  is inserted into a through hole  54  provided in a base  51  such as a desk beforehand. The fixing sleeve  6  has a length protruding from both ends of the base  51 , on the outer surface of which a male thread is formed. One end  6   a  protrudes from the base  51  on a surface  52  side, the other end  6   b  protrudes from the base  51  on a back  53  side and a fixing ring  7  is screwed in at the other end  6   b  via a washer  8 . 
   A lock ring  5  for supporting a flange section  4  provided on a base end side of the support pipe  3  of the microphone  1  is screwed into the fixing sleeve  6  at the one end  6   a  (top end) of this fixing sleeve  6 . This causes the microphone  1  to be fixed to the base  51  (this method is called “adapter-mount system”). 
   According to a second method (not shown), a fixing member having a female connector is embedded in a base beforehand and a male connector directly attached to a bottom end of a support pipe of a microphone is inserted into a male connector of the fixing member to thereby fix the microphone to the base through one-touch simple operation (this method is called a “quick-mount system.” 
   Another mode is a fixing device for a microphone of a universal type which allows a microphone to be fixed using both an adapter-mount system and a quick-mount system as shown in, for example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-102084) proposed by the applicant of the present invention. 
   However, these methods have the following problems. That is, with regard to cabling of a microphone cord C, any one of the following two methods is adopted; in the case of the adapter-mount system shown in  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6 , since the power module section (not shown) is installed in a different unnoticeable place, according to the situation in which the microphone  1  is installed, the microphone cord C is conventionally drawn sideward from an outlet  3   a  provided beforehand in the support pipe  3  on the base end side by letting it crawl on the base  51 , or the microphone cord C is made to penetrate the base  51  through the fixing sleeve  6  from the bottom of the support pipe  3  of the microphone  1  installed as shown in  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 8  and pulled out from the bottom of the base  51 . 
   However, when the microphone  1  is shipped, as shown in  FIG. 5 , since the microphone cord C is drawn sideward from the outlet  3   a  of the support pipe  3  of the microphone  1 , in order to make the microphone cord C penetrate the base  51  from the bottom of the support pipe  3  of the microphone  1  and pull out the microphone cord C as shown in  FIG. 7 , it is necessary to temporarily remove a connector J attached beforehand to one end of the microphone cord C as shown in  FIG. 5  to  FIG. 8 . After this, the microphone cord C is drawn back into the support pipe  3  via the outlet  3   a,  made to penetrate the base  51  through the fixing sleeve  6 , pulled out to the back  53  side and then the connector j is reconnected, which involves complicated assembly work. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention has been implemented to solve the above described problems and it is an object of the present invention to provide a fixing unit for a microphone which allows the direction in which an adapter-mount system microphone cable is drawn to be easily changed. 
   In order to attain the above described object, the present invention is provided with various features as will be shown below. The present invention is characterized by including a tubular fixing sleeve attached to a through hole of a base, a lock ring having a microphone unit at one end for fixing a support pipe through which a microphone cord passes to a top end of the fixing sleeve, and a guide ring put around an outer perimeter of the fixing sleeve and interposed between the fixing ring and the base, wherein the fixing sleeve is provided with a slit formed in radial direction for drawing the microphone cord out of the bottom end of the support pipe to the outside of the fixing sleeve and the guide ring is further provided with a notch for drawing out the microphone cord. 
   According to this, since both the fixing sleeve and the lock ring are each provided with a slit and a notch from which the microphone cord is drawn out, when the microphone cord is changed to the top surface side of the base, it is only necessary to draw the microphone cord out of the notch. When the microphone cord is drawn out to the back side, it is possible to easily change the drawing direction by only temporarily taking out the fixing sleeve, incorporating the microphone cord into the support pipe, sending the connector together with the microphone cord below the base and passing the fixing sleeve through the base again. 
   As a more preferable mode, the above described guide ring preferably has a thickness in radial direction equivalent to or greater than an outer diameter of the microphone cord. 
   According to this mode, the thickness (length) in radial direction of the guide ring is equivalent to or greater than the outer diameter of the microphone cord, which prevents the microphone cord drawn out of the slit of the fixing sleeve from being strongly pressed between the lock ring and base and allows the microphone cord to be drawn out above the base. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is an exploded front view showing main components of an example of a fixing unit of the present invention; 
       FIG. 2A  is a plan view of the guide ring shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 2B  is a plan view of the fixing sleeve shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  is an enlarged cross-sectional view of main components of a first example of drawing of the microphone cord; 
       FIG. 4  is an enlarged cross-sectional view of main components of a second example of drawing of the microphone cord; 
       FIG. 5  illustrates a first drawing example of a conventional microphone cord; 
       FIG. 6  is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the example shown in  FIG. 5  turned by 180 degrees; 
       FIG. 7  illustrates a second drawing example of the conventional microphone cord; and 
       FIG. 8  is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the example shown in  FIG. 7  turned by 180 degrees. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIG. 1  illustrates an embodiment of the present invention with main components shown in an exploded view,  FIG. 2A  is a plan view of the guide ring shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2B  is a plan view of the fixing sleeve shown in  FIG. 1 . Furthermore,  FIG. 3  is an enlarged cross-sectional view of main components of a first example of drawing of the microphone cord according to the present invention and  FIG. 4  is an enlarged cross-sectional view of main components of a second example of drawing of the microphone cord according to the present invention. 
   According to these figures, a fixing unit  11  for a microphone  12  is at least provided with a tubular fixing sleeve  22  fitted in a through hole  54  formed in a base  51 , a lock ring  16  attached to a base end side of a support pipe  13  having a microphone unit  2  (see  FIG. 5 ) at one end thereof and fixed to part of the fixing sleeve  12  and a guide ring  19  inserted along the outer perimeter of the fixing sleeve  22  and interposed between the lock ring  16  and base  51 . 
   Here, the base  51  is preferably one having a flat top plate such as a table or conference table or may also be one having a vertical flat surface such as a wall and can be arbitrarily modified according to specifications if it at least allows the through hole  54  through which the fixing sleeve  22  can pass to be formed. 
   The fixing sleeve  22  is made up of a cylindrical body which is made of an alloy of brass or the like and a male thread  23  is formed on the outer surface thereof. The inner diameter of the fixing sleeve  22  has at least a size that allows a connector J attached to one end of the microphone cord C to pass therethrough. The fixing sleeve  22  has a slit  24  formed throughout the length in radial direction thereof. The slit  24  has a width that allows the microphone cord C drawn out of the support pipe  13  to pass therethrough. 
   The fixing sleeve  22  is screwed into the through hole  54  and provisionally fixed with one end  22   a  protruding from a surface  52  of the base  51  and the other end  22   b  protruding from a back  53  of the base  51  by a predetermined length. A stopper  26  is attached to the other end  22   b  of the fixing sleeve  22  via a washer  25 . The stopper  26  is bolt-shaped with a female thread  26   a  formed in the center and screwed into a male thread  23  of the fixing sleeve  22  up to a position at which it contacts the back  53  of the base  51 . 
   As in the case of the one shown in  FIG. 5 , the support pipe  13  is made up of a flexible pipe that can be freely bent and a telescopic straight tube is connected to part thereof. A microphone unit  2  is attached to one end of the support pipe  13  and allowed to be connected to a power module section (not shown) installed in a different place through the microphone cord C drawn out of the microphone unit  2 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 3 , the support pipe  13  is provided with a flange section  14  having substantially the same diameter as the outer diameter of the fixing sleeve  22 . The flange section  14  constitutes a stopper for the lock ring  16  attached along the outer perimeter in a freely rotatable manner. 
   The lock ring  16  has a substantially horseshoe-shaped section made up of a top plate section  17  having a circular hole  17   a  through which the support pipe  13  passes in the center thereof and a peripheral wall section  18  formed substantially vertically from the outer edge of the top plate section  17 . A female thread  18   a  mating with the male thread  23  of the fixing sleeve  22  is formed on the inner surface of the peripheral wall section  18 . 
   The guide ring  19  is made up of a ring body having a larger inner diameter than the outer diameter of the fixing sleeve  22  and has a length (thickness) in radial direction equivalent to or greater than the outer diameter of the microphone cord C. A notch  19   a  is formed in part of the guide ring  19  and the guide ring  19  is C-figured as shown in  FIG. 2A  in a plan view. The microphone cord C can be drawn from this notch  19   a  to the surface  52  side of the base  51 . 
   Next, the operation of the present invention having the above described structure will be explained focused on a case where the direction in which the microphone cord C is drawn shown in  FIG. 3  is changed to the direction in which the microphone cord C is drawn shown in  FIG. 4 . The fixing sleeve  22  is fixed to the base  51  and the female thread  26   a  of the stopper  26  is screwed at the other end  22   b  thereof. 
   The support pipe  13  can be fixed to the fixing sleeve  22  by mating the female thread  18   a  of the lock ring  16  attached to the flange section  14  with the one end  22   a  of the fixing sleeve  22 . 
   The microphone cord C drawn from the lower part of the support pipe  13  is drawn sideward through the slit  24  of the fixing sleeve  22  and can be drawn out of the surface of the base  51  via the notch  19   a  of the guide ring  19 . 
   At this time, since the guide ring  19  is formed to a thickness equivalent to or greater than the outer diameter of the microphone cord C, even when the lock ring  16  is strongly screwed into the fixing sleeve  22  and press-contacted against the guide ring  19 , the microphone cord C drawn out of the slit  24  of the fixing sleeve  22  can be smoothly guided to the surface  52  side of the base  51  via the notch  19   a  without being strongly pressed against the base  51  side.  FIG. 3  shows how the support pipe  13  is attached with the lock ring  16  screwed in the fixing sleeve  22  on the one end  22   a  side in such a state. 
   Next, when the microphone cord C is drawn below the base  53  on the back  53  side to change the drawing direction from the state in  FIG. 3 , the stopper  26  is loosened, removed together with the washer  25  from the fixing sleeve  22  on the other end  22   b  side and the fixing sleeve  22  is removed from the base  51  on the surface  52  side. 
   This allows the microphone cord C to be immediately sent into the fixing sleeve  22  via the notch  19   a  of the guide ring  19  and the slit  24  of the fixing sleeve  22 . That is, the microphone cord C can be immediately put in place inside the fixing sleeve  22  without the need to remove the connector J. 
   Since the connector J can be sent to the back  53  side through the through hole  54  of the base  51 , it is possible to send the connector J toward the back  53 , fit the fixing sleeve  22  into the through hole  54 , screw in the stopper  26  at other end  22   b  via the washer  25  to thereby draw the microphone cord C below the base  53  on the back  53  side as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
   In this way, it is possible to change the direction in which the microphone cord C is drawn extremely easily without complicated work of removing and reconnecting the connector J. 
   The present invention has been explained so far based on illustrated examples, but the specific structure thereof is not limited to this. In this example, there is only one guide ring  19 , but it is also possible to put a plurality of rings one atop another so as to have a thickness substantially equivalent to or greater than the outer diameter of the microphone cord C. Furthermore, the support pipe  13  and lock ring  16  may also be integrated as one piece as required. 
   The present application is based on, and claims priority from, Japanese Application Serial Number JP2004-298615, filed Oct. 13, 2004, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.