Patent Publication Number: US-2007121804-A1

Title: Phone voice receiving /playing device

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a multimedia playing/recording device, and more particularly to a multimedia playing/recording device that can play digital multimedia data provided by a computer at regular time. If there in an incoming call from a web phone, the button on the device can be pressed to control and receive the call from the web phone, and a software program is used to control and automatically switch the device into a telephone. Further, the present invention also includes a phone receiving/transmitting interface which can be connected to a phone or a mobile phone for making and receiving calls from the phone voice playing/recording device.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      A web phone allows users to make a call to any place around the world within a few minutes, and most importantly the cost for such call is very low or even free of charge. Therefore, the web phone becomes very popular after the web phone and its application software such as Skype MSN, or other softphone are introduced. For example, Skype uses a softphone caller having a very good voice quality, and adopts an end-to-end encryption. Furthermore, Skype also allows voice conference of many parties to satisfy the requirements of multinational enterprises.  
      In general, a set of earphone and microphone is required for using a softphone. The set of earphone and microphone is inserted separately into a microphone socket and a speaker output socket of a computer. Therefore, the web phone can be used with the control of the softphone. However, the foregoing application does not allow its use simultaneously for many parties (such as a conversation between family members and friends at a remote end) since the earphone and microphone set is provided for the use of one person and hanged on the user&#39;s body. Furthermore, the user&#39;s movement will be limited as well.  
      Therefore, a phone voice receiving/playing device is needed, such that the device can play digital multimedia data of a computer at regular time. If there is an incoming call from a web phone, a software program controls and automatically switches the phone voice receiving/playing device into a phone for the use of many parties.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      It is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a phone voice receiving/playing device that can play digital multimedia data of a computer. If there is an incoming call from a web phone, a software program controls and automatically switches the multimedia playing/recording device into a phone for receiving a softphone call.  
      Another objective of the present invention is to provide a phone voice receiving/playing device, such that if there is an incoming call from a web phone, a speaker will output a voice signal and a microphone will receive and record a voice signal for using the phone voice receiving/playing device by many parties.  
      A further objective of the present invention is to provide a phone voice receiving/playing device having a phone receiving/transmitting interface, such that the phone receiving/transmitting interface can be connected to an external phone or a mobile phone for making or receiving a call.  
      To achieve the foregoing objectives, the phone voice receiving/playing device of the invention comprises: a casing having a front casing and a rear casing, and the front casing is engaged with the rear casing, and the front casing has at least one first opening; a printed circuit board installed in the casing for containing the following elements; an interface connector coupled to the printed circuit board by passing a cable through the casing for coupling a computer system; an interface medium chip set coupled to the interface connector; a medium enhanced chip set coupled to the interface medium chip set; a medium playing device coupled to the medium enhanced chip set and exposed from the first opening; and a voice input device coupled to the medium enhanced chip set; such that if a software program of the computer system detects an incoming call signal of a web phone, the software program will control the interface medium chip set to convert an interface serial signal and a medium signal. After the signal is processed by the medium enhanced chip set, the signal is outputted from the medium playing device. Meanwhile, the signal inputted from the voice input device can be sent to the computer system by a reverse process.  
      To make it easier for our examiner to understand the objective of the invention, its structure, innovative features, and performance, we use a preferred embodiment together with the attached drawings for the detailed description of the invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a schematic block diagram of a multimedia playing/recording device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a schematic view of connecting a multimedia playing/recording device to a computer and an external microphone according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 3  is a schematic view of connecting a phone voice receiving/playing device to a mobile phone through the phone receiving/transmitting interface according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and  
       FIG. 4  is a schematic view of connecting a phone voice receiving/playing device to a phone through the phone receiving/transmitting interface according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      The present invention will now be described in more detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings that show various embodiments of the invention.  
      Refer to  FIGS. 1 and 2  for the block diagram and the schematic view of a multimedia playing/recording device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In  FIG. 1 , the phone voice receiving/playing device  1  of the invention comprises a printed circuit board  10 , an interface connector  11 , an interface medium chip set  12 , a medium enhanced chip set  13 , a medium playing device  14 , a voice input device  15 , and a casing  30 .  
      In  FIG. 2 , the casing  30  has a front casing  31  and a rear casing  32 , and the front casing  31  is engaged wit the rear casing  32 , and the front casing  31  includes at least one first opening  311  thereon. Further, the rear casing  32  at its top further comprises a second opening  321 , a third opening  322 , a fourth opening  323 , and a fifth opening  324 .  
      In  FIG. 1 , the printed circuit board  10  is installed in the casing  20  for containing the components such as the interface medium chip set  12 , medium enhanced chip set  13 , medium playing device  14 , and voice input device  15 .  
      The interface connector  11  is coupled to the printed circuit board  10  by passing a cable  111  through the casing  30 , and preferably comes with a digital serial signal USB or IEEE1394 interface plug for coupling a USB or IEEE1394 port  21  of a computer system  2  (a shown in  FIG. 2 ).  
      The interface medium chip set  12  is coupled to the interface connector  11  and further comprises a digital serial signal USB or IEEE1394 interface for processing an interface serial signal of the interface connector  11 . The interface medium chip set  12  can execute the conversion between the interface serial signal and a medium signal, and the medium signal can be sent to the medium enhanced chip set  13  for processing.  
      The medium enhanced chip set  13  is coupled to the interface medium chip set  12  and capable of executing an echo cancel, a volume control, and a surrounding process for the medium signal outputted from the interface medium chip set  12 , and then the medium signal is outputted from the medium playing device  14 .  
      The medium playing device  14  is coupled to the medium enhanced chip set  13  and exposed from the first opening  311 , and preferably comes with a speaker, so that several parties can listen to the content of the voice signal of the web phone through the speaker. The phone voice receiving/playing device  1  of the invention further comprises an external speaker socket  18  coupled to the medium enhanced chip set  13  and exposed from the second opening  321 . If an external speaker (not shown in the figure) is plugged into the external speaker socket  18 , the speaker  14  will be disabled to improve the voice effect of listening to the multimedia signals.  
      The voice input device  15  is coupled to the medium enhanced chip set  14 , and preferably comes with a built-in microphone exposed from the casing  30 , so that users can input voice signals. After the voice signal is processed (such as an echo cancel, a volume control, or a surrounding process) by the medium enhanced chip set  13 , the voice signal is sent to the interface medium chip set  12  and converted into the interface serial signal, which is outputted to the computer system  2 . To provide a better voice receiving effect, the present invention further comprises a microphone socket  16  coupled to the medium enhanced chip set  14  and exposed from the third opening  322 . If an external microphone  4  with a better performance (as shown in  FIG. 2 ) is plugged into the microphone socket  16 , the built-in microphone  15  will be disabled, and the external microphone with a better performance will provide a better voice quality for a phone conversation of many parties.  
      In addition, the phone voice receiving/playing device of the invention further comprises a phone receiving/transmitting interface  17  installed on the printed circuit board  10  and coupled to the medium enhanced chip set  13  and exposed from the fourth opening  323  for plugging in a phone to receive/transmit voice signals. The phone receiving/transmitting interface  17  is a microphone socket or a RJ-11 socket for plugging an earphone microphone  51  (as shown in  FIG. 3 ) of a mobile phone  5  or a receiver  61  (as shown in  FIG. 4 ) of a phone, such that the mobile phone or phone can make or receive a call through the microphone socket. Further, the phone receiving/transmitting interface  17  is controlled by a software program or hardware to receive/transmit voice signals. The software program includes but not limited to the Skype program, MSN program, or other softphone program, and the hardware is a button  19  which is exposed from the fifth opening  324 .  
      Referring to  FIG. 2  for the schematic view of connecting a phone voice receiving/playing device I with a computer system  2  and an external microphone  4  according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the phone voice receiving/playing device  1  is operated together with a computer system  2 , and the computer system  2  preferably includes a Skype program, a MSN program, or other softphone program. During the use of the invention, the interface connector  11  is inserted into the USB port  21  of the computer system  2 , and an external microphone  4  is plugged into the microphone socket  16 . At regular time, the speaker  14  can play digital multimedia data such as music provided by the computer system  2 . If the Skype program, MSN program, or other softphone program of the computer system  2  detects an incoming call signal from a softphone (not shown in the figure), the Skype program, MSN program, or other softphone program controls to pause the playback of the music. In the meantime, the interface medium chip set  12  controls and converts the received voice signal from the interface serial signal into the medium signal. The medium signal is outputted from the speaker  14  after being processed by the medium enhanced chip set  13 . After a user hears the voice signal from the opposite party, the replied voice signal is inputted from the external microphone  4  to the medium enhanced chip set  13  for processing. After the replied voice signal is processed, the signal is sent to the interface medium chip set  12  for converting the medium signal into the interface serial signal, and then the signal is sent from the interface connector  11  to the computer system  2 . Therefore, the phone voice receiving/playing device  1  of the present invention definitely can overcome the shortcomings of the earphone and microphone set of the prior art softphone.  
      Referring to  FIG. 3  for the schematic view of connecting a phone voice receiving/playing device  1  with a mobile phone through the phone receiving/transmitting interface  17  according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the phone voice receiving/playing device  1  also can plug the earphone microphone  51  of the mobile phone  5  into the phone receiving/transmitting interface  17 , and the interface connector  11  is plugged into the USB port  21  of the computer system  2 , and then an external microphone  4  is plugged into the microphone socket  16 . At regular time, the speaker  14  can play digital multimedia data such as music provided by the computer system  2 . If the Skype program, MSN program or softphone program of the computer system  2  detects an incoming call signal of a softphone (not shown in the figure) or the button  19  is pressed, the Skype program, MSN program, or other softphone program or the button  19  will control and pause the playback of the music. In the meantime, the interface medium chip set  12  converts the received voice signal from the interface serial signal into the medium signal. The received signal is processed by the medium enhanced chip set  13  and outputted from the phone receiving/transmitting interface  17  to the mobile phone  5 . After a user hears the voice signal of the opposite party, the replied voice signal can be inputted from the earphone microphone  51  to the medium enhanced chip set  13  for processing. The replied signal is processed and then sent to the interface medium chip set  12  for converting the medium signal into the interface serial signal, and the interface serial signal is sent from the interface connector  11  to the computer system  2 .  
      Referring to  FIG. 4  for the schematic view of connecting a phone voice receiving/playing device  1  with a phone by the phone receiving/transmitting interface  17  according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the phone voice receiving/playing device  1  also can plug the receiver  61  of the phone into the phone receiving/transmitting interface  17  through a telephone line  62 , and the interface connector  11  is inserted into the USB port  21  of the computer system  2 , and then an external microphone  4  is plugged into the microphone socket  16 . At regular time, the speaker  14  can play digital multimedia data such as music provided by the computer system  2 . If the Skype program, MSN program, or other softphone program of the computer system  2  detects an incoming call signal of a softphone (not shown in the figure) or the button  19  is pressed, the Skype program, MSN program or other softphone program or the button  19  will control and pause the playback of the music. In the meantime, the interface medium chip set  12  controls and converts the received voice signal from the interface serial signal into the medium signal. After the signal is processed by the medium enhanced chip set  13 , the signal is outputted from the phone receiving/transmitting interface  17  to the receiver  61  of the phone. After the user hears the voice signal of the opposite party, the replied voice signal can be inputted from the receiver  61  to the medium enhanced chip set  13  for processing. After the replied signal is processed, the signal will be sent to the interface medium chip set  12  to execute the conversion from the medium signal into the interface serial signal, and then the signal is sent from the interface connector  11  to the computer system  2 .  
      With the practice of the present invention, the phone voice receiving/playing device can play digital multimedia data provided by the computer at regular time. If there is an incoming call from a softphone, a software program controls and automatically switches the device into a phone having a phone receiving/transmitting interface. The phone receiving/transmitting interface can be connected to an external phone or a mobile phone for making or receiving a call for the use of many parties. The present invention definitely can overcome the shortcomings of the prior art.  
      While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures.  
      In summation of the above description, the present invention herein enhances the performance than the conventional structure and further complies with the patent application requirements and is submitted to the Patent and Trademark Office for review and granting of the commensurate patent rights.