Patent Publication Number: US-2005124414-A1

Title: Versatile audio/video signal delivery system

Description:
The present invention claims the benefit of provisional application 60/527,775 filed on Dec. 9, 2003 and is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to audio/video delivery systems in general, and more specifically to an audio/video signal delivery system adapted to facilitate use of a video display device and a set of wireless headphones with a plurality of audio/video devices, particularly a plurality of computer video gaming platforms.  
      2. Description of the Prior Art  
      Conventionally, computer video gaming platforms well known in the prior art, include one or more stereo headphone jacks to permit a hard-wired connection to sets of conventional headsets. Currently, non-portable video game systems do not have the ability to output audio and video on their own, and are dependent on the audio/video device to which they are connected. The vast majority of non-portable video game systems are connected to a television set, most of which do not have provisions for connecting earphones. If the users of the system are in a situation in which the audio creates a disruption for those around them, their options are either to completely turn off the system or mute the audio. Audio is an extremely important component in current video games, thus muting the audio greatly reduces the enjoyability of the game. Third-party accessories to connect earphones to a television or video game system have the severe drawback of being system-specific. To use earphones with another video game system (with a different gaming platform), the user must purchase another accessory specific to that system. Also, these products only facilitate connecting wired earphones to the video-game system or television, forcing the user to stay close to the device. This hindrance is compounded with the current popularity of wireless game controllers.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention provides a novel audio/video (A/V) signal delivery system provided for transmitting an A/V signal from an audio/video output game port of one of a plurality of different video game consoles.  
      The A/V delivery system in accordance with the present invention comprises a central module including a plurality of A/V connectors and a corresponding plurality of A/V output module ports each connected to one of the plurality of A/V connectors, wherein each of the plurality of the A/V connectors is provided to mate with an A/V output game port of a corresponding one of a plurality of different video game consoles to transmit an audio signal and a video signal from one of the plurality of different video game consoles to corresponding one of the plurality of A/V output module ports of the central module. The central multi-port module also comprises associated output ports/pinout arrangements mirroring each of the aforementioned gaming platforms A/V output ports.  
      The A/V signal delivery system of the present invention further includes at least one set of wireless headphones having a wireless receiver, and the central module further includes a wireless transmitter unit provided to transmit the audio signal to the wireless receiver of the at least one set of wireless headphones.  
      Such an arrangement facilitates use of the gaming platforms A/V connections provided with their system. Thus no additional A/V cables are required to employ the present invention with the use of one of a plurality of gaming platforms to a plurality of audio delivery devices. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification when viewed in light of the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
       FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a wireless audio delivery system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a schematic view of an electric circuit of a central multi-port module a a set of headphones of the wireless audio delivery system in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      The preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with the reference to accompanying drawings.  
       FIG. 1  depict a versatile wireless audio delivery system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, generally labeled with the reference numeral  10 . The wireless audio delivery system  8  comprises a central multi-port module  12 , at least one set of wireless headphones  20 , a video game console  30  and a video display device  40 .  
      The central multi-port module  12  includes an audio/video (A/V) cable  14  provided with a plurality of audio/video (A/V) connectors, such as plugs, at a distal end thereof specifically adapted to mate with a variety of audio/video (A/V) signal sources such as the video game console  30  of different gaming platforms. Preferably, the central multi-port module  12  has three A/V plugs  14   a ,  14   b  and  14   c  each specifically adapted to mate with the video game console  30  of one of three different gaming platforms. More specifically, the A/V plug  14   a  is adapted to mate with the Sony&#39;s Playstation II unit, the A/V plug  14   b  is adapted to mate with the Nintendo&#39;s Game Cube, and the A/V plug  14   c  is adapted to mate with the Microsoft&#39;s X-box. Each of these video game consoles  30  have particular connections/pinouts associated with their audio/video (A/V) output port  32 . Therefore, each of these A/V plugs  14   a ,  14   b  and  14   c  has particular connections/pinouts corresponding to the particular gaming platform of the video game console (the Sony&#39;s Playstation II unit, Nintendo&#39;s Game Cube and Microsoft&#39;s X-box, respectively) it is adapted to be connected to. Moreover, each of these A/V plugs  14   a ,  14   b  and  14   c  is connected to an audio/video input circuitry of the central multi-port module  12 , shown in  FIG. 2 , to transmit an audio signal and a video signal from the video game console  30  to the central multi-port module  12  through the A/V cable  14 . It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the audio signal transmitted from the video game console  30  to the central multi-port module  12  includes left and right stereo audio signals.  
      The central multi-port module  12  further includes a plurality of audio/video (A/V) output ports each adapted to be connected with the corresponding A/V output port  32  of the video game console  30  which may be of different gaming platforms, such as the Sony&#39;s Playstation II unit, Nintendo&#39;s Game Cube and Microsoft&#39;s X-box, etc. Preferably, the central multi-port module  12  has three A/V output ports  16   a ,  16   b  and  16   c  each connected to the A/V plugs  14   a ,  14   b  and  14   c , respectively. Thus, the A/V output port  16   a  provides the output port for the Sony&#39;s Playstation II unit, the A/V output port  16   b  provides the output port for the Nintendo&#39;s Game Cube, and the A/V output port  16   c  provides the output port for the Microsoft&#39;s X-box. The A/V output ports  16   a ,  16   b  and  16   c  have pinout arrangements mirroring pinout arrangements of the A/V output port of the video game console of the associated one of the aforementioned gaming platforms. Thus, the A/V output port  16   a  mirrors the A/V output port/pinout arrangement of the Sony&#39;s Playstation II unit, the A/V output port  16   b  mirrors the A/V output port/pinout arrangement of the Nintendo&#39;s Game Cube, and the A/V output port  16   a  mirrors the A/V output port/pinout arrangement of the Microsoft&#39;s X-box.  
      The central module  12  is adapted to be connected to the video display device  40 , such as a TV or other video display, by a video pass-through device in the form of an audio/video (A/V) cable  36  to facilitate delivery of the video signal to the video display device  40 . As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the A/V cable  36  having a conventional A/V connectors  37  at one end, and an A/V plug  38  at the other end thereof. The A/V connectors  37  are adapted to mate with an A/V input  42  of the video display device  40 , while the A/V plug  38  is adapted to mate with one of the plurality of the A/V output ports  16   a ,  16   b  and  16   c  of the central multi-port module  12 . It is to be understood that the A/V cable  36  should be specific to the particular gaming platform used. The game platform specific A/V cable conventionally comes with each video game console.  
      Furthermore, the central multi-port module  12  includes a wireless radio frequency (RF) transmitter unit  18  provided with a transmitting antenna  18   a , as illustrated in  FIG. 2 . Each of the left and right stereo audio signals is routed to the wireless RF transmitter  18  for local broadcast of an audio output signal  19  to the set of wireless headphones  20  through the transmitting antenna  18   a . Preferably, the transmission is broadcast at 2.4 GHz as will be appreciated and understood within the art. It is also to be understood that any conventional RF transmitting units may be employed in the central module  12  of the present invention.  
      The set of headphones  20  includes a pair of earphones  22  and an adjustable head support  24  adapted to support the earphones  22  on a head of a user (not shown). The set of headphones  20  is further equipped with a receiver unit  26  including a receiver antenna  27  a battery pack to facilitate reception of the broadcast of the audio output signals  19  to headphone speakers disposed in the earphones  22  and positioned to be located adjacent an ear of the user. It is understood that the broad concept of transmitting audio signals to a wireless head set is within the prior art for conventional stereo receiver units, etc., such as those disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,522,368 6,006,115 and 4,845,751 each of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.  
      This allows the single A/V output port  32  of the video game console  30  to be employed with the set of wireless headphones  20 , and deliver the A/V signals directly to the video display device  40 . Such an arrangement allows for selective use of either the audio equipment of the video display device or the wireless headphones (see attached drawing  FIGS. 1 and 2  that shows stereo audio signals delivered to the video display device  40  in conjunction with the video signal). The central module  12  also includes a pair of stereo headphone jacks  15   a  and  15   b  to permit a hard-wired connection to a plurality of sets of conventional headsets. Independent volume control  17   a  and  17   b  is provided for each of the separate headphone jacks  15   a  and  15   b.    
      Therefore, the present invention has several advantages over the prior art. The audio/video signal delivery system of the present invention facilitates a single installation of A/V cable connection while permitting selective delivery of audio signals via one of: 1) wireless headphones; 2) the audio components of the video display device; or 3) each of a plurality of separately controlled hard wired conventional headsets.  
      The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention has been presented for the purpose of illustration in accordance with the provisions of the Patent Statutes. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. The embodiments disclosed hereinabove were chosen in order to best illustrate the principles of the present invention and its practical application to thereby enable those of ordinary skill in the art to best utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as suited to the particular use contemplated, as long as the principles described herein are followed. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains. Thus, changes can be made in the above-described invention without departing from the intent and scope thereof. It is also intended that the scope of the present invention be defined by the claims appended thereto.