Patent Publication Number: US-6658130-B2

Title: Receptacle for earphone cord

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (a) Technical Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a receptacle for earphone cord, and in particular, a receptacle which is used to contain earphone cord, enhancing longevity of the earphone cord. 
     (b) Description of the Prior Art 
     FIG. 1 shows a conventional receptacle for earphone cord comprising a front shell  1  and a rear shell  2 , a retractable earphone cord  40  and a retracting device  3 . A retractable spring  32  located within the retractable device  3  causes a driving disc  31  to rotate and the earphone cord  40  is rolled and collected within the receptacle. However, the contact between a contacting disc  330  and a conductive disc  304  within the receptacle causes wears and thus the longevity of the conventional receptacle is reduced. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a receptacle for earphone cord which mitigates the above drawback, and the longevity of the receptacle is increased. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a receptacle for earphone cord having a front shell and a rear shell, a retractable earphone cord mounted within the two shells, and a retracting device having a rolling disc mounted onto a pivotal seat and a retracting spring being mounted at one side of the rolling disc, one end of the spring being mounted at the rolling disc and the other end of the spring being located at a pivotal rod of the pivot seat, characterized in that a recess is provided on the rolling disc and contains a soft coiled cord which is coiled into a plurality of coils, one end of the cord is connected to the earphone cord and the other end is connected to a connection wire, thereby the compactness of the soft coiled cord provides extension capability and retraction capability. 
     Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a receptacle for earphone cord, wherein a cavity is provided to the front shell to mount the retracting device, and a top hole and a bottom hole are provided respectively on the top and bottom end of the front shell, a clipping body is provided on the rear shell and a top hole and a bottom hole are respectively provided on the top and bottom end of the inner side of the rear shell such that a through hole is formed by the combination of the top and bottom holes of the rear and front shells for the passage of the connection cord or the earphone cord. 
     A further object of the present invention is to provide a receptacle for earphone cord, wherein the retracting device includes a pivot seat, a rolling disc, a retracting spring and a soft coiled cord, and the pivot seat is located on the front shell and a pivot rod is located on the pivot seat for the pivotal mounting of the rolling disc, one side of the pivot seat is an actuating disc having one end being extended to a push button and the other end is mounted at an engaging recess of the rolling disc, and a pulling spring is mounted to the actuating disc. 
     The foregoing object and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts. 
     Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of a conventional earphone cord receptacle box. 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a receptacle for earphone cord of the present invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a receptacle for earphone cord of the present invention. 
     FIG. 4 is a front view of a receptacle for earphone cord of the present invention. 
     FIG. 5 is a sectional view along line A—A of FIG.  4 . 
     FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing the retraction and extension of a receptacle for earphone cord of the present invention. 
     FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing the components of a receptacle for earphone cord of the present invention. 
     FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing the retraction of a receptacle for earphone cord of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to FIGS. 2 to  5 , there is shown a receptacle for earphone cord having a front shell  6 , a rear shell  7 , a retractable ear-phone cord  40  located between the rear and the front shell  7 ,  6 , and a retracting device  8  for connection with an external connection cord  50 . 
     The front shell  6  having a top hole  61 , and a bottom hole  62  has a cavity  60  for holding the retracting device  8 . The top hole  61  has a leading mount  63  and a press block  64  to restrict the earphone cord  40 . One side of the front shell  6  has a notch  65  for the mounting of a push button  66  to slide thereon. One side of the button  66  has a sloping face  67  to control the retracting device  8 . The other side of the button  66  has a pulling spring  68  having one end mounted to the front shell  6 . The outer side of the front shell  6  is mounted with a cap  69  with screw  690  and there is a notch  691  on the cap  69  for the holding of an earphone  4 . A hook  692  is provided within the cap  69  to hold the earphone  4 . 
     The rear shell  7  is mounted to the front shell  6  with screw  73 , and has a clipping body  70  for clipping the receptacle onto a belt of a user. There is a top hole  71  and a bottom hole  72  located respectively at the top and bottom end of the rear shell  7 , and these holes  71 ,  72  are in alignment with the top hole  61  and the bottom hole  62  of the front shell  6  to form a through hole for the passage of the earphone cord  40  and the connection cord  50 . A notch  74  is located at the side of the rear shell  7  and is combined with the notch  65  of the front shell  6  to form a mounting for the push button  66 . 
     The retracting device  8  includes a pivot seat  80 , a rolling disc  81 , a retracting spring  82  and a soft coiled cord  83 . The pivot seat  80  is mounted to the front shell  6  by screw  800  and has a pivot rod  801  for the pivotal mounting of the rolling disc  81 . One side of the pivot seat  80  has an actuating disc  802  having one end extended to the push button  66 . The other end of the actuating disc  802  is extended to an engaging slot  814  of the protruded edge  813  at one side of the rolling disc  81 , and the actuating disc  802  has a pulling spring  803 . The other end of the pulling spring  803  is mounted onto the pivot seat  80 , and the surrounding edge of the rolling disc  81  has a rolling slot  810  allowing the earphone cord  40  to be surrounded thereto. One side of the rolling disc  81  has a spring slot  811  to hold the retracting spring  82 . The other side of the rolling disc  81  has a recess  812  to accommodate the soft-coiled cord  83 . A protruded edge  813  is provided at the slot edge of the recess  812 , and there are a plurality of engaging slots  814  located on the protruded edge  813  for the mounting of one end of the actuating disc  802 . One end of the spring  82  is mounted to the rolling disc  81  and one end of the inner side of the spring  82  has a pivot rod  801 . The outer side of the spring  82  has a spring cap  820  to be mounted onto the spring slot  811 . The soft-coiled cord  83  is rolled into coils and is located in the recess  812 , and one end of the cord  83  is connected to the earphone cord  40 , and the other end is connected to the connection wire  50 . 
     The earphone cord  40  is a cord extended from the earphone  4  having one end being connected to one end of the coiled cord  83 . 
     The connection wire  50  is a wire extended from a connector  5 , and the connector can be mounted with the output of a mobile phone or earphone to transmit signals from the output device to the earphone  4 . One end of the connection wire  50  is connected to the soft-coiled cord  83 . 
     As shown in FIG. 6, when the earphone  4  is pressed, the hook  692  is extended and the hook  692  secures the earphone  4 . The earphone  4  is restricted within the cap  69 . When the earphone  4  is pulled out, the hook  692  is extended outward in the pulling direction and the earphone  4  is dislocated from the cap  69 . 
     As shown in FIGS. 5,  7  and  8 , when the earphone cord  40  is pulled out, the rolling disc  31  will rotate and the spring  82  becomes taut and the coiled cord  83  will surround the pivot rod  801  as the rolling disc  81  is driven to rotates. When the earphone cord  40  is released, the actuating disc  802  will engage the cord  40  and when the push button  66  is pushed upward, the sloping face  67  will contact will the lower end of the actuating disc  302  and the earphone cord  40  will be rapidly rolled to the rolling disc  81  and the coiled cord  83  will be released. When the push button  66  is released, the pulling force of the spring  68  will cause the push button  66  to move to the original position. At the same time, the actuating disc  802  will be engaged at the engaging slot  814  of the protruded edge  813  at the top end thereof so that the rolling disc  81  is restricted to rotate. 
     While the invention has been described with respect to preferred embodiments, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that modifications and improvements may be made to the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the invention is not to be limited by the specific illustrative embodiment, but only by the scope of the appended claims.