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Noise cancellation headset for use with stand or worn on ear    

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United States Patent5715321   
Link to this pagehttp://www.wikipatents.com/5715321.html
Inventor(s)Andrea; Douglas (Old Brookville, NY); Topf; Martin (Brooklyn, NY)
AbstractA self-supporting headset worn on the ear of a user without a headband or placed in a stand as a desk-top microphone system by a switch-function installed in the headset. The headset includes a housing which accommodates a receiver, an arcuate earband connected by a spring to the housing and a pivotally connected boom microphone which extends from the housing to near the lips of a user. The earband can have a shape substantially corresponding to human ear structure for placement behind the ear of the user. The arcuate housing is placed over the entire outer ear to transmit audio signals without any need for an ear tube. An earband member can have a female member on the bottom surface so as to connect a member to mate with a male member located on the stand, to thereby secure the headset on the stand. The headset can be equipped with noise cancellation technology to remove background noise for optional use on with telephones, computers, or any the like.
   














 Title Information Submit all comments and votes
 
Patent Text Patent PDF Print Page Summary File History
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Inventor     Andrea; Douglas (Old Brookville, NY); Topf; Martin (Brooklyn, NY)
Owner/Assignee     Andrea Electronics Coporation (Long Island City, NY)
Patent assignment
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Company News
Publication Date     February 3, 1998
Application Number     08/535,353
PAIR File History     Application Data   Transaction History
Image File Wrapper   Patent Term   Fees
Litigation
Filing Date     October 23, 1995
US Classification     381/92 379/430 381/71.6 381/94.7 381/370 381/385
Int'l Classification     H04R 003/00
Examiner     Kuntz; Curtis
Assistant Examiner     Mei; Xu
Attorney/Law Firm     Kowalski; Thomas J.
Address
Parent Case     RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of pending U.S. application Ser. No. 08/485,047, filed Jun. 7, 1995, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/339,126 filed Nov. 14, 1994, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 968,180, filed Oct. 29, 1992, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,473, issued on Jan. 10, 1995; and, this application is also a continuation-in-part of design application Ser. No. 29/032,594, filed Dec. 21, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. D371,133. Reference is also made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,251,263, issued Oct. 5, 1993. Each of the foregoing applications and patents are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Priority Data    
USPTO Field of Search     381/94 381/93 381/72 381/71 381/183 381/188 381/69 381/68.7 381/187 379/430 379/431
Patent Tags     noise cancellation headset stand worn ear
   
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 Technical Review Submit all comments and votes
 Claims Submit all comments and votes
 


What is claimed is:

1. A headset comprising:

arcuate housing for placement over a left or right ear of a wearer, said housing having at least one receiver means for transmitting audio signals to the ear;

arcuate earband structure for placement behind the ear having an earband member, the earband member having a female member;

first pivotal means for securing the earband member to the earband structure;

spring means for attaching the earband structure to the housing;

a boom microphone device having two ends, one end having a first microphone means for receiving a first acoustic sound composed of speech originating from the wearer and background noise and for converting said first acoustic sound to a first microphone signal and a second microphone means arranged at a predetermined angle with respect to said first microphone means for receiving a second acoustic sound composed of substantially said background noise and for converting said second acoustic sound to a second microphone signal and the other end having means for connecting the device to the housing;

means for subtracting the second signal from said first signal so as to obtain a signal representing substantially speech;

a second pivotal means for securing the boom microphone device to the housing;

electrical connecting means for transmitting audio signals from and supplying the microphone signal to an external communication system by an adapter means; and

a stand having a male member for insertion into the female member of the earband member.

2. The headset according to claim 1, wherein the first pivotal means for securing the boom microphone device to the housing is a ball and socket joint.

3. The headset according to claim 1, wherein the second pivotal means for securing the earband member to the earband structure is a ball and socket joint.

4. The headset according to claim 1, wherein the microphone means is in a casing covered by a protective medium.

5. The noise cancellation headset according to claim 4, wherein the protective medium is a wind sock.

6. The headset according to claim 1, wherein the electronic connecting means is an in-line module case having a switch function.

7. The headset according to claim 1, wherein the adapter means is comprised of at least two jack means for insertion into sound cards of a computer.

8. The headset according to claim 1, wherein the jack means comprise a microphone jack for insertion into a microphone receiver of the sound card and a headset jack for insertion into a speaker receiver of the sound card.

9. The headset according to claim 1, wherein the receiver means has means defining holes for transmitting audio signals through the housing.

10. The headset comprising: arcuate housing placement over an ear, left or right, of a wearer, said housing having at least one receiver means for transmitting audio signals to the ear;

arcuate earband structure for placement behind the ear;

spring means for attaching the earband structure to the housing;

boom microphone device having two ends, one end having a first and second microphone means for receiving an acoustic sound and for converting said acoustic sound to a microphone signal and the other end having a first pivotal means for connecting the device to the housing;

electronic connecting means for transmitting audio signals from the receiver means to the ear and for supplying the microphone signal from the boom microphone device to an external communication system by adapter means;

wherein the arcuate earband structure has two ends, the first end of the earband structure connected to the spring means and the second end of the earband structure opposite the first end connects the earband structure to an earband member by a ball and socket joint; and

wherein the first microphone means receives a first acoustic sound composed of speech originating from the wearer and background noise, and for converting said first acoustic sound to a first microphone signal, the second microphone means arranged at a predetermined angle with respect to said first microphone means for receiving a second acoustic sound composed of substantially said background noise and for converting said second acoustic sound to a second microphone signal, and means for subtracting the second microphone signal from said first microphone signal so as to obtain a signal representing substantially the speech, and whereby the headset is a noise cancellation headset.

11. A headset comprising:

arcuate housing for placement over an ear, left or right, of a wearer, said housing having at least one receiver means for transmitting audio signals to the ear;

arcuate earband structure for placement behind the ear having a first end and a second end;

the first end attached by movable means to an earband member;

the earband member having a distal end from attachment to the earband structure;

the distal end having a means for matingly fitting into an upright stand;

the second end having spring means for rotatably attaching the earband structure to the housing thereby allowing the earband structure to rotate up to 360.degree. around the housing;

boom microphone device having a first end and a second end;

the first end having a microphone means for receiving an acoustic sound and for converting said acoustic sound to a microphone signal;

the second end having means for connecting the boom microphone device to the housing; and

electronic means for transmitting audio signals from the receiver means to the ear and for supplying the microphone signal from the boom microphone device to an external communication system by adapter means.

12. The headset according to claim 1, wherein the means for connecting the boom microphone device to the housing is a pivotal means.

13. The headset according to claim 12, wherein the pivotal means for connecting the boom microphone device to the housing is a ball and socket joint.

14. The headset according to claim 1, wherein the microphone means is comprised of a first microphone and a second microphone means.

15. The headset according to claim 1, wherein the microphone means is in a casing covered by a protective medium.

16. The headset according to claim 1, wherein the protective medium is a wind sock.

17. The headset according to claim 1, wherein the electronic means is an in-line module case having a switch function.

18. The headset according to claim 17, wherein the adapter means is comprised of at least two jack means for insertion into sound cards of a computer.

19. The headset according to claim 18, wherein the jack means comprises a microphone jack for insertion into a microphone receiver of the sound card and a headset jack for insertion into a speaker receiver of the sound card.

20. The headset according to claim 12 wherein the means for matingly fitting with a stand is a female member.

21. The headset according to claim 20 including a stand wherein the female member of the earband member mates with into the stand having a male member.

22. The headset according to claim 1, wherein the receiver means has means defining holes for transmitting audio signals through the housing.

23. The headset according to claim 1, wherein the first end of the earband structure connects to the earband member by a pivotal means, and the means for matingly fitting with a stand is a female member.

24. The headset according to claim 23, wherein the pivotal means for connecting the earband member to the earband structure is a ball and socket joint.
 Description Submit all comments and votes
 


FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a headset. The headset enables the wearer to execute multimedia and speech recognition applications for telephone, computer, computer telephone, or dictation, and like uses. The headset preferably is light-weight. The headset is preferably self-supporting. The headset preferably contains at least one microphone means for canceling background noise and at least one receiver means for transmitting audio signals to the ear the wearer. The headset is preferably capable of being worn on one ear (left or right) of the wearer, without a head-band. The headset is preferably capable of attaching to a stand to allow "hands-free" and/or "wire-free" access to communication systems, e.g., the headset can be a "hands-free" handset.

More particularly, the invention relates to a headset preferably comprising a housing having at least one receiver means for placing over a left or right auditory canal of the user. The headset also comprises an earband structure attached to the housing, preferably by spring means. The earband structure is for placing behind the ear, and is preferably arcuate in shape. Preferably, the earband structure has a movable earband member at a lower portion, towards the or at end opposite the attachment to the housing. The movable earband member is preferably tear drop shaped, for placement behind the ear. The headset further comprises a pivotal boom microphone containing at least one, preferably two, microphone(s) for transmitting the user's voice, preferably with the voice substantially free of background noise. The earband structure is also preferably contour shaped for better contact with surfaces behind the ear, for instance, the earband structure can have a shape on each side which substantially matingly fits surfaces behind the ear (e.g., to matingly fit behind the auricle, e.g., behind the fossa of helix and/or anti-helix, and/or over the mastoid bone protruding from the skull behind the ear, i.e., between the back of the ear and the skull). The earband member can also serve to support the headset in the stand so that the headset acts as a microphone system for far-field speech and sound recording by the installation of a simple electronic switching means in the headset.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Some prior art headsets have included various intermediate supporting structures for supporting the headset in cooperative relationship with the ear and mouth of the user. Such structures have included headbands and means for attachment to the temple of eyeglasses. Prior art headsets suffer from several disadvantages.

One of the problems of prior art headsets relates to headbands per se, which are necessary with most headset designs to provide the needed support. Headbands are inherently bulky, add to the cost of the headset, and must be maintained and stored. For some applications as, for example, when other heavy headgear must also be worn, headbands are frequently inconvenient or unsuitable. Moreover, to a large number of hairdress-conscious women operators, headbands of any type are anathema because of their bulk and tendency to snag and disturb the hair.

Headsets have evolved from bulky, uncomfortable headphones which clamped to the cranium, to light-weight miniature headsets which clip to the ear or to eyeglasses. In the state of the art, the transducers are placed in a housing which is clipped behind the ear, with tubes leading from the transducers to the mouth and auditory meatus of the operator. Alternatively, the housing is clamped to the temple bar of a head bracket which resembles an eyeglass frame, with the same sort of tubes used to conduct the sound to and from the transducers.

Other methods of avoiding headband support include suspending the set from a loop placed around the ear, similar to eyeglass frames, or suspending the set from the eyeglass frame itself. The eyeglass clip method, however, tends to shift the optical axis, and is limited in any case to persons who wear glasses. The over-ear loop lacks stability and also disturbs the optical axis if glasses are also worn. These structures have been rather cumbersome. In practice, the eyeglass frame head bracket is uncomfortable and unwieldy. The housing disposed behind the ear tends to hang on the helix of the ear in an annoying fashion, and the tube extending into the meatus is also irritating. In both cases, the headsets must be manufactured in left and right ear models.

Another means for avoiding headband support on is ear molds for supporting the headset from inside the ear. This necessitates fitting of the ear mold to individual users. Headsets without the headband have not been adopted in any extensive commercial practice primarily because such headband-free headsets do not adapt to average ear variations and, therefore, have not closely or properly fit and have easily fallen from the ear.

An increasing concern for operator comfort as well as equipment performance has prompted recent efforts to improve radio and telephone headsets. Broadly, the two prime causes of wearer discomfort are the weight and bulk of the set, and the distribution of whatever weight is involved. Significant weight and size reductions are achieved by replacing the heavy magnetic core receivers and carbon-type transmitters with miniature balanced armature transducers of the type routinely used in hearing aid devices. These transducers have been used with acoustic pick-up tubes, and this expedient has also been employed in the telephone headset art to reduce weight.

Another general problem of prior headsets involves the support or suspension mechanisms for positioning the headset in accordance with the wearer's mouth-ear geometry. An aspect of this problem is that conventional supports in headset designs employ very complicated and bulky adjustment features. Simplified support designs have sacrificed at least to some extent adjustability. Further, earlier support designs did not adequately take into account certain wearer preferences, particularly of telephone operators, which include location of the supportive pressure, manner of putting on and removing the headset and movement of the transmitter independently of the receiver.

A further problem of prior headsets, principally one of acoustics but bearing importantly on operator comfort, relates to the receiver-to-ear seal. Tight seals are desirable from the transmission standpoint, but are achieved in today's headsets with considerable sacrifice in operator comfort.

Thus, the prior art has failed to provide an adjustable communication headset. The prior art has not provided a computer headset which has good fidelity i