HK1020270A - Electroacoustic transducer - Google Patents

Description

The application of the technique is based on the following principles:

The invention relates to an electro-acoustic converter unit for a vehicle's in-vehicle telephone system, particularly for connecting to a mobile phone as a transmission device.

In order to make telephone calls in a vehicle, the use of a wireless telephone is very common, since the user does not have to hold the mobile phone in his hand, which is very important to enable him to devote all his attention to road traffic and driving.

In addition to a type of base station, usually consisting of a mobile phone holder and built-in free-speech electronics, microphones and a speaker are usually attached to the A-pillar or console, and sometimes also to or behind the steering wheel. Speakers are usually smaller units that must be mounted either very necessarily on the console or even in the footroom of the driver. This is due to the fact that, in order to avoid interference and to avoid back coupling and reverberation, there should be no direct and very low-line acoustic connection between the speaker and the free-speech microphone.

The problem and the solution

The purpose of the invention is to create an electro-acoustic converter unit for a voice-activated apparatus that is easy to install, retrofit and functionally sound.

This is solved by claim 1. The converter unit or converter can be mounted as close as possible to the head or mouth or ear of a person sitting in the seat and to the seat or vehicle. Unlike a headset, e.g. a headset, the converter unit does not obstruct the user, it is not visually perceived when mounted behind the head. Preferably, the electro-acoustic converter unit includes at least one loudspeaker.

Preferably, the converter unit shall have a holder for attachment to the seat or vehicle, preferably in the area of a seat headrest, preferably at least partially between the headrest and the seat back.

In particular, the holder is designed to be attached to at least one head restraint of a head restraint, the attachment being removable, in particular manually. The free space between side head restraints and the head restraint and the seat back or one of the above components, which is available in most vehicle seats, is thus used to accommodate or fix the converter unit. For this purpose, the converter unit can be attached to, and in particular at least partially between, two head restraints.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the electroacoustic converter unit has a housing for the reception of at least one loudspeaker. This is preferably external shock absorbing for safety reasons, preferably by means of a cushion or a casing. It is also possible to have a housing made of an shock absorbing material, especially hard foam materials, etc. are suitable. In particular, the areas facing forward and backward in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle when fixed may be flexible, preferably cushioned, for safety reasons.

In a particularly favourable design, the enclosure shall comprise at least one cavity designed to accommodate at least one transducer or loudspeaker, preferably designed as a resonator chamber for sound amplification for a loudspeaker. To improve sound emission, the enclosure or cavity may have at least one sound outlet opening, which may be especially forwards. An excellent comprehensibility for the operator can be achieved by means of sound emission directed in a desired direction, preferably in the direction of the ear or forward, at low sound power or volume of the loudspeaker.

Alternatively, a piezoelectric speaker may be used, the advantages of which include low structural size, minimal wear resistance, low energy consumption, low susceptibility to electromagnetic fields generated in a vehicle and a frequency range well suited to the frequency range of human speech.

Preferably, the transformer unit or its housing can be fixed by means of the bracket between two head restraints, in particular by self-locking, preferably with head restraint inserts or removals. Since the head restraint spacing remains the same when the head restraint is adjusted to the height, a fixation is advantageous. By means of inserts or removals, it is possible for the transformer unit or its housing to include at least part of the head restraints and thus provide a sufficiently secure connection interface.

The housing may have at least two parts, e.g. consisting of two shells. One part may be articulated to the other housing, in particular moveable or deflectable in front of it. One part preferably contains at least one loudspeaker, which allows a favourable direction of sound waves towards the ear or head. At least one sound entry opening and/or at least one loudspeaker may be adjustable, e.g. so that sound can be extracted towards the front of the vehicle, preferably towards an ear of a person seated in the seat.

As an alternative to a microphone device as the sole electro-acoustic converter unit, a speaker may be fitted with a microphone device as an additional converter in the present invention. At least one microphone, preferably by means of a microphone holder designed for this purpose, is attached to the collar or housing.

The microphone device or microphone holder shall preferably be so designed that the position and/or orientation of a microphone can be determined at will, either by means of a hook-like arm or, in particular, by means of a flexible and form-stable cable.

The installation of a complete free-speech system in direct connection with the electroacoustic converter may be accompanied by a free-speech electronics, which may be placed in particular in the housing or on the holder. In conjunction with a directly attached microphone, a compact and yet easy to install and particularly advantageous free-speech system is obtained.

In a preferred design of the invention, at least one speaker is affixed behind and a microphone in front of the head or mouth of a person seated in the seat, so that they are not only spatially close to the ear or mouth, but also by interrupting a direct transmission line between speaker and microphone by the head, undesirable noise effects of a free-speech system such as feedback or reverberation are avoided.

To create a versatile converter unit, it may be equipped with its own electrical power supply, with a holder or housing, in particular, having a receptacle for a usable battery.

A preferred embodiment of the invention may be an elongated, at least partially spring-compressible housing with a loudspeaker at one end, having two protrusions at each end, with a longitudinal spring device in one long protrusion. In the case of a compressed longitudinal spring, the converter may be inserted by means of the lateral protrusions between two head restraints of a vehicle seat and may be automatically and permanently detachable along the length of the vehicle. Such a converter may be easily manually fixed and detachable. To facilitate the insertion into the vehicle of the speaker, the speaker may be placed in the rear of the vehicle, and a microphone may be inserted as a head restraint.

For the installation of vehicle seats, e.g. with head restraints without support, e.g. integral seats, a fixation with a textile adhesive link can be used. It is possible to wrap the upper seat back area or head restraint area with such an adhesive band to which the transformer can be attached. Another possibility is to place it in or on a cover which at least partially encloses the upper seat or head restraint area and is, for example, designed to accommodate the transformer unit with a type of textile cover, etc. A permanent fixation of an electro-acoustic transformer to or in a vehicle seat by means of a screw or a back coupling.

These and other features are apparent not only from the claims but also from the description and drawings, each of which may be realized, either alone or in combination in one embodiment of the invention and in other fields, as beneficial and in itself capable of being protected features for which protection is claimed.

The Commission shall be assisted by the Member States in the preparation of the draft implementing acts.

Several embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings and are explained in more detail below. Figure 1 a view from the front of a loudspeaker housed as an electro-acoustic converter unit of the invention with a flexible microphone carrier wedged between two head restraints of a car seat,Figure 2 the converter unit of Figure 1 from above including the head of a person in the seat,Figure 3 an alternative design with a suspension in a lateral longitudinal slot of the housing andFigure 4 a minimum design of a speaker as a converter unit according to the invention

The following is a description of the examples of exercises:

Figure 1 shows an electro-acoustic converter unit 11 whose housing, also known as a holder 12, is attached to a vehicle seat 13 and is located between two head restraints 14 that protrude from a seat back 15 and support a head restraint 16.

The housing consists of two parts, a speaker part 18 and a housing cap 19 which is at least partially passed over the speaker part.

In the left area of the loudspeaker part 18, a non-represented loudspeaker is contained in a cavity serving as a resonator chamber, with sound output 20 being used to divert the sound produced by the loudspeaker from the loudspeaker part 18.

A microphone holder 22 is mounted on the side of the speaker part 18 of the housing 12 and has a long, thin and flexible arm 23 with a microphone 24 at the free end, which is approximately facing the headrest 16 as the mouth of an operator in the vehicle seat 13 is likely to be in this direction.

The converter unit 11 is connected by a connecting cable 25; in the version shown in Figures 1 and 2 which contains both a loudspeaker and a microphone 24 and a speaker electronics and a power supply, the connecting cable 25 is used only for connecting to a mobile phone as a transmitting device, and, depending on the design, it can also connect an external speaker electronics only to a speaker and/or a microphone 24 as an electro-acoustic converter in the housing 12.

Figure 2 shows the device shown in Figure 1 enlarged from above with a schematically shown operator head 27. Here the two-part structure of the housing 12 with speaker part 18 and housing cap 19 is clearly shown. The speaker part 18 is at least partially incorporated into the mainly hollow housing cap 19 and is supported by a screw spring 28 attached to its front face and pressing against the floor of the housing cap 19. In this way the length of the housing 12 and thus the spacing of the exits 29 arranged on the sides of the housing can be varied over a wide area, which allows a different distance of the head restraint to be adjusted for different models of vehicles.In addition, in conjunction with the special design of the 29 exceptions, a formally coherent connection of the housing 12 with the head restraints 14 is achieved, at least in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle (corresponding to the longitudinal direction of the sheet from top to bottom in Fig. 2).

Figure 2 shows a membrane speaker 31 in strips in the thicker part of the speaker part 18 from which the sound produced in the speaker's resonator chamber is transmitted directly to an operator's head 27 via the sound entry opening 20 and a free-speech electronics 32 and a battery 33 are also shown in strips in the speaker part 18 so that a complete free-speech device 24 is provided in conjunction with the microphone.

As shown in Figure 2, for safety reasons, the microphone holder 22 is mounted behind the 29th housing in speaker part 18 to prevent the housing 12 from moving in this area in front of the head restraint 14 towards the head 27.

Fig. 3 shows an alternative version in slanted view, in which a long spiral spring 37 is fitted in a side longitudinal slot 36 and is attached to the left of the housing 12. Towards the exit of the slot a nipple 38 is inserted, which allows the spiral spring 37 to be attached to a headrest. A length adapter 39 is shown in vertical lines, which can be inserted into an opening 40 in the nipple 38 especially for widely spaced headrest.

The housing contains a dashed speaker 31 and two sound-outlets 20. A microphone holder 22 is attached and connected by a screw connection 42 to a flexible arm 23 that supports the microphone 24. The connecting cable 25 is connected by a connecting plug 43 to the reverse longitudinal side, which, when installed, points towards the rear of the vehicle.

The longitudinal slot 36 is narrower than the diameter of the spiral spring and has hollows on its inner walls so that spiral spring 37 and nipple 38 are securely carried in the slot and cannot be pushed out.

Figure 4 shows a particularly simple and inexpensive minimal version of an electro-acoustic converter unit 11 of the invention. It consists of a housing 12 containing essentially a loudspeaker, here a membrane speaker, 31 and attached to a headrest 14 only, preferably by clips, clamps or screws. This may be accompanied by an exception 29 on one side of the housing, which has a width of less than the diameter of a headrest 14 and then expansion sections.

The Commission shall:

Since an application of the invention constitutes an accessory for owners of mobile telephones who wish to install a standby device in their own car, an electro-acoustic converter unit may preferably be constructed as shown in Figures 1 to 3. The manufacturer installs and connects loudspeakers 31 and standby electronics 32 to the loudspeaker part 18 and to a connecting cable 25 and the microphone 24. The connection of the microphone 24 to the standby electronics 32 is preferably made by means of a coaxial cable running in the 23 microphone holder arm 22 which, if the invention were to be implemented, may also constitute the main arm. The housing does not contain any 19 or 12 housing units for the function for which they are necessary. Together they form a single unit for the installation of the standby electronics 22 and the installation of the standby electronics 28 is only possible by means of a coaxial cable.

To start the operation, the user simply inserts a battery etc. into the housing 12 or speaker part 18 which can be conveniently stopped independently of a housing cap 19 and then closes the housing or the housing cap containing the screw spring over the end of the speaker part and inserts the housing 12 from behind between the two head restraints 14 of the vehicle seat 13. When pressing the housing 12 or the longitudinal spring he must compress it so that it can be brought between the head restraints 14 until the head restraints are at least 12/36 degrees apart. This can be achieved by applying a force of at least 34 degrees to the end of the housing or the head restraint 12 is securely pressed in the direction of the gait.

Depending on the position of the head, the loudspeaker 11 can be moved along the head restraint 14 to the optimum position for the operator. Finally, the connection cable 25 is simply connected to the mobile phone or its base station in the vehicle. As shown in Figure 1, the microphone 24 and most of the arm restraint 23 can be located one piece below the head restraint 16 and thus the head 27. This has the advantage that in the event of an accident, possibly with the activation of an airbag, the microphone 24 is not directly in front of the head 27 or the face and therefore does not present any further danger.

An electro-acoustic converter unit 11 with a housing 12 as shown in Figure 4 shall be attached to a head restraint 14 by the means prescribed, for example by snap or screw, and connected by the connecting cable 25 to a free-speech device; the attachment shall, for safety reasons, preferably be so made that the housing 12 cannot easily rotate or detach from the head restraint 14.

Claims (13)

1. Electroacoustic converter unit for a vehicle's in-vehicle voice-frequency system, in particular for connecting to a mobile phone as a transmission device, where the converter unit (11) is designed to be located in the upper seat back area (15) of a seat (13).
2. Electroacoustic converter unit according to claim 1, characterised by having at least one loudspeaker (31), in particular a membrane loudspeaker.
3. Electroacoustic converter unit according to claim 1 or 2, characterised by having at least one holder specially designed to be fixed in the area of a headrest (16) of the seat (13), preferably at least partially between the headrest and the seat back (15) and capable of being fixed and/or detached from the vehicle or seat, in particular by means of the holder, without tools.
4. Electroacoustic converter unit according to claim 3, characterised by the fact that the cold is part of a housing (12) and is designed to be mounted preferably soluble on at least one head restraint (14) of a head restraint (16), in particular the converter unit (11) being mounted by means of the holder, preferably at least partially between two head restraints.
5. Electroacoustic converter unit according to claim 3 or 4, characterised by its ability to be clamped between two head restraint supports (14) and in particular by its ability to be self-locked, preferably with head restraint receptors (29, 36).
6. Electroacoustic converter unit according to one of the above claims, characterised by having a housing (12) with at least one loudspeaker (31) which is particularly shock-absorbent on at least one external side, preferably by a padding, in particular the housing (12) comprising a cavity designed to accommodate at least one loudspeaker, preferably a resonator chamber, with at least one sound-outlet opening (20), in particular at least one sound-outlet opening which can be set in the direction of travel.
7. Electroacoustic converter unit according to one of the claims 3 to 6, characterised by the length-variable nature of the holder, in particular the housing (12), preferably at least partially telescopic, in particular the converter unit having a longitudinal spring for fixed clamping with a pre-tension.
8. Electroacoustic converter according to one of the claims 3 to 7, characterised by the presence of at least two parts of the housing (12) and/or holder, one part preferably containing at least one loudspeaker (31) being mobilityally connected to the other housing, in particular by means of a bending or springing movement in relation to it.
9. Electroacoustic converter unit according to one of the claims 2 to 8 characterised by the fact that at least one loudspeaker (31) and/or at least one sound-pass opening (20) can be positioned in front of the converter unit (11), in particular in such a way that sound from the loudspeaker can be emitted towards the front of the vehicle, preferably towards an ear of an operator sitting in the seat (13).
10. Electroacoustic converter unit according to one of the claims 3 to 9 characterised by the addition of a microphone device with at least one microphone (24) which is preferably attached to the housing (12) and/or holder by means of a microphone holder (22) and/or the microphone device is preferably designed to allow the position and/or orientation of the microphone (24) to be variable, in particular by means of a flexible support arm (23), preferably with at least one speaker (31) behind and the microphone (24) (13) in front of the head (27) or the mouth of an operator seated in the seat.
11. Electroacoustic converter unit according to one of the above claims, characterised by the addition of a stand-alone electronic unit (32) which is housed in the housing (12) and/or preferably by its own power supply, in particular the housing (12) having a receptacle for a chargeable battery (33).
12. Electroacoustic converter unit according to one of the above claims, characterised by being capable of being connected to a mobile or car telephone by means of a connection cable (25).
13. Electroacoustic converter according to one of the above claims, characterised by a longitudinal housing (12) with a loudspeaker (31) at one end and two exceptions (29, 36) at both ends, one exception (36) being a longitudinal spring device and the housing with the two lateral exceptions being inserted between two head restraints (14) of a vehicle seat (13) and there being self-operating and formally adjustable in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, the longitudinal spring direction partially compressing the housing against the head restraint.