Earphones with Cable Orientation Sensors
First Claim
1. A method for operating an electronic device that is configured to play audio through a pair of earphones, comprising:
- with control circuitry in the electronic device, gathering information from sensor structures in the earphones on whether the earphones are in the ears of multiple users of the electronic device; and
in response to the information from the sensor structures, adjusting audio playback from the control circuitry to the earphones.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic device may be coupled to an accessory such as a pair of earphones. The earphones may have multi-user sensor structures that determine whether or not the earphones are being shared by multiple users. The multi-user sensor structures may include an angle sensor configured to measure an angle at the Y-junction of a cable associated with the pair of headphones. When the first and second speakers are both located in the ears of a single user, the electronic device may perform functions such as playing audio content. When one of the speakers is located in an ear of a first user while the other of the speakers is located in an ear of a second user, the electronic device can automatically take actions such as switching from stereo to mono playback, playing a different type of audio content to each earphone, or other suitable action.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for operating an electronic device that is configured to play audio through a pair of earphones, comprising:
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with control circuitry in the electronic device, gathering information from sensor structures in the earphones on whether the earphones are in the ears of multiple users of the electronic device; and in response to the information from the sensor structures, adjusting audio playback from the control circuitry to the earphones. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. Earphones operable to play audio from an electronic device, comprising:
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an audio connector that is adapted to mate with an audio connector in the electronic device; a cable coupled to the audio connector; left and right earphone speaker housings coupled to the cable; left and right speaker drivers, wherein the left speaker driver is mounted in the left speaker housing and wherein the right speaker driver is mounted in the right speaker housing; and sensor structures configured to measure an angle associated with the cable. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for operating a pair of earphones having a cable with a junction at which the cable branches into first and second cable segments each of which has a respective earphone speaker, comprising:
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with angle sensor structures in the cable, measuring an angle that separates the first and second cable segments at the junction to determine whether the pair of earphones is being shared by multiple users; and adjusting audio playback to each earphone speaker in response to determining whether the pair of earphones is being shared by multiple users from measurement of the angle. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification