HEADPHONES FOR REPRODUCING FOUR-CHANNEL SOUND

• US 3,794,779 A
• Filed: 08/23/1971
• Issued: 02/26/1974
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/1971
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Charles E. Greuzerd, Louis Lawrence Henkin
• Original Assignee: Charles E. Greuzerd, Louis Lawrence Henkin
• Inventors: Greuzerd, Charles E., Henkin, Louis Lawrence
• Primary Examiner(s): Cooper, William C.
• Application Number:
  US05/173,809
• Time in Patent Office: 918 Days
• Field of Search: 179/1G,1GA,156R,182
• US Class Current: 381/5
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1041 Mechanical or electronic switches, or control elements switches in general H01H
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1075 Mountings of transducers in earphones or headphones
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2205/022 Plurality of transducers corresponding to a plurality of sound channels in each earpiece of headphones or in a single enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 5/02 Spatial or constructional arrangements of loudspeakers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 5/033 Headphones for stereophonic communication details thereof, e.g. relating to batteries, cables or control elements H04R1/10

Abstract

Each headphone casing encloses forwardly and rearwardly extending, segregated, acoustic mixing chambers segregated by a generally vertical partition and opening inwardly through a common, generally central opening to an ear of the person wearing the headphones. The headphone segregated mixing chambers preferably have specifically contoured walls with a sound emitting device in each mixing chamber directed at least partially against said walls for a proper sound mixing in each mixing chamber and the headphones central openings are of appropriate various sizes and depth for at least fully receiving the persons ear with acoustic integrating chambers of various sizes formed by the central openings adjacent the ears and simultaneously communicating with each of the segregated mixing chambers. Thus, with one channel of four-channel sound directed into each of the mixing chambers of a set of the earphones, the full effect of four-channel sound is received, and by similar connection of stereophonic sound, many of the four-channel sound effects are reproduced from the stereophonic sound.

Claims

1. In a headphone construction, the combination of:

a main generally hollow casing having a generally central opening at an inner side positionable at an ear of a person, said casing enclosing forwardly and rearwardly extending segregated acoustic mixing chambers separated by a portion of said casing and each opening through said casing central opening; and

a sound emitting device in each of said mixing chambers positioned directing sound into the respective of said mixing chambers, said sound emitting devices in each of said mixing chambers being principally directed toward walls of said respective mixing chambers formed by said portion of said casing separating said mixing chambers.

2. The headphone construction as defined in claim 1 in which said casing central opening forming an acoustic integrating chamber between said mixing chambers and said ear inwardly of said portion of said casing separating said mixing chambers.

3. The headphone construction as defined in claim 1 in which each of said mixing chambers in extension thereof outwardly and forwardly and rearwardly from said casing inner side is generally ovoidal in horizontal cross section and generally ellipsoidal in vertical cross section.

4. In a headphone construction, the combination of:

a main casing having a generally vertical partition separating said casing into forward and rearward acoustic mixing chambers, said casing being adapted for positioning with a casing inner side against the head of a person covering an ear and with said partition at said ear, said casing and said partition forming walls defining said chambers;

said forward mixing chamber opening through said casing forwardly of said partition to said ear;

said rearward mixing chamber opening through said casing rearwardly of said partition to said ear; and

a sound emitting device in each of said mixing chambers directing sound into the respective one of said mixing chambers, said sound emitting devices in each of said mixing chambers being principally directed toward walls of said respective chambers formed by said partition.

5. The headphone construction as defined in claim 4 in which said sound emitting device in said forward mixing chamber is at a forward extremity of said forward mixing chamber directed rearwardly;

and in which said sound emitting device in said rearward mixing chamber is at a rearward extremity of said rearward mixing chamber directed forwardly.

6. The headphone construction as defined in claim 4 in which said forward and rearward mixing chambers communicate through said casing inner side through an acoustic integrating chamber in said casing inwardly of an inner termination of said partition.

7. The headphone construction as defined in claim 4 in which said walls of said forward and rearward mixing chambers outwardly of said casing inner side including said partition are arcuate in horizontal cross section.

8. The headphone construction as defined in claim 4 in which said walls of said forward and rearward mixing chambers outwardly of said casing inner side including said partition are arcuate in vertical cross section.

9. The headphone construction as defined in claim 4 in which said walls of said forward and rearward mixing chambers outwardly of said casing inner side including said partition are arcuate in both vertical and horizontal cross section.

10. The headphone construction as defined in claim 4 in which said walls of said forward and rearward mixing chambers outwardly of said casing inner side including said partition are generally ellipsoidal in vertical cross section.

11. The headphone construction as defined in claim 4 in which said walls of said forward and rearward mixing chambers outwardly of said casing inner side including said partition are generally ovoidal in horizontal cross section.

12. The headphone construction as defined in claim 4 in which said walls of said forward and rearward Mixing chambers outwardly of said casing inner side including said partition are generally ellipsoidal in vertical cross section and generally ovoidal in horizontal cross section, said mixing chamber ovoidal horizontal cross sections having maximum outward dimensions at locations lesser horizontal distances from said casing partition than horizontal midpoint distances of said mixing chambers from said partition.

13. The headphone construction as defined in claim 4 in which similar arcuate protrusions are formed principally on said casing partition projecting principally from said partition into each of said forward and rearward mixing chambers.

14. The headphone construction as defined in claim 4 in which similar arcuate protrusions are formed principally on said casing partition projecting into each of said forward and rearward mixing chambers principally from said partition, said forward mixing chamber protrusion projecting principally from said partition generally toward said forward mixing chamber forward extremity, said rearward mixing chamber protrusion projecting principally from said partition generally toward said rearward mixing chamber rearward extremity, said forward and rearward mixing chamber protrusions in projection principally from said casing partition being generally ellipsoidal in both vertical and horizontal cross section.

15. The headphone construction as defined in claim 4 in which similar arcuate protrusions are formed principally on said casing partition projecting into each of said forward and rearward mixing chambers principally from said partition, said forward mixing chamber protrusion projecting principally from said partition, generally toward said forward mixing chamber forward extremity, said rearward mixing chamber protrusion projecting principally from said partition generally toward said rearward mixing chamber rearward extremity;

said forward and rearward mixing chamber protrusions covering major portions of walls of said casing partition.