Wireless interactive headset

• US 7,445,332 B2
• Filed: 10/12/2004
• Issued: 11/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Oakley, Inc. (EssilorLuxottica SA)
• Original Assignee: Oakley, Inc. (EssilorLuxottica SA)
• Inventors: Reyes, Carlos, Baden, Colin, Bruns, Sumner Lane, Jannard, James, Saderholm, Davin, Webb, Michael, Daniels, Eric Bernard
• Primary Examiner(s): DANG, HUNG XUAN
• Application Number:
  US10/963,290
• Publication Number:
  US 20050046789A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,484 Days
• Field of Search: 351/158, 351/41, 351/111, 351/123, 381370-381, 704/270, 704/271
• US Class Current: 351/158
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 11/06 Hearing aids construction of hearing aids H04R25/00
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 11/10 Electronic devices other than hearing aids
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/385 Transceivers carried on the body, e.g. in helmets
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2001/3866 carried on the head
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/05 specially adapted for use on head, throat or breast
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6041 Portable telephones adapted for handsfree use
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1025 Accumulators or arrangements for charging secondary cells per se H01M10/00; charging in general H02J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1041 Mechanical or electronic switches, or control elements switches in general H01H
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1066 Constructional aspects of the interconnection between earpiece and earpiece support earpiece support for monophonic headphones H04R1/105; earpiece support for stereophonic headphones H04R5/0335
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1083 Reduction of ambient noise active noise reduction per se G10K11/175; protective devices for the ear, e.g. providing acoustic protection A61F11/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2201/103 Combination of monophonic or stereophonic headphones with audio players, e.g. integrated in the headphone
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2420/07 Applications of wireless loudspeakers or wireless microphones
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2460/13 Hearing devices using bone conduction transducers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 5/0335 Earpiece support, e.g. headbands or neckrests for monophonic headphones H04R1/105

Abstract

A wearable audio device in the form of eyeglasses includes actuators disposed the ear stems. The actuators, which can be in the form of buttons, and/or the ear stems, are configured to enhance the comfort of the users. For example, the buttons can be disposed on the upper surface of the ear stems with the lower surface having an enlarged surface so as to allow the user to pinch the ear stem to thereby counter-balance the actuation force used to depress the button.

Claims

1. An eyeglass comprising:

a frame defining at least one lens support;

at least a first lens supported by the first lens support;

first and second ear stems extending rearwardly from the frame, the first ear stem comprising a first surface facing a first direction and a second surface being oriented substantially perpendicular to the first direction, the first ear stem being formed to include an elongate cavity disposed therein, the cavity having an opening extending along the second surface of the first ear stem, the first ear stem further including a plurality of button apertures extending from the cavity to the first surface of the first ear stem;

an electronic device being received within the cavity of the first ear stem, the electronic device having an audio output jack, a microphone, and a wireless transceiver, the audio output jack being disposed along the first surface of the first ear stem;

a support arm being attachable to the eyeglass at the audio output jack of the electronic device to form a first moveable joint, the first moveable joint providing an isolated pivoting movement, the support arm further providing at least one additional degree of movement other than the isolated pivoting movement, the support arm being attachable to the first ear stem at a position anterior to an ear of a wearer, the support arm being configured with a distal end thereof being adjustable relative to the first ear stem;

a speaker coupled to the distal end of the support arm and being selectively adjustable relative to the ear of the wearer; and

a plurality of buttons extending from the respective ones of the button apertures, the buttons being displaceable relative to the first surface with an actuation force applied to the buttons being offset by a balancing force applied to the first ear stem, the first surface having a width of at least one-quarter of an inch, the buttons being operative to control an aspect of the electronic device.

2. The eyeglass according to claim 1, wherein the width is measured in a direction transverse to a longitudinal direction of the ear stem.

3. The eyeglass according to claim 2, wherein the width is at least about one-half of one-inch.

4. The eyeglass according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of button apertures comprises first and second apertures on the second surface and the plurality of buttons includes first and second buttons extending through the respective ones of the first and second apertures.

5. The eyeglass according to claim 4, wherein the first and second buttons are the only buttons on the first ear stem, the first and second buttons being electrically connected to the electronic device supported by the first ear stem, the first button being configured to increase the volume of audio output from the electronic device, and the second button being configured to reduce the volume of audio output from the electronic device.

6. The eyeglass according to claim 4 additionally comprising a plurality of buttons disposed on the second ear stem.

7. The eyeglass according to claim 6, wherein the plurality of buttons on the second ear stem comprises at least third and fourth buttons configured to provide a track skip function associated with the playback of an audio file in an audio playback device supported by the frame.

8. The eyeglass according to claim 7, wherein the audio device is an MP3 file format play back and storage device.

9. The eyeglass according to claim 7, wherein the third and fourth buttons are also configured to provide fast-forward and rewind functions associated with the playback of an audio file in the audio playback device.

10. The eyeglass according to claim 9 additionally comprising a fifth button on the second ear stem configured to provide power-on and power-off signals to the audio playback device.

11. The eyeglass according to claim 1 wherein the transceiver of the electronic device is configured to communicate with a cellular telephone.

12. The eyeglass according to claim 1, further comprising a cover being attached to the first ear stem over the opening to thereby enclose the electronic device within the cavity.

13. An eyeglass comprising:

a frame defining at least one lens support;

at least a first lens supported by the first lens support;

first and second arcuate ear stems extending rearwardly from the frame, the first ear stem comprising a first surface facing a first direction and an arcuate second surface being oriented substantially perpendicular to the first direction, the first ear stem being formed to include an elongate cavity disposed therein, the cavity having an opening extending along the second surface of the first ear stem, the first ear stem further including a plurality of button apertures extending from the cavity to the first surface of the first ear stem;

an electronic device being removably received within the cavity formed in the first ear stem, the electronic device having a microphone, an audio output jack, and a wireless transceiver;

an adjustable support arm being formed separately from the first ear stem, the support arm attachable to the eyeglass at the audio output jack of the electronic device to form a first moveable joint, the first moveable joint providing an isolated pivoting movement, the support arm further providing at least one additional degree of movement other than the isolated pivoting movement, the support arm being configured with a distal end thereof being adjustable relative to the first ear stem;

a speaker coupled to the distal end of the support arm and being selectively adjustable relative to the ear of the wearer; and

a plurality of buttons extending from the respective ones of the button apertures, the buttons being displaceable relative to the first surface with an actuation force applied to the buttons being offset by a balancing force applied to the first ear stem, the first surface having a width of at least one-quarter of an inch, the buttons being operative to control volume of the speaker and at least one other aspect of the electronic device.

14. The eyeglass according to claim 13, wherein the first moveable joint allows the speaker to rotate about an axis such that the speaker can be moved towards and away from the ear of the wearer.

15. An eyeglass comprising:

a frame defining at least one lens support;

at least a first lens supported by the first lens support;

first and second ear stems extending rearwardly from the frame, the first ear stem comprising an upper surface, a lower surface, and a side surface extending at least partially between the upper and lower surfaces, the first ear stem being formed to include an elongate cavity disposed therein, the cavity having an opening extending along the side surface of the first ear stem, the first ear stem further including a pair of button apertures extending from an interior of the cavity to the lower surface of the first ear stem;

an electronic device being received within the cavity formed in the first ear stem, the electronic device having a microphone, an audio output jack extending to the lower surface of the first earstem, and a wireless transceiver;

an adjustable support arm being formed separately from the first ear stem, the support arm attachable to the eyeglass at the audio output jack of the electronic device to facilitate electronic communication with the electronic device, the adjustable support arm having a first moveable joint providing the support arm with an isolated pivoting movement, the support arm further providing at least one additional degree of movement other than the isolated pivoting movement, the support arm being configured with a distal end thereof being adjustable relative to the first ear stem;

a speaker coupled to the distal end of the support arm and being selectively adjustable relative to an ear of a wearer; and

a pair of buttons extending from the respective ones of the pair of button apertures, the buttons being depressible for contacting the electronic device to control volume of the speaker and at least one other aspect of the electronic device.

16. The eyeglass according to claim 15, wherein the buttons are displaceable relative to the upper surface with an actuation force applied to the buttons being offset by a balancing force applied to the first ear stem, the lower surface having a width of at least one-quarter of an inch.

17. An eyeglass comprising a frame, first and second ear stems attached to the frame, the first ear stem comprising a cavity and an outer surface, an electronic device disposed in the cavity, the electronic device comprising a microphone, an audio output jack and a wireless transceiver, an adjustable support arm being formed separately from the first ear stem, the support arm being attachable to the eyeglass at the audio output jack of the electronic device to form a first moveable joint, the first moveable joint allowing the support arm to pivot relative to the first ear stem and providing at least one additional degree of movement other than the pivoting movement, the support arm being configured with a distal end thereof being adjustable relative to the first ear stem;

and a speaker coupled to the distal end of the support arm and being selectively adjustable relative to an ear of a wearer, at least one button exposed on the outer surface of the first ear stem, wherein the outer surface is configured so as to allow a wearer of the eyeglass to pinch the first ear stem when depressing the button, so as to thereby prevent loads from being transferred to the head of a wearer of the eyeglass when the button is depressed.

18. The eyeglass according to claim 17 wherein the outer surface comprises first and second outer surfaces facing in generally opposing directions, the button being exposed on the first outer surface, the eyeglass further comprising a comfortable finger support on the second outer surface.

19. The eyeglass according to claim 18, wherein the comfortable finger support has a width that is at least one-half of one inch.

20. The eyeglass according to claim 18, wherein the first outer surface faces generally upward when the eyeglass is worn on the head of a wearer.

21. The eyeglass according to claim 17, further comprising a switch in communication with the button.

22. An eyeglass comprising:

a frame defining at least one lens support;

at least a first lens supported by the first lens support;

first and second ear stems extending rearwardly from the frame, the first ear stem comprising an outer surface, the first ear stem being formed to include an elongate cavity disposed therein, the elongate cavity having an opening extending along at least a portion of the outer surface of the first ear stem;

an electronic device being received within the cavity of the first ear stem, the electronic device having an audio output jack, a microphone, and a wireless transceiver, the audio output jack being accessible along the outer surface of the first ear stem;

a support arm being attachable to the eyeglass at the audio output jack of the electronic device to form a first moveable joint, the first moveable joint providing a pivoting movement, the support arm further providing at least one additional degree of movement other than the pivoting movement, the support arm being attachable to the first ear stem with a distal end thereof being adjustable relative to the first ear stem;

a speaker coupled to the distal end of the support arm and being selectively adjustable relative to the ear of the wearer; and

a button exposed on the outer surface of the first ear stem, the button being operative to control an aspect of the electronic device, wherein the outer surface of the first ear stem is configured so as to allow a wearer of the eyeglass to pinch the first ear stem when depressing the button so as to thereby prevent loads from being transferred to the head of a wearer of the eyeglass when the button is depressed.

23. The eyeglass according to claim 22, wherein the outer surface has a width of at least one-quarter of an inch, and the width is measured in a direction transverse to a longitudinal direction of the ear stem.

24. The eyeglass according to claim 23, wherein the width is at least about one-half of one-inch.

25. The eyeglass according to claim 22, wherein the outer surface of the first ear stem comprises a first surface facing a first direction and a second surface being oriented substantially perpendicular to the first direction, the opening of the cavity extending along the second surface of the first ear stem, the first ear stem comprising a button aperture extending from the cavity to the first surface of the first ear stem, the button extending from the button aperture.

26. The eyeglass according to claim 22, wherein the support arm is attachable to the first ear stem at a position anterior to an ear of a wearer.

27. The eyeglass according to claim 22, wherein the buttons is displaceable relative to the outer surface with an actuation force applied to the button being offset by a balancing force applied to the first ear stem.

28. The eyeglass according to claim 22, wherein the first ear stem comprises a plurality of button apertures and the eyeglass comprises a plurality of buttons extending through the button apertures.

29. The eyeglass according to claim 22, wherein the eyeglass comprises first and second apertures on the outer surface and first and second buttons extending through the respective ones of the first and second apertures.

30. The eyeglass according to claim 29, wherein the first and second buttons are the only buttons on the first ear stem, the first and second buttons being connected to the electronic device supported by the first ear stem, the first button being configured to increase the volume of audio output from the electronic device, and the second button being configured to reduce the volume of audio output from the electronic device.

31. The eyeglass according to claim 30, additionally comprising a plurality of buttons disposed on the second ear stem.

32. The eyeglass according to claim 31, wherein the plurality of buttons on the second ear stem comprises at least third and fourth buttons configured to provide a track skip function associated with the playback of an audio file in an audio playback device supported by the frame.

33. The eyeglass according to claim 32, wherein the audio device is an MP3 file format play back and storage device.

34. The eyeglass according to claim 32, wherein the third and fourth buttons are also configured to provide fast-forward and rewind functions associated with the playback of an audio file in the audio playback device.

35. The eyeglass according to claim 34, additionally comprising a fifth button on the second ear stem configured to provide power-on and power-off signals to the audio playback device.

36. The eyeglass according to claim 22, wherein the transceiver of the electronic device is configured to communicate with a cellular telephone.