Wireless earpiece assembly

• US 7,505,793 B2
• Filed: 08/29/2005
• Issued: 03/17/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: WFR IP LLC (Pueblo Nuevo LLC)
• Original Assignee: Effingo Wireless Incorporated
• Inventors: Ryann, William Frederick
• Primary Examiner(s): Dao; Minh D
• Application Number:
  US11/218,392
• Publication Number:
  US 20070049362A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,296 Days
• Field of Search: 455/569.1, 455/41.2, 455/557, 455/575.1, 455/575.6, 455/90.3, 381/314, 381/77
• US Class Current: 455/569.1
• 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 1/6066 including a wireless connection
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1016 Earpieces of the intra-aural type
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/105 Earpiece supports, e.g. ear hooks for stereophonic headphones H04R5/0335

Abstract

A wireless earpiece assembly configured to physically contact a user exclusively at an ear support behind a user'"'"'s ear when in use. The ear support does not exceed about 0.25 inches in width. The assembly is configured to distribute a significant portion of its bulk away from the isolated location of a user'"'"'s ear for long term user comfort without sacrifice of audio or communicational integrity. The wireless earpiece assembly simultaneously eliminates the use of any conventional extraneous wiring in order to optimize the un-encumbering user-friendly advantages afforded by wireless technology.

Claims

1. A wireless earpiece assembly comprising:

an ear support having a portion for positioning a speaker at a user'"'"'s ear;

a casing coupling to a portion of said ear support and of a bulk for housing a plurality of components of the earpiece assembly; and

a casing support to provide the coupling and displace the bulk of said casing to a location between the user'"'"'s ear and a neckline of the user, the bulk of said casing exceeding that of said ear support and that of said casing support.

2. The wireless earpiece assembly of claim 1 wherein said casing support is between about 0.25 inches and about 5.0 inches in length.

3. The wireless earpiece assembly of claim 1 wherein said casing support is less than about 0.25 inches wide.

4. The wireless earpiece assembly of claim 1 wherein the plurality of components includes one of a transceiver and antenna assembly, a power source, a microprocessor, and a microphone.

5. The wireless earpiece assembly of claim 1 wherein said casing support is of a stable conformation for supporting said casing in a lateral direction toward a mouth of the user.

6. The wireless earpiece assembly of claim 5 wherein said casing support is wiring of between about 8 gauge and about 20 gauge.

7. The wireless earpiece assembly of claim 1 wherein the portion of said ear support for positioning a speaker at a user'"'"'s ear and the portion of said ear support coupling to said casing are different portions.

8. A wireless earpiece assembly comprising:

an ear support having a portion for positioning a speaker at a user'"'"'s ear;

a casing coupling to another portion of said ear support and housing a focused microphone; and

a casing support to provide the coupling and displace the bulk of said casing away from the ear to a location above a neckline of the user, the bulk of said casing exceeding that of said ear support and that of said casing support.

9. The wireless earpiece assembly of claim 8 wherein said casing support is of a pliant conformation for loosely suspending said casing from said ear support.

10. The wireless earpiece assembly of claim 8 wherein said ear support is configured to occupy less than about 0.25 inches in width between the ear of the user and a head of the user.

11. The wireless earpiece assembly of claim 8 wherein said ear support further comprises an actuator to serve as a physical controlling interface for the user.

12. A wireless earpiece assembly comprising:

an ear support having a portion for positioning a speaker at a user'"'"'s ear and an actuator to serve as a physical controlling interface for the user;

a casing coupling to another portion of said ear support and housing a plurality of components of the earpiece assembly; and

a casing support to provide the coupling and displace a bulk of said casing away from the ear to a location above a neckline of the user, the bulk of said casing exceeding that of said ear support and that of said casing support.

13. The wireless earpiece assembly of claim 12 wherein said actuator is located at a front of said ear support.

14. The wireless earpiece assembly of claim 12 wherein the actuator is one of a button for pressing by the user and an electronic reader for covering by the user.

15. An earpiece comprising:

an ear support for positioning behind a user'"'"'s ear and securing the earpiece thereat;

a speaker for delivering sound to the user'"'"'s ear; and

a conformable elongated speaker support extending from a first end thereof coupled to said ear support to a second end thereof coupled to said speaker to maintain a user-defined separation between said speaker and the user'"'"'s ear, said speaker equipped with hypersonic sound delivery capacity to direct the sound across the separation to the user'"'"'s ear during the delivering.

16. The earpiece of claim 15 wherein the separation is up to about 0.5 inches.

17. The earpiece of claim 15 wherein said ear support is configured to occupy less than about 0.25 inches of width behind the ear.

18. The earpiece of claim 15 further comprising:

a casing coupling to said ear support and housing a wireless component, said casing of a bulk exceeding that of said ear support; and

a casing support to provide the coupling and displace the bulk of said casing away from the user'"'"'s ear to a location above a neckline of the user.

19. The earpiece of claim 18 wherein said casing support is less than about 0.25 inches wide.

20. A method of wirelessly employing earpiece assemblies and comprising:

securing an ear support of a first earpiece assembly at a user'"'"'s first ear; and

securing an ear support of a second earpiece assembly at a user'"'"'s second ear, the first earpiece assembly and the second earpiece assembly each further including a speaker, a casing for housing a plurality of components of the respective assembly, and a casing support to displace bulk of the casing away from the respective ear to a location above a neckline of the user, the bulk exceeding that of the ear support and the casing support.

21. The method of claim 20 further comprising delivering stereo sound to the user'"'"'s first and second ears with the speakers of the first and second earpiece assemblies.