Earphones with ear presence 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 ear presence sensor structures in the earphones on whether the earphones are in the ears of a user of the electronic device, wherein gathering the information comprises gathering information from light-based sensor structures having at least one light source and at least one light detector that detects light emitted by the at least one light source when a user'"'"'s ear is present adjacent to at least one of the earphones; and
in response to the information from the ear presence 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 ear presence sensor structures that determine whether or not the ears of a user are present in the vicinity of the earphones. The earphones may contain first and second speakers. When both the first and second speakers are located in the ears of the user, the electronic device may perform functions such as playing audio content. When one of the speakers has been removed from the ears of the user while the other of the speakers remains in the ears of the user, the electronic device can take actions such as pausing the playback of audio content, switching from stereo to monophonic playback, or stopping the playback of content. Suitable actions such as increasing audio drive strength may be taken when both speakers have been removed from the ears.
83 Citations
19 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 ear presence sensor structures in the earphones on whether the earphones are in the ears of a user of the electronic device, wherein gathering the information comprises gathering information from light-based sensor structures having at least one light source and at least one light detector that detects light emitted by the at least one light source when a user'"'"'s ear is present adjacent to at least one of the earphones; and in response to the information from the ear presence sensor structures, adjusting audio playback from the control circuitry to the earphones. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An electronic device accessory, comprising:
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an audio connector that is adapted to mate with a mating audio connector in an electronic device; a cable coupled to the audio connector; left and right earphone housings; left and right speaker drivers coupled to the cable, wherein the left speaker driver is mounted in the left earphone housing and wherein the right speaker driver is mounted in the right earphone housing; and ear presence sensor structures attached to the left and right earphone housings, wherein the ear presence sensor structures comprise light-based sensor structures having at least one light source and at least one light detector that detects light emitted by the at least one light source when a user'"'"'s ear is present adjacent to at least one of the left and right earphone housings.
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12. A method for operating a pair of headphones having speaker housings, comprising:
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with ear presence sensor structures on the speaker housings, determining whether ears of a user are present adjacent to the speaker housings, wherein the ear presence sensor structures comprise a light emitter and a light receiver, and wherein the ear presence sensor structures determine that the ears of the user are present adjacent to the speaker housings in response to the light receiver receiving light emitted by the light detector; and adjusting audio playback to speakers in the speaker housings in response to determining whether the ears of the user are present adjacent to the speaker housings. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. An electronic device, comprising:
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an earphone housing; a speaker mounted in the earphone housing; and a light-based ear presence sensor structure attached to the earphone housing, wherein the light-based ear presence sensor structure comprises a light source and a light detector, and wherein the light-based ear presence sensor structure detects that a user'"'"'s ear is present adjacent to the earphone housing in response to the light detector receiving light emitted by the light source. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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Specification