Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
CA 02460302 2004-03-09
ALL-IN-ONE HEADSET
BACKGROUND OF TILE INVENTION
1.Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an all-in-one neadset, which has a
constitution
that all elements necessary for radio contact with other persons, that is, a
communication unit, a microphone, an ear speaker, and a battery are assembled
on a
head band to be worn on a user's head, and more particularly to an all-in-one
headset
providing an indicating unit indicating operating states of the headset which
the user can
catch in a field of view, with the headset worn can look at.
2. Description of the Related An
Up until now, there have so far been proposed and used in a wide variety of
applications and across a broad range of industries. For example, in the fast
food
industry, each of working staffs at fast food restaurants wears a headset to
receive orders
from patrons.
The conventional all-in-one headset comprises a head band, an electronics
housing arranged at one end of the head band, and a microphone boom stretching
forth
from the bottom of the electronics housing (See USP No. 6,406,811).
The electronics housing contains a communication unit and a battery.
The electronics housing provides an earphone on its inside wall, and an
operation
panel for operating the communication unit on the outside wall.
The user of the conventional headset thus constructed can blindly operate
control
buttons arranged on the touch pad from experience with the headset worn on the
user's
head.
Further, the user with the headset worn can also estimate the operating states
of
the headset by touching the touch panel from experience
The above-mentioned conventional headset, however, encounters such a problem
that laborious works of removing the headset from the user's head, whenever
the user
wishes to recognize the operating states of the headset visually
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing problem, it is an object of the present invention to
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provide an all-in-one headset equipping an indicating unit indicating the
operating states,
which the user can catch in a field of view, with the headset worn.
An all-in-one headset to be worn on a user's head according to the present
invention, comprises, a head band; a first housing arranged at one end of said
head band,
said first housing having an inside wall contacting with an ear lobule of said
user, and
an outside wall on the opposite side of said inside wall; a boom member
stretching
forward from said first housing; a second housing arranged at the top end of
said boom
member; a microphone for converting the voice of said user into an electric
signal, said
microphone being housed in said second housing; a communication unit for
transmitting
the electric signal converted by said microphone, and receiving an electric
signal
indicative of a communicating partner, with one communication mode between two
communication modes using one communication channel between two communication
channels, said communication unit being housed in said first housing; an ear
speaker for
converting the electric signal indicative of a communicating partner into
sound, said ear
speaker being arranged on said inside wall; an operating panel having a
communication
channel selecting switch for outputting a communication channel selecting
signal, and a
communication mode selecting switch for outputting a communication mode
selecting
signal; a control unit for controlling said communication unit so as to
operate with one
communication mode selected in accordance with said communication mode
selecting
signal, using one communication channel selected in accordance with said
communication channel selecting signal, said control unit being housed in said
first
housing; a display control signal generating unit for generating a display
control signal
indicative of the communication channel selected by said communication channel
selecting signal and the communication mode selected by said communication
mode
selecting signal, said display control signal generating unit being housed in
said first
housing; and a display unit for displaying a sign indicative of the
communication
channel selected by said communication channel selecting signal and the
communication mode selected by said communication mode selecting signal in
accordance with said display control signal generated in said display control
signal
generating unit, said display unit being arranged on the circumference wall of
said
second housing.
The all-in-one headset according the present invention thus constructed as
mentioned above makes it possible that a user with the all-in-one headset worn
catch the
indicating unit showing the indication corresponding to the selected
communication
channel and communication mode in a field of view.
In the all-in-one headset according to the present invention, the indicating
unit
includes at least two light emitting diodes, each thereof emits light of a
color different
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from each other, and the display control signal generating unit controls
on/off states and
blinking patterns of said light emitting diodes.
The all-in-one headset according the present invention thus constructed as
mentioned above makes the constitution of the indicating unit simple.
in the all-in-one headset according to the present invention, the display
control
signal generating unit turns on one light emitting diode which emits light of
color
corresponding to said selected communication channel, and blinks said turned
on light
emitting diode a cycle corresponding to the selected communication mode.
The all-in-one headset according the present invention thus constructed as
mentioned above makes it possible that the user recognizes the operating
states of the
all-in-one headset with the color and blinking pattern of light.
In the all-in-one headset according to the present invention, the indicating
unit
consists of a liquid crystal display panel displaying at least two alpha-
numerals.
The all-in-one headset according the present invention thus constructed as
mentioned above makes it possible that the indicating unit indicates the
operating states
of the headset with alpha-numerals.
In the all-in-one headset according to the present invention, the display
control
signal generating unit controls the liquid crystal display panel so that one
alpha-numeral
shows the selected communication channel, and the other alpha-numeral shows
the
selected communication mode.
The all-in-one headset according the present invention thus constructed as
mentioned above makes it possible that the user directly recognizes the
operating states
of the all-in-one headset by alpha-numerals visually.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will be better understood from the following detailed
description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings,
wherein:
FIG 1 is a perspective view of the headset according to the present invention
viewing from the right hand side of the headset,
FIG 2 is a perspective view of the headset according to the present invention
viewing from the left hand side of the headset,
FIG 3 is a block diagram of the headset according to the present invention,
FIG 4 is an enlarged view of the leading edge of the microphone boom, and
FIG 5 is a cross sectional view of the indicator.
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DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to FIGS. 1 to 5 of the drawings, there is shown a preferred
embodiment of the all-in-
one headset according to the present invention.
The all-in-one headset 10 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 as comprising a head band
11, a first housing
12 arranged at one end of the headband 11, a boom member 13 stretching forward
from the first housing
12, a second housing 14 arranged at the leading edge of the boom member 13,
and a battery housing 15
arranged at the other end of the head band 11.
As shown in FIG. 3, the all-in-one headset 10 according to the present
invention electrically
comprises a communication unit 31 for establishing radio contact with other
persons, a microphone 32 for
converting the user's voice into an electric signal transmitted to the
communication unit 31, an ear speaker
33 for converting electric signal indicative of communication partners' voices
received by the
communication unit 31 into a sound, a battery 34 powering the communication
unit 31, an operating
panel 35 for outputting operation signals to the communication unit 31, a
microcomputer 36 for
controlling the communication unit 31 based on the operation signals output
from the operating panel 35,
an indicating unit 37 for showing the operating states of the communication
unit 31, and a control unit 38
for controlling the indicating patterns of the indicating unit 37.
The communication unit 31, the control unit 38, and the microcomputer 36 are
housed in the first
housing 12.
The microphone 32 is housed in the second housing 14 arranged at the leading
edge of the boom
member.
The ear speaker 33 is mounted on the inside wall of the first housing 12, and
the operating panel 35
is mounted on the outside wall of the first housing 12.
The battery 34 is housed in the battery housing 15 arranged at the other end
on the head band 11.
The indicating unit 37 is shown in FIG. 4 to be embedded in a part visible by
the user of the
circumferential wall of the second housing 14.
As shown in FIG 3, the communication unit 31 housed in the first housing 12
includes a modulator
41 modulating a sub carrier by the electric signal from the microphone 32, a
transmitter 42 and a
transmission antenna 43 transmitting the modulated sub carrier, a receiving
antenna 44 and a receiver 45
receiving the sub carrier carrying the electric signal indicative of the
communication partners' voice, and
a demodulator 46 demodulating the electric signal indicative of the
communication partners' voices from
the sub carrier received by the receiver 45.
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Further, the communication unit 31 includes a base band circuit 47 compressing
the electric signal
from the microphone 32 and expanding the electric signal demodulated by the
demodulator 46, and an
amplifier 48 amplifying the expanded electric signal.
On the operating panel 35, there are arranged a power button & indicator 61, a
volume control
button 62, a talk button 63, a page button 64, and a channel selection button
65.
The power button & indicator 61 is a button for powering on/off the
communication unit 31, the
microcomputer 36 and the control unit 38, and emits light in green during
power on state. If the battery 34
requires recharging, the power button & indicator 61 emits light in red.
The volume control button 62 is a button for tuning level of the sound output
from the ear speaker
33.
The talk button (T) 63 is a button pushed when the user communicates with
communication
partners belonging to one group, and the page button (P) 64 is a button pushed
when the user
communicates with communication partners belonging to another group.
The channel selection button 65 is a button for selecting one communication
channel among a
plurality of communication channels.
The indicating unit 37 is shown in FIG 5 to comprise a recess well 50 embedded
in the
circumference wall of the second housing 14, a first light-emitting diode 51
and a second light-emitting
diode 52 arranged on the bottom of the recess well 50, and a smoke cover 53
covering the recess well 50.
The first light-emitting diode 51 emits light in a certain color, for example,
red, and the second
light-emitting diode 52 emits light in another color, for example, green.
The operation of the all-in-one headset according to the present invention
will be described
hereinafter.
The following description will now be directed to the case that the user is
assumed to be a working
staff of a fast food restaurant having two lanes A and B, and the user is
assigned to lane A.
In this case, the user wears the all-in-one headset on the user's head, after
the user pushes the power
button & indicator 61, and the power button & indicator 61 emits light in
green to show power ON.
The user selects channel A as a communication channel by operating the channel
selection button
65 on the operating panel 35, because the user is assigned to lane A.
The microcomputer 36 recognizes that channel A is selected with the channel
selection button 65,
and set the frequency of the sub carrier of the communication unit 31 as
channel A.
The user pushes the talk button (T) 63 on the operating panel 35, when the
user is going to
communicate with patrons.
The microcomputer 36 recognizes that the talk button (T) 63 is pushed, and
controls the
communication mode of the communication unit 31 as talk mode.
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Further, the microcomputer 36 outputs electric signals which indicate that
channel A is selected as
the communication channel, and the talk mode is selected as the communication
mode to the control unit
38.
The control unit 38 receives the electric signals which indicate that channel
A is selected, and
controls the first light-emitting diode 51 in the indicating unit 37 so as to
illuminate red.
Further, the control unit 38 receives the electric signals which indicate that
the talk mode is
selected, and controls the first light-emitting diode 51 so as to blink a
fixed cycle.
The user can correctly recognize that channel A is selected as the
communication channel and the
talk mode is selected as the communication mode, because the user with the
headset worn can catch the
indicating unit 37 which is blinking the fixed cycle, in red in a field of
view.
When the user communicates with other working stuffs in the fast food
restaurant, the user changes
the communication mode to the page mode by pushing the page button (P) 64 on
the operating panel 35.
When the microcomputer 36 recognizes that the page button (P) 64 is pushed,
the microcomputer
36 changes the communication mode to the page mode, and outputs electric
signals which indicates that
the page mode is selected, to the control unit 38.
The control unit 38 receives the electric signals which indicate that the page
mode is selected, and
controls the first light-emitting diode 51 so as to blink an irregular cycle.
Therefore, the user can recognize that channel A is selected as the
communication channel and the
page mode is selected as the communication mode, because the user with the
headset worn can see the
indicating unit 37 blinking the irregular cycle in red.
The user selects channel B by operating the channel selection button 65 on the
operating panel,
when the user is assigned to lane B.
When the microcomputer 36 recognizes that channel B is selected by operating
the channel
selection button 65, the microcomputer 36 sets the frequency of the sub
carrier of the communication unit
31 to channel B, and outputs the electric signals which indicates that channel
B is selected, to the control
unit 38.
The control unit 38 receives the electric signals which indicate that channel
A is selected, and
controls the second light-emitting diode 52 so as to illuminate green.
Further, the control unit 38 receives the electric signals which indicate that
the talk mode is
selected, and controls the first light-emitting diode 51 so as to blink a
fixed cycle.
Therefore, the user can recognize that channel B is selected as the
communication channel and the
talk mode is selected as the communication mode, because the user with the
headset worn can catch the
indicating unit 37 blinking the fixed cycle in green in a field of view.
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The control unit 38 receives the electric signals which indicate that the page
mode is selected, and
controls the first light-emitting diode 51 so as to blink an irregular cycle.
Therefore, the user can recognize that channel B is selected as the
communication channel and the
page mode is selected as the communication mode, because the user with the
headset worn can catch the
indicating unit 37 blinking the fixed cycle in green in a field of view.
The indicating unit 37 may include a third light-emitting diode which emit
light in a color other
than red and green, for example, orange, and may indicate that the battery 34
is powering to the
communication unit 31 by continuous lighting in orange, and that the battery
34 requires recharging by
flickering in orange.
In the above description, the indicator applying a plurality of light emitting
diodes as display
elements is described, but the user is required to understand to which
operating state the luminescence
color and blinking pattern of light emitting diode corresponds.
To solve the above problem, a small size liquid crystal panel, which displays
two digits of alpha-
numerals may be applied as the indicator.
In this case, as one alpha-numeral indicates the selected communication
channel by displaying "A"
or "B", and the other alpha-numeral indicates the applied communication mode
by displaying "T" or
the user can directly recognize the selected communication channel and the
selected communication
mode.
While the subject invention has been described with relation to the preferred
embodiments, various
modifications and adaptations thereof will now be apparent to those skilled in
the art. The scope of the
claims should not be limited by the preferred embodiments set forth in the
examples, but should be given
the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.
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