Earpiece Microphone Boom Angle Switching Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing earpieces with retractable microphones often suffer from shaking issues and require manual operation, leading to poor user experience and increased size due to the need for large bending spaces.
Innovation Solution
An earpiece design featuring a microphone boom with a guiding structure and force application mechanism that allows semi-automatic extension and retraction, using a combination of elastic members, magnets, or motors to apply predetermined forces, ensuring stable positioning and minimizing space requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a flexible tube is used to retract the microphone, then the microphone can be concealed and protected, but the earpiece size increases and the structure becomes unstable
Solution Approach 1:
The earpiece is divided into distinct functional modules: a stable housing containing the speaker, a separate microphone boom that can be extended or retracted, and a concealed microphone. This segmentation allows the microphone to be protected when retracted while maintaining overall structural stability, and reduces the need for large bending spaces compared to a fully flexible tube design.
Solution Approach 2:
The microphone is nested within the housing when retracted, and the microphone boom provides a guided extension path. This nesting approach allows the microphone to be concealed and protected within the stable housing structure, eliminating the need for a large flexible tube that would increase earpiece size.
2Ease of operation
If manual operation is used to stretch out or retract the microphone, then the structure can be simple, but the user experience is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The microphone boom is designed to be self-extending through a guided mechanism that automatically pushes the microphone outward when activated. This self-service approach eliminates the need for complex manual cranking or winding mechanisms, improving user convenience while maintaining relatively simple structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from a static concealed microphone to an extendable configuration by changing the positional parameter of the microphone boom. This parameter change enables easy user operation for microphone deployment and retraction without requiring complex mechanical systems.
3Extent of automation
If a motor or spring mechanism is used for automatic microphone extension, then user experience improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The force application structure (motor or spring mechanism) is extracted and contained within the housing, separate from the microphone boom itself. This extraction allows the automation mechanism to be hidden, reducing visible complexity while providing automatic extension functionality that improves user experience.
Solution Approach 2:
The microphone boom acts as an intermediary element between the concealed microphone and the force application structure. It provides a guided path and mechanical linkage that translates the force from the motor or spring into controlled microphone extension, enabling automation without exposing complex mechanisms to the user.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design prevents microphone shaking, allows for easy and convenient semi-automatic operation of the microphone boom, and reduces the overall size of the earpiece by optimizing the retracting and extending mechanism.
Implementation Method 1
the force application structure comprises an elastic member; the elastic member is provided with a first end connected to an inner wall of the cavity and a second end connected to the microphone boom in the cavity
Implementation Method 2
a guiding structure for guiding the microphone boom to slide and switch between a first position and a second position is provided on the housing
Data Source
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AI summary
The present disclosure relates to the technical field of earpieces, and provides an earpiece. The earpiece includes a housing with a cavity, a microphone boom, a microphone, and a force application structure for applying a predetermined force to the microphone boom. When the microphone boom slides from a first position to a second position, the microphone boom slides along a first direction, and an included angle formed between a direction of the predetermined force and the first direction is switched from a first predetermined angle of greater than 90° to a second predetermined angle of less than 90°. When the microphone boom slides from the second position to the first position, the microphone boom slides along a second direction, and an included angle formed between the direction of the predetermined force and the second direction is switched from a third predetermined angle of greater than 90° to a fourth predetermined angle of less than 90°. The microphone boom has the advantages of hard shaking and stable structure, and the microphone boom is stretched out or retracted without manual operation. The user only needs to pull out or push into a part of the microphone boom, and a remaining part of the microphone boom is automatically moved by the force application structure, so that the earpiece is operated simply and conveniently.