Flexible Headset Microphone Boom Retraction Into Earcup Cavity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing headset microphone booms often interfere with the user when not in use and lack visual confirmation of mute status, detracting from appearance and usability.
Innovation Solution
A flexible microphone boom that retracts into an earcup cavity and extends to a position near the user's mouth, using a bent form and opposing polarity magnets for extension, with a hinge mechanism allowing adjustment and a spring force for retraction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the microphone boom is extended outward from the earcup, then the microphone can capture end user speech effectively, but the boom interferes with the end user's appearance and hair when not in use
Solution Approach 1:
The microphone boom is designed to be dynamically reconfigurable between extended and retracted positions. The flexible member allows the boom to move from a retracted position (flush with earcup) to an extended position (near mouth) as needed, enabling the system to adapt to different usage scenarios and eliminate the need for a permanently extended boom that interferes with appearance.
Solution Approach 2:
The microphone boom is extracted from the fixed structure of the earcup and made movable through the flexible member mechanism. This allows the boom to be separated from the main body when needed (extended for recording) and returned to the earcup when not in use (retracted for aesthetics), effectively removing the harmful interference during non-operational states.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If the microphone boom is rotated rearwards to avoid interference, then the boom is out of the way, but there is no visual confirmation that the microphone is muted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs visual indicators (such as LED lights or color-coded elements) that change state to provide visual confirmation of the microphone's operational status. When the boom is retracted, the indicator clearly shows the muted state, solving the problem of visual feedback without requiring the boom to remain in an ambiguous intermediate position.
3Stability of the object's composition
If a rigid microphone boom is used, then the microphone maintains stable positioning, but the boom cannot be easily retracted into the earcup cavity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a flexible member (such as a bellows-like structure or flexible tube) to connect the microphone boom to the earcup. This flexible member allows the rigid microphone element to maintain its stable positioning when extended, while simultaneously enabling the boom to be compressed and retracted into the earcup cavity when not in use, combining both stability and ease of operation.
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 flexible microphone boom maintains a clean appearance and reduces interference, providing easy extension for audio capture while minimizing earcup size and ensuring visual confirmation of mute status.
Implementation Method 1
a bent form of a flexible member working against a stop so that, when released from the cavity, the flexible member biases to a straight form and an extended position
Implementation Method 2
opposing polarity magnets for extension
Data Source
AI summary
An information handling system headset has an earcup that rotationally couples a microphone boom at one end of a cavity to rotate between an extended position with a member of the microphone boom in straight form and a retracted position with the member bent to fit in the cavity and substantially conform with the earcup periphery. The microphone boom member rotates between first and second stops disposed proximate the hinge and bend when pushed against the first stop to fit in the cavity. The microphone boom can fully insert into the cavity to have a flush outer periphery at the earcup or can partially extend out of the cavity at the terminating end where the microphone couples to the member.