Search

EP-3747203-B1 - EYEGLASS HEADPHONES

EP3747203B1EP 3747203 B1EP3747203 B1EP 3747203B1EP-3747203-B1

Inventors

  • WAKELAND, RAY, SCOTT
  • STRUZIK, Ryan, C.
  • WILLIAMS, Chester, S.
  • SILVER, JASON, D.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20190130

Claims (13)

  1. An eyeglass headphone (100), comprising: a frame (170) that is constructed and arranged to be carried by the head of a wearer, the frame comprising a bridge (176) that is adapted to be supported by the wearer's nose, and a left temple (172) and a right temple (174) that extend rearwardly from the bridge, toward the left and right ears of the wearer, respectively; and a dipole loudspeaker (110) built into a respective temple (102) of the left and right temples, where the dipole loudspeaker comprises a driver (14, 112) that emits front-side acoustic radiation from its front side, and emits rear-side acoustic radiation from its rear side; wherein the respective temple comprises a first acoustic cavity (16, 114) that receives the front-side acoustic radiation, a second acoustic cavity (18, 116) that receives the rear-side acoustic radiation, and at least first (20, 119), second (28, 131), third (24, 121) and fourth (32, 134) sound-emitting openings arranged in said respective temple, wherein the first and third sound-emitting openings are acoustically coupled to the first acoustic cavity and constructed and arranged to emit front-side acoustic radiation from the first acoustic cavity, and the second and fourth sound-emitting openings are acoustically coupled to the second acoustic cavity and constructed and arranged to emit rear-side acoustic radiation from the second acoustic cavity; wherein one dipole is accomplished by the first sound-emitting opening (20, 119) and the second sound-emitting opening (28, 131), and a second, longer, dipole is accomplished by the first sound-emitting opening (20, 119) and the fourth sound-emitting opening (32, 134); wherein the first sound-emitting opening (20, 119) is arranged to be closer to an ear of the wearer than the second sound-emitting opening (28, 131) and the fourth sound-emitting opening (32, 134) when the eyeglass headphone is carried by the head of the wearer; wherein at low frequencies the fourth opening (32, 134) dominates over the second opening (28, 131), and so the dipole length of the dipole loudspeaker is long, and at high frequencies, the second opening (28, 131) dominates over the fourth opening (32, 134), and so the dipole spacing of the dipole loudspeaker is short.
  2. The eyeglass headphone of claim 1, wherein the front-side acoustic radiation and rear-side acoustic radiation are out of phase.
  3. The eyeglass headphone of claim 1, wherein the loudspeaker comprises a port that leads to the third sound-emitting opening, and an acoustic impedance of the port rises with frequency, so that the effective dipole length is larger at lower frequencies than it is at higher frequencies.
  4. The eyeglass headphone of claim 1, wherein the third sound-emitting opening and the first sound-emitting opening each have an acoustic impedance, and wherein the two acoustic impedances are different from each other.
  5. The eyeglass headphone of claim 1, wherein the first sound-emitting opening and the third sound-emitting opening are directly opposed such that the first sound-emitting opening is arranged to emit sound pressure levels, SPL, toward an ear of the wearer and the third sound-emitting opening is arranged to emit SPL away from the ear of the wearer.
  6. The eyeglass headphone of claim 1, further comprising electronic circuitry (140) coupled to the frame and that is arranged to wirelessly transmit or receive audio signals that are played by the dipole loudspeaker.
  7. The eyeglass headphone of claim 6, wherein the electronic circuitry comprises an antenna built into a temple.
  8. The eyeglass headphone of claim 7, wherein the electronic circuitry comprises separate electronics in each temple, and two antennas, one antenna built into each of the temples and electrically coupled to the electronics in that temple.
  9. The eyeglass headphone of claim 1, further comprising a microphone carried by a temple and arranged to directly face the head.
  10. The eyeglass headphone of claim 1, wherein the first sound-emitting opening is arranged to be located in front of an ear of the wearer when the eyeglass headphone is worn by the wearer.
  11. The eyeglass headphone of claim 10, wherein the second sound-emitting opening is also arranged to be located in front of the ear of the wearer, and to be farther from the ear canal opening than is the first sound-emitting opening when the eyeglass headphone is worn by the wearer.
  12. The eyeglass headphone of claim 11, wherein the first sound-emitting opening is arranged to be located a first distance from and along a first axis from the opening of the ear canal, and wherein the first and second sound-emitting openings are arranged to be located a second distance from one another along a second axis that intersects the first axis when the eyeglass headphone is worn by the wearer.
  13. The eyeglass headphone of any of the foregoing claims, wherein the third sound-emitting opening is configured to have a greater acoustic impedance than the first sound-emitting opening.

Description

BACKGROUND This disclosure relates to headphones built into eyeglasses. Off-ear headphones produce sound using an acoustic driver that is spaced from the ear. Such headphones should ideally deliver high-quality sound to the ears at desired volumes, without spilling too much sound to the environment. DE 10 2016 103477, US 2013/051585, US 2015/382100 and DE 10 2007 028652 disclose prior art headphones. SUMMARY The present invention relates to an eyeglass headphone as recited in claim 1. Advantageous embodiments are set forth in the dependent claims. In this description, as will be apparent to the skilled person, and unless stated otherwise, the expressions "cavity", "acoustic cavity" and "volume" are used interchangeably. The same goes with the expressions "opening", "sound-emitting opening", "outlet" and "vent". BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is schematic cross-sectional view of a dipole loudspeaker for eyeglass headphones.Fig. 2 is an exemplary plot illustrating an intermodulation spectrum of a dipole loudspeaker of the eyeglass headphones.Fig. 3 is an exemplary plot illustrating aspects of a frequency-dependent dipole length for a dipole loudspeaker of the eyeglass headphones.Fig. 4A is a representation of distances and angles for a dipole loudspeaker of the eyeglass headphones. openings, wherein an acoustic impedance of the port rises with frequency, so that the effective dipole length is larger at lower frequencies than it is at higher frequencies Embodiments may include one of the above and/or below features, or any combination thereof. The frame may further comprise a first acoustic cavity that receives the front-side acoustic radiation. The first sound-emitting opening may be acoustically coupled to the first acoustic cavity, to emit from the frame radiation from the first acoustic cavity. The frame may further comprise a third sound-emitting opening that is constructed and arranged to emit from the frame radiation from the first acoustic cavity. The third sound-emitting opening and the first sound-emitting opening may each have an acoustic impedance, and the two acoustic impedances may be different from each other. The frame may further comprise a second acoustic cavity that receives the rear-side acoustic radiation. The second sound-emitting opening may be acoustically coupled to the second acoustic cavity, to emit from the frame radiation from the second acoustic cavity. Embodiments may include one of the above and/or below features, or any combination thereof. The eyeglass headphones may further comprise electronic circuitry coupled to the frame and that is arranged to wirelessly transmit or receive audio signals that are played by the dipole loudspeaker. The electronic circuitry may comprise an antenna built into a temple. The electronic circuitry may comprise separate electronics in each temple, and two antennas, one antenna built into each of the temples and electrically coupled to the electronics in that temple. The antennas may be in the temples proximate the bridge. Embodiments may include one of the above and/or below features, or any combination thereof. The eyeglass headphones may further comprise a microphone carried by a temple and arranged to directly face the head. The one of the first and second sound-emitting openings may be located in front of an ear of the wearer. The other of the first and second sound-emitting openings may also be located in front of the ear of the wearer, and may be farther from the ear canal opening than is the one of the first and second sound-emitting openings. The one of the first and second sound-emitting openings may be located a first distance from and along a first axis from the opening of the ear canal, and the first and second sound-emitting openings may be located a second distance from one another along a second axis that intersects the first axis. The first and second axes may not be coincidental, and an angle between the first axis and the second axis may be no more than about 90 degrees. The first distance may be no more than about 35mm. In another aspect, an eyeglass headphone includes a frame that is constructed and arranged to be carried by the head of a wearer, the frame comprising a bridge that is adapted to be supported by the wearer's nose, and a left temple and a right temple that extend rearwardly from the bridge, toward the left and right ears of the wearer, respectively. Dipole loudspeakers are built into each of the temples. The dipole loudspeakers comprise a driver that emits front-side acoustic radiation from its front side, and emits rear-side acoustic radiation from its rear side. The temple comprises at least first, second, and third sound-emitting openings, wherein the first sound-emitting opening is located in front of an ear of the wearer and is constructed and arranged to emit front-side acoustic radiation from the temple, and wherein the second sound-emitting opening is also located in front of the ear of the weare