Bush structure

Abstract

For example, in an earphone in which left and right earphone units are connected by a cable and a remote part or a battery part is interposed on the cable, a bush structure is provided to a part where the cable is led out of the remote part and the like and suppresses the occurrence of disconnection in the vicinity of the lead-out part. The bush structure is provided to a lead-out part 5a of a cable 4 and includes a bush body 2 provided to the lead-out part and formed with a first through hole 2a2 where the cable is inserted. The first through hole gradually increases in diameter toward a lead-out direction of the cable.

Claims

1. A bush structure provided to a lead-out part of a cable in a remote part of an earphone, the bush structure comprising: a bush body provided to the lead-out part and a first through hole through which the cable is inserted formed in the bush body; and a retaining part connectable to a bottom of the bush body, wherein the first through hole gradually expands in diameter toward a lead-out direction of the cable, and the retaining part is formed of a material harder than the bush body and includes a second through hole to be communicated with the first through hole and into which the cable is inserted, and a locking part to be locked to the lead-out part; wherein the bush body includes a flange part protruding leftward and rightward from a lower end portion of the first through hole, the retaining part includes a flange receiving part in which the flange part is disposed, and when the cable is pulled in the lead-out direction, the retaining part is pulled up and the flange part is fitted to an opening edge part formed in the lead-out part.

2. The bush structure according to claim 1, wherein an inner peripheral surface of the first through hole is formed to have a convex R shaped cross-section.

3. The bush structure according to claim 1, wherein the bush body is made of thermoplastic elastomer, and the retaining part is made of polypropylene.

4. The bush structure according to claim 2, wherein the bush body is made of thermoplastic elastomer, and the retaining part is made of polypropylene.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating a bush structure according to the present invention.

(2) FIG. 2 is a side view of the bush structure according to the present invention.

(3) FIG. 3A is a plan view of a bush structure alone according to the present invention, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along an arrow A-A of FIG. 3A.

(4) FIG. 4A is a side view taken along an arrow B of FIG. 3A, and FIG. 4B is a side view taken along an arrow C of FIG. 3A.

(5) FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C are a cross-sectional view of the bush structure according to the present invention.

(6) FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the bush structure according to the present invention.

(7) FIG. 7 is a side view of the bush structure according to the present invention.

(8) FIG. 8 is a front view of a semi-wireless earphone in the related art.

(9) FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the semi-wireless earphone in the related art in a state in which a cable is bundled in a ring shape.

(10) FIG. 10 is a side view of a bush structure in the related art.

(11) FIGS. 11A and 11B are a side view of the bush structure in the related art.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

(12) Embodiments of a bush structure according to the present invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings.

(13) FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating a bush structure 1 according to the present invention. The bush structure 1 is attached to lead-out parts 5a disposed at both ends of a remote part 5 of an earphone. A cable 4 of the earphone inserted through the remote part 5 is led out of the remote part 5 from the lead-out part 5a. FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating the bush structure 1. Note that FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a state in which a lid of the remote part 5 is open. FIG. 3A is a plan view of the bush structure 1 alone, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along an arrow A-A of FIG. 3A. FIG. 4A is a side view taken along an arrow B of FIG. 3A, and FIG. 4B is a side view taken along an arrow C of FIG. 3A.

(14) As illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the bush structure 1 has a bush body 2 located on a lead-out side of the cable and a retaining part 3 disposed below the bush body 2. The bush structure 1 has a two-layer structure of the bush body 2 and the retaining part 3.

(15) The bush body 2 has a cylindrical part 2a with a through hole 2a2 (first through hole) as illustrated in FIG. 3B and flange parts 2b protruding leftward and rightward from the lower end part of the cylindrical part 2a as illustrated in FIG. 4B. An inner peripheral surface 2a1 of the through hole 2a2 is recessed in a mortar shape. The through hole 2a2 penetrates in a vertical direction.

(16) The inner peripheral surface 2a1 of the through hole 2a2 (cylindrical part 2a) has a curved surface with a convex R shaped cross-section. For example, when the diameter of the cable 4 (sheath) is set to 2 mm, the curvature of the convex cross-section R is 1.57 mm.

(17) Furthermore, a dimension of the mortar-shaped through hole 2a2 having a minimum diameter substantially coincides with the diameter of the cable 4.

(18) Furthermore, as illustrated in FIG. 3B, the retaining part 3 has a through hole 3a (second through hole) disposed below the through hole 2a2. The through hole 3a is disposed such that the central axis of the through hole 3a coincides with the central axis of the through hole 2a2. The diameter of the through hole 3a coincides with the minimum diameter (diameter of the cable 4) of the through hole 2a2 of the bush body 2. The cable 4 is inserted and fitted into the through hole 3a and the through hole 2a2.

(19) Furthermore, the retaining part 3 includes flange receiving parts 3b (locking parts) in which the flange parts 2b of the bush body 2 are disposed.

(20) Note that, as illustrated in FIG. 4B, a convex part 3c of the retaining part 3 is inserted and fitted into (connected to) a concave part 2c of the bush body 2, so that the bush body 2 is engaged with the retaining part 3. The concave part 2c is formed (disposed) between a pair of flange parts 2b of the bush body 2. The convex part 3c is formed (disposed) between a pair of flange receiving parts 3b of the retaining part 3.

(21) Then, the cable 4 is inserted and fitted into the through hole 2a2 of the bush body 2 and the through hole 3a of the retaining part 3. The flange part 2b is locked to a circular opening edge part 5b formed on the lead-out part 5a of the remote part 5 (a casing lid part of the remote part 5 is not illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2). That is, the bush structure 1 is fitted to the opening edge part 5b of the remote part 5, and is attached to the remote part 5 in a state of not being easily detached from the remote part 5.

(22) Note that the reason why the through hole 2a2 of the bush body 2 is formed in a mortar shape as described above is because the contact range of the cable 4 with respect to the inner peripheral surface 2a1 of the through hole 2a2 becomes longer in the axial direction of the cable 4 as indicated with the broken line in FIG. 5A (because a load applied to the cable 4 is distributed).

(23) For example, as illustrated in FIG. 5B, when the through hole 2a2 is not formed in a mortar shape, contact points of the cable 4 with respect to the bush body 2 are concentrated at one point, and consequently disconnection of the cable 4 easily occurs.

(24) Furthermore, in the present embodiment in which the through hole 2a2 of the bush structure 1, which serves as the lead-out part of the cable 4, is in a mortar shape, the bush structure 1 includes two members of the bush body 2 and the retaining part 3. This is because insert-molding the mortar-shaped through hole 2a2 only in the bush body 2 is easier than integrally insert-molding the entire bush structure 1 into a mortar shape, in view of the structure of a mold.

(25) Furthermore, the bush body 2 can be made of a material different from that of the retaining part 3, since the bush structure 1 is provided with two members. That is, for example, the bush body 2 is made of thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) and the retaining part 3 is made of polypropylene (PP). In such a case, the bush body 2, which is disposed in a part where the cable 4 is loaded, is soft, and the retaining part 3, which is disposed in a part where the cable 4 is not loaded, is hard. Therefore, the performance of preventing the bush structure 1 from being detached from the remote part 5 is enhanced, and the bush body 2 absorbs a load applied to the cable 4.

(26) In the remote part 5 using the bush structure 1 configured as described above, for example, when the cable 4 is bent in the direction of an arrow as illustrated in FIG. 6, the contact range of the cable 4 with respect to the inner peripheral surface 2a1 of the mortar-shaped through hole 2a2 (within the range indicated with the broken line in FIG. 5A) is determined by an angle between the cable 4 and the inner peripheral surface 2a1 of the through hole 2a2.

(27) That is, the contact range of the cable 4 with respect to the inner peripheral surface 2a1 of the through hole 2a2 becomes longer in the axial direction of the cable 4. Therefore, the disconnection of the cable 4 due to the concentration of the contact points of the cable 4 with respect to the bush body 2 at one point is prevented.

(28) Furthermore, when the cable 4 is strongly wound around the remote part 5, even though the cable 4 is along the casing of the remote part 5 as illustrated in FIG. 7, the bent shape of the cable 4 is curved, since the lead-out part 5a has a mortar shape with a convex R shaped cross-section. Accordingly, a load applied to the cable 4 is distributed, so that the cable 4 is hardly disconnected.

(29) According to the embodiment described above, the bush structure 1 according to the present invention includes the through hole 2a2 formed in a mortar shape with a diameter larger than the cable diameter and gradually increasing around the cable axis toward the lead-out direction of the cable 4 (upward in FIG. 3B) in the lead-out part 5a of the remote part 5.

(30) Therefore, for example, when a user of a wireless earphone holds the remote part 5 with one hand and winds the cable 4 around the remote part 5 with the other hand, the cable 4 in the vicinity of the lead-out part 5a comes into contact with the inner peripheral surface 2a1 of the mortar-shaped through hole 2a2 of the bush structure 1 with a long line width. Accordingly, a load applied to the cable 4 in the vicinity of the lead-out part 5a is distributed, so that the disconnection of the cable 4 is prevented. Furthermore, particularly, since the inner peripheral surface 2a1 of the through hole 2a2 is formed to have a convex R shaped cross-section, the cable 4 is led out in a loosely curved state, and consequently sharp bending of the cable 4 is suppressed.

(31) Furthermore, the shape of the bush structure 1 is not a convex shape protruding from the lead-out part 5a of the cable 4, but a concave shape. Therefore, the remote part 5, to which the bush structure 1 is attached, is not subjected to design restrictions such that the lead-out part 5a of the cable 4 has a bellows structure. That is, the degree of freedom in designing the remote part 5 and the like is increased, resulting in the improvement of the design property of a product including the remote part 5.

(32) Moreover, the bush body 2, which is disposed in a part where the cable 4 is loaded, is formed to be soft, so that the bush body 2 absorbs a load applied to the cable 4. Furthermore, the retaining part 3, which is disposed in a part where the cable 4 is not loaded, is formed to be hard, so that the performance of preventing the bush structure 1 from being detached from the remote part 5 is enhanced.

(33) Although the embodiment described above has a configuration in which the bush structure 1 is disposed in the lead-out parts 5a at both ends of the remote part 5, the bush structure according to the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, in a case where a cable is led out of a battery part of a semi-wireless earphone and the like, the bush structure according to the present invention can be applied to the lead-out part.

(34) Furthermore, although the embodiment described above is an example in which the bush structure according to the present invention is applied to a semi-wireless earphone, the application scene of the bush structure according to the present invention is not limited thereto and the bush structure according to the present invention can be applied to a lead-out part of a cable of any product, from which the cable is led out, regardless of genre.