WIRELESS HEADSET WITH IMPROVED WIND NOISE RESISTANCE

Abstract

An earphone device and system for improving wind resistance protection as well as controllability of true wireless stereo (TWS) headsets are provided. The earphone device includes headset microphones in a housing facing outwards and configured to generate a microphone signal. The earphone device includes a control dial rotatably attached to the housing through a pivot. The dial is substantially flat and arranged to form a narrow gap between the housing and the dial. The dial is further arranged to cover each microphone, thereby providing wind and dirt protection but leaving a gap for the sound waves to reach the microphones.

Claims

1. An earphone device comprising: a housing; at least one microphone arranged in the housing facing outwards and configured to generate a microphone signal; and a dial rotatably attached to the housing through a pivot, the dial being substantially flat and arranged to form a narrow gap between the housing and the dial, wherein the dial is further arranged to cover the at least one microphone.

2. The earphone device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one microphone comprises at least two microphones, and wherein the at least two microphones are arranged to enable acoustic beamforming towards at least one of a mouth of a user or straight ahead of a user during use of the earphone device.

3. The earphone device according to claim 1, wherein the housing is arranged with a substantially circular cross-section, and wherein the at least one microphone comprises a plurality of angularly spaced apart microphones arranged around the circumference of the housing to enable enhancing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the microphone signal in a direction of a mouth of a user or a direction of straight ahead of a user during use of the earphone device.

4. The earphone device according to claim 1, further comprising: at least one microphone cavity extending from a surface of the housing towards the inside of the housing, the dial being arranged to cover an opening of each microphone cavity, wherein each of the at least one microphone is arranged in a respective microphone cavity.

5. The earphone device according to claim 4, wherein the at least one microphone cavity further comprises a porous material arranged in a hollow space extending between the at least one microphone and the surface of the housing, the porous material being a wind noise resistant material configured to filter out wind noise while allowing other sounds to pass through to the at least one microphone.

6. The earphone device according to claim 1, wherein at least adjacent portions of the dial and the housing are arranged with circular cross-sections, with the pivot arranged to connect the central axes of the adjacent portions of the dial and the housing.

7. The earphone device according to claim 6, wherein the dial is arranged with a larger diameter than the housing or at least a portion of the housing adjacent to the dial, and wherein the dial further comprises a protruding rim extending in the direction of the housing and arranged to cover the gap but leaving a narrow opening between the edge of the housing and the rim to allow acoustic waves to reach the at least one microphone.

8. The earphone device according to claim 1, wherein the pivot is arranged to limit the gap to a size small enough to hinder the entrances of dust particles while allowing acoustic waves to reach the at least one microphone.

9. The earphone device according to claim 1, further comprising: a speaker configured to generate sound waves in response to an input audio signals wherein the dial is a volume knob arranged to adjust at least one of the overall output level of the speaker or a balance between signal components of the input audio signal.

10. The earphone device according to claim 9, wherein the signal components of the input audio signal comprise the microphone signal.

11. The earphone device according to claim 9, wherein at least a portion of the housing is configured to fit into an ear canal or to substantially cover an opening of an ear canal of a user of the earphone device, wherein the housing comprises a first side, and a second side opposite to the first side, wherein the at least one microphone is arranged in the housing facing outwards from the first side and configured to capture sound waves from the external environment, wherein the speaker is arranged in the housing facing outwards from the second side and configured to generate acoustic waves for delivery towards the inside of the ear canal, and wherein the dial is rotatably attached to the first side.

12. The earphone device according to claim 11, wherein the earphone device further comprises an internal microphone arranged in the housing facing outwards from the second side and configured to capture sound waves from the direction of the ear canal.

13. The earphone device according to claim 1, further comprising: a voice accelerometer configured to detect presence of a voice of a user of the earphone device (1) via vibrations.

14. A system, comprising: at least one earphone device; and a host device arranged in a data connection with the at least one earphone device, wherein the at least one earphone device comprises: a housing; at least one microphone arranged in the housing facing outwards and configured to generate a microphone signal; and a dial rotatably attached to the housing through a pivot, the dial being substantially flat and arranged to form a narrow gap between the housing and the dial, wherein the dial is further arranged to cover the at least one microphone.

15. The system according to claim 14, wherein the at least one earphone device is a true wireless stereo (TWS) headset, the host device is a mobile smartphone, and the data connection is established using a Bluetooth protocol.

16. The system according to claim 14, wherein the at least one microphone comprises at least two microphones, and wherein the at least two microphones are arranged to enable acoustic beamforming towards at least one of a mouth of a user or straight ahead of a user during use of the at least one earphone device.

17. The system according to claim 14, wherein the housing is arranged with a substantially circular cross-section, and wherein the at least one microphone comprises a plurality of angularly spaced apart microphones arranged around the circumference of the housing to enable enhancing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the microphone signal in a direction of a mouth of a user or a direction of straight ahead of a user during use of the at least one earphone device.

18. The system according to claim 14, wherein the at least one earphone device further comprises: at least one microphone cavity extending from a surface of the housing towards the inside of the housing, the dial being arranged to cover an opening of each microphone cavity, wherein each of the at least one microphone is arranged in a respective microphone cavity.

19. The system according to claim 18, wherein the at least one microphone cavity further comprises a porous material arranged in a hollow space extending between the at least one microphone and the surface of the housing, the porous material being a wind noise resistant material configured to filter out wind noise while allowing other sounds to pass through to the at least one microphone.

20. The system according to claim 14, wherein at least adjacent portions of the dial and the housing are arranged with circular cross-sections, with the pivot arranged to connect the central axes of the adjacent portions of the dial and the housing.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] In the following detailed portion of the present disclosure, the aspects, embodiments and implementations will be explained in more detail with reference to the example embodiments shown in the drawings, in which:

[0035] FIG. 1 shows a cross-section of an earphone device in accordance with an embodiment of the first aspect;

[0036] FIG. 2 illustrates a beamforming arrangement with two microphones in an earphone in accordance with another embodiment of the first aspect;

[0037] FIG. 3 shows a cross-section of an earphone device in accordance with another embodiment of the first aspect;

[0038] FIG. 4 shows a side view of an earphone device without and with a dial attached to its housing in accordance with another embodiment of the first aspect;

[0039] FIG. 5 shows a cross-section of an earphone device, arranged in an ear canal, in accordance with another embodiment of the first aspect; and

[0040] FIG. 6 shows a system with two earphone devices in data connection with a host device in accordance with an embodiment of the second aspect.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] FIG. 1 illustrates an earphone device 1 according to the present disclosure. The earphone device 1 comprises a housing 3 and at least one microphone 7 arranged in the housing 3 facing outwards and configured to generate a microphone signal, based on captured sound waves. A substantially flat dial 8 (with a thickness substantially smaller than its diameter) is rotatably attached to the housing 3 through a pivot 9 in such a way to cover each of the at least one microphone 7 but also form a narrow gap 14 between the housing 3 and the dial 8 so that sound waves can reach the at least one microphone 7 from the environment. The pivot 9 may be arranged to limit the gap 14 to a size small enough to hinder the entrance dust particles while allowing acoustic waves to reach the at least one microphone 7.

[0042] FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of the earphone device 1 comprising at least two microphones 7A, 7B, wherein the at least two microphones 7A, 7B are arranged to enable acoustic beamforming towards at least one of a mouth of a user 6 or straight ahead of a user 6 (as shown by the dashed line) during use of the earphone device 1. In this embodiment, the housing 3 may be arranged with a substantially circular cross-section like the dial 8.

[0043] In an embodiment (not illustrated) the earphone device 1 may comprise a plurality of angularly spaced apart microphones 7A, 7B arranged around the circumference of the housing 3 to enable enhancing the signal-to-noise ratio SNR of the microphone signal in certain directions, such as a mouth of a user 6 or straight ahead of a user 6, during use of the earphone device 1.

[0044] FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of the earphone device 1 where at least one microphone cavity 10 is extending from a surface of the housing 3 towards the inside of the housing 3 and the dial 8 arranged to cover the opening of each microphone cavity 10. Each of the at least one microphone 7 is arranged in a respective microphone cavity 10, thereby providing additional protection from physical forces. In the illustrated embodiment the at least one microphone cavity 10 further comprises a porous material 11 arranged in a hollow space extending between the microphone 7 and the surface of the housing 3, the porous material 11 being a wind noise resistant material configured to filter out wind noise while allowing other sounds to pass through to the microphone. As seen in FIG. 3, the porous material (dotted) is not visible to the user from the outside.

[0045] In some embodiments, as also shown in FIG. 3, the dial 8 and the housing 3 (or at least a portion of the housing 3 adjacent to the dial 8) are both arranged with a circular cross-section, with the dial 8 having a larger diameter than the housing 3 (or the adjacent portion of the housing 3). In such embodiments the dial 8 may further comprise a protruding rim 12 extending in the direction of the housing 3 and arranged to cover the gap 14 but leaving a narrow opening between the edge of the housing 3 and the rim 12 to allow acoustic waves to reach the at least one microphone, thereby protecting the microphones 7A, 7B from e.g. dust particles.

[0046] FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of the earphone device 1 where the dial 8 (only shown on the figure in the right, covering the microphones 7A,7B) and the housing 3 are arranged with substantially identical, circular cross-sections, with the pivot 9 (not shown here) arranged to connect the central axes of the dial 8 and the housing 3. Steps and features that are the same or similar to corresponding steps and features previously described or shown herein are denoted by the same reference numeral as previously used for simplicity. In some embodiments only adjacent portions of the dial 8 and the housing 3 are arranged with circular cross-sections, the pivot 9 arranged to connect these adjacent portions at approximately their central points.

[0047] FIG. 5 illustrates using a cross-sectional view a further embodiment of the earphone device 1. In this illustrated embodiment the earphone device 1 comprises a housing 3 that has at least a portion configured to fit into an ear canal 4 or to substantially cover the opening of an ear canal 4 of a user, wherein the housing 3 comprises a first side 3A, and a second side 3B opposite to the first side 3A. The dial 8 is rotatably attached to the first side 3A, and at least one microphone 7 is arranged in the housing 3 facing outwards from the first side 3A and configured to capture sound waves 16 from the external environment 5. A speaker 13 is also arranged in the housing 3 facing outwards from the second side 3B and configured to generate sound waves 15 for delivery towards the inside of the ear canal 4 in response to an input audio signal. The speaker 13 may comprise a front cavity and a back cavity isolated from the front cavity for optimal sound wave generation. In an embodiment, the signal components of the input audio signal may comprise the microphone signal.

[0048] The earphone 1 may further comprise a compressible eartip for secure location in the ear canal 4.

[0049] In an embodiment, the dial 8 is a volume knob arranged to adjust at least one of the overall output level of the speaker 13 or a balance between signal components of the input audio signal.

[0050] In an embodiment, the earphone device 1 comprises at least two microphones 7A, 7B arranged in the housing 3 facing outwards from the first side 3A and configured to be oriented towards the mouth of a user of the earphone device 1 to enable acoustic beamforming, as described above in relation to FIG. 2.

[0051] In an embodiment the earphone device 1 further comprises an internal microphone 17 arranged in the housing 3 facing outwards from the second side 3B and configured to capture sound waves from the direction of the auditory canal.

[0052] In a further embodiment the earphone device 1 may further comprises a voice accelerometer 18 configured to detect presence of the voice of a user 6 of the earphone device 1 via vibrations.

[0053] These additional inputs can generate further input signals that can be used as further components to be mixed in the input audio signal for the speaker, or to control other functions of the earphone device 1 (such as de-occlusion).

[0054] FIG. 6 shows a side view of a system according to the present disclosure comprising two earphone devices 1A and 1B in accordance with any above described embodiment, which may correspond to an implementation of a TWS earphone system configured to be used in a left and right ear of a user respectively, with no wired connection between the earphone devices 1A and 1B, and a host device 2 arranged in data connection with the at least one earphone device 1.

[0055] In this embodiment, a first earphone device 1A comprises a rotatable dial 8 as described above, and a second earphone device 1B also comprises a rotatable dial 8 as described above. Rotation of any of the dials 8 can be used to adjust the output volume of the speakers 13, or to adjust balance between signal components of the input audio signal for the speakers 13.

[0056] The host device 2 may be a mobile smartphone and the data connection may e.g. be established using a Bluetooth or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol.

[0057] The various aspects and implementations have been described in conjunction with various embodiments herein. However, other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed subject-matter, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measured cannot be used to advantage. A computer program may be stored/distributed on a suitable medium, such as an optical storage medium or a solid-state medium supplied together with or as part of other hardware, but may also be distributed in other forms, such as via the Internet or other wired or wireless telecommunication systems.

[0058] The reference signs used in the claims shall not be construed as limiting the scope.