Seamless earbud structures and methods for making the same
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorJonathan S. Aase
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Seamless earbud structures and methods for making the same are disclosed. Seamless earbud structures can be constructed using an insert molding construction method, which overmolds a cosmetic material over two sub-enclosures that are mated together. The two sub-enclosures form a housing that can encompass a driver assembly (e.g., woofer and tweeter), a conductor bundle, and provide one or more acoustic volumes. The housing has a non-occluding member and a neck member, and has a seamless or nearly seamless construction. The cosmetic material is insert molded around the housing to provide a smooth and seamless surface disposed around the periphery of the housing.
Claims15
An earbud comprising:
- a driver assembly for generating sound;
- a housing encompassing the driver assembly and having a center plane that is vertically oriented, wherein the center plane is perpendicular to the largest cross-section of the housing, and wherein the center plane extends through the center of the largest cross-section of the housing;
- and
- a port provided as an opening through a wall of the housing for directing the sound from the driver assembly out from the housing, wherein the port is fixed and is offset with respect to the center plane of the housing.
An earbud comprising:
- a first sub-enclosure structure;
- and
- a second sub-enclosure structure that is mated with the first sub-enclosure structure for defining a housing, wherein:
- the first sub-enclosure structure and a first portion of the second sub-enclosure structure define a non-occluding portion of the housing;
- the non-occluding portion of the housing defines a volume operative to hold a driver assembly;
- a second portion of the second sub-enclosure structure defines a neck portion of the housing that extends away from the volume along a neck axis;
- an opening through an external surface of a wall of the first sub-enclosure structure of the non-occluding portion of the housing is fixed and lies in a plane;
- a line is perpendicular to the plane;
- the line intersects the opening;
- and
- the line is offset from a center plane of the first portion, wherein the center plane is vertically oriented and perpendicular to the largest cross-section of the first portion, and wherein the center plane extends through the center of the largest cross-section of the first portion.
An earbud comprising:
- a first sub-enclosure structure;
- and
- a second sub-enclosure structure that is mated with the first sub-enclosure structure for defining a housing, wherein:
- the first sub-enclosure structure and a first portion of the second sub-enclosure structure define a non-occluding portion of the housing;
- the non-occluding portion of the housing defines a volume operative to hold a driver assembly;
- a second portion of the second sub-enclosure structure defines a neck portion of the housing that extends away from the volume;
- and
- an opening through an external surface of the first sub-enclosure structure for directing sound from the driver assembly out from the volume, wherein the opening lines in a plane;
- a line is perpendicular to the plane;
- the line intersects the opening;
- and
- the line is offset from a center plane of the first portion, wherein the center plane is vertically oriented and perpendicular to the largest cross-section of the first portion, and wherein the center plane extends through the center of the largest cross-section of the first portion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.