The invention relates to headphones with at least one ear cup, on which at least one operating element for regulating an audio function is provided.

US 2006/0147052 A discloses such Headphones, as does US 2002/0039424 A, US 7,206,429 B, WO 2007/002806 A and EP 282 817 A, the content of these documents is incorporated into this application by reference. All disclosed operating elements allow for the turning of a knob or a disk or a plate, respectively, and/or the pushing of a knob or the throwing of a miniaturized lever. Besides the turning of the knob or plate, respectively, all operating elements are arduous to handle, due to the fact that the person wearing the headphones may not see them and, additionally, one has the problem of dealing with a kind of mirror effect when acting on the operating elements.

In a more general sense, the following documents deal with similar devices:

DE 20 2008 001 267 Ul discloses such headphones. On an extension attached to the outer side of the ear cup, which becomes the clamp towards the top, a unit for tone color processing and a unit for tone color regulation are provided. To change the tone colors, users may press a button; turn a knob or a slide a regulator at this place. With such an operating element, the tone color processing unit can be regulated and controlled. One disadvantage of such headphones is that the button on the side of the ear cup, which is turned away from the ear, must first be located by touch and identified, before the corresponding operating element can be actuated.

DE 21 26 677 discloses headphones with an ear cup on which a stereo regulator is provided. The latter is designed in the form of a turning knob and protrudes clearly from the contour of the external side of the ear cup. Due to its shape and its small dimension, it can be located with difficultly by the fingers, and moreover, the regulation does not always occur reliably and consistently.

EP 1 651 000 A2 discloses headphones with two ear cups, where on the bottom side of one ear cup a knob that can be shifted between two different positions is provided. The predefined positions correspond to a music mode, respectively movie mode. With a switch into movie mode, low frequency areas for special sound effects are amplified. The shiftable head, due to its position and small size, is difficult to find and to handle, and moreover it allows switching between only two functions.

DE 100 05 007 Al discloses a hands-free device for a mobile telephone, which includes an ear set. A clamp of the ear set is clamped behind the ear and it includes, on the part that is located behind the ear, and in which the electronic circuit is located, two actuation elements that are designed in the shape of turning knob switches and can be used for sound level regulation.

DE 100 42 453 C2 discloses chin clamp headphones, in which an operating element in the form of a button on a housing is provided, which interconnects the two clamps of the chin clamp headphones by articulation. Depending on the position of the user, he/she first must find the position of the chin clamp, and only then find the small button.

EP 1 791 335 A2 discloses a wireless headset that consists only of an ear capsule, which is inserted into the ear, and a longitudinal process. Because of the small shape, the actuation elements in the longitudinal process are also extremely small in design.

What all these printed documents have in common is that the operating elements on the respective headphones are extremely difficult to locate for the user, hi addition, the operating elements - if more than one are provided - are frequently confused due to their arrangement and dimensions, and so audio functions that have already been set correctly can be reset incorrectly. In the automotive market in particular, where the driver must divert his/her attention from other things when using a single-ear-cup headset, if it takes a long time to find and to use a corresponding operating element on the headset. Another problem is that, as a result of the small area available on the ear cup, the operating elements must have small dimensions and be arranged close to each other. This not only makes locating them difficult, but manual regulation is also not always reliable and reproducible. The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate these problems and to produce headphones whose operating element can be located by touch, intuitively and with one grasping movement, and thus when worn, the headphones can be controlled with certainty, reliably, and rapidly.

This purpose is achieved in headphones of the above-mentioned type by the fact that the operating element comprises a rotary, annular handle, and in that the area of the ear cup that is accessible from outside and enclosed by the annular handle is uncoupled mechanically from the rotary motion of the handle, and in that a disk located inside the annular handle is designed to be shiftable and/or tiltable, to take over additional control functions for at least another audio function.

The operating element is arranged on a side of the ear cup that is turned away from the ear, and it allows the user to recognize it rapidly due its annular shape. The invention exploits the fact that, with a returning knob, usually only the marginal area is grasped. In the present invention, this area is represented by the annular handle. Now, however, the free space within the annular shape can be used as desired for a visually high quality closure disk or for other operating elements. The annular handle can, because it does indeed still leave room in its interior, be designed as large as possible and it can be assigned a particularly important audio function, preferably sound level regulation. As a result of the special shape of the operating element, the user recognizes it intuitively and he/she assigns the corresponding function to it, such as precise sound level regulation. The shiftable and/or tiltable disk is manageable in a intuitively way by the user too, there are no problems with the "mirror effect" with such an element.

In a preferred embodiment, the external diameter of the handle corresponds substantially to the diameter of the ear cup. In this way, on the one hand, the size of the operating element can be maximized, and, on the other hand, the visual appearance of the headphones can be improved, because as a result of the external contour of the ear cup, which follows that of the handle, the headphones preserve an ergonomic shape.

In addition to its rotatability, the handle can also be designed so that it is shiftable and/or deformable, to cover additional functions, for example, channel selection, title advance forward and backward, pairing, start, stop, etc. Within the handle according to the invention - as already mentioned - additional operating elements that are independent of the handle and control other functions can be provided.

It has to be stated that, a mechanism for providing a rotatable, tiltable and shiftable operating element is known per se from the WO 01/61637 A, the content of this document is incorporated into this application by reference.

Below, the invention is explained in greater detail in reference to the drawing. In the drawing

Figure 1 shows headphones according to the invention from the front,

Figure 2 shows the headphones from the side,

Figure 3 shows an ear cup with a setting wheel in cross section,

Figure 4 shows the embodiment of the operating element according to the invention in an exploded view,

Figure 5 shows the composite attachment of the operating element without ear cup application surface, and

Figure 6 shows a variant of the invention in which additional operating elements that are accessible from the outside are provided in the annular handle.

Figure 1 shows headphones 10 with two ear cups 11, which are each attached to one end of arc-shaped bow 12 and attached rotatably about several axes depending on the requirement. The headphones can be wire-dependent or they can be based on a reception unit provided with wireless reception. On one of the ear cups 11, annular handle 15 is provided, which is attached rotatably and assigned to a certain audio function. This audio function is preferably sound level regulation, because this function is used the most. From outside, only annular handle 15 of the operating element is visible, while the area that is visible from outside and enclosed by handle 15 is not rotatable with respect to the ear cup, or is at least uncoupled from the rotary motion of handle 15. In the present embodiment example, handle 15 is formed by the periphery of setting wheel 6, whose central area is disk-shaped and not visible from the outside. On the external side of the right ear cup-which, when worn, is the side turned away from the ear-annular handle 15 is located, with which the user can control an audio function, preferably the sound level regulation. In the represented embodiment, the external contour of annular handle 15 is aligned substantially with the external contour of ear cup 11. It is preferred that the ear cup is provided with setting wheel 6 (on the right in Figure 1) to possess substantially the same external contour as the opposite ear cup (the left in Figure 1). Visually, there is thus hardly any perceivable difference between the right and the left ear cup, which considerably beautifies the appearance of headphones. As a result of the annular shape of handle 15, which is accessible from outside, it takes up only a little space on the external side of the ear cup, so that the problem of protruding operating elements, as in the state of the art, is eliminated.

In Figure 2, the headphone can be seen in a side view. Round closure disk 1 is enclosed by annular handle 15, and, in the present case, it is not movable and it can also not be used to control any audio functions. Closure disk 1, which is firmly connected to ear cup 11, holds setting wheel 6 with handle 15 provided at its periphery, and it prevents the handle from falling out. As indicated with the bent double arrow, handle 15 and respectively setting wheel 6 can be turned about a rotation axis which corresponds to its own axis-in the represented embodiment on a plane that is substantially parallel to ear contact surface 13. Closure disk 1 is connected rotatably with ear cup 11 and it does not turn with handle 15. Concavities 16, for example, in the form of cuts, bevels, etc., along the circumference of handle 15 can facilitate the user's orientation and communicate the current position of the operating element in a simple way to him/her. Alternatively, a deviating surface structure can be provided at certain places, such as, for example, knobs, notches or grooves.

In a preferred embodiment, handle 15 and respectively setting wheel 6 is also shiftable in addition to its rotatability, for example, in the plane defined by the annular shape, and in different directions, as indicated, for example, in Figure 2 with the vertical and horizontal rectilinear double arrows. For this purpose, some tolerance is provided, within which setting wheel 6 can be moved with handle 15. The shiftability in certain directions corresponds to audio functions other than those regulated by turning handle 15. In a preferred embodiment, the space within annular handle 15 is used for one or more additional operating elements. Thus, disk 1 could be tiltable in different directions and linked with corresponding functions. Naturally, it is also possible to provide several mutually independent (push) buttons, turning knobs, and similar parts in the interior of the ring. Such an embodiment is shown in Figure 6, where independently operatable push buttons 16 (for example, for play, stop, pause, skip, etc.) are provided in the area enclosed by annular handle 15.

Figure 3 shows a cross section through the right ear cup. Within housing 14, electroacoustic transducer 9 and an electronic circuit that is not stressed further are located, which electronic circuit acts as a connection element between the transducer 9 and the operating element. Turning setting wheel 6 produces a sequential actuation of microswitches 8, resulting in the generation of the corresponding control signals, which are transmitted to the electronic circuit.

To convert the shifting of setting wheel 6 as well into control signals, control pin 2 is provided, which is attached at closure disk 1 that is attached rotatably with ear cup 11, and extends through a hole of a disk that is provided in the area of the bottom side of setting wheel 6. Shifting produces a deflection of control pin 2 within its guide 4 and thus an actuation of microswitch 8 located in the corresponding direction. Intermediate disks 3, 5 and 7 ensure a reliable attachment and stabilization of the components of the operating element. However, it is also conceivable to use any other incorporation of the operating element respectively on the ear cup, that appears appropriate to a person skilled in the art, as long as the area enclosed by handle 15 is uncoupled mechanically from the rotary motion of handle 15.

Figure 4 shows an exploded view of the attachment of setting wheel 6 with its handle 15 and its cooperation with microswitches 8. Closure disk 1 which comes is located within annular handle 15, and which also forms the external side of the ear cup, allows the rotatable attachment of setting wheel 6 and it prevents the detachment of setting wheel 6 from ear cup 11. By means of a rotary motion of setting wheel 6, microswitches 8 that are located under it are actuated sequentially via circular transmission plate 7. For additional functions, the setting wheel is not only rotary, it can also be shifted slightly. To transfer this translation movement to sensors, control pin 2 that protrudes on closure disk 1 into the interior of the ear cup is attached, which pin can be bent slightly as a result of the shifting of the setting wheel and which moves corresponding transfer element 3. Control pin 2, in the assembled state, is moved within its guides 4 and it actuates, depending on the direction of movement, corresponding microswitch 8.

The represented embodiment shows only an example of the invention, because it is also possible in principle for setting wheel 6 to consist substantially only of annular handle 15, and thus not present a disk placed in the interior of the ear cup. Li this case, the microswitches could be arranged on the ear cup side in the area of the inner circumference of the handles, while the handle on its inner side presents processes that actuate the microswitch(es) sequentially, as a result of which the turning of the handle is registered. In each case, the operating element is arranged on an external side of the ear cup - preferably on the external side of ear cup 11 that faces ear contact surface 13 - and is rotatable, and seen from outside presents an annular shape.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the diameter of the annular setting wheel corresponds substantially to the external circumference of the ear cup, which makes the headphones particularly ergonomic without disfiguring it with the operating elements. As in the represented embodiment example, the external contour of the annular handle or at least a part thereof can be in the form of a truncated cone or spherical. Here it is preferred that the external diameter of the handle decrease outwards.

The setting wheel can also be deformable and work in cooperation with corresponding ear cup side pressure sensors, for example, on the surface of the ear cup that faces the inner side of handle 15, which again allows linking with audio functions. However, sensing the deformation of handle 15 can also be performed by the aforementioned microswitches. In this case opposing switches are operated. In principle any movement/deformation of the handle can be detected and evaluated with the switches by means of a corresponding logic.

The attachment point of bow 12 on ear cup 11 can be provided between the ear contact surface 13 of ear cup 11 and annular handle 15. However, the attachment point of bow 12 on ear cup 11 can also lie within the area enclosed by annular handle 15. The invention is naturally also applicable to headphones and headsets with only one ear cup. In this case, the bow either extends around the head or it can be clamped behind the ear. Headphones according to the invention are suitable not only for the automotive market, they also provide a considerable facilitation for the user in all conceivable areas, whether in the private sector, in central management units, in cockpits, in locomotive driver cabins, for interpreters, etc.