KR101199917B1 - Waterproof structure of input/output connector for portable audio player - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a waterproof structure of an input / output connector of a portable audio player.
In the present invention, the contact terminal of the input / output connector received by the gasket member in the input / output connector opening includes: a first contact pin positioned on the upper portion of the input / output connector and electrically contacting the plug terminal when the plug is inserted from the outside; Physically spaced apart by the first contact pin and the connection chamber is not energized, it is divided into a second contact pin located below the input / output connector electrically connected to the internal printed circuit board, the input / output connector is normally Not electrically connected to the printed circuit board,
When the plug is inserted for data transmission and / or power charging, the first contact pin is pushed in by the plug's insertion pressure so that the lower end of the first contact pin passes through the connection chamber. By contacting an upper end of the contact pin, the input / output connector and the internal printed circuit board may be electrically connected.
This can solve the problem of waterproofing the most vulnerable connector portion of the present invention. That is, the problem of short circuiting of internal circuit elements due to water infiltration into the input / output connector portion for data transmission and internal battery charging can be completely solved.

Description

Waterproof structure of input / output connector of portable audio player {WATERPROOF STRUCTURE OF INPUT / OUTPUT CONNECTOR FOR PORTABLE AUDIO PLAYER}

The present invention relates to a waterproof headset player using bone conduction, and more particularly, to a waterproof structure of an input / output connector of a portable headset player.

In recent years, portable audio players such as MP3 players (hereinafter, collectively referred to as MP3 players or simply players) have been favored as necessities of life. In general, however, MP3 players have been used only in the air, such as the ground or underground, and it is not known which MP3 players are freely used underwater. There is a clear demand for people who enjoy water sports, such as swimming and water skiing, to enjoy sports while listening to music. And this demand will continue to grow.

However, there are technical difficulties in using MP3 players freely in water sports. It is a technical problem with waterproofing. If water penetrates inside the player case, it will adversely affect the circuitry inside. As a countermeasure against this, a case having various waterproof sealing treatments and gaskets can be proposed. However, to date, such proposals can only be complete and reliable if there is no input / output terminal connected to an external device in the internal circuit configuration.

In order to transmit data to an external device and / or to charge an internal battery, an input / output terminal is required. Since the input / output terminal is electrically connected to an internal circuit element, a water-tight countermeasure is particularly necessary. Closing the input and output terminals with a waterproof cover does not guarantee completeness. If the user does not close the waterproof cover completely, it will inevitably lead to equipment failure. In other words, because of excessive dependence on the management of the user, complaints and claims of consumers in case of failure can be raised. Moreover, even if the waterproof cover is closed tightly, since the input / output terminals are directly exposed inside the waterproof cover, it is not possible to completely prevent a short phenomenon due to minute leakage.

Short leakage due to microleakage-whether it is due to user's careless opening or closing or poor waterproof cover-is due to direct grounding of the player's internal I / O connector. Since the input / output connector is directly connected to the circuit elements of the printed circuit board (PCB) of the player, when external water is injected into each terminal of the input / output connector, a short circuit of the PCB occurs.

Since the input / output connector directly connected to the PCB inside the player has to perform data transmission and / or charging functions, in the structure where the terminal is open as in the prior art, even if a perfect waterproof casing is implemented, the perfect waterproof can be guaranteed. There was no.

Therefore, the waterproof measures against the input / output connector part can be evaluated as the core technology in the manufacture of waterproof MP3 players. The inventor of the present invention has completed the present invention after a long research effort to solve the above problems.

An object of the present invention is to propose an audio player that can enjoy water sports at the same time while enjoying water sports such as swimming or water skiing.

In particular, it is an object of the present invention to propose a novel structure of an input / output connector (I / O connector) of a waterproof audio player that is fully waterproof measures. This aims to complete the waterproof reliability of the audio player.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a novel structure to prevent the internal PCB from short-circuit even if the waterproof cover of the input / output connector is poor, or water penetrates into the input / output connector portion due to poor management of the user.

On the other hand, other unspecified purposes of the present invention will be further considered within the scope of the following detailed description and easily deduced from the effects thereof.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention, in the waterproof structure of the input / output connector of a portable audio player,

The contact terminals of the input / output connector received by the gasket member in the input / output connector opening,

Located on top of the input and output connector, the first contact pin to be in electrical contact with the plug terminal when the plug is inserted from the outside, and is physically separated by the first contact pin and the connecting chamber is not energized, the internal printing It is divided into second contact pins located below the I / O connector electrically connected to the circuit board. The I / O connector is not normally connected to the internal printed circuit board, and the plug is used for data transmission and / or charging of power. Is inserted, the first contact pin is pushed in by the insertion pressure of the plug so that the lower end of the first contact pin is in contact with the upper end of the second contact pin while passing through the connection chamber, the input / output connector And the internal printed circuit board are electrically connected to each other.

In a preferred embodiment of the portable audio player of the present invention, the player is preferably an MP3 player.

According to the present invention as described above, it is possible to completely solve the problem that the internal circuit elements are short-circuited due to water seeps into the input and output connector portion for data transmission and internal battery charging.

Even if the waterproof cover of the input / output connector is poor or water penetrates into the input / output connector part due to poor management of the user, the internal PCB does not short-circuit, thereby completing an audio player with perfect waterproof measures. This is because the I / O connector and the internal PCB are electrically connected only when the plug and the I / O connector contact each other.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to manufacture an audio player that can listen to music while enjoying water sports or water sports.

Even if effects not specifically mentioned in the specification of the present invention are incorporated, the provisional effects expected by the technical features of the present invention are treated as described in the specification of the present invention.

1 is a perspective view of the player 1 in one embodiment according to the invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the player case 20 on one side of the player 1 of FIG. 1.
3 is a perspective view illustrating a plug 300 inserted into the input / output connector opening 100 of the present invention.
4 is a view showing a state in which the plug 300 is inserted into the input / output connector opening 100 in the state in which the cover part 60 of the player 1 is opened.
5 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of an input / output connector opening 100 according to the present invention by way of example.
FIG. 6 is a view illustrating an internal configuration of a contact terminal of an input / output connector of the present invention. In general, the first contact pin 120A and the second contact pin 120B are spaced apart from each other.
FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a state in which the first contact pin 120A and the second contact pin 120B are electrically connected to each other when the plug is inserted from the outside in the arrow direction in FIG. 6.
* The accompanying drawings illustrate examples of the present invention in order to facilitate understanding of the technical idea of the present invention, and thus the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may obscure the subject matter of the present invention.

1 shows one embodiment of a waterproof audio player 1 for waterproofing purposes of the present invention. The player 1 of the present invention preferably has the form of a headset so that it can be used while enjoying sports such as swimming, water skiing and scuba diving. It is possible to have two means to prevent the player 1 from being easily peeled off while in the water or on the water. The first is a hook structure that hangs on both ears of the user, and the second is a frame that hangs around the user's back while connecting the hook.

As shown in FIG. 1, the housing of the player 1 of the present invention may be structurally and electrically connected to the player cases 20 and 21 at both ends by a connecting frame 10 extending over the back of the user's neck. . The connecting frame 10 is bent in a “U” shape, and the wires therein electrically connect the circuit elements positioned at both player cases 20 and 21. The material of the connection frame 10 may be made of synthetic resin such as polycarbonate, and silicone rubber may be used as the skin contact portion of the connection frame 10 to improve a user's wearing comfort.

The player cases 20 and 21 are provided with ear hooks 40 and 41 for hanging on both ears of the user, respectively. The inner surfaces of the player cases 20 and 21 are formed with ear bases 30 (not shown on the other side) having a hollow structure. In the ear base 30, a bone conduction vibrator (not shown) is positioned inside the case adjacent to the inner printed circuit board, and the ear cap 31 inserted into the ear hole of the user is directed toward the outside. It is inserted and fixed inside the base 30.

As shown in FIG. 2, a hook base member 45 having a cylindrical shape is attached to one side of the ear base 30. By inserting one end of the ear hook 40 into this hook base member 45 in close contact, the ear hook 40 can be fixed to the player case 20.

An input / output connector is positioned on a side surface (lower side based on FIG. 1) of the player case 20, and a cover part 60 is formed to seal the input / output connector. It is sufficient that the input / output connector is located in one player case 20, and the other input / output connector may not be present.

The present invention particularly relates to a waterproof structure of the input / output connector, which will now be described in detail.

In the state in which the cover part 60 of the input / output connector is opened, the front terminal part 360 of the plug 300 of FIG. 3 may be inserted into the input / output connector of the player 1 from the outside. The terminals of the plug 300 and the terminals of the input / output connector contact each other to enable data transmission and power charging. Preferably, the plug 300 may be formed of a USB terminal.

The connection between the input / output connector of the player 1 and the external plug 300 is as shown in FIG. 4. 4 illustrates a state in which the cover part 60 is removed, but in practice, the cover part 60 is not removed from the player case 20, but one end thereof will be fixed.

As shown, opening the lid 60 exposes the input / output connector opening 100. In addition, the contact pins 121, 122, 123, 124 located in the input / output connector opening 100 are exposed in a protected and fixed state by the gasket member 110 made of silicone rubber. The contact pins 121, 122, 123, 124 and the contact pins (not shown) of the plug come into contact with each other to achieve desired data transmission and power charging. By the way, in the prior art, the contact pins were directly connected to the internal PCB, but in the present invention, the contact pins are not directly connected to the internal PCB. This is because when water is present in the input / output connector opening 100, the internal PCB is shorted through the contact pins, causing a failure.

See FIG. 5. 5 exemplarily shows a configuration of the input / output connector opening 100 in a state in which the lid part 60 is opened. One end of the cover part 60 is fixed to 161, and the other end of the cover part 60 is attached and detached through 163. These configurations are well known in the art of mechanisms having elements for opening and closing the cover and will not be described in detail.

In the present embodiment, four contact pins in the input / output connector opening 100 are positioned in the gasket member 110 or 130 having four holes in an elongated rectangular parallelepiped structure. The contact pin 121 is a ground (GND), the contact pin 124 is a power terminal of up to 5V, these two terminals are responsible for the power charging of the internal battery. The contact pins 122 and 123 are responsible for the data transmission function. On the other hand, a member having a function of fixing the gasket member is not shown for convenience.

6 and 7 schematically illustrate the cross-sectional structure of the input / output connector unit of the present invention. 6 is a cross-sectional configuration of the external plug 300 is not inserted through the input and output connector opening 100, Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view of the external plug 300 is inserted through the input and output connector opening 100. The configuration is shown. 6 shows a cross-sectional configuration when using the player 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 7 also means a cross-sectional configuration of the player 1 when charging an internal power supply unit or transmitting data from the outside.

Reference numeral 130 denotes a gasket member made of silicone rubber or a substitute thereof, and reference numeral 110 denotes a cover member covering the gasket member from the top. In another preferred embodiment, the gasket member 130 may be directly exposed to the input / output connector opening 100 without the cover member 110.

The contact terminals of the input / output connector of the present invention are each composed of two contact pins.

Referring first to FIG. 6, the four contact pins (represented by them 120A in FIG. 6) of the player 1 of the present invention are not electrically connected to the internal printed circuit board as first contact pins. The first contact pin 120A has a plug contact end opened through the input / output connector opening 100. In addition, the body of the first contact pin 120A is enclosed and sealed by the gasket member 130. Preferably, the first contact pin 120A may be press-fitted into the groove provided in the gasket member 130 while the outer circumferential surface of the first contact pin 120A is in close contact with the inner circumferential surface of the groove.

On the other hand, the contact end of the first contact pin (120A) toward the inside of the device is a state exposed to the connection chamber 140, which is an empty space therein. That is, the first contact pin 120A, which is in electrical contact with the plug 300, is not electrically connected to the printed circuit board 150 installed in the inside 2 of the player 1. Therefore, the circuit elements mounted on the printed circuit board 150, for example, the player control unit, the power supply unit, the data processing unit, and the memory, are not electrically connected.

On the other hand, the four second contact pins 120B disposed below the first contact pins 120A are electrically connected to the printed circuit board 150. Since the connection chamber 140 is interposed between the second contact pin 120B and the first contact pin 120A, the first contact pin 120A and the second contact pin 120A and the second contact pin 120B are interposed therebetween. The contact pins 120B are physically spaced apart.

Since the connection chamber 140 is not made of a physical structure but is an empty space for physically separating the first contact pin 120A and the second contact pin 120B, the upper gasket member 130 and When the first contact pin 120A is pushed down by external pressure, it does not provide any reaction or obstacle to prevent this.

In FIG. 6, when the plug 300 is inserted from the outside, the first contact pin 120A is pushed downward by the pressure when the plug 300 is inserted, and the first contact pin is pushed by the pushing force. A contact end of 120A penetrates through the connection chamber 140 and contacts the upper end of the second contact pin 120B. As such, the electrical connection between the first contact pin 120A and the second contact pin 120B means an electrical connection between the external device and the internal printed circuit board of the player 1 through the plug 300. This enables power charging and data transmission and reception. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing such a state. The plug 300 is inserted in the image table direction.

At this time, the portion of the gasket member 130, which is integrally bonded in the body circumferential direction of the first contact pin 120A, is joined together with the lower end of the first contact pin 120A to be pushed down together. However, when the plug is removed, the gasket member 130 returns to its original position due to the elasticity of the gasket member 130. As a result, the electrical connection between the first contact pin 120A and the second contact pin 120B is released and then again. Return to the state of 6.

The height of the connection chamber 140 may be selected by the numerical value of the family register through repeated implementation. If it is too high, even if the first contact pin (120A) and the gasket member 130 is pushed down by the insertion of the plug 300 is not in contact with the upper end of the second contact pin (120B). If too low, that is, if the separation distance between the lower end of the first contact pin 120A and the upper end of the second contact pin 120B is too narrow, unwanted contact may occur due to long use.

In the dimensions of the shape of FIGS. 6 and 7, these figures are largely expressed to emphasize the relationship between the first contact pin 120A and the second contact pin 120B, and as a result, the printed circuit board 150 There seems to be no big difference. In practice, however, these contact pins 120A, 120B are much smaller than the printed circuit board 150, unlike the representation in the figures. Such circumstances are easily recognizable to those skilled in the art.

[Other Forms]

1. A preferred embodiment of the housing structure of the player 1 of the present invention is a headset structure in which the connecting frame 10 as shown in FIG. 1 is caught by the user's back neck, as long as the user's ears are caught at both ends of the connecting frame. Take the form of a pair of hooks. In other embodiments, it may have only a housing consisting of one hook without a connecting frame. In this embodiment, the user can use the player only on one ear.

2. Another housing structure of the player 1 of the present invention, which may be composed of a housing composed of a pair of hooks worn on both ears without the connecting frame 10. In this embodiment, a module is mounted that enables wireless communication between player circuit elements respectively embedded in both hook housings. Representatively there are modules that use, for example, the Bluetooth standard.

On the other hand, the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited by the embodiments explicitly described above. In addition, the shape and numerical values of the drawings are intended to illustrate the technical idea of the present invention by way of example, and the protection scope of the present invention by the shape and numerical values should not be limited or the configuration of the present invention only. It should be noted that the protection scope of the present invention may not be limited due to obvious changes or substitutions in the technical field to which the present invention belongs.

Claims (4)

In the waterproof structure of the input / output connector of a portable audio player,
The contact terminal of the input / output connector received by the gasket member in the input / output connector opening is composed of a plurality of contact pins respectively performing data transmission and power charging functions.
A first contact pin positioned above the input / output connector and opened through the input / output connector opening and electrically contacting the plug terminal when the plug is inserted from the outside;
A lower portion of the input / output connector positioned below the first contact pin and physically spaced apart by a connection chamber interposed between the first contact pin and not energized, and electrically connected to an internal printed circuit board. It is divided into the second contact pin located at, and the I / O connector is not normally connected to the internal printed circuit board.
When the plug is inserted for data transmission and power charging, the first contact pin is pushed inward in a straight line in the insertion direction of the plug by the insertion pressure of the plug so that the lower end of the first contact pin is connected to the connection chamber. The input / output connector and the internal printed circuit board are electrically connected to each other by directly contacting an upper end of the second contact pin while passing through the waterproof structure of the input / output connector of the portable audio player. The method of claim 1,
The portable audio player is a waterproof structure of the input / output connector of the portable audio player which is an MP3 player. A portable audio player having a waterproof structure of an input / output connector of the portable audio player of claim 1. The method of claim 3,
The portable audio player is of a type having a hook to the user's ear, portable audio player.

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