JPH0247577Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an improvement of a plug used for listening to audio through earphones of devices such as televisions and radios.

[Conventional technology]

In jacks for using earphones in equipment equipped with speakers, such as televisions and radios, audio signal current normally flows through the speaker side to drive the speakers, but when using earphones, the plug must be inserted into the jack. Many of these jacks have electrical contacts that open when a plug is inserted inside the jack so that the audio signal current supplied to the speaker is cut off and the audio signal current flows only to the earphone.

FIG. 4 shows the connection state of such a conventional jack A and a plug D corresponding to this jack A. Reference numeral 1 denotes an electric contact having an appropriate contact pressure for cutting off the speaker audio signal current described above, and is composed of a spring contact piece 2 and a fixed contact piece 3. still,
Under normal conditions, this electrical contact 1 is closed. 4
is a fitting portion that fits into the sleeve 5 when the plug D is inserted, and serves as a ground side conductor. When the plug D is inserted as shown, the tip contact conductor 6 of the plug D comes into contact with the spring contact piece 2 and deforms it under pressure, thereby opening the electric contact 1. At this time, the curved portion 2a of the spring contact piece 2 engages with the tapered portion of the tip contact conductor 6, and the restoring force of the spring acts to draw in the plug D, thereby maintaining the connected state of the plug D and jack A. 7 is the tip contact conductor 6
This is an insulator interposed between the sleeve 5 and the sleeve 5.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

By the way, there are cases where it is desired to extract a signal from a conventional jack without cutting off the original signal current.

For example, this is the case when a hearing-impaired person listens to audio from an audio device such as a television or radio. That is, it is generally not easy for people with hearing loss to clearly hear, for example, the sound of television broadcasts. If the volume of the TV is set too high, it will be a nuisance to people with normal hearing nearby. Even if you use earphones, they are often useless because they are designed for people with normal hearing, so the volume is insufficient, or the frequency characteristics are flat, which is far from the easy-to-hear frequency characteristics that differ for each hearing-impaired person. .

Conventionally, in order to solve this problem, there has been a TV audio listening device for people with hearing loss that extracts audio signals from a TV or earphone jack, adjusts the sound quality and volume to a level suitable for people with hearing loss, and transmits the audio signals to the ears. Various types are supplied. For example, a device that uses an induction loop method to make sound magnetic waves and radiates them indoors, detects them using an induction coil built into a hearing aid for a hearing-impaired person, amplifies them, and listens to them with earphones, or uses an FM transmitter to radiate sound radio waves. This is a device that allows people with hearing loss to listen to this using their FM hearing aids.

However, since all of the above devices use signals from the earphone jack, a plug must be inserted into the earphone jack to extract the audio signal, but when doing so, the connection to the speaker is disconnected and audio cannot be heard from the speaker. This means that people with normal hearing cannot watch television broadcasts at the same time, which is extremely inconvenient.

Still, in the past, many TVs were manufactured and sold with two types of earphone terminals: one with an earphone terminal that cuts off the speaker sound and one without, but the TVs manufactured and sold in recent years are of the former type. In order to use the TV audio listening device for the hearing-impaired mentioned above, it is necessary to prepare an additional television exclusively for that device, or to take measures such as modifying the earphone terminal of the TV. This is extremely inconvenient.

[Purpose of invention]

The present invention was developed with these circumstances in mind, and even when a plug is inserted into a normal earphone jack installed in an audio device such as a television, the audio signal from the plug can be transmitted without cutting off the audio from the speaker. The purpose of this project is to propose a new plug that can be connected to, for example, the above-mentioned TV audio listening device for the hearing-impaired, thereby allowing normal hearing and hearing-impaired people to enjoy television broadcasts at the same time.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, the contact conductor at the tip end of the plug is constructed of a coil spring having a restoring force smaller than the contact pressure of the electrical contacts in the jack.

[Effect]

When the plug according to the present invention is inserted into an ordinary jack, the tip contact conductor made of a coil spring receives a force perpendicular to the axis of the plug from the spring contact piece inside the jack, and is easily elastically deformed. Without breaking contact, the coil spring is in contact with the spring contact piece through which the signal has passed, using its own restoring force, making it possible to derive the audio signal.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a plug B to which the present invention is applied. 8
is a center conductor, which is bonded and supported by an insulator 7 and forms a terminal portion (not shown) at the rear of the plug. Reference numeral 9 denotes a tip contact conductor made of a coil spring attached to the center conductor 8. The hollow cylindrical sleeve 5 is provided with a slit 5a, and a protrusion 5b is formed on the outer surface of the sleeve 5 at a contact portion with the jack A so as to protrude from the inner diameter of the fitting portion of the jack A. Further, since the outer diameter of the insulator 7 is made slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the sleeve 5 at its tip, a slight gap 7a exists between the insulator 7 and the sleeve 5, and the protrusion 5b The adjacent sleeve tip becomes inwardly deformable. Because it has such an elastic structure, when plug B is inserted into jack A, the protrusion 5d constantly applies a pressing force to the inner wall of the jack fitting part, increasing frictional force and preventing plug B from easily coming out of the jack. It can prevent falling off.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the state of connection between the plug B and the earphone jack A.
4 is a general jack similar to that shown in FIG. 4, and the same reference numerals indicate the same parts in FIG.

Coil spring 9 has plug B connected to earphone jack A.
In the detached state, the restoring force causes the plug to be located on the center of the shaft, but when it is inserted into the earphone jack A as shown in the figure, it is elastically deformed by the force of the spring contact piece 2, so the coil spring 9 resists the restoring force. As a result, the spring contact piece 2 is constantly pressed, maintaining good contact, but since the restoring force is set to be weaker than the contact pressure of the electrical contact 1 in the earphone jack A, the spring contact piece 2 is pressed. Therefore, the electrical contact 1 cannot be opened. Thus, even when inserted into a general earphone jack A, the signal current flowing through the electrical contact 1 is not cut off, and the spring contact piece 2 is contacted, so that the same signal current can be taken out from the plug B.

FIG. 3 shows a plug C showing a second embodiment.
Reference numeral 9 denotes a tip contact conductor made of a coil spring, which is joined to the center conductor 8. Reference numeral 10 denotes an elastic member made of metal that prevents the plug from easily falling off when the jack and plug are connected. This elastic member 10 has one end 10a fixed to the sleeve 5, the other end 10b movable, and has a bulged portion 10c.
The inner wall of the jack fitting portion is constantly subjected to a pressing force by the elastic member 10. Such an elastic structure can prevent the plug C from easily falling off as in FIG. 2.

Although the present invention has been described above with respect to an earphone-sized plug, the present invention is of course applicable not only to this but also to various plugs having different diameters.

[Effects of the invention] As explained above, according to the plug of the present invention, even devices such as televisions that are equipped with only an earphone jack configured so that the audio current to the speaker is cut off when the plug is inserted can be easily used. Moreover, the signal current can be extracted externally from the earphone jack and used while reliably driving the speaker, and is particularly suitable for use in a hearing aid device used for hearing-impaired people to listen to television broadcasts.

The present invention is also effective when branching signals without cutting off the original signal path at other general jack parts.

Further, if the plug sleeve has an elastic structure, it is effective in preventing the plug from falling off from the jack.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a partially cutaway side view of a plug showing one embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the connection state between the plug and the jack, and Fig. 3 is a view of a plug showing another embodiment. FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway side view showing a conventional plug and jack connection state. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Electric contact, 2... Spring contact piece, 3... Fixed contact piece, 5... Sleeve, 9... Coil spring, 10
...Elastic member.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) An electrical contact that is inserted into a jack and has an electrical contact consisting of a fixed contact piece and a spring contact piece that are in contact with each other with a constant contact pressure under normal conditions, and that is in contact with the spring contact piece. ,
In the plug for extracting an electric signal from the spring contact piece, the tip contact conductor is constituted by a coil spring, and the strength of the restoring force of the elastic deformation of the coil spring by the spring contact piece is equal to the contact pressure of the electric contact in the jack. A plug characterized by a weaker setting. (2) The plug according to claim 1, wherein the plug sleeve has an elastic structure in which a resilient force acts outward at the contact portion of the plug sleeve with the inner wall of the fitting portion of the jack.