TW202023254A - Conference telephone - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a conference telephone, which includes a device casing, a loudspeaker, and a plurality of microphones. The device casing has a sound hole and a plurality of sound-receiving holes. The sound hole is orientated upward. The sound-receiving holes are orientated sideward and obliquely upward. The loudspeaker is disposed upward in the device casing and aligns with the sound hole. The microphones are disposed toward the sound-receiving holes correspondingly in the device casing.

Description

conference call

The present invention relates to a conference phone.

In the current general conference call, the microphone also receives the sound from the speaker from the outside, which causes echo. In addition, the microphone and speaker of a general conference phone are both installed in the same device casing. Therefore, in principle, the microphone may also receive the sound transmitted inside the device casing or the sound generated by the vibration of the device casing or components. Make the sound broadcast by the speaker contain noise. Regardless of the foregoing, it is easy for conference participants to repeat the speech because it is difficult to hear the sound played by the speaker, which greatly reduces the communication efficiency.

In view of the problems in the prior art, one of the objectives of the present invention is to provide a conference phone with a speaker facing upwards, including a plurality of microphones, arranged sideways and tilted upwards, to suppress or eliminate echoes and effectively receive the user’s voice .

The conference phone according to the present invention includes a device casing, a speaker, and a plurality of microphones. The device casing has a sound outlet and a plurality of sound collection holes, the sound outlet is arranged upward, and the plurality of sound reception holes are arranged laterally and inclined upward. The loudspeaker is upwardly aligned with the sound hole and is arranged in the device casing. The plurality of microphones are correspondingly arranged in the device casing toward the plurality of sound receiving holes. In this way, the conference phone can suppress or eliminate echoes and effectively receive the user's voice, so as to improve communication efficiency.

The advantages and spirit of the present invention can be further understood through the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings.

Please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 3. According to an embodiment, a conference phone 1 includes a device housing 12 and a system motherboard 14 housed in the device housing 12, a speaker 16 (shown in a single entity to simplify the diagram), and a plurality of microphones 18 ( For example, but not limited to two). The device housing 12 has a sound hole 12a and a plurality of sound holes 12b (such as but not limited to two). The sound holes 12a are arranged upward, and the sound holes 12b are arranged laterally and inclined upward, or the sound holes 12a are vertical. The sound receiving hole 12b is arranged horizontally and inclined upward. The loudspeaker 16 is arranged in the device housing 12 with the sound hole 12a facing upwards, so that the loudspeaker 16 can generate sound to propagate through the sound hole 12a. The microphones 18 are correspondingly arranged in the device housing 12 facing the sound receiving holes 12b, so that each microphone 18 can receive external sounds through the corresponding sound receiving holes 12b. The system board 14 is electrically connected to the speaker 16 and the microphone 18 to control the speaker 16 to generate sound and to receive sound signals via the microphone 18. In this embodiment, the system main board 14 essentially includes a circuit board and required electronic components and connectors for electrical connection with other components. The outline of the circuit board matches the arrangement of the speaker 16 to avoid Structural interference, but not limited to this in practice.

In this embodiment, the opening direction D1 of the sound hole 12a is upward, so the sound generated by the speaker 16 propagates through the sound hole 12a in the opening direction D1. The opening direction D2 of the sound receiving hole 12b is horizontal and slightly inclined upward, so the sound receiving range of the microphone 18 (shown by the hatched area in FIG. 3) is also slightly upward. This configuration can increase the efficiency of the microphone 18 to receive the user's voice; , The conference phone 1 is placed on a desktop (shown as a chain line in FIG. 3), and the user (not shown in the figure) sits around the desktop. In practice, the angle between the opening direction D1 and the opening direction D2 can be designed to be between 80 degrees and 90 degrees, in order to take into account the requirements for echo suppression or cancellation and the efficiency of receiving the user's voice. In addition, in this embodiment, the sound receiving holes 12b (or the microphone 18) are located on opposite sides of the device housing 12 to facilitate the suppression or elimination of echoes. This can be achieved through existing algorithms and will not be described in detail. In practice, the conference phone 1 may have more sound holes 12b (and corresponding microphones 18), and the plurality of sound holes 12b (and corresponding microphones 18) have equal central angles with respect to the opening direction of the sound holes 12a Set up.

In addition, in this embodiment, the device housing 12 includes a speaker housing 12c and a plurality of microphone housings 12d (for example, but not limited to two). Each microphone accommodating chamber 12d is correspondingly connected to a sound receiving hole 12b, and the microphone 18 is correspondingly accommodated in the microphone accommodating chamber 12d. The speaker 16 is accommodated in the speaker accommodating chamber 12c. In practice, the speaker accommodation chamber 12c and the plurality of microphone accommodation chambers 12d can be airtight to each other, so that the sound generated by the speaker 16 can be suppressed or eliminated from being transmitted to the microphone accommodation chamber 12d through the device housing 12. It can also suppress or eliminate the impact of the vibration generated during the operation of the speaker 16 on the device housing 12. In this embodiment, the device housing 12 includes an upper cover 122 and a base 124 connected to the upper cover 122. The system motherboard 14 is fixed on the base 124 and located between the upper cover 122 and the base 124. The sound hole 12a is formed on the upper cover 122, and the sound hole 12b, the speaker accommodation chamber 12c and the microphone accommodation chamber 12d are formed on the base 124. The base 124 includes a mounting opening 124a connected to the speaker accommodating chamber 12c and aligned with the sound outlet 12a. The speaker 16 is exposed from the base 124 through the mounting opening 124a. The outer edge of the diaphragm of the speaker 16 (for example, the outer ring supporting the diaphragm) is in close contact with the output hole 12a; in this embodiment, the speaker 16 is connected to the output through a spacer ring 20 (for example, but not limited to, made of foam) The sound hole 12a is tightly closed. Similarly, the outer edge of the diaphragm of the speaker 16 is also tightly sealed with the mounting opening 124a; in this embodiment, the speaker 16 is tightly sealed with the mounting opening 124a via a spacer ring 21 (for example, but not limited to, made of foam). In addition, in this embodiment, the conference phone 1 also includes a dust-proof net 22 (such as but not limited to fabric or sponge products) and a covering net 23 (such as but not limited to metal mesh products, or metal mesh parts with a plastic frame). ), set on the upper cover 122.

In addition, please refer to Figures 4 to 6. In this embodiment, the base 124 includes an upper housing 1242 and a lower housing 1244. The mounting opening 124a is formed in the upper housing 1242. The upper housing 1242 and the lower housing 1244 are connected to form a speaker housing chamber 12c and the plurality of In the microphone accommodating chamber 12d, the system main board 14 is fixed to the upper casing 1242. The upper housing 1242 includes an upper wall 1242a, an outer ring wall 1242b, and an upper partition 1242c. The outer ring wall 1242b is connected to the periphery of the upper wall 1242a, and the upper partition 1242c has a substantially C-shaped structure and is connected to the upper wall 1242a. And the outer ring wall 1242b. The lower housing 1244 includes a lower wall 1244a, an outer ring wall 1244b, and a lower partition 1244c. The outer ring wall 1244b is connected to the periphery of the lower wall 1244a. The lower partition 1244c is roughly in a C-shaped structure and is connected to the lower wall 1244a and the outer wall. Ring wall 1244b. The outer ring wall 1242b is connected to the outer ring wall 1244b, and the upper partition 1242c is aligned with the lower partition 1244c and is tightly sealed by a sound-absorbing material (such as but not limited to a foam pad 1246) to form a microphone accommodation chamber 12d and make The microphone accommodating chamber 12d and the speaker accommodating chamber 12c are airtight to each other.

In addition, the microphone 18 includes a circuit board 182 and a radio unit 184 disposed on the front side 182a of the circuit board 182, and the radio unit 184 faces the corresponding radio hole 12b. An upper sound-absorbing pad 1248, a lower sound-absorbing pad 1250, a rear sound-absorbing pad 1252, a left sound-absorbing pad 1254, and a right sound-absorbing pad 1256 are arranged in the microphone accommodating chamber 12d, all of which can be made of but not limited to foam. The upper side 182b of the circuit board 182 abuts the upper sound-absorbing pad 1248, the lower side 182c of the circuit board 182 abuts the lower sound-absorbing pad 1250, the back side 182d of the circuit board 182 abuts the rear sound-absorbing pad 1252, and the left side 182e of the circuit board 182 abuts the left For the sound-absorbing pad 1254, the right side 182f of the circuit board 182 abuts the right sound-absorbing pad 1256. Thereby, it is possible to further suppress or eliminate the interference of noise or vibration inside the device housing 12 on the sound received by the sound receiving unit 184. In addition, in this embodiment, the microphone 18 further includes a rubber sleeve 186 that is sleeved on the radio unit 184. The hole 186a of the rubber sleeve 186 also helps to suppress the interference of noise on the radio unit 184. The rubber sleeve 186 itself also has the effect of suppressing or eliminating vibrations inside the device housing 12 from affecting the radio unit 184. In addition, in practice, a dust-proof net 1258 (such as but not limited to fabric or sponge products) is provided in front of the sound-receiving unit 184, which also has the effect of suppressing or eliminating external noise of the device housing 12. In addition, the microphone 18 is electrically connected to the system motherboard 14 via an electrical connection wire 24 (such as but not limited to a flexible flat cable), and the electrical connection wire 24 is fixed along the upper housing 1242 and the system motherboard 14 (such as but not limited to through double-sided tape, Viscose realization). In this way, the vibration (and the possible noise) that may be generated by the electrical connection wire 24 when the speaker 16 is operating can be suppressed or eliminated.

In addition, in practice, a sound-absorbing material (such as but not limited to foam) can be arranged in the speaker accommodating chamber 12c to suppress or eliminate the propagation of the speaker 16 in the device housing 12; for example, the sound-absorbing material 1259 is arranged around the speaker 16 (Indicated in Figure 3 with a dashed cloud-shaped line). In addition, in this embodiment, a foam pad 1260 (such as but not limited to foam) is also placed under the speaker 16, which also helps to suppress or eliminate the vibration that the speaker 16 may generate during operation (and its possible noise).

In addition, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in this embodiment, the conference phone 1 further includes a button switch 26, which is disposed on the upper cover 122 and is connected to the system motherboard via an electrical connection line 28 (such as but not limited to a flexible flat cable) 14 Electrical connection. The electrical connection line 28 is located inside the upper cover 122 and fixed along the bracket of the upper cover 122 (for example, but not limited to, through double-sided tape or glue). In this way, the possible vibration (and possible noise) generated by the electrical connection line 28 during the operation of the speaker 16 can be suppressed or eliminated. Also, please refer to FIG. 7, the upper cover 122 includes a plurality of keycaps 122a (such as but not limited to volume up key, volume down key, call key, stop key, Bluetooth key, power key, etc.), which are tilted on the upper cover 122 Around. The system motherboard 14 includes a plurality of switches 142 correspondingly located under the plurality of keycaps 122a. The user presses the keycap 122a to trigger the corresponding switch 142. Each keycap 122a individually has a cantilever structure. In practice, the upper cover 122 can be integrally formed (for example, realized by plastic injection). In this way, the possible vibration (and possible noise) generated by the keycap 122a during the operation of the speaker 16 can be suppressed or eliminated.

In addition, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the conference phone 1 also includes an external connecting cable 30 (only shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 to simplify the diagram) and connected to one of the ends of the external connecting cable 30 Connector 32 (for example, a USB connector). The conference phone 1 can communicate with an external electronic device (such as a computer) via the connector 32, and can also obtain power supply via the connector 32. The base 124 of the device housing 12 includes an annular winding groove 1262, and the annular winding groove 1262 includes an enlarged receiving area 1262a. The outer connecting cable 30 extends from the enlarged accommodating area 1262a from the base 124 and can be wound in the annular winding groove 1262 so that the connector 32 can be accommodated in the enlarged accommodating area 1262a. In addition, the base 124 further includes a rubber pad 1264 disposed on a side wall 1262 b of the annular wire winding groove 1262, which helps to wind and fix the external connection cable 30. In addition, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the conference phone 1 further includes a ring-shaped foot pad 34 (for example, but not limited to, made of rubber), which is fixed on the bottom surface 124 b of the base 124. The ring-shaped foot pad 34 not only increases the friction between the conference phone 1 and the desktop to facilitate the placement of the conference phone 1, but also has the effect of suppressing vibration. The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and all changes and modifications made in accordance with the scope of the patent application of the present invention shall fall within the scope of the present invention.

1: Conference call 12: Device housing 12a: Sound hole 12b: Sound hole 12c: speaker housing room 12d: Microphone storage room 122: upper cover 122a: keycap 124: Base 124a: Installation port 124b: bottom surface 1242: upper shell 1242a: upper wall 1242b: outer ring wall 1242c: Upper partition 1244: lower shell 1244a: lower wall 1244b: outer ring wall 1244c: lower partition 1246, 1260: foam pad 1248: Upper sound-absorbing pad 1250: Lower sound-absorbing pad 1252: Rear Acoustic Pad 1254: Left Acoustic Pad 1256: Right Acoustic Pad 1258: Dust Net 1259: Sound-absorbing material 1262: Annular winding groove 1262a: Expanded housing area 1262b: sidewall 1264: Rubber pad 14: System motherboard 142: Switch 16: speaker 18: Microphone 182: circuit board 182a: front side 182b: upper side 182c: lower side 182d: back side 182e: left 182f: right 184: Radio unit 186: Rubber sleeve 186a: hole 20, 21: Spacer ring 22: Dust net 23: cover net 24, 28: electrical connection line 26: Push button switch 30: External connection cable 32: Connector 34: Ring foot pad D1, D2: Opening direction

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conference phone according to an embodiment. Figure 2 is a partial exploded view of the conference phone in Figure 1. Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the conference phone in Figure 1 along the line X-X. Figure 4 is an enlarged view of circle A in Figure 3. 5 is a schematic diagram of the housing on the base of the device housing in FIG. 2 from another perspective. Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of the conference phone in Figure 1 along the line Y-Y. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the upper cover of the device casing in FIG. 2 from another perspective.

1: Conference call

12a: Sound hole

12b: Sound hole

12c: speaker housing room

12d: Microphone storage room

122: upper cover

122a: keycap

124: Base

124a: Installation port

124b: bottom surface

1242: upper shell

1244: lower shell

1259: Sound-absorbing material

1260: foam pad

1262: Annular winding groove

1262b: sidewall

1264: Rubber pad

14: System motherboard

142: Switch

16: speaker

18: Microphone

182: circuit board

184: Radio unit

186: Rubber sleeve

186a: hole

20, 21: Spacer ring

22: Dust net

23: cover net

24, 28: electrical connection line

26: Push button switch

34: Ring foot pad

D1, D2: Opening direction

Claims (17)

A conference phone includes: a device housing with a sound hole and a plurality of sound holes, the sound hole is arranged upward, the plurality of sound holes are arranged sideways and inclined upward; a speaker, which is aligned upward The sound hole is arranged in the device casing; and a plurality of microphones are correspondingly arranged in the device casing toward the plurality of sound holes. The conference phone according to claim 1, wherein the angle between the opening direction of the sound hole and the opening direction of the sound receiving hole is between 80 degrees and 90 degrees. The conference phone according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of sound receiving holes are arranged at equal central angles with respect to the opening direction of the sound outlet. The conference phone according to claim 1, wherein the device housing includes a speaker accommodating room and a plurality of microphone accommodating rooms, the speaker accommodating room and the plurality of microphone accommodating rooms are airtight to each other, and each microphone accommodating The chamber is correspondingly connected with a sound receiving hole, the speaker is accommodated in the speaker accommodating chamber, and the plurality of microphones are correspondingly accommodated in the plurality of microphone accommodating chambers. The conference phone according to claim 4, wherein the device casing includes an upper cover and a base connected to the upper cover, the sound outlet is formed in the upper cover, the speaker storage chamber and the plurality of microphone storage chambers are formed On the base, the base includes an installation opening connected to the speaker accommodating chamber and aligned with the sound outlet, and the speaker is exposed to the base through the installation opening. The conference phone according to claim 5, wherein the speaker and the sound hole are closely connected. The conference phone according to claim 6, further comprising a spacer ring, wherein the speaker is tightly connected to the installation opening through the spacer ring. The conference phone according to claim 5, wherein the speaker is tightly connected to the installation port. The conference phone according to claim 8, further comprising a spacer ring, wherein the speaker is tightly connected to the installation opening through the spacer ring. The conference phone according to claim 5, wherein the base includes an upper casing and a lower casing, the mounting opening is formed in the upper casing, and the upper casing and the lower casing are connected to form the speaker accommodating chamber and The plurality of microphone accommodating chambers, the upper housing includes an upper partition, the lower housing includes a lower partition, the upper partition is aligned with the lower partition and is tightly sealed by a sound-absorbing material, so that the speaker can accommodate The holding chamber and one of the microphone holding chambers are airtight to each other. The conference phone according to claim 10, wherein each microphone includes a circuit board and a radio unit arranged on the front side of the circuit board, the radio unit faces the corresponding radio hole, and each microphone accommodating room is provided with an upper sound-absorbing unit Pad, a lower sound-absorbing pad and a rear sound-absorbing pad, the upper side of the circuit board abuts the upper sound-absorbing pad, the lower side of the circuit board abuts the lower sound-absorbing pad, and the back side of the circuit board abuts the rear sound-absorbing pad. The conference phone according to claim 10 further includes a system main board fixed on the upper casing, wherein each microphone is electrically connected to the system main board via an electrical connection line, and the electrical connection line runs along the upper casing and The system motherboard is fixed. The conference phone described in claim 5 further includes a button switch and a system main board, the button switch is arranged on the upper cover, the system main board is arranged on the base, and the button switch is electrically connected to the system main board via an electrical connection line , The electrical connection line is fixed along the upper cover. The conference phone according to claim 13, wherein the top cover includes a plurality of keycaps arranged obliquely around the top cover, the plurality of keycaps are individually in a cantilever structure, and the system main board includes a plurality of switches located correspondingly Below the plurality of keycaps. The conference phone described in claim 4 further includes a sound-absorbing material, and is arranged around the speaker in the speaker accommodating room. The conference phone according to claim 1, further comprising an external connection cable and a connector connected to one end of the external connection cable, wherein the device housing includes a ring-shaped winding groove and arranged in the ring-shaped winding groove There is a rubber pad on the side wall, the ring-shaped winding groove includes an enlarged accommodating area, and the external connection cable extends from the enlarged accommodating area from the device housing and can be wound in the ring-shaped winding groove Inside, so that the connector can be accommodated in the enlarged accommodating area. The conference phone described in claim 1 further includes a ring-shaped foot pad fixed on the bottom surface of the device housing.

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