Headphones for stereo tactile vibration, and related systems and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9549260-B2
Application number	US-201414586589-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 30, 2014
Priority date	Dec 30, 2013
Publication date	Jan 17, 2017
Grant date	Jan 17, 2017

Abstract

Headphones for stereo tactile vibration, and related systems and methods are disclosed. A headphone comprises a first speaker assembly including a first audio driver and a first tactile bass vibrator. The headphone also comprises a second speaker assembly including a second audio driver and a second tactile bass vibrator. The headphone further comprises a signal processing circuit configured to generate a first tactile vibration signal and a second tactile vibration signal from an audio signal to be received by the headphone. The first tactile vibration signal differs from the second tactile vibration signal. A method of operating the headphone includes generating the first tactile vibration signal and the second tactile vibration signal, and driving vibration of the first and second tactile bass vibrators with the first and second tactile vibration signals, respectively. A stereo tactile vibrator system includes the headphone.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A headphone, comprising:
a first speaker assembly including a first audio driver and a first tactile bass vibrator;
a second speaker assembly including a second audio driver and a second tactile bass vibrator; and
a signal processing circuit configured to generate a first tactile vibration signal and a second tactile vibration signal from an audio signal comprising a first channel to be sent to the first speaker assembly and a second channel to be sent to the second speaker assembly, the first tactile vibration signal driving vibration of the first tactile bass vibrator and the second tactile vibration signal driving vibration of the second tactile bass vibrator, wherein the signal processing circuit is configured to output a bass component of the first channel as the first tactile vibration signal and a bass component of the second channel as the second tactile vibration signal if the bass component of the first channel is different from the bass component of the second channel, and to modulate the bass component of the first channel with a non-bass component of the first channel and to modulate the bass component of the second channel with a non-bass component of the second channel if the bass component of the first channel is substantially the same as the bass component of the second channel.

2. The headphone of claim 1 , wherein the signal processing circuit comprises:
a first frequency filter configured to pass the bass component of the first channel while filtering other components of the first channel when the bass component of the first channel is different from the bass component of the second channel; and
a second frequency filter configured to pass the bass component of the second channel while filtering other components of the second channel when the bass component of the first channel is different from the bass component of the second channel.

3. The headphone of claim 2 , wherein the signal processing circuit further comprises:
a first signal amplifier configured to amplify the bass component passed from the first frequency filter when the bass component of the first channel is different from the bass component of the second channel; and
a second signal amplifier configured to amplify the bass component passed from the second frequency filter when the bass component of the first channel is different from the bass component of the second channel.

4. The headphone of claim 1 , wherein the signal processing circuit comprises:
a first frequency filter and separator configured to separate and pass the bass component of the first channel and a non-bass component of the first channel when the bass component of the first channel is substantially the same as the bass component of the second channel; and
a second frequency filter and separator configured to separate and pass the bass component of the second channel and a non-bass component of the second channel when the bass component of the first channel is substantially the same as the bass component of the second channel.

5. The headphone of claim 4 , wherein the signal processing circuit comprises a signal comparer configured to compare the bass component of the first channel and the bass component of the second channel and generate a similarity signal indicating a difference between the bass component of the first channel and the bass component of the second channel.

6. The headphone of claim 1 , wherein each of the first speaker assembly and the second speaker assembly comprises a plurality of tactile bass vibrators configured to resonate at different resonant frequencies.

7. A stereo tactile vibrator system, comprising:
a headphone, comprising:
a signal processing circuit configured to generate a first tactile vibration signal and a second tactile vibration signal from an audio signal comprising a first channel to be sent to a first speaker assembly and a second channel to be sent to a second speaker assembly, wherein the signal processing circuit is configured to output a bass component of the first channel as the first tactile vibration signal and a bass component of the second channel as the second tactile vibration signal if the bass component of the first channel is different from the bass component of the second channel, and to modulate the bass component of the first channel with a non-bass component of the first channel and to modulate the bass component of the second channel with a non-bass component of the second channel if the bass component of the first channel is substantially the same as the bass component of the second channel;
the first speaker assembly including a first audio driver and a first tactile bass vibrator configured to vibrate responsive to the first tactile vibration signal; and
the second speaker assembly including a second audio driver and a second tactile bass vibrator configured to vibrate responsive to the second tactile vibration signal.

8. The stereo tactile vibrator system of claim 7 , wherein the first tactile bass vibrator and the second tactile bass vibrator are removably coupled to the first speaker assembly and the second speaker assembly, respectively.

9. The stereo tactile vibrator system of claim 7 , wherein:
the first speaker assembly further comprises a plurality of first tactile bass vibrators removably coupled to the first speaker assembly; and
the second speaker assembly further comprises a plurality of second tactile bass vibrators removably coupled to the second speaker assembly.

10. The stereo tactile vibrator system of claim 7 , further comprising a media player operably coupled to the headphone and configured to provide the headphone with the audio signal.

11. The stereo tactile vibrator system of claim 10 , wherein the media player comprises a signal processor configured to modulate at least one channel of an unmodified audio signal from a media source with a non-bass component of the unmodified audio signal to output the audio signal comprising stereo bass components.

12. The stereo tactile vibrator system of claim 11 , wherein the signal processor of the media player is further configured to modulate the at least one channel of the unmodified audio signal with a user-selected portion of the non-bass component of the unmodified audio signal.

13. A method of operating a headphone, the method comprising:
generating a first tactile vibration signal and a second tactile vibration signal from an audio signal comprising a first channel to be sent to a first speaker assembly and a second channel to be sent to a second speaker assembly by:
outputting a bass component of the first channel as the first tactile vibration signal and a bass component of the second channel as the second tactile vibration signal if the bass component of the first channel is different from the bass component of the second channel; and
modulating the bass component of the first channel with a non-bass component of the first channel, and modulating the bass component of the second channel with a non-bass component of the second channel if the bass component of the first channel is substantially the same as the bass component of the second channel;

driving vibration of a first tactile bass vibrator comprised by the first speaker assembly with the first tactile vibration signal; and
driving vibration of a second tactile bass vibrator comprised by the second speaker assembly with the second tactile vibration signal.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein generating the first tactile vibration signal and the second tactile vibration signal from the audio signal comprises:
passing the bass component of the first channel o

Assignees

• Skullcandy Inc

Inventors

• Oishi Tetsuro
• Timothy John
• Noertker Sam

Classifications

• H04R2205/022

  Plurality of transducers corresponding to a plurality of sound channels in each earpiece of headphones or in a single enclosure · CPC title

• H04R2400/03

  Transducers capable of generating both sound as well as tactile vibration, e.g. as used in cellular phones · CPC title

• H04R5/04

  Circuit arrangements, {e.g. for selective connection of amplifier inputs/outputs to loudspeakers, for loudspeaker detection, or for adaptation of settings to personal preferences or hearing impairments (combinations of amplifiers H03F3/68; stereophonic systems H04S)} · CPC title

• H04S2400/07

  Generation or adaptation of the Low Frequency Effect [LFE] channel, e.g. distribution or signal processing · CPC title

• H04R5/033 Primary

  Headphones for stereophonic communication {(details thereof, e.g. relating to batteries, cables or control elements H04R1/10)} · CPC title