Earpiece retainer

Abstract

The earpiece retainer is a retaining device for securing an earpiece, such as a Bluetooth® earpiece or the like, to a support, such as the user's belt. The earpiece retainer includes a housing having opposed front and rear walls and at least one sidewall. The housing defines and open interior region therein. A slot is formed through the front wall. The slot is dimensioned and configured for removably receiving an earphone portion of the earpiece therethrough. The earphone portion of the earpiece is releasably locked within the open interior region of the housing to secure the earpiece to the to housing when not in use. A spring-biased retaining member is disposed within the open interior region, the retaining member resiliently engaging the earphone portion and releasably holding the earphone portion against the front wall to releasably lock the earphone portion in place.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/136,680, filed Sep. 24, 2008.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to accessories for electronic devices, and particularly to an earpiece retainer for wireless earpieces, such as Bluetooth® earpieces and the like.

2. Description of the Related Art

Portable devices, such as cellular telephones and the like, have been extremely common in recent years. Many people utilize holsters or clips for their portable devices, allowing the devices to be carried on their belts or on other items of clothing. Typically, a cellular telephone case includes a clip so that users can attach the case and telephone to his or her belt or the waistband of his or her pants.

Cellular telephones are provided with a range of accessories that offer additional convenience, such as a wired headset or a Bluetooth® (a protocol for wireless transmission) headset. Bluetooth® headsets are typically provided as a single earpiece for additional convenience and portability. When not wearing their earpieces about their ears, many users typically carry their earpiece in their hands or in an additional bag or carrying case. Although wired headsets may be carried in some cellular telephone carrying cases, the cases are not well adapted for wireless earpieces. The wire itself is often used as a means for retaining the headset, and this type of attachment is not available for a wireless earpiece.

Thus, an earpiece retainer solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The earpiece retainer is a retaining device for securing an earpiece, such as a Bluetooth® earpiece or the like, to a support, such as the user's belt. The earpiece retainer includes a housing having opposed front and rear walls and at least one sidewall. The housing defines an open interior region therein, and a slot is formed through the front wall. The slot is dimensioned and configured for removably receiving an earphone portion of the earpiece therethrough.

Further, at least one opening is formed through the housing. The opening is dimensioned and configured for insertion of an ear mounting portion of the earpiece therethrough. The earphone portion of the earpiece is releasably locked within the open interior region of the housing to secure the earpiece to the housing when not in use. A resilient retaining member is disposed within the open interior region of the housing to frictionally engage the earphone portion and releasably hold the earphone portion against an inner surface of the front wall of the housing, thereby releasably locking the earphone portion in place.

Additionally, a clip or the like is secured to an outer surface of the rear wall of the housing for releasably attaching the housing to an external support surface, such as the user's belt. These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an environmental, perspective view of an earpiece retainer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded, perspective view of the earpiece retainer according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view in section of the earpiece retainer according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of an earpiece retainer according to the present invention.

Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention relates to an earpiece retainer 10. The earpiece retainer 10 is a retaining device for securing an earpiece E, such as the exemplary Bluetooth® earpiece shown in FIG. 1 or the like, to a support, such as the user's belt B.

As best shown in FIG. 2, the earpiece retainer 10 includes a housing 12 including front and rear portions 18, 20. The front housing portion 18 includes a front wall 11, a rear wall 13 and at least one sidewall 33. As shown, the front housing portion 18 defines an open interior region. The housing 12 has an open upper end 24 and a slot 22 formed through the front wall 11. The front and rear portions 18, 20 may be formed from any suitable, rugged material, such as plastic or the like. As will be described in greater detail below, with particular reference to FIG. 4, the dimensions and configuration of the front and rear housing portions 18, 20 may vary, and the configuration shown in FIGS. 1-3 is shown for exemplary purposes only.

The rear housing portion 20 has a shape conforming to the front housing portion 18, as shown (and at least partially being defined by at least one sidewall 35). The rear housing portion 20 has a substantially open front, defining a first retaining portion 40 and a second retaining portion 41. The first retaining portion 40 is preferably defined by a substantially rectangular wall, as shown, and borders a recess 42 formed in the rear wall 37 of the rear housing portion 20. The second retaining portion is also defined by a substantially rectangular wall, but has an open upper end 43.

A first resilient member 32, such as the exemplary helical compression spring shown in FIG. 2, is received within recess 42. An engaging member 30 is attached to resilient member 32. The engaging member 30 preferably has a triangular cross-section, as shown, forming a wedge with a substantially rectangular rear face. The rectangular rear face of engaging member 30 is received within the rectangular first retaining portion 40. Passages 44 are formed through the rear wall 37 of the rear housing portion 20, as shown, for receiving screws 48 or the like. Threaded recesses or the like are formed in the rear surface of the rear wall 13 of the front housing portion 18 for receiving screws 48 to secure the front and rear housing portions 18, 20 together.

An opening 28 is formed through the rear wall 13 of the front housing portion 18 and, in use, engaging member 30 partially projects through the opening 28. A sliding actuator 36 is disposed between the front and rear housing portions 18, 20, the sliding actuator 36 having a slot 39 formed therethrough, as shown, for passing the uppermost screw 48 therethrough, thus holding sliding actuator 36 in place, and allowing the sliding actuator 36 to slide in the vertical direction.

A second resilient member 34, such as the exemplary helical compression spring illustrated in FIG. 2, is disposed within the second retaining portion 41 and abuts the lower surface of a button portion 38 of the sliding actuator 36. As shown in FIG. 3, a lower end 45 of the sliding actuator 36 contacts an upper surface of the engaging member 30. The lower end 45 of the sliding actuator 36 is preferably sloped at an angle complementary to the wedge-shaped engaging member 30 so that when the sliding actuator 36 is pressed downward, the wedge-shaped engaging member slides rearward with even pressure being exerted by the entire face of the lower end 45 bearing against the sloping wedge face of engaging member 30. In use, the earphone portion of earpiece E is inserted through the slot 22 in the front housing portion 18, as shown in FIG. 1. The engaging member 30 preferably has a recess 31 formed in the front edge thereof, and the earphone portion is inserted into the recess 31. The engaging member 30 is spring-biased by first resilient member 32, and holds the earphone portion of the earpiece E against an inner face of the front wall 11 through frictional engagement therewith.

The sidewall 33 of the front housing portion 18 further preferably has at least one opening 14, and preferably a pair of aligned openings 14 defined in opposing sidewalls 33, formed therethrough for insertion of an ear retaining portion of earpiece E. When the user wishes to remove the earpiece E from retainer 10, the user depresses the button portion 38 of the sliding actuator 36. The sliding actuator 36 slides downwardly with the uppermost screw 48 sliding within slot 39, the downwardly moving lower end 45 forcing engaging member 30 towards the rear (to the right in FIG. 3). This disengages the earphone portion of earpiece E from recess 31 and from frictional engagement with front wall 11, allowing the earpiece E to be removed.

A clip 16 is preferably attached to a rear face of rear wall 37 of the rear housing portion 20. The clip 16 preferably has a pair of openings 46 formed therethrough, allowing the clip 16 to be held to the rear wall 37 by screws 48. The clip 16 is adapted for holding the housing 12 to the user's belt B or any other suitable support surface.

It should be understood that the earpiece retainer 10 may have any suitable shape and dimensions, and is not limited to the configuration shown in the drawings. FIG. 4 illustrates an alternative earpiece retainer 100 having a substantially circular shape. The earpiece retainer 100 functions in a manner similar to that described above with regard to FIGS. 1-3, and illustrates a housing having a different shape. The earpiece retainer 100 includes front and rear housing portions 118, 120, a clip 116, and a button portion 138 of a sliding actuator. The front housing portion 118 includes an open upper end 124 and a slot 122 formed through a front wall thereof, all functioning similarly to the corresponding elements of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3. Further, a pair of openings 114 are formed through a sidewall of front housing portion 118. A pair of recesses 110 have been formed in the sidewall of front housing portion 118 adjacent the openings 114, allowing for the reception of a greater portion of the ear retaining portions of earpiece E.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. An earpiece retainer, comprising:

a housing having opposed front and rear walls and at least one sidewall, the housing defining an open interior region therein, the front wall having a slot formed therein, the slot being adapted for insertion of an earphone portion of an earpiece therein;

means for releasably locking the earphone portion of the earpiece within the open interior region;

means for releasably securing an ear mounting portion of the earpiece to the housing; and

means for releasably attaching the housing to a support.

2. The earpiece retainer as recited in claim 1, wherein said housing comprises front and rear housing portions, the front housing portion including the front wall, a rear wall and at least one sidewall.

3. The earpiece retainer as recited in claim 2, wherein said rear housing portion is configured to mate with the front housing portion and has a substantially open front, the rear housing portion defining a first retaining portion and a second retaining portion facing the substantially open front.

4. The earpiece retainer as recited in claim 3, wherein said rear housing portion has a rear wall defining the rear wall of said housing and a first substantially rectangular wall extending therefrom defining a recess, the first substantially rectangular wall, the rear wall, and the recess forming the first retaining portion.

5. The earpiece retainer as recited in claim 4, wherein said rear housing portion has a second substantially rectangular wall having an open upper end defining the second retaining portion.

6. The earpiece retainer as recited in claim 5, wherein said means for releasably locking the earphone portion of the earpiece within the open interior region comprise:

a first resilient member disposed within the recess defined by the first retaining portion; and

an engaging member attached to the resilient member.

7. The earpiece retainer as recited in claim 6, wherein the engaging member is wedge-shaped, having a substantially rectangular rear face, the rectangular rear face being disposed within the first retaining portion.

8. The earpiece retainer as recited in claim 7, wherein the rear wall of the front housing portion has an opening defined therein, the engaging member partially projecting through opening.

9. The earpiece retainer as recited in claim 8, further comprising a sliding actuator disposed between the front housing portion and the rear housing portion.

10. The earpiece retainer as recited in claim 9, further comprising means for retaining the sliding actuator between the front housing portion and the rear housing portion so that the sliding actuator is free to slide in a vertical direction between the rear wall of the rear housing portion and the front housing portion.

11. The earpiece retainer as recited in claim 10, further comprising a second resilient member disposed within the second retaining portion, the sliding actuator having a button portion, the button portion having a lower surface, the second resilient member abutting the lower surface of the button portion of the sliding actuator.

12. The earpiece retainer as recited in claim 11, wherein the sliding actuator has a lower end bearing against the wedge-shaped engaging member when the button portion is pressed down, compressing the second resilient member.

13. The earpiece retainer as recited in claim 12, wherein said means for releasably securing the ear mounting portion of the earpiece to said housing comprises at least one opening formed through the at least one sidewall of said housing.

14. An earpiece retainer, comprising:

a housing having opposed front and rear walls and at least one sidewall, the housing defining an open interior region therein and a slot formed through the front wall, the slot being adapted for removably receiving an earphone portion of an earpiece therethrough, the at least one sidewall having an opening formed therein adapted for releasably receiving an ear mounting portion of the earpiece therethrough;

means for releasably locking the earphone portion of the earpiece within the open interior region of the housing; and

a clip secured to an outer surface of the rear wall of the housing for releasably securing the housing to a support.

15. The earpiece retainer as recited in claim 14, wherein said means for releasably locking the earphone portion of the earpiece within the open interior region of said housing comprises a spring-biased retaining member disposed within the open interior region of said housing, the retaining member resiliently engaging the earphone portion and releasably holding the earphone portion against an inner surface of the front wall of said housing.

16. The earpiece retainer as recited in claim 15, wherein said housing comprises front and rear housing portions, said front housing portion including the front wall, a rear wall and at least one front sidewall.

17. The earpiece retainer as recited in claim 16, wherein said rear housing portion is contoured to mate with the front housing portion and has a substantially open front, the substantially open front of the rear housing portion defining a first retaining portion and a second retaining portion.

18. The earpiece retainer as recited in claim 17, wherein the first retaining portion is defined by a substantially rectangular wall, the substantially rectangular wall bordering a recess formed in the rear wall.

19. The earpiece retainer as recited in claim 18, wherein the second retaining portion is defined by a substantially rectangular wall having an open upper end.

20. The earpiece retainer as recited in claim 19, wherein said means for releasably locking the earphone portion of the earpiece within the open interior region comprise:

a first resilient member received within the recess; and

an engaging member secured to the resilient member.