US3370236A - Radio equipment with chest mounted speaker-microphone assembly - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 20, 1968 R. H. WALKER 3,370,236

RADIO EQUIPMENT WITH CHEST MOUNTED SPEAKER-MICROPHONE ASSEMBLY Filed Jan. 30, 1967 INVENTOR ROBERT H. WALKER BY 22 m z VZMM ATTORNEYS.

331M236 Patented Feb. 20, 1968 3,370,236 RADIO EQUIPMENT WITH CHEST MOUNTED SPEAKER-MICROPHONE ASSEMBLY Robert H. Walker, Morton Grove, 11]., assignor to Motorola, Inc., Franklin Park, IlL, a corporation of Illinois Filed Jan. 30, 1967, Ser. No. 612,530 9 Claims. (Cl. 325-16) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLQSURE Background of the invention Portable two-way communication equipment, that is, equipment which is carryable by a person and includes all the components necessary to talk and listen to a person in a remote location is widely used today. Where the person requires the free use of his hands for their duties, it is desirable that the equipment be mounted on his clothing.

A drawback of presently used systems which are adapted to be mounted on a persons clothing arises from the fact that the housing containing the speaker and the microphone is so firmly attached as to require unclipping, unbuckling or some other similar operation other than merely pulling. This is particularly disadvantageous when the equipment is to be worn by a police officer, who, in a fight with a criminal, may be lashed about by merely grabbing the housing. Also, there are some situations where the wearer wants to hold the speaker and microphone which is difficult with such systems where the mounting is relatively permanent.

An additional disadvantage of present day clothing mounted radio equipment is that the antenna is located close to the receiving and transmitting equipment, which due to its weight is desirably mounted on the waist. However, with such a construction, if the wearer is sitting in an automobile, the antenna is well below the window level with the result that the metal structure in the automobile may degrade the receiving and transmitting capabilities.

Summary the invention It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide two-way radio equipment having an antenna supported on a housing containing the speaker and the microphone, with the housing attached to the chest area of a persons clothing so that the antenna is high enough to preclude interference with incoming and outgoing signals by surrounding metal structure.

Another object is to detachably afiix a housing containing a speaker and a microphone to the chest area of a persons clothing so that it may be removed therefrom by merely pulling on it.

Another object is to permit simple removal and insertion of the housing containing a speaker and a microphone from a shirt mounted receptacle for hand held operation.

A further object is to mount the housing containing the speaker and the microphone on the chest area of a persons clothing to allow the wearer to speak into it with minimum head movement.

A further object is to provide a personal communications assembly having the cable connecting the speakermicrophone to the transmitter-receiver held close to the body to provide an attractive appearance.

In practicing the invention, portable two-way radio equipment includes a first unit adapted to be attached to the belt of the user and a second unit adapted to be attached to the users clothing at the chest. A fastening device for the second unit is permanently attached to the chest area of the clothing and removably attached to a receptacle. The second unit includes a housing containing a speaker and a microphone and supporting an antenna, with the housing having a downwardly extending member removably inserted into the open end of the receptacle and bearing thereagainst to maintain the housing in position. The first unit includes receiving and transmitting equipment and is mounted at the waist area of the persons clothing and is electrically connected to the second unit by a cable. The cable has a coiled section to maintain the same in a fixed position against the clothing.

Brief description of the drawings Detailed description FIG. 1 illustrates a two-way radio unit including a portable unit 10 mounted in a leather casing 11. The

unit contains receiving and transmitting equipment and may be removed from the case 11 by unbuckling a flap 12. The belt 14 passes through aloop (not shown) on the back of casing 11 to hold the portable unit firmly in position. A housing 16 mounted on the chest area of the policemans shirt 17 contains a speaker and a microphone and is in a convenient position to permit speaking and listening without removing the housing or appreciable head movement. An antenna 18 connected to the top of the housing is high enough on the policemans body to permit effective reception and transmission even though he may be sitting in an automobile. A cable 20 provides electrical connection between the speaker and the microphone in the housing 16, the antenna 18 and the receiving and transmitting equipment in the portable unit 10. A push-to-talk switch 21 is mounted on the side of housing 16 to permit selection between receiving and transmitting.

Referring now to FIG. 2 to show the connection of housing 16 to the chest area of the persons clothing, the shirt 17 is provided with a plurality of female snaps 22. These snaps form fastening means which are permanently attached to the shirt 17. Connecting means 24 has a corresponding plurality of male snaps 26 for engagement with the female snaps 22. The connecting means 24 are easily removable from the snaps 22 to permit laundering of the shirt. A receptacle 28 is permanently attached to the connecting means 24 and includes a trapezoidally shaped back portion 30 with a pair of sloped sides 32 and 33 and a pair of unequal length parallel sides 34 and 36. A pair of front portions 38 and 40 are integrally and respectively connected to the sloped sides 32 and 33. The portions 38 and 40 are spaced from one another by a gap 42 and are parallel to the back portion 30.

A member 44 is attached to the housing 16 and includes a trapezoidally shaped first portion 46 having a pair of sloped sides corresponding to those of receptacle 28 and a pair of unequal length parallel sides corresponding to 3 and shorter in length than those of the receptacle. A second portion 48 is attached to the housing with a center web 50 joining portions 46 and 48 together. Web 50 has a width less than the size of gap 42 of receptacle 28.

The member 44 is removably inserted downwardly into the receptacle 28 so that the portion 46 is positioned within the space between the front portions 38 and 40 and the back portion 30 of receptacle 2S, and web 50 of member 44 is within gap42 of the receptacle. The corresponding slopes of the sides of the member and the receptacle maintain the housing from falling through the receptacle. The back portion 30 of receptacle 28 may have a pair of nubs 52 and 54 and the first portion 46 of member 44 may have a corresponding pair of indentations 56 and 58 which may be used to lock the member 44 in the receptacle 28 by engagement of the nubs with the indentations.

This arrangement for connecting the housing to the shirt is particularly advantageous for use in police operations. If the policeman has to fight with a criminal, it is most desirable that there be few parts on the policem-ans clothing which the criminal may grab on to and lash the policeman about. By providing the snap type arrangement to attach the connecting means 24 to the shirt 17, the housing 16 does not provide such means for if the criminal grabs on to it, it will merely pull off the policemans shirt.

Referring back to FIG. 1, it is desirable that the cable 20 connecting the housing 16 and the portable unit 10 be maintained relatively fiat against the body so that it presents an attractive appearance and does not interfere with the policemans free movement. Rather than accomplish this by providing a tight connection between the housing and the portable unit which would be uncomfortable to the persomand subject the cable to possible damage and perhaps open the connection to the unit at connector 59, a coiled section 60 is provided in the cable and an anchor 62 connects the cable 20 to the belt 14. The cable 20 has a lower looped portion 64 which is relatively short so as not to interfere with movement and is hanging freely so as not to stress the cable at connector 59. Instead the stress is between anchor 62 and the housing 16 which is vertical and gives due to the coiled section so that the connection to the housing is not likely to open. The anchor 62 may be of the type and having the connections shown in FIG. 3.

An additional advantage of the coiled section 60 is that the same cable may be used by persons of different heights since the length of the cable can change. Also, it is not necessary that the nubs 52 and 54 of receptacle 28 engage the indentations 56 and 58 of member 44 to keep the housing in position. The tension created by the coiled section 60 will impart a downward force to the housing so that it will not fall out of the receptacle even if the user bends over. Thus the housing is readily usable as a handheld device by simply pulling upwards, to remove it. When finished, the user merely inserts the member 44 back into its receptacle and due to the trapezoidally shaped parts, this may be done without looking because the sloped sides of the receptacle and the member provides automatic positioning, with the coiled section 60 maintaining the housing in position.

Referring now to FIG. 4 to illustrate further conveniences in the overall system, the top of the portable unit 10 includes a button-type squelch 66 which maintains the receiver in a constant squelched condition and is depressed only when it is desired to determine if the receiver is properly working. There is also provided a frequency selection switch 68 which permits selection between one of two frequencies either for transmitting or receiving. There is also shown a combination volume on-off control 70. All these controls are larger than usual in order to permit the policeman to operate them without looking.

What has been described, therefore, is a system to be worn entirely on the persons clothing with a speaker microphone combination removably attached to the persons shirt to provide fast removal.

I claim:

1. A speaker-microphone assembly for use with a portable unit containing receiving and transmitting equipment which is adapted to be mounted on a persons clothing below the chest area, such speaker-microphone assembly being adapted to be mounted on the chest area of the clothing and including in combination: fastening means to be permanently attached to the chest area of the clothing, a receptacle having an opening therein facing upwardly, connecting means permanently attached to said receptacle and removably attached to said fastening means, a housing containing a speaker and a microphone, a downwardly extending member attached to the housing and removably inserted into said receptacle, said member bearing against said receptacle to maintain the housing firmly in position, a cable having one end thereof mechanically connected to said housing and electrically connected to said speaker and to said microphone and the. other end to be connected to the portable unit, and means i to maintain said cable in a fixed position against the persons clothing.

2. The assembly of claim 1, said means to maintain said cable in a fixed position including an anchor attached to the cable and adapted to be attached to the persons belt, said last mentioned means further including a coiled section in said cable between said anchor and the end of the cable connected to said housing for reducing tension in the cable at the connection to the portable unit while maintaining the cable in a fixed position against the persons clothing.

3. The assembly of claim 1 further including an antenna mechanically connected to the top of said housing and electrically coupled to said cable to provide maximum height thereof and therefore optimum reception and trans mission by the portable unit.

4. The assembly of claim 1, said fastening means including a plurality of given type snaps, said connecting means having a plurality of opposite type snaps individually associated with said given type snaps for engage ment therewith.

5. The assembly of claim 1, said receptacle having a trapezoidally shaped plan section with a given size opening at the top thereof and a reduced size at the bottom, said receptacle having a back side permanently attached to said connecting means, said member having a trapezoidal shape to permit insertion thereof into the given size opening in said receptacle.

6. The assembly of claim 1, said receptacle having a trapezoidally shaped back portion with a pair of sloped sides and a pair of unequal length parallel sides, and a pair of front portions integrally connected to said sloped sides and in parallel spaced relation with said back portion, said front portions having a gap between them, the longer of said parallel sides along with said front portions forming said opening, said downwardly extending member including a trapezoidally shaped first portion having a pair of unequal length parallel sides which correspond to and are slightly shorter in length than said parallel sides of said back portion .of said receptacle, said member further including a second portion attached to said hOUS'. mg and a center portion integrally connecting said first and second portions together and having a width corresponding to the size of the gap between said front portrons, said first portion of said member being removably inserted. into the space between said front and back por tions of said receptacle, whereby automatic vertical positioning of the housing is achieved.

7. The assembly of claim 6, said back portion having a nub .and said front portion of said member having a corresponding indentation to permit locking said member in said receptacle by engagement of said nub with said indentation.

8. Portable two-way radio equipment including in combination, a first unit including a housing containing a speaker and a microphone and being adapted to be mounted on the chest area of a persons clothing said first unit further including an antenna supported on said housing, a second unit containing receiving and trasmitting equipment and being adapted to be mounted on the clothing below the chest area, fastening means permanently attached to the chest area of the clothing, a receptacle having an opening therein facing upwardly, connecting means permanently attached to said receptacle and removably attached to said fastening means, said first unit further including a downwardly extending member attached to the housing and removably inserted in said receptacle and bearing thereagainst to maintain the housing firmly in position, a cable connecting said first and second units and having a coiled section to provide a safe amount of tension in said cable.

9. A radio equipment of claim 8, further including an anchor attached to the cable between said coiled section and the connection to said second unit, said anchor adapted to be attached to the persons belt for maintaining the cable in a fixed position against the persons clothing while reducing tension in the cable at the connection to the second unit.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS JOHN W. CALDWELL. Primary Examiner.

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