Mobile terminal without microphone hole

Abstract

A mobile terminal is provided that does not have a separate dedicated microphone hole. The mobile terminal preferably includes an ear jack assembly and a microphone unit. The ear jack assembly includes an ear jack plug insert hole. The microphone unit is disposed in a neighborhood of the ear jack assembly. The microphone unit is realized to use a microphone hole for receiving an external note also as an ear jack plug insert hole. Since a microphone hole for a speaker phone is excluded, the microphone unit is advantageous in space utilization, and can contribute to designing an elegance appearance of the mobile terminal. In addition, since the microphone unit is manufactured integrally with the ear jack assembly, manufacturing costs reduce and working efficiency may increase.

1 . A mobile terminal comprising:
 a case frame having an opening therein sized to receive an ear jack;   an ear jack assembly arranged within the case frame and having an ear jack plug insert hole substantially corresponding to the opening in the case frame to receive and electrically couple with a removable attachable ear jack; and   a microphone unit disposed within the case frame adjacent the ear jack assembly, wherein the microphone unit receives an external sound through the ear jack plug insert hole.   
     
     
         2 . The mobile terminal of  claim 1 , wherein the case frame does not have a separate microphone hole therein that substantially corresponds with the microphone unit. 
     
     
         3 . The mobile terminal of  claim 1 , wherein a microphone guide is disposed between the microphone unit and the ear jack plug insert hole that is arranged to permit a transfer path of external sound received through the ear jack plug insert hole to the microphone unit. 
     
     
         4 . The mobile terminal of  claim 2 , wherein the microphone guide is formed by injection molding of the case frame. 
     
     
         5 . The mobile terminal of  claim 1 , wherein the microphone unit is disposed integrally with the ear jack assembly. 
     
     
         6 . The mobile terminal of  claim 5 , wherein the microphone unit includes a pin for electrical coupling, and a portion of the pin of the microphone unit is installed such that the portion of the pin is shared with a pin of the ear jack assembly. 
     
     
         7 . The mobile terminal of  claim 6 , wherein the ear jack assembly having the microphone unit integrally arranged is disposed on a substrate of the mobile terminal in a Surface Mounted Device (SMD) arrangement, and comprises pins for at least one sound signal line, a microphone signal line (EAR_MIC), a ground (GND), power (VCC), and a microphone signal line (MIC+) of the microphone unit. 
     
     
         8 . The mobile terminal of  claim 7 , wherein the at least one sound signal line comprises two signal lines (EAR_R, EAR_L) for listening to stereo. 
     
     
         9 . The mobile terminal of  claim 1 , wherein the microphone unit includes a speaker phone function that is operational when a speaker phone mode of the mobile terminal is active. 
     
     
         10 . The mobile terminal of  claim 1 , wherein the microphone unit comprises a sub-microphone unit, and wherein the mobile terminal further includes a main microphone unit. 
     
     
         11 . The mobile terminal of  claim 1 , wherein the microphone unit comprises a sub-microphone unit, and the mobile terminal further comprises a main microphone unit for voice communication, and
 wherein the ear jack insert hole is installed in a lower portion of the case frame of the mobile terminal, and the main microphone unit for voice communication does not receive external sound through a separately dedicated microphone hole in the case frame.   
     
     
         12 . An ear jack assembly for an apparatus used for receiving an external sound, the ear jack assembly comprising:
 an ear jack plug insert hole sized for receiving an ear jack plug; and   a microphone unit disposed adjacent the ear jack plug insert hole in which the microphone unit receives sound transferred from the ear jack plug insert hole in lieu of a separate microphone hole for receiving an external sound, wherein the ear jack plug insert hole and the microphone unit being integrated in one unit.   
     
     
         13 . The ear jack assembly of  claim 12 , wherein the ear jack assembly is disposed on a substrate of the apparatus in a Surface Mounted Device (SMD) arrangement, and the microphone unit includes at least one pin for electrical coupling, wherein a portion of the at least one pin is coupled with a pin disposed in the ear jack plug insert hole. 
     
     
         14 . The ear jack assembly of  claim 12 , wherein the ear jack assembly is disposed on a substrate of a terminal in a Surface Mounted Device (SMD) arrangement, and comprises pins for coupling with at least one sound signal line, a microphone signal line (EAR_MIC), a ground (GND), power (VCC), and a microphone signal line (MIC+) of the microphone unit. 
     
     
         15 . The ear jack assembly of  claim 14 , wherein the at least one sound signal line comprises two signal lines (EAR_R, EAR_L) for listening to stereo. 
     
     
         16 . The ear jack assembly of  claim 12 , wherein the apparatus comprises a mobile terminal for transmitting/receiving voice. 
     
     
         17 . The ear jack assembly of  claim 15 , wherein the microphone unit includes a speaker phone function that is operation when a speaker phone mode of the mobile terminal is activated. 
     
     
         18 . The ear jack assembly of  claim 12 , wherein the apparatus comprises an MP3 player that can receive voice commands or record voices.