Tangle Resistant Headphones

1. Tangle Resistant Headphones Group #8 David Pastewka Kin Tat Lay Jerry Barnes

2. Students • David Pastewka • 2nd year Business major from Calgary Alberta, Canada. Very little relevant experience in the patent field or in any other field that relies on patents. Currently involved in a phone application startup. • Kin Tat Lay • 3rd year, Environmental Economics & Policy Major, Work experience: Academics Tutor, Family-run Business Manager, no experience with patents • Jerry Barnes • 5th year Economics major. No experience with patents. Economic consultant with Thomas Reuters. Experience in security trading and technology used in security analysis and trading

3. Group Background • One business major and two economics majors. Our collective knowledge covers topics related to business and economics. One business specific industry we have some experience in is mobile phone applications. See Jerry’s background information for specific areas of expertise in Economics.

4. Area of Interest • Simple practical solutions to common problems • Design based inventions/improvements • Mobile phone applications • Mobile phone applications, or apps, are becoming increasingly better received and are becoming more and more useful • Software based • Low startup costs

5. Challenges and limitations • Headphones tangle too often and too easily • Annoying to constantly untangle them • Since headphone cords separate in two, one cord per detached headphone, it’s very easy for the two cords to tangle • The system eliminates the tangle of the individual headphone cords but not the cord tangling about itself, which is less likely to occur

6. Idea These will tangle the moment you put them in your pocket Solution: secure the two separate headphone cords together so they essentially become one cord thereby eliminating the chance the two cords knot. (when you’re not using the headphones)

7. 2, 3 & 4 2 5 7 6 7 5 6 1 Sliding piece number 1 up the length of the cords attaches the corresponding notches together to give you

8. Top View of part 1 from the previous slide 1-headphone cords/wires 2-(blue outline rectangle) innermost concentric rectangle 3-(blue outline rectangle) middle concentric rectangle 4-(blue outline rectangle) outermost concentric rectangle Top View of part(s) 2 from previous slide 5-(red outline, red transparent fill circle) innermost fixed cord notch 6-(red outline, red transparent fill circle) middle fixed cord notch 7-(red outline, red transparent fill circle) outermost fixed cord notch 7 6 5 1 1 2 3 Notice how circle 5 is contained within rectangle 2, how circle 6 is contained within rectangle 3 and how circle 7 is contained within rectangle 4. During the functioning of the device 2 will encounter 5, detach from 3 & 4 and stick to 5 via magnets. 3 & 4 still as a unit will then proceed up the cord further and will encounter notch 6. 3 will then stick to 6 via magnets and detach from 7. 7 will then keep sliding up the cord to 4 where it will stick. 4 The blue outlined rectangles start as one unit. The red outlined circles are fixed notches on the cord. Circles 5 being nearest to the base of the cord and circles 7 being nearest to the ear bud headphones

9. 2 3 1 3 2 This is a representation of how each individual notch and concentric rectangle fasten. 1- sliding concentric rectangle 2-notch 3-cord 1 slides to the right and encounters notches 2. 2 is made out of a metal and 1 a magnet so when 1 encounters 2 it sticks to it. Notches further up the cord are larger, as are the concentric rectangles that are meant to stick to these notches in the same fashion