Mechanics of Headphone Earmuffs

Paving the Way Where would we be today without the innovative thinking behind the Sony Walkman? July 1, 1979 marked the birth of a new way of enjoying music when Sony introduced one of its most famous products. Although it was originally called the "Discman," this musical breakthrough soon became known as the Walkman. Before its production, cars and home stereos were your only options, so the Walkman made music portable for the first time. These days, iPods and other MP3 players have basically made the groundbreaking Walkman obsolete, but who knows if we would have stumbled upon this technology without the foundation Sony laid [source: Sony].

It shouldn't be too hard to imagine headphone earmuffs, after all, just imagine a pair of old-school style headphones -- the kind many club DJs sport. If you can't conjure an image, think of Oreo-sized pads covering two small speakers, attached by a thin, adjustable metal strip -- and it all fits on your head like a pair of earmuffs. Since earmuffs are shaped quite similarly, it's not that far fetched that the two items could be fused into one convenient gadget.

The mechanics involved are about as simple as you would expect. You start with a standard headphone set up. There are two ear cups, each containing a speaker, a headband, a wire connecting the two speaker ear cups and a universal plug that will fit into a variety of different technological accessories

The headphones are covered in a warm, soft fabric, as if they have their own winter jacket. Sometimes a thin layer of fabric is placed over the speakers, and other times the earmuffs just form a tube around the speakers to protect your ears from the cold. Like most of the earmuffs you've come across, they're usually collapsible and just like the headphones you've used, they're adjustable.