CA2004558A1 - Headphone device - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A headphone device designed to compensate with the concha of the auditory meatus of the human ear. She headphone device includes a housing containing a speaker, a a projection extending from the housing and fitting into the concha of the human ear, an opening formed in the projection at a location facing toward the auditory meatus of the human ear and a headband for supporting the housing in proximity to the human ear.

Description

IIEC ~ 89 19:58 FR'lI~ FlNNEGf~ HE~ E~ClI~ P~E.

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TITI.E OF THE INV~ ON

HI~A~PHONE: DEVI CE

FIELP OF THE INVENSION

She pra~ent ~nvention relates ~enerally to ~ headpho~e device, snd ~ore partlcularly to an ear-flt type headphone `-~
dev~ce. ~`-,'~'~'~
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FIGUR~S ~ ~nd 2 re8pectively sho~ two convent~onal headphone~
Tb~ headphone d vioe, as shown in FIGURE 1~, i6 called ~open-alr~ or "-8r-~t" typ- headphone. Thi~ type of hoadphonie d vlce lnclud-s ~ U-sha~ed 1~6tic head-b~nd ~2 l~
and a palr of ar5pe-k-r unlts 14a and 14b. The ear~ipeaker unlti~ 14a and 14b ar- supportod on the r-spectlv- eD~ o~
t~e h-~d-band 12 throu~h two han~er~ 13a and 13b. $he ~ n~ers 13a and 13b ar- slid~bly attacb-d ~o the end~ of t~
head-b~nd 12. i~
FIGVRE lB ~hows a cros~-sectlon of the lcftside !~ ~' ear~pea~er unit 14b of the headphone dev~ce, a~ the ~, represontat~ve of ~he earspca~er unit~i l4a and ~4~. In :
~IGU~ lB, the left~de earspeaker unit '4b i6 ~llustrated .
~n a stato that it is worn on a hu~an ear 11. She oar6p~ker unit 14 i9i comprised of a hous~ng 22, a sp-sker 23, a h~rd cover 24 nnd i~n ei~r-pad 25. ~he housin~ 22 is attached to tho han~er 13~ via ~ ~all jolnt 21. Th- ~ipoaker ;~

DEC '1 '~ Jg FF~CIM FI l~/EI~HI~ HEIILIERCI~ F~H~JE.~

Z~ SS8 23 ~ housed inside the housing 22. The hard cover 24 i~
ast~ched on the front face of the ~peaker 23. Moreover, the ear-pad 25 is f~ tted on the ho~sing 22 fiO that it covere the hard cover 24 of the housin~ 22 The ear-psd 25 performs a role of a cushion for the external ear 1 The headphone device of F~UR~ 2 i8 called "hermetically-~eul" or "ear-~uf~ type headphone de~ice Shis type of headphone de~ice has a pair of ear~peaker un~ts 300 and 30b which are con6truGted in ~lmilar to thoae of the ear~pesker units 14a, 14b of the open-air type headphone device (see FIGU~E 14) However, the earspea~er ~n~t~ 30a and 30b have a pair of ring-shaped ear-pads 31a and 31b, ~n place of the ear-pads 25 When these headphone devices are in u~e, these ring-shaped ear-psds 31a and 31b co~er the hu~an ears ~ n the c~e of the headphon~ dev~ce of F1G~RE 1, t~e ear-pads 25 are made of sn alr-permeable ~aterial Thu~
the ear-p~da 25 leaks a lar~e ~mount of sounds So th~t, the open-alr type headphone device has a dra~back in which a sound pre~ure level in the ran~e fro~ the ~lddle sound frequency band to the low sound frequency band is enor~ously ~ ~
reduced In order tO pre~ent the proble~, it is atte~pted ~i to reduce a ~ap between the eQrspeaker unit 14 and the external ear For exa~ple, t~e headband 12 is ~lven a stron~ bia~ 80 that the earspeaker unit 14 are pre~ed a~ainst the human ear ~owe~er, there occurs another pro~lem of the ear hurtin~ due to the strong pressure As another way of ~mpro~n~ the sound pr-ssure, ~t uould be ~ttempted to increase the sound pres~ure level by lowering the resonance frequency fO of the speaker 23 - 2 ~

... ~ . : , ~0~)~5~;8 - ~:
Ho~ever, it ~ difficult to suff~cientl~ lower the-re~onance frequency fO. Becau~e a ca~lty 6pa~e of the hou~in~ 22 ~
l~ited s~all in th~s open-a1r type headphone device to f~t the earQpe~ker unit 14 ~nto the external ear ~1 of the h~an ear (~ee FIGVRE 1~).
The hermetlcally-seal type headp~one de~ice, a~ sho~n in FIGURE 2, has li~tle ~ound leakaae, and hag an advantage of hi~h ~ound reproduction efficiency to the mi~d~e and low sound fre~uency bands. ~owe~er, ~enerally, they are l~rge ~;
snd heavy, and thus there i8 a problem that t~ey are not suita~le for use of lon~ hour6.

S ~ r~

It is, therefore, an objèct of the present Cnvention to ~r ~ --;
provide an ear-fit type headphone device which ha Q li~ht ~el~ht and a better f~tting to the human ears. ~ ;
Another ob~ect of the present ~nv~ntion ~s to provide an ar-fit typ- headphone ~evice which ~aQ a suff~cient~
ound pressure l~el sound like th~t of her~etically seal typ- ~eadphone devic-a.
In order to achiove t~e above object, ~ headphone device accordlng to one aspect of the present invention lncludes a bousin~ containln~ a ~pe~ker, a 8 pro~ection oxtonding fro~ the housing and fitting into tho concha of the human ear, an opening formed in the projection at a location facing toward the aud~tory ~eatus of~t~e hu~an ear and a headband for supporting the ~o~ing in proximity to tb- human ~r.
Additional o~ject~ and sdvanta~es of *he preRen~
~ .:

,': ;:.'.' ,. , . . : . ~ : -r~ E - 4 ~ g ,7 ~ F P C1 11 F I ~ E ~ H E N I~ E ~ I F h G E . E1 l Cl 2(~0~i58 invention will be apparent to persons s~illed in the art :~
from a study o~ the follow~ng deQcript~on and the a~co~panying drawin~, wh~ch are hereby ~ncorporQted iA and constitute a part of thls specification.

A more co~plete ~ppreci~tion of the present invent~on aind many of the attendant advantages thereof will ~e readily obtained as the s~me become~ better understood by reference .
to the followin~ detailed descrlption when considered in connectlon with the accompanyin~ drawing~, whereln~
FIGURE lA is a perspective view showing a conventional ear-flt type he~dphono device;
FIGURE 18 is a cross-section showing the ear~pea~er unit of FSGURE lA;
F~GURE 2 ~ho~s a perspective view showin~ a convent~onal hermetlcally seal type headphone devlce;
F~GURE 3 i~ a perspect~ve vlew showin~ an embodi~ent of a h-adphone device according to the pre~ent lnvoneion;
F~GURE 4 shows a cross-sect$on of the earspeaker unit ~ `:
of FIGURE l;
FIGUR~ 5 i8 a perspectlve view showing ~ human ear;
F~GURE 6 ~s ~n equivalent cir~u~t dia~ram for ~~
~llustrating an operation of the headphone device ~ccord~ng to the prosent lnvention.
FIGURE 7 ls a perspective view showin~ another ~mbodiment of a he~dphone device accordln~ to the present invention; ~nd FIGURE 8 is a ~raph diagra~ showin~ the frequency ~;

- 4 ~

characteri~tic~ of the headp ~ a~ ~g ~ of FIGU~ ~.

~ESCRIPTION O~ TH~ PREF-R~D EM~OD~MENI~

The pre6ent inven~ion wlll ~e de~cr~bed in det~il with reference tO the FIGURES 3 throu~h 8.
Referrin~ now to ~IG~RES 3 and 4, 8 first embodiment of the headphone d~vice according tO th~ present inventlon ~ill bo descr~bed in detail. In FSGUR~ 3, the he~dpho~e-dev~ce ~
~a~ an elastic U-ahap~d headband 41 and a pair of ear&pea~er - ~ -un~ts 43a and 43b. The earspeaker ~nit8 43a and 43b are `
supported on the respective ends of the head-band 4~ through two hangers 42a and 42b. The han~ers 42a and 42b are slidably attached to the ends of the ~ead-band 41.
In FIGURE 4, the loftside ear~peaker ~nit 43b '~Q
repres~tatively lllu~trated in ~ state that it is ~orn on ~uman ear. The ear~peaker un~t ~3 is comprised of a housin~
51b, a spe-~er 61 Rnd a pro~ection 53b. The housiny 51~ i8 form d ~n a body with the hanger 42b. The speaker 61 ~8 housed in8ide the housin~ 51b. Tho project~on 53b ~as a ;
hollo~ and ~n opening 54b.
A lar~e number of air-permeable holes are fgrmed ln the ~ ~
b~c~ of the hou~ing 51~ ~8ee FIGUR~ 3). Thu~, a cavity ~ ~-sp~ce of the housin~ 51~ ls communic~ted out8ide the housing 51b. The c-vity ~pace of the ho~lng 5~b i8 al~o COmmunlcated with the hollo~ of the pro~ection 53b. Shu~, the cavity sp~ce of tho housln~ 51b i8 ~uided to the opening ;~
54b of the pro~ection 53b. On the other hand. the front 52b of the housin~ 51b ~ 8 closed.
The speaker 61 ifi housed in t~e housing 51b in facing - ;

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200~iS8 to the front 52b of the housins 51b Here, the pro~ection 53b i~ formed into a body with the front 52b 80 that the hollow of the projection 53b i4 connected to the cav~ty space in the housin~ 51b The openin~ 54b ~s provided at the tip end of the projection 53b The rightslde ear~peaker ~nit 43~ haa a ~i~ilar projection 53R and an openlng S4a Here, she construction of the human e~r is illustrated -~
in FI~URE 5 ~he e~r, seen from o~tside, has an external ar ~1, a concha ~2, an antitra~us 73, a tra~us 74 and an external auditory meat~s ~5 which ~eads inside the ear When the e~r~pe~ker unit 43b is fitted to the ear, as shown in FIGURE 6, tbo pro~ect~on 53b passe6 between the tra~us ~4 ~nd the antitra~us 73, and penetrate8 into the concha 72 The size8 of the ~roduction 53~ and the opening 54b are desi~ned ~o that the open~n~ 54b faces to the end of the oxternal auditory me~tus ~5 Re~-rring now to F~G~RE 6, a mechanicsl acoustic impedanc- of th- earspea~er unit 43b will be de~crlbed FIGURR 6 sho~s an equivalent circuit dia~ram of a state where the earspeaker unit 43b i~ worn to the hunan ear '-In FIGURE 6, an inductance Md, a capacitance Cd and a ros~stance Rd repre~ent a maso, a compliance and a mechanical re~stance of a diaphragm of the speaker 61 ~loment Vs is an audlo slgnal a~plied to the speaker 61 Block Zear is an acoustic impedance of the earspeaker 43b st th- op-nin~ 54b of the pro~ection 53b Element Mear is an inertance and Element Rear Q sound real~tance of a gap between the headphone device 43b and the ear. ACOUQtiC `~
~pedance Zear f rom the ~pea~er diaphra~m t~ the eardr~m desormined by the inertance Mear and the sound resi6tance ~
,, ,,".

C~pac~tance of the cavity of t~e ear seen from the 200~5 earspeaker. The acoustic capacitance Cear correspo~d8 to th~ acou6tic impedance Of the exte~nal auditory meatu3.
Res~stances R1 and R2 are parts of ~n ~coustic resi~tance o~
the cavity 6pace of the housin~ 51b. Capacitance C1 is a and capacitor C1 is an acou~tic caPscitance of the cAvity space o~ the housin~ 5t~.
A capacitance Ch shown by the dotted line is the acoustlc impedance occurrin~ in the conventional herm~tically ~eal type headphone de~ioe, as shown in FI~URE
2. She capacitance Ch i~ aleo for~ed between the esr~pea~er unit and the extsrnal ear when the conventio~l he~dphone device is worn to the hum~n ear. Usually the capacitance~
Ce~r and Ch have a followin~ eq~at~on;

~.Cear ~.Ch Accordin~ tO the above e~bodiment, the pro~ect~on 53b penetrated into the concha reduces the cavity of the conch~.
Shus, the capacit~nce Cear becomes small. While, according to t~e conventional hermetically ~eal type headphone device, the cavity of the ooncha i9 left as it i~. Thu~, ehe capacitance Ch has a relative}y lar~e value. Fro~ the d~f~erence between the capacitances Cear and Ch, the e~bodi~ent of FIG~RE 3 increase~ ehe aco~stic impodance at ~ ~-l~r~e extent, in compared with the conventional headphone ~v ~ c~
~ber-fore, the embodiment of the present invention -remar~a~ly impro~e6 ~he sound pressure le~el E in t~e m~dd~e and ~ow o~nd frequency bands, particul-rly the low ound ~ :,,. ~.
,. ..

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Z 0 ~ 8 AS a re~ult, the neaapnone ~e~lce o~ ~n~W~F~~ incresses the sound pre~ure le~el E in the low sou~d frequency ba~d near 100 Hz approxi~ately 20dB, compared ~lth the conventional open-a~r type headphone device of FIG~E 1 ~th ~ -the equivslent speaker.
~ l~o, s~nce the projectlon s3b f~ts into the concha, the earspeaker un~t 43b does not eagily fall fro~ the ear.
Thu~ a sprin~ b~a6 of the headband 41 can be reduced. ;~
Practically, the spring bia~ of about SOg or le88 19 :::
8ati6factory in the embodi~ent of ~GURE 3. While ~e con~ent~ona~ headphone device~ o f ~GUR~S 1 and 2 requlre ~ -~
the 6pring blas of ~bout 10~ or ~ore. Therefore, ~hen the h-adphone device according to the present ~nvention ~ used, th~ fitness ~ greatly i~proved. Thus, even ~hen used for lon~ ~eriods, the e~rs do not burt as ~ueh a with conventional headphone dev~ces.
Also, the headphone devlce havin~ the speaker of 20~ ~
30~m in diameter ~ccord~ng to the preeent ~n~ention is ~ ~ :
: ~ .
comparable with the conventional her~etically seal type headphon~ device ha~n~ a 8peaker of ~bout 40~ in diameter. ~ ;
When vie~ed fro~ the tructural aspect-, the headphone - ~-d-vice of the pre~ent in~ent ~o~ does not need any ear-pad.
Thus, the headphone device i8 ea~ to ~anufacture and lo~ ~n * * T O T ~ L P ~ G E . 0 1 3 * *
~ ' ' '' ';

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DEf C~ ' 8'3 ~ FPC!II F I I~llE~ HEI~IlEF~ Fh':~E . ~-~ZU
20~)~558 , C08t. Generally, e~r-pads have 3evexal drawb~c~. For exnmple, they become dusty and soiled. If ~uch a problem of du~t or ~oil occur~, it is difficult to recover the problem.
Further the problem i~ not desirsble fro~ the aspect of he~lth. Al6e, they deteriorate from lon~ periods of u6e, and have to be changed. The headphone device of the ~resent -invention, however, i6 free fro~ the proble~s due to the ear~
pad. As the housin~ in th$s lnvention csn be con~tructed by plastic~, it 1~ ea~y to keep the hous~ng clean and 18 no ~ ~ ~
ri~k of dete~ioration. ~- -Also, the projection 53b i~ provided on a posltion -;-offset from the center axis of the hous~n~ 80 that the projection 53b haa a s~ooth flt with the concha, a~ shown in FI¢URE 4. Accordingly, the earspe~ker unit 43b will not pres6 a~ain6t the external ear ~1 and therefore the ear will not hurt.
Referrina now to FIGU~E ~, another embod~ent of the ;~
present lnvent~on will be de6cribed.
The sa~e sy~bols ~r- used for parts which ~re ~quiv~lent with tho6e of the headphone de~ice o FIGUR~S 3 and 4. In this embodiment, the front 52b of the housing 51b h~S an openin~ 80 and an ad~uster 81 for adjustin~ the `' openin~ area of the op-nln~ 80.
When constructed ln thls way, this embodi~ent ha~
snother advantage in addition to the advantages of the previou8 embodlment of FIGURES 3 and 4.. That i8, tbe freq~ency character~stic of the sound pressure can be -adjusted, a~ shown by a frequency respon8e characteri tie ~rsph of FIGURE 8. Graph A ehown by the dottod line in ~IGURE 8 is the sound pressure level characteristic when the _ 9 _ - ~

- . ........

.
r;EI~ 9 .~ FF~IIII Fll~lE~1HII HE~IIEF~ FH~;C. _I -2C~ 58 openlng 80 15 closed. Graph B 6hown ~y the ~ol$d line i~

the ~ound pre3sure level characteristic when the open~g 80 is opened When the acou~tic lmpedance of the second e~bodinent of the headphone devlce, a~ 3hown in FIGUR~ ~, is expressed by the equiv~lent c~rCuit as BhoWn in FIGURE 6, the impedance Zear i~ varied in re~ponse to the openin~ area of t~e op-ning 80 A~ described Dbove, the preQent i~vention can provide `~
n extremely preferable headphone device While there have been ill~etrated and de~cribed what are at present con~idered to be preferred embodi~ent~ of the preeent lnvention, it ~ill be under~tood by those skilled $n the art thet v~rious changes and modifications may be made, nd oquivalent~ may be ~ubstit~ted for elements thereof wlthout departin~ from the true scope of the present ~
~nvention In addition, many modification~ ~ay be made to ~ -adapt particular sltuation or ~aterlal to the teach~n~ of tb- present inventlon without departing from the central 6COp- thereof Therefore, it is intended that the present ~nvention not be llmited to the particular embodiment dl-closod ~s the be~t mode contemplated for carrying out the pre~ent invention, but ~hat the present invent~on include all e~bodiments falling within the scope of the appended elaim~
. :.. ~ .

Claims (4)

1. A headphone device designed to compensate with the concha of the auditory meatus of the human ear, comprising:
a housing containing a speaker;
a projection extending from the housing and fitting into the concha of the human ear;
an opening formed in the projection at a location facing toward the auditory meatus of the human ear; and means for support the housing in proximity to the human ear.

2. A headphone device of claim 1, wherein the housing is hermetically sealed.

3. A headphone device of claim 1, wherein the projection is located offset from the center of the housing.

4. A headphone device of claim 1 further comprising a second opening in the housing and means provided to open or close the second opening to vary the frequency response of the headphone device.