CN118104251A

CN118104251A - Open earphone

Info

Publication number: CN118104251A
Application number: CN202380013577.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 保坂明彦
Original assignee: Muwu Ltd
Current assignee: Muwu Ltd
Priority date: 2022-10-21
Filing date: 2023-10-20
Publication date: 2024-05-28
Also published as: WO2024085250A1; JP7320316B1; JP2024061454A

Abstract

The invention provides an open earphone which does not bring a sense of pressure to ears, is easy to hear surrounding environment sound, has high sound insulation and does not leak sound. The invention provides an open earphone. The open earphone includes: an earphone body 2 having at least a speaker 5 incorporated therein; and an acoustic duct 3 extending obliquely from the earphone body 2 to be inserted into the external auditory meatus 11 of the ear. The acoustic duct 3 is formed with a1 st communication path 6 for communicating the speaker 5 with the external auditory meatus 11 of the ear, and a2 nd communication path 7 for communicating the atmosphere with the external auditory meatus 11 of the ear.

Description

Open earphone

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an open earphone capable of receiving ambient sounds.

Background

Typically, sound vibrations transmitted through the air are transmitted to the tympanic membrane in the ear, and vibrations of the tympanic membrane are transmitted to the cochlea through the three ossicles in the tympanic membrane. The cochlea has lymph fluid whose vibrations are converted into electrical signals and transmitted to the auditory nerve, which the brain recognizes as sound.

Incidentally, headphones to be worn on the ears of a user have a speaker for reproducing sound by applying a sound signal to the speaker disposed near the ears, and such headphones can be broadly classified into two types of in-ear type and earplug type.

An in-ear earphone (for example, refer to patent document 1) is used by being hung on a portion called an ear shell at an entrance of an ear, and has an advantage that it is easy to hear surrounding environmental sounds without a sense of pressure. In contrast, an earplug-type earphone (for example, refer to patent document 2) is used by putting an earplug-type ear piece into an ear, and thus has an advantage that high sound insulation and no sound leakage can be obtained.

Prior art literature

Patent literature

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. 2006-222492

Patent document 2: japanese patent application laid-open No. 2019-145962

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

However, in-ear headphones have the disadvantages of low sound insulation and easy sound leakage. In contrast, earbud headphones have disadvantages in that they have a strong sense of pressure on the ear and are difficult to hear surrounding environmental sounds because the ear piece is placed deep in the ear.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an open earphone that can be worn firmly on the ear without giving a sense of pressure in a fitted state, is easy to hear surrounding environmental sounds, has high sound insulation, and does not leak sound.

Means for solving the problems

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an open earphone comprising: an earphone body having at least a speaker built therein; and an acoustic duct extending obliquely from the earphone body to be inserted into at least deeper than the tragus of the external auditory canal of the ear. The acoustic duct is attached with an earring having one end abutting against the tragus of the ear and the other end abutting against the inner wall of the concha, and a1 st communication passage for communicating the speaker with the external auditory meatus of the ear and a 2 nd communication passage for communicating the atmosphere with the external auditory meatus of the ear are formed in the acoustic duct.

Effects of the invention

According to the present invention, since the 1 st communication path for communicating the speaker with the external auditory meatus of the ear and the 2 nd communication path for communicating the atmosphere with the external auditory meatus of the ear are formed in the acoustic duct, ambient sound is introduced into the external auditory meatus of the user's ear through the 2 nd communication path. Therefore, the user can simultaneously hear the speaker sound introduced into the external auditory meatus through the 1 st communication path and the ambient sound introduced into the surroundings of the external auditory meatus through the 2 nd communication path. Since the speaker sound escapes to the atmosphere through the 1 st communication path and further through the 2 nd communication path, the path becomes long, and the speaker sound can be prevented from leaking (leaking sound) to the outside. Further, even in places where the environmental sound is loud, the speaker sound can be clearly heard, and the touch noise and the user's own sound are not heard.

In addition, since the open earphone is configured such that the sound tube is inserted into at least a portion deeper than the tragus of the external auditory canal of the ear of the user, and the earring is attached to the sound tube such that one end thereof is in contact with the tragus of the ear and the other end thereof is in contact with the inner wall of the concha, the earring and the sound tube are held between the tragus of the ear and the concha, and the open earphone is firmly worn on the ear of the user without a feeling of pressure in a state of being attached.

Therefore, according to the open earphone of the present invention, it is possible to wear firmly to the user's ears without feeling of pressure in a fitted state, and it is possible to enjoy only the advantages of both the in-ear earphone and the earplug earphone while eliminating the respective disadvantages of both the earphones.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an open earphone of the present invention from obliquely above;

fig. 2 is a perspective view of the open earphone of the present invention from obliquely below;

Fig. 3 is a side view of an open earphone of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a cross-sectional side view of an open earphone of the present invention;

fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the open earphone of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a sectional view of a user's ear portion showing a use state of the open earphone of the present invention;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of an open earphone according to another embodiment of the present invention from obliquely below.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the arrow directions shown in fig. 1 and 3 are respectively the "front-back" direction and the "up-down" direction.

The open earphone 1 of the present embodiment includes: an earphone body 2 having an oblong shape in plan view; a cylindrical sound tube 3 extending obliquely downward from the earphone body 2; and an ear ring 4 extending forward (leftward in fig. 1 to 6) from the acoustic duct 3.

The earphone body 2 is a case in which an upper case 2A and a lower case 2B are joined and integrated, and an upper duct 3A constituting a part of the acoustic duct 3 integrally extends from a front end portion of the lower case 2B so as to be inclined obliquely downward and rearward by a predetermined angle θ (see fig. 3). Here, the acoustic duct 3 is divided by the upper and lower portions 2, and is composed of the upper duct member 3A integrally formed with the lower case 2B, and a cylindrical lower duct member 3B detachably attached to the upper duct member 3A. Hereinafter, the attachment/detachment structure of the upper duct member 3A and the lower duct member 3B will be described.

That is, as shown in fig. 4 and 5, the fitting groove 3A is formed on the outer periphery of the lower end of the upper duct member 3A over the entire circumference, and the annular fitting convex portion 3b is formed below (lower end of) the fitting groove 3A of the upper duct member 3A. Further, a fitting groove 3c is formed on the inner periphery of the upper end of the lower catheter member 3B over the entire circumference, and an annular fitting convex portion 3d is formed on the inner periphery of the upper end of the lower catheter member 3B. Therefore, the outer periphery of the lower end portion of the upper duct member 3A is fitted into the inner periphery of the upper end portion of the lower duct member 3B from above, and as shown in fig. 4, the fitting convex portion 3B of the upper duct member 3A is fitted into the fitting groove 3c of the lower duct member 3B, and the fitting convex portion 3d of the lower duct member 3B is fitted into the fitting groove 3A of the upper duct member 3A, so that the upper duct member 3A and the lower duct member 3B are integrally connected.

Here, in the present embodiment, the inclination angle θ of the acoustic duct 3 with respect to the earphone body 2 is set to θ=60°, but the inclination angle θ should be set to 60++10° (50 ° to 70 °). In the present embodiment, the earphone body 2 (the upper case 2A-2B) and the sound tube 3 are made of a hard resin such as an ABS resin having high rigidity.

Incidentally, although the headphone body 2 accommodates a substrate on which various electronic components are mounted in addition to the speaker 5, as shown in fig. 4, the speaker 5 is arranged at a position not to contact with the user's ears immediately above the sound tube 3 in the headphone body 2. By disposing the speaker 5 at such a position, the speaker 5 does not become an ear obstruction even if the aperture of the speaker 5 is made sufficiently large in order to improve the sound quality of the speaker 5. In the present embodiment, the speaker 5 is horizontally housed in the headphone main body 2, but the speaker 5 may be vertically arranged and housed.

The ear ring 4 extends substantially horizontally forward from the front surface of the lower duct member 3B of the acoustic duct 3, but the ear ring 4 is formed by integrally connecting two circular rings 4a,4B, and is detachably attached to the earphone body 2 together with the lower duct member 3B of the acoustic duct 3. The ear ring 4 is made of a flexible silicone or an elastomer which is elastically deformable.

In the open earphone 1 of the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 4 and 6, the axial center portion of the acoustic duct 3 is formed with: in a state where the user wears the open type earphone 1 on his ear, the speaker 5 incorporated in the earphone body 2 is connected to the circular hole-shaped 1 st communication path 6 (see fig. 6) of the external auditory meatus 11 (see fig. 6). That is, the upper end of the 1 st communication path 6 opens into the earphone body 2, and the lower end of the 1 st communication path 6 opens into the external auditory meatus 11 of the ear. A 2 nd communication path 7 for communicating the atmosphere with the external auditory meatus 11 of the ear is formed on the front surface side (left side in fig. 4) of the lower duct member 3B of the acoustic duct 3. As shown in fig. 2 and 5, the 2 nd communication path 7 has an upper end opened to the atmosphere through a circular hole 7a formed in the upper end portion of the lower duct member 3B, and a lower end opened to the external auditory meatus 11 of the ear through a circular hole 7B formed in the bottom surface of the lower duct member 3B.

The structure of the open earphone 1 to be worn on one (left or right) ear of the user has been described above, but the structure of the open earphone 1 to be worn on the other (right or left) ear is identical to that of the above-described one, and therefore illustration and description thereof are omitted.

Here, fig. 6 shows a state in which the open earphone 1 of the present embodiment is worn on the ear of a user, in which the open earphone 1 is worn in an orientation in which the end face of the earring 4 (ring 4A) is in contact with the tragus (tragus) 12 of the ear. That is, the open earphone 1 is worn on the ear of the user by inserting the sound tube 3 into the external auditory canal 11 of the ear, and at this time, the earring 4 is brought into contact with the tragus 12 of the ear. In this way, the ear ring 4 is pressed by the tragus 12, so that the ear ring 4 is pressed against the inner wall 13 of the concha, and the ring 4B is elastically deformed and bent into an arc shape. Therefore, the earring 4 and the sound tube 3 are held between the tragus 12 of the ear and the inner wall 13 of the concha, and the open earphone 1 is firmly worn on the ear of the user in a fitted state.

As described above, when the open earphone 1 is worn on the left and right ears of the user in a fitting manner, the sound (speaker sound) emitted from the speaker 5 passes through the 1 st communication path 6 formed in the center portion of the sound tube 3 and is transmitted to the cochlea via the tympanic membrane, and the vibration of the lymph fluid of the cochlea is converted into an electrical signal and transmitted to the auditory nerve, as shown by the arrow a in fig. 6, and the brain recognizes the electrical signal as sound. Further, as shown by arrow b of fig. 6, ambient sound is transmitted to the cochlea through the 2 nd communication path 7 formed in the acoustic duct 3 and through the tympanic membrane, vibration of lymph fluid of the cochlea is converted into an electric signal while being propagated to the auditory nerve, and the brain recognizes this electric signal as sound.

As described above, in the open earphone 1 of the present embodiment, the sound tube 3 is formed with the 1 st communication path 6 for communicating the speaker 5 with the external auditory meatus 11 of the ear and the 2 nd communication path 7 for communicating the atmosphere with the external auditory meatus 11 of the ear, and therefore, ambient sound is introduced into the external auditory meatus 11 of the user's ear through the 2 nd communication path 7. Therefore, the user can simultaneously hear the speaker sound introduced into the external auditory meatus through the 1 st communication path 6 and the ambient sound introduced into the surrounding of the external auditory meatus 11 through the 2 nd communication path 7. Accordingly, since the speaker sound passes through the 1 st communication path 6 and further escapes to the atmosphere through the 2 nd communication path 7, the path thereof becomes long, and the speaker sound can be prevented from leaking to the outside (leaking sound). Further, even in places where the environmental sound is loud, the speaker sound can be clearly heard, and the touch noise and the user's own sound are not heard.

In addition, since the open earphone 1 of the present embodiment is worn by inserting the acoustic duct 3 into the external auditory canal of the ear of the user and is firmly worn on the ear of the user by the earring 4, the acoustic duct 3 does not press the ear, and a comfortable wearing feeling can be given to the user. In the present embodiment, the lower duct member 3B of the acoustic duct 3 is formed integrally with the ear ring 4 and is configured to be detachable from the upper duct member 3A (the earphone body 2), so that the ear ring 4 can be easily replaced with an ear ring that is suitable for the size and shape of the concha and the external auditory meatus 11 of the user. The earring 4 may be formed in a single piece, and the single earring 4 may be detachably attached to the acoustic duct 3.

Therefore, according to the open earphone 1 of the present embodiment, the respective disadvantages of the in-ear earphone and the earplug earphone can be eliminated while enjoying only the advantages of both earphones.

Incidentally, in the above embodiment, the 2 nd communication passage 7 is formed inside the side wall of the acoustic duct 3 (the lower duct member 3B), but as shown in fig. 7, the 2 nd passage may be formed by a linear groove 8 formed in a part of the outer periphery of the acoustic duct 3 in the longitudinal direction.

Of course, the application of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications may be made within the scope of the technical ideas described in the claims, the specification, and the drawings.

Symbol description

1: Open earphone, 2: earphone body, 2A: upper shell, 2B: lower shell, 3: acoustic catheter, 3A: upper duct piece of acoustic duct, 3B: lower duct piece, 3a of acoustic duct: fitting groove of upper conduit piece, 3b: a jogged convex part of the upper conduit pipe,

3C: fitting groove, 3d of lower pipe fitting: fitting convex part of lower guide pipe piece, 4: an earring,

4A,4b: ring, 5: speaker, 6: 1 st communication path, 7: a2 nd communication path,

7A,7b: round hole of the 2 nd communication path, 8: groove (2 nd communication path), 11: external auditory meatus, 12: tragus, 13: the inner wall of the concha.

Claims

1. An open earphone, comprising:

An earphone body having at least a speaker built therein; and

An acoustic duct extending obliquely from the earphone body to be inserted into an external auditory meatus of an ear at least deeper than tragus, wherein,

The sound duct is divided by a sound guide tube 2 into an upper divided piece integrally formed with the earphone body and a lower divided piece detachably attached to the upper divided piece,

An earring is arranged on the lower dividing piece of the sound guide pipe, one end of the earring is abutted with the tragus of the ear, the other end is abutted with the inner wall of the concha,

The sound tube is formed with a1 st communication path for communicating the speaker with the external auditory meatus of the ear and a 2 nd communication path for communicating the atmosphere with the external auditory meatus of the ear.