DE29607428U1 - Case for hearing aids - Google Patents

Description

PATPMTANWÄ! TF *"* * ..*'«aOderbaumer strasse 20

HA I IZ.N 1 AInVVAU I ti D-33602 BIELEFELD

DIPL.- ING, BODO THIELKING phone: (0521) 6O621

DIPL-ING. OTTO ELBERTZHAGEN fax: cos21) 173725

" TELEX: 932059 lawyer d

POSTAL ACCOUNT HANNOVER (bank code 25010030) 3091 93-302

ATTORNEY FILE: , _

Date:

₁₇ _ April 1996 / r

Applicant: AS Audio Service GmbH

Zeppelinstrasse 9, 32051 Herford

Hearing aid case

The invention relates to a case for hearing aids, with a receiving chamber.

Cases for storing hearing aids are available in various designs and are used for storing the devices when they are not in use.

Since hearing aids come into direct contact with the wearer's skin during use, body excretions can penetrate the hearing aid and impair its function.

It is already known that moisture can be removed from used hearing aids by drying them in so-called drying bags.

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17 894 17 April 1996

Such bags either contain highly hydrophilic substances, e.g. silica gel, or they have an electric heater that generates drying heat.

If a standard dry bag is used, the case will be used infrequently, misplaced and unavailable when needed.

The invention is based on the object of creating a case for hearing aids which makes the provision of special drying devices, as has been necessary up to now, superfluous.

The solution to this problem is that the receiving chamber of the case is in air-conducting connection with a drying device provided inside the case. The drying device can either be a drying agent supply made of a highly hydrophilic substance, e.g. silica gel, or it is also possible for the drying device to be an electrical heating device that can be fed from the outside of the case.

17 894

17 April 1996

The integration of the drying device into the storage case makes a separate drying bag unnecessary and gives the case a particularly high level of utility .

Preferred embodiments of the invention are described in detail below with reference to the drawing. They show:

Figure 1

Figure 2

in the lower part of the drawing a perspective view of a first embodiment of a case shown unfolded, with the upper case shell additionally shown in a perspective exploded view,

in the lower part of the drawing a perspective view of a second embodiment of a case shown unfolded, with the upper case shell additionally shown in a perspective exploded view,

In the drawings, identical or corresponding parts are provided with the same reference symbols. They are distinguished from one another by primes where necessary.

17 894 17 April 1996

In the first embodiment, the case consists of two hinged shells la and lb.

The case has a chamber for the hearing aid, which is formed by the chamber halves Ic and Id. The chamber half Id is located in a sieve-like insert that can be removed from the upper shell la and is designed to be permeable to air. A bag 2 with a drying agent, for example silica gel, is placed in the space remaining between the insert 3 and the inside of the upper shell la. When the moisture absorption capacity in the drying agent supply 2 is exhausted, the bag is replaced.

Figure 2 shows a second embodiment in a representation analogous to Figure 1, in which only the upper shell la ¹ is designed differently. Behind the insert 3, which is inserted into the upper shell la', there is a heating device 2' which is operated electrically. The electrically operated heating device 2' is connected to a socket 2c via cables 2a and 2b. There are also ventilation openings 5 in the upper shell la'. To feed the heating device 2', a connector 4 of a feed cable is plugged into the connection socket 2c.

Claims (5)

1. Hearing aid case, with a receiving chamber (Ic, ld; lc, Id'), characterized, that the receiving chamber (lc, ld; lc, Id') is in air-conducting connection with a drying device (2; 2') provided inside the case (la, Ib; la', Ib). 2. Case according to claim 1, characterized in that the drying device is a desiccant supply (2), e.g. silica gel. 3. Case according to claim 1, characterized in that the drying device is an electrical heating device (2') which can be fed from the outside of the case (la, Ib; la', Ib). 894 17 April 1996 4. Case according to one or more of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the case (la, Ib; la ¹ , Ib) has two tightly assembled trays (la; Ib; la') and in one tray (la; la') a removable insert (3) is provided, behind which the drying device (2; 2') is arranged. 5. Case according to one or more of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the two shells (la and Ib; la' and Ib) are hingedly connected to each other.