EP3125573A1

EP3125573A1 - Bone conduction headphone

Info

Publication number: EP3125573A1
Application number: EP15872552.3A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Mikio Fukuda
Original assignee: Temco Japan Co Ltd
Current assignee: Temco Japan Co Ltd
Priority date: 2014-12-24
Filing date: 2015-11-17
Publication date: 2017-02-01
Also published as: EP3125573A4; CN107005759A; WO2016103983A1; JPWO2016103983A1

Abstract

Problem: To provide a bone conduction headphone with which, in the case where a normal hearing listener uses it, music can be enjoyed with a high sound quality with no need for blocking the ear hole, and, in addition, while listening to music, he or her can listen to an external sound, and, for example, even if he or her makes jogging while listening to music, a call, a horn sound, or the like, from the outside can be heard, whereby the bone conduction headphone can be used with safety.

Solution: A bone conduction headphone, including a bone conduction speaker 1, and an air conduction speaker 3 that is mounted to a housing 2 of the bone conduction speaker 1, in which, upon the bone conduction headphone being worn, the bone conduction speaker 1 is disposed so as to be positioned in front of an ear hole 11, and a sound emitting hole 4 of the air conduction speaker 3 is disposed so as to be oriented directly or indirectly to the ear hole 11.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a bone conduction headphone, and more particularly, relates to a bone conduction headphone that, in the case where any normal hearing listener uses it, allows him or her to safely enjoy a voice, music, and the like, with a high sound quality with no need for blocking the ear hole.

Description of the Related Art

As the headphone bone of conduction type, a bone conduction headphone of ear hook type that is used with a speaker part being disposed in front of an ear hole including the tragus is known (see Figure 7 in Patent Document 1). When compared to the conventional general headphone, it has an advantage that a voice and music can be listened to with no need for blocking the ear hole, but, it has a disadvantage that, in the case of listening to music, a vibration signal outputted from the bone conduction speaker is transmitted to the auditory nerve via the skin and skull of the human body, and thus, at the time when a high frequency component passes the skin, it is greatly attenuated, thereby the sound quality being deteriorated.
In addition, in the case where a normal hearing listener uses a bone conduction headset, an air vibration that is emitted from the main body of the bone conduction speaker can be listened to via the eardrum, whereby a high-frequency sound can be heard, being compensated to some degree, but a sufficient frequency range cannot be provided. Further, the component of an air conduction sound that is emitted from the entire main body of the bone conduction speaker unit is produced with a relatively large and heavy housing being vibrated, and thus considering the structure thereof, it cannot be expected that a necessary and sufficient high frequency is reproduced.

Citation List

Patent Literature

Patent Document 1: WO2008/029515
As described above, the ear hook type bone conduction headphone that is used with the speaker part being disposed in front of an ear hole including the tragus, when compared to the conventional general headphone, has an advantage that, a voice and music can be listened to with no need for blocking the ear hole, but it has had a disadvantage that, in the case where music being listened to, the sound quality is deteriorated.
Then, the present invention has been made, being intended to provide a bone conduction headphone with which, in the case where a normal hearing listener uses it, music can be enjoyed with a high sound quality with no need for blocking the ear hole, and, in addition, while listening to music, he or her can listen to an external sound, and, for example, even if he or her makes jogging while listening to music, a call, a horn sound, or the like, from the outside can be heard, whereby the bone conduction headphone can be used with safety.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention to solve the above problem that is claimed in claim 1 is a bone conduction headphone, including a bone conduction speaker, and an air conduction speaker that is mounted to a housing of said bone conduction speaker, upon the bone conduction headphone being worn, said bone conduction speaker being disposed so as to be positioned in front of an ear hole, and a sound emitting hole of said air conduction speaker being disposed so as to be oriented directly or indirectly to the ear hole.
In one embodiment, a guide that is opened toward the ear hole is provided for the sound emitting hole in said air conduction speaker, being extended therefrom, and said bone conduction speaker is mounted at the distal end of the ear hook.
In another embodiment, said bone conduction speaker is installed on a temple of spectacles, and to the sound emitting hole of said air conduction speaker, a sound guide tube that extends toward the ear hole is mounted.
As described above, with the present invention, there is provided an advantage that it includes a bone conduction speaker, and an air conduction speaker that is mounted to the housing of said bone conduction speaker, with, upon the bone conduction headphone being worn, said bone conduction speaker being disposed such that it is positioned in front of an ear hole, and the sound emitting hole in said air conduction speaker being disposed so as to be oriented to the ear hole, and thus, in the case where a normal hearing listener uses it, music can be enjoyed with a high sound quality with no need for blocking the ear hole, and, in addition, while listening to music, he or her can listen to an external sound, and, for example, even if he or her makes jogging while listening to music, a call, a horn sound, or the like, from the outside can be heard, whereby the bone conduction headphone can be used with safety.
In addition, the air conduction speaker is used basically to compensate for the high frequency component that cannot be covered by the frequency band that is provided for the bone conduction speaker, and thus as the air conduction speaker, an extremely small-sized unit can be adopted, whereby there is offered an advantage that, even if the bone conduction headphone according to the present invention has a two-way structure, it can be provided as a small-sized apparatus as a whole.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a front view illustrating the state of use of a bone conduction headphone according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating the state of use of the bone conduction headphone shown in Figure 1; and
Figure 3 is a front view illustrating the state of use of a bone conduction headphone according to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinbelow, an embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to the attached drawings. A bone conduction headphone according to the present invention is an ear hook type headphone that is used with a bone conduction speaker 1 being disposed in front of an ear hole 11 as shown in Figure 1, featuring that, at the time when the bone conduction headphone is worn, a sound emitting hole 4 in an air conduction speaker 3 that is mounted to a housing 2 of the bone conduction speaker 1 is disposed so as to be directly or indirectly oriented toward the ear hole 11 (see Figure 2). In the case of this embodiment, the bone conduction speaker 1 is mounted at the distal end of the ear hook 5.
A guide 4a that is opened toward the ear hole 11 may be provided for the sound emitting hole 4 in the air conduction speaker 3, being extended therefrom. This guide 4a serves to converge the directions of transmission of the air conduction sound emitted from the sound emitting hole 4 into a direction toward the ear hole 11 to minimize the sound leakage to the outside.
The air conduction speaker 3 is extremely small-sized one, being mountable to the housing 2 of the bone conduction speaker 1. In other words, the air conduction speaker 3 is used basically to compensate for the high frequency component that cannot be covered by the frequency band that is provided for the bone conduction speaker 1, thereby the air conduction speaker 3 requiring no middle and low band characteristics, and thus as the air conduction speaker 3, an extremely small-sized unit can be adopted. Therefore, even if the bone conduction headphone according to the present invention has a two-way structure, it can be provided as a small-sized apparatus as a whole.
With the bone conduction headphone that is configured as above, at the time when it is worn, the bone conduction speaker 1 transmits a bone conduction signal with the housing thereof being butted against a portion slightly in front of the ear hole 11 and a tragus 12. In addition, at the same time, an air conduction sound from the air conduction speaker 3 is released from the sound emitting hole 4 that is oriented to the ear hole 11, being listened to through an eardrum. Since this air conduction sound from the sound emitting hole 4 is released toward the ear hole 11 that is located in the immediate vicinity of the sound emitting hole 4, the sound leakage to the surroundings can be suppressed to a minimum. In the case where a guide 4a is provided for the sound emitting hole 4, being extended therefrom, the effect of sound leakage suppression is enhanced.
With the bone conduction headphone according to the present invention, in the state in which the ear hole 11 is made open in this way, the middle and low frequency band components can be listened to as bone conduction sounds mainly from the bone conduction speaker 1, and, in addition, the high frequency band component can be listened to as an air conduction sound mainly from the air conduction speaker 3, whereby it is possible to make listening with a high sound quality.
In an embodiment shown in Figure 3, the bone conduction speaker 1 and the air conduction speaker 3 that is integral therewith are installed on a temple 7 of spectacles. In this case, a sound guide tube 6 that extends toward the ear hole 11 is mounted to the sound emitting hole 4 in the air conduction speaker 3.
Also in this embodiment, the middle and low frequency band components are transmitted as bone conduction sounds mainly from the bone conduction speaker 1, and, in addition, the high frequency band component is emitted as an air conduction sound mainly from the sound emitting hole 4 in the air conduction speaker 3, being released toward the ear hole 11 through the sound guide tube 6, whereby it is possible to make listening with a high sound quality.
Hereinabove, the present invention has been explained in detail to some extent and about the most preferred embodiment, however, since it is obvious that a wide range of different embodiments can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments thereof except as defined in the claims.

Claims

A bone conduction headphone, comprising a bone conduction speaker, and an air conduction speaker that is mounted to a housing of said bone conduction speaker, upon the bone conduction headphone being worn, said bone conduction speaker being disposed so as to be positioned in front of an ear hole, and a sound emitting hole of said air conduction speaker being disposed so as to be oriented directly or indirectly to the ear hole.
The bone conduction headphone according to claim 1, wherein a guide that is opened toward the ear hole is provided for the sound emitting hole in said air conduction speaker, being extended therefrom.
The bone conduction headphone according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said bone conduction speaker is mounted at the distal end of the ear hook.
The bone conduction headphone according to claim 1, wherein said bone conduction speaker is installed on a temple of spectacles, and to the sound emitting hole of said air conduction speaker, a sound guide tube that extends toward the ear hole is mounted.