EP4352970A1 - Embout pour casque d'écoute - Google Patents

Embout pour casque d'écoute

Info

Publication number
EP4352970A1
EP4352970A1 EP21758700.5A EP21758700A EP4352970A1 EP 4352970 A1 EP4352970 A1 EP 4352970A1 EP 21758700 A EP21758700 A EP 21758700A EP 4352970 A1 EP4352970 A1 EP 4352970A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
eartip
flexible body
user
anyone
ridges
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Pending
Application number
EP21758700.5A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Laura Laaksonen
Tommi Raussi
Markus KULTANEN
Miikka HÄJÄNEN
Markus Vaalgamaa
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Original Assignee
Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Huawei Technologies Co Ltd filed Critical Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Publication of EP4352970A1 publication Critical patent/EP4352970A1/fr
Pending legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R1/00—Details of transducers, loudspeakers or microphones
    • H04R1/10—Earpieces; Attachments therefor ; Earphones; Monophonic headphones
    • H04R1/1016—Earpieces of the intra-aural type
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R25/00—Deaf-aid sets, i.e. electro-acoustic or electro-mechanical hearing aids; Electric tinnitus maskers providing an auditory perception
    • H04R25/65—Housing parts, e.g. shells, tips or moulds, or their manufacture
    • H04R25/652—Ear tips; Ear moulds

Definitions

  • the present disclosure relates to an eartip for a headphone or a headset device.
  • the disclosure further relates to the headset device or headphone comprising the eartip.
  • Earphones which are configured to be plugged into an ear of a user
  • True Wireless Stereo (TWS) headsets usually comprise a headset body and a soft eartip, which is typically made of silicone (see the exemplary earphones shown in Fig. 1).
  • the eartip can particularly be configured to enter an ear canal of the used, and should thereby seal well for providing the best sound experience, and should be comfortable to wear.
  • Comfortability and flexibility (for sealing) of the eartip can be achieved by choosing a soft material, for example, having small material thickness, and moreover choosing a narrow body for the eartip.
  • these features might lead to a non-optimal behavior of the eartip, e.g., they may promote buckling or wrapping of the eartip when it has entered the ear canal of the user, in particular, since angles and shapes of ear canals of different users vary. Buckling causes air leakage and, hence, leads to a poorer audio quality. Especially severe problems arise with low frequency reproduction and Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) performance.
  • ANC Active Noise Cancelling
  • Buckling and air leakage may be reduced by increasing the material thickness, or selecting a harder material (for example, silicone with bigger shore value), or making a wider eartip body.
  • a harder material for example, silicone with bigger shore value
  • all these options decrease the eartip comfortability and flexibility of the eartip inside the ear canal of the user.
  • the stiffness is increased unnecessarily in places.
  • the present disclosure aims to provide such an improved eartip for a headphone or headset devices.
  • the present disclosure has thereby the objective to provide to make the eartip more comfortable while enabling the eartip also to provide a good sealing of the ear canal.
  • the disclosure relates to an eartip for a headphone or a headset device, the eartip comprising: a flexible body designed to be at least partially insertable into an ear canal of a user, wherein the flexible body surrounds a sound channel configured to direct sound to an outlet end of the sound channel and towards the ear canal of the user, wherein the flexible body is formed by at least an inner material layer and an outer material layer, wherein the flexible body comprises one or more stiffening ridges in the outer layer; and wherein the one or more stiffening ridges are arranged at a distal end of the flexible body, the distal end being opposite to the outlet end of the sound channel.
  • the ridges are advantageous for the eartip of the first aspect, in that buckling can be prevented, while the flexibility and comfort of the eartip is not decreases.
  • the ridges being situated at a lower part of eartip (at the distal end), they will likely do not touch the ear of the user. Thus, point contact pressure of the eartip is not increased.
  • the outer layer of the flexible body has a frustum shape.
  • the flexible body has a shape, which is suitable for the ear canal of the user, wherein buckling can be reduced when the eartip is inserted into the ear canal.
  • the outer layer of the flexible body has a half spherical shape.
  • the flexible body has a shape, which is suitable for the ear canal of the user, wherein buckling can be reduced when the eartip is inserted into the ear canal.
  • the one or more stiffening ridges are perpendicular to a length of the flexible body from the distal end to the outlet end. This provides the advantage that the stiffening ridges reduce buckling, when the eartip is inserted into the ear canal of the user.
  • the one or more stiffening ridges are in an inner side of the outer layer of the flexible body.
  • This provides the advantage that the bucking is reduced, when the eartip is inserted into the ear canal of the user.
  • each of the one or more stiffening ridges comprises a uniform ring structure around the flexible body.
  • each of the one or more ridges comprises a non- uniform structure around the flexible body.
  • the flexible body comprises a silicone material.
  • This provides the advantage that a soft material like silicone is used, which increases the comfortability of the eartip when inserted into the ear of the user.
  • the silicone material of the outer layer of the flexible body has shore values in a range of A25 to A60.
  • This provides the advantage that a particular soft material is used, which increases the comfortability of the eartip inside the ear of the user.
  • each material layer of the flexible body has a thickness in a range of 0.4 to 0.6 mm.
  • This range of thickness provides the advantage that the comfortability of the eartip inside the ear of the user is increased.
  • the flexible body has a varying stiffness along a length of the flexible body. This provides that advantage that the buckling and air leakage are reduced when the eartip is inserted into the ear canal of the user. This also results in a better audio quality.
  • the eartip comprises two stiffening ridges.
  • a thickness and/or a profile of the one or more stiffening ridges varies along a length of the flexible body.
  • a stiffness of the flexible body is larger at the distal end of the flexible body.
  • the one or more stiffening ridges are arranged such that they do not touch the ear of the user when the flexible body is inserted into the ear canal of the user.
  • the disclosure relates to a headset device comprising an eartip according to the first aspect or any one of the implementation forms thereof.
  • the headset of the second aspect enjoys all advantages of the eartip of the first aspect and its implementation forms.
  • FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of an earphone configured to be inserted into an ear of a user
  • FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of an earphone comprising an eartip according to an embodiment
  • FIG. 3 shows a schematic representation of an earphone comprising an eartip according to an embodiment
  • FIG. 4 shows a schematic representation of ridges for an eartip according to an embodiment
  • FIG. 5 shows schematic representation of an earphone comprising an eartip according to an embodiment.
  • FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of an eartip 201 according to an embodiment of this disclosure.
  • the eartip 201 is suitable for an earphone or headset device according to embodiments of this disclosure. That is, the earphone or headset device may comprise at least one such eartip 201.
  • the eartip 201 comprises a flexible body 202, which is designed to be at least partially insertable into an ear canal of a user of the earphone. It may thus be made of a flexible material, like silicone.
  • the flexible body 202 surrounds a sound channel 203, which is configured to direct sound to an outlet end of the sound channel 203 and towards the ear canal of the user (when the user wears the earphone).
  • the sound may, for instance, be created in a headset body or earphone body, to which the eartip 201 may be connected when respectively used for a headset device or earphone.
  • the flexible body 202 is formed by at least an inner material layer and an outer material layer.
  • the flexible body 202 may be hollow in between those material layers, or may be filled with another flexible material.
  • the flexible body 202 comprises one or more stiffening ridges 204, which are arranged in the outer layer of the flexible body 202.
  • the one or more stiffening ridges 204 are moreover arranged at a distal end of the flexible body 202, wherein the distal end is opposite to the outlet end of the sound channel.
  • the stiffening ridges 204 may add stiffness locally to the flexible body 202, and may thus help to prevent buckling effectively, when the eartip 201 is inserted into the user’s ear canal.
  • the stiffening ridges 204 can particularly be added in places, where they are particularly effective to prevent the buckling by adding stiffness, but where they do not reduce the comfort of wear for the user.
  • the stiffening ridges 204 may be added to the lower part of the eartip 201, which typically does not touch the user’s ear when the eartip 201 is inserted into the user’s ear canal.
  • the one or more stiffening ridges 204 can be arranged such that they do not touch the ear of the user when the eartip 201 (the flexible body 202 thereof) is inserted into the ear canal of the user.
  • horizontal stiffening ridges 204 are added in the outer layer of the eartip 201 (see e.g. FIG. 5). That means, the one or more stiffening ridges 204 can be perpendicular to a length of the flexible body 202 from the distal end to the outlet end.
  • any additional stiffening ridge 204 which is placed in the outer layer of the flexible body 202, may further reduce the buckling.
  • each stiffening ridge 204 adds stiffness locally to the flexible body 202 of the eartip 201, and helps individually to prevent buckling.
  • two or more stiffening ridges 204 may form a stiffening structure that together effectively addresses buckling.
  • the stiffening ridges 204 ridges i.e. each of the one or more of them, can be uniform all around the eartip, or can be non-uniform.
  • Fig. 3 illustrates examples of stiffening ridges 204, which can be used in the eartip 201 provided to the flexible body.
  • each stiffening ridge 204 may have a non-uniform structure 301 (right-side example).
  • each stiffening ridge 204 may have a non-uniform ring structure 300 (left-side example).
  • the eartip 201 can have a varying stiffness along the height of the eartip 201, i.e., along the direction along which the eartip 201 is inserted into the user’s ear canal.
  • This varying stiffness may be, for one, provided by the one or more stiffening ridges 204, which provide locally a higher stiffness.
  • the material of the flexible body 202, or any other structural feature of the flexible body 202 like its shape may provide a varying stiffness along the height of the eartip 201.
  • the one or more stiffening ridges 204 can be made of a soft material, like the flexible body 202 of eartip 201 (for example silicone), but may have less flexibility than the flexible body 202 itself. However, the stiffening ridges 204 may also be made from another material than the material of the flexible body 202. In an example, a lower part of the flexible body 202 of the eartip 201 may be provide with a stiffer material, for example, a material having a higher shore value, than an upper part of the flexible body 202. This may be done in addition to the stiffening ridges 204, or may implement the stiffening ridges.
  • the stiffening ridges 204 do not need to increase the thickness of the flexible body 202 locally, i.e., they do not need to protrude from the rest of the flexible body 202.
  • the stiffening ridges 204 may be implemented by local areas of stiffer material. The stiffening ridges 204 may thus even be invisible to the user.
  • a silicone material of the outer layer of the flexible body 202 may have shore values in a range of A25 to A60.
  • the stiffening ridges 204 could be made of a silicone material having a different shore value.
  • each material layer of the flexible body 202 may have a thickness in a range of 0.4 to 0.6 mm.
  • a stiffening ridge 204 may have a thickness of about 0.4 mm or larger. The thickness of the stiffening ridge 204 may thereby add to the thickness of the flexible body 202. In this way, a thicker portion of the same material may be created on the flexible body 202.
  • An example dimension for the eartip 204 and the stiffening ridge 204 material thickness is shown in FIG. 4.
  • a uniform ring stiffener structure comprising the one or more stiffening ridges 201 may be placed in the lower part (i.e. distal end) of the outer eartip (i.e. outer layer of the flexible body 202).
  • the profile, width and height of the individual stiffening ridges 204 can thereby be varied.
  • a combination of two or more stiffening ridges 204 e.g., a stiffening structure comprising multiple stiffening ridges 204, can be added to the eartip 201, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5.
  • the outer layer of the flexible body 202 can have a frustum shape.
  • the outer layer of the flexible body 202 can have a half spherical shape.
  • the shape of the flexible body 202 of the eartip 201 may add to the flexibility distribution of the eartip 201, and may optimize it in terms of ease of inserting the eartip 201 into the ear canal of the user, and/or in terms of comfortability when the eartip 201 is inserted into the ear canal of the user.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Acoustics & Sound (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Neurosurgery (AREA)
  • Otolaryngology (AREA)
  • Headphones And Earphones (AREA)

Abstract

La présente invention concerne un embout pour casque d'écoute ou un dispositif de casque d'écoute. L'embout comprend un corps flexible conçu pour être au moins partiellement insérable dans le conduit auditif d'un utilisateur. Le corps flexible entoure un canal sonore configuré pour diriger le son vers une extrémité de sortie du canal sonore, et vers le canal auditif de l'utilisateur. En outre, le corps flexible est formé par au moins une couche de matériau interne et une couche de matériau externe. Le corps flexible comprend également une ou plusieurs nervures de raidissement dans la couche extérieure, dans lequel la ou les plusieurs nervures de raidissement sont disposées à une extrémité distale du corps flexible, l'extrémité distale étant opposée à l'extrémité de sortie du canal acoustique.
EP21758700.5A 2021-08-12 2021-08-12 Embout pour casque d'écoute Pending EP4352970A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/EP2021/072449 WO2023016645A1 (fr) 2021-08-12 2021-08-12 Embout pour casque d'écoute

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP4352970A1 true EP4352970A1 (fr) 2024-04-17

Family

ID=77447912

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP21758700.5A Pending EP4352970A1 (fr) 2021-08-12 2021-08-12 Embout pour casque d'écoute

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP4352970A1 (fr)
CN (1) CN117546482A (fr)
WO (1) WO2023016645A1 (fr)

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
TWI751906B (zh) * 2021-02-09 2022-01-01 香港商吉承貿易有限公司 耳塞套

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US7464786B2 (en) * 2004-06-11 2008-12-16 Cabot Safety Intermediate Corporation High sound attenuating hearing protection device
US8280093B2 (en) * 2008-09-05 2012-10-02 Apple Inc. Deformable ear tip for earphone and method therefor
US10440458B2 (en) * 2015-03-09 2019-10-08 Conversion Sound Inc. Comfort and high retention vibration and sound damping ear tips
CA3093304A1 (fr) * 2018-03-09 2019-09-12 Staton Techiya, Llc Embouts auriculaires et dispositifs d'ecouteur, et systemes et procedes associes

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO2023016645A1 (fr) 2023-02-16
CN117546482A (zh) 2024-02-09

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