Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; ELECTRIC HEARING AIDS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
  • H04R25/00—Electric hearing aids
  • H04R25/65—Housing parts, e.g. shells, tips or moulds, or their manufacture
  • H04R25/652—Ear tips; Ear moulds
  • H04R25/654—Ear wax retarders
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; ELECTRIC HEARING AIDS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
  • H04R1/00—Details of transducers, loudspeakers or microphones
  • H04R1/10—Earpieces; Attachments therefor ; Earphones; Monophonic headphones
  • H04R1/1083—Reduction of ambient noise
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; ELECTRIC HEARING AIDS; 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; ELECTRIC HEARING AIDS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
  • H04R1/00—Details of transducers, loudspeakers or microphones
  • H04R1/20—Arrangements for obtaining desired frequency or directional characteristics
  • H04R1/22—Arrangements for obtaining desired frequency or directional characteristics for obtaining desired frequency characteristic only 
  • H04R1/28—Transducer mountings or enclosures modified by provision of mechanical or acoustic impedances, e.g. resonator, damping means
  • H04R1/2807—Enclosures comprising vibrating or resonating arrangements
  • H04R1/2815—Enclosures comprising vibrating or resonating arrangements of the bass reflex type
  • H04R1/2823—Vents, i.e. ports, e.g. shape thereof or tuning thereof with damping material
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; ELECTRIC HEARING AIDS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
  • H04R2225/00—Details of deaf aids covered by H04R25/00, not provided for in any of its subgroups
  • H04R2225/021—Behind the ear [BTE] hearing aids
  • H04R2225/0216—BTE hearing aids having a receiver in the ear mould
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; ELECTRIC HEARING AIDS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
  • H04R2460/00—Details of hearing devices, i.e. of ear- or headphones covered by H04R1/10 or H04R5/033 but not provided for in any of their subgroups, or of hearing aids covered by H04R25/00 but not provided for in any of its subgroups
  • H04R2460/01—Hearing devices using active noise cancellation
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; ELECTRIC HEARING AIDS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
  • H04R2460/00—Details of hearing devices, i.e. of ear- or headphones covered by H04R1/10 or H04R5/033 but not provided for in any of their subgroups, or of hearing aids covered by H04R25/00 but not provided for in any of its subgroups
  • H04R2460/11—Aspects relating to vents, e.g. shape, orientation, acoustic properties in ear tips of hearing devices to prevent occlusion

Definitions

• It may be formed by molding an indented path into the housing 206 and covering that path with another piece (e.g., 3 out of 4 sides of a rectangular cross section may be molded into a body of the housing 206, and that path may be covered with a plate to form the 4 th side).
• diameter is intended to cover a diameter of a circle for a circular cross-section as well as an equivalent diameter for a non-circular cross-section, e.g., square, rectangular, or substantially semi-circular cross-sections.
• the rear port 224 has a length of 3.791 mm to 5.129 mm (e.g., 4.460 mm), a cross-sectional area of 0.208 mm ⁇ 2 to 0.282 mm ⁇ 2 (e.g., 0.245 mm ⁇ 2), and a total volume of 0.789 mm ⁇ 3 to 1.445 mm ⁇ 3 (e.g., 1.093 mm ⁇ 3).
• Each of the front port 222 and the rear port 224 may include an acoustic impedance element, such as an acoustic mesh, for controlling the impedance of the port.
• the outlet end of the front port 222 includes a front port mesh 223 and the inlet end of the rear port 224 includes a rear port mesh 225.
• the front port mesh 223 has a specific acoustic impedance of 5 Rayl to 7 Rayl (e.g., 6, Rayl). Suitable acoustic meshes for the front and rear ports are available from Sefar Inc., Buffalo, NY.
• the exit port 228 may take various forms such as a mesh (e.g., metal screen) covered hole, an open hole, a tube, or a plurality of holes, e.g., a plurality of mesh covered or open holes. In the example illustrated in FIG.2, the exit port 228 is in the form of a mesh covered hole.
• the acoustic impedance of the front port 222 (including the front port mesh 223) is greater than 2x, e.g., at least 10x(20 dB), the acoustic impedance of the exit port 228 (including the exit port mesh 229).
• the acoustic impedance of the rear port 224 (including the rear port mesh 225) is greater than 2x, e.g., at least 10x(20 dB), the acoustic impedance of the exit port 228 (including the exit port mesh 229).
• Suitable acoustic meshes for the exit port 228 are available from Sefar Inc., Buffalo, NY.
• the exit volume 226 has a volume of 1.275 mm ⁇ 3 to 1.725 mm ⁇ 3 (e.g., 1.500 mm ⁇ 3).
• the volume of the exit volume 226 is much smaller than the front acoustic volume 210 and the rear acoustic volume 212.
• the volume of the front acoustic volume 210 is at least 8x, e.g., 13x, the volume of the exit volume 226.
• the volume of the rear acoustic volume 212 is at least 53x, e.g., 71x, the volume of the exit volume 226.
• the exit volume size and exit port impedance may be tuned to provide a desired performance under open and sealed conditions.
• the earpiece 200 does not include any acoustic actuators, e.g., acoustic valves, with the exception of the electro-acoustic transducer 208.
• the feedback microphone 211 is arranged to sense pressure in the user’s ear canal. The more accurately the feedback microphone 211 is able to sense the pressure in the user’s ear canal, the better the feedback ANR is achievable. However, the feedback microphone’s ability to sense that pressure accurately is inhibited by a nozzle mesh 230 that is arranged along an outlet end of the acoustic passage 216 in the nozzle 214.
• the nozzle mesh 230 inhibits (e.g., prevents) dirt and debris from entering the housing 206 and thereby helps to protect the components housed therein but the nozzle mesh 230 also introduces an acoustic impedance, e.g., on the order of about 6 Rayl to about 30 Rayl, between the user’s ear canal and the feedback microphone 211. That together with the relatively large volume of the acoustic passage 216 and the front acoustic volume 210, which provide a relatively high acoustic compliance, can result in a pressure drop across the nozzle mesh 230.
• the earbud 300 illustrated in FIG.3 introduces a chimney 302 that surrounds the microphone port 232 on the feedback microphone 211 and mechanically and acoustically couples the feedback microphone 211 to the nozzle mesh 230.
• the chimney 302 effectively creates a small volume around the microphone port 232. Due to the small volume, there is little acoustic compliance. This enables the pressure in the small volume within the chimney 302 to more closely match that within the user’s ear canal despite the acoustic impedance of the nozzle mesh 230, and, consequently, the measurement taken via microphone port 232 more accurately reflects the pressure within the user’s ear canal, which enables better feedback ANR performance.
• the chimney 302 also helps alleviate another issue.
• the length in the nozzle 214 can cause the acoustic transfer function between the electro-acoustic transducer 208 and the feedback microphone 211 to be higher than the acoustic transfer function between the electro-acoustic transducer 208 and the ear drum in some frequency bands, which can lead to overdrive of the feedback microphone 211 and adversely affect ANR performance. But when the microphone port 232 effectively comes out to the ear canal, as it does with the introduction of the chimney 302, that problem is mitigated.
• the chimney 302 is in the form of a wall, e.g., a cylindrical wall, that surrounds the microphone port 232.
• the chimney 302 is mechanically coupled at one end to the feedback microphone 211, e.g., via adhesive, so as to form an acoustic seal therebetween.
• the microphone 211 may be mounted on a first surface of a printed wiring board (e.g., a flexible printed wiring board 234, FIG.5), such that the microphone port 232 is aligned substantially concentrically with a hole that extends through the printed wiring board, and the chimney 302 may surround the hole in the printed wiring board and may be mechanically coupled, e.g., via adhesive or solder, to the opposite, second surface of the printed wiring board, such that the chimney 302 is mechanically coupled to the feedback microphone 211 via the printed wiring board.
• the chimney 302 is mechanically coupled to the nozzle mesh 230, e.g., via adhesive or heat staking.
• the hearing aid equalization is designed to account for other aspects of the hearing aid signal processing, including feedback ANR.
• a channel 304 may be provided through the chimney 302 that acts as a leak path between the microphone port 232 and the acoustic passage 216 in the nozzle 214 so that if the end of the chimney 302 device does get sealed by debris accumulating on the nozzle mesh 230, there is still a path and the feedback microphone 211 is still able to pickup what the electro-acoustic transducer 208 is playing.
• the channel 304 does a couple of things: 1.) if the end of the chimney 302 is blocked, the transfer function between the feedback microphone 211 and the electro- acoustic transducer 208 will not go to zero, it will still be around the same level it would have been with the port open; and 2.) the channel 304 is also high enough impedance so that, under normal operating condition, it does not significantly negatively impact the benefit that is provided by the chimney 302.
• the channel 304 has an impedance on the order of 20 dB relative to the impedance on the nozzle mesh 230. Both the nozzle mesh impedance and the channel impedance need to be significantly smaller impedance that the impedance of air inside the chimney 302.
• the channel 304 has a cross-sectional area of 0.034 mm ⁇ 2 to 0.046 mm ⁇ 2 (e.g., 0.040), and a length of 0.96 mm to 1.30 mm (e.g., 1.13 mm).
• FIG.4 illustrates the theoretical maximum feedback ANR as a function of frequency for the implementations illustrated in FIGS.2 and 3. These plots are based on lumped element models of those implementations.
• Plot 402 represents the theoretical maximum ANR performance for the implementation without the chimney; i.e., the implementation of FIG.2, and plot 404 represents the theoretical maximum ANR performance for the implementation that includes the chimney; i.e., the implementation illustrated in FIG.3.
• the introduction of the chimney provides a significant improvement in theoretical max performance, particularly in the 10 Hz to 1 kHz range – note an improvement of about 20 dB at 100 Hz.
• FIG.5 illustrates another implementation of an earbud 500 in which, in addition to the chimney 302, the Peq port (a/k/a front port 222) is extended to the nozzle mesh 230.
• the inlet end of the front port 222 may be mechanically coupled to the nozzle mesh 230, e.g., via an adhesive or heat staking.
• the front port 222 is provided to alleviate excess low frequency pressures in the ear canal and reduce occlusion. That is, when the user is speaking, or when the user’s foot strikes the ground, associated vibrations travel through the user’s body and into their ear canals, which creates pressure in the ear canals that can be uncomfortable.
• the goal of the front port 222 is to relieve that pressure.
• a resonance in the key voice band area (somewhere around 2.5-6kHz, for instance) can be used to effectively boost the system’s sensitivity in that key frequency region. This would have the net effect of increasing the sensitivity of the system and its overall efficiency.
• this resonance is provided by essentially creating a Helmholtz resonator off the front of the transducer 208.
• the front acoustic volume 210 provides the compliance and the acoustic mass is provided by a slug of air in the resonant tube 602.
• the open area of the resonant tube 602 may be quite small.
• the channel 304 acoustically couples the microphone port 232 to the resonant tube 602.
• the electro- acoustic transducer 700 includes a driver housing 702, one or more plates 704, a coil 706 wound about a bobbin 707, and one or more magnets 708 that responds to electrical signals from the behind-the-ear portion 102 to displace a diaphragm 710, suspended from the housing 702 via a surround 711, to generate audible acoustic energy.
• the surround 711 is coupled to the housing 702 via a frame 713.
• the transducer 700 has a front side 712 and a rear side 714. While front side 712 includes diaphragm 710, rear side 714 includes one or more acoustic driver ports 716.
• the driver ports 716 allow acoustic energy radiated from a rear surface of the diaphragm 710 to pass into the rear acoustic volume of the housing, while acoustic energy radiated from an opposing (and exposed), front surface of the diaphragm 710 can radiate directly into the front acoustic volume.
• the earpiece may include a housing that is designed to fit within a user’s ear canal without an ear tip.
• the housing may be molded to match a shape of the user’s ear canal.
• an earpiece for a behind-the-ear hearing aid has been described, the foregoing features and benefits are applicable to other earpieces, such as other types of hearing aids, e.g., in-the-ear (ITE) hearings aids, e.g., Invisible in the canal (IIC) hearings aids, and Completely in the canal (CIC) hearing aids; as well as other types of in-ear devices, e.g., in-ear headsets, in-ear headphones.
• ITE in-the-ear
• IIC Invisible in the canal
• CIC Completely in the canal

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• 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)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=85415521

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Family Cites Families (6)

• 2023
  • 2023-02-09 WO PCT/US2023/012688 patent/WO2023154383A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2023-02-09 CN CN202380022420.7A patent/CN118743248A/zh active Pending
  • 2023-02-09 EP EP23708337.3A patent/EP4476918A1/de active Pending

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