GB2582643A - In ear monitor - Google Patents

Abstract

An in-ear monitor earpiece comprises a relatively soft silicone substrate 21, shaped to fit a wearer's ear canal and central parts of the wearer's pinna, and an outer part 41 which is relatively harder than the substrate and which is bonded to the substrate such that it is visible in use. Being of a harder material the outer part 41 may be printable and/or coloured. Having a soft in-ear substrate makes for greater user comfort and better and more secure location of the monitor in the user’s ear. The relatively harder material of the outer part 41 may be a plastic, metal or wood. 3-D printing or additive manufacture is used in the making of the earpiece.

Description

In Ear Monitor This invention relates to an in-ear monitor or in-earphone.

In the late 1980's a British sound engineer, Chrys Lindop of Garwood Communications, created a new technology called In-ear-monitoring (IEM) that allowed individual musicians to monitor their performance using wireless transmission of their mix from the sound mixing desk directly into a pair of in-earphones. Traditionally, amplified music was sent from the mixing desk to loud speakers (wedges) placed in front of each musician with additional overall sound reinforcement being delivered to loudspeakers placed at the back and sides of the stage.

The biggest disadvantage of using loudspeakers comes from the build-up of very large onstage sound pressure levels. For each musician to hear their own individual performance there is a constant requirement to increase the volume coming out of their wedge speakers, resulting in distortion and a high risk of hearing damage.

In ear monitoring was a completely new way to play live amplified music and as it began to gain favour with big name artists, it established itself as a viable alternative to conventional stage monitoring and gained traction in the pro-audio market. Today In ear monitoring is the preferred choice of musicians presenting live music.

Keeping the earphones securely fitted in the ears posed a problem which was partially overcome by fitting the earphone buds into a hard-acrylic custom earpiece, like those found in the hearing aid industry. As the market size grew, completely individual customised earphones were developed in which the speakers were built internally into a hard-plastic custom shell. Using hard materials caused discomfort and created sound leakage when artists would make any jaw movements. Without a consistent seal of the ear from the ambient surrounding noise, hearing was still at risk and Garwood found themselves facing potential litigation from artists whose hearing had been adversely affected by using their IEM system.

Chrys Lindop approached audiologist Andy Shiach who was producing specialist custom made, musicians earplugs manufactured from soft medical grade silicone. Shiach embarked upon designing a soft custom IEM to house the speaker components that would result in a more comfortable and safer product. More comfortable because the silicone took up any movement in the ear canal when it was mobilised and safer because of the integrity of the fit and acoustic seal.

As the IEM industry developed more manufacturers of hard-shelled IEM's appeared. The products are easy to produce and offer customers the benefit of art design for the outside faceplate of the IEM, opening branding and individual design possibilities. The faceplates are produced from the same material as the shell and are easily bonded.

In short, soft silicone provides exceptional comfort and sound isolating advantages over hard acrylic materials. Hard acrylic IEM's have the advantage over silicone IEM's in that graphics, pictures, logos and wide colour choices are easily achieved for the outward face of the earphones and thus the appearance may be better. Unfortunately, many people choose the artistic options of the hard-plastic products over the improved performance and therefore improved safety benefits of using soft silicone.

In a first aspect, the invention provides an in-ear monitor comprising a soft silicone substrate, shaped to fit a mammalian wearer's ear canal and central parts of the wearer's pinna, and an outer part which is printable and/or coloured and is relatively harder than the substrate and which is bonded to the substrate such that it is visible in use.

In a second aspect, the invention provides a method of manufacturing an in-ear monitor comprising the steps of producing a soft silicone substrate, shaped to fit a mammalian wearer's ear canal and central parts of the wearer's pinna, producing an outer part which is printable and/or coloured and which is made from a relatively harder material such as hard plastic, wood or metal, and bonding the outer part and substrate together such that the outer part is visible in use.

In this way, it has been made possible to improve the safety and comfort of hard-plastic IEM products by offering a soft silicone shell with a bonded faceplate made from a hard material.

Custom made In-Earphone or In-Ear-Monitor (IEM) comprising of a hard material bonded to a soft substrate.

The device is a custom moulded IEM manufactured from a soft medical grade silicone substrate to which is bonded any hard material to form a cover on the outward face of the earphone.

ACS has discovered a method of bonding hard materials in the form of plastics, woods and metals to the silicone substrate which is a new technique.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the drawings, in which:-Figure 1A is a schematic view of an in-ear monitor; Figure 1B is a schematic view of a second in-ear monitor forming a pair with the monitor of Figure 1A; Figure 2A is an inner part of an in-ear monitor; and Figure 2B is an outer part of an in-ear monitor.

With reference to Figures 1 A and 1 B, the monitor has a soft silicone inner part 2, which is shaped to fit a wearer's inner ear canal and the parts of the wearer's pinna near the ear canal. Figures 1A and 1B show a pear of monitors each being approximately a mirror image of the other. Typically, the parts 2 are formed from a soft material such as soft silicone and may be custom fitted to the wearer's ear shape. In this way, the parts fit comfortably and effectively seal the ear canal so that sound pressure waves are significantly attenuated, before reaching the wearer's ear drum and delicate parts behind the ear drum. Also, using a soft material allows the inner part 2 to flex as the wearer's soft tissue moves, particularly during jaw movements. This ensures that comfort is maintained and also that the air seal in the ear canal is not breached periodically e.g. during singing, speech or chewing.

Typically, the materials used for the inner part 2 cannot be decorated as the flexibility and material properties make it difficult to print on the outer surfaces, or to provide decoration which has good resistance to wear and damage in use. Accordingly, the in-ear monitor of the present application is produced using hybrid materials and includes an outer part 4, which is made from a hard, printable material. Also, the outer part 4, because it has a wider material choice, has a much wider choice of colouration for the base material than is possible with the soft silicone inner part 2.

Accordingly, the appearance of traditional hard in-ear monitors may be provided without compromising the wearability and performance of a soft in-ear monitor, thus overcoming the problems of the prior art.

With reference to Figures 2A and 2B, the two parts may readily be seen with an outer part 4' and an inner part 2', in this case provided with a cut-out through both parts for a filter. The filter may be provided to allow controlled passage of sound pressure waves through the monitor in the conventional way.

The inner and outer parts are typically bonded together using a primer developed by Loctite (Henkel) for hard to bond and porous substrates. The primer prepares the substrate and material that are to be bonded. The adhesive is a semi-flexible cyanoacrylate which forms a very strong bond between the material faceplate and the substrate. The semi-flexible nature of the cyanoacrylate compensates for movement of the soft substrate without affecting the bond.

The primer is applied to both the material that is to be bonded and the substrate. The Cyanoacrylate is typically only applied to the substrate. The process should be done quickly, and suitable pressure applied for 5-10 seconds to ensure an even spread of the cyanoacrylate and a secure bond is achieved.

The substrate and/or outer part may be formed using an additive manufacturing technique such as 3D printing. This allows an efficient customisation process to ensure a good fit for the wearer, and also allows parts to be made that could not be made by conventional moulding techniques.