JP2001095098A - Body-sensing hearing aid - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hearing aid allowing a seriously hearing-impaired listener, who has difficulty in hearing sound by a general hearing aid amplifying sound, to easily and bodily feel sound generated around him and voice emitted by him through vibration. SOLUTION: This hearing aid is provided with a sound collecting means M, which converts an inputted sound to an electrical signal and outputs it, an oscillation means O which oscillates the electrical signal of a specific frequency for outputting when the electrical signal is outputted from the sound collecting means, and vibration means Va, Vb, Vc, Vd, Ve which converts the electrical signal outputted by the means O to the mechanical vibration of the frequency of the electrical signal to transmit it to a human body.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hearing aid for allowing a hearing-impaired person to sense the sound around the person by vibration.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional hearing aid is a device for improving the difficulty of communication in the daily life of a hearing-impaired person by electrically amplifying and outputting sound generated around the person to make the sound easier to hear. It is.

[0003]

However, such a conventional hearing aid transmits sound to the brain via a semicircular canal or an auditory nerve for a hearing-impaired person who can hear amplified sound. There is a problem that it cannot be used by severely hearing-impaired persons whose function of the semicircular canal or the auditory nerve is damaged. Therefore, there is a disadvantage that such a severely deaf person cannot hear any sound generated around him or his own voice.
Furthermore, severe hearing impaired persons are particularly difficult to judge and pay attention to in situations where they are out of sight, for example, situations in which cars approach from behind the severe hearing impaired. .

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a sensation hearing aid that advantageously solves the above-mentioned problems. Sound collecting means for converting and outputting the electric signal, an oscillating means for oscillating and outputting an electric signal of a specific frequency when the electric signal is output from the sound collecting means, and an electric signal output by the oscillating means. And vibrating means for converting the vibration into mechanical vibration of the frequency and transmitting the vibration to the human body.

In the sensation hearing aid of the present invention, the sound collecting means converts the input sound into an electric signal and outputs the electric signal, and the oscillating means outputs a specific signal when the electric signal is output from the sound collecting means. The oscillation means oscillates and outputs an electric signal of the frequency, and the vibration means converts the electric signal output from the oscillation means into a sensible mechanical vibration of the frequency and transmits it to the human body. Therefore, according to the device of the present invention, even a person with severe hearing impairment can experience the sound emitted by himself or the sound generated in the surroundings by vibration.

Further, in the bodily sensation hearing aid of the present invention, a plurality of filter means corresponding to a plurality of kinds of frequency bands are provided between the sound collecting means and the oscillating means so as to pass only an electric signal of a specific frequency band. The oscillating means may be capable of oscillating a plurality of types of electric signals, and oscillating an electric signal of a frequency corresponding to the filter means when an electric signal is output from any of the plurality of filter means.

With this configuration, each of the plurality of filter means provided corresponding to a plurality of types of frequency bands is configured to filter only the electric signal of a specific frequency band among the electric signals input from the sound collecting means. When an electric signal is output from any of the plurality of filter means, the oscillating means oscillates an electric signal having a frequency corresponding to that of the filter means. Can be easily distinguished by a type of mechanical vibration corresponding to a band including the frequency.

In the sensation hearing aid of the present invention, the oscillating means may be provided for each frequency of the oscillating electric signal. In this case, each of the oscillating means is provided with a specific electric signal frequency. Only oscillates, the configuration of the oscillating means can be easily simplified.

In the sensation hearing aid of the present invention, the oscillating means may oscillate the electric signals of the plurality of types of frequencies by one unit. Since the signal oscillating operation can be performed by a single oscillating means, the size and weight of the sensation hearing aid can be easily reduced.

[0010] In the sensation hearing aid of the present invention, the vibrating means may be provided for each frequency at which the oscillating means oscillates. In this case, each of the vibrating means is set to a specific frequency. Since the mechanical vibrations are performed at different positions, the configuration of the vibration means can be easily simplified, and the frequency of the sound generated around can be easily distinguished by the vibration position of the vibration means. .

[0011] In the sensation hearing aid of the present invention, the vibration means may be a single means for converting the electric signals of the plurality of frequencies into mechanical vibrations. Since the operation of converting electrical signals of various frequencies into mechanical vibration can be performed by one vibration means, the size and weight of the sensation hearing aid can be easily reduced.

Further, in the sensation hearing aid of the present invention, a plurality of the sound collecting means are provided in different directions, and at least the oscillating means and the vibration means are provided for each of the sound collecting means. In this way, when each of the sound collecting means provided in different directions receives sound from the direction in which the sound collecting means is directed, the vibration means corresponding to the sound collecting means Since the mechanical vibration is transmitted to the human body, the person can easily determine the input direction of the sound based on the mechanical vibration of the vibration means associated with the direction.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of one embodiment of the sensation hearing aid of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the bodily sensation hearing aid of this embodiment has a sound collecting microphone M as a sound collecting means, for example, comprising a condenser microphone, and an amplifier (amplifier) for amplifying an electric signal output from the sound collecting microphone. Amplifying circuit) A, a filter unit F having five filters Fa, Fb, Fc, Fd, Fe as filter means, and five oscillators (oscillator circuits) Oa, Ob, Oc, Od as oscillating means , Oe, and a sensation unit U having five thin plate-like diaphragms Va, Vb, Vc, Vd, Ve as piezo elements as vibration means.

It should be noted that the filter Fa removes the peak of the passing frequency.
Passes frequencies included in a frequency band of 200 Hz to 400 Hz as 300 Hz, and the filter Fb passes frequencies included in a frequency band of 400 Hz to 600 Hz with a peak of the passing frequency at 500 Hz. The filter Fc passes a frequency included in a frequency band in a range of 600 Hz to 1.4 kHz with a peak of the pass frequency being 1 kHz, and the filter Fd has a peak of the pass frequency of 2 kHz and a frequency of 1.4 kHz to 2.6 kHz. The frequency included in the frequency band of the range is passed, and the filter Fe passes the frequency included in the frequency band of 2.6 kHz to 5.0 kHz with the peak of the passing frequency being 3.4 kHz.

When an electric signal is input, the oscillator Oa oscillates and outputs an electric signal having a frequency of 20 Hz.
Oscillates and outputs an electric signal having a frequency of 40 Hz when an electric signal is input, and the oscillator Oc outputs when an electric signal is input.
Oscillates and outputs an electrical signal with a frequency of 60 Hz, and the oscillator Od
Oscillates and outputs an electric signal having a frequency of 80 Hz when an electric signal is inputted, and the oscillator Oe outputs the electric signal when the electric signal is inputted.
Oscillates and outputs an electrical signal with a frequency of 100 Hz. That is, these oscillators Oa, Ob, Oc, Od, and Oe oscillate and output relatively low-frequency electric signals that the human body can easily sense.

In this embodiment, the sound collection microphone M is (electrically) connected to the amplifier A by a conducting wire.
The amplifier A is composed of five filters Fa,
Each of Fb, Fc, Fd, and Fe is (electrically) connected by a conducting wire. Further, the filter Fa is connected to the oscillator Oa, the filter is connected to the oscillator Ob, the filter Fc is connected to the oscillator Oc, and the filter Fd is connected to the oscillator Od.
, And a filter Fe is (electrically) connected to the oscillator Oe by a conductor, respectively. Also, the oscillator Oa is a diaphragm
Va, the oscillator Ob on the diaphragm Vb, the oscillator Oc on the diaphragm Vc,
The oscillator Od is connected (electrically) to the diaphragm Vd, and the oscillator Oe is connected (electrically) to the diaphragm Ve by wires. Further, in the bodily sensation hearing aid of this embodiment, a person attaches the sound collecting microphone M to, for example, clothes, and preferably mounts the bodily sensation unit U around the person's torso.

According to the sensation hearing aid of this embodiment, when sound is generated around a person wearing the sensation hearing aid, the sound collecting microphone M converts the collected sound into an electric signal to convert the sound to the amplifier A.
, And the amplifier A amplifies the electric signal and outputs it to the five filters Fa, Fb, Fc, Fd, Fe of the filter unit F, and the five filters Fa, Fb, Fc, Fd, Of the Fe, a filter that includes the frequency of the input electric signal in the frequency band outputs the input electric signal to an oscillator connected to the filter, and the oscillator correspondingly operates at a specific frequency. Is output to a diaphragm connected to the oscillator, and the diaphragm converts the electric signal into mechanical vibration and vibrates. Thus, the person wearing the sensation hearing aid can judge that sound has been generated around the person by experiencing the vibration through the sensation unit U attached to the waist.

Here, when the frequency of the sound collected by the sound collecting microphone M is included in the sound band of 200 Hz to 400 H, the electric signal from the sound collecting microphone M passes through the filter Fa to the oscillator Oa. As input, the diaphragm Va of the bodily sensation unit U
Vibrates at a frequency of 20 Hz, and similarly, 400 Hz to 600 Hz
The diaphragm Vb vibrates at a frequency of 40 Hz when it is included in the audio band, and the diaphragm Vc vibrates at a frequency of 60 Hz when it is included in the audio band of 600 Hz to 1.4 kHz. , 1.4k
When included in the audio band of Hz to 2.6 kHz, the diaphragm
When Vd vibrates at a frequency of 80 Hz and is included in the sound band of 2.6 kHz to 5.0 kHz, diaphragm Ve vibrates at a frequency of 100 Hz. Therefore, the person wearing the hearing aid of this embodiment can determine the difference in the frequency of the collected sound based on the type and location of the mechanical vibration to be sensed.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing another embodiment of the sensation hearing aid of the present invention when a person wearing the hearing aid is viewed from the front, and FIG. 3 shows the sensation hearing aid of this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing shown in the state seen from right direction. The hearing aid of this embodiment has four sets of the configuration shown in FIG. 1 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and the configuration from the amplifier A to the oscillation unit O in the configuration shown in FIG. Is stored within. In addition, through a hole formed in the upper surface of the case C, a conductor connecting between the amplifier A and each of the four sound collecting microphones M, the oscillators Oa, Ob, Oc, Od, Oe and the diaphragm
Conductors respectively connecting Va, Vb, Vc, Vd, and Ve are drawn out of the case C, and four sound-collecting microphones M are connected to the ends of the conductors. Four sensation units U are attached. The case C is provided with a belt for fixing the case C around the waist, and the sound collecting microphone M is provided with a clip that can be attached to clothes or the like.

When the person H wears the sensation hearing aid, supporting portions are provided in advance at predetermined positions in front, rear, left and right around the waist of the thin shirt S so that the four corners of the sensation unit can be supported by, for example, thread. . Then, the case C is positioned around the waist of the person H by the belt, and each of the four bodily sensation units U is supported by the support portion provided on the shirt S. As a result, the bodily sensation units U are arranged at predetermined positions in front, back, left, and right around the waist of the person H via the thin shirt S. Next, sound collecting microphones M respectively corresponding to the four sensation units U are attached to the thin shirt S, for example, at the front, rear, left and right positions around the neck by clips in accordance with the arrangement of the sensation units U.

In the bodily sensation hearing aid of this embodiment, for example,
When sound is generated from the front of the person H, a sound collecting microphone M attached to the front of the person H collects the sound, converts the sound into an electric signal, and outputs the electric signal to the amplifier A connected to the sound collecting microphone.
Next, the amplifier A amplifies the input electric signal and outputs the amplified electric signal to the five filters Fa, Fb, Fc, Fd, and Fe of the filter unit F connected to the amplifier A. One of the five filters Fa, Fb, Fc, Fd, and Fe that includes the frequency of the input electric signal in the frequency band is
Output to an oscillator connected to the filter, the oscillator outputs an electrical signal of a specific frequency to a diaphragm connected to the oscillator, and the diaphragm converts the electrical signal into mechanical vibration. The vibration is transmitted to the abdomen of the person H through the bodily sensation unit U having the diaphragm (here, attached to the abdomen). Accordingly, the person H can determine that the sound is generated from the front.

As described above, the front-side (abdominal) sensation unit U of the four sensation units vibrates with respect to the sound generated from the front of the person H. Similarly, the rear sensation unit U vibrates with respect to the sound generated from behind the person H,
For the sound generated from the left side of the person H, the left sensation unit U
Vibrates, and the right sensation unit U vibrates with respect to the sound generated from the right side of the person H. At this time, as described in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the diaphragms Va, Vb, Vc, Vd, and Ve vibrate due to mechanical vibration of the frequency corresponding to the audio band including the acoustic frequency.

Therefore, according to the bodily sensation hearing aid of this embodiment, when sound is generated around the person H wearing the bodily sensation hearing aid, the four indirectly contacting the front, back, left and right of the body of the human H via the shirt S are performed. Of the individual sensation units U, the sensation unit U attached in the direction corresponding to the direction in which the sound is generated vibrates, and this vibration is transmitted to the body of the person H. Thereby, person H
Can determine the direction in which the sound was generated at the part where the user felt the vibration of his body. Further, according to the bodily sensation hearing aid of this embodiment, since the person H experiences vibration having a frequency approximately proportional to the degree of high sound or low sound, the degree of high sound or low sound can be easily determined.

In the case where the person H utters his own voice,
Since the bodily sensation unit U connected to the collected sound collecting microphone M vibrates, it is possible to confirm whether or not the user's voice is transmitted as voice by the presence or absence of the vibration.

Although the present invention has been described based on the illustrated examples, the present invention is not limited to the above-described examples. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the sound collecting microphone M is attached around the neck of the thin shirt S. However, the sound collecting microphones M on the left and right of the person may be attached to the earlobes or glasses, or attached to the shoulders of the shirt S. In this case, the sound collecting microphones mounted on the front, rear, left, and right may be separated from each other. , Sound collecting microphone M
Makes the distinction between the directions of the sounds to be collected more clear.

Further, in the above embodiment, the sensation hearing aid has four sets of the structure shown in FIG. 1, but another set is provided. For example, the sound collecting microphone M is a headphone type sound collecting microphone. And the sound-collecting microphone is positioned in front of the mouth in the direction of the mouth, and the sensation units U corresponding to the sound-collection microphone M are attached to the four sensation units U attached to the front, rear, left and right of the human body. It may be attached to a position that can be distinguished from the position (for example, a sleeve of a shirt S). In this way, it is possible to more clearly check whether or not the voice uttered by the user is transmitted to the listener as voice. can do.

In the above embodiment, the sensation unit U
Although the four corners are supported by the support portions provided on the thin shirt S, instead of the support by the support portions, for example, the back surface of the sensation unit U and the mounting position of the sensation unit U such as clothes are attached. The bonding surfaces of the hook-and-loop fasteners are attached to each other so as to be opposed to each other, and the bodily sensation unit is supported by connecting the bonding surfaces, or
A pocket may be provided at the mounting position of the bodily sensation unit U such as clothes, and the bodily sensation unit may be inserted into the pocket. In this case, the detachment of the bodily sensation unit U from the clothes or the like is further facilitated. be able to. In addition,
When a pocket is provided to support the bodily sensation unit U, the bodily sensation unit U is strong enough to easily transmit its vibration to the body even if it is put in a pocket such as clothes, such as a vibrator for a mobile phone. It is preferable to generate vibration.

In addition, in the above embodiment, a piezoelectric element, which is a piezoelectric element, is used for the vibration plate as the vibration means O. However, for example, a vibrator which operates electromagnetically may be used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a bodily sensation hearing aid of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing another embodiment of the bodily sensation hearing aid of the present invention when a person wearing the hearing aid is viewed from the front.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing the bodily sensation hearing aid of this embodiment as viewed from the right in FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

 A Amplifier C Case F Filter unit Fa, Fb, Fc, Fd, Fe Filter H Person M Sound collecting microphone O Oscillator Oa, Ob, Oc, Od, Oe Oscillator S Thin shirt U Experience unit Va, Vb, Vc, Vd, Ve diaphragm

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A sound collecting means (M) for converting input sound into an electric signal and outputting the signal, and an oscillation for oscillating and outputting an electric signal of a specific frequency when an electric signal is output from the sound collecting means. Means (O); and vibrating means (Va, V) for converting an electric signal output from the oscillating means (O) into mechanical vibration of the frequency and transmitting the mechanical vibration to a human body.
(b, Vc, Vd, Ve). 2. A filter means (F) between the sound collecting means (M) and the oscillating means (O) for passing only an electric signal of a specific frequency band corresponding to a plurality of types of frequency bands. The oscillating means (O) is capable of oscillating a plurality of types of electric signals, and when an electric signal is output from any of the plurality of filter means (F), the oscillating means (O) has a frequency corresponding to that of the filter means (F). 2. The hearing aid according to claim 1, wherein the hearing aid oscillates an electric signal. 3. The hearing aid according to claim 1, wherein the oscillating means is provided for each frequency of the oscillating electric signal. 4. The oscillating means (O) oscillates an electric signal of the plurality of kinds of frequencies by a single device.
The bodily sensation hearing aid according to claim 1 or 3. 5. The vibration means (Va, Vb, Vc, Vd, Ve)
5. The sensation hearing aid according to claim 2, wherein a hearing aid is provided for each frequency at which the oscillation means (O) oscillates. 6. The vibration means (Va, Vb, Vc, Vd, Ve)
The sensation hearing aid according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein at least one converts the plurality of types of electric signals into mechanical vibration. 7. A plurality of said sound collecting means (M) are provided in different directions, and at least said oscillating means (O) and vibrating means (Va, Vb) are provided for each of said sound collecting means (M). , Vc, Vd, Ve).
The bodily sensation hearing aid according to claim 1.