JP2002345090A - Hearing aid - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To overcome problems of the conventional hearing aid that has caused an indistinct sense in an output sound from the hearing aid and an unpleasant feeling to nerves. SOLUTION: In the hearing aid, a recess 18 is formed to a side face of an insertion part to an auditory meatus insertion part 12 in contact with an inner face of an external auditory meatus 23 toward a neck when the auditory meatus insertion part 12 of the hearing aid 11 is inserted to the external auditory meatus 23, and a second through-hole 19 is provided to the recess 18 in opposition to a first through-hole 16 that introduces a tip 13 of the auditory meatus insertion part 12 to external air provided at a base end 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hearing aid comprising a microphone, an amplifier, a speaker, a battery, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A hearing aid generally comprises a microphone, an amplifier, a speaker, a battery, and the like. A housing in which the microphone, amplifier, speaker, battery, and the like are arranged is mounted behind an ear wheel, and a loud sound from the speaker is provided. In the ear canal, in which the microphone, amplifier, speaker, battery, etc. are inserted into the ear canal.

[0003] Among these hearing aids, an ear-hole type hearing aid will be described with reference to Figs.

FIG. 2A is a plan view showing the external structure of the ear, and FIG. 2B is a sectional view showing the internal structure of the ear.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a problem of a conventional ear canal hearing aid.

As shown in FIG. 2, a human ear 21 has an ear ring 22 and an external auditory canal 23 on the side of the face, and a tympanic membrane 24, an ossicle 25, a semiregular member 26, a cochlea 27 and the like are located behind the external auditory canal 23. It is mainly composed of The sound taken in from the external auditory meatus 23 is transmitted to the brain via the semicircle 26 and the cochlea 27 by the vibration of the eardrum 24.

Since the shape from the entrance of the ear canal 23 on the side of the ear canal 22 to the eardrum 24 varies from individual to individual, the ear canal hearing aid must be adapted to the shape of the external ear canal 23 of the individual.
In particular, when the shape of the ear canal 23 does not match, for example,
If the shape is larger than the inner diameter of the ear canal 23, pain is felt and it is difficult to insert the ear canal for a long time. Further, if the shape is small, a gap is formed between the hearing aid and the external auditory canal 23, and the microphone easily falls off, or an output sound from the speaker leaks to the outside from the gap due to a short installation distance between the microphone and the speaker. Since the leaked sound is collected by the microphone, an obstacle such as howling occurs.

[0007] For this reason, the ear-hole type hearing aid forms a shape of the external auditory canal 23 for each individual, manufactures an outer casing of the hearing aid based on the shape, and includes a microphone, an amplifier, a speaker, and a battery in the outer casing. And so on.

Next, referring to FIG. 3, the hearing aid 11 is connected to the external auditory canal 2.
3 is described. The hearing aid 11 is the ear canal 2
3 is formed into a hollow shape consisting of an ear canal insertion portion 12 inserted along 3, a distal end portion 13 of the ear canal insertion portion 12 located on the eardrum 24 side, and a proximal end portion 14 located on the ear cuff 22 side. A microphone, amplifier, speaker, battery, and the like (not shown) are built in. When the hearing aid 11 is inserted into the ear canal 23, the outer periphery of the ear canal insertion portion 12 of the hearing aid 11 and the inner surface of the ear canal 23 are brought into close contact with each other, and the distal end portion 13 of the ear canal insertion portion 12 is provided.
And the eardrum 24 are sealed, so that there is no circulation of outside air. For this reason, it may be affected by nerves, such as a feeling of muffled sound and the sound of one's own voice.

In order to reduce this effect, the tip 1
3, a through-hole 16a penetrating through the inner and outer surfaces of the base end portion 14 is formed. The air pressure between the distal end portion 13 and the eardrum 24 through the through holes 16a and 16b and the inside of the ear canal insertion portion 12 is made equal to the outside air, and the outside air flows into the eardrum.

Further, the sound pressure of the sound output from the sound output hole 15 of the distal end portion 43 can escape to the outside of the hearing aid 11 through the through holes 16a and 16b and the inside of the ear canal insertion portion 12. The effect on the nerves such as the feeling of muffled sound and sound is reduced. Further, in order to obtain the same effect, a groove may be provided on the surface of the ear canal insertion portion 12 instead of the through holes 16a and 16b.

[0011]

A conventional ear canal hearing aid 1
The ear canal insertion section 12 is manufactured in an external shape that matches the shape of the ear canal 23 for each individual as described above, and
And make it adhere. In addition, since the hearing aid 11 is in close contact with the external auditory canal 23, through holes are formed in the distal end portion 13 and the proximal end portion 14 of the ear canal insertion portion 12 in order to avoid an influence on nerves such as a feeling of muffled sound and sound. 16a, 16b
The sound pressure in the space between the tympanic membrane 24 and the distal end portion 13 is released to the outside.

However, some nerves pass around the ear canal 23. For this reason, the vibration of the sound output from the ear canal insertion portion 12 directly affects the cartilage inside the external auditory meatus 23, and the sound is muffled in the external auditory meatus 23, making the sound hard to hear.
In addition, the vibration of the sound was transmitted to the nerves, which sometimes caused discomfort.

In order to eliminate such feeling of muffled sound and transmission of vibrations to nerves, it is possible to solve the problem by making the outer shape of the ear canal insertion portion 12 slightly smaller than the inner shape of the external auditory canal 23. 11 is not easily inserted into the ear canal 23, and the output sound from the sound output hole 15 is
There is a problem that howling returns to the microphone through the gap.

An object of the present invention is to provide a hearing aid which has a good insertion property of the hearing aid 11 into the guide 23, does not have a feeling of muffled sound, and does not cause unpleasant vibration transmission to nerves. .

[0015]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A hearing aid according to the present invention comprises a microphone for collecting at least an external sound and converting it into an electric signal; an electronic circuit for amplifying the electric signal to a predetermined magnitude; A speaker for loudspeaking a signal, an ear canal hearing aid having a built-in battery and the like for driving the electronic circuit, an ear canal insertion part having a sound output hole at a tip and inserted along an external auditory canal, A recess provided on a side surface of the ear canal insertion portion, which is located on an inner surface of the ear canal in the neck direction when the insertion portion is inserted into the ear canal.

A hearing aid according to the present invention comprises: a microphone for collecting at least external sound and converting it to an electric signal; an electronic circuit for amplifying the electric signal to a predetermined size; and a speaker for vocalizing the amplified electric signal. An ear hook portion, which has a built-in battery for driving the electronic circuit and hangs on the earring, has a sound conducting hollow, is inserted along the ear canal, and is connected to the ear hooking portion via a sound conducting tube. An ear canal insert comprising an ear canal insert, wherein the ear canal insert includes a recess provided on a side surface of the ear canal insert located at an inner surface of the ear canal in a neck direction when the ear canal insert is inserted into the ear canal. It is characterized by having done.

Further, when the ear canal insertion part of the hearing aid according to the present invention is inserted into the ear canal, the distal end and the base of the ear canal insertion part are made to have the same air pressure between the eardrum side and the external side of the ear canal. A first through-hole formed in an end portion, and a second through-hole formed in a surface of the concave portion of the ear canal insertion portion which faces the distal end portion and the base end portion, respectively. Features.

The hearing aid of the present invention eliminates discomfort to the nerves, such as a feeling of muffled sound and resounding sound, and also enables low-frequency correction of the frequency of a sound to be output.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS When the hearing aid 11 is inserted into the conventional ear canal 23, the ear canal insertion part 12 comes into close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the ear canal 23 as shown in FIG. Various experiments have revealed that the lateral ear canal 23a and the neck-side external auditory canal 23b differ in the sound vibration to the nerves such as the feeling of muffled sound and sound.

In particular, even if the ear canal insertion portion 12 is closely attached to the ear canal 23a in the head side direction, there is not much effect on nerves such as a feeling of muffled sound and sound, but the ear canal 23b in the neck side direction.
When the ear canal insertion portion 12 is brought into close contact with the ear, the feeling of muffled sound and the effect on nerves are remarkably exhibited.

The present invention is directed to the above-described neck-side external auditory canal 23b.
This is made by paying attention to the fact that if the ear canal insertion part 12 is in close contact with the ear, a feeling of muffled sound and an influence on nerves are generated.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an ear canal hearing aid according to the present invention. FIG. 1 (a) is a perspective view showing an external shape, and FIG. 1 (b) is a plan view showing a state where the hearing aid is attached to an external auditory canal.

As shown in FIG. 1, an ear canal hearing aid 11 (hereinafter simply referred to as a hearing aid) has an ear canal insert 23 formed by molding an external auditory canal 23 of an individual and matching the external ear canal 23 thus molded. Generated. The inside of the ear canal insertion portion 12 is hollow and includes a microphone, an audio signal amplifier, a speaker, a battery, and the like (not shown).

A sound output hole 15 for outputting a sound output from a speaker is formed in the distal end portion 13 inserted into the eardrum insertion portion 12 on the eardrum 24 side. The microphone, amplifier, speaker, battery, and the like are built in from the base end portion 14 of the ear canal insertion portion 12 and then sealed with a base end cover (not shown). The inner surface of the external auditory meatus 23 extends from the entrance side of the external auditory meatus 23 toward the eardrum 24.
It has a shape that is slightly upward in the head side direction and downward in the neck side direction. In other words, the ear canal insertion portion 12 matches the shape of the external auditory canal 23 and
3, a base end portion 14, and a constricted portion 17 at an intermediate portion.

The sound output hole 15 of the distal end portion 13 is provided with a hollow tube for guiding sound between the sound output surface of a speaker built in the ear canal insertion portion 12. That is, the sound output from the speaker is transmitted through the hollow tube to the sound output hole 1.
5 to the eardrum 24.

First through holes 16a and 16b penetrating through the inner and outer surfaces of the ear canal insertion portion 12 are formed in the distal end portion 13 and the base end portion 14 of the ear canal insertion portion 12. The tip 13
The first through-hole 16a allows the space between the distal end portion 13 and the eardrum 24 to communicate with the inside of the ear canal insertion portion 12 when the ear canal insertion portion 12 is inserted into the external ear canal 23. It is. In addition, the first through hole 16b of the base end portion 14
The inside of the ear canal insertion part 12 and the outside of the ear cuff 22 are electrically connected. That is, the first through holes 16a, 16
By b, the space of the external auditory meatus 23 between the eardrum 24 and the distal end portion 13 is communicated with the outside air via the inside of the ear canal insertion part 12.

The external ear canal 2 in the neck direction of the external ear canal 23 of the constricted portion 17 formed in the middle part of the ear canal insertion portion 12
A concave portion 18 is provided in a portion that comes into contact with 3b. The recess 18 forms a space between the ear canal 23b in the neck direction and avoids contact with the ear canal 23b in the neck direction. Thereby, the external auditory canal 23b in the neck direction
In this case, since the ear canal insertion portion 12 does not directly contact, no influence on the nerve such as a feeling of muffled sound or sound is generated.

Thus, the vibration of the sound output from the speaker of the ear canal insertion part 12 is not transmitted to the neck-side external auditory canal 23b via the side surface of the ear canal insertion part 12, so that the feeling of muffled sound is increased. The effects such as reverberation are eliminated.

Further, a second through hole 19 is formed in the surface of the concave portion 18 on the side of the distal end portion 13 and the surface of the concave portion 18 on the side of the base end portion 14.
a, 19b are drilled. This second through hole 19
a and 19b are provided for conducting air between the recess 18 and the inside of the ear canal insertion portion 12.

That is, the ear canal insertion part 12 is
The space between the distal end portion 16 and the eardrum 24 when inserted into the inside is through the first through holes 16a and 16b, the second through holes 19a and 19b, and the inside of the ear canal insertion portion 12. hand,
External air conduction is further improved. As a result, a part of the sound pressure due to the output sound from the speaker can be released to the outside air, and no influence is exerted on the nerves such as a feeling of muffled sound and sound.

It has also been found that the provision of the first through holes 16a and 16b in the distal end portion 13 and the base end portion 14 has an effect of removing low frequency components of sound. I have. However, the first through holes 16a, 1
When 6b is increased, the sound output from the sound output hole 15 is input to the microphone via the first through holes 16a and 16b, causing a problem of howling. For this reason, the first through holes 16a and 16b are limited to a size that does not cause howling, and there is a limit in removing low-frequency components of sound.

The second through holes 19a, 19
b, and a space is formed between the concave portion 18 and the ear canal 23b in the neck direction, so that the degree of howling is reduced as compared with the conventional groove method, and the first Experiments have shown that by providing the through holes 16a, 16b and the second through holes 19a, 19b, it is possible to adjust the low frequency component of the sound over a wide range.

When a conventional hearing aid is used, since the frequency band that requires hearing aid differs depending on the user, it is necessary to adjust the frequency characteristic for each person who uses the hearing aid. It was complicated. By changing the inner diameters of the first through holes 16a and 16b and the second through holes 19a and 19b, a wide hearing aid range can be adjusted in a low frequency region.

As explained above, the hearing aid of the present invention
A concave portion is provided in the ear canal insertion portion of the hearing aid that contacts the inner surface of the ear canal in the neck direction, and the concave portion faces a first through hole provided in the distal end portion and the proximal end portion of the ear canal insertion portion. Then, a second through hole is provided.

This makes it possible to eliminate the feeling of muffled sound and to correct a wide range of low frequency components of the sound.

The above-described hearing aid has been described as an example of an ear-hole type hearing aid in which a microphone, an amplifier circuit, a speaker, a battery, and the like are built in an ear canal insertion portion.

However, the microphone, the amplification circuit,
The speaker and the battery are housed and arranged in a case molded into a shape that can be hung over the earrings, and an ear-hook type including an ear canal insertion portion inserted into an external ear canal to which a tube for guiding sound from the speaker in the housing is connected. It can also be used for hearing aids.

The external shape of the ear canal insertion portion of the ear-hook hearing aid is the same as the external shape of the ear canal insertion portion 12 of the above-mentioned ear canal hearing aid. As a result, it is possible to eliminate the discomfort of the nerves such as a feeling of muffled sound and sound when the ear canal insertion part of the ear-hook type hearing aid is inserted into the external auditory canal.

[0039]

According to the hearing aid of the present invention, a concave portion is provided in a portion of the hearing aid insertion portion of the hearing aid which comes into contact with the external ear canal in the neck direction,
By forming a space between the concave portion and the ear canal in the neck direction, there is an effect of eliminating discomfort to the nerves such as a muffled sound and a resounding sound.

In addition, by providing the through-hole in the recess opposite to the through-hole provided in the distal end portion and the base end portion of the ear canal insertion portion, there is no influence on nerves such as a feeling of swelling and resonance. Howling is less likely to occur, and it has an effect that a wide adjustment of a low frequency region of sound is possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an ear canal hearing aid according to the present invention, and FIG. 1 (a) is a perspective view showing an external configuration, and FIG. 1 (b).
FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a state of being inserted into the ear canal.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the appearance and internal configuration of an ear.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a problem when the conventional ear canal hearing aid is inserted into an external auditory canal.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Ear hole type hearing aid 12 ... Ear canal insertion part 13 ... Tip part 14 ... Base end part 15 ... Sound output hole 16 ... First through-hole 17 ... Constricted part 18 ... Concave part 19 ... Second through-hole

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A microphone that collects at least external sound and converts it into an electric signal, an electronic circuit that amplifies the electric signal to a predetermined size, a speaker that amplifies the amplified electric signal, and the electronic circuit An ear canal hearing aid having a built-in battery for driving the ear canal, which has a sound output hole at the tip and is inserted along the ear canal, and when the ear canal inserting part is inserted into the ear canal A hearing aid comprising: a recess provided on a side surface of the ear canal insertion portion located at an inner surface of the ear canal in a neck direction. 2. A microphone for collecting at least an external sound and converting it to an electric signal, an electronic circuit for amplifying the electric signal to a predetermined magnitude, a speaker for vocalizing the amplified electric signal, and the electronic circuit. Ear canal which has a built-in battery for driving the ear canal and which is hung on the ear canal, has a sound conducting hollow, is inserted along the ear canal, and is connected to the ear canal via a sound conducting tube In an earhearing hearing aid comprising an insertion portion, when the ear canal insertion portion is inserted into the external auditory canal,
A hearing aid comprising a concave portion provided on a side surface of the ear canal insertion portion located at an inner surface portion of the ear canal in a neck direction. 3. When the ear canal insertion part is inserted into the external auditory canal, the distal end and the proximal end of the ear canal insertion part are pierced in order to equalize the air pressure on the eardrum side and the external side of the ear canal. The first established
And a second through hole formed in a surface of the concave portion of the ear canal insertion portion that faces the distal end portion and the proximal end portion, respectively. Hearing aid.