JP2003037885A - Ear-mounted sound information transmitter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ear-mounted sound information transmitter which can be accurately mounted and held on the ear while its simple configuration is maintained. SOLUTION: This ear-mounted sound information transmitter to be mounted on the ear is provided with a main body ME to be inserted into the vacuum conchae of the ear. Then, the main body ME is provided with a transmitting part SE for housing a piezoelectric element for detecting a bone conduction voice to be transmitted through the cartilage of the ear and a receiving part RE for housing an earphone for reception. Moreover, the transmitting part SE and the receiving part RE are bifurcated, and supported so as to be relatively and freely displaceable.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ear-mounted sound information transmitter mounted on a human ear.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Such an ear-mounted sound information transmitter is used for transmitting sound information such as voice.
For example, an earphone that emits a sound signal from another place as a sound to the ear canal of the ear, a so-called bone conduction microphone that detects a bone conduction sound transmitted to a cartilage of a human ear with a piezoelectric element, or both functions. There are things that we have. As for mounting the sound information transmitter to the ear, conventionally, the main body of the sound information transmitter is inserted into the concha of the ear, and the sound information transmitter of the concha of the ear is compared with the casing of the sound information transmitter. It was general to keep the sound information transmitter attached by the pressing action.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional structure, it is not sufficient to keep the sound information transmitter attached to the ear and the sound information transmitter is separated from the ear by the action of a slight external force. There was an inconvenience. In order to avoid such an inconvenience, for example, a structure in which the main body of the sound information transmitter is supported by a supporting structure similar to so-called headphones is conceivable. There is an inconvenience that the configuration is complicated and the size is increased. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ear-mounted sound information transmitter that can be accurately mounted and maintained on the ear while maintaining a simple configuration.

[0004]

A sound information transmitter according to the present invention is an ear-mounted sound information transmitter to be mounted on a human ear, and is a main body to be inserted into the concha of the ear. The unit has a transmission unit in which a piezoelectric element for detecting bone conduction sound transmitted to cartilage of a human ear is housed, and a reception unit in which earphones for reception are housed, and the transmission unit and the reception unit. And are formed in a bifurcated shape and are supported so as to be relatively displaceable. As described above, in the main body of the sound information transmitter according to the present invention, the transmitter that houses the piezoelectric element and the receiver that houses the earphone for reception are formed in a bifurcated shape. Here, since the receiving earphone converts a voice signal into mechanical vibration, mechanical vibration occurs as sound is emitted from the receiving earphone. When the mechanical vibration generated in the receiving earphone is transmitted to the piezoelectric element of the transmitting section, it is converted into an electric signal by the piezoelectric element and becomes noise. So, like this,
By forming the main body so that the receiving section and the transmitting section are bifurcated, it is possible to suppress the mechanical vibration generated in the receiving section from being transmitted to the transmitting section as much as possible, and improve the call quality. You can By including such a configuration, when the main body of the sound information transmitter is inserted into the concha of the ear, the transmitter and the receiver are relatively displaced according to the shape of the concha of the ear, The wearability of the sound information transmitter on the ear is improved.

Further, it is desirable that the transmitting unit and the receiving unit are supported so as to elastically return to a set relative displacement state. In such a configuration, the transmitting unit and the receiving unit are supported so as to elastically return to the set relative displacement state, and therefore, in the state of relative displacement, an attempt is made to return to the original set relative displacement state. A biasing force acts. Due to the action of this urging force, the contact pressure between the main body and the concha of the ear canal becomes large, and the sound information transmitter can be properly attached and maintained,
Further, the transmitter can be brought into contact with the concha of the concha accurately.

Further, it is preferable that the contact surface of the transmitting portion with the bottom surface of the concha of the concha is formed as a convex curved surface on the bottom surface side when viewed along the external auditory meatus. By having such a configuration, the contact surface of the transmitting portion with the bottom surface of the concha cavity is formed as a convex curved surface on the bottom side of the concha cavity when viewed in a direction along the external auditory meatus. Therefore, when the sound information transmitter is attached to the ear, the contact surface of the transmitter with the bottom of the concha of the concha is in a posture along the bottom of the concha of the concha, and the transmitter and the concha of the ear. The contact property with the bottom surface of the cavity is improved, and the bone conduction voice can be detected more efficiently.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the ear-mounted sound information transmitter of the present invention is provided with a call including a piezoelectric element 12 for detecting a bone conduction voice transmitted to a cartilage of an ear and a receiving earphone 8 for a person. An embodiment embodied as a device TR will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the communication device TR includes a main body ME having a piezoelectric element 12 and an earphone 8 for reception, a sandwiching portion CE that protrudes downward in a mounting position on the ear, an earphone 8 and the like. And a pipe part PE for passing electrical wiring to the main body part ME.
A transmitting unit SE that houses 2 and a receiving unit RE that houses the receiving earphone 8 are formed in a bifurcated shape.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 (a) and FIG. 6 showing the mounted state, the transmitter SE has a large-diameter portion 1a on the distal end side that abuts on the concha of the concha Y and the ear mounted state. In FIG. 2, a surface of the large diameter portion 1a that is in contact with the bottom surface B of the concha of the concha of the ear is formed as shown in FIG. When viewed in a direction along the external auditory meatus 53, the convex conical surface is formed on the bottom surface B side of the concha cavity portion Y, and the contact area with the bottom surface B of the concha cavity portion Y is increased. The transmitting portion SE is connected to the receiving portion RE at the proximal end portion of the small-diameter portion 1b, and the holding portion CE projects from near the proximal end portion. The casing 1 of the transmitter SE is formed of a relatively soft material such as vinyl chloride having a hardness of 40 to 70 degrees, a rubber material having a hardness of 40 to 70 degrees, and a material that easily retains humidity, and the casing 1 The surface of the is polished to a mirror surface to improve the adhesion to the skin.

In the large-diameter portion 1a of the transmitting portion SE, as shown in FIG. 3B, which is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 3A, a piezoelectric element 12 is supported at one end in the longitudinal direction. In the small diameter portion 1b, as shown in FIG. 1, a substrate 10 on which a field effect transistor 13 is mounted is housed so that it can be oscillated freely. Circuit of substrate 10 and piezoelectric element 1
2 is electrically wired by a cable 16. Specifically, the piezoelectric element 12 sandwiches a metal plate to be an electrode,
A bimorph-type piezoelectric ceramic element in which two piezoelectric elements are bonded together is used, and it is possible to reduce the size and weight of the piezoelectric ceramic element, improve the detection sensitivity, and accurately detect weak bone conduction voice. Further, the piezoelectric element 12 is entirely covered with a shield case 15 to improve the S / N ratio, and the shield case 15 is connected to the casing 1 of the transmitter SE.
Protected by. The support of the piezoelectric element 12 in the shield case 15 and the fixing of the shield case 15 in the housing 1 of the transmitting portion SE are assumed to have a sufficiently high coupling hardness to reduce the transmission loss of vibration as much as possible.

The sandwiching portion CE is made of a material such as rubber and has elasticity, so that the sandwiching of the edge of the concha of the concha Y is more reliable. A weight mounting portion WS for mounting the weight WT is formed at the lower end of the holding portion CE. The weight WT is to reinforce the contact force between the transmitter SE and the bottom surface B of the concha cavity Y, and is not necessary when the necessary contact force is secured without the weight WT. Specifically, the weight mounting portion WS, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,
It is composed of a small diameter through hole formed at the lower end of the holding portion CE, and as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a thread is passed through this through hole to suspend the weight WT. The load of the weight WT increases the contact pressure between the transmitter SE and the bottom surface B of the concha of the ear concha Y, so that the bone conduction sound is efficiently transmitted to the piezoelectric element 12. Various shapes of the weight WT can be used, and the weight WT can be appropriately exchanged according to the preference of the user to improve the fashionability. The earphone 8 of the reception unit RE has a sound output direction facing the opening of the ear canal 53 in a state of being worn on the ear, converts the transmitted electric signal into a sound signal and outputs the sound signal to the ear canal 53. Receiver R
Since the housing 6 of E is formed of a vibration absorbing material such as rubber to prevent the vibration generated in the earphone 8 from being transmitted to the transmitting portion SE, the transmitting portion SE and the receiving portion RE are relatively displaceable. In addition, when the relative displacement occurs, the elastic return movement is performed to the set relative displacement posture in the unloaded state shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

When the communication device TR having the above-described structure is attached to the ear, it is attached to the concha hollow portion Y of the human ear shown by hatching in FIG. When the main body ME is inserted into the concha of the ear concha Y, the transmitter SE and the receiver RE are relatively displaced according to the shape of the concha of the ear concha Y to facilitate the insertion of the main body ME. In addition, the contact pressure between the main body ME and the concha of the concha Y increases due to the urging force to return to the set relative displacement posture, and the communication device TR can be stably attached and maintained. In this mounted state, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the transmitter SE abuts the bottom surface B of the concha of the ear concha Y, and the earphone 8 moves to the ear canal 53.
The main body ME is inserted into the concha of the concha of the ear in a state of facing the opening of the concha, and the edge of the concha of the concha of the ear Y is clamped by the transmitter SE and the clamp CE. The bottom surface B of the concha of the concha Y that the transmitter SE contacts is closest to the vocal cord in the concha of the ear Y and is a position suitable for accurately capturing the vibration generated in the vocal cord.

As shown in FIG. 5, the edge portion of the concha of the concha of the ear confined by the transmitting portion SE and the sandwiching portion CE is a connecting portion between the tragus 50 and the antitragus 51, and as shown in FIG. As shown, since the extended portion 52 exists, the large-diameter portion 1a of the transmitter SE
Also, the extended portion 52 is sandwiched between the small diameter portion 1b and the sandwiching portion CE. In this posture, a part of the surface of the main body ME on the outer side of the ear is covered with the tragus 50 and the antitragus 51, and the transmitting unit SE has the tragus 50 and the antitragus 5.
1, the weight of the main body ME, the holding force between the holding unit CE, the elastic return force between the transmitting unit SE and the receiving unit RE, and the weight of the weight WT, so that the concha of the concha can be accurately measured. It is maintained in contact with the bottom surface B of Y. The contact force between the transmitter SE and the bottom surface of the concha of the concha Y needs to be large enough to eliminate the influence of the unevenness of the skin and the hair of the skin, which is a factor that hinders the contact, but not so much. If it is too large, it will give the user an unpleasant feeling, so the amount is set to between 2 and 20 grams.

As shown in FIG. 4, the circuit configuration of the communication device TR is such that the output voltage of the piezoelectric ceramic element 12 is output after being impedance-converted and amplified by the field effect transistor 13. The signal cable for unit 7 and the signal cable for receiver 9 have one line as a common line. The signal cable 7 for the transmitter and the signal cable 9 for the receiver are connected to a plug 14 through the inside of the pipe PE, and are connected to a communication device such as a mobile phone or a transceiver by the plug 14.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, when the user has a conversation with the communication device TR having the above-described configuration in his / her ear, the vibration of the vocal cord due to the conversation is transmitted to the ears by bone conduction, and the transmitting part is transmitted. The piezoelectric element 12 is vibrated through the SE case 1 and the shield case 15. Thereby, the bone conduction voice is converted into an electric signal, and the electric signal is transmitted to the other party of the conversation via the transmission signal transmission cable 7 and the communication device (not shown). On the other hand, the conversation originated by the other party is converted into voice by the earphone 8 via the communication device (not shown) and the reception signal transmission cable 9 and reaches the eardrum from the external auditory meatus 53, so that the influence of external noise is generated between them. You can talk in a reduced state.

[Other Embodiments] Other embodiments will be listed below. In the above embodiment, the ear-mounted sound information transmitter,
Although it is embodied as the communication device TR including the transmitter SE and the receiver RE, the main body ME may be provided with only the receiver RE to form an earphone, or the main body ME may include only the transmitter SE. It may be configured to be provided. In the above-described embodiment, the holding portion CE is made of a material such as rubber,
Although the material itself is configured to have elasticity, it is also possible to provide a biasing means such as a spring to make the holding portion CE elastic. In the above embodiment, the housing 6 of the receiving unit RE is made of rubber or the like so that the transmitting unit SE and the receiving unit RE can be displaced relative to each other.
The configuration in which the transmitting unit SE and the receiving unit RE can be displaced relative to each other, such as elastically supporting only the base end side portion of E, can be variously changed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of a sound information transmitter according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention in a side view.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the sound information transmitter according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a circuit configuration diagram of the sound information transmitter according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a mounted state of the sound information transmitter according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a mounted state of the sound information transmitter according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a portion of an ear according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1a Large diameter part 1b small diameter part 8 Earphones for reception 12 Piezoelectric element CE clamping unit ME body SE transmitter RE receiver WS Weight mounting part WT weight

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Isao Ito             23-8 Meiji housing complex, Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture F-term (reference) 5D005 BE00

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An ear-mounted sound information transmitter to be mounted on a human ear, wherein a main body inserted into the concha of the ear is a bone conduction voice transmitted to cartilage of a human ear. And a receiver for accommodating an earphone for reception, wherein the transmitter and the receiver are formed in a bifurcated shape and are relatively displaceable. Supported sound information transmitter. 2. The ear-mounted sound information transmitter according to claim 1, wherein the transmitter and the receiver are supported so as to elastically return to a set relative displacement state. 3. The contact surface of the transmitter, which is in contact with the bottom surface of the concha cavity, is formed as a convex curved surface on the bottom surface side when viewed in a direction along the ear canal. The ear-mounted sound information transmitter described.