JP2009049841A - Headphone - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a headphone which suppress occurrence of sound leakage to the outside without causing a user to feel discomfort or pains during mounting and presents comfortable feelings of mounting in such a way that, even if the user mounts the headphone on the head for a long time, the user does not feel discomfort caused by getting musty. <P>SOLUTION: A headphone 1 includes a headphone body 2 in which a speaker unit is incorporated, and an ear insert 3 provided at a sound-emitting side of the headphone body so as to be housed in an auricle. In the ear insert 3, a mounting adjusting part 4 constituted of a plurality of thin thread-like members 14 whose diameter is expanded when rising and whose diameter is reduced when falling, are provided on an outer circumferential surface while being spread in a direction of the diameter. It is desirable for the mounting adjusting part to have directivity where the thin thread-like members are tilted in one direction along the outer circumference of the ear insert. Furthermore, it is desirable that the mounting adjusting part is covered with a sponge-state ear pad. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a headphone, and more specifically, a headphone referred to as an intraconcha type (Intraconcha) type or an insertion type (hereinafter referred to as an insert type) provided with an ear insertion portion that is inserted into a concave portion of an auricle and attached thereto (hereinafter referred to as an insert type). In addition, the present invention relates to an ear mounting structure that suppresses the occurrence of sound leakage without causing the user to feel discomfort or pain during wearing.

  Ear-insertion headphones are compact and portable, and playback sound output from various audio output devices such as audio equipment and video equipment is not confined to the surrounding sound environment and affects the surrounding sound environment. Since it can be enjoyed personally without affecting, it is widely used.

However, since the size and shape of the user's pinna vary from person to person, the degree of sound leakage from the user varies depending on the user.
For example, when the size of the ear insertion part in the ear insertion type headphones is larger than the size of the user's pinna, it is cramped or the ear feels painful. On the other hand, when the size of the ear insertion part in the ear-insertion type headphone is smaller than the size of the user's pinna, the adhesiveness with the ear is loosened and easily falls off the ear. As described above, the conventional ear insertion type headphones are often not satisfied with the wearing feeling.

  Similarly, the sound leakage is small when the size of the ear insertion portion of the ear insertion type headphones is larger than the size of the user's pinna. On the other hand, when the size of the ear insertion part in the ear insertion type headphones is smaller than the size of the user's pinna, sound leakage is large and sound quality is degraded.

  Further, in ear insertion type headphones, an ear pad is attached to the ear insertion portion. As the ear pad, a sponge that transmits sound waves is used, and the acoustic resistance varies depending on the compression state of the sponge, and the sound leakage changes. It is preferable that this ear pad is attached to the ear insertion portion of the ear insertion type headphone so that each person can appropriately adjust it according to their wearing condition and hearing condition.

However, the ear pad does not fit to fit the size and shape of the user's pinna. Therefore, there is a possibility that the ear pad may fall off during use. In addition, when there is a difference in the size of the left and right pinna of the user, even if one fits, the other may not fit.
Thus, it is very difficult to create a fixed-type ear-insertion type headphone that fits all human ears.

In recent years, various headphones having a structure that can be adapted to the size and shape of the auricle have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 4).
However, in the headphones described in Patent Documents 1 to 4, the adhesion between the auricle and the outer peripheral surface of the headphone is enhanced by the contact between the surfaces, thereby fitting to the auricle of any person. Therefore, if the headphones are worn for a long time, it causes stuffiness, and there is a difficulty in feeling uncomfortable.
Until now, no headphones have been proposed which are adapted to the size and shape of the user's pinna and improve the discomfort caused by stuffiness when worn.
JP 2005-130247 A JP 2003-284177 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-307983 JP-A-8-98290

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and suppresses the occurrence of sound leakage to the outside without causing the user to feel uncomfortable or painful during wearing and is worn for a long time. It is an object of the present invention to provide a headphone having a comfortable wearing feeling that does not cause discomfort due to stuffiness.

  A headphone according to the present invention is an ear-insertion-type headphone having a headphone body with a built-in speaker unit, and an ear insertion portion that is provided on the sound emission side of the headphone body and can be stored in the auricle, On the outer peripheral surface of the portion, there is provided a mounting adjustment portion made up of a plurality of thin thread-like members that expands when standing and contracts when tilted.

According to the headphones of the present invention, the mounting adjustment portion composed of a plurality of thin thread-like members is radially reduced or expanded in diameter when worn according to the size and shape of the user's pinna. Changes. As a result, even when there are individual differences in the shape of the auricle when the headphones are worn, the change in the diameter of the wearing adjustment part fills the gap between the outer peripheral surface of the ear insertion part of the headphones and the auricle, providing an appropriate fit The headphones can be brought into close contact with the auricle with Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the feeling of pressure and pain on the auricle when wearing headphones, prevent sound leakage, and improve the reproduction sound quality. In addition, since the attachment adjusting portion enhances the adhesion by the point of the fine thread-like member being in point contact with the auricle, the air permeability when the headphones are attached is not hindered.
Therefore, without causing discomfort or pain to the user during wearing, it suppresses the occurrence of sound leakage to the outside and is comfortable without causing discomfort due to stuffiness even if worn for a long time A headphone having a feeling of wearing can be provided.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the headphones according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a front view showing an example of a headphone according to the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the headphone 1 of this embodiment includes a headphone body 2 and an ear insertion part 3.

The headphone body 2 has a built-in speaker unit. That is, the headphone main body 2 is a housing provided so as to cover the back side of the speaker unit, and has a recess for housing the speaker unit.
The speaker unit is a sound emitting unit that emits sound when driven by an audio signal, and includes a diaphragm, a voice coil, a magnet, and the like. The speaker unit converts an electric signal into a sound wave by vibration of the diaphragm, and outputs the sound wave to the outside as, for example, sound.

  The ear insertion portion 3 is a portion provided on the sound emission side of the headphone main body 2 and has a size and shape that can be stored in the auricle. A mounting adjustment portion 4 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the ear insertion portion 3. In addition, the code | symbol 5 in a figure shows a sound emission hole.

  The mounting adjustment unit 4 is composed of an infinite number of fine thread-like members (hereinafter referred to as “beams”) 14... 14 which expands when standing and contracts when tilted, so that the beam 14 expands in the radial direction. Is provided. That is, the mounting adjustment unit 4 is configured by a plurality of beams 14 having cushioning properties in the radial direction while expanding the diameter as a whole, and expands the apparent outer diameter of the ear insertion unit 3.

By rotating the ear insertion part 3 along the outer peripheral surface of the beam 14, the diameter of the beam 14 is easily changed partially by the external pressure applied to the auricle and adapted to the auricle of any person. Have the freedom to
Further, the beam 14 in the present embodiment can be formed by an electrostatic flocking technique which will be described in detail later, and is flocked on the outer peripheral surface of the ear insertion portion 3 which is a base material to which an adhesive is applied in advance. So that it is planted upright. An example of the beam 14 is a short fiber elastic material made of a soft synthetic resin.

The mounting adjustment unit 4 has a plurality of beams 14... 14 planted on the surface of a sheet member (not shown) in addition to a plurality of beams 14. It is preferable that the provided one is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the ear insertion portion 3.
As a result, by attaching the sheet member in which the plurality of beams 14... 14 are implanted to the outer peripheral surface of the ear insertion portion 3, the mounting adjustment portion 4 can be easily provided on the outer peripheral surface of the ear insertion portion 3. it can.

It is desirable that the beam 14 be provided with a directivity that tilts in one direction along the outer periphery of the ear insertion portion 3. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the directionality of the tilt of the beam 14 is reverse to the clockwise rotation direction in FIG. 1 and normal to the counterclockwise rotation direction.
Accordingly, when the headphone 1 is attached to the ear hole, the headphone main body 2 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 1 while being inserted into the ear hole. Since the beams 14 are all reduced in diameter, it is possible to more easily attach the ear insertion portion 3 to the auricle.

Next, a method of mounting the headphone 1 having such a configuration on the auricle will be described in more detail based on the drawings.
FIG. 2 is a view for explaining the method of wearing the headphones according to the present invention, and shows the back of the headphones.
First, as shown in FIG. 2 (a), the headphones 1 are arranged so that the ear insertion portion 3 is applied to the entrance of the auricle while the beam 14 is in the expanded state. At this time, the length from the center O of the headphone 1 to the tip 14a of the beam 14 is set to r1.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 2 (b), the headphone mounting operation part 2a in the headphone main body 2 is grasped, and the headphone main body 2 is moved in the direction opposite to the tilting direction of the beam 14 (counterclockwise in FIG. 2 (b)). While rotating, the ear insertion part 3 is inserted into the concave part of the auricle. Thereby, external pressure from the user's pinna is applied to the beam 14, so that the beam 14 is deformed so as to conform to the shape of the pinna, the diameter thereof is reduced, and the ear insertion portion 3 is inserted into the pinna. Becomes easier. At this time, the length from the center O of the headphone 1 to the distal end portion 14a of the beam 14 is r2, and the relationship is r1> r2.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 2 (c), the headphone body 2 is slightly rotated in the reverse direction, that is, rotated in the tilting direction of the beam 14. This rotation direction is a rotation in a direction in which the tip of each tilted beam 14 is hooked on the peripheral wall surface of the auricle, so that each beam 14 is slightly upright, and the adhesion with the auricle is increased. Dropout can be prevented.

The state of the beam 14 at this time will be described in detail based on the drawings.
FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view schematically showing the movement of the beam when the headphones according to the present invention are worn.
First, as shown in FIG. 3A, the beam 14 has a directionality that slightly tilts in one direction along the outer periphery of the ear insertion portion 3, and is in an expanded state.
Next, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), by inserting the ear insertion part 3 into the auricle while rotating the headphone main body 2, the beam 14 comes into contact with the peripheral wall of the user's auricle and further tilts. Then, the diameter is reduced.
Then, as shown in FIG. 3 (c), the headphone body 2 inserted into the auricle is reversely rotated, whereby the beam 14 is brought into point contact with its distal end portion 14a being caught on the peripheral wall of the auricle. Thereby, air permeability can be ensured while improving adhesion to the auricle.

Next, the manufacturing method of the mounting adjustment part characterized by the present invention will be described.
First, an adhesive is applied to the outer peripheral surface of the ear insertion part 3 of the headphone main body 2.
Next, a finely pulverized flocking material is prepared, and electrostatic flocking is performed by an electrostatic flocking device. The electrostatic flocking device uses a Coulomb force in a high voltage and strong electric field region to drive the flocking material into the adhesive while forcibly accelerating toward the ear insertion portion 3 as a base material. Since the flocking material being scattered is forcibly charged, the materials repel each other, and an infinite number of beams 14... 14 aligned at equal intervals stick to the outer peripheral surface of the ear insertion portion 3 in an upright state.
Then, after the excess beam 14 remaining without being adhered is swept away, the adhesive is dried and cured.
Thereafter, the surface of the stuck beam 14 is heat-treated, or the surface thereof is tilted in one direction along the outer periphery of the ear insertion portion 3 by pressing the surface with a roller or the like.

The mounting adjustment unit 4 is preferably covered with a sponge-like ear pad 6.
FIG. 4 is a front view showing the headphones in a state where the mounting adjustment unit is covered with the ear pad. In FIG. 4, the ear pad 6 is a cover made of a cap body formed in a bag shape, and is attached so as to cover the ear insertion portion 3. As a material of the ear pad 6, for example, a foamed material such as urethane foam which is rich in elasticity, stretchability and touch can be mentioned.

  The ear pad 6 can be easily attached to and removed from the ear insertion portion 3. By covering the ear insertion part 3 with the ear pad 6, it is possible to improve the feeling of wearing on the auricle and prevent sound leakage to the outside.

  The headphones configured as described above can suppress the occurrence of sound leakage to the outside without causing the user to feel discomfort or pain during wearing. In addition, even if the headphones are worn for a long time, there is no feeling of discomfort due to stuffiness.

  Electric cords for transmitting audio signals from the sound source device are connected to the speaker units arranged in the headphones. The headphones may be equipped with ear hangers.

In the drawing, the length of the beam 14 is drawn with exaggeration so that the structure of the beam 14 can be easily seen, and the density of the flocking is drawn with extremely coarseness. The beam formed by electrostatic flocking is dense, and the feel of the electrostatic flocked part is velvety. When headphones are attached to the ears, sound leakage is reduced by the dense beam and the air flow is not blocked, so the interior of the ears is not muggy.
In the above embodiment, the ear insertion type headphones have been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to the ear insertion type headphones, and an ear insertion unit that is inserted into the ear, such as a hearing aid or an earplug, is used. It can be applied to all provided items.

It is a front view which shows the Example of the headphones concerning this invention. It is a rear view which shows the wearing method of the headphones concerning this invention in order. It is the elements on larger scale which show typically the motion of the thin thread-like member at the time of mounting | wearing with the headphones concerning this invention. It is a front view which shows the state by which the mounting adjustment part of the headphones concerning this invention was covered with the ear pad.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Headphone 2 Headphone main body 2a Headphone wearing operation part 3 Ear insertion part 4 Wearing adjustment part 5 Sound emission hole 6 Ear pad 14 Fine thread-like member (beam)

Claims (4)

An ear-insertion-type headphone having a headphone body with a built-in speaker unit and an ear insertion part that is provided on the sound emission side of the headphone body and can be stored in the auricle,
A headphone characterized in that a mounting adjustment portion made up of a plurality of fine thread-like members is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the ear insertion portion, the diameter of the ear insertion portion expanding when standing, and the diameter reducing when tilting.   The headphone according to claim 1, wherein the attachment adjusting unit is a member in which a sheet member having a plurality of fine thread-like members standing and planted on a surface thereof is attached to an outer peripheral surface of the ear insertion unit.   The headphone according to claim 1, wherein the mounting adjustment unit has a directionality in which the thin thread-like member is tilted in one direction along the outer periphery of the ear insertion unit.   The headphone according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the mounting adjustment portion is covered with a sponge-like ear pad.

Images