JP2013138514A - Earphone device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To propose an earphone device that can provide a favorable feeling of wearing and further improved sound quality.SOLUTION: An earphone device comprises: a housing including a driver unit having a diaphragm to be vibrated by input of a signal, a housing front portion that adjacently faces a front face of the driver unit and forms a first space therebetween, and a housing rear portion that adjacently faces a back face of the driver unit and forms a second space therebetween; an external member provided with one end connected to the housing rear portion and the other end that is located more away from the driver unit than the one end; a sound conduit provided with tip portion protruding in a direction away from a position offset from the center of the housing front portion in an outer circumferential direction; and an earpiece that is deformed to fit to a shape of an external auditory meatus and brought into close contact therewith at the tip portion of the sound conduit to hold the housing in a state where the driver unit is arranged inside a cavum conchae and the other end of the external member is arranged outside the cavum conchae.

Description

  The present invention relates to an earphone device, and is suitable for application to, for example, an earplug-type earphone device.

  Conventionally, in an earphone device, a diaphragm in a driver unit housed in a housing of a housing portion is vibrated in accordance with an audio signal supplied from a portable music player or the like to change the air density state. Thus, a sound corresponding to the audio signal is generated.

  For example, in a lateral-in-the-ear type earphone device, the earphone device can be mounted on the user's ear by supporting the housing of the earphone device with the user's tragus and rosary. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  In the earphone device having such a configuration, since the shape of the auricle varies depending on the user, when the user wears the earphone device, a gap is formed between the housing and the ear canal, and sound leaks into the gap. There was a problem.

  Further, in the earphone device having such a configuration, the shape and size of the tragus and the tragus differ depending on the user, and depending on the user, the housing cannot be supported by the tragus and the tragus, and the wearing state is maintained for a long time. There was also a problem that the wearability was bad, such as being unable to do.

  On the other hand, in the earphone device of the vertical in the ear type, the diaphragm is arranged in a state directly facing the entrance of the user's ear canal, and is relatively less affected by the shape around the ear canal entrance, A voice with stable sound quality can be provided to the user (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

  In the earphone device having such a configuration, a holder for holding on the ear, such as a headband or an ear hanger for wearing by the user, is necessary, and there is a problem that the headband is not excellent in terms of portability and the headband is located on the head. As a result, the user's hairstyle is disturbed.

  As shown in FIGS. 15 (A), 15 (B) and 15 (C), as solutions to the problems of the lateral in the ear type earphone device and the vertical in the ear type earphone device, An earpiece 31 that is shaped to match the ear canal when worn, a substantially cylindrical sound conduit 32 provided inside the earpiece 31, a housing 33 having a substantially spherical shape to which the sound conduit 32 is attached, and a housing 33. There is an earplug type earphone device 30 constituted by a cord holding portion 34 formed integrally and a cord 7 connected to a driver unit (not shown) inside the housing 33.

  15A is a side view of the earphone device 30 viewed from the YZ plane, and FIG. 15B is a rear view of the earphone device 30 viewed from the XZ plane. (C) is the top view which looked at the earphone apparatus 30 from the XY plane.

  The housing 33 can generate sound corresponding to the audio signal by vibrating the diaphragm in the driver unit in accordance with the audio signal supplied via the cord 7.

  The sound conduit 32 protrudes from the central portion of the front side of the housing 33. When the sound conduit 32 is worn, the sound conduit 32 is inserted into the ear canal via the earpiece 31 and the sound output via the driver unit of the housing 33 is led to the ear canal. It is made like that.

  The earpiece 31 is made of an elastic material and its shape can be freely deformed. Therefore, when the earpiece 31 is inserted into the ear canal, the earpiece 31 is in close contact with the ear canal and maintains a tightly attached state to the user's ear. It is possible to provide a soft wearing feeling.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-81351 Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 6-59120

  By the way, in the earphone device 30 having such a configuration, as shown in a top view 16 (A) in which the user wearing the earphone device 30 is taken along the A1-A1 ′ cross section, the housing 33 does not come into contact with the tragus 22. As the width W2 of the housing 33 is restricted, the size of a diaphragm (not shown) housed in the housing 33 is also restricted, so the diaphragm is made smaller.

  As a result, the earphone device 30 not only has a small amount of air in front of the diaphragm that can be compressed or pulled to output a low sound, but the air itself often escapes to the side of the diaphragm. The air density cannot be changed sufficiently and the bass sound cannot be output efficiently.

  Further, in the earphone device 35 using the housing 34 having a width W3 that is wider than the width W2 of the housing 33, as shown in a top view 16B in which the user wearing the earphone device 30 is taken along the A1-A1 ′ section, as shown in FIG. The diaphragm housed in the housing 34 can be enlarged by expanding the width W3 of the housing 34. However, the housing 34 and the tragus 22 come into contact with each other when worn on the user's ear. It becomes difficult to maintain the state or to attach it.

  Therefore, in the earplug type earphone device 30, the size of the diaphragm is inevitably limited in order to improve the wearing state. Therefore, it is not possible to provide a sound with sufficiently good sound quality. When the diaphragm is enlarged, there is a problem that the wearability is deteriorated.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to propose an earphone device that has a good wearing feeling and can provide a sound with good sound quality.

  In order to solve such a problem, the earphone device of the present invention has a driver unit including a diaphragm that vibrates when a signal is input, and forms a first space with the front side of the driver unit. A housing composed of a housing front portion adjacent to each other and a rear portion of the housing which forms a second space between the driver unit and the rear surface of the driver unit; and one end connected to the housing rear portion; An external member having the other end side that is farther from the driver unit than the one end side, and a position in which the tip portion is separated from the center from a position offset in the outer peripheral direction from the center of the housing front portion. The driver unit is formed by deforming and closely contacting the sound conduit and the shape of the external auditory canal at the distal end of the sound conduit. There are so provided with the earpiece to hold the housing in a state where the other end is disposed concha abluminal the cavum disposed through the lumen and an external member.

  Thus, when the user wears the earphone device on the ear, the housing can be expanded in width compared to the conventional case without bringing the housing into contact with the tragus. The diameter of the diaphragm in the driver unit can be increased, and the user can listen to high-quality sound with good wearability.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the driver unit including the diaphragm that vibrates when a signal is input is formed, and the first space is formed between the driver unit and the front side of the driver unit so as to face each other. From the housing front part and the rear part of the driver unit forming a second space and adjacently facing the housing rear part, one end side connected to the housing rear part, from the one end side An external member having the other end side spaced apart from the driver unit, and a sound conduit projecting in a direction away from the center from the center of the front of the housing in a direction away from the center of the front end. The driver unit is disposed in the concha cavity by being deformed and closely adhered to the shape of the external auditory canal at the distal end portion of the sound conduit formed of an elastic member, and When the user wears the earphone device on the ear, the housing is brought into contact with the tragus by providing an earpiece that holds the housing with the other end of the member disposed outside the concha cavity. In addition, the width of the housing can be expanded as compared with the conventional case, and the diameter of the diaphragm in the driver unit housed in the housing is widened so that the user can easily wear it. Thus, it is possible to realize an earphone device that can listen to high-quality sound and thus can provide a sound with good wearing quality and good sound quality.

It is a side view which shows the earphone apparatus by this invention. It is a rear view which shows the earphone apparatus by this invention. It is a bottom view which shows the earphone apparatus by this invention. It is a top view which shows the left ear mounting part of the earphone apparatus by this invention. It is a side view which shows the left ear mounting part of the earphone apparatus by this invention. It is a rear view which shows the left ear mounting part of the earphone apparatus by this invention. It is a basic diagram with which it uses for description of the offset and inclination of an earphone apparatus. It is a top view which shows the earphone apparatus for a measurement. It is a side view which shows at the time of mounting the earphone device for measurement. It is a top view which shows at the time of mounting the earphone device for measurement. It is a basic diagram which shows a measurement result. It is a side view which shows the mounting state of an earphone apparatus. It is a top view which shows the mounting state of an earphone apparatus. It is a basic diagram with which it uses for description of the offset and inclination of the sound conduit | pipe in other embodiment. It is a basic diagram which shows the structure of the conventional earphone apparatus. It is a top view which shows the time of conventional earphone wearing.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(1) Appearance of Earphone Device As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 in which the same reference numerals are assigned to corresponding parts to FIG. 15, 1 shows the earphone device of the present invention as a whole, and the user's ear canal when worn , A substantially cylindrical sound conduit 4 provided inside the earpiece 3, a substantially spherical housing 5 to which the sound conduit 4 is attached, and a substantially integrated integrally with the housing 5. A cylindrical cord holding portion 6 and a cord 7 connected to a driver unit inside the housing 5 are configured.

  Here, FIG. 1 is a side view of the earphone device 1 viewed from the YZ plane, FIG. 2 is a rear view of the earphone device 1 viewed from the XZ plane, and FIG. It is the bottom view seen from -Y plane.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the earphone device 1 has a housing 5 in accordance with an audio signal supplied from a portable music player or the like via a cord 7 connected to the portable music player or the like (not shown). By vibrating a diaphragm (not shown) in a driver unit (not shown) housed inside, the air density on the front surface of the diaphragm is changed, and a sound corresponding to an audio signal is generated. Has been made to get.

  Note that the cord holding portion 6 of the earphone device 1 fixes the drawing position of the cord 7 drawn out from the housing 5 and allows the user to hold the cord holding portion 6 with a fingertip when the cord is attached.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the sound conduit 4 protrudes integrally with the surface of the housing 5 on the front side of the housing 5, and when the earphone device 1 is attached to the user's ear, Sound is derived from the conduit tip 4A to the ear canal 23 (FIG. 16).

  Further, the sound conduit 4 is made of ABS (Acrylonitril Butadiene Styrene) resin as a material thereof, so that sound is guided to the ear canal 23 without leaking sound output from the housing 5.

  Further, the earpiece 3 is made of silicon rubber as a material thereof, and thus has an elastic force. When the earphone device 1 is attached to the user's ear, the earpiece 3 is deformed according to the shape of the ear canal 23 and is in close contact with the earpiece 3. The sound derived from the sound conduit 4 is not leaked to the outside.

(2) Internal Configuration of Earphone Device Next, the internal configuration of the earphone device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 4 to FIG.

  4 is a top view of the earphone device 1 taken along the A2-A2 ′ cross section, FIG. 5 is a side view of the earphone device 1 taken along the A3-A3 ′ cross section, and FIG. It is a rear view when the earphone apparatus 1 is made into the A4-A4 'cross section.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the housing 5 is configured such that a housing front portion 5A and a housing rear portion 5B formed of plastic are ultrasonically welded and joined so as to maintain a sufficiently airtight state of the internal space. Yes.

  The housing 5 is formed by ultrasonic welding and joining the housing front part 5A and the housing rear part 5B. Since the resin melted at this time leaks to the outside, the resin is protected and concealed. It is sealed with a rubber ring 16.

  Further, the housing 5 is formed to have a width W1 larger than the width W2 of the conventional housing 33 (FIG. 16A), and accordingly, from a diaphragm (not shown) housed in the conventional housing 33. The large diaphragm 15 can be accommodated.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the cord holding portion 6 stores the cord knotting balls 11 of the cord 7, and the cord 7 is detached from the housing 5 when the cord 7 is pulled by the user. It plays a role as a stopper to prevent it from falling off.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the driver unit 12 housed in the housing 5 includes a magnet 13, a voice coil 14, and a diaphragm 15, and the voice coil is included in the magnetic circuit configured by the magnet 13. 14 is arranged, and the diaphragm 15 is driven in accordance with an audio signal input to the voice coil 14 via the cord 7 to change the density state with respect to the air in front of the diaphragm 15. Thus, the sound corresponding to the sound signal is led out to the outside through the sound conduit 4.

(3) Setting method of offset and angle of sound conduit By the way, the earphone device 1 (FIG. 3) is a sound projecting on the front side of the housing 5 as compared with the conventional earphone device 30 (FIG. 15C). The conduit 4 is attached to the X direction side of the center line L1 of the housing 5, that is, the sound conduit 4 is offset by a predetermined offset amount with respect to the center line L1 of the housing 5.

  Further, in comparison with the conventional earphone device 30, the earphone device 1 has the sound conduit tip 4 </ b> A facing away from the center line L <b> 1 of the housing 5, that is, the sound conduit 4 is at a predetermined angle (hereinafter referred to as the Y-axis). This is called the tilt angle.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the offset amount and the inclination angle of the sound conduit 4 will be described with reference to a top view when the earphone device 1 is taken along the A2-A2 ′ cross section.

  Here, a central point on the front surface of the housing front portion 5A (hereinafter referred to as a housing front middle point P1) and a central point on the rear surface of the cord holding portion 6 (hereinafter referred to as a cord holding portion middle point P2). , The center line L1 of the housing 5 is drawn, and the central axis L2 of the sound conduit 4 passing through the center point of the sound conduit tip 4A (hereinafter referred to as the sound conduit tip middle point P3) and the housing 5 The inclination angle AR1 about the intersection P5 with the center line L1 is the inclination of the sound conduit 4 with respect to the housing 5, and the center axis L2 of the sound conduit 4 and the front of the housing in the X axis direction from the center line L1 on the XY plane. The distance to the intersection of the parts 5A (hereinafter referred to as the sound conduit root point P4) is defined as the offset amount OF1.

(3-1) Sound conduit offset setting method In this offset setting method, the offset amount OF1 is determined by measuring a dummy ear created by taking a mold from an actual human ear, In this embodiment, for example, 5 [mm] is set.

(3-2) Sound conduit inclination angle setting method Next, an angle setting procedure of the inclination angle AR1 of the sound conduit 4 with respect to the front surface of the housing 5 will be described below.

  In this inclination angle setting method, first, as shown in FIG. 8, a measurement earphone device 8 in which a measurement rod 17 is bonded to the back side of the cord holding unit 6 is prepared. The offset amount OF1 of the measurement earphone device 8 is set to 5 [mm], and the inclination angle of the sound conduit 4 with respect to the front surface of the housing 5 is set to 40 [°], for example.

  Next, in this inclination angle setting method, an arbitrary person is selected as a measurement target, the measurement earphone device 8 is attached as shown in FIG. 9, and the measurement earphone device 8 is attached as shown in FIG. The inclination angle AR2 with respect to the side surface of the head of the measuring rod 17 is measured.

  Furthermore, in the tilt angle setting method, the measurement results of the tilt angle AR2 are totaled, and after the average value of the tilt angle AR2 is obtained, the tilt angle of the sound pipe 4 of the measurement earphone device 8 is 40 [° ], The result of subtracting the average value of the inclination angle AR2 is defined as the inclination angle AR1 of the sound conduit 4.

  In this inclination angle setting method, the above-described inclination angle AR2 is measured for any 33 persons, the measurement results are summarized in the table shown in FIG. 11, and the average value of the inclination angle AR2 is obtained. And the average value 7 [°] of the tilt angle AR2 is subtracted from the tilt angle 40 [°] of the measurement earphone device 8, and the tilt angle AR1 of the sound conduit 4 is 33 [°]. It is made to set.

  Incidentally, in the present embodiment, the above-described measurement of the inclination angle AR2 is performed on 33 persons, but may be performed on other various persons.

  Therefore, the earphone device 1 determines the position and the inclination angle at which the sound conduit 4 protrudes from the housing 5 based on the offset setting method and the inclination angle setting method, so that the width W1 of the housing 5 is the width of the conventional housing 33. Even when it is larger than W2, it is possible to provide a good wearing feeling to a user having a general ear shape.

(4) Wearing of Earphone Device The earphone device 1 can be worn on the user's ear by inserting the earpiece 3 into the ear canal 23 (FIG. 16). FIG. 12 shows a state in which the user wears the earphone device 1, and FIG. 13 shows a top view when the user wearing the earphone device 1 is taken along the A1-A1 ′ cross section.

  As shown in FIG. 13, when the earphone device 1 is in the mounted state, the housing 5 is located in the concha cavity 21 indicated by a thick broken line, and the earpiece 3 having elasticity is inserted into the ear canal 23. By deforming in accordance with the shape of the external auditory canal 23, it is in close contact with the external auditory canal 23 so that the wearing state can be maintained for a long time.

  In this earphone device 1, the width W1 of the housing 5 is made larger than the width W2 of the housing 33 of the conventional earphone device 30 (FIG. 16A), so that the driver housed in the housing 5 is used. The diaphragm 15 (FIG. 4) in the unit can also be made larger than the conventional one. Specifically, the diameter K of the diaphragm 15 of the earphone device 1 (FIG. 4) is 13.5 [mm], whereas the diameter of the diaphragm of the conventional earphone device 30 is 9 [mm]. Therefore, when a sound of 1 [kHz] is output with a power of 1 [mW], it has been found that the sensitivity can be improved by about 6 to 8 [dB] compared to the conventional earphone device 30.

(5) Operation and Effect In the above configuration, the earphone device 1 has the sound conduit 4 (FIG. 7) offset by the offset amount OF1 in the X-axis direction with the center line L1 of the housing 5 as the reference line, and the sound conduit tip Since the midpoint P3 is directed away from the center line L1, even if the housing 5 having a width W1 larger than the width W2 of the housing 33 in the conventional earphone device 30 is used, the user's tragus 22 (FIG. 13). ) Can be mounted without contacting the housing 5.

  Further, in the earphone device 1, the offset amount OF1 and the inclination angle AR1 are set based on the average value of the actual measurement results. Therefore, when the user wears a general ear shape, the housing 5 is connected to the tragus 22. This eliminates the point that the user cannot wear or is difficult to wear, and can provide a good wearing feeling.

  In addition, the earphone device 1 is housed in the housing 5 because the width W1 (FIG. 13) of the housing 5 is made larger than the width W2 (FIG. 16A) of the housing 33 in the conventional earphone device 30. The diaphragm 15 (FIG. 4) can be enlarged, and a high-quality sound with a lower sound than that of the prior art can be provided.

  Further, since the sound pipe 4 is offset from the housing and is inclined by the inclination angle AR1, the earpiece 3 is in close contact with the ear canal 23 (FIG. 13) even when the housing 5 and the diaphragm 15 are enlarged. In addition, since the wearing state can be maintained, a comfortable wearing feeling can be given to the user and high-quality sound can be provided.

  And since the earphone device 1 does not have a headband or ear hangers, the headband portion as shown in Patent Document 2 described above is located on the head, thereby disturbing the user's hairstyle, This eliminates the difficulty of doing so and further improves usability.

  According to the above configuration, the earphone device 1 can provide a sound with a good feeling of wearing and improved sound quality.

(6) Other Embodiments In the above-described embodiment, the case where silicon rubber is used as the material of the earpiece 3 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a urethane resin or an acrylic resin. Various materials such as these may be used.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the ABS resin is used as the material of the sound conduit 4 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other various resins such as polypropylene and polystyrene are used. Anyway.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the case where only the ABS resin is used as the material of the sound conduit 4 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an elastomer resin is used as the base material of the sound conduit. As a material other than the base of the sound conduit, a flexible resin such as ABS may be used, and a so-called two-color molding material may be used as the material of the sound conduit 4.

  In this case, the sound conduit 4 has a portion other than the sound conduit root having flexibility so that the sound conduit tip 4A can be bent. When the sound conduit 4 is attached to the user's ear, the sound conduit 4 and the earpiece 3 are It can be bent and mounted in a direction with a better wearing feeling.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the diameter K (FIG. 4) of the diaphragm 15 is set to 13.5 [mm] has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the housing 5 is provided in the ear shell. If it can be located within the range of the lumen 21 (FIG. 13), the diameter K may be various diameters K such as 13.6 [mm] and 13.4 [mm]. In this case, the earphone device 1 can allow the user to listen to high-quality sound with good wearability, in the same manner as when the aperture K of the diaphragm 15 is 13.5 [mm]. .

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the inclination angle AR1 of the sound conduit 4 is set to 33 [°] has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the number of measurement objects and the measurement result are 10 [ [°] to 60 [°] is also available. However, it was 30 [°] to 50 [°] that many measurement subjects obtained a good fit when worn.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the offset amount OF1 is set to 5 [mm] has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and in the case where the measurement subject is a foreigner, for example, 3 to 3 You may make it set to 7 [mm].

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the inclination angle AR1 is an angle centered on the intersection P5 between the central axis L2 of the sound conduit 4 and the central line L1 of the housing 5 has been described. For example, as shown in a top view of the earphone device 1 having an A2-A2 ′ cross section shown in FIG. 14, an intersection P6 between a straight line L3 passing through the sound conduit tip middle point P3 and the center line L1 of the housing 5 is shown. It is good also as an angle centering on.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the offset amount OF1 is described as the distance from the center line L1 to the sound conduit root point P4 in the X-axis direction. However, the present invention is not limited to this, for example, FIG. The center line L1 and the X-axis direction, such as the distance from the center line L1 to the sound pipe tip midpoint P3 in the X-axis direction, as shown in FIG. The distances to various constituent points in the sound conduit 4 may be set as the offset amount OF1.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the earphone device 1 as the earphone device is configured by the housing 5 as the housing and the sound conduit 4 as the sound conduit has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other The earphone device may be configured by various housings and sound conduits.

  The present invention can be applied to earphone devices used in portable music players, radios, televisions, and personal computers.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Earphone apparatus, 3 ... Earpiece, 4 ... Sound conduit, 5 ... Housing, 30 ... Conventional earphone apparatus.

Claims (4)

A housing unit that includes a diaphragm that vibrates when a signal is input, forms a first space between the driver unit and the front side of the driver unit; A housing formed of a housing rear portion adjacent to each other to form a second space with the side;
An external member having one end connected to the rear portion of the housing, and the other end separated from the driver unit than the one end;
A sound conduit projecting in a direction in which the tip portion is away from the center from a position offset in the outer peripheral direction from the center of the housing front part;
The driver unit is disposed in the concha cavity and formed at the distal end of the sound conduit in conformity with the shape of the external auditory canal, and the other end of the external member is formed by an elastic member. An earpiece that holds the housing in a state where the side is disposed outside the concha cavity. The earphone device according to claim 1, wherein the external member is a cord holding portion that is connected to the driver unit and holds a cord drawn from the housing. 3. The earphone device according to claim 1, wherein when the earpiece is attached to the ear canal, the driver unit, the first space, and the second space are arranged in the concha concavity of the housing. The earphone device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the housing has a hole in the rear portion of the housing that communicates the second space with the rear of the rear portion of the housing.

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