JP2017147533A - earphone - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an earphone in which an exit of a sound wave to be reproduced is inserted at an entrance of an external ear canal of a user and which adopts a speaker unit having a large diaphragm aperture to realize natural and preferable sound reproduction.SOLUTION: The earphone includes: a speaker unit for electro-acoustically converting an audio signal into sound waves; and a housing forming a sound passage for guiding the sound waves to a user's external auditory meatus by attaching a speaker unit inside the housing. The acoustic passage of the housing includes: at least an inner wall surface portion forming an uneven surface simulating a human ear auricle; and a duct portion communicating with a hole defined by the uneven surface corresponding to an intercarpal cavity of the inner wall surface to guide the sound wave to the user's external auditory meatus.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an earphone that is attached to a user's ear and reproduces sound, and more particularly, to an earphone in which an outlet of a sound wave to be reproduced is inserted into the user's ear canal entrance.

  Headphones and earphones reproduce sound by applying an audio signal to a speaker unit that is arranged close to the user's ear. There are various types of earphones worn on the user's ear.

  For example, some earphones have a relatively large speaker unit such as a headphone and an ear hook that is mounted so that the main body is placed on the auricle. In addition, there is an inner-ear type that is mounted so that the main body is contained inside the auricle and emits sound from the sound emitting surface of the main body toward the ear canal. In addition, there is an earphone of a type called a canal type that is mounted so that the main body portion is stored inside the auricle and the sound tube portion protruding from the main body portion is inserted into the ear canal together with the earpiece attached thereto. It is popular.

  As the speaker unit becomes smaller, it becomes more difficult to obtain a high sound pressure level and to sufficiently widen the sound reproduction frequency band to ensure good reproduction sound quality. The same problem occurs in the speaker unit in the inner ear type or canal type earphone worn on the user's ear. In particular, in an earphone in which an outlet of a sound wave to be reproduced is inserted into a user's ear canal entrance, there is a problem that it is difficult to employ a speaker unit having a large diaphragm diameter that has a necessary and sufficient sound reproduction capability.

  Furthermore, in the case of the earphone in which the exit of the sound wave to be reproduced is inserted into the user's ear canal entrance, the sound wave passes through the path that is reflected by the human pinna and collected in the ear canal. There is a problem that it is difficult to realize such natural and preferable audio reproduction.

  Conventionally, an acoustic space is formed inside, a casing having a cylindrical sound guide portion protruding from the front surface, an ear pad attached to the sound guide portion and inserted into the ear canal, and a first vent hole. A frame that is provided in the housing and separates the acoustic space into a first acoustic space and a second acoustic space; and is attached to the frame and converts an electrical signal into a first sound wave to convert the sound guide unit And an acoustic pressure adjusting unit attached to the frame, wherein the sound pressure adjusting unit includes a third acoustic space communicating with the first vent hole, and the second acoustic space. And a cylindrical second vent hole communicating with the third acoustic space, a first acoustic resistor inserted into the second vent hole and reducing a sound pressure in a predetermined frequency band by adjusting the insertion position; There is a canal type earphone characterized by having (Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 5696249

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the related art, and an object of the present invention relates to an earphone in which a sound wave outlet to be reproduced is inserted into a user's ear canal entrance, and a speaker unit having a large diaphragm aperture Is to provide an earphone that realizes natural and preferable audio reproduction.

  An earphone according to the present invention is an earphone comprising: a speaker unit that electroacoustically converts a sound signal into sound waves; and a housing that has a speaker unit attached therein to form an acoustic path that guides sound waves to a user's external auditory canal. A duct that guides sound waves to the external auditory canal by communicating with at least an inner wall surface portion that forms an uneven surface imitating a human auricle and a hole defined by an uneven surface corresponding to the concha cavity of the inner wall surface portion. And a portion.

  Preferably, the earphone of the present invention further includes a speaker unit mounting portion to which the housing mounts a speaker unit having a diaphragm area larger than an opening area of the concha cavity.

  In the earphone of the present invention, the housing has a base member including a speaker unit mounting portion, and the base member has an exchange mechanism that can attach and detach an inner wall surface forming member that forms the inner wall surface portion.

  Preferably, in the earphone of the present invention, the duct portion further includes an earpiece attaching portion for attaching an earpiece to be inserted into the user's ear canal.

  Preferably, in the earphone of the present invention, the base member of the housing further includes an ear engaging portion that locks the earphone to the user's ear ring.

  The operation of the present invention will be described below.

  The earphone of the present invention includes a speaker unit that performs electroacoustic conversion of an audio signal into sound waves, and a housing that forms a sound path that guides sound waves to the user's ear canal by attaching the speaker unit therein. The acoustic path of the housing communicates at least with an inner wall surface forming an uneven surface imitating a human auricle and a hole defined by an uneven surface corresponding to the concha cavity of the inner wall surface to guide sound waves to the ear canal. And a duct portion. If the earphone duct portion further includes an earpiece attachment portion for attaching an earpiece inserted into the user's ear canal, a canal-type earphone in which the earpiece is in close contact with the ear canal can be realized.

  The acoustic path of the earphone is formed so as to include an uneven surface imitating a human pinna. The “concavo-convex surface imitating an auricle” covers an uneven surface formed by imitating, imitating, imitating, shaping, duplicating, copying, or the like. In other words, the acoustic path of the earphone communicates with the inner wall surface part forming an uneven surface imitating the human auricle and the hole defined by the uneven surface corresponding to the concha cavity of the inner wall surface to guide the sound wave to the ear canal. Because it is formed from the duct part, and so on when playing back sound with external speakers without wearing earphones, or when playing back sound with headphones and earphones that are mounted so that the main body is placed at least on the auricle Sound waves that reach the user's eardrum can be reproduced as including a path that is reflected by the human pinna and collected in the ear canal. As a result, even if the sound wave to be reproduced is an earphone inserted at the user's ear canal entrance, natural and preferable sound reproduction can be realized.

  Preferably, the earphone of the present invention further includes a speaker unit mounting portion to which the housing mounts a speaker unit having a diaphragm area larger than an opening area of the concha cavity. Since this earphone can employ a speaker unit having a larger diaphragm aperture, a high sound pressure level can be obtained, and a sound reproduction frequency band can be sufficiently widened to ensure good reproduction sound quality. In addition, if a speaker unit having a diaphragm area larger than the opening area of the concha cavity is employed, there is an advantage that it is possible to reproduce at least a path reflected by the concha cavity and collected in the ear canal. .

  The housing of the earphone may have a base member including a speaker unit attachment portion, and the base member may have an exchange mechanism that can attach and detach an inner wall surface forming member that forms the inner wall surface portion. Since the shape of the human pinna varies from person to person, it is possible to adjust the reproduction sound quality by attaching and detaching the inner wall surface forming member that forms different uneven surfaces by the exchange mechanism. . The user can enjoy earphones with different reproduction sound quality depending on the inner wall surface forming member to be replaced. The inner wall surface forming member can be formed using an ear shape assuming a standard user, or in some cases, formed using an ear shape imitating the user's own ear using an earphone. Therefore, it is possible to reproduce sound suitable for the user.

  In the earphone of the present invention, if the base member of the housing further includes an ear engaging part that locks the earphone to the user's earring, the user can stably wear the earphone and enjoy audio reproduction. In particular, when a speaker unit having a diaphragm area larger than the opening area of the concha cavity is attached to a housing that forms an acoustic path including an uneven surface imitating a human auricle, an ear engaging portion is provided. Is preferred.

  The earphone of the present invention relates to an earphone in which an outlet of a sound wave to be reproduced is inserted into a user's ear canal entrance, and can adopt a speaker unit having a large diaphragm aperture to realize natural and preferable sound reproduction.

It is a figure explaining the earphone by preferable embodiment of this invention. Example 1 It is a figure explaining the internal structure of the earphone by preferable embodiment of this invention. Example 1 It is a graph explaining the sound pressure frequency characteristic of the earphone by preferable embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, although the earphone by preferable embodiment of this invention is demonstrated, this invention is not limited to these embodiment.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an earphone 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, FIG. 1A shows a perspective view of an earphone 1 worn on the user's left ear, and FIG. 1B shows a name and structure of a human pinna 2, It is the partial cross section figure which looked at the pinna 2 of the ear from the user front side. 2 is a diagram for explaining the internal structure of the earphone 1 that is worn on the right ear of the user. FIG. 2B is a partial view of the housing 10 of the earphone 1 as viewed from the opposite side to FIG. It is an enlarged view.

  The earphone 1 of the present embodiment is a canal type earphone in which an outlet of a sound wave to be reproduced is inserted into the ear canal hole 24 of the user's pinna 2. The earphone 1 includes substantially symmetrical earphones that are respectively attached to the left and right ears of the user, and can support stereo reproduction. Hereinafter, a configuration corresponding to one ear of the earphone 1 will be described. Of course, the form of the earphone 1 is not limited to the case of the present embodiment.

  In the earphone 1, a speaker unit 4 that reproduces a sound by supplying an audio signal via an ear engaging part 3 and a cord 5 is attached to the housing 10. The speaker unit 4 is an electrodynamic electroacoustic transducer that includes a magnetic circuit having a magnetic gap and vibrates a diaphragm that is inserted into the magnetic gap and connected to a voice coil to which an audio signal is supplied. The speaker unit 4 has a magnetic circuit exposed in FIG. 1A, and a frame protecting the front side of the diaphragm in FIG. 2A. In addition, illustration and description are abbreviate | omitted about the other structure unnecessary for description of this invention.

  The ear hook portion 3 is a curved member corresponding to the shape of the user's ear ring 23, one end is attached to the housing 10, and the other end is the rear side of the user's pinna and is at the base portion of the ear ring 23. It is shaped to wrap around. Therefore, the ear hook part 3 of the earphone 1 can lock the housing 10, which forms the acoustic path for guiding the sound wave to the user's external ear canal by attaching the speaker unit 4 to the user's ear ring 23.

  The housing 10 of this embodiment includes a speaker unit mounting portion 12 for mounting the speaker unit 4 having a diameter of 4.0 cm larger than the opening area of the user's concha cavity 22. The housing 10 is configured such that the speaker unit 4 having a relatively large diaphragm diameter can be attached to the base member 11 serving as a base, even when used in an earphone. The outer diameter frame of the speaker unit 4 has an outer dimension that substantially matches the inner diameter of the substantially cylindrical base member 11. Therefore, the housing 10 can form a separated acoustic space on the front side of the diaphragm of the speaker unit 4 and on the rear side where the magnetic circuit exists.

  The housing 10 may further include a housing member 15 (not shown) that defines a space behind the magnetic circuit of the speaker unit 4. Since the housing member 15 can be covered so that the rear side of the speaker unit 4 is not exposed, the appearance of the housing can be improved, and a closed-type back space can be formed.

  The housing 10 includes an engaging portion 13 that protrudes in a shape corresponding to the concha 20 on the front side of the diaphragm of the speaker unit 4 and on the side facing the user's auricle 2. Specifically, the engaging portion 13 has a substantially cylindrical outer shape that fits in the concha cavity 22 instead of the concha boat 21 of the concha 20. Since the ear canal hole 24 is on the back side of the concha cavity 22, the duct portion 14 corresponding to the ear canal hole 24 protrudes from the engaging portion 13. A hole serving as an outlet of the acoustic passage of the earphone 1 is formed at the tip of the duct portion 14 inserted into the ear canal hole 24.

  The duct portion 14 is formed with an earpiece attachment portion for attaching the earpiece 6 (not shown) on the tip and the outer peripheral surface thereof. If the cap-shaped earpiece 6 having elasticity is attached, a canal-type earphone in which the earpiece 6 is in close contact with the ear canal hole 24 can be realized. Since the earphone 1 includes the ear engaging portion 3 that engages and engages with the concha cavity 22 of the earphone 1, and the earphone 1 is locked to the earring 23, the user can stably attach the earphone 1 to the ear 2. can do.

  The housing 10 of the earphone 1 has a mounting structure in which the base member 11 attaches the inner wall surface forming member 16 therein, and the sound wave radiated from the diaphragm of the speaker unit 4 is transmitted to the engaging portion 13 and the duct portion 14. An acoustic path is formed which leads to the user's ear canal hole 24 through the interior. The entrance of the acoustic path is a speaker unit mounting part 12 to which the speaker unit 4 is attached, and the outlet of the acoustic path is a hole at the tip of the cut part 14.

  As illustrated in FIG. 2A, the inner wall surface forming member 16 has an uneven surface that imitates the human auricle 2. The recess 16 a of the inner wall surface forming member 16 is a recess corresponding to the concha cavity 22 of the human auricle 2. Similarly, the concave portion 16 b corresponds to the conch boat 21, the convex portion 16 c corresponds to the anti-aural ring 25, and the concave portion 16 d (not shown) located on the back side of the concave portion 16 a corresponds to the ear canal hole 24 and the duct portion. 14 is a hole provided at the tip of 14.

  Therefore, the housing 10 can form an acoustic path imitating the human auricle 2 including at least the ear canal hole 24 communicating with the concha cavity 22. That is, the acoustic path of the earphone 1 is formed to include an uneven surface imitating the human pinna 2. As described above, the “uneven surface of the inner wall surface forming member 16 simulating the pinna 2” imitates, imitates, imitates, molds, duplicates, copies, etc. the shape of the pinna 2. Can be formed.

  For example, the inner wall surface forming member 16 can form an uneven surface that forms an acoustic path using an ear shape assuming a standard user. Since the ear shape can be imitated by various methods, the user's own ear shape using the earphone 1 is collected, and the inner wall surface forming member 16 is formed by imitating the user's ear using the ear shape. You can also. The ear shape of the pinna 2 can be easily collected by injecting a soft clay-like mold material into the ear canal hole 24 and the pinna 20 and removing it after the mold material has hardened to some extent. For the inner wall surface forming member 16, a concave member corresponding to the convex ear shape may be formed of a resin material by the same method.

  As described above, the acoustic path of the earphone 1 is formed by the inner wall surface forming member 16 that forms the concave and convex surfaces 16 a to 16 c imitating the auricle 2. A recess 16 a corresponding to the concha cavity 22 is formed inside the engaging portion 13, and a hole 16 d is formed inside the duct portion 14. That is, the acoustic passage is formed so as to pass through the inside of the engaging portion 13 and the duct portion 14, and communicates with the hole 16 d defined in the concave portion 16 a corresponding to the concha cavity 22 to transmit the sound wave to the ear canal hole 24. Lead to.

  Since the acoustic path of the earphone 1 is formed as described above, when the sound is reproduced with an external speaker without wearing the earphone 1, or at least with a headphone / earphone worn so that the main body is placed on the auricle 2 The sound wave that reaches the user's eardrum can be reproduced as including a path that is reflected by the human pinna 2 and collected in the external auditory canal, as in the case of audio reproduction. As a result, a natural and preferable sound reproduction can be realized with the canal type earphone in which the outlet of the sound wave to be reproduced is inserted into the ear canal hole 24 of the user.

  Furthermore, the earphone 1 employs the speaker unit 4 having a diaphragm area larger than the opening area of the concha cavity 22 so that it is reflected by the auricle 2 including the concha cavity 22 and collected in the ear canal hole 24. The sounded path can be reproduced. Since the earphone 1 can employ the speaker unit 4 having a diaphragm area larger than the opening area of the concha cavity 22, compared with a conventional small speaker unit having a small diaphragm area, There is an advantage that a speaker unit capable of reproducing sound at a high sound pressure level can be used. Further, if a high performance speaker unit is used, the earphone 1 can sufficiently widen the sound reproduction frequency band and ensure good reproduction sound quality.

  The inner wall surface forming member 16 is preferably fitted and fixed inside the base member 11 of the concave housing 10 and is attached via an exchange mechanism so that it can be removed. By making it possible to attach and remove the inner wall surface forming member 16 that forms different uneven surfaces by the exchange mechanism, it is possible to adjust the reproduction sound quality.

  FIG. 3 is a graph for explaining the sound pressure frequency characteristics of the earphone 1 of the present embodiment and the earphone 100 of the comparative example, the horizontal axis indicates the frequency of the input audio signal, and the vertical axis indicates an ear that is a measurement jig. Indicates the sound pressure level in the ear canal when attached to the mold.

  The earphone 100 of the comparative example (not shown) is the same as the earphone 1 of the present embodiment in that the inner wall surface forming member 16 that forms an acoustic path (not shown) is a member that forms an uneven surface imitating the human auricle 2. It is a case where it replaces with the member which forms a simple funnel-shaped surface. Therefore, the speaker unit 4 is common.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the sound pressure frequency characteristic of the earphone changes due to the difference in the shape of the inner wall surface forming member. Compared to the earphone 100 of the comparative example, the earphone 1 of the present embodiment suppresses the peak dip of 6 kHz or less and relatively reduces the level difference. Since the earphone 1 can reproduce a path reflected by the auricle 2 including the concha cavity 22 and collected in the ear canal hole 24, a canal in which an outlet of a sound wave to be reproduced is inserted into the user's ear canal entrance Even the earphone 1 of the type can realize natural and preferable audio reproduction.

  The exchange mechanism of the housing 10 makes it possible to attach and detach the inner wall surface forming member 16 that forms different uneven surfaces according to the shape of the human auricle 2 that is different for each person from the base member 11. The exchange mechanism may utilize screws or the like, and the inner wall surface forming member 16 may be fitted into the base member 11 by a snap structure or the like. Therefore, the user who uses the earphone 1 can adjust the reproduction sound quality by exchanging the inner wall surface forming member 16.

  Further, if the replacement mechanism of the housing 10 can be attached with a structure in which the inner wall surface forming member 16 is fixed to the base member 11 by rotating in an arbitrary predetermined direction, fine adjustment can be made according to the attachment angle. You can enjoy the playback sound quality of different tastes.

  The earphone of the present invention is not limited to a canal-type earphone provided with the ear hook 3, and may be an earphone not provided with the ear hook 3. Moreover, not only an earphone but an earphone of an overhead type may be configured by connecting earphones corresponding to both left and right ears by a headband. The earphone is not limited to the closed type in which the rear side space of the diaphragm of the speaker unit 4 defined by the housing member 15 as defined in the above embodiment is closed, and may be an open type earphone. The present invention is not limited to home stereo playback or multi-channel surround playback, but can be applied to in-vehicle audio equipment and sound playback equipment such as movie theaters.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Earphone 2 Auricle 20 Ear concha 21 Ear conch 22 Ear concha cavity 23 Ear ring 24 Ear canal hole 25 Ear ring 3 Ear engagement part 4 Speaker unit 5 Cord 6 Earpiece 10 Housing 11 Base member 12 Speaker unit attachment part 13 Joint portion 14 Duct portion 15 Housing member 16 Inner wall surface forming member

Claims (5)

An earphone comprising: a speaker unit that performs electroacoustic conversion of an audio signal into sound waves; and a housing that forms an acoustic path that guides the sound waves to a user's ear canal by attaching the speaker unit therein;
The acoustic passage of the housing communicates at least with an inner wall surface portion forming an uneven surface imitating a human auricle and a hole defined in the uneven surface corresponding to the concha cavity of the inner wall surface portion. A duct portion for guiding sound waves to the ear canal, and
earphone. The housing further includes a speaker unit mounting portion for mounting the speaker unit having a diaphragm area larger than an opening area of the concha cavity.
The earphone according to claim 1. The housing includes a base member including the speaker unit mounting portion, and the base member includes an exchange mechanism capable of mounting and removing an inner wall surface forming member forming the inner wall surface portion.
The earphone according to claim 2. The duct portion further includes an earpiece attachment portion for attaching an earpiece inserted into the ear canal of the user.
The earphone according to claim 1. The base member of the housing further includes an ear engaging portion that locks the earphone to the user's ear ring.
The earphone according to claim 1.