JP2018121286A - earphone - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an easy-to-handle earphone, by preventing pressure fluctuation in an external auditory canal at the time of attachment and detachment.SOLUTION: An earphone includes a housing (1) formed by juxtaposing a first air space (Rf) internally housing a speaker unit (SP) and forming a first space (Vf) at a sound emitting surface (SPa) side of the speaker unit (SP) and a second air space (Rb) forming a second space (Vb) at an opposite side to the sound emitting surface (SPa) side in one direction (CL1), a sound cylinder (2) connected with the first air space (Rf) and formed to project, and a movable housing (6) arranged at the second air space (Rb) side and movable in one direction (CL1) in a prescribed range. A valve structure (BK) is formed while including the housing (1) and the movable housing (6), so as to interconnect the first space (Vf) and an outer space (Vg) when the movable housing (6) is at a first position in a prescribed range, and not to interconnect the first space (Vf) and the outer space (Vg) but to interconnect the second space (Vb) and the outer space (Vg) when the movable housing (6) is at a second position in the prescribed range.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an earphone, and more particularly to a so-called canal type (earplug type) earphone that is used by inserting an earpiece into an ear canal.

  A so-called canal type (earplug type) earphone is used in which a sound tube portion protruding in a cylindrical shape is provided in a housing containing a speaker unit, and an earpiece attached to the sound tube portion is inserted into the ear canal and attached to the auricle. It has been known.

In the canal type earphone, the earpiece and the inner wall in the external auditory canal are substantially in close contact with each other during use.
Therefore, the front air chamber that forms the front space on the sound emitting surface side of the speaker unit inside the housing including the sound tube portion is formed so that only the sound emitting hole at the tip of the sound tube portion is opened and the other is sealed. In this case, when the earpiece is inserted into the ear canal, the front air chamber and the inner space of the ear canal are sealed, so that the inside air is compressed and the pressure rises.
Further, when the earpiece inserted into the ear canal is extracted, the internal air in the front air chamber and the inner space of the ear canal is inflated in a sealed state due to the reverse action, and the pressure drops.

  When the pressure fluctuation accompanying the insertion / extraction of the earpiece is large, there is a possibility that the following problems may occur. That is, for the user, there is a risk that the eardrum is pushed and pulled in and out, and the user feels uncomfortable. In the earphone, the diaphragm of the speaker unit is pushed and pulled in the vibration direction, which may cause a problem in the drive system of the speaker unit. is there.

  Therefore, conventionally, the housing is provided with a ventilation path that communicates the front air chamber inside and the outside space, and when the earpiece is inserted into and removed from the ear canal, the inner space of the ear canal and the front air chamber in the housing that communicates with the inner space. There has been proposed an earphone that does not fluctuate its pressure (Patent Document 1).

  The earphone described in Patent Document 1 further includes a valve part that opens and closes the air passage, and closes the air passage when in use to seal the front air chamber and the internal space of the ear canal, thereby suppressing sound leakage to the outside. Good reproduction sound characteristics are secured.

JP 2008-147710 A

The earphone described in Patent Document 1 is not necessarily easy to handle because it is necessary for an operator to perform an operation of closing the valve member when inserting and removing the earphone.
Further, since the valve member is small with respect to the main body of the earphone, the manufacture is not easy.

  Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an earphone that prevents pressure fluctuation in the ear canal during loading and unloading and is easy to handle.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following configuration.
1) A speaker unit,
The speaker unit is housed inside, and a first air chamber forming a first space on the sound emitting surface side of the speaker unit and a second space on the opposite side of the sound emitting surface side from the speaker unit. A housing having a second air chamber to be formed side by side in one direction;
A sound tube portion connected to the first air chamber and projectingly formed and fitted with an earpiece;
A movable housing disposed on the second air chamber side of the housing and movably engaged with the housing in a predetermined range in the one direction;
With
By the housing and the movable housing,
When the movable housing is in the first position in the predetermined range, the first space communicates with an external space with respect to the housing, and the second space in the predetermined range is different from the first position. The earphone is characterized in that when in the position, a valve structure is formed that communicates the first space and the external space with each other and communicates the second space with the external space.

  According to the present invention, pressure fluctuations in the ear canal during loading and unloading are prevented and handling is easy.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an earphone 51 that is Example 1 of the earphone according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view of the earphone 51. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view at the position S3-S3 in FIG. FIG. 4 is a partial enlarged cross-sectional view showing a reference position of the movable housing 6 provided in the earphone 51. FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing the position when the movable housing 6 is inserted. FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing the position when the movable housing 6 is removed. FIG. 7 is a table for explaining a communication state of the first air chamber Rf and the second air chamber Rb with the external space Vg.

First, an earphone according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the following description, the front-rear direction is defined by the arrows shown in FIG. The front side is the ear (head) side on which the earphone 51 is worn.

The earphone 51 is a so-called canal type (earplug type) earphone that is used by inserting the earpiece 4 into the ear canal and attaching it to the auricle.
In each figure, the cord and bushing drawn out from the speaker unit SP are not shown.

The earphone 51 includes a bottomed cylindrical housing 1 having the front-rear direction as an axis, and a sound tube portion 2 protruding in a cylindrical shape further forward from the bottom wall 1 a in front of the housing 1.
A flexible earpiece 4 is detachably attached to the sound tube portion 2.

The housing 1 has a partition wall 5 for dividing the inside in the front-rear direction which is the direction of the axis CL1 of the housing 1 and forming the front air chamber Rf and the rear air chamber Rb side by side.
The partition wall 5 is formed with a hole 5a in the center. The speaker unit SP is closely attached to the hole 5a so that the sound emitting surface SPa is on the front side of the housing 1.
The front space Vf inside the front air chamber Rf communicates with the space Vt inside the sound tube portion 2.
The rear air chamber Rb is formed by the housing 1, the speaker unit SP, and a movable housing 6 described later.

In the earphone 51, sound based on an audio signal coming from the outside through a cord (not shown) is output forward from the sound emitting surface SPa of the speaker unit SP housed inside the housing 1.
The sound output from the speaker unit SP passes through the front space Vf and the space Vt and is emitted to the outside from the tip of the sound tube unit 2.

The housing 1 has a front vent hole 1f that communicates the front space Vf and the external space Vg in the radial direction, and a rear vent hole 1b that communicates the rear space Vb and the external space Vg in the radial direction.
The front vent hole 1f and the rear vent hole 1b are provided side by side in a direction parallel to the axis line CL1.
The front vent hole 1f and the rear vent hole 1b are formed at positions close to the partition wall 5 with the partition wall 5 interposed therebetween.

A bottomed cylindrical movable housing 6 having a cross section corresponding to the housing 1 is attached to the rear opening of the housing 1 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction.
The movable housing 6 is connected to a cylindrical base portion 6a that slides in close contact with the inner surface of the housing 1, a connecting portion 6b that extends rearward with a small diameter with respect to the base portion 6a, and a connecting portion 6b. And a push-pull portion 6c having a larger diameter (in this example, the same diameter as the base portion 6a).

The base portion 6a of the movable housing 6 has an extending portion 6d extending forward in a plate shape at a circumferential position corresponding to the front vent hole 1f and the rear vent hole 1b in a state of being fitted and engaged with the housing 1.
A through hole 5b is formed in the partition wall 5 in a shape corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of the extending portion 6d. The extending portion 6d is inserted in the through hole 5b so as to be movable back and forth.
The gap between the extending portion 6d and the through hole 5b is very small, and the front space Vf and the rear space Vb are substantially disconnected by the partition wall 5 and the speaker unit SP including the through hole 5b. Yes.

A biasing member 7 is interposed between the base portion 6 a and the partition wall 5. Both front and rear ends of the biasing member 7 are connected to the partition wall 5 and the base 6a, respectively.
Therefore, when the movable housing 6 moves forward, the urging member 7 is compressed to urge the movable housing 6 rearward, and when the movable housing 6 moves rearward, the urging member 7 is expanded to move the movable housing 6. Energize (pull) forward.

  The biasing member 7 is a coil spring, for example. In the reference position of the movable housing 6 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the movable housing 6 is in a natural state in which the movable housing 6 is not biased back and forth.

When the movable housing 6 is pushed forward against the housing 1 against the compression repulsive force of the urging member 7 from the reference position, an abutting feeling or a clicking feeling is generated at an insertion position that becomes a predetermined pushing position. It is configured as follows.
Further, when the movable housing 6 is pulled backward with respect to the housing 1 against the pulling repulsive force of the urging member 7 from the reference position, the movable housing 6 has an abutting feeling or a clicking feeling at a removal position that becomes a predetermined pulling position. Is configured to occur.

  The movable housing 6 is preferably configured so that a click feeling is generated even at the reference position.

That is, the movable housing 6 can move back and forth with respect to the housing 1 so that it can take three positions: a reference position, an insertion position pushed in from the reference position, and a removal position pulled out from the reference position. It is said that.
The reference position of the movable housing 6 is a position when the earphone 51 is in use.

The extending portion 6d is formed with two holes, a front hole 6d1 and a rear hole 6d2, separated from each other in the front-rear direction.
The communication / non-communication relationship between the front hole 6d1 and the rear hole 6d2, and the front vent hole 1f and the rear vent hole 1b will be described with reference to FIGS.

4 to 6 are partial cross-sectional views of the earphone 51, and show a reference position, an insertion position, and an extraction position of the movable housing 6, respectively.
4 of the reference position corresponds to an enlarged view of a part A in FIG.

(Reference position)
As shown in FIG. 4, at the reference position, the front vent hole 1 f of the housing 1 is blocked by the extending portion 6 d, and the rear vent hole 1 b communicates with the rear hole 6 d 2 of the movable housing 6.
Thus, the space Vt and the front space Vf communicating with the space Vt are spaces in which only the front end side of the sound tube portion 2 is opened to the external space Vg and other portions are closed.

  The rear space Vb serving as the back cavity of the speaker unit SP is formed by being surrounded by the inner surface of the movable housing 6, the partition wall 5, and the speaker unit SP, and only the rear vent 1b communicates with the outside. The parts other than 1b are sealed.

When the earphone 51 that is the reference position is attached to the auricle with the earpiece 4 inserted into the ear canal, the movable housing 6 is maintained at the reference position without being given external force and force from the biasing member 7. Is done.
Therefore, in the rear space Vb, the rear hole 6d2 and the rear vent hole 1b communicating with the rear hole 6d2 function as a duct, and a good reproduction sound in which bass is reinforced as an earphone can be obtained.

  In addition, since the space on the sound emission side (front side) of the speaker unit SP is also substantially sealed, sound leakage to the external space Vg is prevented, and sound from the outside is well blocked, so that the user Can hear the reproduced sound without turbidity.

(Insertion position)
In inserting the earpiece 51 into the ear canal when the earphone 51 is attached to the auricle, since the housing 1 is located in the back of the auricle and it is difficult for the finger to reach, the user, as shown in FIG. The earpiece 4 is inserted by pushing the push-pull portion 6c provided at the rear end portion of the earphone 51 with a finger.
In this case, first, the movable housing 6 at the reference position is pushed forward by the distance La while compressing the biasing member 7 with respect to the housing 1 by the user's finger to reach the insertion position.
When pushing with a finger is continued, the housing 1 is pushed forward with the movable housing 6 in the insertion position, and the earpiece 4 is inserted into the ear canal, thereby completing the wearing.
The distance La is the front-rear direction pitch between the front vent hole 1f and the rear vent hole 1b.

At the insertion position of the movable housing 6, as shown in FIG. 5, the rear hole 6d2 communicates with the front vent hole 1f, and the front space Vf communicates with the external space Vg.
Thereby, the air in the front space Vf can escape to the outside by inserting the earpiece 4 into the ear canal, and the pressure in the front space Vf, the space Vt, and the space in the ear canal does not become higher than the outside air pressure. Maintained at the same pressure.
Therefore, when the earphone 51 is worn on the auricle, the user does not feel the tympanic membrane uncomfortable, and there is no possibility of causing a problem in the drive system of the speaker unit SP.

(Position at removal)
When removing the earphone 51 attached to the auricle, since the housing 1 is located at the back of the auricle, the user picks the push-pull portion 6c with his / her finger as shown in FIG. If it pulls to the back of the housing 1 which becomes the outside of the support, it is easy to remove the earphone 51 from the pinna.
Thereby, first, the movable housing 6 in the reference position is pulled backward by the distance Lb while pulling the biasing member 7 with respect to the housing 1 and reaches the position at the time of removal.
Furthermore, when the pulling with the finger is continued, the housing 1 is pulled rearward with the movable housing 6 in the removal position, whereby the earpiece 4 is removed from the ear canal and the removal of the earphone 51 is completed.
As shown in FIG. 4, the distance Lb is a pitch in the front-rear direction between the front vent hole 1f and the front hole 6d1 when the movable housing 6 is at the reference position.

At the position when the movable housing 6 is removed, as shown in FIG. 6, the front vent hole 1f communicates with the front hole 6d1, and the rear vent hole 1b is closed by the extending portion 6d.
Thereby, the front space Vf and the external space Vg communicate.
During extraction of the earpiece 4 from the external auditory canal, the air in the external space Vg flows into the front space Vf, so that the pressure in the front space Vf, the space Vt, and the external ear canal space does not become lower than the external atmospheric pressure. It is maintained at the same pressure as atmospheric pressure.
Therefore, when the earphone 51 is removed from the auricle, the user does not feel an uncomfortable feeling of the eardrum, and there is no possibility of causing a problem in the drive system of the speaker unit SP.

  As is apparent from FIGS. 4 to 6, in the extending portion 6d, the front-rear direction pitch Lc between the front hole 6d1 and the rear hole 6d2 is set to Lc = La + Lb.

FIG. 7 is a table showing communication and non-communication between the front air chamber Rf and the rear air chamber Rb at the insertion position, the reference position, and the removal position of the movable housing 6 described above.
As apparent from FIGS. 7 and 4 to 6, the earphone 51 includes the housing 1 and the movable housing 6, and communicates and disconnects the front space Vf and the rear space Vb and the external space Vg. A valve structure BK to be selected is configured.

As shown in FIG. 7, the earphone 51 has two movable housings 6 that can take three positions in the front-rear direction, and that the front space Vf corresponds to two when the earphone 51 is removed, except for the reference position in the use state. In position, it communicates with the external space Vg.
This prevents pressure fluctuations in the ear canal when the earphone 51 is attached to or detached from the auricle.

Further, at the reference position, the rear air chamber Rb communicates with the external space Vg through the rear vent hole 1b and the rear hole 6d2 corresponding to the duct, so that it is possible to obtain a good reproduction sound quality in which the low frequency sound is enhanced.
Further, the movement of the movable housing 6 from the reference position to the other two positions is naturally performed only by the loading / unloading operation of pushing or pulling the push / pull portion 6c of the user when loading / unloading. As a result, it is possible to prevent pressure fluctuations in the ear canal easily and reliably without the user performing any operation other than loading and unloading. Thereby, the handling of the earphone 51 is very easy.
Furthermore, the movable housing 6 is a relatively large member in the earphone 51, and since the structure of the earphone 51 is simple, manufacturing is easy.

  The embodiment described in detail above is not limited to the above-described configuration, and may be modified in a range not departing from the gist of the present invention.

The biasing member 7 is not limited to a coil spring. An urging member made of elastomer or rubber may be used.
The shape of the push / pull portion 6c of the movable housing 6 may be an umbrella shape instead of a flat plate shape.
The outer diameter of the push / pull portion 6 c may be larger than that of the housing 1 and may be formed so as to cover the side surface of the housing 1.
The front vent hole 1f and the rear vent hole 1b may not be formed at the same position in the circumferential direction. A hole formed in a position shifted in the circumferential direction, which realizes selection of communication or non-communication depending on the position of the movable housing 6 in the front-rear direction, corresponding to the front vent hole 1f and the rear vent hole 1b. You may form in a position.

Although the Example demonstrated what formed the rear air chamber Rb with the housing 1 and the movable housing 6, it is not limited to this.
For example, the housing 1 itself has a rear air chamber Rb with which the rear vent hole 1b communicates, and the movable housing 6 is configured to move so as to simply open and close the rear vent hole 1b with respect to the rear air chamber Rb. Good.

  The moving position of the movable housing 6 may not be able to take all three positions. If at least one of the insertion position and the removal position and the reference position can be taken, pressure fluctuation is prevented in at least one of the internal ear canal spaces when the earphone 51 is put on and taken off. The effect can be obtained easily and easily manufactured.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Housing 1a Bottom wall, 1b Rear ventilation hole, 1f Front ventilation hole 2 Sound tube part 4 Earpiece 5 Partition wall, 5a Hole, 5b Through-hole 6 Movable housing 6a Base part, 6b Connection part, 6c Push-pull part, 6d Extension part 6d1 front hole, 6d2 rear hole 7 bias member 51 earphone CL1 axis La, Lb distance, Lc pitch Rb rear air chamber, Rf front air chamber SP speaker unit, SPa sound emitting surface Vb rear space, Vf front space, Vt space, Vg External space

Claims (4)

A speaker unit;
The speaker unit is housed inside, and a first air chamber forming a first space on the sound emitting surface side of the speaker unit and a second space on the opposite side of the sound emitting surface side from the speaker unit. A housing having a second air chamber to be formed side by side in one direction;
A sound tube portion connected to the first air chamber and projectingly formed and fitted with an earpiece;
A movable housing disposed on the second air chamber side of the housing and movably engaged with the housing in a predetermined range in the one direction;
With
Including the housing and the movable housing;
When the movable housing is in the first position in the predetermined range, the first space communicates with an external space with respect to the housing, and the second space in the predetermined range is different from the first position. The earphone is characterized in that when in the position, a valve structure is formed that communicates the first space and the external space with each other and communicates the second space with the external space.   The valve structure communicates the first space and the external space at a third position in the predetermined range that is opposite to the first position across the second position. The earphone according to claim 1.   The earphone according to claim 1, further comprising a biasing member that biases the movable housing at the first position to move to the second position.   3. The earphone according to claim 2, wherein the movable housing at the first position and the third position is urged to move to the second position.

Images