JP2869503B2 - hearing aid - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hearing aid, and more particularly, to a hearing aid of a waterproof type.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this kind of hearing aid, a waterproof function is realized by increasing the adhesion between respective members. As a waterproof hearing aid, there is an ear-hearing hearing aid 1 as shown in FIG. 6 (Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-39440, Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-6075). That is, in the hearing aid 1, a hook 3 is screwed to a distal end portion of a case 2 formed in a bow shape as a whole. The whole is held at the position behind the auricle of the wearer. By attaching a tube and earplugs (not shown) to the end of the hook 3 in this state, the hearing aid obtained from the earphone is transmitted into the ear hole of the wearer through the sound path, the tube and the earplugs in the hook 3. .

The case 2 is composed of a case body 4 and a case lid 5, and the case body 4 contains a microphone, a hearing aid processing circuit, an earphone, and the like. The case lid 5 is rotatably attached to the case main body 4 about a rotation shaft (not shown) provided at a tip end position of the case main body 4. Accordingly, in the hearing aid 1, the case cover 5 is rotated in the direction of arrow a to open the case cover 5, and adjustment and repair of each component incorporated in the case main body 4 are performed.

A battery cover 7 is attached to the base of the case body 4 so as to be rotatable around a rotation shaft 6. Accordingly, in the hearing aid 1, the battery is replaced with the battery cover 7 opened by rotating the battery cover 7 in the direction of arrow b. Also, on the surface of the case lid 5,
A volume knob 8 for volume control and a switch knob 9 for switching power supply and various functions are provided, and these parts are connected to respective switch parts built in the case main body 4 through the thickness of the case lid 5. I have. Further, on the surface of the case lid 5, an adjusting cover 10 for protecting an adjusting portion for adjusting the hearing aid band and the maximum sound pressure level according to the wearer is attached so as to be openable and closable about a rotation shaft 11 as a rotation center. I have.

Here, in the hearing aid 1, the case body 4
By providing seal packing having a shape adapted to each joint surface on the joint surface between the case cover 5 and the joint surface between the case main body 4 and the battery cover 7, it is possible to prevent intrusion of moisture from each joint surface. Has been made. O-rings are provided between the volume knob 8 and the case lid 5 and between the switch knob 9 and the case lid 5, respectively, whereby a gap between the volume knob 8 and the case lid 5 and the switch knob 9 are provided. Water is prevented from entering through a gap with the case lid 5.

A wind cover 12 for preventing wind noise from entering the microphone is provided at the tip end of the case 2. The hook 3 is screwed into the case body 4 while the window cover 12 is fitted in the case 2. It is sandwiched between the hook 3 and the case 2. That is, in the hearing aid 1, an external sound is introduced into the external sound intake of the microphone through a notch (not shown) formed near the hook 3 of the window cover 12.

Here, a suitable waterproof member such as a filter that allows sound to pass through but does not allow water to pass through is provided at the external sound intake of the microphone. The waterproof member prevents water from entering the microphone. It has been done. In this way, in the hearing aid 1, the waterproof seal is provided between the respective members to prevent the intrusion of moisture into the case 2 beforehand.

[0008]

The case cover 5
As shown in FIG. 7, the fixing bracket 2 attached to the wall plate 22 of the battery chamber formed at the base of the case body 4.
1 and is tightly fixed to the case body 4 with the seal packing 20 sandwiched therebetween.
The fixing bracket 21 is screwed and fixed to the wall plate 22 from the battery chamber side, and attached to the case body 4.

An electrode 23 whose one end is electrically connected to a hearing aid processing circuit (not shown) is provided at the rear end of the case lid 5.
A and 23B are screwed and fixed, and when the case lid 5 is closed, the electrodes 23A and 23B are inserted into the battery chamber and perform electrical connection with the battery loaded in the battery chamber, Thus, power can be supplied to the hearing aid processing circuit.

However, in the hearing aid 1 having such a configuration, the fixing bracket 21 and the electrodes 23A and 23B are independently mounted, and this is considered to hinder the downsizing of the hearing aid 1. Therefore, if the number of parts of the fixing bracket 21 and the electrodes 23A and 23B can be reduced, it is considered that the hearing aid 1 can be downsized as a whole. Further, in the hearing aid 1, many waterproof members are used to enhance waterproofness, and it is considered necessary to reduce the number of parts as much as possible in order to simplify the assembling work.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and aims to propose a hearing aid that can be further reduced in size.

[0012]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the present invention, first and second case halves 40 and 41 obtained by dividing the case 31 and the inside of the first case half 40 are provided. And a screw 74, which is fixedly disposed in the case 31 and is in contact with a battery serving as a power supply unit loaded in the case 31, and the screw 74 is connected to the second case half 41.
The second case half 41 is fixed to the first case half 40 by screwing it to the electrode 43 via the.

Further, in the present invention, the electrode 43 has an electrode portion 70 formed on one end side in the longitudinal direction, which is in contact with the battery.
Further, a screw hole 71 for screwing the screw 74 is formed on the other end side.

Further, in the present invention, the electrode 43 is electrically connected to a predetermined circuit when the second case half 41 is attached to the first case half 40 by the screw 74. did.

[0015]

An electrode 43 and a screw 74 are fixedly arranged inside the first case half 40 and come into contact with the battery loaded in the case 31. The screw 74 is attached to the second case half 41.
By fixing the second case half 41 to the first case half 40 by screwing it to the electrode 43 via the through hole, a dedicated fixture for fixing the second case half 41 is reduced. Thus, the number of parts can be reduced as compared with the conventional configuration.

[0016]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.

(1) Overall Configuration of Hearing Aid In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 30 denotes a waterproof ear-hearing hearing aid as a whole, and a box-shaped case 31 made of a synthetic resin material is provided behind a pinna. The window cover 32 and the hook 33 are integrally attached to the tip of the bow shape so as to conform to the external shape of.

As can be seen particularly from FIG. 2, the case 31 has a case body 40 forming an inner peripheral portion and a root portion of the case 31, and a rotatably supported pivot at a tip end of the case body 40. , A case cover 41 forming the outer peripheral portion of the case 31 and a battery cover 42 formed at the base of the case body 40 and closing the battery chamber 40A in the columnar space. The battery is assembled as shown in FIG. 1 by screwing it to one end of an electrode 43 protruding inside and mounting it by screwing the battery cover 42 into the case body 40.

In this case, the case body 40 and the case lid 4
A seal packing 44 made of an elastic material (for example, a rubber material) is interposed between the casing body 4 and the case body 4.
Water is prevented from entering the case 31 from the gap between the case 0 and the case lid 41. Similarly, an O-ring 45 made of an elastic material (for example, a rubber material) is inserted between the case body 40 and the battery cover 42, so that a gap between the case body 40 and the battery cover 42 enters the case 31. It is designed to prevent water from entering.

As is apparent from FIG. 2, the battery cover 42 has a pair of arc-shaped battery holding walls 42A and 42B protruding from the inner surface thereof.
The battery can be held inside a space surrounded by 42B (hereinafter, this space is referred to as a battery holding space). Thus, in the hearing aid 30, the battery cover 42
After the battery is fitted into the battery holding space, the battery can be loaded into the battery chamber 40A by attaching the battery cover 42 to the case main body 40, and thus the signal housed inside the case 31 The power can be supplied to the processing unit 50.

As can be seen from FIG. 2, the signal processing unit 50 is a flexible substrate 5 on which a hearing aid processing circuit is formed.
1, a voice signal supplied from a microphone 60 or an induction coil (not shown) is formed by attaching a gain adjuster 52, a mode switching switch 53, and an adjusting trimmer 54 integrally to the gain adjuster 52, a mode switching switch. The hearing aid processing is performed with the input / output characteristics set by the operation of the adjustment trimmer 53 and the adjustment trimmer 54, and then the resultant is transmitted to the earphone 62.

In this case, in the gain adjuster 52 and the mode switching switch 53, the volume knob 63 and the switch knob provided on the outer peripheral surface of the case 31 formed by the curved surface of the case lid 41 through the thickness of the case lid 41. 64 with high waterproofness. Thus, in the hearing aid 30, the sound pressure level of the hearing aid output from the earphone 62 can be adjusted by rotating the volume knob 63, and the power supply can be adjusted by operating the switch knob 64. Or switch the mode.

The adjusting trimmer 54 is exposed to the outside of the case 31 through a trimmer opening (not shown) formed on the outer peripheral surface of the case 31. For this reason, the adjuster cover 65 is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the case 31 so as to cover the adjusting trimmer 54 so as to be openable and closable, thereby preventing the adjusting trimmer 54 from being carelessly operated. It has been made like that. Further, the induction coil is disposed inside the flexible substrate 51 bent in a cylindrical shape, so that the space inside the case 31 can be effectively used.

The microphone 60 is attached to a tip inside the case cover 41. A waterproof member (not shown) is attached to the tip of the case lid 41 so that water can be prevented from entering the inside of the case 31 through the tip of the case lid 41. Has been made. The earphone 62 is disposed at the tip inside the case main body 40, so that a hearing aid sound based on the output of the hearing aid processing circuit of the signal processing unit 50 can be output to the outside of the hearing aid 30 via the hook 33. ing.

(2) Configuration of Electrode In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the electrode 43 has an electrode portion 70 at one end in the longitudinal direction and a female screw portion 71 at the other end. Made of metal pieces. In this case, near the center of the electrode 43, a fitting portion 72 for fitting to the case body 40 made of a synthetic resin is formed. On the other hand, a fitting hole 73 is formed in the inner wall of the battery chamber 40A of the case main body 40 so as to penetrate through the thickness of the inner wall, as shown in FIG. The electrode 43 is attached to the case main body 40 by fitting the fitting part 72 of the battery chamber 40A so as to be integral with the inner wall of the battery chamber 40A.

As shown in FIG. 5, a hole 75 formed in the case cover 41 and a hole 7 formed in the signal processing unit 50 are formed.
The screw 74 is screwed with the female screw portion 71 of the electrode 43 in a state where the screw 74 is passed through the
Is kept closed with respect to the case body 40, and the case body 40 is
And the case lid 41 can be tightly fixed. At this time, the female screw portion 71 is pressed against the power supply land 77 formed on the flexible substrate 51 of the signal processing unit 50, whereby the electrode 43 is electrically connected to the signal processing unit 50. In addition, the head of the screw 74 after the coupling of the case lid 41 and the case main body 40 is finally covered with the adjuster cover 65 as clearly shown in FIG.

Thus, the hearing aid 30 has the electrode 43 and the other electrode (not shown) separately attached to the signal processing unit 50.
, An electrode pair is formed, and thereby the battery chamber 40A
When a battery is loaded in the power supply, power can be supplied to the signal processing unit 50 from the battery.

(3) Operation of Embodiment In the above configuration, the case lid 41 is fixed by the screw 74.
Is screwed to the electrode 43 so that the case lid 41 is
And the case body 40 are tightly fixed to each other, so that moisture can be prevented from entering the case 31. Also, by screwing the case lid 41 to the electrode 43 with the screw 74, the electrode 43 is electrically connected to the signal processing unit 50, and when the electrode unit 70 of the electrode 43 comes into contact with the battery, the signal processing is performed from the battery. Power can be supplied to the unit 50.

That is, in the hearing aid 30, the electrode 43
The electrode portion 70 is formed on one end side in the longitudinal direction, and the female screw portion 71 is formed on the other end side. The case cover 41 is screwed to the electrode 43 with a screw 74,
The case lid 41 is tightly fixed to the case body 40, and the electrodes 43 are in contact with and electrically connected to the power supply lands 77 provided at one end of the signal processing unit 50. Accordingly, in the hearing aid 30, the electrode 43 has both the function of the electrode and the function of the fixing bracket of the case lid 41, so that a special fixing bracket for fixing the case lid 41 is unnecessary, and the number of parts is smaller than that of the conventional configuration. Can be reduced, and thus the overall size can be reduced.

(4) Effects of the Embodiment According to the above configuration, the electrode portion 70 is formed on one end side in the longitudinal direction, and the female screw portion 71 for fixing the case lid 41 is formed on the other end side. By fixing the case lid 41 to the case main body 40 with the screws 43 and the screws 74,
The number of components can be reduced as compared with the conventional configuration, and thus the hearing aid can be further downsized.

(5) Other Embodiments In the above-described embodiment, the case where the electrode 43 is electrically connected to the signal processing unit 50 when the screw 74 is screwed is described. The invention is not limited to this,
For example, the electrode 43 and the signal processing unit 50 may be connected by a flexible wire (for example, a lead wire) by soldering or the like. In short, a screw hole for fixing the case lid to the electrode that contacts the battery is provided. If provided, the same effect as in the above case can be obtained.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, the case of the hearing aid is configured to be substantially divided into two, and the first case half (case body) and the second case half (case lid). Can be connected and fixed with a screw using a screw hole (female screw portion) formed at one end of the electrode fixedly arranged on the first case half. Therefore, the electrode has the function of fixing the second case half as well as the function of establishing electrical continuity from the battery to a predetermined circuit (signal processing unit), thereby reducing the number of parts as compared with the conventional configuration. Thus, a hearing aid that can be further reduced in size can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overall configuration of an ear-hearing hearing aid according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the internal configuration of the ear-hook type hearing aid.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an electrode of the ear-hook type hearing aid.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an attached state of the electrode.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a connection between the electrode and a signal processing unit.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the entire configuration of a conventional ear-hearing hearing aid.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing a fixing bracket and electrodes of the ear hanging hearing aid.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 30 ... ear-hearing hearing aid, 2, 31 ... case,
4, 40 ... case body, 5, 41 ... case lid, 2
1 ... Fixing bracket, 23A, 23B, 43 ... Electrode, 50
…… Signal processing part, 70 …… Electrode part, 71 …… Female screw part,
72 fitting part 73 fitting hole 74 screw 7
7 Land for power supply.

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A first and a second case half formed by dividing a case into contact with a battery as a power supply means fixedly disposed inside the first case half and loaded inside the case. And fixing the second case half to the first case half by screwing the screw to the electrode via the second case half. Features hearing aids. 2. The battery according to claim 1, wherein the electrode is formed at one end in a longitudinal direction with an electrode portion for contacting the battery and at the other end with a screw hole for screwing the screw. Item 2. A hearing aid according to item 1. 3. The electrode is electrically connected to a predetermined circuit when the second case half is attached to the first case half by the screw. Item 2. A hearing aid according to item 1.