JP2953071B2 - 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 in which an earphone driver unit and a microphone unit are integrated.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Among known hearing aids, there is an integrated hearing aid (hereinafter simply referred to as a hearing aid) in which an earphone driver unit and a microphone unit are attached to a hearing aid body and integrated. This hearing aid has been widely used in recent years because the hearing aid body itself can be attached to the back side of the pinna of the user. In this type of hearing aid, howling tends to occur because the earphone driver unit and the microphone unit are arranged close to each other.

In order to suppress the occurrence of howling, the earphone driver unit is configured as an earplug.

[0004]

By the way, in such an earplug type hearing aid, an earplug is inserted at the entrance of the external auditory canal. Therefore, a standing wave is generated by reflection between the eardrum and the earplug, and the frequency is reduced. A sharp peak or dip occurs due to characteristics, which causes a sense of incongruity in hearing. In addition, the standing wave at a low frequency brings a feeling of pressure peculiar to the earphone.

The present invention solves such a conventional problem, and proposes a hearing aid that suppresses the generation of standing waves and the like while utilizing the characteristics of an earplug type having excellent sound insulation. .

[0006]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is formed so as to have an inner diameter substantially the same as the external auditory canal, one end serving as an auricle attachment portion, and the other end provided with a non-reflection end of sound. And an earphone driver unit disposed in the hollow tube of the acoustic tube on the side of the pinna.

[0007]

The sound tube functioning as an earphone body is attached to the ear canal. An earphone driver unit 24 is disposed in the hollow tube of the acoustic tube 14. The non-reflective end 17 of the sound is provided on the side of the acoustic tube 14 opposite to the auricle mounting part 16.
It has been done. The non-reflective end 17 side of the acoustic tube 14 is housed in the hearing aid main body 12, and the pinna attachment portion 16 is exposed to the outside. A microphone unit 30 is attached to a part of the acoustic tube 14 exposed to the outside and close to the pinna 18.

[0008] One end of the acoustic tube 14 is filled with a sound absorbing material 28 to act as the non-reflective end 17, so that no standing wave is generated between the ear canal 22 and the acoustic tube 14. As a result, the acoustic frequency characteristics are improved, and the hearing sensation does not deteriorate or the feeling of oppression does not occur.

[0009]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a hearing aid according to the present invention; FIG.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a hearing aid 10 according to the present invention. Reference numeral 12 denotes a hearing aid body. The hearing aid body 12 has an outer shape as shown in FIG. 2 so as to be easily mounted on the back side of the pinna 18 of the user. As shown in FIG.
Inside, an acoustic tube 14 functioning as an earphone body is arranged. The acoustic tube 14 is a hollow tube having substantially the same inner diameter as the external auditory canal 22. One end of the acoustic tube 14 protruding from the outside of the hearing aid main body 12 for a predetermined length is formed as an auricle mounting portion 16, and the other end is formed as an auricle mounting portion 16. A non-reflection end 17 is formed. Therefore, in this example, the non-reflection end 17 is closed, and the inside thereof is filled with a sound absorbing material 28 so as to have a predetermined thickness.
The non-reflection end 17 may have an open configuration.

Attached to the end of the auricle mounting portion 16 is a hollow opening plug 20 formed of a soft rubber material or the like.
2 to reduce uncomfortable feeling when attached to the ear canal 2 and to prevent the ear 2 from slipping out of the ear canal 22. In the acoustic tube 14, an earphone driver unit 24 is attached and fixed in a hollow tube on the side of the auricle mounting part 16. The earphone driver unit 24 is configured as a prism as shown in FIG.
In this example, each side is 3 mm and the length is 7 mm. Sound emitting unit 2 of this earphone driver unit 24
The acoustic tube 1 is suspended in the air so that 5 faces the ear canal 22 side.
4 and fixed in the tube.

The earphone driver unit 2 is attached to the acoustic tube 14 as shown in FIGS.
In the figure, two strings 26 are attached to the upper and lower faces, respectively, at diagonally opposite corners in the figure, and the four strings 26 are attached through through holes 42 formed in the hollow tubular body of the acoustic tube 14. The earphone driver unit 24 is attached by fixing to the member 44. In this case, the string 26 is stretched so that the earphone driver unit 24 does not vibrate in a normal use state. A relatively thin string 26 is used. The material may be metal or plastic. The through-hole 42 is sealed after fixing the earphone driver unit 24 so as not to communicate with the outside. The attachment member 44 may be an annular member.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a microphone unit 30 is attached and fixed to a part of the outer peripheral surface of the auricle mounting part 16, particularly near the entrance of the external auditory meatus 22.
The external sound collected by the microphone unit 30 is appropriately amplified by an amplifier 32 provided in the hearing aid body 12, and then supplied to the earphone driver unit 24, and the external sound is transmitted to the ear canal 22.

Reference numeral 34 denotes a volume control for adjusting the volume, 3
Numeral 6 denotes a knob for adjustment, which can be operated from the outside of the hearing aid main body 12, as shown in FIG. Reference numeral 38 denotes a power switch, and an internal power supply (such as a battery) 40 is supplied as a drive source of the amplifier 32. Reference numeral 41 denotes a knob for switching and controlling the power switch 38, which is also mounted so as to be operated from outside the hearing aid main body 12, as shown in FIG.

When the hearing aid 10 is configured as described above, howling does not occur because the sound tube 14 itself, which is the earphone main body, is hermetically sealed, and the end of the sound tube 14 has a non-reflective end 17. Since the earphone driver unit 24 is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the acoustic tube 14 itself,
There is no reflection between the eardrum and the earphone driver unit 24, and no standing wave is generated.

[0016]

As described above, according to the integrated hearing aid of the present invention, the effect of the sound reflected by the eardrum can be reduced while maintaining the sound insulation, so that the sound frequency characteristics of the hearing aid can be improved, and the sense of incongruity and compression can be improved. The feeling can be improved.

Also, since the earphone driver unit is housed inside the acoustic tube, outside the acoustic tube,
Moreover, since the microphone unit can be attached to the outer peripheral surface of the pinna attachment portion near the entrance of the ear canal, the sound collection effect is also improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a hearing aid according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the hearing aid of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of an earphone driver unit.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a main part showing an example of mounting an earphone driver unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Hearing aid 12 Hearing aid main body 14 Acoustic tube 16 Auricle attachment part 17 Non-reflective end 18 Auricle 22 External auditory canal 24 Earphone driver unit 28 Sound absorbing material 30 Microphone unit 36 Volume adjustment knob 41 Power switch knob

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An acoustic tube having substantially the same inner diameter as the ear canal, one end of which serves as an auricle attachment portion, and the other end of which serves as a non-reflection end of sound. A hearing aid comprising: an earphone driver unit disposed in a hollow tube.