JP3058580B2 - Bone conduction voice pickup device and communication device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bone conduction sound pickup device comprising a piezoelectric element for detecting bone conduction sound, and a housing for accommodating the piezoelectric element while supporting the vibration element so as to be freely vibrated. The present invention relates to a communication device including a bone conduction voice pickup device and a receiving earphone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Such a bone conduction audio pickup device is
The bone conduction sound to the human ear is converted into an electric signal by a piezoelectric element such as a piezoelectric ceramic element and detected.
Further, such a communication device is provided with both functions of transmission and reception by providing a reception earphone to the bone conduction voice pickup device. As a configuration for detecting human voice, it is common to place and detect a microphone such as an electret condenser type at the mouth of a person, but for example, it is used outdoors for use as a transceiver or a mobile phone. In such cases, it is often impossible to accurately detect human voice due to the mixing of external noise.

[0003] In recent years, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-172794, a bone conduction sound to a human ear is detected by converting transmitted vibration into an electric signal to detect external noise. There has been proposed a technique for detecting a sound in a state where the sound is hardly affected. In this publication, as shown in FIG. 6, a bone conduction microphone unit 101 containing a vibration pickup element 100 is brought into resilient contact with the wall surface of the external auditory meatus O, and the vibration of the bone conduction sound is transmitted to the vibration pickup element 10.
Tells 0. In this publication, a bone conduction microphone unit 101 for detecting bone conduction voice and an earphone unit 102 are integrated to constitute a communication device.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, since the bone conduction microphone unit 101 is inserted deep into the ear canal, the user may feel uncomfortable or uncomfortable, and it is difficult to use the microphone for a long time. There was an inconvenience.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a bone conduction voice pickup device capable of reducing a user's discomfort and discomfort, and a call including the bone conduction voice pickup device with a receiving earphone. The point is to provide a device.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the housing accommodating the piezoelectric element for detecting the bone conduction sound is provided at the bottom of the concha cavity by the housing support member. Since the side portions are kept in contact, the piezoelectric element can accurately convert the bone conduction sound into an electric signal. Moreover, the concha region where the housing is kept in contact is located outside the ear canal and is usually used to support the earphones. Even if the contact is made, the user feels a sense of discomfort and discomfort is slight, and thus a bone conduction audio pickup device that can reduce the discomfort and discomfort of the user can be provided.

[0006] Further, by providing the configuration of the second aspect, the piezoelectric element formed in the shape of a strip takes a posture along the bottom surface or the side surface of the concha cavity, so that the vibration of the bone conduction sound is effective. The bone conduction sound can be efficiently converted to an electric signal. In addition, with the configuration according to the third aspect, both the housing for accommodating the piezoelectric element and the housing supporting member for supporting the housing can be located in the concha region of the concha. The overall size can be reduced.

Further, by providing the structure described in the fourth aspect, the housing for accommodating the piezoelectric element is provided in a cantilevered state with respect to the extension of the housing support member and around the axis along the extension direction of the extension. Because the device is swingably supported, the device can be worn on the right ear, or on the left ear, or even if there are individual differences in the shape and size of the concha region. In addition, the housing can be kept in contact with the concha region in an appropriate posture. In other words, when the device is worn on the right ear, or when worn on the left ear,
Or, in the case of adapting to the shape and size of the concha region with individual differences, the relative position of the housing and the housing support member for maintaining the housing accommodating the piezoelectric element in proper contact with the concha region. In many cases, the positional relationship between the housing and the housing support member is fixedly set, so that it is necessary to manufacture the housing exclusively for the right ear, for the left ear, or for each individual. On the other hand, by supporting the housing so that it can swing freely as described above, it can be used for both left and right ears, and it can absorb individual differences between individuals and can be manufactured as a general-purpose product Therefore, the present invention can be made more advantageous in terms of implementation.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the housing supporting member for keeping the housing accommodating the piezoelectric element in contact with the concha of ear cavity is formed of a receiving earphone, thereby supporting the housing. Can be shared by a receiving earphone, and the overall size of the communication device can be reduced. In addition, with the configuration according to the sixth aspect, the groove formed between the housing of the piezoelectric element and the earphone for receiving suppresses the transmission of the vibration due to the sound output from the earphone for receiving to the piezoelectric element. However, generation of so-called howling and echo can be prevented.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the housing of the piezoelectric element is provided in a cantilevered state on an extension extending from the main body of the housing supporting member forming the earphone for receiving to the lower outside of the ear. Since this extension is used as a path for a reception signal transmission cable for receiving earphones and a transmission signal transmission cable for transmitting an electric signal generated by the piezoelectric element, the routing of these cables is complicated. In addition, it is possible to prevent the cables from being exposed more than necessary, and to prevent as much as possible damages caused by hooking with other objects.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which a bone conduction voice pickup device according to the present invention is provided with a receiving earphone as a communication device will be described below with reference to the drawings. [First Embodiment] A bone conduction voice pickup device VP is
As shown in FIG. 1, a housing 1 containing a piezoelectric ceramic element 12 as a piezoelectric element, and a receiving earphone 6 also serving as a housing support member H for mounting the housing 1 on an ear are provided. I have. By providing the earphone 6 for receiving a call in this way, the bone conduction voice pickup device VP constitutes the communication device TR. The communication device TR is attached to the concha region Y of the human ear, which is indicated by hatching in FIG. The mounted state is as shown in the sectional view of FIG.
Is the bottom B of the concha region Y by the receiving earphone 6.
And is kept in contact with the side portion S. Therefore, the receiving earphone 6 is a housing support member H that supports the housing 1.

[0011] The housing 1 is connected to an extension 6b extending from the main body 6a of the earphone 6 for reception to the lower part of the outside of the ear when attached to the ear, and has a forked shape as a whole. That is, as is apparent from FIG. 1B, a groove T is formed between the housing 1 and the earphone 6 for reception, and the interval between the grooves T is about 1 mm. The housing 1 is formed of urethane resin, vinyl chloride, or the like. In the housing 1, in addition to the piezoelectric ceramic element 12, a field-effect transistor 13 and the field-effect transistor 13 are mounted. A substrate 10 for fixing and holding one longitudinal end of the formed piezoelectric ceramic element 12 is provided, and the piezoelectric ceramic element 12 is free to vibrate in the housing 1 in a posture along the bottom surface of the concha cavity Y. Supported. In addition, the shape of the housing 1 around the location where the piezoelectric ceramic element 12 is present is also a shape conforming to such a posture of the piezoelectric ceramic element 12. Thereby, the piezoelectric ceramic element 1
The contact area between the housing 1 near the base 2 and the bottom B and the side S of the concha cavity Y can be increased, and the vibration of the bone conduction sound can be transmitted to the piezoelectric ceramic element 12 effectively. The terminals of the substrate 10 include a piezoelectric ceramic element 12
A transmission signal transmission cable 7 for outputting the converted electric signal is connected. The transmission signal transmission cable 7 is connected to a communication device (not shown) through a passage in the extension 6b of the earphone 6 for reception. Connected.

The receiving earphone 6 is provided with an earphone unit 8 having a small speaker and the like. The earphone unit 8 has a receiving signal transmission cable 9 for transmitting a voice signal from a communication device (not shown) to the earphone unit 8. Is connected. On the sound emission surface 8a of the earphone unit 8, a minute opening 8b for sound emission is formed, and on both sides of the sound emission surface 8a, the emitted sound is smoothly guided to the ear canal entrance E which is the entrance of the ear canal. The housing of the earphone 6 for reception is formed such that the sound path 3 is present. The reception signal transmission cable 9 is connected to a communication device (not shown) through a passage in the extension 6b of the reception earphone 6, similarly to the transmission signal transmission cable 7. The transmission signal transmission cable 7 and the reception signal transmission cable 9 are bundled by the cable holder 4 attached to the end of the extension 6b,
It is inserted into the covering cord 5. As shown in FIG. 2, the circuit configuration of the communication device TR is configured to output the output voltage of the piezoelectric ceramic element 12 after impedance conversion and amplification by the field effect transistor 13, and
Transmission signal transmission cable 7 and reception signal transmission cable 9
And one line is a common line. When the user has a conversation while the telephone set TR having the above-mentioned configuration is worn on the ear as shown in FIG. 4, the vibration caused by the voice is transmitted to the ear as bone conduction voice, and the vibration causes the piezoelectric ceramic element 1 to move.
2 vibrates and is converted into an electric signal corresponding to the audio signal. The electric signal is transmitted to the conversation partner via the transmission signal transmission cable 7 and a communication device (not shown).
The conversation made by the other party is converted into voice by the earphone 6 for receiving via the communication device (not shown) and the cable 9 for transmitting the receiving signal, and the conversation in a state where the influence of external noise is reduced between the two. I can do it.

[Second Embodiment] In a second embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3 (a) and FIG. 3 (b) which is a sectional view taken along the line P--P in FIG. The housing 1 for accommodating the receiver 12 and the earphone 6 for receiving are separately formed. The same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. The housing 1 that houses the piezoelectric ceramic element 12 has a vertical through hole formed at the end opposite to the side on which the piezoelectric ceramic element 12 is housed, and the extension 6b of the earphone 6 for receiving is inserted into the through hole. Therefore, it is in a fitted state. As a result, the housing 1 is attached to the extension 6b in a cantilever state and the extension 6b.
Are supported so as to be swingable about an axis along the extension direction of the axis, that is, substantially around the axis of the vertical axis. Note that the presence of the fitting portion suppresses the transmission of vibration from the earphone 6 for reception to the piezoelectric ceramic element 12 housed in the front end portion of the housing 1 which is in contact with the bottom of the concha cavity Y, and the communication state is maintained. To maintain good.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the swing width of the housing 1 is defined by the distance between the stopper surface 21 formed on the extension 6b and the base-side outer surface 22 of the housing 1. It is possible to swing about ± 20 ° around the posture shown in (b). A space is formed in the extension 6b serving as the pivot axis of the housing 1 and serves as a passage for the transmission signal transmission cable 7 and the reception signal transmission cable 9 as in the first embodiment. Further, the piezoelectric ceramic element 12 and the field effect transistor 1 in the housing 1
3 and the like are covered by a shield case 11 to prevent external noise from entering the circuit.

[Other Embodiments] Other alternative embodiments will be listed below. In the above embodiment, the bone conduction voice pickup device V
P includes a receiving earphone 6 to constitute the communication device TR. The bone conduction voice pickup device VP having only a transmitting function except for the earphone unit 8 from the first or second embodiment is described. You may use as. in this case,
Only the upper edge of the earphone 6 for receiving is supported by the housing support member H.
For example, the shape of the housing support member H can be variously changed. In the above-described embodiment, the housing 1 that houses the piezoelectric ceramic element 12 includes the bottom portion B and the side portion S of the concha cavity portion Y.
Although the configuration is such that contact is maintained with only the bottom portion B or only the side portion S, a configuration may be employed. In a configuration in which the housing 1 is kept in contact with only the side portion S of the concha region Y, it is desirable that the piezoelectric ceramic element 12 be disposed in a posture along the side surface of the concha region Y.

In the claims, reference numerals are provided for convenience of comparison with the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the structure shown in the accompanying drawings.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a communication device according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a circuit configuration diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a communication device according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a mounted state according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an ear according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a prior art

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Housing 6 Earphone for reception 6a Main part 6b Extension 7 Transmission signal transmission cable 9 Reception signal transmission cable 12 Piezoelectric element H Housing support member T Groove

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-4-172794 (JP, A) JP-A-8-265888 (JP, A) JP-A-8-265887 (JP, A) 97189 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model 4-103752 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model 63-171084 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Application 5-88084 (JP, U) (58) Fields surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04R 1/00 327 H04R 1/10 104 H04R 17/00

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. A bone conduction sound pickup device comprising: a piezoelectric element (12) for detecting bone conduction sound; and a housing (1) for accommodating the piezoelectric element (12) in a state of being supported in a freely oscillating manner. A bone conduction audio pickup device provided with a housing support member (H) for keeping the housing (1) in contact with the bottom or side of a concha region of a human. 2. The piezoelectric element (12) is formed in a strip shape, and the housing support member (H) is connected to the piezoelectric element (1).
2. The bone conduction audio pickup device according to claim 1, wherein the bone conduction audio pickup device is configured to support the housing so that a longitudinal direction of 2) is along a bottom surface or a side surface of the concha region. 3. The housing support member (H) comes into contact with an upper portion or a side portion of the concha region to contact the housing (1) with a bottom portion or a side portion of the concha region. The bone conduction audio pickup device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the bone conduction audio pickup device is configured to be maintained. 4. The housing support member (H) includes a main body (6a) in contact with an upper part of the concha region, and an outer side of the ear from the main body (6a) when attached to the ear. An extension (6b) extending downward, wherein the housing (1) swings around the axis along the extension direction of the extension (6b) in a cantilevered state with the extension (6b). The bone conduction audio pickup device according to claim 3, wherein the piezoelectric element (12) is housed at a distal end portion of the housing (1) that contacts the bottom of the concha cavity portion. 5. An earphone (6) comprising a bone conduction voice pickup device (VP) according to claim 1, wherein the housing support member (H) is a receiving earphone (6).
An intercom that is formed as: 6. A groove (T) for preventing transmission of vibration is formed between a housing (1) of the piezoelectric element (12) and the earphone (6) for receiving a sound. Intercom equipment. 7. A transmission signal transmission cable (7) from the piezoelectric element (12) and a reception signal to the reception earphone (6) in an extension (6b) of the housing support member (H). 7. The communication device according to claim 6, wherein the communication device is formed as a passage for a transmission cable.