JP6184295B2 - Ear hole type hearing aid - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ear hole type hearing aid that is inserted into the ear canal and mounted, and more particularly to a device that is suitable for mounting and removing the ear hole type hearing aid.

  There is a widespread use of ear hole type hearing aids that are inserted into the external auditory canal and worn. As an example of an ear-hole type hearing aid, a linear member having flexibility is provided so as to protrude from the main body, and a member that picks up the linear member and inserts the hearing aid main body into the ear canal or removes it from the ear canal is known.

  The following Patent Document 1 describes a hearing aid provided with such a linear member. This hearing aid is provided with a single drawstring as a linear member. One end of the drawstring is fixed to the case, and the other end is a free end. Patent Document 2 below describes a hearing aid in which a ring-shaped connecting portion is provided on the case surface, and a single string as a linear member is passed through the through-hole of the connecting portion to form a ring shape. Yes.

JP 2001-238296 A JP 2007-124022 A

  The hearing aid described in Patent Document 1 is configured such that one drawstring protrudes linearly. Therefore, when the user picks the pull string and inserts the hearing aid into the external auditory canal, it is difficult to recognize the rotational direction shift of the hearing aid with respect to the external ear canal. In particular, in the case of a custom-made ear canal type hearing aid made by matching the case shape with the user's external auditory canal shape, if the angle in the rotational direction is shifted, it cannot be successfully inserted into the ear canal. Further, in the hearing aid described in Patent Document 2, since the ring-shaped string freely moves with respect to the through hole, the user stabilizes the hearing aid body when picking the string and inserting the hearing aid into the ear canal. It ’s hard. Therefore, the hearing aids described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 may be difficult to wear.

  Further, when the hearing aid is handled by picking the linear member as described above, stress due to bending or pulling is applied to the linear member. For this reason, a linear member deteriorates by use and a linear member may be cut. In the case of the hearing aid described in Patent Document 1, if the pull string is cut from the root, the pull string cannot be picked. Moreover, in the case of the hearing aid described in Patent Document 2, when the string is cut, the string comes off. In these cases, it is difficult to remove the hearing aid from the ear canal when the hearing aid is attached.

  Then, an object of this invention is to provide the ear hole type hearing aid excellent in detachability.

  The hearing aid of the present invention is an ear hole type hearing aid in which a linear member for gripping is provided on a case. In the case, a pair of holes are formed in a surface on the outside world side when the case is inserted into the ear canal. One end portion of the linear member is inserted into one hole, the other end portion is inserted into the other hole, and each end portion is fixed to the case.

  According to the hearing aid having such a configuration, both ends of the linear member are respectively inserted into the pair of holes, and the linear member is curved so as to draw a part of the ring. Then, the outline of the surface is formed in the region surrounded by the linear member. Therefore, when the hearing aid is inserted into the external auditory canal by picking the linear member, the entire curved portion can be grasped in a plane, so that the rotation direction of the hearing aid can be roughly grasped intuitively only with the sense of the fingertip. The rotation angle when the hearing aid is inserted can be stabilized.

  In addition, as described above, the end portions of the linear members are inserted into the respective holes formed at two locations, so that the two linear members are picked when the linear members are picked. As a result, the stress is dispersed in two, so the load applied to the linear member is reduced, and the linear member is difficult to cut. Moreover, even if the linear member is cut, it can be picked from at least one end of the linear member to the position where the linear member is cut.

  Furthermore, since each edge part of a linear member is fixed to a case, compared with the structure where the ring-shaped linear member of patent document 2 hangs, it can prevent that a linear member fluctuates. For this reason, the user can easily recognize the position of the linear member without visual observation in a state where the hearing aid is attached to the ear. Therefore, the linear member can be easily picked with the hearing aid attached.

  In addition, since the linear member bulges larger than the distance between the holes, the user who picks up the curved linear member feels like picking up the surface of the region surrounded by the linear member. Become. However, since the holes provided in the case are formed on the outer surface, the distance between the holes is small. Therefore, by bending the linear member so as to swell as described above, it is possible to provide a feeling that the user picks a surface of an appropriate size when picking the linear member. Therefore, it is possible to comfortably wear the hearing aid.

  As described above, the ear hole type hearing aid of the present invention is excellent in detachability.

  The pair of holes are preferably formed to be horizontal when the case is inserted into the ear canal. By forming the hole in this way, the user can attach and remove the hearing aid at a natural hand position.

  As described above, according to the present invention, an ear hole type hearing aid excellent in detachability is provided.

It is a figure which shows the hearing aid which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the cross section of the battery holder in the VV line | wire of FIG. 1, and the mode of a linear member. It is a figure which shows the mode in the middle of mounting | wearing with the hearing aid of FIG.

  Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a custom-made ear hole type hearing aid according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following description, a hearing aid means a custom-made ear hole type hearing aid unless otherwise specified.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a CIC (Complete In the Canal) type hearing aid according to an embodiment of the present invention. The vertical direction in FIG. 1 is the vertical direction at the time of mounting. As shown in FIG. 1, the hearing aid 1 includes a case 10 and a linear member 20. The case 10 includes a shell 11, a face plate 12, and a battery holder 13, and the outer shape of the hearing aid 1 is generally formed by the shell 11, the face plate 12, and the battery holder 13.

  The shell 11 has a shape that matches the shape of the ear canal. An earphone sound port 32 is formed at the tip of the eardrum side.

  The face plate 12 is disposed so as to close the opening of the shell 11, and the shell 11 is on the outside side in a state where the hearing aid 1 is inserted into the ear canal. Further, the battery holder 13 is attached to the face plate 12 substantially at the center. Furthermore, in this embodiment, a microphone sound port 31 for propagating external sound to a microphone (not shown) in the shell 11 is formed on the face plate 12. The sound propagating from the microphone sound port 31 into the shell is detected by the microphone, and after hearing processing such as amplification processing for each frequency band, output restriction, noise suppression, etc., by a DSP (digital signal processor) (not shown) Sound is output from an earphone (not shown), and output from the earphone sound port 32 of the shell 11 to the outside of the hearing aid 1.

  The battery holder 13 is attached to the face plate 12 so as to be able to open and close, and further has a mechanism for holding the battery inside the hearing aid 1. In addition, the battery holder 13 is formed with a pair of holes H for inserting the linear members 20. When viewed from above, the linear member 20 is curved like the contour of a shoe spatula, and when viewed from the side, the linear member 20 stands substantially perpendicular to the face plate 12.

  The linear member 20 is made of a resin wire, and has a diameter of, for example, about 0.4 mm and a length of, for example, about 2-3 cm. As resin which comprises the linear member 20, nylon can be mentioned, for example. It may be colored such as skin color or moss green. Both ends of the linear member 20 are inserted into holes H formed in the battery holder 13, respectively.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a cross section of the battery holder 13 and a state of the linear member 20 taken along the line V-V in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, each hole H in the present embodiment is two through holes arranged apart from each other. The hole H is formed in a mortar shape so that the diameter increases from the outer surface side to the inner surface side of the battery holder 13, and the outer surface side of the hole H is a small diameter portion and the inner surface side is a large diameter portion. The imaginary line L is a line indicating the direction of the central axis of each hole H. As indicated by the imaginary line L, each hole H is formed so that the central axis is perpendicular to the outer surface of the battery holder 13. For this reason, the axial direction of each hole H is made mutually parallel. Further, the hole H may be formed so that the central axis is in a letter C shape (in a direction away from each other) so that the linear member 20 is not twisted.

  Each end portion 21 of the linear member 20 inserted into each hole H is provided with a retaining process from the hole H. In the present embodiment, each end portion 21 is expanded in diameter by thermal processing and is accommodated in a mortar-like shape of the hole H. Therefore, even if the linear member 20 is to be pulled out, the end portion 21 whose diameter has been widened is caught by the battery holder 13 at the small diameter portion of the hole H, and is prevented from being pulled out. Each hole H is filled with an adhesive 25 from the large diameter side, and the linear member 20 is fixed to the battery holder 13. Therefore, the linear member 20 is suppressed from wobbling with respect to the case 10.

  Moreover, since the axial direction of each hole H is perpendicular | vertical with respect to a battery holder as mentioned above, the part 22 immediately after derived | led-out outside the battery holder 13 from each hole H of the linear member 20 mutually mutually Parallel and close to perpendicular to the battery holder. Therefore, compared with the case where the portion 22 forms a large angle, when the hearing aid 1 is handled by picking it with the linear member 20, it is possible to suppress the portion from being subjected to bending stress.

The linear member 20 is curved so as to draw a ring swelled from the hole H side with a sufficient length. When viewed from the side of the hearing aid 1, the linear member 20 is attached to the battery holder 13 substantially vertically, and when viewed from above the hearing aid 1, the linear member 20 is curved in the shape of a shoehorn. Therefore, the maximum width R _{L of the} contour drawn by the linear member 20 is larger than the distance R _S between the holes H. Further, the width _RL is smaller than the width of the hearing aid 1, and the curved tip of the linear member 20 is preferably set to such a length that it can be easily picked so that it does not jump out of the ear canal. In this way, the linear member 20 is curved in a ring having a diameter larger than the distance between the holes H, so that the user feels as if he / she picks a surface surrounded by the linear member 20. Thus, the linear member 20 can be picked, and the hearing aid 1 can be comfortably attached and detached.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the hearing aid 1 of FIG. 1 is being worn (a finger is not illustrated). The hearing aid 1 is attached to the human body by being inserted into the ear canal. When the hearing aid 1 is completely inserted into the ear canal, the hearing aid 1 is not visible from the front, and the linear member 20 is slightly visible. At this time, the holes H are arranged horizontally in a state where the upper body of the user is naturally raised (upright state or in a normal sitting state). That is, the surface formed by the linear member 20 being curved is horizontal when viewed from the front of the hearing aid 1.

  In general, the ear canal is bent twice and leads to the eardrum, so when inserting the hearing aid into the ear canal, it is inserted with a slight rotation. Although the surface formed by the linear member 20 is possible even in the vertical direction, it is easier to handle if the surface is in the horizontal direction. Further, in this embodiment, the battery holder 13 is opened and closed by rotating around the lower side. However, when the holes H are arranged in the vertical direction of the battery holder 13, it is not intended when the linear member 20 is picked. The battery holder 13 may open. Accordingly, the pair of holes H are formed side by side along the horizontal direction with the case 10 inserted into the ear canal, so that the user can wear and remove the hearing aid 1 at the natural hand position. Can do it.

As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated to the example for embodiment, this invention is not limited to these. For example, in the above embodiment, each hole H is formed in the battery holder 13, and the linear member 20 is fixed to the battery holder 13. However, for example, the hole H may be formed in the face plate 12 and the linear member 20 may be fixed to the face plate 12.
Further, even when applied to a hearing aid of a type in which the case extends to the concha cavity with a slightly larger hearing aid, the hearing aid can be easily attached and detached.

  As described above, according to the present invention, an ear hole type hearing aid excellent in detachability is provided, and it is expected to be used for various types of ear hole type hearing aids.

1 ... Hearing aid (Ear hole type hearing aid)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Case 11 ... Shell 12 ... Face plate 13 ... Battery holder 20 ... Linear member 21 ... End part 25 ... Adhesive 31 ... Earphone sound mouth 32- ..Microphone sound outlet

Claims (2)

Case and
A linear member for gripping;
With
In the case, a pair of holes are formed on the outside in a state where the case is inserted into the ear canal,
One end of the linear member is inserted into one of the holes, the other end is inserted into the other hole, and each of the ends is fixed to the case,
The ear hole type hearing aid, wherein the linear member is curved so as to swell larger than a distance between the holes, thereby forming a contour of a surface. The ear hole type hearing aid according to claim 1, wherein the pair of holes are formed side by side so as to be in a horizontal direction in a state where the case is inserted into the ear canal.

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