JP6234081B2 - measuring device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a measuring apparatus for evaluating an electronic device that transmits a sound based on vibration of a vibrating body to a user by pressing the vibrating body held in the housing against a human ear.

  Patent Document 1 describes an electronic device such as a mobile phone that transmits air conduction sound and bone conduction sound to a user (user). According to Patent Document 1, air conduction sound is sound transmitted to the auditory nerve of a user by vibration of air that is caused by vibration of an object being transmitted to the eardrum through the external auditory canal. Have been described. Patent Document 1 describes that bone conduction sound is sound transmitted to the user's auditory nerve through a part of the user's body (for example, cartilage of the outer ear) that contacts the vibrating object. ing.

  In the telephone set described in Patent Document 1, it is described that a short plate-like vibrating body made of a piezoelectric bimorph and a flexible material is attached to the outer surface of a housing via an elastic member. Further, in Patent Document 1, when a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric bimorph of the vibrating body, the vibrating body bends and vibrates as the piezoelectric material expands and contracts in the longitudinal direction, and the user contacts the vibrating body with the auricle. It is described that air conduction sound and bone conduction sound are transmitted to the user.

JP 2005-348193 A

  By the way, as described in Patent Document 1, in order to evaluate an electronic device that transmits air conduction sound and bone conduction sound through the cartilage of the outer ear to the user, it acts on the auditory nerve of the human body by vibration of the vibration body. It is necessary to approximately measure the sound pressure and the amount of vibration. Here, the following two measuring methods are known as methods for measuring the vibration amount.

  The first measurement method is to measure a vibration amount as a voltage by pressing a vibrating body to be measured against an artificial mastoid for measuring a bone-conducting vibrator that mechanically simulates a milk projecting part behind an ear. . In the second measurement method, for example, a vibration pickup such as a piezoelectric acceleration pickup is pressed against a vibration body to be measured, and the amount of vibration is measured as a voltage.

  However, the measurement voltage obtained by the first measurement method is a voltage in which the characteristics of the human body when the vibrating body is pressed against the milk projecting part behind the human ear are mechanically weighted. The characteristic of vibration transmission when is pressed against the human ear is not a weighted voltage. Further, the measurement voltage obtained by the second measurement method is obtained by directly measuring the vibration amount of the vibrating body, and is not a voltage in which the characteristics of vibration transmission of the human ear are weighted. Therefore, even if the vibration amount of the vibrating body is measured by the conventional measurement method, it is impossible to correctly evaluate the electronic device that transmits the air conduction sound and the bone conduction sound to the user via the cartilage of the outer ear.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described viewpoints, and provides a measuring apparatus that can measure a vibration amount weighted with a feature of vibration transmission of a human ear and can accurately evaluate an electronic device having the vibrating body. It is the purpose.

A measuring device according to the present invention that achieves the above object is a measuring device for evaluating an electronic device that presses a vibrating body against a human ear and hears sound by vibration transmission,
An ear mold imitating the human ear,
A plurality of vibration pickups arranged in the peripheral part of the artificial external ear canal formed in the ear mold part ,
The ear mold part includes an artificial ear canal part, an ear model coupled to the artificial ear canal part, and a vibration transmission part coupled to the artificial ear canal part,
The artificial ear canal is formed in the artificial ear canal part,
The vibration transmitting portion is made of a vibration transmitting member having a hole communicating with the artificial ear canal, said plurality of vibration pickups to the vibration transmitting portion that is attached.
The measuring device according to the present invention is a measuring device for evaluating an electronic device that presses a vibrating body against a human ear and hears sound by vibration transmission,
An ear mold imitating the human ear,
A plurality of vibration pickups arranged in the peripheral part of the artificial external ear canal formed in the ear mold part,
The ear mold part includes an artificial ear canal part, an ear model coupled to the artificial ear canal part, and a vibration transmission part coupled to the artificial ear canal part,
The artificial ear canal is formed in the artificial ear canal part,
The vibration transmission unit includes a plurality of vibration transmission members coupled to a peripheral portion of the artificial external ear canal, and the vibration pickup is attached to each of the plurality of vibration transmission members.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the vibration amount by which the characteristic of the vibration transmission of the human body ear was weighted can be measured, and the electronic device which has a vibrating body can be evaluated correctly.

It is a figure which shows an example of the mobile telephone as an electronic device which can be measured with the measuring apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the hearing aid as an electronic device which can be measured with the measuring apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a side view of the vibrating body of the hearing aid of FIG. It is a figure which shows the state which mounted | wore the user's ear with the hearing aid of FIG. It is a figure which shows the other example of a hearing aid as an electronic device which can be measured with the measuring apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the part which the hearing aid of FIG. 5 is contact | abutting to the tragus. It is a side view of the vibrating body of the hearing aid of FIG. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the measuring apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the vibration detection part of FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the vibration measuring head of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the principal part of the measuring apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the vibration measurement head for demonstrating the gain calibration of the output of two vibration pick-ups of FIG. FIG. 12 is a diagram schematically illustrating gain characteristics of two equalizers corresponding to the two vibration pickups in FIG. 11. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the principal part of the measuring apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the principal part of the measuring apparatus which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

  First, prior to the description of the embodiments of the present invention, electronic devices that can be measured by the measuring apparatus according to the present invention will be described.

  The electronic devices that can be measured are all electronic devices that press the vibrating body against the ears of the human body and hear sound through vibration transmission. Such electronic devices include hearing aids such as known bone conduction type hearing aids, earphones, etc., in addition to voice communication devices such as telephones disclosed in Patent Document 1. In addition, electronic devices such as those exemplified below are also included in the measurement target.

  The electronic device shown in FIG. 1 is a mobile phone 101 such as a smartphone according to the applicant's proposal, and has a rectangular panel 103 larger than a human ear on the surface of a rectangular casing 102. This mobile phone 101 transmits a sound to the user by vibration transmission by vibrating the panel 103 as a vibrating body and pressing the panel 103 so as to cover the user's ear.

  The electronic device shown in FIG. 2 is a hearing aid 110 according to the inventor's proposal, and includes a vibrating body 111. The vibrating body 111 includes a pressing member 112a and an attachment portion 113. The pressing member 112a is attached to the vibrating body 111. For example, when the vibrating body 111 contacts the user's tragus, the vibrating body 111 is brought into contact with a part of the external auditory canal facing the tragus, for example, near the tragus. Press against the tragus. Here, the position where the vibrating body 111 contacts the user's ear may be, for example, tragus, antitragus, concha, or auricle. Here, an example in which the position in contact with the user's ear is the tragus (the inner wall of the external auditory canal on the tragus side) will be described.

  The attachment portion 113 is a member for attaching the pressing member 112 a to the vibrating body 111. The pressing member 112a and the attachment portion 113 are shaped to fit each other. Preferably, the pressing member 112a has a concave cut portion 114a, and the attachment portion 113 has a convex shape that fits into the cut portion 114a. The pressing member 112a is detachable from the vibrating body 111 by sliding in the width direction. Preferably, the vibrating body 111 has a thickness (D) of 4 mm and a width (W) of 15 mm or less. When the size is within this range, the vibrator 111 can be housed in the external auditory canal of the user's ear without limiting the gender age (except for infants and younger). Preferably, the pressing member 112a has three types of sizes (small size, medium size, and large size), and selects one of the pressing members 112a, 112b, and 112c according to the size of the user's ear. And attached to the attaching portion 113 of the pressing member.

  The holding part 120 includes a support part 121, an ear hooking part 122, and a main body part 123, and holds the vibrating body 111 at a position in contact with the user's ear (an inner wall of the ear canal side). An end portion of the support portion 121 is connected to the vibrating body 111. The support portion 121 has a hollow structure, and the lead processing to the vibrating body 111 is performed through the hollow structure. Further, the support part 121 has a rigidity that does not change the angle of the vibrating body 111. The other end of the support 121 is connected to the end of the ear hook 122.

  The ear hook 122 abuts on the outside of the user's pinna and wears the hearing aid 110 on the user's ear. Preferably, the ear hook 122 has a hook shape along the user's pinna, whereby the hearing aid 110 is stably attached to the user's ear. The other end of the ear hook 122 is connected to the main body 123. The main body unit 123 includes a microphone unit 124, a volume / sound quality adjustment interface unit, a control unit, and the like.

  FIG. 3 is a side view of the vibrating body 111. The vibrating body 111 includes a piezoelectric element 115 and a panel 116. The piezoelectric element 115 is an element that expands / contracts or bends (curves) in accordance with an electromechanical coupling coefficient of a constituent material by applying an electric signal (voltage). For these elements, for example, those made of ceramic or quartz are used. The piezoelectric element 115 is composed of a unimorph, bimorph, or multilayer piezoelectric element. The stacked piezoelectric element includes a stacked unimorph element in which unimorphs are stacked (for example, 16 layers or 24 layers), or a stacked bimorph element in which bimorphs are stacked (for example, 16 layers or 24 layers are stacked). The laminated piezoelectric element is composed of a laminated structure of a plurality of dielectric layers made of, for example, PZT (lead zirconate titanate) and electrode layers arranged between the plurality of dielectric layers. A unimorph expands and contracts when an electric signal (voltage) is applied, and a bimorph bends when an electric signal (voltage) is applied. Preferably, the piezoelectric element 115 has a plate shape in which the size of a surface (hereinafter referred to as a main surface) that contacts the panel 116 is 4.0 mm in width and 17.5 mm in length.

  The piezoelectric element 115 is bonded to the panel 116 with a bonding member. The panel 116 is made of synthetic resin such as glass or acrylic. The shape of the panel 116 is preferably a plate shape. The bonding member is provided between the main surface of the piezoelectric element 115 and the main surface of the panel 116. As the joining member, for example, a non-heating type curable adhesive or a double-sided tape is used. In addition, the piezoelectric element 115 is covered with a mold 117 except for the joint surface with the panel 116. On the upper part of the mold 117, a pressing member 112a and a pressing member mounting portion 113 are provided.

  Preferably, the surface (main surface) that contacts the ear of panel 116 has an area that is 0.8 to 10 times the area of the main surface of piezoelectric element 115. If the main surface of the panel 116 is in the range of 0.8 to 10 times the main surface of the piezoelectric element 115, the panel 116 can be deformed according to the expansion or contraction or bending of the piezoelectric element 115, and the contact area with the user's ear can be reduced. Enough can be secured. The area of the main surface of the panel 116 is more preferably, for example, 0.8 to 5 times the area of the main surface of the piezoelectric element 115. Accordingly, the size of the main surface of the panel 116 is, for example, a width of 10 mm and a length of 18 mm.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the hearing aid 110 is worn on the user's ear. FIG. 4A is a view of the ear seen from the front, and FIG. 4B is a view seen from the face side. The hearing aid 110 makes the user hear the sound by bringing the vibrating body 111 into contact with the user's tragus or the antitragus from the inside of the user's ear and transmitting the vibration to the tragus or the antitragus. Here, “to make the vibrating body 111 come into contact with the user's tragus or antitragus from the inside of the user's ear” means that when the vibrating body 111 is embedded in the external auditory canal of the ear, the tragus from the vicinity of the entrance to the external ear canal. It means contacting with or tragus. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the vibrating body 111 is brought into contact with the user's tragus from the inside of the user's ear. At this time, the pressing member 112a is in contact with a part of the ear canal facing the tragus.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4A, the vibrating body 111 is in the direction of the arrow a through the support portion 121 due to the weight of the holding portion 120, that is, the weight of the main body portion 123 connected to the end portion of the ear hook portion 122. Pulled on. As shown in FIG. 4 (b), the vibrating body 111 is in contact with the tragus so that the vibrating body 111 is pulled in the direction of arrow a. The force in the direction of arrow b works. That is, the weight of the holding unit 120 generates a force (pressing force) in a direction in which the vibrating body 110 is brought into contact with the user's ear. As described above, the holding unit 120 generates a pressing force on the vibrating body 111, and more reliably transmits sound due to the vibration of the vibrating body 111.

  Preferably, the vibrating body 111 is pressed against the user's ear with a force of 0.1N to 3N. When the vibrating body 111 is pressed in the range of 0.1N to 3N, the vibration by the vibrating body 111 is sufficiently transmitted to the ear. If the pressure is less than 3N, even when the hearing aid 110 is worn for a long time, the user feels less tired and can maintain comfort when worn.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4A, the above-described hearing aid 110 does not have the ear canal sealed by the vibrating body 111 and the pressing member 112a. Therefore, the hearing aid 110 does not cause a feeling of being bulky and can maintain comfort when worn.

  The electronic device shown in FIG. 5 is a hearing aid 130 similar to FIG. 2 according to the proposal of the present inventor. In the following, the same components as those shown in FIG. The hearing aid 130 is used by bringing the vibrating body 111 into contact with, for example, the tragus of the ear from the outside of the user's ear. Therefore, as shown in FIG. FIG. 6 shows a portion where the vibrating body 111 is in contact with the tragus from another angle. As shown in FIG. 6, since the vibrating body 111 is brought into contact with the protruding tragus, a portion 131 to be contacted with the tragus is provided with a concave portion 131 described later, so that the vibration body 111 can vibrate without greatly crushing the tragus. A sufficient contact area between the body 111 and the tragus can be ensured.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the holding part 120 includes a support part 121, an ear hook part 122, and a main body part 123, and vibrates at a position (a tragus) where the vibrating body 111 contacts the user's ear. The body 111 is held. An end portion of the support portion 121 is connected to the vibrating body 111. The support portion 121 has a hollow structure, and the lead processing to the vibrating body 111 is performed through the hollow structure. Further, the support part 121 has a rigidity that does not change the angle of the vibrating body 111. The other end of the support 121 is connected to the end of the ear hook 122.

  The ear hook 122 abuts on the outside of the user's pinna and wears the hearing aid 130 on the user's ear. Preferably, the ear hook 122 has a hook shape along the user's pinna, and the hearing aid 130 is stably attached to the user's ear. The other end of the ear hook 122 is connected to the main body 123. The main body 123 includes a microphone, a volume / sound quality adjustment interface, a controller, and the like.

  FIG. 7 is a side view of the vibrating body 111. As described above, the vibrating body 111 includes the piezoelectric element 115 and the panel 116. Preferably, as shown in FIG. 7, the piezoelectric element 115 has a plate shape.

  The piezoelectric element 115 is joined to the panel 116 by a joining member. The bonding member is provided between the main surface of the piezoelectric element 115 and the main surface of the panel 116. As the joining member, a non-heating type curable adhesive or a double-sided tape is used. The piezoelectric element 115 is covered with a mold 117 except for the joint surface with the panel 116.

  The main surface of the panel 116 includes a recess 131. The recess 131 is a portion where the central portion of the panel 116 is recessed. Since the tragus protrudes here, when contacting the plane, it is necessary to obtain a contact area by largely crushing the tragus. However, the hearing aid 130 of FIG. 5 includes the recess 131, and the recess 131 is brought into contact with the tragus, so that the contact area can be obtained without greatly crushing the tragus. Since it is not necessary to largely crush the tragus, the holding unit 120 may have a simple structure, and since the tragus is not largely crushed, the comfort of the user wearing the hearing aid 1 can be maintained.

  The panel 116 of the vibrating body 111 is pressed against the user's ear with a force of 0.1N to 3N. When the panel 116 is pressed in the range of 0.1N to 3N, the vibration by the panel 116 is sufficiently transmitted to the ear. If the pressure is less than 3N, even if the hearing aid 130 is worn for a long time, the user feels less tired and can maintain comfort when worn.

  Preferably, the concave portion 131 of the panel 116 has a portion that contacts the user's ear (eg, tragus) and a portion that does not contact the user's ear (eg, tragus). Since there is a part of the panel 116 that does not contact the user's ear, air conduction sound may be generated from the part.

  Preferably, the main surface of the panel 116 has an area that is 0.8 to 10 times the area of the main surface of the piezoelectric element 115. If the main surface of the panel 116 is in the range of 0.8 to 10 times the main surface of the piezoelectric element 115, the panel 116 can be deformed according to the expansion or contraction or bending of the piezoelectric element 115, and the contact area with the user's ear can be reduced. Enough can be secured. The area of the main surface of the panel 116 is more preferably, for example, 0.8 to 5 times the area of the main surface of the piezoelectric element 115.

  In addition to the hearing aids shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, electronic devices having protrusions and corners that transmit vibrations to only a part of the human ear can also be measured.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a measuring apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the measuring apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The measuring apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes an electronic device mounting unit 20 and a measuring unit 200. The measurement apparatus 10 may be configured such that the electronic device mounting unit 20 and the measurement unit 200 are integrated, or configured as a measurement system in which the electronic device mounting unit 20 and the measurement unit 200 are separated and appropriately connected. Also good. The electronic device mounting unit 20 includes a vibration measurement head 40 supported by the base 30 and a holding unit 70 that holds the electronic device 100 to be measured. The holding unit 70 detachably holds the telephone disclosed in Patent Document 1, the mobile phone 101 of FIG. First, the vibration measuring head 40 will be described.

  The vibration measurement head 40 includes an ear mold unit 50 and a vibration detection unit 55. The ear mold part 50 imitates the human ear and includes an ear model 51 and an artificial external ear canal part 52 coupled to the ear model 51. The ear mold 50 shown in FIG. 8 corresponds to the right ear of a person. An artificial external ear canal 53 is formed in the central portion of the artificial external ear canal portion 52. The artificial external ear canal 53 is formed with a diameter of 5 mm to 18 mm, and preferably a diameter of 7 mm to 8 mm, which is an average diameter of a human external ear canal. The ear mold part 50 is detachably supported by the base 30 via a support member 54 at the peripheral part of the artificial external ear canal part 52.

  The ear mold part 50 is made of, for example, a material similar to the material of an average ear model used for, for example, HATS (Head And Torso Simulator) of a human body model or KEMAR (a name of an electronic mannequin for acoustic research of Knowles). It consists of the material based on IEC60318-7. This material can be formed of a material such as rubber having a hardness of 35 to 55, for example. The rubber hardness may be measured in accordance with, for example, international rubber hardness (IRHD / M method) compliant with JIS K 6253 or ISO 48. Moreover, as a hardness measuring apparatus, the fully automatic type IRHD * M method micro size international rubber hardness tester GS680 by Teclock Co., Ltd. is used suitably. In consideration of the variation in the hardness of the ear depending on the age, the ear mold portion 50 may be prepared by roughly preparing two to three types of different hardness, and replacing them. You may produce based on the statistical data of each ear | hardness of each race, ie, yellow race, white, black, etc., for example.

  The thickness of the artificial external auditory canal 52, that is, the length of the artificial external auditory canal 53 corresponds to the length to the human eardrum (cochlea), and is appropriately set within a range of, for example, 5 mm to 50 mm, preferably 8 mm to 30 mm. . In the present embodiment, the length of the artificial external ear canal 53 is approximately 30 mm. Thus, it is preferable to provide the artificial external auditory canal 53 because the generation of air conduction sound from the inner wall of the human external auditory canal can be reproduced.

  As shown in the plan view of FIG. 9A and the front view of FIG. 9B, the vibration detection unit 55 includes a vibration transmission unit 56 and a plurality (two in this case) of vibration pickups 57a and 57b. Is provided. The vibration transmitting unit 56 includes a plate-shaped vibration transmitting member 58 having a hole 58a having a diameter substantially the same as the hole diameter of the artificial external ear canal 53, for example, a diameter of 8 mm.

  The vibration transmission member 58 can be made of a material having good vibration transmission efficiency, for example, metal, alloy such as iron, SUS, brass, aluminum, titanium, or plastic, but is light in terms of detection sensitivity. It is preferable to configure. The vibration transmitting member 58 may have a rectangular outer shape such as a square flat washer. However, since the displacement amount of the ear mold portion 50 is large in the peripheral portion of the artificial external ear canal 53, it is like a round flat washer. A ring shape is preferred. The ring-shaped outer shape can be formed, for example, by adding 6 to 12 mm to the diameter of the hole 58a, that is, the width of the ring on both radial sides of the hole 58a is about 5 mm. Further, the thickness of the vibration transmitting member 58 is appropriately set according to the strength of the material and the like.

  It is preferable that the vibration pickups 57a and 57b have a flat output characteristic in a measurement frequency range (for example, 0.1 kHz to 30 kHz) of an electronic device to be measured, and are small and light and can accurately measure even minute vibrations. As such a vibration pickup, for example, a vibration pickup such as a piezoelectric acceleration pickup, for example, a vibration pickup PV-08A manufactured by Rion Corporation can be used. The vibration pickups 57a and 57b are formed on one surface of the vibration transmission member 58, preferably at a symmetrical position with respect to the hole 58a of the vibration transmission member 58, such as grease or an instantaneous adhesive such as Aron Alpha (registered trademark). It is coupled to the vibration transmitting member 58 via a joining member.

  10A is a plan view of the vibration measuring head 40 viewed from the base 30 side, and FIG. 10B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line bb of FIG. The surface opposite to the surface on which the vibration pickups 57a and 57b are attached is bonded to the end surface of the artificial external ear canal 52 on the side opposite to the ear model 51 so that the hole 58a communicates with the artificial external ear canal 53. The Preferably, in the vibration transmission member 58, one vibration pickup 57a is disposed at a position corresponding to the tragus of the ear model 51, and the other vibration pickup 57b is disposed at a position corresponding to the opposite side across the artificial external ear canal 53. As shown in FIG. The vibration pickups 57 a and 57 b are connected to the measurement unit 200.

  Further, the vibration measuring head 40 includes a sound pressure measuring unit 60 for measuring the sound pressure of the sound propagated through the artificial external ear canal 53. The sound pressure measuring unit 60 is a sound corresponding to an air conduction component that is directly heard through the eardrum when air is vibrated by the vibration of the vibrating body when the vibrating body of the electronic device to be measured is pressed against a human ear. The sound pressure corresponding to the air conduction component for listening to the pressure and the sound generated in the ear itself through the eardrum due to the vibration of the vibrating body is measured. As shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the sound pressure measuring unit 60 is a tube member that extends from the outer wall (the peripheral wall of the hole) of the artificial external ear canal 53 through the hole 58 a of the vibration transmitting member 58 of the vibration detecting unit 55. 61 and a microphone 62 held by the tube member 61.

  The microphone 62 includes, for example, a measurement capacitor microphone having a flat output characteristic in a measurement frequency range of an electronic device and a low self-noise level. As such a microphone 62, for example, a condenser microphone UC-53A manufactured by Rion Co., Ltd. can be used. The microphone 62 is arranged such that the sound pressure detection surface substantially coincides with the end surface of the artificial external ear canal unit 52. The microphone 62 may be arranged in a floating state from the outer wall of the artificial ear canal 53 while being supported by the artificial ear canal unit 52 or the base 30, for example. The microphone 62 is connected to the measurement unit 200. In FIG. 10A, the artificial external auditory canal portion 52 has a rectangular shape, but the artificial external auditory canal portion 52 may have an arbitrary shape.

  Next, the holding unit 70 of FIG. 8 will be described. When the electronic device 100 to be measured is a mobile phone having a rectangular shape in a plan view such as a smartphone as shown in FIG. 1, when a person holds the mobile phone with one hand and presses it against his / her ear Usually, both sides of the mobile phone are supported by hand. Further, the pressing force and contact posture of the mobile phone against the ear vary depending on the person (user) or fluctuates during use. The holding unit 70 holds the electronic device 100 in consideration of such usage of the mobile phone.

  Therefore, the holding part 70 includes support parts 71 that support both side parts of the electronic device 100. The support portion 71 is attached to one end portion of the arm portion 72 so as to be rotatable and adjustable around an axis y1 parallel to the y axis in a direction in which the electronic device 100 is pressed against the ear mold portion 50. The other end of the arm portion 72 is coupled to a movement adjusting portion 73 provided on the base 30. The movement adjusting unit 73 moves the arm unit 72 in the direction parallel to the x axis orthogonal to the y axis, the vertical direction x1 of the electronic device 100 supported by the support unit 71, and the z axis orthogonal to the y axis and the x axis. In a direction parallel to the direction z1 in which the electronic device 100 is pressed against the ear mold portion 50.

  As a result, the electronic device 100 supported by the support portion 71 adjusts the support portion 71 about the axis y1 or adjusts the movement of the arm portion 72 in the z1 direction. 102) is pressed against the ear mold 50. In the present embodiment, the pressing force is adjusted in the range of 0N to 10N, preferably in the range of 3N to 8N.

  Here, the range of 0N to 10N is for the purpose of enabling measurement in a sufficiently wide range than the pressing force assumed when a person presses an electronic device against his / her ear to use a telephone call or the like. Yes. In the case of 0N, for example, not only when the ear mold part 50 is in contact but not pressed, it can be held away from the ear mold part 50 in 1 mm to 1 cm increments, and measurement can be performed at each separation distance. You may be able to do it. Thereby, the degree of attenuation due to the distance of the airway sound can be measured by the microphone 62, and the convenience as a measuring apparatus is improved. In addition, the range of 3N to 8N usually assumes an average force range that a normal hearing person presses against an ear when making a call using a conventional speaker. Although there may be differences depending on race and gender, in general, in electronic devices such as smartphones and conventional mobile phones equipped with conventional speakers, vibration and airway sounds are usually generated with a pressing force that is pressed by the user. It is preferable that it can be measured.

  In addition, by adjusting the movement of the arm unit 72 in the x1 direction, the contact posture of the electronic device 100 with respect to the ear mold unit 50 is, for example, the posture in which the panel 102 which is an example of a vibrating body covers almost the entire ear mold unit 50 As shown in FIG. 1, the panel 102 is adjusted so as to cover a part of the ear mold portion 50. The arm portion 72 is configured to be movable and adjustable in a direction parallel to the y-axis, or is configured to be rotatable and adjustable around an axis parallel to the x-axis and the z-axis, so that the ear-shaped portion 50 can be adjusted. Thus, the electronic device 100 may be configured to be adjustable to various contact postures.

  When the measurement target is an electronic device that transmits vibrations to only a part of the human ear as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the measurement target is not held by the holding unit 70, and the ear mold 50 Held directly on. In this case, the vibration measuring head 40 is preferably held on the base 30 so that the ear mold 50 is in the same state as a person standing upright.

  Next, the measurement unit 200 in FIG. 8 will be described. FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a main part of the measurement apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment. The measurement unit 200 includes a sensitivity adjustment unit 300, a signal processing unit 400, and a PC (personal computer) 500.

  Outputs of the vibration pickups 57 a and 57 b and the microphone 62 are supplied to the sensitivity adjustment unit 300. The sensitivity adjustment unit 300 includes variable gain amplification circuits 301a and 301b that adjust the amplitudes of the outputs of the vibration pickups 57a and 57b, respectively, and a variable gain amplification circuit 302 that adjusts the amplitude of the output of the microphone 62. The variable gain amplifier circuits 301a, 301b, and 302 independently adjust the amplitude of the analog input signal corresponding to each circuit to a required amplitude manually or automatically. Thereby, the error of the sensitivity of the vibration pickups 57a and 57b and the sensitivity of the microphone 62 is corrected. Note that the variable gain amplifier circuits 301a, 301b, and 302 are configured to be able to adjust the amplitude of the input signal within a range of ± 50 dB, for example.

  The output of the sensitivity adjustment unit 300 is supplied to the signal processing unit 400. The signal processing unit 400 includes an A / D conversion unit 410, a frequency characteristic adjustment unit 420, a phase adjustment unit 430, an output synthesis unit 440, a frequency analysis unit 450, a storage unit 460, an acoustic signal output unit 480, and a signal processing control unit 470. Prepare. The A / D conversion unit 410 converts A / D conversion circuits (A / D) 411a and 411b that convert the outputs of the variable gain amplification circuits 301a and 301b into digital signals, and the output of the variable gain amplification circuit 302 as a digital signal. And an A / D conversion circuit (A / D) 412 for conversion into The A / D conversion circuits 411a, 411b, and 412 can handle, for example, 16 bits or more and 96 dB or more in terms of dynamic range.

  The output of the A / D conversion unit 410 is supplied to the frequency characteristic adjustment unit 420. The frequency characteristic adjustment unit 420 includes equalizers (EQ) 421a and 421b that adjust the frequency characteristics of the detection signals by the vibration pickups 57a and 57b, which are outputs of the A / D conversion circuits 411a and 411b, respectively, and the A / D conversion circuit 412. An equalizer (EQ) 422 that adjusts the frequency characteristics of a detection signal from the microphone 62 that is an output, and a synthesis circuit 423 that is a vibration output synthesis unit that synthesizes the outputs of the equalizers 421a and 421b. The equalizers 421a, 421b, and 422 independently adjust the frequency characteristics of the respective input signals manually or automatically to frequency characteristics close to human audibility. Note that the equalizers 421a, 421b, and 422 are composed of, for example, a multiband graphical equalizer, a low-pass filter, a high-pass filter, and the like.

  The output of the frequency characteristic adjustment unit 420 is supplied to the phase adjustment unit 430. The phase adjustment unit 430 includes a variable delay circuit 431 that adjusts the phase of the combined detection signal by the vibration pickups 57 a and 57 b that is the output of the combining circuit 423. That is, the speed of sound transmitted through the material of the ear mold 50 and the speed of sound transmitted through the flesh and bones of the human body are not exactly the same, so the phase relationship between the combined outputs of the vibration pickups 57a and 57b and the output of the microphone 62 is particularly high. Therefore, it is assumed that the deviation from the human ear becomes large.

  As described above, when the phase relationship between the combined outputs of the vibration pickups 57a and 57b and the output of the microphone 62 is greatly deviated, when the outputs are combined by the output combining unit 440 described later, an amplitude peak or Dips may appear or the composite output may increase or decrease. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the phase of the combined detection signal by the vibration pickups 57a and 57b, which is the output of the combining circuit 423, is set within a predetermined range by the variable delay circuit 431 according to the measurement frequency range of the electronic device 100 to be measured. Can be adjusted.

  For example, when the measurement frequency range is 100 Hz to 10 kHz, the vibration pickup 57 in a unit smaller than at least 0.1 ms (equivalent to 10 kHz) within a range of about ± 10 ms (equivalent to ± 100 Hz) by the variable delay circuit 431, for example, 0.04 μs. Adjust the phase of the detection signal. Even in the case of a human ear, a phase shift occurs between the bone conduction sound (vibration transmission component) and the air conduction sound (air conduction component). Therefore, the phase adjustment by the variable delay circuit 431 is performed by the vibration pickups 57a and 57b and the microphone. It does not mean that the phases of both detection signals of 62 are matched, but means that the phases of both are matched to the actual audibility of the ear.

  The output of the phase adjustment unit 430 is supplied to the output synthesis unit 440 and the signal processing control unit 470. The output combining unit 440 combines the combined detection signal from the vibration pickups 57 a and 57 b whose phase is adjusted by the variable delay circuit 431 and the detection signal from the microphone 62 that has passed through the phase adjusting unit 430. As a result, it is possible to obtain the vibration amount and sound pressure transmitted by the vibration of the electronic device 100 to be measured, that is, the sensory sound pressure obtained by synthesizing the vibration transmission component and the air conduction component by approximating the human body.

  The synthesized output of the output synthesis unit 440 is supplied to the frequency analysis unit 450 and the signal processing control unit 470. The frequency analysis unit 450 includes an FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) 451 that performs frequency analysis on the synthesized output from the output synthesis unit 440. Thereby, power spectrum data corresponding to the body sensation sound pressure in which the vibration transmission component and the air conduction component are synthesized is obtained from the FFT 451.

  Further, the frequency analysis unit 450 performs frequency analysis on the signals before being synthesized by the output synthesis unit 440, that is, the synthesis detection signals by the vibration pickups 57a and 57b that have passed through the phase adjustment unit 430 and the detection signals by the microphone 62, respectively. , 453. Thereby, power spectrum data corresponding to the vibration transfer component is obtained from the FFT 452, and power spectrum data corresponding to the air conduction component is obtained from the FFT 453.

  Note that FFT 451 to 453 are set with analysis points of frequency components (power spectrum) according to the measurement frequency range of electronic device 100. For example, when the measurement frequency range of the electronic device 100 is 100 Hz to 10 kHz, the frequency component at each point obtained by equally dividing the interval in the logarithmic graph of the measurement frequency range by 100 to 2000 is set.

  Outputs of the FFTs 451 to 453 are stored in the storage unit 460. The storage unit 460 has a capacity larger than a double buffer capable of holding a plurality of pieces of analysis data (power spectrum data) obtained by the FFTs 451 to 453. The storage unit 460 can be configured to always transmit the latest data at a data transmission request timing from the PC 500 described later. Note that the double buffer configuration is not necessarily required unless analysis in real time is required.

  The acoustic signal output unit 480 is configured so that an external connection device such as headphones can be detachably connected. The acoustic signal output unit 480 includes a combined detection signal from the vibration pickups 57 a and 57 b input to the output combining unit 440 by the signal processing control unit 470, a detection signal from the microphone 62, or a combined signal from the output combining unit 440. Is selected and supplied. The acoustic signal output unit 480 appropriately adjusts the frequency characteristics of input data with an equalizer or the like, and then performs D / A conversion to an analog acoustic signal for output.

  The signal processing control unit 470 is connected to the PC 500 via an interface connection cable 510 such as a USB, RS-232C, SCSI, or PC card. The signal processing control unit 470 controls the operation of each unit of the signal processing unit 400 based on a command from the PC 500. Further, the signal processing control unit 470 is based on the command from the PC 500, the combined detection signal by the vibration pickups 57a and 57b, the phase of which is adjusted by the phase adjustment unit 430, the detection signal by the microphone 62, the combined output of the output combining unit 440, Analysis data by FFT 451 to 453 stored in storage unit 460 is transmitted to PC 500. The sensitivity adjustment unit 300 and the signal processing unit 400 may be configured as software executed on any suitable processor such as a CPU (central processing unit) or may be configured by a DSP (digital signal processor). it can. In addition, the sensitivity adjustment unit 300 is not limited to analog processing, and may be configured to be connected between the A / D conversion unit 410 and the frequency characteristic adjustment unit 420 to adjust sensitivity by digital processing. Needless to say, the PC 500 may have the functions performed by the signal processing control unit 470 and the storage unit 460.

  The PC 500 includes a memory 501, a test signal generation unit 502, an output adjustment unit 503, and the like. The memory 501 stores various data such as an electronic device evaluation application and test signals by the measuring apparatus 10, and may be a built-in memory or an external memory. The evaluation application is downloaded to the memory 501 via, for example, a CD-ROM or a network. The test signal is stored as, for example, a required WAV file (audio data) and selectively read out. The WAV file is downloaded and stored via a recording medium or a network, for example.

  For example, the PC 500 displays an application screen based on the evaluation application on the display unit 520. Further, a command is transmitted to the signal processing unit 400 based on information input via the application screen. The PC 500 receives a command response and data from the signal processing unit 400, performs predetermined processing based on the received data, displays a measurement result on the application screen, and evaluates a measurement target.

  The test signal generator 502 is preferably a desired single frequency sine wave signal (pure tone), a pure tone sweep in which the frequency sequentially changes from a low frequency to a high frequency or from a high frequency to a low frequency over a predetermined frequency range. A multisine wave signal (multisine) composed of a plurality of sine wave signals having different signals (pure tone sweep) and frequencies is selectively generated and output. The predetermined frequency range in the pure tone sweep can be set as appropriate within the audible frequency range. The amplitudes at sequential frequencies in the pure tone sweep are preferably the same. Also for multisine, the amplitude of each sine wave is preferably the same.

  The output adjustment unit 503 has a predetermined signal format such as converting the test signal output from the memory 501 or the test signal generation unit 502 into, for example, an analog signal according to the signal format of the external input of the electronic device 100 to be measured. And is supplied to the external input terminal 105 of the electronic device 100 via an interface connection cable 511 such as a USB. When the electronic device 100 is a mobile phone, the test signal output from the test signal output unit 502 may include a signal that conforms to a standard such as 3GPP2 (3GPP TS26.131 / 132) or VoLTE.

  Next, gain calibration of the outputs of the two vibration pickups 57a and 57b will be described. FIGS. 12A and 12B are a front view and a rear view of the vibration measuring head 40 viewed from the ear model 51 side in the same state as a state where a person stands upright. 12A and 12B, the surrounding area including the artificial external ear canal 53 is divided into nine equal parts, and the surrounding area excluding the artificial external ear canal 53 is defined as A1 to A8 for convenience. The vibration pickup 57a is disposed in the region A8 of the vibration transmission member 58, and the vibration pickup 57b is disposed in the region A1 of the vibration transmission member 58.

  In such a configuration, when an electronic device having a vibrating body that touches only a part of the auricle and applies vibration, such as a hearing aid as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, for example, the vibrating body is hatched. There is a possibility that there is almost no difference in audibility between the case of being applied to the application region P1 shown by applying and the case of being applied to the application region P2. Note that the abutting area P1 is an area substantially intermediate between the areas A8 and A1 where the vibration pickups 57a and 57b are installed, and is an area extending between the area A3 and the area A5. The abutting region P2 is a region straddling the region A8 where the vibration pickup 57a is installed and the region A5 adjacent to the region A8.

  However, according to an experiment by the present inventor, since the abutting region P2 is located immediately above the vibration pickup 57a, the vibration component transmitted to the vibration pickup 57a tends to be larger than the vibration component transmitted to the vibration pickup 57b. I understood it. It is assumed that the cause is that the vibration is not completely averaged by the ear mold 50 or the vibration transmitting member 58. For this reason, if an attempt is made to evaluate a measurement object only with the output of one vibration pickup 57a or 57b, there may be a case where the measurement result cannot be evaluated correctly due to a deviation between the measurement result and the actual hearing depending on the applied area. . In the case of an electronic device in a usage mode in which the vibrating body covers the periphery of the artificial external auditory canal 53 as shown in FIG. 1, since the averaged vibration is transmitted, one vibration pickup 57a or 57b It is assumed that even if vibration is detected by the above, there is almost no deviation from the actual audibility. Therefore, even if the measurement object is evaluated only by the output of one vibration pickup 57a or 57b, it is possible to correctly evaluate the evaluation object.

  Therefore, the measurement apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment applies the same vibrating body to the abutting position P1 and vibrates with the pure tone sweep signal, and applies to the abutting position P2 to vibrate with the pure tone sweep signal. In this case, the gains of the equalizers 421a and 421b are calibrated so that the output of the synthesis circuit 423 is substantially the same at each frequency. FIG. 13 is a diagram schematically showing gain characteristics of the equalizers 421a and 421b after calibration. In FIG. 13, the horizontal axis represents frequency (Hz), and the vertical axis represents gain (dB). Ga represents the gain characteristic of the equalizer 421a, and Gb represents the gain characteristic of the equalizer 421b.

  As a result, according to the measuring apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, an electronic device having a vibrating body that transmits vibration by contacting only a part of the pinna as illustrated in FIGS. By vibrating by touching an arbitrary part of the body, it is possible to correctly measure the vibration amount weighted by the characteristic of vibration transmission of the human ear, and to correctly evaluate the measurement object. Of course, for an electronic device having a vibrating body that transmits vibration by contacting the pinna so as to cover the auricle as illustrated in FIG. 1, the vibration amount weighted by the characteristics of vibration transmission of the human ear is also measured correctly. And the measurement object can be correctly evaluated. Further, since the outputs of the two vibration pickups 57a and 57b are combined, the S / N of the vibration detection signal can be improved.

(Second Embodiment)
The measurement apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention is different from the measurement apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment in the configuration of the vibration detection unit 55. That is, as shown in FIG. 14, the vibration detection unit 55 includes two vibration transmission members 58a and 58b. The two vibration transmission members 58a and 58b have a shape obtained by dividing the ring-shaped vibration transmission member 58 shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B into two parts. A vibration pickup 57a is attached to the vibration transmitting member 58a at the center of the arc shape. A vibration pickup 57b is mounted on the vibration transmitting member 58b at the center of the arc. As in the case of the first embodiment, the vibration transmitting members 58 a and 58 b are preferably provided on the end surface of the artificial external ear canal 52 on the side opposite to the ear model 51, preferably with one vibration pickup 57 a on the ear model 51. The other vibration pickup 57b is coupled to the position corresponding to the tragus so that the other vibration pickup 57b is disposed at the position corresponding to the tragus.

  According to the present embodiment, since the vibration pickups 57a and 57b are attached to the vibration transmission members 58a and 58b separated from each other, the vibration wave transmitted to the vibration transmission member 58a affects the vibration transmission member 58b. There is nothing. Similarly, the vibration wave transmitted to the vibration transmission member 58b does not affect the vibration transmission member 58a. Accordingly, the vibrations detected by the vibration pickups 57a and 57b do not interfere with each other, so that the vibration can be detected with higher accuracy.

(Third embodiment)
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the electronic device mounting portion of the measuring apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. 15 includes a human head model 610 and a holding unit 620 that holds the electronic device 100 to be measured. The head model 610 is made of, for example, HATS or KEMAR. The left and right artificial ears 630L and 630R of the head model 610 are detachable from the head model 610. The artificial ears 630L and 630R constitute the vibration measurement head described in the first embodiment or the second embodiment, and are selectively connected to the same measurement unit or connected to separate measurement units. The

  The holding unit 620 is detachably attached to the head model 610, and includes a head fixing unit 621 to the head model 610, a support unit 622 that supports the electronic device 100 to be measured, and a head fixing unit 621. And a multi-joint arm portion 623 that couples the support portion 622. The holding unit 620 determines the first pressing force and the contact posture with respect to one artificial ear (right artificial ear in FIG. 15) 630R of the electronic device 100 supported by the support unit 622 via the multi-joint arm unit 623. Similar to the holding unit 70 of the embodiment, it is configured to be adjustable. When the measurement target is an electronic device that transmits vibrations to only a part of the human ear as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the measurement target is not supported by the support unit 622, and the artificial ear 630 </ b> L or It is held directly at 630R. Other configurations of the measurement unit and the like are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  According to the measuring apparatus according to the present embodiment, the same effect as the measuring apparatus 10 of the first embodiment can be obtained. In particular, in the present embodiment, since an electronic device is evaluated by detachably attaching an artificial ear 630 constituting a vibration measurement head to a human head model 610, actual use in consideration of the influence of the head is considered. Evaluation according to the mode is possible.

  Although the present invention has been described based on the drawings and examples, it should be noted that those skilled in the art can easily make various modifications and corrections based on the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that these variations and modifications are included in the scope of the present invention. For example, the functions included in each means, each member, etc. can be rearranged so that there is no logical contradiction, and it is possible to combine or divide a plurality of means, members, etc. into one. . Further, the number of vibration pickups is not limited to two, and three or more vibration pickups may be provided on the same vibration transmission member or on independent vibration transmission members. Further, the outputs of the plurality of vibration pickups may be combined and adjusted for gain for each frequency by an equalizer. Further, the vibration pickup may be mounted directly around the artificial external ear canal without using a vibration transmitting member.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Measurement apparatus 50 Ear mold part 51 Ear model 52 Artificial ear canal part 53 Artificial ear canal part 56 Vibration transmission part 57a, 57b Vibration pick-up 58, 58a, 58b Vibration transmission member 58a Hole 61 Tube member 62 Microphone 100 Electronic device 101 Mobile phone 103 Panel ( Vibrating body)
110, 130 Hearing aid 111 Vibrating body 420 Frequency characteristic adjustment unit 423 Synthesis circuit (vibration output synthesis unit)

Claims (12)

A measuring device for evaluating an electronic device that presses a vibrating body against a human ear and hears sound by vibration transmission,
An ear mold imitating the human ear,
A plurality of vibration pickups arranged in the peripheral part of the artificial external ear canal formed in the ear mold part ,
The ear mold part includes an artificial ear canal part, an ear model coupled to the artificial ear canal part, and a vibration transmission part coupled to the artificial ear canal part,
The artificial ear canal is formed in the artificial ear canal part,
The vibration transmitting portion is made of a vibration transmitting member having a hole communicating with the artificial ear canal, said plurality of vibration pickups to the vibration transmitting portion that is attached,
measuring device. The measuring device according to claim 1 , wherein the hole has a diameter of 5 mm to 18 mm. The measuring device according to claim 2 , wherein the vibration transmission member has a ring shape having an outer diameter obtained by adding 6 mm to 12 mm to the diameter of the hole. A measuring device for evaluating an electronic device that presses a vibrating body against a human ear and hears sound by vibration transmission,
An ear mold imitating the human ear,
A plurality of vibration pickups arranged in the peripheral part of the artificial external ear canal formed in the ear mold part,
The ear mold part includes an artificial ear canal part, an ear model coupled to the artificial ear canal part, and a vibration transmission part coupled to the artificial ear canal part,
The artificial ear canal is formed in the artificial ear canal part,
The vibration transmission unit includes a plurality of vibration transmission members coupled to a peripheral portion of the artificial external ear canal, and the vibration pickup is attached to each of the plurality of vibration transmission members.
Measurement equipment. Wherein the plurality of vibration pickups, including two vibration pickups which are arranged symmetrically with respect to the artificial ear canal, measuring device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. It said plurality of further comprising a vibration output combining unit for combining the output of the vibration pickup, the measurement apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5. 7. The apparatus according to claim 6 , further comprising a plurality of frequency characteristic adjusting units capable of adjusting frequency characteristics of outputs of the plurality of vibration pickups, wherein the vibration output combining unit combines outputs of the plurality of frequency characteristic adjusting units. Measuring device. The ear mold unit further comprises a microphone that measures the sound pressure of the sound propagate through the artificial ear canal, measuring device according to any one of claims 1 to 7. The measurement apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the microphone is held by a tube member extending from an outer wall of the artificial external ear canal. The measurement apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the microphone is arranged in a floating state from an outer wall of the artificial external ear canal. The artificial ear canal has a length of 30mm from 8 mm, the measuring device according to any one of claims 1 to 10. The measurement device according to any one of claims 1 to 11 , wherein the ear mold part includes a part made of a material compliant with IEC60318-7.

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