JP6427701B1 - Ear mold, earphone, and cartilage conduction hearing aid - Google Patents

Abstract

The object of the present invention is to provide a lightweight earmold which is easy to hear ambient sounds and hard to feel the stagnation of sound and does not disturb drainage of the ear and moisture in the ear, an earphone using the same, and a cartilage conduction hearing aid.
SOLUTION: The ear mold 4 of the present invention is to be attached to the concha 103, and is held by the concha 101, the forearm bead 104, and the anti-tobole 105 with the external ear canal 106 open. It is characterized by
[Selected figure] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an ear mold, an earphone, and a cartilage conduction hearing aid for transmitting vibration based on an electrical signal to the ear cartilage to transmit sound to hearing.

  In recent years, development of a cartilage conduction hearing aid has been advanced, which transmits a vibration based on an electrical signal to the ear cartilage to transmit sound to the hearing. The cartilage conduction hearing aid uses a vibration device, which converts an electric signal output from the hearing aid main body to vibration, fixed to an ear mold or the like. For example, when the ear mold is attached to the concha, in order to stably hold the ear mold vibrating together with the vibrating device, the one inserted into the external ear canal or the one covering the majority of the concha There is.

  Further, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a cartilage conduction speaker and a cartilage conduction hearing aid provided with a vibration unit that generates vibration based on an electrical signal, and a cartilage conduction speaker cover that is formed to conform to the shape of the concha cavity It is shown.

JP, 2016-63276, A

  By the way, in the ear mold inserted into the ear canal, the ear canal is blocked. Further, as shown in FIG. 9 of Patent Document 1, the cartilage conduction hearing aid of Patent Document 1 holds and uses a cartilage conduction speaker at a position in contact with the cavum concha and the ear canal opening. That is, with the cartilage conduction speaker provided with the cartilage conduction speaker cover, the ear canal will be partially blocked when the concha cavity is small, so it may be difficult to hear surrounding sounds or feel stagnant. There is. In addition, it may be a hindrance to drainage such as ear leakage and moisture in the ear. In addition, with an earmold sized to cover the concha, its weight may greatly affect the vibration of the vibrating device.

  It is an object of the present invention to solve these problems, and it is easy to hear surrounding sounds and to make it difficult to feel the stagnation of the sound, and it is lightweight and does not interfere with drainage such as ear leakage or moisture in the ear. It aims at providing a mold, an earphone using the same, and a cartilage conduction hearing aid.

  The ear mold in the present invention is attached to the concha and is characterized in that it is held by the concha, the forehead scar, and the antiparallel with the external ear canal open.

  In such an ear mold, it is preferable to have an opening which penetrates the ear mold in the thickness direction.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the said opening is formed in the side in which the said concha boat is located.

  The present invention is also an earphone characterized in that any of the above-described earmolds is used and the earmold is provided with a vibration device.

  The present invention is also a cartilage conduction hearing aid using the above-described earphone.

  According to the ear mold of the present invention having such a configuration, even if the external auditory canal is open, it can be stably held by the concha, the forehead bead, and the anti-brass. Therefore, it becomes easy to hear surrounding sounds, and it is possible to eliminate discomfort such as feeling the sound stagnation. In addition, by reducing the size and weight, the vibration of the vibrating device can be effectively transmitted to the ear cartilage. For this reason, a feeling of pressure, pain and the like at the time of wearing can be reduced, and it can be used comfortably even when wearing for a long time. Also, since the ear canal is open, it does not impede drainage of the ear or moisture in the ear. Furthermore, unlike a general earphone that vibrates a diaphragm to output air conduction sound, the vibration device of the present invention is excellent in waterproofness because it has no sound port for outputting air conduction sound.

FIG. 1 (a) is an overall view of a cartilage conduction hearing aid according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 1 (a) is a general view of the cartilage conduction hearing aid, and FIG. 1 (b) is a front view of the ear mold alone. Fig.2 (a) is a figure explaining an auricle, FIG.2 (b) is a figure explaining the state which mounted | worn the cartilage conduction hearing aid of FIG. 1 (a) to the auricle of FIG. 2 (a).

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of an earmold, an earphone, and a cartilage conduction hearing aid according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1 (a), the cartilage conduction hearing aid of the present embodiment includes a hearing aid main body 1, a cord 2, a vibrating device 3, and an ear mold 4, and is a so-called ear-hook type hearing aid. It is Further, the earphone according to the present embodiment is configured of the vibration device 3 and the ear mold 4.

  First, the ear mold 4 will be described. The ear mold 4 uses a synthetic resin (for example, an acrylic resin) and is formed in a shape that conforms to the wearer's concha 103 (see FIG. 2A). Specifically, an impression material (silicon-based resin etc.) is injected by a syringe etc. so as to cover the periphery of the wearer's concha boat 101 and the front bead mark 104 and the anti-tail ball 105 of the concha cavity 102. Take out the ear mold after curing. In addition, at the time of ear type | mold extraction, occlusion members, such as a cotton ball, are inserted in the external ear canal 106 which attached and shown hatching in FIG. 2 (a) for protection. Then, three-dimensional data of the concha 103 is acquired based on the collected ear mold, this three-dimensional data is processed to create data as the origin of the ear mold 4, and the data is used to perform optical modeling and the like The ear mold 4 is formed.

  As described above, the ear mold 4 is formed so as to fit to the concha 103 of the wearer, but there are individual differences, but an example thereof is as shown in FIG. 1 (b). Here, FIG. 1 (b) is a front view showing the ear mold 4 alone (a view from the front with respect to the wearer's auricle at the time of wearing). The ear mold 4 is formed so as to be held by the concha 103 by at least three parts at the time of wearing, and as such three parts, the first holding part 40 and the second holding part 41; And a third holding unit 42. Here, the first holding portion 40 is a portion that has a shape that conforms to the wall surface of the concha boat 101 shown in FIG. 2A and that abuts on the wall surface. The second holding portion 41 is a portion that has a shape that conforms to the wall surface of the front bead trace 104 and that abuts on the wall surface. The third holding portion 42 is a portion that has a shape that conforms to the wall surface of the antiparallel bead 105 and that abuts on the wall surface. In addition, the ear mold 4 is located between the first holding portion 40 and the second holding portion 41, and has a concave portion 43 having a concave shape which detours the ear ring leg 107 (see FIG. 2A) when attached. Have. Further, the upper edge portion 44 from the first holding portion 40 to the third holding portion 42 is formed to be gently curved along the lower edge of the pair of wheels 108 at the time of mounting. The lower edge 45 from the second holding portion 41 to the third holding portion 42 is formed of a smooth curved surface so as not to block the external auditory canal. The lower edge 45 is provided so as to be located above the ear canal 106 at the time of wearing, as shown in FIG. 2 (b).

  In addition, when the mass of the ear mold 4 is excessive, the sensitivity of high frequency may be reduced. In order to effectively suppress such a defect, in the present embodiment, an opening 46 penetrating the ear mold 4 in the thickness direction is provided on the side closer to the first holding portion 40 and the upper edge portion 44 of the ear mold 4 The ear mold 4 is reduced in weight. In the present embodiment, the illustrated opening 46 is formed as a hole that is surrounded by the entire circumference, but the upper edge 44 may be divided, for example.

  Next, the vibration device 3 constituting the earphone according to the present embodiment will be described. The vibrating device 3 vibrates based on the electrical signal from the hearing aid body 1 transmitted through the cord 2. In the present embodiment, an electromechanical transducer is provided inside a substantially rectangular parallelepiped casing, and the electric signal input to the electromechanical transducer is converted into mechanical vibration to vibrate the casing. ing. The housing of the vibration device 3 is not provided with an opening except for a hole for introducing the cord 2 into the inside, and the hole is also sealed with a sealant. As the electromechanical transducer, for example, various types such as an electromagnetic type, an electrodynamic type, a piezoelectric type, etc. can be used, but in the present embodiment, an electromagnetic type (balanced armature type utilizing a restoring force of a spring) ) Using the electromechanical converter.

  The vibration device 3 is fixed to the above-described ear mold 4 to form the earphone of the present embodiment. Here, as illustrated, the vibration device 3 is fixed to the front side (external side) of the ear mold 4 at a position not overlapping the opening 46 on the side close to the lower edge 45. Moreover, in fixing the vibration device 3 to the ear mold 4, a UV-based adhesive that is cured by ultraviolet irradiation is used. Various adhesives can be used as the adhesive, and for example, a two-component adhesive in which two solvents are mixed and cured may be used. Alternatively, the vibration device 3 may be embedded in the ear mold 4 and fixed.

  And the hearing aid main body 1 is equipped with the housing | casing which has a shape which is curved in the whole gently and which can be mounted | worn with the back of a pinna as shown in figure. Also, inside the housing, there are microphones that convert sound into electrical signals, and hearing aid processing means that processes electrical signals output from the microphones so as to be compatible with the wearer's hearing, as well as each part that constitutes a cartilage conduction hearing aid It contains a battery that supplies power to the

  The cord 2 is for connecting the hearing aid main body 1 and the vibrating device 3. The cord 2 comprises a relatively small diameter wire which transmits the electrical signal from the hearing aid body 1 to the vibrating device 3. The wire is coated with a flexible synthetic resin or the like.

  Such a cartilage conduction hearing aid constituted by the above-described earphone together with the hearing aid main body 1 and the cord 2 is used by being attached to the auricle 100 as shown in FIG. 2 (b). Specifically, as shown in the drawing, the ear mold 4 is attached to the concha 103 while the cord 2 is hung on the auricle 100. Further, at the rear of the pinna 100, the hearing aid main body 1 (not shown in FIG. 2B) is held.

  Thus, when the cartilage conduction hearing aid is attached to the auricle 100, the first holding portion 40 of the ear mold 4 abuts against the wall surface of the concha boat 101, and the second holding portion 41 is the wall surface of the front bead 104 The third holding portion 42 abuts against the wall surface of the antiparallel bead 105. As described above, since the ear mold 4 abuts on the wall surface of the concha 103 on the three parts, the position and the posture are fixed, and the ear mold 4 is stably held by the pinna 100. Further, the vibration by the vibration device 3 can be transmitted to the wearer's ear cartilage through the wall surface of the concha cavity 102 to transmit a sound to hearing. Further, as shown, the ear mold 4 is held with the ear canal 106 open. For this reason, compared to a hearing aid mounted so as to close the ear canal 106, surrounding sounds can be heard more easily, and discomfort such as feeling of stagnation can be resolved. In addition, since the ear canal 106 is open, it does not interfere with ear leakage or moisture in the ear. Furthermore, since the vibration device 3 does not have an opening, it is also excellent in waterproofness.

  Although one embodiment of the ear mold, earphone, and cartilage conduction hearing aid according to the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and various modifications may be made within the scope of the claims. Also includes. For example, although the opening 46 is effective in that the mass of the ear mold 4 can be suppressed, it may be provided arbitrarily according to the hearing condition of the wearer. In addition, the ear mold 4 is not limited to such a made-to-order specification, but it is a ready-made specification in which a plurality of different shapes and sizes are prepared in a stepwise manner, and one close to the wearer is selected. It is also good. The vibrating device 3 is fixed to the ear mold 4 at a position not overlapping the opening 46 in the illustrated example, but may partially overlap, for example, when the opening 46 is relatively large.

3: vibration device 4: ear mold 40: first holding portion 41: second holding portion 42: third holding portion 46: opening 101: cavitation 104: front bead mark 105: anti-collar 106: external ear canal

Claims (5)

It is an ear mold attached to the concha.
With the ear canal open, it is held by the concha boat, the forehead bead, and the gobo,
Ear mold characterized by. Having an opening through the ear mold in the thickness direction,
The ear mold according to claim 1, characterized in that: The opening is formed on the side where the concha boat is located,
The ear mold according to claim 2, characterized in that: A vibration device is provided on the ear mold using the ear mold according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
An earphone characterized by Use the earphone of claim 4
A cartilage conduction hearing aid characterized by

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