JP6687850B2 - earphone - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an earphone that is attached to a user's ear and reproduces sound, and more particularly, to an earphone in which an outlet of a sound wave to be reproduced is inserted into a user's ear canal entrance.

  Headphones and earphones reproduce sound by applying a sound signal to a speaker unit that is arranged in close proximity so as to contact the user's ear. There are various types of earphones worn on a user's ear.

For example, some earphones include a relatively large speaker unit such as headphones, and an ear hook for mounting the main body on the auricle. Further, there is an inner ear type in which the main body is mounted so as to be housed inside the auricle, and sound is emitted from the sound emitting surface of the main body toward the external auditory meatus for use. In addition, there is an earphone of the type called a canal type that is used by inserting the main body part inside the auricle and inserting the sound tube part protruding from the main body part into the ear canal together with the earpiece attached to it. It is popular.

  As the speaker unit becomes smaller, it becomes more difficult to obtain a high sound pressure level and to sufficiently widen the sound reproduction frequency band to secure good reproduction sound quality. A similar problem occurs in a speaker unit in an inner ear type or a canal type earphone worn on the user's ear. In particular, in a canal type earphone in which the outlet of the sound wave to be reproduced is inserted into the entrance of the user's ear canal, it is preferable to use a speaker unit with a small housing for mounting the speaker unit and a diaphragm with a large diaphragm diameter that has the necessary and sufficient sound reproduction capability. It is difficult and is easily affected by the structure of the housing.

  Conventionally, a housing in which an acoustic space is formed and a cylindrical sound guide portion is provided on the front surface, an ear pad attached to the sound guide portion and inserted into the ear canal, and a first vent hole are provided. A frame that is provided inside the housing and separates the acoustic space into a first acoustic space and a second acoustic space; and a frame that is attached to the frame and that converts an electric signal into a first sound wave to convert the sound signal. A sound pressure adjusting unit attached to the frame, and the sound pressure adjusting unit includes a third acoustic space communicating with the first ventilation hole, and the second acoustic space. And a cylindrical second ventilation hole that communicates with the third acoustic space, and a first acoustic resistance that is inserted into the second ventilation hole and that reduces the sound pressure in a predetermined frequency band by adjusting the insertion position. There is a canal type earphone that is characterized by having (Patent Document 1).

  Further, conventionally, the attachment is provided on the speaker side of the inner ear type electroacoustic transducer, and the attachment is composed of at least two kinds of flexible materials having different hardness and / or density, An ear insertion portion at least acoustically coupled to a transducer that performs acoustic conversion, wherein the ear insertion portion includes a sound passage hole for transmitting the acoustic output from the transducer to the inside of the ear. There is an attachment of an inner-ear type electroacoustic transducer as described below (Patent Document 2). Here, an inner wall made of a metal having a higher hardness and / or a higher density than that of the flexible material is formed around the sound passage hole of the ear insertion portion, and the metal is Ti, Al, Au or It is stated that it consists of either Pt or brass or a combination thereof. However, the specific configuration in the case of using a plurality of metals is not clear, and there is a point that the conventional technique is insufficient to achieve both improvement of reproduction sound quality of the earphone and reduction of manufacturing cost.

Patent No. 5696249 JP, 2008-48303, A

  The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the above-described conventional technology, and an object thereof is to improve the reproduction sound quality and the manufacturing cost of an earphone in which an outlet of a sound wave to be reproduced is inserted into the ear canal entrance of a user. It is an object to provide an earphone that achieves natural and preferable sound reproduction by achieving both the reduction of

  The earphone of the present invention is an earphone including a speaker unit for electroacoustic conversion of a sound signal into a sound wave, and a housing for mounting the speaker unit therein and defining a sound space on at least one side of a diaphragm of the speaker unit. The housing includes a nozzle portion that communicates with the acoustic space to form an acoustic passage that guides sound waves to the ear canal of the user, and the nozzle portion is formed of the first metal material to define the outer shell of the nozzle portion. A base member and a tubular member whose outer wall surface is fixed to the inner wall surface of the base member to form an acoustic passage formed of a second metal material different from the first metal material inside thereof.

  Preferably, in the earphone of the present invention, the inner wall surface of the base member and the outer wall surface of the tubular member are fixed to each other via an adhesive layer.

  Further, preferably, the earphone of the present invention has a groove in which the inner wall surface of the base member and / or the outer wall surface of the tubular member is formed in a direction along the acoustic passage to collect an adhesive forming an adhesive layer. .

  Further, preferably, in the earphone of the present invention, the nozzle portion further comprises a protective member having air permeability at the open end of the tubular member, and the peripheral portion of the protective member is between the base member and the tubular member. It is clamped and fixed.

  Preferably, in the earphone of the present invention, the first metal material forming the base member and the second metal material forming the tubular member are aluminum alloy, copper alloy, zinc alloy, titanium alloy, magnesium. Two different alloys or iron alloys are selected.

  Preferably, in the earphone of the present invention, the first metal material forming the base member is an aluminum alloy, and the second metal material forming the tubular member is brass or brass.

  In addition, preferably, the earphone of the present invention further includes a cord connecting portion in which the housing connects a cord for supplying an audio signal to the speaker unit.

  Further, preferably, in the earphone of the present invention, the housing includes an earpiece attachment portion for attaching an earpiece to be inserted into a user's ear canal at a tip of the nozzle portion, and further includes an earpiece attached to the earpiece attachment portion.

  The operation of the present invention will be described below.

  The earphone according to the present invention includes a speaker unit that converts a sound signal into a sound wave by electroacoustic operation, and a housing in which the speaker unit is mounted and a sound space is defined on at least one side of a diaphragm of the speaker unit. The housing includes a nozzle portion that communicates with the acoustic space and forms an acoustic passage that guides sound waves to the ear canal of the user. Therefore, if the housing further includes a cord connecting portion that connects a cord that supplies an audio signal to the speaker unit, and the nozzle portion of the housing further includes an earpiece attaching portion that attaches an earpiece that is inserted into the ear canal of the user. , Canal type earphones in which the earpiece is in close contact with the ear canal can be realized.

  The nozzle portion of the housing of the earphone includes a base member formed of a first metal material and defining an outer shell of the nozzle portion, and an outer wall surface of the base member fixed to an inner wall surface of the base member. And a tubular member (which may have a slit) forming an acoustic passage formed of a second metal material different from the above. The inner wall surface of the base member and the outer wall surface of the tubular member are preferably fixed to each other via an adhesive layer. That is, since the nozzle portion forming the acoustic passage of the earphone is formed by joining two kinds of metals having different vibration modes, friction heat generated between the inner wall surface of the base member and the outer wall surface of the tubular member is reduced. With the adhesive layer between them, the vibration from the speaker unit can be significantly attenuated. As a result, even with a canal type earphone, it is possible to appropriately suppress the vibration in the nozzle portion, suppress the generation of incidental sound and the like due to the vibration of the housing, and realize natural and preferable sound reproduction.

  Preferably, in this earphone, when the nozzle portion is formed by joining two kinds of metals having different vibration modes, the inner wall surface of the base member and / or the outer wall surface of the tubular member is arranged in a direction along the acoustic passage. It may be formed so as to have a groove in which the adhesive forming the adhesive layer is accumulated. When the tubular member is inserted and bonded inside the base member, it is possible to prevent the problem that the acoustic passage is blocked by the adhesive and form the adhesive layer exhibiting the adhesive force. If the tubular member has a slit, it can be inserted into the inner wall surface of the base member with a smaller outer diameter, so double-sided tape should be attached to the outer wall surface of the tubular member. It can also be glued.

  Further, in this earphone, the nozzle portion further includes a protective member having air permeability at the opening end of the tubular member, and the peripheral portion of the protective member is sandwiched and fixed between the base member and the tubular member. By doing so, after realizing a structure in which two kinds of metals are joined to form an acoustic passage, foreign matter enters the inside of the tubular member from the opening end and the second acoustic passage is closed. Alternatively, it is possible to prevent a problem such as narrowing.

  In the earphone, the first metal material forming the base member and the second metal material forming the tubular member are made of aluminum alloy, copper alloy, zinc alloy, titanium alloy, magnesium alloy, or iron alloy. When two different ones are selected, it is possible to suppress the generation of incidental sound due to the vibration of the nozzle portion of the housing. Specifically, when the first metal material forming the base member is an aluminum alloy and the second metal material forming the tubular member is brass or brass, the manufacturing cost is relatively low. It is possible to effectively suppress the generation of incidental sounds caused by vibrations and realize natural and preferable sound reproduction.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The earphone of the present invention relates to an earphone in which an outlet of a sound wave to be reproduced is inserted into a user's external auditory meatus entrance, and it is possible to realize improvement of reproduction sound quality and reduction of manufacturing cost, thereby realizing natural and preferable sound reproduction.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an earphone according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. (Example 1) It is a diagram illustrating an internal structure of the earphone according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. (Example 1) It is a diagram illustrating an internal structure of the earphone according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. (Example 1) 6 is a graph illustrating vibration damping characteristics of a member forming a housing of an earphone according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, earphones according to preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

  1 to 3 are diagrams illustrating an earphone 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an earphone 1 worn on one ear of a user. Further, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the internal structure of the earphone 1. Further, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the base member 11 and the nozzle member 13. Note that illustration and description of other configurations of the earphone 1 not necessary for the description of the present invention are omitted.

  The earphone 1 of the present embodiment is a canal type earphone in which the outlet of the sound wave to be reproduced is inserted into the ear canal of the user's auricle. The earphone 1 includes earphones of substantially left-right symmetry to be mounted on the left and right ears of the user, and can support stereo reproduction. Below, the structure corresponding to one ear of the earphone 1 will be described. Of course, the form of the earphone 1 is not limited to the case of this embodiment.

  The earphone 1 has a housing 2 to which a speaker unit 3 that reproduces sound by supplying an audio signal via a cord 5 is attached. The speaker unit 3 is an electrodynamic electroacoustic transducer that includes a magnetic circuit having a magnetic gap, and vibrates a diaphragm that is inserted into the magnetic gap and is connected to a voice coil to which a voice signal is supplied. The speaker unit 3 emits sound waves having an antiphase relationship to the front surface side and the back surface side of the diaphragm (not shown). Therefore, it is necessary to attach the speaker unit 3 to the housing 2 so as to separate one side and the other side of the diaphragm of the speaker unit 3.

  The housing 2 of this embodiment can be fitted with a speaker unit 3 having a diameter corresponding to the size of the ear canal of the user's auricle. The housing 2 includes a substantially cylindrical base member 11 including a nozzle portion, and a housing member 12 that is connected to the rear side of the base member 11 to form a cavity. The base member 11 and the housing member 12 of the housing 2 define an acoustic space 17 on the front side of the diaphragm of the speaker unit 3, and an acoustic space separated from the acoustic space 17 on the rear side of the speaker unit 3 where the magnetic circuit exists. A space 18 is formed.

  The base member 11 is made of a metal material including aluminum, and includes a speaker unit attachment portion that attaches the speaker unit 3 to the inner wall portion. The outer diameter frame of the speaker unit 3 has an outer dimension that substantially matches the inner diameter dimension of the speaker unit mounting portion of the substantially cylindrical base member 11. The base member 11 includes a nozzle portion 11a formed so that a tip end side thereof is narrower than a speaker unit attachment portion so as to be inserted into an ear canal hole of a user's auricle. The nozzle portion 11a forms an acoustic passage that communicates with the acoustic space 17 and guides a sound wave to the external auditory meatus of the user on the inner side thereof.

  A cylindrical nozzle member 13 made of a brass material is attached to the inside of the nozzle portion 11a of the base member 11. The outer wall surface of the nozzle member 13 is fixed to the inner wall surface of the nozzle portion 11a of the base member 11 to form the above acoustic passage inside. At the end of the nozzle portion 11a of the base member 11, a locking portion 11b having an inner diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the nozzle member 13 is provided.

  Therefore, the nozzle member 13 is inserted into the nozzle portion 11a from the inner side having a large diameter that defines the acoustic space 17 of the base member 11. A protective net 14 as a protective member having air permeability is attached to the opening end of the nozzle portion 11a. The protective net 14 prevents problems such as foreign matter entering from the open end of the nozzle portion 11a and closing the acoustic passage. The protection net 14 is sandwiched and fixed between the locking portion 11b of the base member 11 and the end surface 13b of the nozzle member 13.

  The inner wall surface of the base member 11 and the outer wall surface of the nozzle member 13 are fixed to each other via an adhesive layer made of an adhesive. As the adhesive, for example, a rubber adhesive, an acrylic adhesive, a silicone adhesive, a butyl adhesive, or a double-sided tape containing these adhesives can be used. Grooves 11c or 13c are formed on the inner wall surface of the nozzle portion 11a of the base member 11 and the outer wall surface of the nozzle member 13, respectively, in the direction along the acoustic passage. Therefore, when the adhesive forming the adhesive layer between the inner wall surface of the base member 11 and the outer wall surface of the nozzle member 13 remains, it can be stored so as not to squeeze out, and firmly adhered and fixed. Become.

  The nozzle member 13 may be a tubular body formed by rolling a strip-shaped brass material into a tubular shape. In this case, since a slit appears in the nozzle member 13 in the direction along the axis, when the diameter of the tubular nozzle member 13 is temporarily attached to the inner wall surface of the nozzle portion 11 a of the base member 11. It has the advantage that it can be made smaller and inserted. The length of the nozzle member 13 may be a length corresponding to the length of the nozzle portion 11a, but it does not necessarily have to be the same length, and may be longer or shorter than the length of the nozzle portion 11a. .

  An earpiece attachment portion for attaching the earpiece 6 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the nozzle portion 11 a of the base member 11. By attaching the cap-shaped earpiece 6 having elasticity, a canal type earphone in which the earpiece 6 is in close contact with the ear canal can be realized. The earpiece 6 allows the user to stably attach the earphone 1 to the auricle.

  On the other hand, the housing member 12 defines an acoustic space 18 formed separately from the acoustic space 17. The housing member 12 is made of a metal material or a resin material, and is connected to a cord bush 4 that fixes a cord 5 that supplies an audio signal to the speaker unit 3.

  The cord bush 4 is formed of a flexible rubber material so as to include the cord 5 inside, and one side thereof is attached to the attachment hole of the housing member 12. In the case of the earphone 1 in which the housing 2 is provided with a jack for plug connection, the housing member 12 has a cord 5 instead of the cord bush 4 as a cord connecting portion for connecting the cord 5 for supplying the audio signal to the speaker unit 3. It may be provided with a jack into which a plug at the tip of is inserted.

  The material of the member forming the housing 2 affects the reproduction sound quality of the earphone 1. However, since the base member 11 that constitutes the housing 2 includes the nozzle portion 11a that is inserted into the ear canal of the user, the material has a relatively greater influence on the reproduced sound quality than the housing member 12. Therefore, it is preferable that the nozzle portion 11a of the base member 11 suppresses the vibration caused by the vibration generated in the speaker unit 3.

  FIG. 4 is a graph illustrating the vibration damping characteristics of the members forming the housing 2 of the earphone 1 of this example and the earphone 10 of the comparative example. Regarding the vibration damping characteristic of the member, a plate-shaped test piece having a predetermined shape is vibrated by an impact hammer, and the acceleration at a predetermined position of the test piece is measured by an acceleration pickup. The horizontal axis represents the elapsed time after vibration, and the vertical axis represents the normalized acceleration value.

  In the test piece corresponding to the earphone 1 of this embodiment, an aluminum plate material and a brass plate, that is, a brass plate material are bonded with a double-sided tape. On the other hand, in the test piece corresponding to the earphone 10 of the comparative example, only the aluminum plate material is used. From these results, in the case of the earphone 1 of the present embodiment, compared with the case of the earphone 10 of the comparative example, the vibration of the nozzle portion 11 of the housing 2 including the nozzle member 13 made of brass is much shorter. It can be seen that it attenuates and converges. On the other hand, in the case of the earphone 10 of the comparative example, it can be seen that the vibration of the natural resonance frequency lasts for a long time.

  In the housing 2 of the earphone 1, the reproduced sound quality of the earphone changes depending on the presence or absence of the nozzle member 13. The earphone 10 of the comparative example (not shown) corresponds to the case where the nozzle portion 11a of the base member 11 does not include the nozzle member 13 therein in the housing 2 of the earphone 1 of the present embodiment. Therefore, FIG. 4 shows the effect of the brass nozzle member 13 in the canal type earphone 1.

  That is, in the case of the earphone 1 of the present embodiment, incidental sound due to the vibration of the nozzle portion 11 of the housing 2 is less generated than in the case of the earphone 10 of the comparative example, and the clarity of the reproduced sound is improved. You can When different metal materials are used in the plurality of members constituting the housing 2, the material of the nozzle portion inserted into the entrance of the ear canal and the material of the nozzle member 13 inserted therein are made different. Is most preferred. As the canal type earphone 1 in which the outlet of the sound wave to be reproduced is inserted into the entrance of the user's ear canal, natural and preferable sound reproduction can be realized as compared with the earphone 10 of the comparative example.

  Here, particularly when the nozzle member 13 is a brass material or a brass material, the manufacturing cost is relatively low, and the generation of incidental sounds due to vibration is effectively suppressed, and natural and preferable sound reproduction is realized. can do. However, the nozzle member 13 does not have to be a brass material or a brass material as long as it is different from the aluminum material forming the base member 11. It should be noted that the base member 11 and the nozzle member 13 may be any combination of different metals made of different materials.

  For example, when the base member 11 is made of aluminum, the nozzle member 13 may be made of brass, brass, titanium, magnesium alloy, zinc alloy, iron, steel, stainless steel, or the like. Further, the materials of the base member 11 and the nozzle member 13 may be exchanged, and the metal materials forming these two members may be different from each other. It is possible to suppress the generation of incidental sound or the like due to the vibration of the nozzle portion 11a of the housing 2.

  As described above, it is preferable that the inner wall surface of the base member 11 and the outer wall surface of the nozzle member 13 are fixed to each other via the adhesive layer. Since the base member 11 and the nozzle member 13 are joined with two kinds of metals having different vibration modes, when each vibrates due to the vibration from the speaker unit 3, even if friction occurs between them, it is formed between them. With the adhesive layer provided, the vibration can be significantly damped. As a result, in the canal type earphone 1 of the present embodiment, vibration in the nozzle portion 11a is appropriately suppressed, so that generation of incidental sound or the like due to vibration of the housing 2 is suppressed, and natural and preferable sound reproduction is realized. can do.

  The earphone of the present invention is not limited to the canal type earphone as shown in the drawing, and may be an earphone including another ear hooking portion. In addition to the earphones, an earphone of an overhead type may be configured by connecting earphones corresponding to the left and right ears with a headband. The earphones are not limited to home stereo playback or multi-channel surround playback, but can be applied to in-vehicle audio equipment and sound playback equipment such as movie theaters.

1, 10 Earphone 2 Housing 3 Speaker unit 4 Cord bush 5 Cord 6 Earpiece 11 Base member 12 Housing member 13 Nozzle member 14, 15 Protective net 17, 18 Acoustic space

Claims (10)

A speaker unit for converting a sound signal into a sound wave by electroacoustic,
An earphone having the speaker unit mounted therein, and a housing defining an acoustic space on at least one side of a diaphragm of the speaker unit,
The housing includes a nozzle portion that communicates with the acoustic space and forms an acoustic passage that guides a sound wave to a user's ear canal.
The nozzle portion is formed of a first metal material and defines an outer shell of the nozzle portion, and an outer wall surface of the base member is fixed to an inner wall surface of the base member and the first metal material is provided inside. And a tubular member forming the acoustic passage formed of a different second metal material.
earphone. The inner wall surface of the base member and the outer wall surface of the tubular member are fixed via an adhesive layer,
The earphone according to claim 1. The inner wall surface of the base member and / or the outer wall surface of the tubular member is formed in a direction along the acoustic passage, and has a groove in which an adhesive forming the adhesive layer is accumulated.
The earphone according to claim 2. The nozzle portion further includes a protective member having air permeability at an open end of the tubular member, and a peripheral portion of the protective member is sandwiched and fixed between the base member and the tubular member. ,
The earphone according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The first metal material forming the base member and the second metal material forming the tubular member are aluminum alloy, copper alloy, zinc alloy, titanium alloy, magnesium alloy, or iron alloy, Two different ones are selected from
The earphone according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The first metal material forming the base member is an aluminum alloy, and the second metal material forming the tubular member is brass or brass,
The earphone according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The housing further comprises a cord connecting portion for connecting a cord for supplying the audio signal to the speaker unit,
The earphone according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The housing includes an earpiece attachment portion that attaches an earpiece to be inserted into the ear canal of the user at the tip of the nozzle portion,
Further comprising the earpiece attached to the earpiece attachment portion,
The earphone according to any one of claims 1 to 7. The housing is
A housing member defining a first acoustic space on one side of the speaker unit;
The speaker unit is attached, the second acoustic space is defined on the other side of the speaker unit, and the base member that constitutes the nozzle unit is included.
The earphone according to any one of claims 1 to 8. The housing member is made of a resin material,
The earphone according to claim 9.