JP7320316B1 - open earbuds - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide an open-type earphone that does not give a feeling of pressure to the ear, makes it easy to hear surrounding environmental sounds, and has high sound insulation properties so that sound does not leak. An open-type earphone (1) comprising an earphone body (2) containing at least a speaker (5) and an acoustic duct (3) extending obliquely from the earphone body (2) and inserted into an ear canal (11) of an ear, wherein the acoustic duct (3) includes: A first communication passage 6 for communicating the speaker 5 and the external auditory canal 11 of the ear, and a second communication passage 7 for communicating the external auditory canal 11 of the ear with the atmosphere are formed. The second communication path 7 may be configured by a groove 8 formed in the outer peripheral surface of the acoustic duct 3 . Also, an ear ring 4 may be attached to the acoustic duct 3, one end of which contacts the tragus 12 of the ear and the other end of which contacts the inner wall 13 of the concha of the ear. Furthermore, the ear ring 4 may be configured by connecting and integrating two rings 4A and 4B. [Selection drawing] Fig. 6

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an open-type earphone that can take in surrounding environmental sounds.

Sound vibrations normally transmitted by air are transmitted to the eardrum in the ear, and the vibrations of the eardrum are transmitted to the cochlea via three ossicles in the eardrum. The cochlea contains lymph fluid, and the vibrations of this lymph fluid are converted into electrical signals and transmitted to the auditory nerve, and the brain recognizes these electrical signals as sounds.

By the way, some earphones that are worn in the user's ear reproduce sound by applying audio signals to speakers placed close to the ear. ) type.

An inner-ear type earphone (see, for example, Patent Document 1) is used by hooking it on a portion called the concha at the entrance of the ear, and has the advantage of being easy to hear surrounding environmental sounds without feeling oppressive. there is On the other hand, canal-type earphones (see, for example, Patent Document 2) are used with an earplug-type earpiece inserted in the ear, so they have the advantage of providing high sound insulation and preventing sound leakage. ing.

JP 2006-222492 A JP 2019-145962 A

However, the inner-ear type earphones have the disadvantage of low sound insulation and easy sound leakage. On the other hand, canal-type earphones have the disadvantage that the earpiece is inserted deep into the ear, so that the ear feels a strong pressure and it is difficult to hear the surrounding environmental sounds.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its purpose is to ensure that the user's ears are securely worn without feeling oppressive, to make it easier to hear the surrounding environmental sounds, and to have high sound insulation. To provide an open-type earphone that does not leak sound.

The present invention for achieving the above object is an open-type earphone comprising an earphone body containing at least a speaker and an acoustic duct extending obliquely from the earphone body and inserted into the ear canal at least deeper than the tragus. An ear ring having one end in contact with the tragus of the ear and the other end in contact with the inner wall of the concha of the ear is attached to the acoustic duct, and the acoustic duct communicates the speaker with the external auditory canal of the ear. It is characterized by forming a first communication path and a second communication path that communicates the atmosphere with the external auditory canal of the ear.

According to the present invention, since the acoustic duct is formed with the first communication path that communicates the speaker with the ear canal of the ear and the second communication path that communicates the atmosphere with the ear canal of the ear, the surrounding environment is Sound is introduced through the second communication passage into the ear canal of the user's ear. Therefore, the user can simultaneously hear the ambient environmental sound introduced into the ear canal through the second communication path together with the speaker sound introduced into the ear canal through the first communication path. Since the sound from the speaker passes through the first communication path and then passes through the second communication path to the atmosphere, the path becomes longer, and leakage (sound leakage) of the speaker sound to the outside is prevented. . In addition, the speaker sound can be heard clearly even in places with a lot of environmental noise, and touch noise and the user's own voice do not echo.

Also, the open-type earphone inserts the acoustic duct into the ear canal of the user at least deeper than the tragus, and the acoustic duct has one end abutting the ear tragus and the other end against the inner wall of the concha. Since the abutting ear ring is attached, the ear ring and the acoustic duct are sandwiched between the tragus of the ear and the concha of the ear, so that the open earphone can be securely worn while fitting the user's ear without feeling oppressive.

Therefore, according to the open-type earphone according to the present invention , it is possible to securely wear the earphone while fitting it to the user's ear without feeling oppressive. can only enjoy the benefits of

1 is a perspective view of an open-type earphone according to the present invention as seen obliquely from above; FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an open-type earphone according to the present invention, viewed obliquely from below; FIG. 1 is a side view of an open-type earphone according to the present invention; FIG. 1 is a cutaway side view of an open-type earphone according to the present invention; FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an open-type earphone according to the present invention; FIG. FIG. 4 is a cutaway cross-sectional view of a user's ear showing how the open-type earphone according to the present invention is used; FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an open-type earphone according to another embodiment of the present invention, viewed obliquely from below;

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, the directions of the arrows shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 will be referred to as the "back and forth" direction and the "up and down" direction, respectively.

An open-type earphone 1 according to the present embodiment includes an earphone main body 2 that is oval in plan view, a cylindrical acoustic duct 3 that extends obliquely downward from the earphone main body 2, and an acoustic duct 3 extending forward from the acoustic duct 3 (Figs. 6 to the left)).

The earphone main body 2 is a case body configured by joining and integrating an upper case 2A and a lower case 2B, and an upper duct piece 3A constituting a part of the acoustic duct 3 extends from the front end of the lower case 2B. It integrally extends downward and obliquely rearward so as to be inclined at a predetermined angle θ (see FIG. 3). Here, the acoustic duct 3 is vertically divided into two parts, the upper duct piece 3A integrally formed with the lower case 2B and the cylindrical lower duct piece 3B detachable from the upper duct piece 3A. It is configured. The attachment/detachment structure of the upper duct piece 3A and the lower duct piece 3B will be described below.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a fitting groove 3a is formed on the outer periphery of the lower end of the upper duct piece 3A over the entire circumference, below the fitting groove 3a of the upper duct piece 3A (lower end portion). ) is formed with an annular fitting convex portion 3b. A fitting groove 3c is formed along the entire circumference of the inner circumference of the upper end of the lower duct piece 3B, and an annular fitting protrusion 3d is formed on the inner circumference of the upper end of the lower duct piece 3B. . Therefore, the outer circumference of the lower end of the upper duct piece 3A is fitted into the inner circumference of the upper end of the lower duct piece 3B from above, and as shown in FIG. The upper duct piece 3A and the lower duct piece 3B are connected and integrated by fitting the fitting projection 3d of the lower duct piece 3B into the fitting groove 3a of the upper duct piece 3A.

Here, in this embodiment, the inclination angle θ of the acoustic duct 3 with respect to the earphone main body 2 is set to θ=60°, but this inclination angle θ is 60°±10° (50° to 70°). should be set to In addition, in this embodiment, the earphone main body 2 (the upper case 2A and the lower case 2B) and the acoustic duct 3 are made of hard resin such as ABS resin having high rigidity.

By the way, the earphone main body 2 accommodates a board on which various electronic components are mounted in addition to the speaker 5. The speaker 5 is located directly above the acoustic duct 3 in the earphone main body 2, as shown in FIG. It is positioned so that it does not touch the user's ear. By arranging the speaker 5 at such a position, even if the diameter of the speaker 5 is sufficiently large to improve the sound quality of the speaker 5, the speaker 5 does not interfere with the ears. Although the speaker 5 is housed horizontally in the earphone main body 2 in this embodiment, the speaker 5 may be arranged and housed vertically.

The ear ring 4 extends substantially horizontally forward from the front surface of the lower duct piece 3B of the acoustic duct 3. The ear ring 4 connects two circular rings 4A and 4B. It is configured integrally and detachably attached to the earphone main body 2 together with the lower duct piece 3B of the acoustic duct 3. The ear ring 4 is made of elastically deformable flexible silicone or elastomer.

Therefore, in the open-type earphone 1 according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, at the center of the axis of the acoustic duct 3, when the user wears the open-type earphone 1 on his ear, A circular hole-shaped first communication passage 6 is formed for communicating the speaker 5 built in the earphone main body 2 and the external auditory canal 11 (see FIG. 6) of the ear. That is, the upper end of the first communication path 6 opens into the earphone main body 2, and the lower end of the first communication path 6 opens into the external auditory canal 11 of the ear. A second communication passage 7 is formed on the front side (left side in FIG. 4) of the lower duct piece 3B of the acoustic duct 3 to communicate the external auditory canal 11 of the ear with the atmosphere. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the second communicating passage 7 has an upper end open to the atmosphere through a circular hole 7a formed in the upper end of the lower duct piece 3B, and a lower end open to the atmosphere. It is open to the external auditory canal 11 of the ear through a circular hole 7b formed in the bottom surface of 3B.

The configuration of the open-type earphone 1 worn on one (left or right) ear of the user has been described above, but the configuration of the open-type earphone 1 worn on the other (right or left) ear is Since it is exactly the same, illustration and description thereof are omitted.

Here, FIG. 6 shows a state in which the open-type earphone 1 according to the present embodiment is worn on the user's ear. It is worn in a direction to abut on the tragus) 12 . That is, the open-type earphone 1 is worn on the user's ear by inserting the acoustic duct 3 into the ear canal 11 of the ear. At this time, the ear ring 4 contacts the tragus 12 of the ear. Then, since the ear ring 4 is pressed by the tragus 12, the ear ring 4 is pressed against the inner wall 13 of the concha of the ear, and the ring 4B is elastically deformed to bend in an arc shape. Therefore, the ear ring 4 and the acoustic duct 3 are sandwiched between the tragus 12 of the ear and the inner wall 13 of the concha of the ear, and the open-type earphone 1 is securely fitted to the user's ear.

As described above, when the open-type earphone 1 is fitted to the left and right ears of the user and worn, the sound emitted from the speaker 5 (speaker sound) is transmitted through the acoustic duct 3 as indicated by the arrow a in FIG. The vibration of the lymph fluid in the cochlea is transmitted to the auditory nerve while being converted into an electrical signal, and the brain converts this electrical signal into sound. recognize. In addition, as shown by the arrow b in FIG. 6, the surrounding environmental sound is transmitted to the cochlea via the eardrum through the second communication passage 7 formed in the acoustic duct 3, and the vibration of the lymph fluid in the cochlea is an electrical signal. is transmitted to the auditory nerve, and the brain recognizes this electrical signal as sound.

As described above, in the open-type earphone 1 according to the present embodiment, the acoustic duct 3 includes the first communication passage 6 that communicates the speaker 5 with the ear canal 11 of the ear, and communicates the atmosphere with the ear canal 11 of the ear. Since the second communication path 7 is formed, the surrounding environmental sound is introduced into the external auditory canal 11 of the user's ear through the second communication path 7 . Therefore, the user can simultaneously hear the surrounding environmental sound introduced into the ear canal 11 through the second communication path 7 together with the speaker sound introduced into the ear canal through the first communication path 6 . Since the sound from the speaker passes through the first communication path 6 and then passes through the second communication path 7 to the atmosphere, the path becomes longer, preventing leakage of the speaker sound (sound leakage) to the outside. escape. In addition, the speaker sound can be heard clearly even in places with a lot of environmental noise, and touch noise and the user's own voice do not echo.

Further, the open-type earphone 1 according to the present embodiment is worn by inserting the acoustic duct 3 into the ear canal of the user's ear, and is securely attached to the user's ear by the ear ring 4. It can give the user a comfortable feeling of wearing without putting pressure on the body. In this embodiment, the lower duct piece 3B and the ear ring 4 of the acoustic duct 3 are integrally formed, and are detachable from the upper duct piece 3A (earphone main body 2). It can be easily replaced with one that fits the size and shape of the user's ear concha and external auditory canal 11 . Alternatively, the ear ring 4 may be configured as a single body, and the single ear ring 4 may be detachably attached to the acoustic duct 3 .

As a result, according to the open-type earphone 1 according to the present embodiment, it is possible to enjoy only the merits of both earphones while eliminating the disadvantages of the inner-ear earphone and the canal-type earphone.

By the way, in the above embodiment, the second communication passage 7 is formed inside the side wall of the acoustic duct 3 (lower duct piece 3B), but as shown in FIG. The second passage may be constituted by a linear groove 8 formed along the .

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited in application to the embodiments described above, and that various modifications are possible within the scope of the technical ideas described in the scope of claims, the specification, and the drawings. is of course.

1: open type earphone, 2: earphone body, 2A: upper case, 2B: lower case,
3: acoustic duct, 3A: upper duct piece of acoustic duct, 3B: lower duct piece of acoustic duct,
3a: fitting groove of the upper duct piece, 3b: fitting projection of the upper duct piece,
3c: fitting groove of the lower duct piece, 3d: fitting protrusion of the lower duct piece, 4: ear ring,
4A, 4B: ring, 5: speaker, 6: first communication path, 7: second communication path,
7a, 7b: circular holes of the second communicating path, 8: groove (second communicating path), 11: ear canal,
12: tragus, 13: inner wall of concha

Claims (1)

An open-type earphone comprising an earphone main body containing at least a speaker, and an acoustic duct extending obliquely from the earphone main body and inserted at least deeper than the tragus of the external auditory canal of the ear,
The acoustic duct is divided into an upper divided piece formed integrally with the earphone main body and a lower divided piece detachable from the upper divided piece,
An ear ring is attached to the lower segment of the acoustic duct, one end of which contacts the tragus of the ear and the other end of which contacts the inner wall of the concha of the ear,
An open-type earphone, wherein the acoustic duct is formed with a first communication passage that communicates the speaker with the external auditory canal of the ear, and a second communication passage that communicates the atmosphere with the external auditory canal of the ear.

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