JPH0910254A - Manufacture of hearing aid shell and manufacturing device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide the manufacture of a hearing aid shell capable of safely, more quickly and easily forming an ear-shape shell. CONSTITUTION: An ear shape is measured by directly inserting the measuring head 16 of a measuring device 6 to an ear hole which is an object to be measured in a measuring place, the data or the results of processing the data are transferred through a communication channel 10 to a manufacturing place 9 away from the measuring place 8 and a numerically controlled machine tool 11 installed in the manufacturing place 9 is operated based on the received data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a custom-made hearing aid and a hearing aid manufacturing apparatus which are made based on the shape of the external auditory meatus of the human body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ear shell is manufactured as shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b), the ear canal 1 of the object to be measured which is to be used with the hearing aid is filled with the sponge 2 and then air is prevented from entering as shown in FIG. 6 (c). Carefully put the filler 3 into the ear canal 1 with the injector 4 and wait until it solidifies. Once solidified, the ear mold 5 formed by solidifying the filler as shown in FIG.
From the ear canal 1.

The ear mold 5 taken out from the ear canal 1 is measured by a three-dimensional scanner to obtain a three-dimensional shape of the ear mold.

[0004]

In the conventional method for manufacturing a hearing aid shell as described above, it takes skill to inject the filler 3, and bubbles are included or the filling pressure is too strong, so that the sponge 2 is inserted into the ear hole 1. There are times when it goes deep inside, and the current situation is that it is receiving unpopularity from customers.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a hearing aid shell which is safe, yet quick and easy to make.

[0006]

According to the method of manufacturing a hearing aid shell of claim 1, a measuring instrument is inserted into the ear hole of the object to be measured, the ear pattern is measured, and based on this data or the result of processing the data. It is characterized by operating a numerically controlled machine tool to form a hearing aid ear shell.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the method for manufacturing a hearing aid shell, a measuring instrument is inserted into the ear hole of the object to be measured at the measuring location to measure the ear shape, and this data or the result of processing the data is transmitted via the communication line. The hearing aid ear shell is formed by transferring to a manufacturing location remote from the measurement location and operating a numerically controlled machine tool installed at the manufacturing location based on the received data.

A hearing aid shell manufacturing method according to a third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first and second aspects, the ear mold of the object to be measured is moved by rotating the measuring instrument while rotating the measuring instrument.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the method for manufacturing a hearing aid shell according to the first, second and third aspects, the measuring instrument measures the ear pattern of the ear hole to be measured by a plurality of sets of triangulation optical cutting methods. It is characterized by doing.

The hearing aid shell manufacturing apparatus according to claim 5 is an ear type measuring instrument having a measuring head that can be inserted into an ear hole to be measured, and three-dimensional numerical data output from the ear type measuring instrument for manufacturing a hearing aid. A computer for converting necessary numerical data and a numerically controlled machine tool whose operation is controlled by the numerical data converted by the computer are provided.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the hearing aid shell manufacturing apparatus according to the fifth aspect, the measuring head of the ear-type measuring instrument irradiates the ear canal of the object to be measured with light, ultrasonic waves, or X-rays so that the ear-type does not contact. It is characterized by measuring.

The hearing aid shell manufacturing apparatus according to claim 7 is characterized in that, in claim 5, the measuring head of the ear-type measuring instrument is a nuclear magnetic resonance scanner.

[0013]

According to the structure of claim 1, the measuring instrument is directly inserted into the ear hole of the object to be measured to measure the ear mold, and the numerical control machine tool is operated based on this data or the result of processing the data. Since the hearing aid shell is made, there is no need for molding with filler.

According to the structure of claim 2, the measuring instrument is directly inserted into the ear hole of the object to be measured at the measuring location to measure the ear mold,
The data or the result of processing the data is transferred to the manufacturing place away from the measuring place through the communication line, and the numerically controlled machine tool installed at the manufacturing place is operated based on the received data.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the measuring instrument moves the ear hole of the object to be measured while rotating to measure the ear mold, so that a complicated shape can be accurately measured. According to the structure of claim 4, the measuring instrument measures the ear shape of the ear hole of the object to be measured by a plurality of sets of triangulation optical cutting methods.

According to the structure of claim 5, an ear type measuring instrument,
A method of manufacturing a hearing aid shell is realized by a computer and a numerical control machine tool. According to the structure of claim 6, the measuring head of the ear-type measuring instrument irradiates light, ultrasonic waves, or X-rays to the ear hole of the measurement target to measure the ear type in a non-contact manner.

According to the structure of claim 7, the measuring head of the ear-type measuring instrument is a nuclear magnetic resonance scanner.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A concrete embodiment of a method for manufacturing a hearing aid shell according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 1, a hearing aid shell manufacturing apparatus for carrying out the method for manufacturing a hearing aid shell according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. A computer 7 that reads data and executes necessary arithmetic processing is provided at a measurement location 8 where a measurement target person is located, and a manufacturing location 9 remote from the measurement location 8 is connected to the computer 7 through a communication line 10. The numerically controlled machine tool 11 is arranged.

The numerically controlled machine tool 11 automatically forms the hearing aid shell based on the data received from the computer 7. The numerical control machine tool 11 is a conventional milling machine,
A known machine such as a lathe, a molding machine using photo-curing resin, a molding machine using powdered resin, or a molding machine that ejects molten resin from the tip of a nozzle, is used to open the hearing aid shell based on the numerical data received from the computer 9. create.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 (a), the measuring instrument 6 is formed of a curved surface and a casing 13 having a fixing plate 12 for fixing the measuring instrument 6 by contacting the head of the person to be measured. A measuring head 16 in which an external thread 14 that is screwed into the casing 13 is formed on the outer periphery excluding the front end portion, and three sets of optical cutting units 15a, 15b, 15c are embedded in the front end portion.
It is composed mainly of and. Inside the casing 13, a motor 17, a reducer 18 which is interposed between the output shaft of the motor 17 and the male screw 14 and rotates the measuring head 16 with respect to the casing 13, and the measuring head 1
A position / rotation sensor 19 for detecting movement and rotation of 6 in the ear direction is built in.

Optical cutting unit 1 using three sets of triangulation methods
Reference numerals 5a, 15b, and 15c denote light emitting elements 20a, 20b, which irradiate fan-shaped plane light in three directions of front, upper, lower, and lower.
20c and two-dimensional light receiving element 21a ₁ seen at the same angle it from two directions, 21a _2, 21b _1, 21b _2, 21c
_It consists of ₁ , 21c ₂ .

In the measurement, as shown in FIG. 3A, when the fixing plate 12 of the measuring instrument 6 is applied to the head side and the switch 22 is turned on, the motor 17 is rotated by the command of the control device 23, and the speed reducer. The measurement head 16 rotates via 18, and the measurement head 16 moves in the −Z-axis direction toward the ear canal 1 as shown in FIG. 3B.

3 (a), (b) and (c) show the states of the initial, middle and end of measurement, and the shape of the ear canal 1 is measured by the light cutting units 15a, 15b, 15c. . Here, the portion indicated by hatching 24 is the measurement area at that time.

The three sets of light cutting units are installed to measure -Z direction, + X direction, -X direction and the overhang portion 25 of the ear canal 1. When the measurement head 16 enters the ear canal 1 and the tip of the measurement head 16 comes into contact with the inner end of the ear canal, a signal is output from the contact sensor provided at the tip of the measurement head 16 and enters the control device 23. The control device 23 ends the energization of the motor 17 and automatically stops the movement of the measuring head to the -Z axis.

The position and rotation angle of the measuring head 16 in the Z direction are either set on the motor 17 or detected by a position / rotation sensor 19 provided on the side of the measuring head 16 to detect the measuring head 16. The position and rotation of are specified.

The light cutting units 15a to 15c are arranged in the measuring head 16 as shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, the range to be measured by the light cutting units 15a to 15c is the hatching 2 from line A to line B in the counterclockwise direction.
The range is indicated by 6. When the range surrounded by the A line and the B line is divided into six equal parts, and one of the equally divided angles is θ, the positions at θ, 3θ, and 5θ from the A line (Pc, Pb, P
The light emitting elements 20c, 20b, 20a are arranged in a). The light receiving element 21C is symmetrical with respect to the origin O along the line O-Pc.
1, 21C2 are arranged so as to form a constant angle α with the line O-Pc. Light receiving elements 21b1 and 21b2 for the light emitting element 20b
1b2 and the light receiving element 21 for the light emitting element 20a
The same applies to a1 and 21a2.

The light emitting elements 20c, 20b, 20a
Each emits fan-shaped line light, hits the ear hole 1, and is received by each light receiving element. Light emitting element 20c
The scattered light of the light emitted from the two-dimensional light receiving elements 21C1, 21C1
An image is formed on 1C2. The same applies to the light emitting elements 20b and 20a. The two light-receiving elements are arranged here in order to eliminate the blind spot of measurement with respect to the inclination of the symmetrical object.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, when the measurement head 16 rotates and moves in the Z direction, the measurement area 26 rotates while maintaining a flat surface, and the entire ear canal 1 is measured. Light receiving elements 21C1, 21C2, 21b1, 21b2, 21a
The computer 7 performs the coordinate conversion, the center of gravity calculation, and the image processing on the line-shaped images obtained at 1 and 21a2, and the ear-shaped stereoscopic measurement shape is displayed. Then, a thickening process is performed on this data and the data is transferred to the numerically controlled machine tool 11 to complete the ear shell.

As described above, since the measuring instrument 6 is directly inserted into the ear canal 1 to be measured, the ear mold is measured, and the numerically controlled machine tool 11 is operated based on this data or the result of processing the data. Since there is no need for mold making with a filler, accurate ear molds can be measured without skill.

Further, since the steps of taking a mold with a filler and measuring the ear mold that has been taken are not necessary, the hearing aid shell can be obtained more quickly than in the past. In addition, there is no need to dispose of waste, which is called the ear type, and the subject does not have the risk (filling material goes into the back) associated with the ear type measurement, and the ear hole for a custom-made hearing aid can be measured with confidence. Can be asked.

In the above-described embodiment, the data on which the computer 7 has performed the coordinate conversion, the calculation of the center of gravity, the image processing and the thickening processing is transferred to the numerical control machine tool 11 via the communication line 10. After transferring the measured data to the numerically controlled machine tool 11 via the communication line, coordinate conversion, center of gravity calculation,
It is also possible to make an ear shell by performing image processing and thickening processing.

In the above embodiment, three sets of light cutting units are used, but this light cutting means may be one set,
One-way emission, one-way emission,
Directional observation is also possible.

The three-dimensional shape may be grasped by the Moire method or the projection method instead of the triangulation method. Furthermore, ultrasonic waves or nuclear magnetic resonance may be used. Further, the measuring head 16 can be driven not by screw rotation but by linear driving in the Z direction by a linear motor.

[0035]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the measuring instrument is directly inserted into the ear hole of the object to be measured to measure the ear mold, and the numerical control machine tool is operated based on this data or the result of processing the data. Since the hearing aid shell is made by doing so, it is not necessary to mold with a filler.

According to the structure of claim 2, at the measurement location, the measuring instrument is directly inserted into the ear hole of the object to be measured to measure the ear mold,
This data or the result of processing the data is transferred to the manufacturing site away from the measurement site via a communication line, and the numerically controlled machine tool installed at the manufacturing site operates based on the received data. Even if the ordering user does not go to the factory with the numerically controlled machine tool, the target hearing aid can be quickly obtained simply by measuring the ear canal with the measuring instrument at each store.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the measuring instrument moves the ear hole of the object to be measured while rotating to measure the ear mold, so that a complicated shape can be accurately measured and a good hearing aid shell can be provided.

According to the structure of claim 4, since the measuring instrument measures the ear shape of the ear hole of the object to be measured by a plurality of sets of triangulation optical cutting methods, non-contact measurement can be realized. According to the configurations of claims 5, 6, and 7, the method for manufacturing a hearing aid shell described above can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a manufacturing apparatus that realizes a method for manufacturing a hearing aid shell according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the measuring instrument according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a process diagram for measuring an ear canal in the same example.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a measurement principle by a light section method.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view when the measuring head rotates in the same embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional hearing aid shell manufacturing method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ear hole [object to be measured] 6 measuring instrument 7 computer 8 measuring place 9 manufacturing place 10 communication line 11 numerical control machine tool 15a, 15b, 15c optical cutting unit 16 measuring head

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Seiji Hamano 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A hearing aid for forming a hearing aid ear shell by inserting a measuring instrument into an ear hole to be measured, measuring an ear shape, and operating a numerical control machine tool based on the data or a result of processing the data. Shell manufacturing method. 2. An ear mold is measured by inserting a measuring instrument into the ear hole of the object to be measured at the measurement location, and the data or the result of processing the data is transferred to a manufacturing location away from the measurement location via a communication line. A method of manufacturing a hearing aid shell, which is transferred and operates a numerically controlled machine tool installed at a manufacturing site based on received data to form a hearing aid ear shell. 3. The method for manufacturing a hearing aid shell according to claim 1, wherein the ear mold is measured by moving the ear hole of the object to be measured while the measuring instrument rotates. 4. The method for manufacturing a hearing aid shell according to claim 1, wherein the measuring instrument measures the ear pattern of the ear hole to be measured by a plurality of sets of triangulation optical cutting methods. 5. An ear-type measuring instrument having a measuring head that can be inserted into an ear hole to be measured, and a computer for converting three-dimensional numerical data output from the ear-type measuring instrument into numerical data necessary for manufacturing a hearing aid. A hearing aid shell manufacturing apparatus provided with a numerical control machine tool whose operation is controlled by numerical data converted by a computer. 6. The hearing aid shell manufacturing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the measuring head of the ear-type measuring instrument irradiates light, ultrasonic waves, or X-rays to the ear hole of the object to be measured to measure the ear-type in a non-contact manner. 7. The hearing aid shell manufacturing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the measuring head of the ear-type measuring instrument is a nuclear magnetic resonance scanner.