JPS60143100A - Hearing aid - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable to hear the dialogue part where you failed to hear by storing an input sound temporarily and by reading it at any time. CONSTITUTION:An input sound is converted 1 to an electric signal, and is supplied to a RAM4 after A/D convertion 3. A control part 8 executes circulatingly the sequential address specification up to (N-1) from the address zero for the RAM4, and writes the input sound. At the time of reproducing, the control part 8 switches the RAM4 to the reading mode and specifies the reading address based on the specification signal from a switch 9. Thus, the read signal is D/A converted 5, and becomes the sound output through a switch 7 and a converter 5. For the switch 7, a terminal (a) is switched to a terminal (b) based on the reproducing instruction, and after the reading address specification to the RAM4 takes a turn, the terminal (b) is switched to the terminal (a).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention provides a hearing aid, particularly a completely new type of hearing aid that can repeatedly reproduce the previous sound during listening.

Conventional configurations and their problems In recent years, hearing aids have become smaller, such as behind-the-ear types, glasses-type ones that use bone conduction, and ones that shift to a frequency range that is easier to hear to improve clarity according to the characteristics of residual hearing. Various developments are underway.

However, with conventional hearing aids, if we focus on the fact that the ultimate purpose of hearing aids is not just to hear sounds, but to understand the meaning of conversations with context, it is difficult to hear conversations that can be experienced by healthy people. It is impossible to solve the problem that if you miss a part of the conversation, it becomes unclear and the meaning of the entire conversation becomes unclear.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and to provide a hearing aid that can reproduce and listen to the previous sound at any time while listening to a conversation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a hearing aid that can reproduce the previous sound from a sharp point in the sentence.

Structure of the Invention The present invention provides an acoustoelectric transducer that converts input audio into an electrical signal, and an AD converter that converts the electrical signal into a digital signal.
a converter; a storage means for storing the digital signal;
A DA converter that converts the digital signal read from the storage means into an analog signal, an amplifier that amplifies the audio signal converted to the electrical signal, and an electroacoustic transducer that converts the input signal into audio. switch means for selectively supplying the audio electrical signal that has been temporarily stored and the audio electrical signal that has not been temporarily stored to the electroacoustic transducer; This hearing aid is equipped with a control section that performs designations in a cyclical manner, so that parts that are difficult to hear can be immediately reproduced.

The present invention is a hearing aid that is equipped with a silent section detecting section that detects silent sections of speech, and is capable of reproducing sentences from sharp points. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a hearing aid in one embodiment.

In the figure, 1 is an acousto-electric transducer such as a microphone that converts input audio into an electrical signal, 2 is an amplifier, and 3 is an AD (analog-digital) converter that samples the output signal of the acousto-electric transducer 1 and converts it into a digital signal. 4 is a storage means such as a RAM for storing the input audio signal converted into a digital signal by the AD converter 3. 6 is a DA (digital analog) converter that converts the digital signal read out from the storage means 4 into an analog signal; 6 is an electroacoustic transducer such as a speaker that converts the input signal into audio; 7 is the output of the amplifier 2 and the DA Switch means for selectively supplying the output of the transducer 6 to the acoustoelectric transducer 6. Reference numeral 8 denotes a control unit that controls switching between writing and reading from the storage means 4 and cyclically designates a write address and a read address. Reference numeral 9 is a playback instruction switch used by the operator to instruct playback when he/she has finished listening.

The operation of the hearing aid of this embodiment configured as described above will be described below.

An input audio signal is converted into an electric signal by an acoustoelectric converter 1, amplified by an amplifier 2, and then converted into a digital signal by an AD converter 3. The storage means 4 is switched to write mode by the control section 8. Assuming that the addresses of the storage means 4 are 0 to (N-1), the control unit 8 sequentially specifies addresses from address 0 to address (N-1), and stores the digitized input audio signal in the storage means 4. Add 1 to. When the address position reaches (N-1), the control unit 8 returns to address 0, and from then on, addresses are specified cyclically so that the latest one of the input audio signals is always stored. Performs write control.

During playback, upon receiving a playback instruction signal from the playback instruction switch 9, the control section 8 switches the reading mode of the storage means 4 and specifies a readout address. If the write address before receiving the reproduction instruction signal is m, the start position of this read address is m -1-1. In other words, an N-ary counter may be used as the address designation means, and the read address can be designated without re-centing the N-ary counter by simply setting the storage means 4 to the read mode when receiving the reproduction instruction signal. can be done.

The digital signal read out in this manner is converted into an analog signal by the DA converter 5, and output as audio from the electroacoustic transducer 6 via the switch means 7.

On the other hand, in normal hearing aid operation, the switch means 7 is connected to the a terminal side under normal conditions, and the output of the acousto-electric transducer 1 is amplified by the amplifier 2 and then amplified by the electro-acoustic transducer 6. Output as audio.

The terminals of the switch means 7 are switched from the a terminal to the b terminal when there is a reproduction instruction signal 9, and after - times of reproduction, that is, one cycle of specifying the read address to the storage means 4, the terminal is switched from the b terminal to the a terminal. Control as follows. This control can be performed by the control section 8 detecting that the N-ary counter has completed one cycle. Furthermore, if repeated reproduction is required, this can be done depending on whether or not a reproduction instruction signal is continuously input.

Further, in this embodiment, the amplifier 2 is the acoustoelectric transducer 1
Although it is provided immediately after the switch means 7, it may be provided immediately after the switch means 7.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

In FIG. 2, the same parts as in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals, and their explanation will be omitted.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 10 denotes a silent section detecting section for detecting interrupted silent sections of input audio, and outputs a signal indicating a silent section, for example, when the output of the AD converter 3 is below a predetermined level. Reference numeral 11 denotes a control unit that controls switching between writing and reading into the storage means 4, cyclically designates write addresses and read addresses, and controls the H.
Stores the write address at that time based on the section signal,
When receiving the reproduction instruction signal, the switch means 7 is switched to the b terminal side, and read address control is performed using the stored write address as the read start address. The control unit 11 includes an N-ary counter for cyclically specifying addresses, a memory for holding addresses of silent sections, and means for setting the addresses held in this memory in the N-ary counter when instructing playback. It can be composed of

The operation of the hearing aid of this embodiment configured as described above will be described below.

First, normal hearing aid operation will be explained. In FIG. 2, conversational sounds picked up by an acousto-electrical transducer 1 (a microphone in this embodiment) are amplified by an amplifier 2, and then passed through a connection switching switch 7 to an electro-acoustic transducer 6 (in this embodiment, a microphone). speakers). On the other hand, the output of the amplifier 2 is simultaneously converted into a digital signal by the AD converter 3, and stored in the storage means 4 (RAM in this embodiment).
). As shown in Figure 3, if the memory storage addresses are from address 0 to address (N'-1), the digitally converted conversation voice is stored sequentially from address 0 until it reaches address (N'-1). Then, the data returns to address 0 and is stored continuously, and the RAM 4 always stores the latest conversational audio with a length of time corresponding to the capacity.

Next, suppose that the playback instruction switch 9 is pressed at the time when conversational audio has been written up to address n, as shown in FIG. At this time, the content of the conversational audio stored in RAM 4 becomes a relational paradigm as shown in Figure 3.
0 years ago".

The control unit 11 first controls A from the AD converter 3 to the RAM 4.
Stop storing D-converted data. The silent section detection unit 10 detects that the AD-converted value has a predetermined length of time (for example, 0.3 seconds or more).
A portion where the value is continuously below a certain value (between "su" and "pause" in Fig. 3) is detected and a detection signal is sent to the control section 11, and the control section 11 memorizes the address 8 at that time. ing. After the control unit 11 stops storing the AD conversion data in the RAM 4, it sets the value of the N-ary counter to six. After that, R
Switch AM4 to read mode and start reading from address S. Therefore, the reproduction of the read signal starts from a well-defined point, such as "Ikke Paradigm...".

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to reproduce and audible parts of a conversation that are unclear if one has missed it, thereby increasing the degree of understanding of the entire conversation, and has high practical value.

Furthermore, by providing the hearing aid of the present invention with a silence detection section, it is possible to reproduce audio information from a convenient position.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a hearing aid according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention, and the third diagram shows the storage of conversational sounds in the memory in the same embodiment. It is a schematic diagram showing a state. 1...Acoustic electric transducer, 2...Amplifier, 3...AD converter, 4...Storage means, 6...DA conversion device, 6... electroacoustic transducer, 7... switch means, 8°10...
...control unit, 9...playback instruction switch. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person
3 Figure 111Q;

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) An acoustoelectric converter that converts input audio into an electrical signal, an AD converter that converts the electrical signal into a digital signal, a storage device that stores the digital signal, and a digital signal read from the storage device. a DA converter that converts the input signal into an analog signal, an amplifier that amplifies the audio signal converted into an electrical signal, an electroacoustic converter that converts the input signal into audio, and a temporarily stored audio electrical signal and an audio electrical signal that is temporarily stored. a switch means for selectively supplying an audio electrical signal to the electroacoustic transducer; and a control section for controlling writing and reading to and from the storage means and cyclically specifying a write address and a read address. A hearing aid characterized by comprising: (2) an acoustoelectric converter that converts input audio into an electrical signal; an AD converter that converts the electrical signal into a digital signal; a storage device that stores the digital signal; and a digital signal read out from the storage device. a DA converter that converts the input signal into an analog signal, an amplifier that amplifies the audio signal converted into an electrical signal, an electroacoustic converter that converts the input signal into audio, and a temporarily stored audio electrical signal and an audio electrical signal that is temporarily stored. a switch means for selectively supplying an audio electrical signal to the electroacoustic transducer; a silent section detecting section for detecting a silent section of the audio information stored in the storage means; and read switching control, and cyclically specify a write address and a read address, and when specifying the read address, the read start position is determined based on the silent section information detected by the silent section detecting section. A hearing aid characterized by comprising: a control unit that determines the state of the hearing aid;