JPS6362955B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention electrically converts bone conduction audio signals from the ear canal wall and transmits them to the outside via a transmitter as electrical signals, and also converts audio signals from a speaker that converts the electrical signals from a receiver. This invention relates to a two-way communication device in the ear canal that leads to the ear canal.

There has never been a device for two-way communication within the ear canal of this type that can withstand use under external noise and is integrated with a speaker to ensure two-way communication with one ear.

That is, a speaker that converts an electrical signal from a receiver into sound is usually provided behind the vibroelectric transducer element, behind the part inserted into the external auditory canal, and transmits sound into the external auditory canal through a sound conduit. Therefore, when used in a noisy environment, as the sound level increases through the sound pipe, the sound signal may leak to the vibroelectric transducer and approach the user's sound level through mechanical coupling. As a result, in two-way calls that use a single carrier frequency with a voice-based automatic transmission/reception switching device (VOX circuit), a malfunction occurs in which the receiving side switches to the transmitting side based on the audio signal, which makes manual switching impossible. At least one hand must be used when communicating, and work may have to be temporarily interrupted to communicate, or even if work is not interrupted, the focus may be on communication, resulting in a lack of safety. There were other drawbacks.

In wired two-way communication and wireless two-way communication using two carrier frequencies, howling occurs as the received audio signal level increases, making communication virtually impossible.

The present invention seeks to correct the above-mentioned drawbacks,
The purpose of this is that by placing the speaker in front of the vibroelectric transducer, it is possible to hear well even if the output of the speaker is reduced, and therefore malfunctions due to sound energy from the speaker are almost eliminated. To provide telephone equipment.

Next, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Reference numeral 1 denotes an insert made of a heavy material such as zinc die-casting, which is inserted into the listener's ear canal, and its outer periphery is covered with a plastic coating 2 to improve the feeling of wearing. And this insert 1
An insertion hole 1a is formed from the center of the back toward the front, and a hole 1b is formed in the front, and this hole 1
A through hole 1c is formed inside b. Reference numeral 3 denotes a vibratory electric transducer such as a piezo element fixed in the insertion hole 1a of the insert 1 via a presser member 4, and its lead wire 3a is formed by an elastic member 8, which will be described later, via a shield plate 5. It is led out from the bush 10 through a hollow. Reference numeral 6 denotes a shock absorber made of rubber or the like that is fitted into the hole 1b of the insert 1, and an ultra-small speaker using a piezoelectric film or an electrodynamic speaker 7 is housed inside the shock absorber 6. And the lead wire 7a of the speaker 7
passes through the through hole 1c, further through the insert 1, and is led out from the bush 10 through the cavity. Reference numeral 8 denotes an elastic member made of natural or synthetic rubber, which covers the rear part of the insert 1, and has a cavity formed in the center. Reference numeral 9 denotes an outer body made of the same material as the insert body 1 that covers the outer periphery of the elastic member 8, and a bush 10 is fitted below the outer body. Note that 11 is a lead wire holder inserted into the bush 10, and 12 is a plastic jacket covering the outer periphery of the outer body 9.

Although not shown, the lead wire 3a from the conversion element 3 is connected to the transmitter, and the lead wire 7a from the speaker 7 is connected to the receiver, and when the conversion element 3 detects audio vibration, the lead wire When an electrical signal is sent from 3a, the receiving state is switched to the transmitting state.

Next, the operation of the internal auditory canal two-way communication device having the above-described structure will be explained.

Now, when the user speaks, bone-conducted sound vibrations from the ear canal wall are transmitted to the insert 1 and converted to the transducer 3.
Here it is converted into an electrical signal and sent to lead wire 3.
It is sent to a transmitter via a, and is radiated as a radio wave from an antenna.

By the way, vibrations transmitted from the outside via the lead wires 3a and 7a are transmitted to the presser member 11 and the bush 1.
0, the vibration is absorbed by the vibration system made of the spring elasticity of the outer body 9 and the lead wires 3a, 7a. Further, vibrations directly applied to the outer body 9 are absorbed by the vibration system of the insert body 1 and the elastic member 8.

In any of the above cases, it is desirable that the resonance frequency of each resonance system falls outside the low range of the effective sensitivity frequency band (for example, 300 to 3300 Hz) of the conversion element 3. For this purpose, the mass of the insert body 1 and the outer body 9 must be large, and the elastic modulus of the elastic member 8 must also be large. In particular, when the elastic modulus of the elastic member 8 is large, the effective load weight of the transducer element 3 against the external auditory canal sound vibration is approximately only the insert body 1, and the weight of the outer body 9 has almost no effect, thereby avoiding a decrease in the audio signal output. It will be done.

On the other hand, the external signal received by the receiver drives the speaker 7 via the lead wire 7a, and the sound is emitted into the ear canal. Here, since the speaker 7 is close to the eardrum, the output of the speaker 7 only needs to be very small, so the vibration energy due to the speaker 7 is small, and the vibration due to this vibration energy is due to the shock absorber 6 and the insert 1. It is absorbed by the vibration system and is not transmitted to the conversion element 3. For this reason,
Since the conversion element 3 does not detect vibrations while receiving a call, there is no possibility of switching to a transmitting state, and therefore two-way communication using a single carrier frequency is possible.

In the above embodiment, a two-way communication using a single carrier frequency has been described, but it goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to a two-way communication using two carrier frequencies.

As described above, the present invention provides a speaker at the tip of an insert inserted into the ear canal and a vibratory electric transducer at the rear, so that the speaker is located close to the eardrum, and therefore the output of the speaker is By making it smaller, the conversion element hardly detects the speaker's vibration energy key as vibration, which eliminates malfunctions such as switching to transmitting mode while receiving a call, and allows two-way communication using a single carrier frequency. It has the following effects.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The figure is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of the intra-external auditory canal two-way communication device according to the present invention. 1... Insert body, 3... Conversion element, 7... Speaker.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. It is made of a material with a large mass such as zinc die-casting, and has an insertion hole 1 facing toward the front from the center of the back.
an insert body 1 having a portion that can be inserted into a listener's external auditory canal, in which a hole 1b is formed on the front surface of the insert body 1, and a piezo element, etc., with one end fixed in the insertion hole 1a of the insert body 1. Vibrating electrical conversion element 3
and a speaker 7 fixed in the hole 1b of the insert 1 via a buffer 6.