KR101614382B1 - Bone-Conduction Type Hearing Aid Device Having Self Tuning Function - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a bone-conduction type hearing aid device having a self-tuning function. The bone-conduction type hearing aid device according to the present invention includes an audio setting input unit for controlling and inputting relative gains of at least two frequency bands into which an audio frequency band is divided; an audio input unit for receiving an audio signal from a microphone or an external audio source; an audio control unit for storing an audio setting input through the audio setting input unit and controlling a relative intensity of an audio signal provided from the audio input unit corresponding to the frequency bands according to the audio setting; a power amplifier for amplifying the output signal of the audio control unit at a uniform rate in all frequency bands; and a bone-conduction speaker for generating a vibration by using a piezoelectric module according to the signal passing through the power amplifier and transferring the vibration to the skull of a user to allow the user to recognize the audio through his acoustic sense.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a bone conduction hearing aid having a self-tuning function,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bone conduction hearing assist device, and more particularly, to a bone conduction hearing assist device using a bone conduction speaker for transmitting vibrations generated by a piezoelectric element through bone of a human body, .

In general, there are two ways in which a person feels sound, depending on the route: one is air conduction and the other is bone conduction.

Among them, the air conduction method is generally a method in which the sound of the air is transmitted to the inner ear through the eardrum. The vibration of the eardrum is transmitted to the cochlea through the three bones placed in the inner part of the eardrum, and the vibration of the eardrum is transmitted to the cochlea. In the cochlea, there is a fluid called linvar fluid, which is converted into an electrical signal that is transmitted to the auditory nerves, so that the human brain is perceived as a sound. On the other hand, the bone conduction system transmits vibration to the cochlea through the cranial bone and inner ear bone, which is transmitted to the brain through the auditory nerve, where the vibration in the sound recognition mechanism is located in the eardrum and the tympanic membrane The process of passing through the three bones is omitted.

One feels a sound in these two ways, which are mutually complementary, so one can feel the sound through another path, even if there is an abnormality in one path. For example, even if the hearing loss is abnormal in the eardrum or ear bone, if the cochlea and auditory nerve are normal, the bone conduction, that is, the vibration applied to the skin around the ear or inside the skin is transmitted to the cochlea through the skull, It will be possible. This principle is applied to a hearing aid, and a "bone conduction hearing aid using piezoelectric vibration (Korea Patent No. 10-1109110)" has been disclosed.

On the other hand, even if the hearing impairment or the function is deteriorated, such disturbance or functional deterioration may not be uniformly expressed in all the frequency regions, but may vary depending on the frequency region classified as high / mid / low have. Therefore, it is desirable that the hearing aid such as a hearing aid is adjusted to the hearing characteristics of each user in the frequency domain. However, such an adjustment, called tuning or fitting, is only provided for products of some currently marketed hearing aid products and is only performed through visits to facilities with special equipment, often referred to as a hearing center This inconveniences the user. In addition, the tuning operation can be expected to have a substantial effect when the frequency response characteristic of the speaker for the hearing aid covers the entire audible frequency range, and the conventional hearing aid does not satisfy this requirement.

The present invention is intended to provide a hearing aid (hearing aid) capable of using a hearing aid that has abnormalities in the eardrum or ossicles using a bone conduction speaker. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a bone conduction speaker that is configured to have excellent response characteristics over a wide frequency range, thereby making it possible to appropriately supplement the user's hearing loss frequency region. Another object of the present invention is to increase the usability of the tuning operation by allowing the user to perform the tuning work according to the hearing characteristics of the user in the frequency domain.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the bone conduction hearing assist device according to the present invention includes: a sound setting input unit for inputting a relative gain for each frequency region for at least two frequency regions divided by dividing an audible frequency band; A sound input unit for receiving a sound signal from a microphone or an external sound source; An acoustic control unit for storing sound settings inputted through the sound setting input unit and adjusting intensity of the sound signal provided from the sound input unit according to the sound setting in each frequency domain; A power amplifier for amplifying an output signal of the sound adjusting unit at a uniform rate with respect to all frequency ranges; And a bone conduction speaker that generates vibration according to a signal passed through the power amplifier using the piezoelectric vibration module, and transmits the vibration to the skull of the user to be recognized as sound by the auditory sense.

The bone-conduction speaker according to the present invention is characterized in that the sound setting input unit is disposed between the sound setting input unit and the sound adjusting unit, and the sound setting inputted through the user interface of the sound setting inputting unit is connected to a communication protocol recognized by the sound controlling unit, And a central processing unit (CPU) for transmitting the sound signal to the sound controller.

The power amplifier may include a non-inverting amplifier connected in parallel to the input signal and a boomer using an inverting amplifier. The transducer further includes a transformer disposed between the boomer and the bone conduction speaker for boosting the voltage to a voltage level suitable for the vibration of the piezoelectric vibration module of the bone conduction speaker.

The bone conduction speaker includes: a piezoelectric vibration module for generating vibration according to an input electrical signal; A housing accommodating the piezoelectric vibration module therein and having a hole on one side; And a head portion and a pillar portion, the head portion being disposed outside the hole with a gap from the housing surface, the pillar portion extending from the head portion through the hole to the inside of the housing, A vibrator that contacts the module and transmits vibration; And a first elastic member disposed inside the housing and elastically pressing the vibrator toward the piezoelectric vibrating module to maintain the vibrator in contact with the piezoelectric vibrating module.

The vibrator may be configured such that the head portion is inserted into a user's ear and transmits vibration to the skull around the ear canal.

The vibrator may further include a spring stopper coupled to the column portion, and the first elastic member may be a compression coil spring disposed between the housing and the spring stopper.

The piezoelectric vibrating module includes: a piezoelectric element having an upper electrode and a lower electrode on an upper surface and a lower surface of a piezoelectric ceramic disk, respectively; And a piezoelectric module base having a metal diaphragm on which the piezoelectric element is mounted, and a support and a finishing plate for providing a low density fluid filled portion below the metal diaphragm. At this time, the column portion may be arranged so that its end portion is in contact with the piezoelectric element side of the piezoelectric vibration module, and the column portion is arranged such that its longitudinal direction coincides with the vibration direction of the piezoelectric vibration module.

And a second elastic member disposed between the piezoelectric vibration module and the housing and elastically supporting the piezoelectric vibration module in a direction opposite to a direction in which the first elastic member is pressed.

According to the present invention, a hearing aid having an abnormality in the tympanic membrane or the ossicular bone using the bone conduction speaker can also achieve the effect of supplementing the hearing ability. In particular, the hearing aid according to the present invention has an effect of making it possible to appropriately supplement a user's hearing loss frequency region by employing a bone conduction speaker configured to have excellent response characteristics over a wide frequency range. Further, there is an effect that the user can perform the tuning work suited to the audible characteristic of the user in the frequency domain, thereby increasing the usability.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a hearing aid according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a power amplifier in the embodiment of FIG.
FIG. 3 shows a variation of the output according to the example of the power amplifier shown in FIG.
4 shows an example of an earphone of a hearing aid according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 shows the configuration of a bone conduction speaker employed in the earphone of FIG.
6 shows a configuration of a piezoelectric vibration module in the bone conduction speaker of FIG.
FIG. 7 shows a modification of a part of the bone conduction speaker of FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments described below can be modified in various ways, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments. The embodiments of the present invention are provided to clearly convey the technical idea of the present invention to those skilled in the art.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a hearing aid according to an embodiment of the present invention.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the bone conduction hearing assist device includes a sound setting input unit 210 that receives sound settings from a user through a user interface, and a sound setting unit 210 that receives sound signals from the microphone 250 or the external sound source input terminal 240. [ A sound adjusting unit 230 for adjusting a relative intensity of the sound signal provided by the sound input unit according to the sound setting in a frequency domain, a controller 230 for adjusting the output signal of the sound adjusting unit 230 A power amplifier 280 for amplifying the amplified signal at a uniform rate, and a piezoelectric vibration module for generating vibration according to a signal passed through the power amplifier and transmitting the vibration to the skull of the user, And a bone conduction speaker (101).

The sound setting and adjusting operation in the sound setting input unit 210 and the sound adjusting unit 230 may be performed by adjusting a relative gain for each frequency region for at least two or more frequency regions divided into audible frequency bands Lt; / RTI > Here, there is no specific standard for how to divide the audio frequency band into two or more frequency regions, but general examples are divided into treble, middle and bass regions. In this embodiment, the sound controller 230 includes a treble controller 231, a middle controller 232, and a bass controller 233 in each frequency domain. In addition, when a stereo sound signal, that is, sound signals of two channels, is received from the sound input unit, the balance adjusting unit 234 may be provided to adjust the balance of the sound signals.

The sound input unit may have a switch 260 for selecting any one of the external sound source input terminal 240 and the microphone 250. The switch 260, as an example, may be operated by software as an electronic switch. And may be configured to receive the input of the external sound source input terminal 240 automatically when the connector is inserted into the external sound source input terminal 240 or the input signal is present based on the microphone 250 input. And an input signal amplifier 270 may be further provided between the sound input unit and the sound adjusting unit 230.

The sound setting unit 210 is disposed between the sound setting input unit 210 and the sound adjusting unit 230 and outputs the sound setting inputted through the user interface of the sound setting input unit 210 to the sound adjusting unit 230 as an integrated circuit And a central processing unit (CPU) 220 for transmitting to the sound control unit 230 according to a recognized communication protocol.

In the process of inputting the sound setting and adjusting the sound accordingly, the user selects a frequency region of one of the high, middle, and low frequency regions, and inputs a button for adjusting a gain for the frequency region , The central operation unit 220 converts the information on the selected frequency range and gain value into a digital signal conforming to, for example, the I2C communication protocol, and transmits the digital signal to the sound control unit 230. The sound adjusting unit 230 receives the relative gain value set for each frequency region and latches the input value using the flip-flop. If the gain is stored for each frequency region of the high, middle, and low frequencies, the external sound source or the microphone is controlled to output the sound signal according to the sound setting inputted by the user. As described above, when the balance adjusting unit 234 is provided, the balance of the sound can be adjusted by receiving the gain for each of the left and right channels and adjusting the intensity of the output.

The hearing aid device according to the present invention is provided so that the user can self-adjust according to his or her hearing characteristics by adjusting the gain for each frequency region while listening to a sound input from a microphone or an external sound source. For this, the sound setting input unit 210, the sound adjusting unit 230, and the like may be provided in a body separate from the earphone-type bone conduction speaker 101. The sound setting input unit 210 may be provided separately such as a wired or wireless remote controller.

In order for the self-tuning function to have a substantial effect in terms of complementing the hearing, excellent frequency response characteristics of the bone conduction speaker 101 are required. The bone conduction speaker 101 employed in the hearing aid according to the present invention covers the entire audible frequency range with a frequency response of 20 to 20,000 Hz, thereby providing a substantial hearing assistive effect according to self tuning. The detailed configuration of the bone conduction speaker 101 will be described later.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a power amplifier in the embodiment of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 shows a variation of output according to the example of the power amplifier shown in FIG.

The power amplifier 280 may be composed of a non-inverting amplifier 280A as shown in FIG. 2A. When the signal input to the power amplifier 280 is as shown in FIG. 3A, the output signal from the non-inverting amplifier 280A has the same polarity as shown in FIG. 3B and its amplitude is doubled Amplified. Meanwhile, the power amplifier 280 may include a power amplifier of a so-called 'Boomer' as shown in FIG. 2 (b). It is advantageous to provide a boomer type power amplifier in terms of increasing the output of the hearing aid. The boomer 280B includes a noninverting amplifier 281 and an inverting amplifier 282 connected in parallel to each other with respect to an input signal. By connecting the output of the non-inverting amplifier 281 to the (+) output terminal and the output of the inverting amplifier 282 to the (-) output terminal, the voltage between the two output terminals The car reaches four times the input voltage. In this way, the sound output can be increased.

 The transducer 290 further includes a transformer 290 disposed between the boomer 280B and the bone conduction speaker 101 to boost the voltage to a voltage level suitable for the vibration of the piezoelectric vibration module of the bone conduction speaker 101 It is possible.

FIG. 4 shows an example of an earphone of a hearing aid according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 shows a configuration of a bone conduction speaker employed in the earphone of FIG.

The bone conduction speaker 101 according to the present embodiment includes a piezoelectric vibrating module 20 and a housing 10 for providing a space for accommodating the piezoelectric vibrating module 20 therein, And a vibrator 30E for transmitting the vibrator 30E to the outside of the housing 10. Here, the housing 10 and the vibrator 30E may be formed in a small size so that the bone conduction speaker 101 according to the present embodiment can be inserted into the user's ear. The head 31E of the vibrator 30E may be formed in a cylindrical shape or a shape similar to the cylindrical shape so as to be inserted into the ear. The ear tip 34 may be made of a soft material such as silicone rubber to wrap the head 31E so as not to cause pain in the user's ear. The head 31E transmits sound to the ear of the user through the eartip 34, that is, to the inner wall of the auditory canal by transmitting bone conduction through the skull or the like around the auditory canal.

As shown in the figure, the housing 10 includes a lower housing 12 for receiving the piezoelectric vibration module 20 and supporting the bottom thereof, and a lower housing 12 coupled to the lower housing 12 to form a space therein And an upper housing 11 having a hole facing the piezoelectric vibration module 20. The upper housing 11 and the lower housing 12 may be coupled to each other by various methods such as hooking, screwing, and fitting. The housing 10 may be formed in various shapes such as being divided into left and right parts as well as being divided into an upper part and a lower part. Hereinafter, the description will be made on the basis of an example in which the housing 10 is composed of the upper housing 11 and the lower housing 12.

The piezoelectric vibrating module 20 generates vibration according to an input electrical signal and is composed of a piezoelectric element and a piezoelectric module base for supporting the piezoelectric element. The piezoelectric module base is accommodated on the lower housing 12 side A piezoelectric element which is supported and which actually generates vibration can be arranged so as to face the hole of the upper housing 11. [

The vibrator 30E has a head 31E and a pillar 32. The head 31E directly or indirectly contacts the skin adjacent to the user's skull outside the housing 10 to transmit vibration As shown in FIG. The column portion 32 extends through the hole from the head portion 31E to the piezoelectric vibration module 20 so that the longitudinal direction thereof coincides with the main vibration direction of the piezoelectric vibration module 20 . The column portion 32 directly or indirectly contacts the piezoelectric vibration module 20 and transmits the vibration generated in the piezoelectric vibration module 20 to the head portion 31E without substantial attenuation. A spring stopper 33 may be coupled to the end of the column 32. In this case, the spring stopper 33 serves to secure a large contact area between the vibrator 30E and the piezoelectric vibration module 20. [ do. A male screw is formed at the distal end of the column portion 32 and a corresponding female screw is formed at the spring stopper 33 so as to be screwed. However, the position and manner of engagement of the spring stopper 33 are not limited thereto.

The vibrator 30E is elastically biased between the housing 10 and the vibrator 30E and more specifically between a portion adjacent to the hole of the upper housing 11 and the spring stopper 33 of the vibrator 30E, ) To the piezoelectric vibration module (20), a compression coil spring (41) can be disposed as an example of the first elastic member. One end of the first elastic member is supported by the upper housing 11 and the other end of the first elastic member is elastically pressed against the piezoelectric vibration module 20 by the elastic restoring force of the column portion 32 of the vibrator 30E It is a member that plays a role of making it close. Here, the compression coil spring 41, which is an example of the first elastic member, pushes the spring stopper 33, which is coupled to the end of the column portion 32, toward the piezoelectric vibration module 20 to come into close contact therewith.

The standard and the spring constant of the compression coil spring 41 can be selected in consideration of the output of the piezoelectric vibration module 20, the intensity of the input signal, and the size of the solid-conduction piezoelectric speaker. In the present embodiment, in which the size of the earphone inserted into the ear of the user is made, the length of the compression coil spring 41 is 5.6 mm and the spring constant k is about 8.8 N / cm.

In assembling the bone conduction speaker 101, the head portion 31E of the vibrator 30E is disposed so as to be spaced apart from the surface of the upper housing 11 by a predetermined gap. The predetermined gap may be, for example, 0.5 mm to 2.5 mm. At this time, the compression coil spring 41 can be assembled so as to be compressed by about 1 mm to 2 mm from the original length in the initial state (signal non-input state). The vibrator 30E maintains a state of being in tight contact with the piezoelectric vibration module 20 due to the restoring force generated by the compression at the time of assembly and the piezoelectric vibration module 20 is moved in the direction of the pillar portion of the vibrator 30E The head 31E of the vibrator 30E also vibrates in the direction of several tens to several tens of micrometers when the vibrator 30E vibrates in the longitudinal direction. The vibration of the vibrator 30E is transmitted to the auditory nerve through the skin and the skull of the user and is recognized as sound.

6 shows a configuration of a piezoelectric vibration module in the bone conduction speaker of FIG.

The piezoelectric vibration module 20 may include a piezoelectric element P that generates vibration according to an input signal and a piezoelectric module base B on which the piezoelectric element P is mounted. The piezoelectric element P includes a piezoelectric ceramic disk 21 made of a piezoelectric material and an upper electrode 23 and a lower electrode 22 provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the piezoelectric ceramic disk 21, The base B has a metal diaphragm 24 in contact with the piezoelectric element P and a support 25 and a metal finish plate 26 for providing a low density fluid filled portion 27 under the metal diaphragm 24 . The support 25 is formed, for example, in the form of a circular ring, and is disposed between the metal diaphragm 24 and the metal finishing plate 26 to form a hollow. The low density fluid is filled in the hollow 25, 27).

When a voltage according to an input signal is applied between the upper electrode 23 and the lower electrode 22, the piezoelectric ceramic disc 21 repeatedly compresses and expands in its thickness direction, causing vibration, Is transmitted to the piezoelectric module base (B) through the piezoelectric vibrator module (24) to generate vibration in the vertical direction in the piezoelectric vibration module (20) itself. The frequency characteristics of the entire speaker can be adjusted by adjusting the thickness of the piezoelectric ceramic disk 21 and the thickness of the metal diaphragm 24. By controlling the volume and density of the low density fluid filling part 27, The characteristics may be improved.

5, the piezoelectric ceramic disk 21 may have a diameter of about 1 mm to 15 mm and a thickness of about 5 to 500 탆. In this case, the vibrator 30 is oscillated in a vertical direction Vibration of about 10% of the thickness of the piezoelectric ceramic disk 21 is generated. As an example of the piezoelectric ceramic disk 21 for a bone conduction speaker in the form of an earphone, a diameter of about 7 mm to 13 mm and a thickness of about 100 탆 to 400 탆 may be adopted. On the other hand, the metal diaphragm 24 may be a metal plate having a thickness of about 100 m to 300 m. The metal finishing plate 26 and the support 25 may be used together with the metal diaphragm 24 to seal the low density fluid filled portion 27 with the metal diaphragm 24, It is sufficient to provide space, and there is no restriction on the material and shape of the structure. For example, a structure constituting a part of the housing. When the present invention is applied to an earphone-type bone conduction speaker as in the present embodiment, the volume of the low-density fluid-filled portion may be selected differently depending on the size of the piezoelectric ceramic disk 21 and the like. For example, have.

The piezoelectric vibrating module 20 may further include a reinforcing member 28 for protecting the upper electrode 23 from contact with the vibrator 30 and amplifying vibrations, And a protective film 29 surrounding the piezoelectric element P and the piezoelectric module base B including the reinforcing member 28. [

FIG. 7 shows a modification of a part of the bone conduction speaker of FIG.

7 shows a modification of the portion where the piezoelectric vibrating module 20 is mounted on the lower housing 12 of the bone conduction speaker 101 of FIG. The piezoelectric vibrating module 20 receives a pressing force toward the lower housing 12 by the first elastic member and the piezoelectric vibrating module 20 and the lower housing 12 are partially broken due to the force, A second elastic member that acts as a buffer between the piezoelectric vibration module 20 and the lower housing 12 can be disposed in order to prevent unnecessary noise and vibration from occurring due to the gap between the piezoelectric vibration module 20 and the lower housing 12. [ As the second elastic member, various members including those exemplified below can be applied.

7 (a) shows an elastomer pad 421 as an example of the second elastic member. The elastomer pad 421 is made of a material having rubber elasticity at room temperature, such as silicone rubber, and may be formed to have a plurality of convex elastic protrusions. 7 (b) shows another example of the second elastic member to which the leaf spring 422 is applied. As the plate spring 422, a plate having a form that can be seen from an electrode terminal of a mercury battery is generally applicable, which is advantageous in that it exhibits a cushioning effect and less vibration damping. 7C shows another embodiment of the second elastic member to which the tab-shaped spring 423 is applied. As described above, as the second elastic member, various members that satisfy the above-described requirements can be employed.

10: Housing
11: upper housing 12: lower housing
20: Piezoelectric vibration module 21: Piezoelectric ceramic disk
22: lower electrode 23: upper electrode
24: metal diaphragm 25: support
26: metal finishing plate 27: low density fluid filling portion
30E: Oscillator 31E: Head
32: column portion 33: spring stopper
41: compression coil spring 101: bone conduction speaker
210: Sound setting input unit 230:
280: power amplifier 421: elastomer pad
422: Plate spring 423: Plate type spring
P: Piezoelectric element B: Piezoelectric module base

Claims (10)

delete delete delete delete A sound setting input unit for inputting at least two frequency regions divided by dividing an audible frequency band by adjusting a relative gain for each frequency region;
A sound input unit for receiving a sound signal from a microphone or an external sound source;
An acoustic control unit for storing sound settings inputted through the sound setting input unit and adjusting intensity of the sound signal provided from the sound input unit according to the sound setting in each frequency domain;
A power amplifier for amplifying an output signal of the sound adjusting unit at a uniform rate with respect to all frequency ranges; And
And a bone conduction speaker that generates vibration according to a signal passed through the power amplifier using a piezoelectric vibration module and transmits the vibration to a skull of a user to be recognized as sound by an auditory sense,
The bone conduction speaker includes:
A piezoelectric vibration module for generating vibration according to an input electrical signal;
A housing accommodating the piezoelectric vibration module therein and having a hole on one side;
And a head portion and a pillar portion, the head portion being disposed outside the hole with a gap from the housing surface, the pillar portion extending from the head portion through the hole to the inside of the housing, A vibrator that contacts the module and transmits vibration; And
And a first elastic member disposed inside the housing and elastically pressing the vibrator toward the piezoelectric vibrating module to maintain the vibrator in contact with the piezoelectric vibrating module.
Bone conduction hearing aid. 6. The method of claim 5,
The vibrator is configured such that the head portion is inserted into a user's ear and transmits vibration to a skull around the ear canal.
Bone conduction hearing aid. 6. The method of claim 5,
The vibrator further includes a spring stopper coupled to the column portion,
Wherein the first elastic member is a compression coil spring disposed between the housing and the spring stopper,
Bone conduction hearing aid. 6. The method of claim 5,
In the piezoelectric vibration module,
A piezoelectric element in which an upper electrode and a lower electrode are provided on an upper surface and a lower surface of a piezoelectric ceramic disk, respectively; And
And a piezoelectric module base having a metal diaphragm on which the piezoelectric element is mounted and a support and a finishing plate for providing a low density fluid filling portion below the metal diaphragm,
Bone conduction hearing aid. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the pillar portion is disposed so that its end portion is in contact with the piezoelectric element side of the piezoelectric vibration module and the pillar portion is arranged such that its longitudinal direction coincides with the vibration direction of the piezoelectric vibration module.
Bone conduction hearing aid. 6. The method of claim 5,
And a second elastic member disposed between the piezoelectric vibration module and the housing and elastically supporting the piezoelectric vibration module in a direction opposite to a direction in which the first elastic member is pressed.
Bone conduction hearing aid.

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