KR20210061261A - Bone Conduction Headset for Stimulating the Mastoid and the Auricle - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a bone conduction headset for simultaneously stimulating the mastoid and the auricle which can effectively treat tinnitus. The bone conduction headset for simultaneously stimulating the mastoid and the auricle comprises: a neckband unit surrounding the back of a head of a user in a band shape; an earring unit having one end detachably assembled to both ends of a neckband and forming an earring groove to be worn over an ear of the user; a first bone conduction unit provided in a mount unit assembled to a mounting groove formed on an inner surface of the earring unit and transmitting sound to an auditory nerve through bone conduction through the mastoid located at the back of the auricle of the user; and a second bone conduction unit assembled to the mount unit to allow one end to be in contact with the first bone conduction unit and elastically closely attached to the back of the auricle of the user to transmit the sound to the auditory nerve through bone conduction.

Description

Bone Conduction Headset for Stimulating the Mastoid and the Auricle

The present invention relates to a bone conduction headset, and in more detail, while providing a tinnitus care sound source that can contact the mastoid process to transmit sound vibration and at the same time contact the auricle to transmit sound vibration, and simultaneously stimulate the mastoid process and the auricle. It relates to a bone conduction headset that can treat.

In general, the sound heard by the human ear is transmitted in the form of waves. External sound enters through the human's outer ear and vibrates the eardrum, and cells are stimulated in the inner ear inside the eardrum and transmitted to the brain.

The frequency range of sounds that humans can hear is about 20-20000Hz, and the frequency range of sounds that humans talk to each other is about 500-2000Hz.

However, in the case of a hearing impaired person, in the frequency range of the sound, all or some frequencies of the sound may not be heard. Therefore, recently, a bone conduction method that transmits sound through vibration of the skull is used.

In the bone conduction method, the sound that vibrates the skull is transmitted to the cochlea and is transmitted to the brain through the auditory nerve. The sound recognition mechanism omits the process of vibration through the eardrum and three bones located in the eardrum. .

In other words, the acoustic vibration applied to the skin surface around the ear is directly transmitted to the cochlea through the skull, so even those with hearing impairment in the eardrum or ossicles, if the cochlea and the auditory nerve are normal, bone conduction through the skin is certain. You will be able to hear the sound.

On the other hand, in the case of air-conducting headsets, the risk of safety accidents increases due to the inability to hear external noises, etc. by covering the ears. It is legally regulated to prevent people from listening to music.

In addition, due to the recent remarkable spread of digital sound and communication devices, the increase in noise-induced hearing loss among teenagers worldwide is complaining of hearing loss by more than 10% of the population. It is a situation that suggests as an alternative to reduce the use time and reduce the use time.

Therefore, since the bone conduction headset receives ambient noise at the same time by keeping the ears open in the case of the general public, it is possible to prevent a safety accident and use the bone conduction principle without directly affecting the eardrum, so that hearing loss can be prevented.

Such a bone conduction headset transmits sound by vibrating bones around the ear, so it can be used not only by the hearing impaired but also by people working in places with high noise.

Conventionally, since the bone conduction-type headset performs only a simple sound transmission function, it is difficult to implement various functions, and when worn for a long time, there is a problem that the user's discomfort is increased due to the stiffness of the parts in contact with the human body.

Prior Literature 1. KR10-1849041 B1

The present invention has been conceived to solve the problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a mastoid protrusion and auricle that can increase sound reception by simultaneously performing sound vibration through the mastoid process and sound vibration through the auricle. To provide a simultaneous stimulation of the mastoid process and auricle bone conduction headset that can treat tinnitus while simultaneously stimulating.

The technical problems to be achieved in the present invention are not limited to the technical problems mentioned above, and other technical problems that are not mentioned will be clearly understood by those of ordinary skill in the technical field to which the present invention belongs from the following description. I will be able to.

In order to achieve the above object, the mastoid process and the pinna simultaneous stimulation bone conduction headset according to the present invention,

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention as described above has the following effects.

When wearing the headset, bone conduction through the first bone conduction unit corresponding to the user's mastoid process, as well as sound vibration through the cartilage of the user's auricle, is transmitted to the auditory nerve, thereby reducing the sound burden on the eardrum or middle ear while reducing the burden of sound on the eardrum or middle ear. As a result, it is possible to increase the reception rate of sound listening and increase user satisfaction by listening to the sound with higher accuracy.

By providing a tinnitus treatment sound source to tinnitus patients, the effect of efficiently treating tinnitus is obtained.

1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D are external perspective views showing a bone conduction headset for simultaneous stimulation of the mastoid process and pinna according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a simultaneous stimulation of the mastoid process and auricle bone conduction headset according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a block diagram showing the inner band member of the neckband portion applied to the simultaneous stimulation of the mastoid process and the pinna bone conduction headset according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a partially enlarged view showing the rear of a bone conduction headset for simultaneous stimulation of the mastoid process and auricle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5A and 5B are an exploded perspective view and a cross-sectional view illustrating a first bone conduction unit applied to the simultaneous stimulation bone conduction headset of the mastoid process and the auricle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6A, 6B, 6C, and 6D are configuration diagrams illustrating a second bone conduction unit applied to the simultaneous stimulation bone conduction headset of the mastoid process and the auricle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a state diagram of a user wearing a bone conduction headset for simultaneous stimulation of the mastoid process and auricle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment in which a person of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains can easily implement the present invention. However, when it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention in describing the structural principle of a preferred embodiment of the present invention in detail, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In addition, the same reference numerals are used for portions having similar functions and functions throughout the drawings.

In addition, throughout the specification, when a part is said to be'connected' with another part, it is not only'directly connected', but also'indirectly connected' with another element in the middle. Includes. In addition, "including" a certain component means that other components may be further included, rather than excluding other components unless specifically stated to the contrary.

Simultaneous stimulation of the mastoid process and auricle according to an embodiment of the present invention bone conduction headset 100 is as shown in Figures 1a, 1b, 1c and 1d, the neckband portion 10, the earring portion 20, the first It may include one bone conduction unit 30 and a second bone conduction unit 40.

1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D, the neckband part 10 is a structure provided in an approximately arc-shaped belt shape so as to be positioned at the back of the user's head and seated while surrounding it.

The neckband portion 10 may include an inner band member 12 made of metal to reinforce structural rigidity by being formed of rubber or synthetic resin and provided inside the body of an elastic outer material.

By embedding an inner band member made of a heavy metal material inside the neckband unit 10 made of a light weight material such as resin or synthetic resin, it is possible to secure structural rigidity while reducing the overall weight of the neckband unit.

The inner band member 12 may be provided with a metal plate of a predetermined length provided in a shape in which the plate width gradually narrows toward both side ends connected to the pair of earring portions 20 from the center of the length.

In this case, the length and center plate width of the inner band member 12 embedded in the neckband part 10 is designed to be larger than both sides, so that the user holds the center according to the size of the back neck, and the neckband part formed in a curved shape is flexibly deformed. One fitting operation can be easily performed.

In addition, both ends of the inner band member 12, as shown in Figure 4, the connection portion having a plate width smaller than the plate width of the inner band member so as to be assembled and connected to the assembled portion provided in the earring portion 20 It is provided with a connecting plate (13) formed through the assembly hole (13a) through (14).

* On one side of the connection part 14, an approximately straight press groove 14a extending toward the connection plate 13 is recessed to prevent fatigue failure and short circuit due to stress concentrated during bending deformation of the connection part having a narrow width. can do.

In addition, a pair of LED members 15 may be provided on the inner surface of the neckband unit 10 to generate light for EEG tuning when power is applied.

The neckband part 10 is inverted to the front face of the user, and the pair of LED members and the left and right eyes of the user correspond to each other, and then external power to the pair of LED members 15 with the user's eyes closed. By supplying EEG to generate light having a frequency band for EEG, it is possible to obtain an effect of stimulating by transmitting EEG light for EEG synchronization to the retina through the user's closed eyes.

It is preferable that the pair of LED members 15 are provided with a predetermined interval on the inner side of the neck bend so as to correspond to each other one-to-one with both eyes of the user.

The earring part 20 is assembled with one end detachably attached to both side ends of the neckband, as shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D and 4, and to be mounted over the user's ear. Earring portion forming an earring groove for;

The earring part 20 is connected to both side ends of the neckband part 10, and the earring body having a mounting groove on the inner surface that is inserted and assembled corresponding to the mount part 39 in which the first bone conduction part 30 is installed. Including (21), it may include an earring extension 22 extending in a substantially curved shape from the earring body 21 to the rear side.

The upper outer surface of the earring body may include an operation button unit 25 having a plurality of buttons such as a volume button and a power button, and a dedicated button 26 for tinnitus care may be included at one side of the operation button unit. I can.

And, the end of the earring extension part 22 is bent in a direction in which both ends of the neckband part 10 are gathered inward so as to have elasticity while exposing the microphone 24 for receiving external sound, and then bent in the opposite direction. It may include a curved bent portion (23).

The microphone 22 is a condenser microphone such as an electrostatic microphone that applies a condenser to generate electricity from a sound source so that it can receive the user's voice and use it for phone call purposes, or collect ambient sound and provide a hearing aid function through noise canceling. It may be equipped with a microelectromechanics system microelectromechanics system (MEMS) microelectronically operated and mechanically operated by a semiconductor manufacturing technique to perform a microphone function.

When the user wears the neckband part of the headset elastically on the back neck by the curved bent part 23, the curved inner surface of the curved bent part smoothly contacts the skin of the user's back neck and slides while a feeling of wearing and closeness of the headset. Can increase.

In addition, the earring part 120 is a soft contact made of a soft material such as silicone resin so as to be in close contact with the user's skin on the lower outer surface forming an earring groove for mounting over the user's ear, as shown in FIG. 4. A member 27 may be provided.

When the headset is worn by such a flexible contact member 27, it is possible to increase the fit by increasing the adhesion between the earring part and the user's ear, and the self-vibration generated in the first and second bone conduction parts during the hearing aid function of the headset is made into a plastic molding. Backhowling can be reduced by minimizing vibration interference transmitted to the microphone 24 through the earring part 20 made.

To this end, the flexible contact member 27 is preferably provided extending to the end of the curved bent portion 23 provided to expose the microphone to the outside.

Accordingly, it is possible to increase the fit when the headset is worn by the curved bent portion and the soft contact member provided in the earring portion, while when performing an exercise with a lot of physical movement while wearing the headset, the headset is connected to the neckband portion By interlocking, it is possible to reduce separation or separation from the user's rear side.

The first bone conduction unit 30 is coupled to a mount unit 29 that is detachably assembled by being inserted correspondingly to a mounting groove formed on the inner surface of the earring unit, as shown in FIG. 2, and is attached to the rear side of the auricle of the user. It transmits sound to the auditory nerve of the cochlea by conducting bone conduction of sound vibrations through the mastoid process, which is a bony process located in the cochlea.

This first bone conduction unit 30 includes a cover case 31a assembled on the other side of a case 31 having a substrate 32 on one side, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, and The inside includes a bobbin 35 connected to an upper end, which is the other end of the coil-type voice coil 33, to which the lower end, which is one end, is connected to the substrate 32, and the bobbin 35 is positioned inside the coil-type voice coil. ) And a cylindrical magnet 34 provided on the lower surface of the inner surface.

Between the case 31 and the cover case 31a, the outer edge of the suspension plate spring 36, which is attached and fixed to the center of the lower surface of the upper surface, which is the outer surface of the bobbin 35, is fixedly installed, and the upper part of the suspension plate spring The outer rim of the diaphragm 37, which is a vibration plate disposed on, is fixedly installed.

Accordingly, when an external signal or an electrical signal of sound is transmitted to the voice coil through the substrate, it is exhausted by the vibration of the suspension leaf spring and the vibration of the diaphragm due to the interaction between the voice coil and the magnet. By generating vibration and reproducing sound, the sound can be heard by allowing the sound vibration to be transmitted to the auditory nerve through the mastoid process, which is a bone process corresponding to the back of the ear, without passing through the eardrum of the user. .

The mount part 39 is a cylindrical receiving tube in which a cylindrical case 31 constituting the first bone conduction part 30 is internally accommodated at the other end of the plate body whose one end is correspondingly coupled to the mounting groove formed on the inner surface of the earring part. And, the plate body is preferably disposed to be inclined at a certain angle (θ) with respect to the inner surface of the earring portion.

The mount part 39 may be made of a rubber or resin material having elasticity.

In this case, the mount part 39 in which the first bone conduction part 30 is accommodated is provided in the mount part by generating an elastic restoring force while the plate body disposed inclined at a certain angle inward when the user's headset is mounted is elastically deformed outward. By increasing the adhesion between the first bone conduction unit and the mastoid process, bone conduction efficiency through the mastoid process can be increased.

The second bone conduction part 40 is detachably assembled to the mount part 39 together with the first bone conduction part 30 as shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D and 2 Then, by elastically being in close contact with the back of the auricle of the user, sound vibration is transmitted to the auditory nerve of the cochlea by bone conduction through the cartilage of the auricle.

The second bone conduction unit 40 includes a coupling pipe 41 having an inner hole 41a so as to be correspondingly coupled with the mount portion 39 on which the first bone conduction unit 30 is mounted, and the coupling pipe 41 The coupling tube includes a contact plate 43 that extends toward the auricle so as to elastically contact the back of the user's auricle from the outer edge of), and transmits the sound vibration generated by the first bone conduction unit 30 to the auricle. It may include a vibration transmission plate 44 extending from the side to the contact plate.

The second bone conduction unit 40 includes an extension plate 42 extending from the outer edge of the coupling tube to the lower side of the mastoid protrusion to expand the contact area with the user's skin, as shown in FIG. 6A, The inner surface 42a of the extension plate 42 in contact with the user's skin may be formed in an arc-shaped cross-section curved outward so as to increase the fit by generating an adsorption force with the skin.

In addition, the extension plate 42 is preferably made of a cross-sectional shape in which the thickness of the plate becomes thinner toward the outside so as to increase adhesion with the user's skin when the headset is worn.

In addition, the coupling pipe 41 is a substantially hollow having a circular inner hole (41a) so that the inner surface is correspondingly inserted into the outer surface of the cylindrical receiving tube of the mount portion for the first bone conduction unit for internal use. It can be made of a cylindrical tube.

One end of the inner hole 41a of the coupling pipe 41 corresponding to the mount part is opened, while the other end of the inner hole 41a corresponding to the user's skin is a first valley accommodated in the cylindrical receiving tube of the mount part. It has been described and illustrated as having a sealing surface that blocks sweat or foreign substances generated from the user's skin toward the conduction part, but limited to this, an opening is formed so that the mastoid protrusion of the user and the first bone conduction part directly contact each other. Can be.

As shown in FIG. 6A, the contact plate 42 has been illustrated and described as being provided in a shape of a web with an outer edge of a wave shape so as to be in elastic contact with the back of the user's auricle, but is not limited thereto. As shown, the outer edge may be formed in a substantially rectangular plate shape rounded.

In addition, the vibration transmission plate 44 is preferably made of a metal thin plate material having excellent vibration transmission rate and excellent machinability, such as SUS.

As shown in Fig. 6c, the vibration transmission plate 44 is disposed by being wound in a substantially circular shape on the body of the coupling pipe 41 to receive the sound vibration generated from the first bone conduction unit 30 ( 44a), and may include a transmission plate body 44b that is branched from one end of the receiving plate body 44a into a plurality of prongs and is disposed on the body of the contact plate 43.

Accordingly, the sound vibration generated by the first bone conduction unit 30 is transmitted to the transmission plate body branched into a plurality of branches through the receiving plate body of the vibration transmission plate, so that the first bone through which the sound vibration is bone-conducted through the mastoid process. The sound vibration of the conduction unit is transmitted to the auditory nerve through the cartilage of the auricle in which the contact plate is elastically contacted, so that the user can clearly hear the sound at a higher sound reception rate.

Here, the vibration transmission plate 44 may be embedded and disposed so as not to be exposed to the outside when the coupling pipe 41 and the contact plate 43 are molded of a resin material such as silicone resin, but are limited thereto. It may be arranged to be exposed on one side to increase a reception rate for receiving sound vibration generated from the first bone conduction unit and increase bone conduction rate for transmitting sound vibration to the cartilage side of the rear wheel.

The headset 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a control unit provided with a tinnitus care program to treat tinnitus by regularly providing a treatment sound source to a tinnitus patient who feels that a sound is heard in a situation where there is no external auditory stimulus. Can include.

That is, the headset can perform tinnitus treatment by reproducing the tinnitus care sound source stored in the memory of the control unit in the first bone conduction unit and listening to the sound source reproduced through the mastoid protrusion and the auricle through a bone conduction method.

In addition, the headset is connected to the smart phone by a wireless method, and the tinnitus sound source stored in the server in the app of the smart phone can be played by the first bone conduction unit by a streaming method.

At this time, a diagnostic program for diagnosing the user's tinnitus is installed in the app of the smartphone, and various types of tinnitus treatment information are provided to diagnose the tinnitus condition according to the diagnosis program for each user, and the tinnitus care sound source is played according to the diagnosis. By delivering it to the user, it is possible to efficiently perform tinnitus treatment for tinnitus patients.

The present invention described above is not limited by the above-described embodiments and the accompanying drawings, and various substitutions, modifications, and changes are possible within the scope of the technical spirit of the present invention. It will be obvious to those who have the knowledge of.

10: neckband part
12: inner band material
15: LED member
20: earring part
21: earring body
22: earring extension
23: curved bend
30: first bone conduction unit
31: case
32: substrate
33: coil type voice coil
35: bobbin
39: mount part
40: second bone conduction unit
41: coupling pipe
42: extension plate
43: contact plate
44: vibration transmission plate

Claims (6)

Neckband portion surrounding the back of the user's head in a belt shape;
An earring part having one end detachably assembled at both side ends of the neckband and forming an earring groove for straddling the user's ear;
A first bone conduction unit provided in a mount unit assembled in a mounting groove formed on an inner surface of the earring unit and transmitting sound to the auditory nerve through a bone conduction through a mastoid protrusion located at the rear of the auricle of the user;
A second bone conduction unit that is assembled to the mount unit so that one end of the first bone conduction unit is in contact with the user's auricle, and is elastically close to the back of the user’s auricle to transmit sound to the auditory nerve through bone conduction; Containing, mastoid and pinna simultaneous stimulation bone conduction headset.
The method of claim 1,
The neckband portion includes at least one inner band member,
The inner band member is provided with a plate of a predetermined length whose plate width gradually narrows toward both side ends connected to the pair of earring portions from the center of the length, the mastoid protrusion and the auricle simultaneous stimulation bone conduction headset.
The method of claim 1,
The earring part includes a soft contact member made of a soft material so as to be in close contact with the user's skin on a lower outer surface forming the earring groove. A bone conduction headset for simultaneous stimulation of the mastoid protrusion and the auricle.
The method of claim 1,
The mount unit has a cylindrical receiving tube in which the first bone conduction unit is internally received at the other end of the plate body, which one end is correspondingly coupled to the mounting groove, and the plate body is disposed to be inclined at a certain angle with respect to the inner surface of the earring unit, the mastoid protrusion And a pinna simultaneous stimulation bone conduction headset.
The method of claim 1,
The neckband unit includes a pair of LED members for generating EEG-tuning light when power is applied to the inner side, the mastoid protrusion and the auricle simultaneous stimulation bone conduction headset.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
Simultaneous stimulation of the mastoid process and auricle bone conduction including a control unit equipped with a tinnitus care program to treat tinnitus by regularly providing a therapeutic sound source to tinnitus patients who feel that sound is heard in a situation where there is no external auditory stimulus. headset.

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