RU2680663C2 - In-ear headphone - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: physics.SUBSTANCE: invention relates to acoustics, in particular to in-ear headphones. In-ear headphone contains at least three electroacoustic transducers installed in the housing, the housing is configured to be located in the external auditory canal. Front part of the housing is located in the area of the second turn of the external auditory canal. First electro-acoustic transducer is installed in the front of the housing, the remaining electro-acoustic transducers are installed along the length of the housing. Outputs of the above-mentioned electroacoustic transducers are introduced into a common acoustic channel, the output of which is located in front of the housing. Electro-acoustic transducers are located in the above-mentioned common acoustic channel, and the front part of the housing is equipped with a flexible sealing nozzle. Each of electroacoustic transducers is made in the form of transducers with a balanced anchor. Acoustic axis of the said common acoustic channel is located, during the operation of the earpiece, approximately perpendicular to the eardrum. Flexible sealing nozzle is turned upwards relative to the axis of the housing at an angle of 5–20° and made of silicone.EFFECT: technical results are improving manufacturability, simplifying the design, reducing nonlinear distortion, reducing the size of the earpiece, ensuring high sound quality, reducing longitudinal low-frequency resonances.9 cl, 4 dwg

Description

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

The invention relates to constructions of devices for emitting sound, more specifically to the designs of headphones installed in the external auditory meatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Headphones installed in the ear, it is customary to call headphones - in-ear, or in-ear headphones. Most of them are inserted at the very beginning of the external auditory meatus. Earphones inserted deeper inside the ear canal are rare and are usually called in-ear headphones.

Designs with the location of electro-acoustic transducers in the external sound passage are also used in hearing aids. These devices include not only electro-acoustic transducers, but also microphones. These devices solve the medical problem of improving the sound quality of the environment around the user, especially the volume and intelligibility of speech.

Headphones, designed primarily for listening to musical works, have a different purpose, and therefore, a design different from hearing aids.

Known patent KR 101539064, publication July 23, 2015, IPC H04R 1/10, which disclosed the design of headphones with two electro-acoustic transducers. The converters are not coaxially mounted in the housing. In front of each transducer, a camera with a volume is made in the housing, which creates an echo-space effect.

A technical solution is known for the application US 20140140565, publication 05.22.2014, IPC H04R 1/10. The earphone in the ear includes a shell body, a first electro-acoustic transducer with a first acoustic chamber and a second electro-electro-acoustic transducer with a second acoustic chamber. The converters are not coaxially mounted in the housing. In this case, the second acoustic chamber has an acoustic outlet located far from the first acoustic chamber.

Known patent CN 105763989, publication 13.0.2016, IPC H04R 1/10. Headphones include a subwoofer, a tweeter and an output tube for sound. The output tube is equipped with a baffle. The sound of two speakers is controlled by changing the position of the partition.

An analogue is also the solution disclosed in patent US 9055366, publication 06/09/2015, IPC H04R 25/00, which discloses the design of the in-ear earphone. This earphone contains two electro-acoustic transducers, one low-frequency, the other high-frequency, which are located in parallel. The outputs of the electro-acoustic transducers in the earphone body have their own sound channels. As electro-acoustic transducers are used transducers with balanced armature.

The closest analogue is the invention according to patent RU 2621362, publication 02.06.2017, IPC H04R 1/10. The in-ear earphone contains at least three electro-acoustic transducers installed in the housing. The body is arranged to be located in the external auditory meatus, while the front of the body, when operating the earphone, is located in the region of the second turn of the external auditory meatus. The first electro-acoustic transducer is installed in the front of the housing, the remaining electro-acoustic transducers are installed along the length of the housing and equipped with coaxial acoustic channels, the outputs of which are located in the front of the housing. The front of the case is made in a drop-shaped form with an extension corresponding to a typical auditory meatus and provided with a flexible sealing nozzle. The electro-acoustic transducers have a balanced armature, a flexible sealing nozzle is made of silicone and is turned upward about the axis

Despite the acoustic advantages of this invention, there is a need to simplify the design in order to achieve greater adaptability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The technical result of the claimed invention is to increase the manufacturability of the manufacture of the earphone, simplifying the design, while maintaining high returns electroacoustic transducers, small non-linear distortions, as well as small longitudinal low-frequency resonances.

The in-ear earphone contains at least three electro-acoustic transducers installed in the housing. The body is arranged to be located in the external auditory meatus, while the front of the body, when operating the earphone, is located in the region of the second turn of the external auditory meatus. The first electro-acoustic transducer is installed in the front of the housing, the remaining electro-acoustic transducers are installed along the length of the housing, while the outputs of the mentioned electro-acoustic transducers are introduced into a common acoustic channel, the output of which is located in the front of the housing. The front of the housing is equipped with a flexible sealing nozzle.

The in-ear earphone is located deep enough in the external auditory canal, the front part of its body in the region of the second turn of the external auditory canal. The deep location of the earpiece allows, with the help of a flexible sealing nozzle, to form a small, insulated air chamber in front of the eardrum. This contributes to the effective return of electro-acoustic transducers, and the isolation of the camera from external noise, due to the deep landing, ensures high sound quality.

The reduction of nonlinear distortions, as well as longitudinal low-frequency resonances, occurs because the air chamber, which the transducers sound, is small, and also because there are more than three transducers, they are installed along the length of the body and have a common acoustic channel. The presence of a common acoustic channel, compared with many channels, allows you to reduce the dimensions of the headphones, while maintaining all the advantages that this scheme gives in terms of sound quality. Small non-linear distortions and low-frequency resonances are ensured by the fact that one transducer is located directly in front of the housing, which shifts the resonances to a higher frequency region. Other transducers are connected to a common acoustic channel. The propagation of sound fronts in a common acoustic channel creates a common radiation pattern for all transducers. Being "on the axis", all converters show their best properties, respectively, and their combination gives the necessary effect of improving sound quality. An important factor is the presence of a sufficiently large number of electro-acoustic transducers, more than three. This allows you to choose electro-acoustic transducers in such a way that they give surround, filled sound at all frequencies. An important role in improving the sound quality is played by the installation of such a headphone in the external auditory canal in the region of the second turn of the external auditory canal. This allows you to voice the minimum amount of air in front of the eardrum, and thus increase the acoustic return of electro-acoustic transducers. Using a common acoustic channel allows you to reduce the dimensions of the headphones, make the production more technological, while maintaining and even improving sound quality.

The electro-acoustic transducers are at least partially located in said common acoustic channel. This allows you to reduce the dimensions of the headphone, without a noticeable deterioration in acoustic characteristics, due to the fact that the channel has a sufficiently large cross section.

Electro-acoustic transducers are usually installed in the housing approximately parallel to each other.

Each of the transducers can be made in the form of transducers with balanced armature.

The acoustic axis of the acoustic channel may be located approximately perpendicular to the eardrum during operation of the earpiece. This arrangement of the axis makes it possible to match the propagation of sound in a typical external auditory canal.

In particular, a flexible sealing nozzle can be rotated upward relative to the body axis by an angle of 5–20 °. Such a nozzle installation allows achieving the required degree of volume isolation in front of the eardrum, taking into account the geometry in the region of the second turn of the external auditory meatus. At the same time, the state of acoustic insulation occurs when the headphone is installed in the corresponding direction with respect to the typical “common” vector, sound propagation. Flexible sealing nozzle can be made of silicone.

In particular, electro-acoustic transducers are connected in parallel through an electric circuit.

In addition, the front of the body can be made in a drop-shaped form, which allows you to more accurately orientate the earphone relative to the eardrum.

An external shell made of heat-shrinkable material can be applied to the headphone case. This allows you to isolate individual elements of the earphone, and also makes the earphone suitable for repair.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In FIG. 1 shows the location of the in-ear earphone in the ear canal.

In FIG. 2 shows the design of the in-ear earphone in side view.

In FIG. 3 shows the design of the in-ear earphone in a top view.

In FIG. 4 shows one embodiment of a headphone in front view.

MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The in-ear earphone (Fig. 2, Fig. 3) contains a housing 4, electro-acoustic transducers (speakers) installed in the housing. In the given example, five transducers 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 with a common acoustic channel are used 11. The output of the electro-acoustic transducer 6 is located in the front of the housing 4. In this embodiment, the transducers are made in the form of transducers with a balanced armature. These transducers are used primarily for portable hearing aids, due to their small size and accuracy of sound reproduction. In this design, due to the presence of a significant number of transducers, it became possible to improve sound quality by selecting different types of transducers with a balanced armature to achieve the necessary acoustic effect.

In the best version of the headphone design, various transducers with a balanced armature from the manufacturer of the corresponding components, for example, Knowles, were used. The use of converters of various series, each of which works in the optimal mode, gives the resulting full-fledged sound.

When other types of electroacoustic transducers of small size appear, they can also be used in the proposed design.

The transducers 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 are installed in the housing along the length of the earphone to provide the ability to maintain the necessary suitable and minimum size housing shape for placement in the external auditory meatus. At the same time, the transducers can be, as shown in the figures (Fig. 2 - Fig. 4), at least partially, located in the aforementioned common acoustic channel 11. The choice of the cross section of the common sound channel obeys the usual laws, so that distortion of the frequency response was minimal. The sound channel can be made in the form of a tube, including in the form of a flexible tube. Electrically, converters 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 are connected in parallel, which provides a resistance of just over 2 ohms. The total resistance of a fully assembled earphone is approximately 17 ohms, and is formed by resistors connected in series. Structurally, the resistance data is in the connector for connecting to a sound source. These resistors affect the frequency response of the finished product and therefore are selected during the overall design development.

Electro-acoustic transducers 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 in an electric circuit can be grouped into separate sections, each of which, in order to further improve sound quality, can operate from a separate amplifier.

The front of the housing 4 can be made in a “teardrop” shape, with expansion in the upper part and narrowing in the lower part (Fig. 4). This shape is better suited to the typical shape of the external auditory canal when installing the earphone, and allows you to install the earphone most optimally, with the orientation of the axes of the acoustic channels 11, 12, 13, 14 approximately perpendicular to the eardrum 2 (Fig. 1). This is due to the fact that it is on the axis of the radiation pattern directed perpendicular to the eardrum that the optimal properties of the transducers are manifested, especially in the high-frequency region, including when using several electro-acoustic transducers.

An external shell made of heat-shrinkable material can be applied to the headphone case. Such a shell isolates the elements of the earphone from the external environment. At the same time, this outer shell makes the earphone design suitable for repair. For example, if one of the transducers fails, it becomes possible to replace it, remove the shell, and then again isolate the headphone case with a new heat-shrinkable shell after replacing the converter.

The front of the housing 4 is equipped with a flexible sealing nozzle 5 (Fig. 2 - Fig. 5). The nozzle 5 is made of silicone and is installed in front of the front of the housing 4 (Fig. 2, Fig. 3). The nozzle 5 is installed at an angle α (Fig. 2), which is in the range of 5-20 ° up from the axis of the body 4. The concept of up from the axis of the body 4 is associated with the location of the earphone in the external auditory canal. The direction of the external auditory meatus is individually variable, but in principle, at first it goes backward and upward, and then turns down and forward. It is possible to talk about the direction up from the axis of the body in the sense that the headphone body is oriented in a certain way due to the drop-shaped shape of the front of the body and the typical anatomical structure of the external auditory canal at the eardrum. The nozzle 5, as a rule, is made round, front view (Fig. 4). However, it can also be given another form that promotes the formation of an isolated chamber at the eardrum 2.

In-ear headphones are installed in the external auditory meatus 1 (Fig. 1). The front of the casing 4 is located in the region of the second turn of the ear canal 1 and due to the drop-shaped shape of the front of the casing (Fig. 4) and upward rotation of the nozzle 5 at an angle α, acoustic isolation of the volume in front of the eardrum 3 and the correct orientation of the earphone casing 4 are ensured. The teardrop shape of the front of the housing 4 also provides a comfortable installation of headphones. This is facilitated by the typical anatomical feature of the external auditory canal, the presence of a fairly sharp stiffening rib (intertragal notch), running along the entire auditory canal. After the second turn, the auditory meatus, in a typical case, is teardrop-shaped in cross section.

It should be noted that this design expands the number of users who can recommend this type of headphone. The cross section of the headphone casing may be smaller than that of the known design, due to the presence of a common sound channel. The reduction in size can be achieved by placing the transducers in whole or in part in a common sound channel.

This design of the headphones provides the deepest "fit" in the external auditory canal, while a large number of electro-acoustic transducers voices the minimum amount of air in front of the eardrum.

Due to the achievement, with all the above set of design features of the earphone, of a frequency response corresponding to a typical characteristic of an open ear canal, the impression is given that the music does not play “inside the head”, but “slightly outside”. The listeners do not feel that their ears are plugged, and the music plays inside the enclosed space.

Longitudinal low-frequency resonances are reduced by reducing the physical dimensions of the "working volume", limited, on the one hand, by the nozzle 5 and the front of the housing 4, and, on the other, by the eardrum. One of the features of this design is that the silicone nozzle 5 does not clog the ear very tightly, and when using headphones, the quality factors of resonances are much lower than with very dense clogging. It provides a shift of the resulting spectrum of resonances of the "working" volume to a higher frequency region, and reducing the negative effect of the "blockage" of the ear.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

This design of the headphones provides high quality listening, volume, clarity and richness of sound, due to the minimum number of spurious resonances and non-linear distortions, close correspondence in the entire audible range to the typical characteristics of the “open ear”, as well as an even phase characteristic. All this is provided by the entire set of design features of the headphone. The design can be applied by a large number of consumers, due to the reduction in size. It is technological in manufacturing.

Claims (9)

1. An in-ear earphone containing at least three electro-acoustic transducers installed in the housing, the housing is arranged to be located in the external auditory meatus, while the front of the housing, when operating the earphone, is located in the region of the second turn of the external auditory meatus, the first electro-acoustic transducer is installed in the front of the housing, the remaining electro-acoustic transducers are installed along the length of the housing, while the outputs of the mentioned electro-acoustic transducer introduced into the common acoustic channel, the output of which is located in the front of the housing, said electroacoustic transducers are at least partially located in the said common acoustic channel, and the front of the housing is equipped with a flexible sealing nozzle. 2. The in-ear earphone according to claim 1, characterized in that the electro-acoustic transducers are installed in the housing approximately parallel to each other. 3. The in-ear earphone according to claim 1, characterized in that each of the electro-acoustic transducers is made in the form of transducers with a balanced armature. 4. The in-ear earphone according to claim 1, characterized in that the acoustic axis of said common acoustic channel is located, during operation of the earphone, approximately perpendicular to the eardrum. 5. The in-ear earphone according to claim 1, characterized in that the said flexible sealing nozzle is deployed upward relative to the axis of the housing by an angle of 5-20 °. 6. The in-ear earphone according to claim 1, characterized in that the said flexible sealing nozzle is made of silicone. 7. The in-ear earphone according to claim 1, characterized in that the electro-acoustic transducers are connected in parallel through an electric circuit. 8. The in-ear earphone according to claim 1, characterized in that the front of the housing is made in a drop-shaped form. 9. The in-ear earphone according to claim 1, characterized in that a shell made of heat-shrink material is applied to the earphone body.

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