Patent Application
20140205125
This is an original U.S. patent application.
The invention relates to electro-acoustic audio transducers having head-engaging elements which hold the transducer for reproducing sound signal signals, against an ear of a user. More specifically, the invention relates to support structures which engage the exterior of the user's ear, i.e., the pinna.
Headsets, headphones and in-ear hearing aids are available in a wide variety of styles and configurations, reflecting different engineering choices for addressing the multitude of design constraints that must be satisfied to create a functional, reliable, comfortable and attractive product. For example, binaural headphones with over-the-head or behind-the-neck tensioning bands may clamp in place securely, but the bands may interfere with articles of clothing. Similarly, the wires of wired headphones may tangle or catch on the user's surroundings, pulling the headphones off (or out).
One popular headphone style is the “earbud,” a small audio transducer (or pair of transducers) sized and shaped to rest in (and/or just outside) the user's outer ear canal. However, many people cannot wear earbuds: their ears are not shaped to hold them securely, or movement of their ears during conversation or other activities tends to cause the earbuds to fall out.
Many in-ear hearing aids are worn similarly to earbuds, but because such aids are often more important to their wearer's everyday life activities (vs. merely providing entertainment—music—or hands-free capabilities for a phone conversation) the hearing aids may be custom-molded to fit their wearer's ears, and may also extend further into the ear canal to provide a more secure attachment. This custom aspect tends to increase the cost of such headsets, placing them out of reach for casual use. (Inexpertly-molded headsets may also be uncomfortable for long-term wear.)
A new headset configuration that provides secure attachment and comfort during extended wear, without requiring expensive individual customization, may be of significant value in this field.
Mass-producible audio earpieces in one-size-fits-many configurations include an earplug portion to fit the user's ear canal, a body portion containing audio transducers and optionally control/processing circuitry and power sources; and a securing loop to wrap around the user's outer ear (pinna), said securing loop to be adjusted in length, shape and/or angle by operation of an adjuster mechanism of the earpiece.
Embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean “at least one.”
An earplug portion 110 is connected to the body, and is constructed to be compressed and inserted at least part way into the user's ear canal. Some embodiments may have replaceable earplug tips comprising flexible rubber “mushrooms” or latex foam pads surrounding a hollow sound-carrying tube from the body. A securing loop 120 is attached to the body at two points, and between the attachments extends outside the body far enough so that the user's outer ear (“pinna”) can be inserted between the body and the loop. Finally, this embodiment has an adjuster 130 in the form of a disc portion of the body. Adjuster 130 can be twisted to adjust the position, shape and/or length of securing loop 120 so that the embodiment is held in place in the user's ear.
In this embodiment, the adjuster changes the angle between one end of the securing loop (where it leaves roughly perpendicularly from the body) and the other end of the securing loop (where it leaves roughly perpendicularly from the adjuster disc).
Note that the mirror image embodiments to fit the other (right) ear may use adjustments/twisting in the opposite direction to perform the loosening and tightening actions.
The securing loop of an embodiment may be made of a flexible material having some stiffness against bending and some compression/tension strength. A material such as a stranded steel cable (preferably covered by a vinyl or silicone sheath) or a thick-walled polyethylene tube is suitable. Other materials may also serve. For example, in one embodiment, the body, securing loop and adjustment disc may be molded at once of a single material such as nylon, ABS plastic or high-density polyethylene (“HDPE”).
Although the embodiment of
Alternate mechanisms may be used to implement a varying-length loop as described here. For example, the adjuster may change the tension of a coil spring that pulls the securing loop into the body, or an end of the securing loop may be pulled in (or pushed out) by a cam- or spiral-track-following element.
Embodiments may be constructed as wired earbud replacements, where each earpiece contains only an audio driver (or a plurality of drivers), the audio signal being produced and amplified elsewhere, and sent to the earpieces via ordinary multi-conductor wires. However, in a preferred embodiment, the body portion of the earpiece contains a power source (e.g., batteries), a wireless receiver (e.g., radio or Bluetooth® receiver), and audio processing and amplification circuitry, in addition to the audio driver(s) that produce the sound to be delivered into the user's ear canal. Such a wireless embodiment may comprise user controls (e.g., volume and/or sound quality) on each earpiece, or may rely on audio processing controlled at the device that transmits wirelessly to the earpieces.
In some of the foregoing Figures, embodiments have been shown and/or described as comprising several separate portions. It should be understood that these separations are primarily functional, rather than necessarily physical. For example, the earplug portion of an embodiment need not be a separate component from the body portion; it may be merely an extension of the body that is sized, shaped and composed of materials suitable for comfortable insertion into the user's ear canal. Similarly, the securing loop need not be an independent component inserted into holes in the body and/or adjusting disc; instead, it may be a length of material molded together with the body and/or the adjusting disc, so long as the final, assembled earpiece operates and adjusts along the lines described above.
The features and characteristics of the present invention have been described largely by reference to specific examples and in terms of particular configurations of components. However, those of skill in the art will recognize that self-securing earpieces according to an embodiment can also be constructed of components arranged differently than herein described. Such alternate arrangements and variations are understood to be captured according to the following claims.
