Patent Application
20230404480
The present invention relates to an ear tip, an ear tip component, and an earphone.
There has conventionally been known a technique that uses silver as a conductive agent in the ear tips of earphones that acquire biological signals (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).
In the ear tips of the prior art, silver is sometimes used as a conductive filler mixed with rubber, to increase conductivity. However, since silver is expensive, mixing a silver filler in an entire ear tip increases the cost of the ear tip. Furthermore, a plurality of sizes of ear tips may be prepared for each user with various ear shapes and ear canals, and preparing a plurality of ear tips with silver filler for one user further increases the cost.
Therefore, one aspect of the present invention is to provide an ear tip capable of properly acquire biological signals while reducing costs.
An ear tip according to one aspect of the present invention includes: a conductive first member having a cylindrical portion having a first end and a second end, and a contact portion extending from the first end to the second end side; and an elastic second member covering the outside of the cylindrical portion, wherein the contact portion is located on the outside of the second member.
According to one aspect of the present invention, an ear tip capable of properly acquiring biological signals while reducing costs can be provided.
Embodiments of the present invention are now described hereinafter with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiments described below are merely exemplary and are not intended to exclude the application of various modifications and techniques not explicitly described below. That is, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications to the extent not departing from the gist of the present invention. In the following drawings, identical or similar parts are indicated with identical or similar symbols. The drawings are schematic and do not necessarily correspond to actual dimensions and proportions. The drawings may include portions where the relationship of dimensions and proportions differ from each other even among the drawings.
The following describes an overview of an earphone according to a first embodiment, followed by an example of an ear tip of the first embodiment, each illustrated with drawings.
<Overview of Earphone>
First the overview of the earphone according to the first embodiment is described.
The earphone shown in
The earphone body portion 2 can include, for example, a communication circuit (communication interface) that communicates sound signals to other devices, an operation unit functioning to operate the earphone, a power source (battery), a microphone, and the like. In the example shown in
In the example of the ear tip 1 shown in
<Overview of Ear Tip>
The first member 10 may also be formed of a silicon material containing a metallic filler. For example, the first member 10 can be made highly conductive by appropriately blending silver, copper, gold, aluminum, zinc, nickel, and the like into the silicon material as metallic fillers. It is not necessary that all of the filler contained be silver or silver chloride, but only that a part of the filler be silver or silver chloride. This reduces the silver or silver chloride content, thus reducing the hardness of the rubber and creating conductive rubber having moderate hardness.
The first member 10 shown in
The cylindrical portion 11 is hollow inside, and this cavity serves as a sound conductor for the sound to be output from the earphone body portion 2. The sound to be output by the earphone body portion 2 and through the nozzle passes from the second end of the cylindrical portion 11 through the cavity at the first end and reaches the eardrum of the wearer. The cylindrical portion 11 does not necessarily have to be shaped into a hollow cylinder, as long as it is configured to form a sound conductor.
The first portion (tip) 12 of the contact portion has, for example, a dome or bowl shape with a concave portion, and an opening at the first end of the cylindrical portion 11 is formed at the center portion of the bowl-shaped bottom. A convex direction of the tip 12 is located on the first end side. The tip 12 is formed so that the radius from the central axis R becomes shorter as the tip 12 extends in the Z1 direction (toward the first end side) in order to facilitate the entry of the tip 12 into the ear canal when the ear tip 1 is placed in the ear canal. The tip 12 does not necessarily have to be dome-shaped or bowl-shaped, but can be shaped to facilitate the insertion thereof into the ear along the ear canal (i.e., the diameter decreases toward the tip).
The second portion of the contact portion (extended portion) 13 is a portion extending from the first end side of the cylindrical portion 11 to the second end side, and is formed on the outside of the cylindrical portion 11. For example, the extended portion 13 has a planar shape extending from the first end side to the second end side of the cylindrical portion and at least partially contacts the inner wall of the wearer's ear canal. The extended portion 13 may be formed, for example, by at least a part of the tip 12 extending toward the second end portion, the tip 12 being located at the first end of the cylindrical portion 11.
The extended portion 13 is not limited to the example shown in
A mounting structure 14 (indicated by dotted lines) has a structure or mechanism that can be attached to and detachable from the earphone body portion 2. The mounting structure 14 has, for example, a concave portion in a circumferential direction on the second end side of the cylindrical portion 11. The mounting structure 14 including this concave portion is removably fitted into a convex portion formed on the nozzle 3 of the earphone body portion 2. The convex portion may be provided on the cylindrical portion 11, and the concave portion may be provided on the nozzle 3. In addition to using the concavity and convexity, any mechanism or structure may be used for the mounting structure 14, as long as it is a mechanism or structure that can be attached and detached. The mounting structure 14 may employ an ear tip detachable structure or mechanism that is employed in known earphones and the like.
According to the first embodiment described above, by mixing the metallic filler in the first member 10 constituting a part of the ear tip 1, the price at the time of sale can be reduced compared to mixing the metallic filler in the entire ear tip 1.
As in the prior art, if a silicon material mixed with metallic fillers (silver, copper, gold, aluminum, zinc, nickel, etc.) is employed for the entire ear tip, increasing the amount of carbon-based particles in order to lower the impedance is considered. However, if the amount of carbon-based particles is increased too much, the resilience will be weakened, the ear tip surface will be easily damaged by tearing or the like, and the pressure on the skin will be low. As a result, it becomes difficult to acquire good quality biological signals.
In addition, if more carbon-based particles are added to the entire ear tip, which is made of silicon material mixed with a metallic filler (silver, copper, gold, aluminum, zinc, nickel, etc.), and the hardness of the silicon is increased to prevent breakage, the ear tip will be uncomfortable to wear and will not fit the shape of the ear.
Therefore, in the first embodiment, the following configuration is adopted for the first member 10 as an example in order to make the material have moderate flexibility while lowering the impedance.
By using a silicon material mixed with AG filler as described above, the material can be made moderately flexible and easily fits into the ear canal when worn. Also, by moderately mixing the AG filler, the impedance can be lowered and appropriate biological signals, such as EEG signals, can be acquired.
The first member 10 may be created by integrally molding the cylindrical portion 11 and the contact portion including the tip 12 and the extended portions 13 using a mold or the like, or may be made of the same conductive silicone material described above. Even if the cylindrical portion 11 and the contact portion are separate members, the cylindrical portion 11 and the contact portion may be mutually conductive and connected. Since the cylindrical portion 11 is the sound conductor, it is preferred that the shape thereof not be deformed so as not to block the cavity. Therefore, while the cylindrical portion 11 is conductive, the hardness thereof may be greater (harder) than the hardness of the extended portion 13. Since the tip 12 is also a part that comes into contact with the ear canal, the hardness of the cylindrical portion 11 may be greater than the hardness of the tip 12.
The second member 20 is an elastic member that approximately determines the overall size of the ear tip 1. The second member 20 is, for example, rubber, and is formed of a material employed for normal ear tips. The second member 20 has a shape that covers the cylindrical portion 11 of the first member 10, which is, for example, a hollow donut shape or a hollow cylinder.
Since the second member 20 is hollow, the second member 20 is attached to the first member 10 by sliding and inserting the cylindrical portion 11 into the cavity of the second member 20, from the second end of Z2 toward the first end of Z1. As a result, the second member 20 is easily attached to and detached from the first member 10. In so doing, the tip portion of the second member 20 in the Z1 direction may be stored in the space of the tip 12 of the first member 10. In this case, the tip portion of the second member is housed in the space of the tip 12 of the first member 10, so that the cylindrical portion 11 cannot slide farther and is less likely to shift in the horizontal direction (X direction or Y direction). The method of attaching and detaching the first member 10 and the second member 20 is not limited to the example described above.
The size of the second member 20 is determined by the length of the radius from the central axis to the outside in the Y direction. For example, in the Z direction, three average radius lengths in the Y direction may be provided, and the sizes thereof may be L, M, and S, starting from the largest. Even with the same size of the second member 20, the radius in the Y direction may be shortened from the Z2 direction toward the Z1 direction (the tip of the ear tip 1).
The extended portion 13 of the first member 10 is elastic and can be elastically deformed outwardly by the second member 20. For example, when this ear tip 1 is inserted into an ear canal slightly narrower than the diameter around the central axis R of the ear tip 1, the elastic second member 20 is inserted with pressure in the outward direction. This allows the extended portion 13, which is located between the second member 20 and the ear canal, to properly come into contact with the inner wall of the ear canal as the second member 20 exerts pressure against the ear canal.
In addition, for the extended portion 13, a distance L1 from the central axis R gradually increases, from the first end side toward the second end side. Also, for the second member 20, a distance L2 from the central axis R to an outer edge gradually increases, from the first end side to the second end side. In this case, at least a part of the extended portion 13 may be L1<L2. As a result, when the second member 20 is attached to the first member 10, the extended portion 13 is pressured outwardly in the Y direction by the second member 20, and the extended portion 13 is pushed outwardly in the Y direction. As a result, as described above, when the ear tip 1 is inserted into the ear canal, the extended portion 13 can come into contact with the inner wall of the ear canal more appropriately by the pushing force from the second member 20 toward the ear canal and the reaction force from the ear canal pushing back.
With at least the extended portion 13 properly coming into contact with the ear canal, the contact portion detects a biological signal (e.g., an EEG signal), and this biological signal is conducted through the cylindrical portion 11. The biological signal is then conducted from the contact point of the earphone body portion 2 to the biosensor of the earphone body portion 2. This allows the biosensor of the earphone body portion 2 to properly acquire biological signals to be conducted through the first member 10.
For example, an electrode is provided on the nozzle 3 of the earphone body portion 2, and a contact point of this electrode make contact near the second end of the cylindrical portion 11. As an example, the convex portion on the nozzle 3 of the earphone body portion 2 is fitted into the concave portion of the mounting structure 14, so that the cylindrical portion 11 and the contact point of the nozzle 3 are in proper contact.
This allows each user to change the size of the ear tip itself by selecting one second member from a plurality of second members and combining said second member with the common first member, according to the size and shape of his/her ear canal.
As described above, the ear tip 1 according to the first embodiment has a two-stage structure with the first member 10 and the second member 20 in order to ensure sufficient conductivity and at the same time to have a structure with appropriate hardness that changes appropriately in the ear. In order to detect a biological signal with the first member 10, the first member 10 may be made of a conductive elastic electrode containing a metallic (e.g., AG) filler, and the second member 20 may be made of inexpensive elastic rubber in order to reduce the price of the ear tip.
The second member 20 may be less hard (more flexible) than the first member 10. This makes it easier to insert the ear tip into the ear canal by using the flexibility of the second member 20, which forms part of the ear tip, to conform to the shape of the ear canal when the ear tip is inserted into the ear canal.
The first member 10 and the second member 20 may be removably mounted. This makes it possible to use the expensive first member 10 as a common component and change the inexpensive second member 20 accordingly, thereby making the size of the ear tip itself variable and also reducing the selling cost.
By providing the first member 10 with the cylindrical portion 11, the tip 12, and the extended portion 13, the extended portion 13 and the tip 12 are pressed (crimped) against the inner wall of the ear canal and can detect a biological signal with high accuracy. In addition, the cylindrical portion 11, the tip 12, and the extended portion 13 can be integrally molded, and if they are integrally molded, manufacturing costs can be reduced.
[Modifications]
The first embodiment of the technique disclosed in the present application has been described above, but the technique disclosed in the present application is not limited to the above.
On the second end side of the plurality of extended portions 13C, a slit 16C may be provided between two extended portions 13C. For example, the slit 16C is provided along the Z-direction (central axis direction). This slit allows the extended portions 13C to open and close radially as needed, in accordance with the size of the second member 20.
The radial shape of the first member 10C shown in
The first member 10 may also have at least two extended portions 13 and insulate the respective conduction paths to the corresponding contact points of the nozzle, so that one of them is obtained as a reference signal. In this case, the cylindrical portion 11 of the first member 10 may be divided into two regions by dividing it in a plane through the central axis, and each region may be insulated.
Next, an earphone 100 using the ear tips described in the first embodiment will be described. An ear tip according to a second embodiment may be any of the ear tips described in the first embodiment, and will be described in the second embodiment using reference sign 272.
The components of the earphone 100 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to
The main sensor 272 is provided at a position where first biological information of the user can be acquired as an electrical signal. The location of the main sensor 272 is the tip portion that is inserted into the ear canal and adheres to the inner wall of the ear canal, as described in the first embodiment. The main sensor 272 outputs the sensed first biological information to an amplifier (amplifier) described below.
The reference sensor 273 is provided at a position where second biological information of the user can be acquired as an electrical signal. The location of the reference sensor 273 is, for example, at a tip of a wing 120. The reference sensor 273 outputs the sensed second biological information to the amplifier (amplifier) described below.
Here, the wing 120 is provided on a peripheral surface of a cover portion 105 in which a circuit board and the like are stored. The wing 120 protrudes from the peripheral surface of the cover portion 105 in an abbreviated U-shape toward the main sensor (ear tip) 272. The reference sensor 273 provided at the end of the wing 120 functions to hook onto the outer ear of the wearer when the earphone 100 is worn, helping to prevent the earphone 100 from falling out of the ear canal of the wearer. In addition, the reference sensor 273 comes into contact with the ear canal and is capable of measuring a second biological signal. The wing 120 can be made of an elastic and flexible material, as can a housing, which is an outer member of the earphone body portion 2. The housing may be formed of a non-conductive elastic material.
The ground sensor 274 is a sensor that acquires ground potential information as an electrical signal. The ground sensor 274 is positioned, for example, on the cover portion 105 side of the housing, in the opposite direction from the reference sensor 273. This is because the distance between the reference sensor 273 and the ground sensor 274 should be as far apart as possible. By separating the sensors, the accuracy of the biological signals acquired from the respective sensors can be improved. The ground sensor 274 outputs the sensed ground potential information to an A/D converter described below. The ground sensor 274 may have a convex shape protruding toward the outside, to facilitate adherence to the ear.
The material or the quality of the material of the main sensor 272 are as described in the first embodiment. The reference sensor 273 and the ground sensor 274 are made of, for example, conductive rubber, which contains silver or silver chloride. Preferably, to ensure proper conductivity, the silver or silver chloride contains a predetermined mass percentage or more of a conductive material in the conductive rubber.
The reference sensor 273 and the ground sensor 274 may be formed of a silicon material containing a metallic filler. For example, the reference sensor 273 and the ground sensor 274 can be made of a highly conductive material by appropriately blending silver, copper, gold, aluminum, zinc, nickel, or the like as a metallic filler into the silicone material. It is not necessary that all of the filler contained be silver or silver chloride, but only that a part of the filler be silver or silver chloride. This reduces the silver or silver chloride content, thus reducing the hardness of the rubber and creating conductive rubber having moderate hardness.
The first earphone 100R has, as components, a first time acquisition unit 271, the main sensor 272 (first sensor), the reference sensor 273 (second sensor), the ground sensor 274 (third sensor), a first A/D converter 275, a first transmission unit 276, and an amplifier 277.
The first time acquisition unit 271 receives GNSS signals transmitted from the GNSS satellite Sa and acquires absolute time information contained in the GNSS signals. The first time acquisition unit 271 outputs the acquired absolute time information to the first A/D converter 275. The first time acquisition unit 271 includes, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) chip.
The main sensor 272 is provided at a position where first biological information of the user can be acquired as an electrical signal. The main sensor 272 outputs the sensed first biological information to the amplifier 277.
The reference sensor 273 is provided at a position where second biological information of the user can be acquired as an electrical signal. The reference sensor 273 outputs the sensed second biological information to the amplifier 277.
The ground sensor 274 is a sensor that acquires ground potential information as an electrical signal. The ground sensor 274 outputs the sensed ground potential information to the first A/D converter 275.
The amplifier 277 amplifies the first biological signal sensed by the main sensor 272 and the second biological signal sensed by the reference sensor 273, to expand the signal. The amplifier 277 outputs each signal obtained after expansion, to the first A/D converter 275.
The first A/D converter 275 samples each type of information in accordance with the timing of the absolute time information. For example, as a method of aligning sampling with the timing of the absolute time information, sampling may be performed in accordance with the absolute time information every time, or sampling may be performed in accordance with the absolute time information at regular intervals such as every second. The first A/D converter 275 outputs each type of sampled information to the first transmission unit 276.
The first transmission unit 276 transmits the first biological information, the second biological information, and the third biological information sampled by the first A/D converter 275 to the communication terminal M, in association with the absolute time information. The first transmission unit 276 may also generate first differential information, which is the difference between the first biological information output from the main sensor 272 and the ground potential information output from the ground sensor 274, and transmit the first differential information to the communication terminal M, in association with the absolute time information. Similarly, the first transmission unit 276 may generate second differential information, which is the difference between the second biological information output from the reference sensor 273 and the ground potential information output from the ground sensor 274, and transmit the second differential information to the communication terminal M, in association with the absolute time information. Associating the absolute time information with each type of information (e.g., adding a time stamp) may be performed by the first A/D converter 275.
In the example described above, the first transmission unit 276 associates the first biological information or the first differential information with the absolute time information and transmits the information to the communication terminal M on a first channel. The absolute time information associated with the first biological information or the first differential information is synchronized with the timing sensed by the main sensor 272. The first transmission unit 276 also associates the second biological information or the second differential information with the absolute time information and transmits it to the communication terminal M on a second channel. The absolute time information associated with the second biological information or the second differential information is synchronized with the timing sensed by the reference sensor 273. The second channel may be the same as or different from the first channel.
The second earphone 100L has the same configuration as the first earphone 100R. For the respective configurations in the second earphone 100L, those with the same names as the configurations in the first earphone 100R perform the same processing; thus the description thereof will be omitted accordingly.
The first transmission unit 276 transmits the first biological information of the right ear side wearing a first earpiece 2R to the communication terminal, with the absolute time information associated therewith, so that the communication terminal can accurately understand at which time the biological information is acquired.
Since the first transmission unit 276 transmits the first biological information of the right ear side wearing the first earphone 100R to the communication terminal, with the absolute time information associated therewith, the communication terminal can accurately understand at which time the biological information is acquired. Since earphones are worn on the ear, it is difficult to improve the accuracy of biological information even if a plurality of sensors for acquiring biological information are installed in the same earphones, because the potential difference of the acquired signals is small and the signals cancel each other out. On the other hand, by installing the sensors in respective different earphones and acquiring biological information by each sensor, the problem of not being able to ensure the potential difference can be solved. However, if the biological information acquired by different earphones are transmitted to the communication terminal for information processing, a new problem arises: errors may occur due to communication delays. In the second embodiment, therefore, the biological information acquired by each earphone is associated with the absolute time information, which is then transmitted to the communication terminal, thereby eliminating the errors caused by communication delays and making it possible to acquire accurate the biological information that ensures potential differences.
Although the present embodiment uses the absolute time information contained in a GNSS signal as an example of reference time information, other time information can be used as the reference time information as long as it has the accuracy necessary to identify the time of the biological information acquired by each earphone. For example, the first time acquisition unit 271 and the second time acquisition unit 281 may acquire signals such that the error of the reference time for each earphone is 1 ms or less. The reference time information can also be used as information that indicates the acquisition time of the biological information and is synchronized with the biological information acquired by the other earphones. The reference time information can be substituted for synchronization information to be synchronized with the biological information acquired by the other earphones. The positional relationship of each sensor may be exchanged or changed as appropriate.
The present embodiment has been described above with reference to specific examples. However, the present disclosure is not limited to these specific examples. Design changes made by those skilled in the art to these specific examples are also included in the scope of the present disclosure as long as they have the features of the present disclosure. The elements provided in each of the aforementioned specific examples, as well as their arrangement, conditions, shapes, and the like, are not limited to those shown in the examples, but can be changed as necessary. The elements provided in each of the aforementioned specific examples can be combined as needed as long as there is no technical inconsistency.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-185873 | Nov 2020 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2021/040807 | 11/5/2021 | WO |
