The present disclosure relates to the field of acoustic technology, in particular to an earphone.
With the development of acoustic output technology, an acoustic output device (e.g., an earphone) has been widely used in people's daily life. The acoustic output device can be used with electronic devices, such as a mobile phone, a computer, etc., to provide a user with an auditory feast. An acoustic device may generally be classified into head-mounted type, ear-hook type, and in-ear type according to ways the user wears the acoustic device. An output performance of an acoustic device may have a great influence on user experience.
Therefore, it is necessary to provide an earphone to improve the output performance of the acoustic output device.
One of the embodiments of the present disclosure provides an earphone, including: a sound generation portion, including a transducer and a housing for accommodating the transducer; an earhook including a first portion and a second portion. The first portion may be hung between an auricle and the head of a user. The second portion may be connected to the first portion, extend toward an anterolateral side of the auricle, and may be connected to the sound generation portion. The sound generation portion may be fixed near an ear canal without blocking an opening of the ear canal, and in at least one frequency range, when an input voltage of the transducer does not exceed 0.6V, a maximum sound pressure that the sound generation portion is able to provide to the ear canal may not be small than 75 dB.
One of the embodiments of the present disclosure provides an earphone including: a sound generation portion, including a transducer and a housing for accommodating the transducer; and an earhook including a first portion and a second portion. The first portion may be hung between an auricle and the head of a user, the second portion may be connected to the first portion, extend toward an anterolateral side of the auricle, and may be connected to the sound generation portion. The sound generation portion may be fixed near an ear canal without blocking an opening of the ear canal, and in at least one frequency range, when an input current of the transducer does not exceed 35.3 mA, a maximum sound pressure that the sound generation portion is able to provide to the ear canal may not be small than 75 dB.
One of the embodiments of the present disclosure provides an earphone including: a sound generation portion, including a transducer and a housing for accommodating the transducer; and an earhook including a first portion and a second portion. The first portion may be hung between an auricle and the head of a user, the second portion may be connected to the first portion, extend toward an anterolateral side of the auricle, and may be connected to the sound generation portion. The sound generation portion may be fixed near an ear canal without blocking an opening of the ear canal, and in at least one frequency range, when an input power of the transducer does not exceed 21.1 mW, a maximum sound pressure that the sound generation portion is able to provide to the ear canal may not be small than 75 dB.
One of the embodiments of the present disclosure provides an earphone including: a sound generation portion, including a transducer and a housing for accommodating the transducer; and an earhook including a first portion and a second portion. The first portion may be hung between an auricle and the head of a user, the second portion may be connected to the first portion, extend toward an anterolateral side of the auricle, and may be connected to the sound generation portion. The sound generation portion may be fixed near an ear canal without blocking an opening of the ear canal, and in at least one frequency range, a sound generation efficiency of the sound generation portion may not be small than 100 dB/V. The sound generation efficiency of the sound generation portion may be a ratio of the sound pressure provided by the sound generation portion to the ear canal to an input voltage of the transducer.
The present disclosure is further illustrated in terms of exemplary embodiments. These exemplary embodiments are described in detail with reference to the drawings. These embodiments are non-limiting exemplary embodiments, in which like reference numerals represent similar structures throughout the several views of the drawings, and wherein:
In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions related to the embodiments of the present disclosure, a brief introduction of the drawings referred to the description of the embodiments is provided below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some examples or embodiments of the present disclosure. Those ordinary skilled in the art, without further creative efforts, may apply the present disclosure to other similar scenarios according to these drawings. Unless obviously obtained from the context or the context illustrates otherwise, the same numeral in the drawings refers to the same structure or operation.
Different users may have individual differences, resulting in different shapes, sizes and other dimensional differences in the ears. For the convenience of description and understanding, unless otherwise specified, the present disclosure mainly provides descriptions with reference to an ear model with a “standard” shape and size, and further describes wearing modes of the acoustic device in different embodiments on the ear model. For example, a simulator containing a head and the (left and right) ear based on ANSI: S3.36, S3.25 and IEC: 60318-7 standards, such as a GRAS KEMAR, a HEAD Acoustics, a B&K 4128 series or a B&K 5128 series, may be taken as a reference for wearing the acoustic device to present a situation that most users normally wear the acoustic device. Taking GRAS KEMAR as an example, the ear simulator may be any one of a GRAS 45AC, a GRAS 45BC, a GRAS 45CC, or a GRAS 43AG. Taking the HEAD Acoustics as an example, the ear simulator may be any one of an HMS 11.3, an HMS 11.3 LN, or an HMS 11.3LN HEC. It should be noted that a range of data measured in the embodiments of the present disclosure is based on a GRAS 45BC KEMAR, but it should be understood that there may be differences between different head models and ear models. There may be a ±10% fluctuation in a related data range. The projection of the auricle on a sagittal plane refers to a projection of an edge of the auricle on the sagittal plane. The edge of the auricle is at least composed of an outer contour of the helix, a contour of the earlobe, a tragus contour, an intertragic notch, a tragus tip, and a tragus notch, etc. Therefore, in the present disclosure, descriptions such as “wearing by the user”, “in the wearing state”, and “under the wearing state” may refer to that the acoustic device described in the present disclosure is worn on the ear of the aforementioned simulator. Of course, considering the individual differences of different users, structures, shapes, sizes, thicknesses, etc. of one or more portions of the ear 100 may be differentiated in design according to ears with different shapes and sizes. These differentiated designs may be expressed as feature parameters of one or more portions of the acoustic device (e.g., the sound generation portion, the earhook, etc. hereinafter). The feature parameters may have values in different ranges, so as to adapt to different ears.
It should be noted that in the fields of medicine and anatomy, three basic planes, namely a sagittal plane, a coronal plane, and a horizontal plane as well as three basic axes, namely a sagittal axis, a coronal axis, and a vertical axis may be used to define a human body. The sagittal plane refers to a section perpendicular to the ground along a front and rear direction of the body, which divides the human body into left and right portions. The coronal plane refers to a section perpendicular to the ground along a left and right direction of the body, which divides the human body into front and rear portions. The horizontal plane refers to a section parallel to the ground along a direction perpendicular to an up and down direction of the body, which divides the human body into upper and lower portions. Correspondingly, the sagittal axis refers to an axis along the front and rear direction of the body and perpendicular to the coronal plane, the coronal axis refers to the axis along the left and right direction of the body and perpendicular to the sagittal plane, and the vertical axis refers to the axis along the up and down direction of the body and perpendicular to the horizontal plane. Further, the front side of the ear in the present disclosure refers to a side of the ear facing a facial area of the human body along the sagittal axis direction. Observing the ear of the above-mentioned simulator along the direction of the coronal axis of the human body, a schematic diagram illustrating a front profile of the ear as shown in
The above descriptions of the ear 100 are merely provided for the purposes of illustration, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art may make various changes and modifications based on the description of the present disclosure. For example, the portion of the structure of the acoustic device may cover the portion or whole of the external ear canal 101. These changes and modifications are still within the protection scope of the present disclosure.
In some embodiments, the sound generation portion 11 may be worn on the user's body, and a transducer may be provided in the sound generation portion 11 to generate a sound input to the user's ear 100. In some embodiments, the earphone 10 may be combined with products such as glasses, headsets, head-mounted display devices, augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR) helmets, etc. In this case, the sound generation portion 11 may be worn near the user's ear 100 in a hanging or clipping manner. In some embodiments, the sound generation portion 11 may be circular, elliptical, polygonal (regular or irregular), U-shaped, V-shaped, semicircular, so that the sounding portion 11 may be directly attached to the user's ear 100.
In some embodiments, the sound generation portion 11 and the suspension structure 12 may be detachable structures. The sound generation portion 11 and the suspension structure 12 may be connected by various collection ways such as a clamping collection, a welding collection, a glue connection, a threaded connection, a screw connection, etc. The sound generation portion 11 and the suspension structure 12 may be also connected through a connection structure (e.g., an adapter housing). Under the aforementioned design, the sound generation portion 11 may be separated from the suspension structure 12 or the connection structure, and the sound generation portion 11 may be measured to obtain data such as a size or a volume.
In some embodiments, the housing of the sound generation portion 11 may be integrally formed with the suspension structure 12. As the suspension structure 12 is used to wear the sound generation portion 11 on the user, the suspension structure 12 and an inner side of a housing of the sound generation portion 11 (e.g., the inner side IS in
Combining
In order to improve a stability of the earphone 10 in the wearing state, the earphone 10 may adopt any one or a combination of the following modes. First, at least portion of the suspension structure 12 may be configured as a profiling structure that fits at least one of the posterior medial side of the auricle and the head, so as to increase a contact area between the suspension structure 12 and the ear and/or the head, thereby increasing a resistance of the acoustic device from falling off the ear. Second, at least portion of the suspension structure 12 may be configured as an elastic structure, so that the suspension structure 12 may have a certain deformation in the wearing state, so as to increase a positive pressure of the suspension structure 12 on the ear and/or head, thereby increasing the resistance of the acoustic device from falling off the ear. Third, the suspension structure 12 may be at least partially configured to abut against the ear and/or the head in the wearing state. In this way, the suspension structure 12 may form a reaction force that presses the ear, so that the sound generation portion 11 may be pressed on the anterolateral side of the auricle (e.g., the area M1 and the area M2 shown in
Exemplarily, with reference to
By extending the sound generation portion 11 at least partially into the concha cavity, a listening volume at a listening position (e.g., at an opening of the ear canal), especially the listening volume at middle and low frequencies, may be improved. At the same time, a good far-field sound leakage canceling effect may be maintained. Merely by way of example, when the whole or portion of the structure of the sound generation portion 11 extends into the concha cavity 102, the sound generation portion 11 and the concha cavity 102 form a structure similar to a cavity (hereinafter referred to as a cavity-like). In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the cavity-like structure may be understood as a semi-closed structure surrounded by the side wall of the sound generation portion 11 and the concha cavity 102. The semi-closed structure may make the listening position (e.g., the opening of the ear canal) not completely airtight and isolated from the external environment, but has a leaky structure (e.g., an opening, a gap, a pipe, etc.) that communicates with the external environment acoustically. When the user wears the earphone 10, one or more sound holes may be provided on the side wall of the housing of the sound generation portion 11 near or toward the user's ear canal, and the other side walls of the housing of the sound generation portion 11 (e.g., the side wall away from or departs from the user) may be provided with one or more pressure relief holes. The one or more sound holes may be acoustically coupled with the front cavity of the earphone 10, and the one or more pressure relief holes may be acoustically coupled with the rear cavity of the earphone 10. Taking the sound generation portion 11 including one sound hole and one pressure relief hole as an example, the sound output from the sound hole and the sound output from the pressure relief hole may be approximately regarded as two sound sources, and the sounds from the two sound sources may have opposite sound phases. The inner wall corresponding to the sound generation portion 11 and the concha cavity 102 forms a cavity-like structure. The sound source corresponding to the sound hole may be located inside the cavity-like structure, and the sound source corresponding to the pressure relief hole may be located outside the cavity-like structure, to form the acoustic model shown in
Referring to
In some embodiments, the sound generation portion 11 may include the transducer and a housing 111 for accommodating the transducer. The housing 111 may be connected to the earhook. The transducer may be used to convert an electrical signal into a corresponding mechanical vibration to generate a sound. In some embodiments, a sound hole 112 may be provided on the side wall of the housing facing the auricle, and the sound hole 112 may be used to guide the sound generated by the transducer out of the housing 111 to the ear canal, so that the user may hear the sound. In some embodiments, the transducer (e.g., a diaphragm) may separate the housing 111 to form the front cavity and the rear cavity of the earphone, and the sound hole 112 may communicate with the front cavity, guide the sound generated by the front cavity out of the housing 111, and then transmit the sound to the ear canal. In some embodiments, a portion of the sound exported through the sound hole 112 may be transmitted to the ear canal so that the user may hear the sound, and the other portion may pass through a gap between the sound generation portion 11 and the ear together with the sound reflected by the ear canal (e.g., a portion of the concha cavity not covered by the sound generation portion 11), and transmit to the earphone 10 and the outside of the ear, thereby forming the first sound leakage in a far field. Meanwhile, one or more pressure relief holes may be generally disposed on other side walls of the housing 111 (e.g., the side away from or departs from the user's ear canal). The one or more pressure relief holes may be farther away from the ear canal than the sound hole 112, and the sound transmitted from the one or more pressure relief holes may generally form a second sound leakage in the far field. An intensity of the first sound leakage may be equivalent to an intensity of the second sound leakage. Moreover, phases of the aforementioned first sound leakage and phases of the aforementioned second leakage may be (approximately) opposite to each other, so that the first sound leakage and the second sound leakage may reversely cancel each other in the far field, which is beneficial to reduce the sound leakage of the earphone 10 in the far field.
As shown in
By extending the sound generation portion 11 at least partially into the concha cavity, the listening volume at the listening position (e.g., at the opening of the ear canal), especially the listening volume in the middle and low frequencies, may be improved, while a good far field sound leakage canceling effect may still be maintained. Merely by way of example, when the whole or portion of the structure of the sound generation portion 11 extends into the concha cavity 102, the sound generation portion 11 and the concha cavity 102 form a structure similar to a cavity (hereinafter referred to as the cavity-like). In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the cavity-like may be understood as a semi-closed structure surrounded by the side wall of the sound generation portion 11 and the concha cavity 102. The semi-closed structure may make the listening position (e.g., the opening of the ear canal) not completely airtight and isolated from the external environment, but has a leaky structure (e.g., an opening, a gap, a pipe, etc.) that communicates with the external environment acoustically. When the user wears the earphone 10, the one or more sound holes may be provided on the side wall of the housing of the sound generation portion 11 near or toward the user's ear canal, and the other side walls of the housing of the sound generation portion 11 (e.g., the side wall away from or departs from the user) may be provided with one or more pressure relief holes. The one or more sound holes may be coupled with the front cavity of the earphone 10, and the one or more pressure relief holes may be coupled with the rear cavity of the earphone 10. Take the sound generation portion 11 including one sound hole and one pressure relief hole as an example, the sound output by the sound hole and the sound output by the pressure relief hole may be approximately regarded as two sound sources. The sound phases of the two sound sources may be opposite, and the sound generation portion 11 and the inner wall corresponding to the concha cavity 102 form a cavity-like structure. The sound source corresponding to the sound hole may be disposed in the cavity-like structure, and the sound source corresponding to the pressure relief hole may be disposed outside the cavity-like structure to form the acoustic model shown in
In a specific application scenario, by extending portion or the whole structure of the sound generation portion 11 into the concha cavity, a cavity-like structure communicating with the outside world is formed between the sound generation portion 11 and a contour of the cavity. Further, the acoustic model shown in
In some embodiments, the sound generation portion may have other wearing modes than protruding into the concha cavity as shown in
In some embodiments, when the earphone is worn, at least portion of the sound generation portion 11 may cover an antihelix area of the user. At this time, the sound generation portion 11 may be disposed above the concha cavity 102 and the opening of the ear canal, and the opening of the ear canal of the user may be in an open state. In some embodiments, the housing of the sound generation portion 11 may include at least one sound hole and at least one pressure relief hole. The at least one sound hole may be acoustically coupled with the front cavity of the earphone 10, and the at least one pressure relief hole may be acoustically coupled with the rear cavity of the earphone 10. The sound output from the at least one sound hole and the sound output from the at least one pressure relief hole may be approximately regarded as two sound sources, and the sounds from the two sound sources may have opposite phases. When the user wears the earphone, the at least one sound hole may be disposed on the side wall of the sound generation portion 11 facing or close to the opening of ear canal of the user, and the at least one pressure relief hole may be disposed on the side wall of the sound generation portion 11 away from or depart from the opening of ear canal of the user. At this time, the sound generation portion 11 and the user's auricle may form a baffle. The sound source corresponding to the at least one sound hole may be disposed on one side of the baffle, and the sound source corresponding to the at least one pressure relief hole bypasses the sound generation portion 11 and the user's auricle, and may be disposed on the other side of the baffle, thereby forming the acoustic model shown in
In a specific application scenario, by covering at least portion of the sound generation portion 11 on the antihelix area of the user, the user may hear a greater listening volume when wearing the earphone. The mode may also make the sound generation portion 11 have a relatively high sound output efficiency.
As mentioned above, the sound wave generated by the transducer may be transmitted through the at least one sound hole so as to pass into the external ear canal. The transducer refers to a component that receives an electrical signal and converts the electrical signal into the sound signal for output. In some embodiments, the transducer may include a diaphragm, a voice coil, and a magnetic circuit component. One end of the voice coil may be fixedly connected to the diaphragm, and the other end may extend into a magnetic gap formed by the magnetic circuit component. By supplying current to the voice coil, the voice coil may be made to vibrate in the magnetic gap, which drives the diaphragm to vibrate to generate the sound wave.
Compared with other earphones (e.g., earbuds, over-ear headphones, etc.), an ambient sound may be more likely to enter the user's ear canal, thereby affecting the listening effect of the earphone 10. In this case, the earphone 10 may need to provide a higher sound volume to ensure a better listening effect. Through the special design of the structure and wearing mode of the sound generation portion 11 described elsewhere in the present disclosure (e.g., forming an acoustic model as shown in
For ease of expression, the following description may take the listening position disposed in the ear canal as an example. It should be noted that, in other embodiments, the listening position may also be the ear acoustic reference point mentioned above, such as the ERP, the DRP, etc., or the listening position may be an entrance structure leading to the listener, etc. The sound pressures corresponding to the above positions may also increase or reduce accordingly.
In some embodiments, the sound pressure in the ear canal described in the present disclosure may be measured by performing the following operations. A simulator containing the head and the ears described above may be used as a reference object for wearing the acoustic device, and a test may be performed to obtain the sound pressure provided by the sound generation portion 11 into the ear canal. For example, a device with a playback function (e.g., a mobile phone, a digital acoustics processor (DAP), etc.) may be connected to the earphone 10 and control the earphone to play a sweep signal (e.g., the sweep signal with a frequency range of 20 Hz to 20000 Hz). The playback device may generate output signals corresponding to different sound levels. For example, the signal output by the playback device may include a plurality of sound levels, each sound level corresponding to a different input voltage or input current of the input signal of the transducer. The output signal of each sound level may be used to control the earphone 10 to play the sweep signal, and record the sound pressure generated by the transducer and delivered to the ear canal corresponding to different input voltages or input currents of the input signals. For example, the sound volume of the playback device may be divided into 8 sound levels, and the sound levels from a maximum sound volume to a minimum sound volume may be the maximum sound volume, a sound level one level lower than the maximum sound volume (−1 level), a sound level two level lower than the maximum sound volume (−2 level), a sound level third level lower than the maximum sound volume (−3 level), . . . , a sound level seven level lower than the maximum sound volume (−7 level). It should be noted that, in some other embodiments, a range between the maximum sound volume and the minimum sound volume of the playback device may be divided into other sound levels, such as 3, 5, 20, etc. In some embodiments, the output signal of the playback device may be a sinusoidal signal.
The ear canal of the simulator including the head and the ears may be provided with a microphone connected to a sound input device (e.g., a computer sound card, an analog to digital converter (ADC), etc.). A processing device (e.g., a computer) may further receive a level signal converted by the microphone, and perform recording or processing.
In some embodiments, the sound pressure in the ear canal may also be measured by performing the following operations. An artificial head model or artificial ear model not specific for a non-acoustic measurement may be obtained. The end of the ear canal of the model may be sealed to form a structure similar to the human ear. An acoustic test microphone may be disposed in the ear canal of the model, and the level signal converted by the microphone may be collected to replace the aforementioned simulator including the head and the ears, so as to obtain the sound pressure in the ear canal.
A hearing frequency range of the human ear is roughly between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz, but the hearing of the human ear is not sensitive to some frequency bands, such as low frequency bands (e.g., below 300 Hz) or high frequency bands (e.g., above 5000 Hz). In some embodiments, by specially designing the structure and wearing mode of the sound generation portion 11, the sound generation portion 11 may have relatively high sound output efficiency in a specific frequency range. That is, when the input voltage and the input power of the input signal of the transducer is constant, the sound generation portion 11 may provide the user with a sufficient sound volume within the specific frequency range, so that a sound pressure exceeding a specific threshold may be generated in the user's ear canal. For example, under the condition of a constant input voltage of the transducer, the earphone 10 has a better listening effect by increasing the sound pressure provided by the sound generation portion 11 for the ear canal in a range of 300 Hz-5000 Hz. In some embodiments, in order to give priority to ensuring the listening effect within the sensitive range of the human ear, the sound pressure provided by the sound generation portion 11 to the ear canal may be increased in a range of 600 Hz-2000 Hz under the condition of a certain input voltage of the transducer, so that the earphone 10 may have a better listening effect.
In some embodiments, the wires between the transducer and the battery or a driving circuit may be cut off and drawn out from the housing of the sound generation portion 11, and the drawn wires may be connected to an output end of an acoustic testing device. When the test is performed, an input signal of the acoustic testing device may be set to determine the input voltage of the above input signal, and different input voltages of the acoustic testing device may be set according to actual test requirements. In some embodiments, the acoustic testing device may be a device that selectively outputs a sine wave corresponding to a specific voltage or current.
By adopting the design of extending the sound portion 11 into the concha cavity, a cavity-like structure as shown in
Exemplarily, taking the frequency of 1000 Hz as an example, it may be seen from the solid line 610 in
In addition, it may be seen from
Continue to refer to
It can be seen that, in the wearing mode in which the sound generation portion 11 at least partially extends into the concha cavity, in at least one frequency range (e.g., 300 Hz-4000 Hz), when the sound generation portion 11 does not exceed 0.6V, the maximum sound pressure that the sound generation portion 11 is able to provide to the ear canal may not be smaller than 75 dB. In some embodiments, by optimizing volumes, masses and sizes of the sound generation portion 11 and a battery compartment 13, the sound output efficiency of the sound generation portion 11 may be further improved, so that when the input voltage of the transducer does not exceed 0.6V, the maximum sound pressure that the sound generation portion 11 is able to provide to the ear canal may not be smaller than 78 dB. For the description of the volumes, the masses and the sizes of the sound generation portion 11 and the battery compartment 13, please refer to the related descriptions in
In some embodiments, according to different power supply conditions (e.g., different sound levels of the playback devices, different models of the earphones 10, different specifications of batteries, etc.), and when the input voltage of the transducer does not exceed 0.4V, in at least one frequency range (e.g., 100 Hz-3000 Hz), by adopting the designing of partially inserting the sound generation portion 11 into the concha cavity, the maximum sound that the sound generation portion 11 is able to provide to the ear canal may not be smaller than 72 dB.
Referring to
In some embodiments, for the wearing mode in which the sound generation portion 11 is at least partially disposed at the antihelix as shown in
Exemplarily, when the frequency is 1000 Hz and the input voltage of the transducer does not exceed 0.6V, by adopting the design of partially disposing the sound generation portion 11 at the antihelix, under the wearing mode of partially disposing the sound generation portion 11 at the antihelix, the maximum sound pressure that the sound generation portion 11 is able to provide to the ear canal may not be smaller than 72 dB or 70 dB. In the frequency range of 300 Hz-4000 Hz, the sound generation portion 11 may be at least partially disposed at the antihelix, when the input voltage of the transducer does not exceed 0.6V, the maximum sound pressure that the sound generation portion 11 is able to provide to the ear canal may not be smaller than 73 dB. In the frequency range of 700 Hz-1500 Hz, the sound generation portion 11 may be at least partially disposed at the antihelix, when the input voltage of the transducer does not exceed 0.6V, the maximum sound pressure that the sound generation portion 11 is able to provide to the ear canal may not be smaller than 71 dB.
When the input voltage of the transducer reduces, the sound pressure that the sound generation portion 11 is able to provide to the ear canal may decrease accordingly. By optimizing the volumes, the masses, and the sizes of the sound generation portion 11 and the battery compartment 13, even if the input voltage of the transducer is reduced, a suitable sound pressure may be generated in the ear canal.
In some embodiments, the relationship between the input power of the transducer and the sound pressure in the ear canal may also reflect the sound output efficiency of the sound generation portion 11. For example, the relatively high sound output efficiency may be understood as that, even if a small input power is provided to the transducer, the sound generation portion 11 may still provide a sufficient sound volume to the user, that is, the sound pressure exceeding a certain threshold may be generated in the user's ear canal.
It can be seen from
Exemplarily, taking a frequency of 1000 Hz as an example, it may be seen from
In addition, it may be seen from
Continuing to refer to
It may be seen that, in the wearing mode in which the sound generation portion 11 is at least partially inserted into the concha cavity, in at least one frequency range (e.g., 300 Hz˜4000 Hz), when the input power of the transducer does not exceed 21.1 mW, the maximum sound pressure that the sound generation portion 11 is able to provide to the ear canal may not be smaller than 75 dB. In some embodiments, by optimizing volumes, masses, and sizes of the sound generation portion 11 and the battery compartment 13, the sound output efficiency of the sound generation portion 11 may be further improved, so that when the input power of the transducer does not exceed 21.1 mW, the maximum sound pressure that the sound generation portion 11 is able to provide to the ear canal may not be smaller than 78 dB.
In some embodiments, based on a similar manner as to the voltage and input power in
Exemplarily, taking a frequency of 1000 Hz as an example, it may be seen from
In addition, when the frequency is 500 Hz, the maximum sound pressure provided by the sound generation portion 11 to the ear canal is 80 dB, and the input current of the transducer is 34.1 mA. That is to say, when the frequency is 500 Hz and the input current of the transducer does not exceed 34.1 mW, by adopting the design of partially extending the sound generation portion 11 into the concha cavity, the maximum sound pressure that the sound generation portion 11 is able to provide to the ear canal may not be smaller than 80 dB. When the frequency is 800 Hz and the input current of the transducer does not exceed 34.1 mW, by adopting the design of partially extending the sound generation portion 11 into the concha cavity, the maximum sound pressure that the sound generation portion 11 is able to provide to the ear canal may not be smaller than 79 dB. When the frequency is 2000 Hz and the input current of the transducer does not exceed 17.8 mA, by adopting the design of partially extending the sound generation portion 11 into the concha cavity, the maximum sound pressure that the sound generation portion 11 is able to provide to the ear canal may not be smaller than 83 dB. In addition, in the frequency range of 300 Hz to 4000 Hz, by adopting the design of partially extending the sound generation portion 11 into the concha cavity, when the input current of the transducer does not exceed 35.3 mW, the maximum sound pressure that the sound generation portion 11 is able to provide to the ear canal may not be smaller than 79 dB. In the frequency range of 700 Hz˜1500 Hz, by adopting the design of partially extending the sound generation portion 11 into the concha cavity, when an input voltage of the transducer does not exceed 35.3 V, the maximum sound pressure that the sound generation portion 11 is able to provide to the ear canal may not be smaller than 75 dB. In a range of 2500 Hz˜4000 Hz, by adopting the designing of partially extending the sound generation portion 11 into the concha cavity, when the input voltage of the transducer does not exceed 32.4V, the maximum sound pressure that the sound generation portion 11 is able to provide to the ear canal may not be smaller than 75 dB.
In some embodiments, a ratio of the sound pressure provided by the sound generation portion 11 to the ear canal to the input voltage of the transducer (also referred to as a sound generation efficiency of the sound generation portion 11) may also reflect the sound output efficiency of the sound generation portion 11.
It may be seen from
Exemplarily, taking a frequency of 1000 Hz as an example, it may be seen from a solid line 910 in
Continuing to refer to
It may be seen that in the wearing mode in which the sound generation portion 11 at least partially extends into the concha cavity, the sound generation portion 11 may obtain a relatively high sound generation efficiency in at least one frequency range (e.g., 500 Hz˜4000 Hz).
In some embodiments, the higher sound generation efficiency helps to reduce and optimize volumes and masses of the sound generation portion 11 and the battery compartment 13, which is able to provide users with a more comfortable wearing feeling while ensuring a listening effect.
Specifically, if the sound pressure provided by the sound generation portion 11 to the ear canal is too low, the listening effect may reduce. For example, the sound volume of the sound heard by the user may be small and may be more easily affected by environmental sounds. In order to obtain a greater sound pressure, it is usually necessary to increase a size of the transducer or increase the input voltage of the transducer. However, increasing the size of the transducer may lead to a bulky structure of the sound generation portion 11, and increasing the input voltage of the transducer may shorten a battery life of the earphone 10 without increasing a volume of the battery. If the volume of the battery is increased in order to ensure the battery life, the volumes and the masses of the battery compartment 13 and the earphone 10 may be further increased, which affects the wearing feeling of the earphone. In some embodiments, the sound output efficiency of the sound generation portion 11 may be improved by adopting the design of partially extending the sound generation portion 11 into the concha cavity, or at least partially disposing the sound generation portion 11 at the antihelix. On this basis, relevant parameters such as the volumes and the masses of the sound generation portion 11 and the battery compartment 13 may be optimized (e.g., reducing the mass of the battery and/or the mass of the sound generation portion 11). As a result, while ensuring the listening effect, a more comfortable wearing feeling may be provided for the user.
Referring to
If a size of the sound generation portion 11 in the short axis direction Z and a size of the sound generation portion 11 in the long axis direction Y are too great, an opening of the ear canal may be blocked to a certain extent, and a communication between the opening of the ear canal and the external environment may not be realized, and an original intention of the design of the earphone 10 may be failed. On the basis of improving the sound output efficiency of the sound generation portion 11, the volume of the transducer may be reduced, thereby reducing the size of the sound generation portion 11. It may be understood that although reducing the size of the transducer may reduce the sound pressure output by the transducer, the wearing mode in which the sound generation portion 11 at least partially extends into the concha cavity or the wearing mode in which the sound generation portion 11 is at least partially disposed at the antihelix may enhance the sound pressure in the ear canal to compensate for an impact of reducing the mass of the transducer on the sound pressure. Of course, if the volume of the sound generation portion 11 is too small, the transducer may be unable to output sufficient sound pressure, especially, the transducer may not be able to generate sufficient sound pressure by pushing air in middle and low frequency ranges. In some embodiments, in order to take into account the communication between the opening of the ear canal and the external environment, as well as the listening effect, when the sound generation portion 11 is partially inserted into the concha cavity, the size of the sound generation portion 11 in the short axis direction Z may be in a range of 9 mm-18 mm, and the size of the sound generation portion 11 in the long axis direction Y may be in a range of 15 mm-35 mm. In some embodiments, the size of the sound generation portion 11 in the short axis direction Z may be in a range of 11 mm-16 mm, and the size of the sound generation portion 11 in the long axis direction Y may be in a range of 20 mm-31 mm. When the sound generation portion 11 is at least partially located at the antihelix, the size of the sound generation portion 11 in the short axis direction Z is in a range of 9 mm-18 mm, and the size of the sound generation portion 11 in the long axis direction Y is in a range of 16 mm-34 mm. In some embodiments, the size of the sound generation portion 11 in the short axis direction Z may be in a range of 12 mm-17 mm, and the size of the sound generation portion 11 in the long axis direction Y may be in a range of 17 mm-30 mm.
In some embodiments, the size of the sound generation portion 11 in the long axis direction Y may be obtained by performing the following operations. A short axis central plane of the magnetic circuit component may be obtained. The short axis central plane may be a plane that passes through a central axis of the magnetic circuit component and is perpendicular to the long axis direction Y of the sound generation portion 11. A section tangent to the end FE of the sound generation portion and parallel to the short axis central plane may be determined. A distance from the short axis central plane to the section may be regarded as half of the size of the sound generation portion 11 in the long axis direction Y. It should be noted that the size of the sound generation portion 11 in the short axis direction Z may be determined in a similar manner.
In some embodiments, a thickness of the sound generation portion 11 may affect a centroid position of the sound generation portion 11, and the centroid position of the sound generation portion 11 may affect the stability of wearing the earphone 10. For example, when the thickness of the sound generation portion 11 is too great, the centroid position of the sound generation portion 11 may move away from the ear, thereby affecting the fitting of the sound generation portion 11 and the concha cavity. On the basis of improving the sound output efficiency of the sound generation portion 11, the thickness of the transducer may be reduced, thereby reducing the thickness of the sound generation portion 11. It may be understood that although reducing the thickness of the transducer may reduce a magnetic field strength provided by the magnetic circuit component, thereby affecting the sound pressure output by the transducer, the wearing mode in which the sound generation portion 11 at least partially extends into the concha cavity or the wearing mode in which the sound generation portion 11 is at least partially disposed at the antihelix may enhance the sound pressure in the ear canal to compensate for an impact of reducing the mass of the transducer on the sound pressure. Of course, a too small thickness of the sound generation portion 11 may also lead to a too small thickness of the magnetic circuit component in the transducer, which cannot provide sufficient magnetic field strength. In addition, when the volume of the sound generation portion 11 is constant, increasing the thickness of the sound generation portion 11 may lead to a reduction in the size of the sound generation portion 11 in the long axis direction Y and/or the size of the sound generation portion 11 in the short axis direction Z, which in turn may result in a reduction on a size of a diaphragm of the transducer or a size of a voice coil of the transducer, thereby affecting the output sound pressure of the transducer. In some embodiments, in order to take into account both the wearing stability of the earphone 10 and the listening effect, the size of the sound generation portion 11 in the thickness direction may be in a range of 8 mm-17 mm.
In some embodiments, the size of the sound generation portion 11 in the thickness direction may also affect the size of the inside (e.g., the front cavity and the rear cavity) of the sound generation portion 11 in the thickness direction. For the front cavity, for example, increasing the size of the front cavity in the thickness direction may improve a resonant frequency of the front cavity. In order to make a resonant peak of the sound provided by the sound generation portion 11 to the ear canal at a position where the sound generation efficiency of the transducer is higher (e.g., at a frequency above 1000 Hz), so as to obtain a better listening effect, in some embodiments, the size of the sound generation portion 11 in the thickness direction may be in a range of 9 mm-14 mm.
In some embodiments, the volume of the sound generation portion 11 may be related to the volume of the transducer. If the volume of the sound generation portion 11 is relatively small, the volume of the transducer disposed inside the sound generation portion 11 may also be relatively small, resulting in a low efficiency in sound generation by pushing the air inside the housing of the sound generation portion 11 through the diaphragm of the transducer, which affects an acoustic output effect of the earphone 10, and then causes the sound pressure provided by the sound generation portion 11 to the ear canal to reduce. When the volume of the sound generation portion 11 is too great, the sound generation portion 11 may exceed the concha cavity, and cannot extend into the concha cavity to form the cavity-like structure, or a total size of a gap formed between the sound generation portion 11 and the concha cavity may be very large, which affects a sound leakage effect in the far field and a listening volume at the opening of the ear canal when the user wears the earphone 10. In some embodiments, the volume of the sound generation portion 11 may be in a range of 3500 mm3-5200 mm3.
In some embodiments, the volume of the sound generation portion 11 may be determined by multiplying a projection of the sound generation portion 11 on a reference plane (e.g., a sagittal plane of a human body) by the maximum size of the sound generation portion 11 in the thickness direction. Alternatively, considering that the sound generation portion 11 may have an irregular outer contour, the maximum sizes of the sound generation portion 11 in the long axis direction Y, the short axis direction X, and the thickness direction Z may be obtained respectively, and a first cuboid may be constructed based on the maximum sizes. In addition, a second cuboid may be constructed based on the minimum sizes of the sound generation portion 11 in the long axis direction Y, the short axis direction X, and the thickness direction Z, respectively. It may be understood that an actual volume of the sound generation portion may be smaller than the volume of the first cuboid, but greater than the volume of the second cuboid, and a range of the actual volume of the sound generation portion 11 may be determined by calculating the volume of the first cuboid and the volume of the second cuboid. For example, in some embodiments, if the volume of the first cuboid is 5500 mm3 and the volume of the second cuboid is 2800 mm3, it may be known that the volume of the sound generation portion 11 is a range of 2800 mm3-5500 mm3.
In some embodiments, a more accurate volume of the sound generation portion 11 may be obtained by a drainage method. Specifically, the openings of the sound generation portion 11 (e.g., the opening at a connection between the sound generation portion 11 and the earhook) may be sealed with a sealing material, so that a closed space may be formed inside, and then the sound generation portion 11 may be put into the water. The volume of the sound generation portion 11 may be determined based on a volume of water discharged (or in an approximate manner). It should be noted that, considering that the sealing material may have a certain volume, when the volume of the sound generation portion 11 is obtained by the drainage method, the measured volume value may be slightly reduced based on experience, so as to eliminate an interference of the sealing material on volume data.
In some embodiments, on the basis of improving the sound output efficiency of the sound generation portion 11, the volume of the sound generation portion 11 may be reduced. It may be understood that although reducing the volume of the sound generation portion 11 may reduce the sound pressure output by the transducer, the wearing mode in which the sound generation portion 11 at least partially extends into the concha cavity or the wearing mode in which the sound generation portion 11 is at least partially disposed at the antihelix may enhance the sound pressure in the ear canal to compensate for an impact of reducing the mass of the transducer on the sound pressure. In at least one frequency range, in order to enable the maximum sound pressure provided by the sound generation component 11 to the ear canal not smaller than 75 dB when the input voltage of the transducer is relatively small (e.g., not exceeding 0.6V), in some embodiments, the volume of the sound generation portion 11 may be in a range of 3300 mm3-4800 mm3.
A battery electrically connected to the sound generation portion 11 may be disposed in the battery compartment 13, and in some embodiments, the battery compartment 13 may be located at an end of the first portion 121 away from the sound generation portion 11. It should be noted that the mass of the battery compartment 13 is mainly the mass of the battery. In the present disclosure, “the mass of the battery compartment” refers to a sum of the mass of a compartment body of the battery compartment and the mass of the battery. As mentioned above, when the earphone 10 is worn, the battery compartment 13 and the sound generation portion 11 may form a lever-like structure with a certain position on the earhook as a fulcrum, so a too great or too small mass of the battery compartment 13 may lead to an instability of the lever-like structure, which in turn cause the earphone 10 to be worn unstable. Specifically, if the mass of the battery compartment 13 is too great, the earphone 10 may be inclined to the rear side of the auricle when worn, which affects a fit of the sound-generating portion 11 and the concha cavity. On the basis of improving the sound output efficiency of the sound generation portion 11, the output power of the battery may be reduced, thereby reducing the mass of the battery. It may be understood that although reducing the mass of the battery may reduce the output power of the battery, the wearing mode in which the sound generation portion 11 at least partially extends into the concha cavity may enhance the sound pressure in the ear canal to compensate for an impact of reducing the mass of the transducer on the sound pressure. Of course, if the mass of the battery compartment 13 is too small, the earphone 10 may be inclined to the front side of the auricle when worn, and the battery may not be able to drive the transducer. In some embodiments, in order to balance the wearing stability of the earphone 10 and the listening effect, the mass of the battery compartment 13 may be in a range of 1.2 g-3.1 g.
In some embodiments, the mass of the battery may be directly proportional to a charge of the battery. In some embodiments, the battery compartment 13 may be too small to affect the battery life of the earphone 10. As the maximum sound pressure that the sound generation portion is able to provide to the ear canal is not smaller than 75 dB when an input voltage or input power of the transducer is relatively small, that is to say, when the battery life is constant, the demands of the transducer for the charge of the battery is reduced. Therefore, in some embodiments, the mass of the battery may be reduced so that the mass of the battery compartment 13 may be in a range of 1.1 g-2.3 g.
The wearing mode in which the sound generation portion 11 is at least partially disposed at the antihelix may also increase the sound pressure in the ear canal, so as to compensate for the impact of reducing the mass of the transducer on the sound pressure. In some embodiments, when the sound generation portion 11 is at least partially disposed at the antihelix, the mass of the battery compartment 13 may be in a range of 1.1 g-3.0 g.
Based on the previous description about the masses of the sound generation portion 11 and the battery compartment 13, when the masses of the sound generation portion 11 and the battery compartment 13 are kept within a certain ratio range, the earphone 10 may have a good wearing feeling and listening effect. In some embodiments, when the sound generation portion 11 at least partially extends into the concha cavity, the ratio of the mass of the battery compartment 13 to the mass of the sound generation portion 11 may be in a range of 0.16-0.7. In some embodiments, the stable wearing of the earphone 10 may make a relative position of the sound hole 112 and the user's ear canal less likely to deviate, so that the sound generation portion 11 may provide a higher sound pressure to the user's ear canal. Therefore, in some embodiments, in order to further improve the wearing stability, the ratio of the mass of the battery compartment 13 to the mass of the sound generation portion 11 may be in a range of 0.2-0.6 when the sound generation portion 11 at least partially extends into the concha cavity.
Referring to
The volume of the battery compartment 13 may be positively correlated with the volume of the battery. In some embodiments, in order to ensure the battery life of the earphone 10, the volume of the battery compartment 13 may be in a range of 850 mm3-1900 mm3 when the sound generation portion 11 at least partially extends into the concha cavity. In some embodiments, on the basis of improving the sound output efficiency of the sound generation portion 11, the demands of the transducer for the charge of the battery are reduced. Therefore, in the wearing mode in which the sound generation portion 11 at least partially extends into the concha cavity, the volume of the battery compartment 13 may be smaller, and the volume of the battery compartment 13 may be in a range of 750 mm3-1600 mm3.
In some embodiments, in order to ensure the battery life of the earphone 10, the volume of the battery compartment 13 may be in a range of 600 mm3-2200 mm3 when the sound generation portion 11 is at least partially located at the antihelix. The wearing mode in which the sound generation portion 11 at least partially extends into the concha cavity may also increase the sound pressure in the ear canal, thereby compensating for the impact of reducing the mass of the transducer on the sound pressure. Therefore, in some embodiments, under the wearing mode in which the sound generation portion 11 at least partially extends into the concha cavity, the volume of the battery compartment 13 may be in a range of 750 mm3-2000 mm3.
The basic concept has been described above, obviously, for those skilled in the art, the above detailed disclosure is only an example, and does not constitute a limitation to the present disclosure. Although not explicitly stated here, those skilled in the art may make various modifications, improvements and amendments to the present disclosure. These alterations, improvements, and modifications are intended to be suggested by the present disclosure, and are within the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.
The specific embodiments described in the present disclosure are only exemplary, and one or more technical features in the specific embodiments are optional or additional, and do not constitute essential technical features of the inventive concept of the present disclosure. In other words, the protection scope of the present disclosure covers and is far greater than the specific embodiments.
Moreover, certain terminology has been used to describe embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the terms “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” and/or “some embodiments” mean that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Therefore, it is emphasized and should be appreciated that two or more references to “an embodiment” or “one embodiment” or “an alternative embodiment” in various portions of the present disclosure are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. In addition, some features, structures, or features in the present disclosure of one or more embodiments may be appropriately combined.
Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the foregoing description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various embodiments. However, this disclosure does not mean that the present disclosure object requires more features than the features mentioned in the claims. Rather, claimed subject matter may lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment.
Finally, it should be understood that the embodiments of the present disclosure are only used to illustrate the principles of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Other modifications that may be employed may be within the scope of the present disclosure. Thus, by way of example, but not of limitation, alternative configurations of the embodiments of the present disclosure may be utilized in accordance with the teachings herein. Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to that precisely as shown and described.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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202211336918.4 | Oct 2022 | CN | national |
202223239628.6 | Dec 2022 | CN | national |
PCT/CN2022/144339 | Dec 2022 | WO | international |
This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 18/451,138, filed on Aug. 17, 2023, which is a Continuation of International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2023/083535, filed on Mar. 24, 2023, which claims priority of Chinese Patent Application No. 202211336918.4, filed on Oct. 28, 2022, Chinese Patent Application No. 202223239628.6, filed on Dec. 1, 2022, and International Application No. PCT/CN2022/144339, filed on Dec. 30, 2022, the contents of each of which are entirely incorporated herein by reference.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20240147116 A1 | May 2024 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 18451138 | Aug 2023 | US |
Child | 18406195 | US | |
Parent | PCT/CN2023/083535 | Mar 2023 | WO |
Child | 18451138 | US |