The present invention relates to an earpiece for a hearing apparatus which can be worn in the ear and comprises a sound exit opening and a cerumen protection facility, which has an annular carrier and which is arranged in the sound exit opening, with the earpiece being manufactured from a rubbery-elastic material. The term hearing apparatus is understood here to mean in particular a device which can be worn on the ear, such as for instance a hearing device, a headset, ear-phones and suchlike.
Hearing devices are portable hearing apparatuses which are used to supply the hard-of-hearing. To accommodate the numerous individual requirements, different configurations of hearing devices such as behind-the-ear hearing devices (BTE), in-the-ear hearing devices (ITE), e.g. also concha hearing devices or completely-in-the-channel devices (CIC), are provided. The hearing devices listed by way of example are worn on the outer ear or in the auditory canal. Furthermore, bone conduction hearing aids, implantable or vibrotactile hearing aids are also available on the market. The damaged hearing is herewith either stimulated mechanically or electrically.
Essential components of the hearing devices include in principal an input converter, an amplifier and an output converter. The input converter is generally a receiving transducer, e.g. a microphone and /or an electromagnetic receiver, e.g. an induction coil. The output converter is mostly realized as an electroacoustic converter, e.g. a miniature loudspeaker, or as an electromechanical converter, e.g. a bone conduction receiver. The amplifier is usually integrated into a signal processing unit. This main configuration is shown in the example in
With hearing devices which have a receiver in the canal (RIC), a cerumen protection system is installed in the earpiece of the receiver in the canal in a similar manner to ITE hearing devices. The cerumen protection system protects the receiver inserted into the earpiece (also called ear tip or dome) from cerumen, dirt and sweat. Said cerumen protection system is positioned at the sound exit opening in the sound path of the receiver in the earpiece.
In contrast to the fixed shell of ITE hearing devices, the material of the earpiece in RIC devices is flexible and soft. As a result, when inserting or removing the receiver into/out of the auditory canal for instance, the cerumen protection system consisting of a more solid material can be unintentionally removed from the sound exit opening of the soft earpiece and can enter into the auditory canal.
The cerumen protection system must essentially be replaced from time to time. To this end, it is removed from inside the earpiece which is withdrawn from the RIC housing and is replaced by a new cerumen protection system. The cerumen protection system is then held on the side facing the receiver by means of the RIC housing and is held on the side facing away from the receiver by means of molding the soft earpiece material. As described above, this soft material is however not always able to ensure that the cerumen protection system remains in the earpiece. The sound exit opening can instead gape open as a result of the high tensile strength and/or elasticity of the earpiece material and can release the cerumen protection system.
The object of the present invention thus consists in fastening the cerumen protection system more securely in the earpiece.
In accordance with the invention, this object is achieved by an earpiece for a hearing apparatus which can be worn in the ear and which comprises a sound exit opening and a cerumen protection facility, which has an annular carrier and which is arranged in the sound exit opening, with the earpiece being manufactured from a rubbery-elastic material, and also comprises a securing ring, which surrounds the sound exit opening, the inner diameter of which is smaller than the outer diameter of the carrier of the cerumen protection facility, which is less elastic than the earpiece and is fixedly integrated in the earpiece.
The less elastic securing ring advantageously prevents the cerumen protection system from outwardly leaving the sound exit opening. This possibility is at least significantly controlled by the fixed securing ring. This namely causes the tensile strength of the sound exit opening to reduce significantly so that the cerumen protection system is practically still only able to be removed from the earpiece in the backwards direction, i.e. toward the receiver.
The securing ring preferably consists of a plastic, a metal or a hard rubber. In the case of hard rubber, a certain elasticity can be retained, which is less common in the case of plastic rings and metal rings.
According to a special embodiment, the securing ring has an undercut, which holds it in the earpiece in a form-fit manner. This form-fit prevents a movement in the direction away from the receiver, i.e. out of the sound exit opening, if the earpiece has a corresponding shoulder.
The securing ring can also have a circular cross-section. Essentially any cross-sections of the securing ring are naturally conceivable, however standard designs such as a round, oval or rectangular cross-section are preferred.
It is particularly favorable if the securing ring is vulcanized into the earpiece. If the securing ring then consists of a suitable material, the securing ring chemically connects to the surrounding earpiece material during vulcanization. The securing ring is then correspondingly fixedly connected to the earpiece and/or is integrated therein.
In particular, the earpiece can be manufactured from silicon. This material proves to be particularly biocompatible and wear-resistant.
In a particularly advantageous application, the aforedescribed inventive earpiece is clipped onto an external receiver of a BTE hearing device. Hearing device wearers, who frequently remove from the ear and reinsert the external receiver of their hearing device, thus particularly benefit herefrom, with there being a risk each time however that with conventional earpieces without a securing ring, the sound exit opening expands so much that the cerumen protection system is forced out.
The present invention is now described in more detail on the basis of the appended drawings, in which;
The exemplary embodiments illustrated in more detail below represent preferred embodiments of the present invention.
The longitudinal section of the earpiece illustrated in
As the earpiece in this example consists of elastic silicon, provision is made in accordance with the invention to prevent and/or minimize the deformability of the soft earpiece 10 to the sound exit opening 12. The flexibility of the earpiece 10 in the auditory canal which is required for the application and the comfortable position is also not negatively affected here. This is achieved by fixedly inserting a securing ring 14 into the soft material of the earpiece. The securing ring 14 can consist for instance of plastic, metal or hard rubber. In the present example, the securing ring 14 is vulcanized into the silicon of the earpiece 10. To this end, said securing ring 14 was placed in the vulcanization mold and baked together with the silicon. When suitably selecting the ring material, this connects chemically to the silicon of the earpiece during vulcanization.
To assist with the connection between the securing ring 14 and the earpiece 10, the securing ring 14 can have an undercut 15 and the earpiece 10 a corresponding shoulder, so that the securing ring 14 is also held in the earpiece 10 in a form-fit fashion. The securing ring 14 which is fixedly positioned in the earpiece 10 then also prevents the sound exit opening 12 from expanding when the earpiece 10 deforms and keeps a cerumen protection system 16 located therebehind in its position. This cerumen protection system 16 consists of a hard plastic ring as an annular carrier 17, the outer diameter of which corresponds approximately to the inner diameter of the securing ring 14. The cerumen protection system 16 has an outwardly protruding conical collar 18 on the side facing away from the sound exit opening 12, said collar 18 exceeding the inner diameter of the securing ring 14. Consequently, the cerumen protection system 16 cannot be forced through the securing ring 14. The securing ring 14 also prevents the sound exit opening from widening during the deformation of the earpiece 10 and thus keeps the cerumen protection system 16 in its position. For exchange purposes, the cerumen protection system 16 is to be removed backwards, in other words out of the earpiece 10 away from the sound exit opening 12. Attention should be paid to the fact that on the side facing toward the sound exit opening 12, the cerumen protection system 16 has a wafer-thin film on the annular carrier 17, which is not shown in
A further embodiment of the inventive earpiece is shown in a longitudinal section in
The above embodiments show that the securing ring 14, 34 can be vulcanized into the earpiece 10, 30, if the earpiece 10, 30 is manufactured from silicon for instance. If by contrast the earpiece is injection-molded from a different plastic, accordingly there is the possibility of injection-molding the securing ring around the sound opening. Furthermore, the securing ring can also be subsequently glued into a corresponding recess of the earpiece at the sound exit opening. The ring then also forms the required fixed, non-detachable compound with the earpiece material. In any case, the rear mountability of the cerumen protection system is still also guaranteed.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60932526 | May 2007 | US |