Patent Grant
10149038
An earpiece including an intra-auricular support positionable in an auricle of an ear, a projection element extending a distance outward of the intra-auricular support, and a flexible body coupled about the projection element and configured to engage an external ear canal of an ear concurrent with the intra-auricular support positioned in the auricle of the ear, and a moldable earpiece material moldable about the intra-auricular support to conform to the auricle of an ear and curable to provide a fixed configuration of the earpiece.
Because conventional earpieces may not be configured to the auricle of the ear of a wearer, the earpiece may not stay in fixed engagement with the auricle of the ear, or the earpiece may not correctly align with the external ear canal, or the earpiece may be uncomfortable for the wearer to position into or retain in the auricle of the ear.
Additionally, a wide variety of earplugs or in-ear devices to protect against or deliver sound to the ear such as medical equipment, headsets, hearing aids, cellular telephones, and the like, include, in part, in-ear devices such as earphones, earplugs, earbuds, ear tips, ear tubes, or the like, not configured to the auricle of an individual wearer's ear.
The instant invention provides the advantages of a moldable earpiece conformed to the auricle of the wearer's ear, and which can retain or removably retain an in-ear device to overcome in whole or in part certain of the forgoing disadvantages associated with conventional in-ear devices.
Accordingly, a broad object of the invention can be to provide an earpiece, including one or more of: an intra-auricular support engagable to an auricle of an ear, a projection element outwardly extending from the inner surface of the intra-auricular support, a flexible body disposed about the projection element and disposable inside the external ear canal of an ear concurrent with the intra-auricular support engaged with the auricle of the ear, and a moldable earpiece material moldable about the intra-auricular support to conform to the auricle of the ear and curable to provide a fixed configuration of the earpiece.
Another broad object of the invention can be to provide a method of making an earpiece, including one or more of: obtaining an intra-auricular support, coupling a projection element to outwardly extend from the inner surface of the intra-auricular support, disposing a flexible body about the projection element and configured to engage the inside of an external ear canal of an ear, providing a moldable earpiece material capable of molding about the intra-auricular support to conform to the auricle of the ear, and which can further include one or more of: generating a passage communicating between the outer surface of said intra-auricular support and the flexible body second end, and coupling an intra-auricular support conduit configured to removably retain an in-ear device to the intra-auricular support.
Another broad object of the invention can be to provide a method for molding an earpiece, including one or more of: obtaining an intra-auricular support having a projection element outwardly extending from the inner surface, and a flexible body disposed about the projection element, concurrently engaging the intra-auricular support with the auricle of an ear and the flexible body with the external ear canal of an ear, molding a moldable earpiece material about the intra-auricular support to conform to the auricle of the ear and curing the moldable earpiece material to provide a fixed configuration of the earpiece conformed to the auricle of the ear.
Naturally, further objects of the invention are disclosed throughout other areas of the specification, drawings, photographs, and claims.
Generally referring to
Now referring primarily to
Now referring primarily to
Embodiments of the intra-auricular support (2) can fabricated, formed or molded from a wide variety of rigid or elastic thermoplastics including, but not necessarily limited to, acrylic, nylon, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polylactic acid, polybenzimidzole, polycarbonate, polyether sulfone, polyethylene, urethane, silicone, or combinations thereof.
Now referring primarily to
The projection element (3) can comprise the same material(s) or different material(s) as the intra-auricular support (2), and as to particular embodiments, the intra-auricular support (2) and the projection element (3) can, but need not necessarily, be fabricated, formed or molded in one piece.
Again, referring generally to
As to particular embodiments, the flexible body (4) can, but need not necessarily, be integrated with the projection element (3) as one piece or, as to other embodiments, removably coupled or connected to the projection element (3), as illustrated in the example of
Now referring primarily to
As to other embodiments, the moldable earpiece material (5) can, but need not necessarily, comprise a two-part moldable earpiece material (37) including or consisting of a moldable agent (38) (shown as compound “A” in
In embodiments including a moldable earpiece material (5) comprising or consisting of a single compound (35), the single compound (35) can include or consist of one or more of: ethyl vinyl acetate, polycaprolactone, silicone, or like thermoplastic materials. Single compound (35) moldable earpiece materials (5) transition from a moldable condition to the fixed condition by exposure to external factors such as moisture, temperature, or ultraviolet light.
As one illustrative example, the single compound (35) can be an amount of polycaprolactone polymer (CAS No.: 24989-40-4) having the properties described in Table 1; however, this illustrative example is not intended to preclude the use of other thermoplastic polymers suitable for use with embodiments of the earpiece (1).
Polycaprolactone polymers can be heated to achieve a moldable condition, molded about the intra-auricular support (2), and contoured to the configuration of the auricle (9) or concha bowl (15) and cooled to achieve the fixed configuration of the earpiece (1).
Polycaprolactone polymers impart good water, oil, solvent, and chlorine resistance. Polycaprolactone polymers are also compatible with a wide range of other materials (collectively referred to as “admixed agents”), such as: starch, to impart greater biodegradability; colorants, such as alcohol dyes or acrylic coloring agents; powders, such as acrylic powder; particulates of plastic, copolymer plastics, metal, bismuth oxychloride, or glitter, or the like, either separately or in various combinations. Polycaprolactone polymers are non-toxic and approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for specific applications in the human body.
In embodiments including a moldable earpiece material (5) comprising or consisting of a single mixed compound (40), the single mixed compound (40) can include a crosslinkable polymer (compound “A”) having at least one hydrolysable silane group, selected from the group including or consisting of: silane-modified polyoxyalkylenes, polyolefins, poly(meth)acrylates, polyurethanes, polyamides, and polysiloxanes; silicone putty partially hydrolyzed alkyl silicate, or combinations thereof, and a catalyst (compound “B”) including: a metallic salt of an organic carboxylic acid catalyst in which the metal comprises or consists of one or more of a platinum, tin, copper, or other metal.
One illustrative example of a single mixed compound (40) including a moldable agent (38) and curing agent (39) comprises polydimethylsiloxane polymer and platinum (0)-1,3-divinyl-1,1,3,3-tetramethyldisiloxane curing agent (39). Another illustrative example of a single mixed compound (40) including a moldable agent (38) and curing agent (39) comprises two proprietary compounds manufactured by Radians, Inc., silicone putty A-side and silicone putty B-side, of which one silicone putty contains methylpolysiloxanes.
Yet another illustrative example includes SILPURAN® 8020, a platinum catalyst-curing solid silicone rubber available through Wacker Chemie AG.
Now generally referring to
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Particular embodiments of the earpiece (1) capable of use with an in-ear device (45) can include an intra-auricular support conduit (46) communicating between the outer surface (6) of the intra-auricular support (2) and the inner surface (7) of the intra-auricular support (2). The intra-auricular support conduit (46) can have an intra-auricular support conduit internal surface (47) configured to retain or releasably retain the in-ear device (45) in the earpiece (1) and which defines an intra-auricular support passage (48). The configuration of the intra-auricular support conduit internal surface (47) of the intra-auricular support conduit (46) can vary between embodiments to retain or releasably retain a wide variety of configurations of the in-ear device (45) including those configurations of the in-ear device (45) having a body (49) and a sound delivery element (50) which extends outward of the body (49) (as shown in the examples of
Now referring primarily to
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As described above and again exemplified in
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In particular embodiments, as exemplified in
As can be easily understood from the foregoing, the basic concepts of the present invention may be embodied in a variety of ways. The invention involves numerous and varied embodiments of an earpiece which can be utilized for the production of an earpiece by the process above described.
As such, the particular embodiments or elements of the invention disclosed by the description or shown in the figures or tables accompanying this application are not intended to be limiting, but rather exemplary of the numerous and varied embodiments generically encompassed by the invention or equivalents encompassed with respect to any particular element thereof. In addition, the specific description of a single embodiment or element of the invention may not explicitly describe all embodiments or elements possible; many alternatives are implicitly disclosed by the description and figures.
It should be understood that each element of an apparatus or each step of a method may be described by an apparatus term or method term. Such terms can be substituted where desired to make explicit the implicitly broad coverage to which this invention is entitled. As but one example, it should be understood that all steps of a method may be disclosed as an action, a means for taking that action, or as an element which causes that action. Similarly, each element of an apparatus may be disclosed as the physical element or the action which that physical element facilitates. As but one example, the disclosure of “a moldable earpiece material (5)” should be understood to encompass disclosure of the act of “molding an earpiece material”—whether explicitly discussed or not—and, conversely, were there effectively disclosure of the act of “molding an earpiece material”, such a disclosure should be understood to encompass disclosure of “a moldable earpiece material (5)” and even a “means for molding an earpiece material.” Such alternative terms for each element or step are to be understood to be explicitly included in the description.
In addition, as to each term used it should be understood that unless its utilization in this application is inconsistent with such interpretation, common dictionary definitions should be understood to be included in the description for each term as contained in the Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, second edition, each definition hereby incorporated by reference.
Moreover, for the purposes of the present invention, the term “a” or “an” entity refers to one or more of that entity; for example, “an earpiece” refers to one or more of the earpieces. As such, the terms “a” or “an”, “one or more” and “at least one” can be used interchangeably herein.
All numeric values herein are assumed to be modified by the term “about”, whether or not explicitly indicated. For the purposes of the present invention, ranges may be expressed as from “about” one particular value to “about” another particular value. When such a range is expressed, another embodiment includes from the one particular value to the other particular value. The recitation of numerical ranges by endpoints includes all the numeric values subsumed within that range. A numerical range of one to five includes for example the numeric values 1, 1.5, 2, 2.75, 3, 3.80, 4, 5, and so forth. It will be further understood that the endpoints of each of the ranges are significant both in relation to the other endpoint, and independently of the other endpoint. The term “about” generally refers to a range of numeric values that one of skill in the art would consider equivalent to the recited numeric value or having the same function or result.
Similarly, the antecedent “substantially” means largely, but not wholly, the same form, manner or degree and the particular element will have a range of configurations as a person of ordinary skill in the art would consider as having the same function or result. When a particular element is expressed as an approximation by use of the antecedent “substantially,” it will be understood that the particular element forms another embodiment.
Thus, the applicant(s) should be understood to claim at least: i) each of the earpieces herein disclosed and described, ii) the related methods disclosed and described, iii) similar, equivalent, and even implicit variations of each of these devices and methods, iv) those alternative embodiments which accomplish each of the functions shown, disclosed, or described, v) those alternative designs and methods which accomplish each of the functions shown as are implicit to accomplish that which is disclosed and described, vi) each feature, component, and step shown as separate and independent inventions, vii) the applications enhanced by the various systems or components disclosed, viii) the resulting products produced by such systems or components, ix) methods and apparatuses substantially as described hereinbefore and with reference to any of the accompanying examples, x) the various combinations and permutations of each of the previous elements disclosed.
The background section of this patent application provides a statement of the field of endeavor to which the invention pertains. This section may also incorporate or contain paraphrasing of certain United States patents, patent applications, publications, or subject matter of the claimed invention useful in relating information, problems, or concerns about the state of technology to which the invention is drawn toward. It is not intended that any United States patent, patent application, publication, statement or other information cited or incorporated herein be interpreted, construed or deemed to be admitted as prior art with respect to the invention.
The claims set forth in this specification, if any, are hereby incorporated by reference as part of this description of the invention, and the applicant expressly reserves the right to use all of or a portion of such incorporated content of such claims as additional description to support any of or all of the claims or any element or component thereof, and the applicant further expressly reserves the right to move any portion of or all of the incorporated content of such claims or any element or component thereof from the description into the claims or vice-versa as necessary to define the matter for which protection is sought by this application or by any subsequent application or continuation, division, or continuation-in-part application thereof, or to obtain any benefit of, reduction in fees pursuant to, or to comply with the patent laws, rules, or regulations of any country or treaty, and such content incorporated by reference shall survive during the entire pendency of this application including any subsequent continuation, division, or continuation-in-part application thereof or any reissue or extension thereon.
The claims set forth in this specification, if any, are further intended to describe the metes and bounds of a limited number of the preferred embodiments of the invention and are not to be construed as the broadest embodiment of the invention or a complete listing of embodiments of the invention that may be claimed. The applicant does not waive any right to develop further claims based upon the description set forth above as a part of any continuation, division, or continuation-in-part, or similar application.
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