Patent Application
20080019555
The present invention relates generally to audio monitors and, more particularly, to in-ear monitors.
Earpieces, also referred to as in-ear monitors and canal phones, are commonly used to listen to both recorded and live music. A typical recorded music application would involve plugging the earpiece into a music player such as a CD player, flash or hard drive based MP3 player, home stereo, or similar device using the earpiece's headphone jack. Alternately, the earpiece can be wirelessly coupled to the music player. In a typical live music application, an on-stage musician wears the earpiece in order to hear his or her own music during a performance. In this case, the earpiece is either plugged into a wireless belt pack receiver or directly connected to an audio distribution device such as a mixer or a headphone amplifier. This type of monitor offers numerous advantages over the use of stage loudspeakers, including improved gain-before-feedback, minimization/elimination of room/stage acoustic effects, cleaner mix through the minimization of stage noise, increased mobility for the musician and the reduction of ambient sounds.
Earpieces are quite small and are normally worn just outside the ear canal. As a result, the acoustic design of the monitor must lend itself to a very compact design utilizing small components. Some monitors are custom fit (i.e., custom molded) while others use a generic “one-size-fits-all” eartip.
Earpieces use either one or more diaphragm-based drivers, one or more armature-based drivers, or a combination of both driver types. Broadly characterized, a diaphragm is a moving-coil speaker with a paper or Mylar diaphragm. Since the cost to manufacture diaphragms is relatively low, they are widely used in many common audio products (e.g., ear buds). In contrast to the diaphragm approach, an armature receiver utilizes a piston design. Due to the inherent cost of armature receivers they are typically only found in hearing aids and high-end in-ear monitors.
Armature drivers, also referred to as balanced armatures, were originally developed by the hearing aid industry. This type of driver uses a magnetically balanced shaft or armature within a small, typically rectangular, enclosure. A single armature is capable of accurately reproducing low-frequency audio or high-frequency audio, but incapable of providing high-fidelity performance across all frequencies. To overcome this limitation, armature-based earpieces often use two, or even three, armature drivers. In such multiple armature arrangements, a crossover network is used to divide the frequency spectrum into multiple regions, i.e., low and high or low, medium, and high. Separate armature drivers are then used for each region, individual armature drivers being optimized for each region. In contrast to the multiple driver approach often used with armature drivers, earpieces utilizing diaphragm drivers are typically limited to a single diaphragm due to the size of the diaphragm assembly. Unfortunately, as diaphragm-based monitors have significant frequency roll off above 4 kHz, an earpiece with a single diaphragm cannot achieve the desired upper frequency response while still providing an accurate low frequency response.
In order to obtain the best possible performance from an earpiece, the driver or drivers within the earpiece are tuned. Armature tuning is typically accomplished through the use of acoustic filters (i.e., dampers). Further armature tuning can be achieved by porting, or venting, the armature enclosure. Typically, the driver is vented to a sealed, controlled volume. Diaphragm drivers, due to the use of a moving-coil speaker, are generally tuned by controlling the dimensions of the diaphragm housing. Depending upon the desired frequency response, the diaphragm housing may or may not be ported.
Although porting (i.e., venting) a driver to a controlled volume allows the acoustic performance of an earpiece to be tuned, it places relatively tight manufacturing tolerances on the controlled volume of the earpiece, thus adding to the cost associated with fabricating such high fidelity earpieces. Accordingly, what is needed in the art is an earpiece that can achieve the acoustic performance provided by porting to a controlled volume without the added manufacturing complexity and cost. The present invention provides such an earpiece.
The present invention provides an earpiece that is acoustically tuned using at least one vented driver. Venting is performed by boring a control port, separate from the output port, into the driver. The diameter of the control port must be sufficiently small to restrict the flow of air into and out of the driver, thus isolating the acoustic performance of the driver from the volume and/or the sealing capabilities of the earpiece enclosure. The exact size of the control port is selected to achieve the desired acoustic performance. In all cases, the control port has a cross-sectional area that is less than 25 percent of the cross-sectional area of the driver's output port. In at least one preferred embodiment, the control port has a diameter of approximately 0.20 millimeters, preferably with a tolerance of .+−.0.03 millimeters.
In order to optimize the size of the control port, for example during the design of a new earpiece, an iterative process is preferably used. During this process the driver is characterized, enlarged, and then re-characterized. The driver characterizations before and after control port enlargement are compared to a target driver response. If the pre-enlargement control port provides better performance, relative to the target response, then the pre-enlargement control port diameter is selected as the optimized control port size. If the post-enlargement control port provides better performance, relative to the target response, then the iterative process continues.
A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the drawings.
Attached to the end portion of sound delivery member 113 is an eartip 115, also referred to as an eartip sleeve or simply a sleeve. Additionally, and as known by those of skill in the arts, eartip 115 or the combination of sound delivery member 113 and eartip 115 can be replaced with a custom fit eartip (not shown). A custom fit eartip is one that is designed to fit into a particular user's ear. Custom fit eartips, which are left ear and right ear specific, are made by first making a casting of the user's ear canal and concha, and then molding the earpiece from the casting.
Custom fit earpieces typically provide better performance, both in terms of delivered sound fidelity and user comfort, than generic earpieces. Generic earpieces, however, are generally much less expensive as custom molds are not required and the earpieces can be manufactured in volume. In addition to the cost factor, generic earpieces are typically more readily accepted by the general population since many people find it both too time consuming and somewhat unnerving to have to go to a specialist, such as an audiologist, to be fitted for a custom earpiece.
In the illustrated configuration, a generic eartip 115 is shown. Eartip 115 can be fabricated from any of a variety of materials including foam, plastic and silicon based material. Eartip 115 can have the generally cylindrical and smooth shape shown in
An outer earpiece enclosure 121 attaches to sound delivery member 113. Earpiece enclosure 121 protects driver 101 (or multiple drivers) and any required earpiece circuitry (e.g., cross-over circuit for multiple driver implementation) from damage while providing a convenient means of securing cable 103, or alternately a cable socket (not shown), to the in-ear monitor. Enclosure 121 can be attached to member 113 using interlocking members (e.g., groove 123, lip 125). Alternately, an adhesive or other means can be used to attach enclosure 121 to member 113. Enclosure 121 can be fabricated from any of a variety of materials, thus allowing the designer and/or user to select the material's firmness (i.e., hard to soft), texture, color, etc. Enclosure 121 can either be custom molded or designed with a generic shape.
There are a variety of techniques that can be used to hold, or mount, the components of the earpiece within earpiece enclosure 121. In the illustrated configuration, a boot member 127 is used to hold damper 109, sound tube 107 and a portion of driver 101 in place.
In addition to output port 105, driver 101 includes a secondary port, or vent, 129. Port 129 opens up to sealed region 131, this region defined by the combination of housing 121 and those earpiece components residing within, or coupled to, housing 121 (e.g., driver 101, cable 103, boot member 127 and the end portion of sound delivery member 113). The volume of region 131 defines the acoustic impedance that port 129 is subject to and, consequently, the frequency response of driver 101/earpiece 100. As known by those of skill in the art, since region 131 is used to control the back pressure that the driver is subjected to, the diameter of port 129 must be large relative to output port 105, on the order of at least 25 percent of the cross-sectional area of output port 105 and more typically on the order of at least 100 percent of the cross-sectional area of output port 105. Additionally it is known that the volume of region 131 must be carefully controlled in order to allow the resonant peaks of an earpiece to be controlled. Such control may be used, for example, to improve the low frequency response of the earpiece.
Although sealed region 131 can be used to control the acoustic performance of the earpiece, it will be appreciated that maintaining a specific volume for region 131, especially for a mass produced earpiece, is difficult. During manufacturing, a variety of factors can alter the volume of region 131, thus altering the acoustic performance of the earpiece. For example, if the sealant and/or adhesive used to couple housing 121 to sound delivery member 113 extends into region 131 the volume of the region will be impacted. Similarly, the length of cable 103 that extends into region 131 and the fit of driver 101 within boot member 127 will both affect the volume of the enclosed region. Additionally, tight control of the manufacturing tolerances of the individual components associated with region 131 must be maintained in order to achieve a specific volume and thus the desired acoustic performance.
In order to overcome the manufacturing variances that can alter the volume of the region to which port 129 is coupled to and thus better control the acoustic performance of a mass produced earpiece, port 129 can be coupled to a controlled volume chamber 201 within housing 121 as shown in
The inventor of the present invention has found that by sufficiently decreasing the diameter of the venting port (e.g., control port 301 shown in
It will be appreciated by those of skill in the art that the use of a control venting port (e.g., port 301) dramatically eases the manufacturing tolerances placed on the earpiece as the volume within enclosure 121 need no longer be carefully controlled from earpiece to earpiece in order to achieve the desired acoustic performance. Additionally, if the enclosure is leaky, i.e., not completely sealed, the acoustic performance will not be affected, as the volume within the region is not being used to control the driver resonant peaks.
In addition to easing the manufacturing process, the use of a control port as disclosed by this invention also simplifies venting the individual drivers of a multi-driver earpiece. Utilizing the invention, some or all of the drivers in the multi-driver earpiece may be vented. For example,
Although the inventor has found that in a variety of earpiece configurations a control port with a diameter of approximately 0.20 millimeters is appropriate, when control port size optimization is required, for example during the design of a new earpiece configuration, the optimization process described below and illustrated in
As will be understood by those familiar with the art, the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. Accordingly, the disclosures and descriptions herein are intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention which is set forth in the following claims.
This patent is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/487,856 filed Jul. 17, 2006, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/715,001, filed Sep. 7, 2005, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for any and all purposes.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60715001 | Sep 2005 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11487856 | Jul 2006 | US |
| Child | 11854944 | Sep 2007 | US |
