The invention relates to a transducer protection for placement in an opening of a hearing aid component. The invention further relates to a handling tool for such a transducer protection and a dispenser for a transducer protection.
Transducer protections or filters or earwax filters are used to prevent earwax or dirt from entering openings such a sound openings of a hearing aid component. Typically, transducer protections are made replaceable so that a used and potentially clogged earwax filter can be replaced by a new and clean one. To do so, handling tools are provided that help in removing a used earwax filter and in inserting a new earwax filter. To allow for easy carrying of plurality of transducer protections, transducer protection dispensers are known.
Prior art transducer protections and handing tools are inter alia disclosed in EP 1 439 731 B1 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,795,562 B1.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved transducer protection and transducer protection handling tool. It is a further object of the invention to provide a transducer protection, which is especially suitable for a hearing aid microphone.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by a transducer protection comprising a top cap, a stem extending from the top cap and having a distal end and a seal at the stem distal end. The top cap has an outward facing and an inward facing side, the inward facing side facing the hearing aid, when in use. The stem protrudes into an opening of a hearing aid component to be protected, when in use. The stem's proximal end is connected to the top cap at the top cap's inward facing side. The seal has an outward facing contour that is adapted to match an inner wall of the hearing aid component's opening so that the outer contour of the seal contacts the inner wall of the opening, when in use. Within the seal, at least one sound opening is provided that is surrounded by the seal. The sound opening surrounded by the seal communicates with at least one sound opening along the stem. On the inward facing side of the top cap at least one spacer is provided, that is formed to provide for a gap between the inward facing side of the top cap and an outer surface of a hearing aid component, when in use. The gap that is caused by the spacer acts as sound entrance between the top cap and the hearing aid component's outer surface.
This gap, the sound opening along the stem and the sound opening surrounded by the seal are in communication with each other, when the transducer protection is placed into an opening of a hearing aid component so as to let sound pass from inside the hearing aid component to its outside or vice versa through the gap and the sound openings along the stem and surrounded by the seal. When placed in a microphone opening, the protection will cover the opening by means of the top cap, and when colored in the same shade as the hearing aid component into which it is inserted, the protection will be virtually invisible to the naked eye, and this will help to make such a hearing aid less conspicuous.
Preferably, the transducer protection is a single piece of material e. g. an injection molded plastic piece.
Furthermore, the top cap preferably has a lateral extension that is larger than a diameter of the opening of the transducer protection it is designed for. Further, the top cap preferably provides no openings so that the mouth of the opening in the hearing aid component is fully closed and covered by the top cap except for the gap between the top cap and the hearings aid component's surface that is provided by the spacer.
By such an earwax filter, an effective protection from earwax entering an opening of a hearing aid component is achieved, because a top cap effectively covers the mouth of an opening in a hearing aid component when in use. Further, an oily component of the earwax is prevented from creeping along an inner wall of an opening of a hearing aid component by way of the seal that circumferentially and tightly abuts the inner wall. When the transducer protection is lifted out of the hearing aid opening, the seal will scrape along the inside of the tube, and through this action, possible ear wax or other deposits are removed by the scraping action, which leaves the inside of the tube cleaned. This is of major importance, as the next filter to be inserted will be inserted into a clean tube, which avoids the pushing of deposits further into the hearing aid when the filter is inserted.
Preferably, the seal has a sharp peripheral edge that abuts against the inner wall of the opening of a hearing aid component when in use. The sharp peripheral edge of the seal has a cross-sectional extension that matches or is slightly larger than the cross-section of an opening for which the transducer protection is designed. This ensures contact between the edge of the seal whereby wax components are prevented from advancing along the wall and past the seal. During extraction of the filter, the edge of the seal abutting the tube will facilitate a cleaning action on the inner wall of the tube as the edge with maintained contact to the inner wall is drawn there-along to the end of the tube.
If the opening end of the tube has a uniform cross-section—at least in a portion that shall receive the transducer protection—it is preferred that the top cap of the transducer protection has a lateral extension that is larger than the lateral extension of the seal and its peripheral edge.
The top cap and the seal are spaced apart from each other in a longitudinal direction of the transducer protection. The longitudinal axis of the transducer protection extends transverse to a hearing aid component's surface, when in use.
Preferably, the stem includes at least one wall element extending along a longitudinal axis of the earwax filter. This wall delimits the sound opening along the stem at least on one side. It should be understood that with “longitudinal axis” of the earwax filter an axis is meant that extends along a longitudinal extension of an opening of a hearing aid component.
The sound opening along the stem preferably is radially open to the outside of the earwax filter, meaning that the sound opening along the stem is not enclosed by walls of the earwax filter itself. Rather, when in use, the sound opening along the stem is defined on its outside by the inner wall of the opening of the hearing aid component. Thus, capillary effects between an inner wall of an opening in a hearing aid component and peripheral walls of the transducer protection may be avoided.
By means of the stem, the seal is placed at some distance from an opening's mouth which further helps to prevent oil from creeping into the opening.
To even more effectively prevent oily substances from creeping along the earwax filter or the inner wall of an opening in a hearing aid component, it is preferred that the stem is configured to be spaced apart from an inner wall of the opening when in use. In other words, the stem has some distance from the inner wall of the opening in the radial direction. In particular, the stem is designed such that the distance is large enough to avoid any capillary effect between radially outwardly facing surfaces of the stem and the inner wall of the opening.
In a preferred embodiment, the stem is constituted by three wall elements that extend radially from a central longitudinal axis of the earwax filter in three different radial directions.
As a result, the stem has a cross-section that is star-shaped. Preferably, the walls each meet at an angle of 120° in the center of the earwax filter. Thus, three sound openings along the stem are defined by the three wall elements, each sound opening being defined by two adjacent wall elements and the inner wall of the opening in the hearing aid component.
With respect to the spacer arranged at the inwardly facing side of the top cap, it is preferred that three spacers are provided, which are rib-shaped. Each rib-shaped spacer extends in the same radial and longitudinal direction as a corresponding wall element of the stem and preferably has the same thickness as the wall element of the stem. In other words, the dimensional extension of each wall element and the spacer in the direction perpendicular to the radial direction of the earwax filter is preferably the same.
It is further preferred that a distal end face of each wall element and of the seal are arranged in the same plane that preferably extends perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the earwax filter.
If is further preferred that the seal is supported by all three wall elements near the distal end of the earwax filter. Thus, three sound openings surrounded by the earwax filter are defined by the seal surrounding the wall elements and the sound openings.
To allow for easy insertion of the earwax filter, an outer circumferential surface of the seal is having a frusto-conical shape, so that the front edge of the seal is beveled.
The seal preferably has a generally annular shape in order to match a cylindrical-shaped opening in a hearing aid component.
Further preferred details become apparent form the exemplary embodiment illustrated by way of the attached Figures. In the Figures,
a and 5b: show a dispenser pouch from
In
The top cap 12 has an outward facing surface 20 and an inward facing surface 22. The inward facing surface 22 is facing to a hearing aid component's surface when the earwax filter 10 is inserted in an opening in such hearing aid component.
On the inward facing surface 22 of a top cap 12 three rip-shaped spacers 24 are provided. Three wall elements 26 constitute the stem 14. Each of the three wall elements 26 extends from a longitudinal axis in the center of the earwax filter 10 in a radial direction. All three wall elements 26 have the same thickness. With thickness the dimension of the wall element in a direction perpendicular to a radial direction is meant.
As can be seen, the spacers 24 extend each from a corresponding wall element 26 in the same radial and longitudinal direction. Each spacer 24 has the same thickness as the corresponding wall element 26.
Facing away from top cap 12 is a distal end of stem 14. Around the distal end of stem 14 seal 16 is arranged. Seal 16 is an annular member that is attached to all three wall elements 26. Seal 16 has a frusto-conically shaped annular side surface 28. Due to the frusto-conical shape of seal 16 a front edge of seal 16 is beveled. Further, the frusto-conical shaped side wall 28 of seal 16 provides for a sharp peripheral sealing edge 30.
As can be taken from
In
When the filter 10 is inserted into the opening 40, the handling tool 50 is removed by braking the brake-away connection between the filter 10 and the handling tool 50 by gently tilting the main body 54 with respect to the filter 10 seated in the opening.
A plurality of filter handling tools 50 can be placed in a dispenser pouch 60 as shown in
From
In
In addition, indents 90 on each filter handling tool 50 and protrusions 92 in each receptacle 80 define a snap lock that ensures that filter handling tool 50 will not fall out of its corresponding receptacle 80 if dispenser pouch 60 is e.g. opened upside down.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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12162650.1 | Mar 2012 | EP | regional |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61618854 | Apr 2012 | US |