The invention relates to an ear piece for a hearing device, in particular, an inflatable ear piece or an ear piece with an inflatable balloon. The ear piece is particularly suitable for delivering sound from a hearing aid or an audio player.
Along with the ever-increasing miniaturization of electronic devices and the increasing prevalence of audiological devices that require direct delivery of sound to the human ear, there is a desire to provide ever smaller devices that may be placed in the auditory canal of a user.
For example, hearing devices are wearable hearing apparatuses which are used to supply the hard-of-hearing. A variety of different configurations of hearing devices are known, such as, for example, behind-the-ear hearing devices (BTE), hearing device with an external receiver (RIC: receiver in the canal) and in-the-ear hearing devices (ITE), e.g. also concha hearing devices or canal hearing devices (ITE—in-the-ear, CIC—completely in the canal). Similarly, headphones for the personal delivery of auditory materials have recently become more miniaturized and they have progressed to very small earbuds with in the canal speakers.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,227,968 B2 describes a two-part hearing aid in which the receiver, which is separate from the remaining components, may be inserted deep into the auditory canal. The receiver houses a speaker, which is driven by way of an electrical connection through the canal. The receiver housing is surrounded by an inflatable soft shell, which, when inflated and thus expanded, fixes the receiver in position in the auditory canal.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 7,425,196 B2 also describes a receiver module for a hearing aid that may be positioned deep in the auditory canal. The receiver housing is surrounded by an expandable material, which may be expanded against the walls of the canal.
It is an object of the invention to provide an inflatable ear piece, which overcomes several disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices and methods of this general type and which provides for a device that may be inflated for safe placement in the ear canal and that may be deflated and removed from the ear canal with little effort. In addition, it is desirable for the device to be protected against earwax (i.e., cerumen) and moisture, yet be simple and inexpensive to produce.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, an ear piece for a hearing device which comprises:
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the pressure relief valve is integrally formed together with the receiver module.
In another advantageous embodiment of the invention, the pressure relief valve includes a piston and a spring means (e.g., a helical spring) biasing the piston against a valve seat for closing a pneumatic connection from an interior of the balloon to an exterior. The pressure relief valve may include a pull string connected to the piston for pulling the piston backward against a spring force of the spring means and for relieving a pressure in and deflating the balloon.
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the ear piece has a size and a shape enabling deep insertion into an external auditory canal and in close vicinity of a tympanic membrane (i.e., the ear drum) inwardly bounding the auditory canal.
The ear piece is particularly suitable for connection to an external device (e.g., hearing aid, sound player, cell phone, etc.) providing signals for the control unit.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment, the signal connection includes an electrical cable carrying electrical control signals and an energy supply. The drive signals or control signals, as well as the energy supply, may be carried in the electric cable connected through the ear canal. The cable and the pull cord may be combined to form a tether for the removal of the deep-insertion ear piece.
Also, there may be provided a tube pneumatically connecting the balloon with an exterior pump for selectively inflating the balloon. In the alternative, there may be provided a pump in the receiver module for selectively inflating the balloon, and a pneumatic connection enabling aspiration of air through the auditory canal for inflation of the balloon.
In a modular configuration of the ear piece, there may be provided a carrier member which, for mounting to the receiver module may be snapped in place on an extension of the receiver module, and which is sealed with the balloon. Preferably, the carrier member is funnel-shaped with a central bore for guiding sound waves generated by the control unit in the receiver module through a forward wall of the ear piece and to the tympanic membrane.
As noted, the inflatable ear piece may be combined with any of a plurality of audiological devices, such as a hearing aid, an MP3 player, a cell phone, or any other such electronic device.
In the case of a hearing aid implementation of the invention, the microphone, the amplifier, the control unit, and the power supply is disposed in an external unit, such as a BTE (behind-the-ear) unit or an ITE (in-the-ear) unit, or in a CIC or concha device. The inflation pump may be disposed in the deep-insertion ear piece itself or in the external or partly inserted unit. The inflatable (deep-insertion) ear piece is electrically connected to the other unit by way of an electrical control cable and, in one case, also through a pneumatic hose.
The placement and fixation of the respective devices by way of otoplastic materials need not be described in further detail. Those of skill in the art of hearing devices are quite familiar with the pertinent technology and are able to configure the respective system according to the specific requirements.
In sum, the basic concept is to have an inflatable balloon in the ear to seal the inner part of the ear canal against the environment and also to enable the deep-insertion unit to be safely held in place. To realize a comfortable wearing position, the balloon is inflated. When there is too much pressure in the balloon, or if the ear piece should be removed, it is necessary to deflate the balloon. Also, when it is desirable to reinsert the ear piece, it is necessary to completely empty the balloon before the next insertion. The novel invention enables these functions with a simple structure and it makes it easily operable by the audiologist, but also by the wearer.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in an inflatable ear piece to be inserted into an auditory canal, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of the specific embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.
Referring now to the figures of the drawing in detail and first, particularly, to
In assisted hearing, such as with hearing aids, the propagation of the sound waves through the auditory canal 2 is interrupted. The sound waves are instead picked up by a microphone or the like, the resulting signal is processed, typically by way of digital signal processing, and the processed signal is utilized to excite an oscillator in the vicinity or at the tympanic membrane 3. In the case of ear buds for music or telephony, the sound waves are directly injected at the concha 1a for delivery through the auditory canal 2.
The external auditory canal 2 is divided in
Referring now to
Referring now to
The receiver module 5 receives its control signals and also its power supply through a cable 10. The cable 10 is connected, for example, to a hearing aid, such as a behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aid, a completely-in-the-canal (CIC) unit, or a concha unit. It may also be connected to any other signal source, such as an MP3 player, a cell phone, or the like, or a combination thereof. The signals received through the cable 10 are used in a control unit 12 to generate audible sound for delivery through the carrier element 8 and through the opening 9 to the ear drum 3. The control unit 12 may, therefore, also be referred to as a sound generator.
The balloon 6 may be inflated from an external source or the receiver unit 5 may have a pump 11 integrated therein. The external device may, in that case, have a control possibility that allows the user (or, say, the audiologist) to inflate the device. The pump 11 is diagrammatically indicated inside the module 5 in
The inflatable ear piece, as noted above, has a pressure release valve 7 to facilitate handling during removal from the ear. To remove the inflatable ear piece, a pull cord 13 is pulled and the pressure release valve opens, letting the inflated part deflate and thus allowing easy removal from the ear.
Referring now to
The pull cord could also be combined with a pull-out string of the otoplastic. Indeed, it would also be possible to combine the pull cord with the signal cable 10. It is only necessary to overcome a closing force (here, the spring force of the spring 14) so as to enable the deflation tube 17 to open. Once the balloon 6 is sufficiently deflated, the ear piece may be easily removed from the auditory canal.
The balloon 6 of the illustrated embodiment is placed forward of the receiver module and the receiver module 5 is retained in a substantially central position between the walls of the ear canal. The centering of the receiver module 5 assures that the module 5 does not bang against the walls of the canal 2 upon considerable shock impulses. It will be understood, however, that the entire receiver module 5 may be encased by the balloon 6.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the hearing device may be an CIC hearing aid with the external unit and the ear piece 4 combined and integrally formed as an insertion unit. The inflatable member 6, in that embodiment, is suitable for fixing the CIC hearing aid in place and to thus reduce the effort in fitting the otoplastic with high accuracy to the patient's ear canal.
The term “balloon” as used herein should be understood in its broadest sense as an inflatable member. It may be in the form of a balloon with resiliently stretchable material, or a bag, or an accordion-type bellows with folded/crimped balloon shapes. Further the material is chosen such that it provides a pleasant haptic feel as it is pressed against the wall of the ear canal 2 and, once inflated, does not shift relative to the canal 2. The balloon 6 is formed of a flexible material which is impermeable to cerumen, or earwax, and also to water. The balloon 6 is preferably formed of silicone or latex, or any of the known flexible materials that are used for otoplastics and other cavity-insertible products known, especially, in the hearing aid arts. It may further be covered on the laterally outside walls, i.e., the walls that are braced into contact with the walls of the ear canal 2, with a soft silicone or rubber material layer.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/EP2010/066390 | 10/28/2010 | WO | 00 | 12/7/2012 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61363814 | Jul 2010 | US |