Patent Application
20080298620
This application claims priority of German application No. 10 2007 025 976.1 DE filed Jun. 4, 2007, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The present invention relates to a wearing hook for a behind-the-ear hearing device with a sound channel that runs along the inside of the wearing hook.
Hearing devices are wearable hearing apparatuses which are used to assist the hard-of-hearing. In order to accommodate numerous individual requirements, various types of hearing devices are available such as behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing devices and in-the-ear (ITE) hearing devices, for example also concha hearing devices or completely-in-the-canal (CIC) hearing devices. The hearing devices listed as examples are worn on the outer ear or in the auditory canal. Bone conduction hearing aids, implantable or vibrotactile hearing aids are also available on the market. The damaged hearing is thus stimulated either mechanically or electrically.
The key components of hearing devices are principally an input converter, an amplifier and an output converter. The input converter is normally a receiving transducer e.g. a microphone and/or an electromagnetic receiver, e.g. an induction coil. The output converter is most frequently realized as an electroacoustic converter e.g. a miniature loudspeaker, or as an electromechanical converter e.g. a bone conduction hearing aid. The amplifier is usually integrated into a signal processing unit. This basic configuration is illustrated in
A wearing hook is usually attached and/or screwed on to the housing of a BTE hearing device for wearing of the hearing device. A sound channel runs through the wearing hook along its curved form. A sound tube that transmits the output sound of the hearing device to the auditory canal is mounted on the point of the wearing hook.
The sound generated by the receiver of the BTE hearing device and/or the receiver itself produces vibrations at the point of the wearing hook. Resonance vibrations may be stimulated at the point of the hook. These vibrations lead to undesired acoustic instabilities. Frequency responses with spurious peaks thus occur and in many cases there may be feedback that leads to unpleasant whistling.
A wearing hook for BTE hearing devices, which can easily be achieved in a form that is individually adjusted to the ear shape of the hearing device wearer, is known from the publication DE 298 19 415 U1. The curved wearing hook that is to hang over the ear is composed of a plastic in which a metal core is fused for plastic deformability. The wearing hook is permanently plastically deformable by means of the metal core. However other types of metal core can also be fused in plastic, such as metal tubes, goosenecks and such like.
A BTE hearing device having a housing and a hook-shaped part which is penetrated by a continuous channel is known from the publication DE 29 50 331. The hook-shaped part serves to conduct the sound to an ear adapter. For better frequency response the hook-shaped part is constructed such that the inner cross section increases in the direction that leads away from the housing.
The object of the present invention is to improve the acoustic properties of a wearing hook for a hearing device.
This object is inventively achieved by means of a wearing hook for a behind-the-ear hearing device with a sound channel that runs along the inside of the wearing hook, with the wearing hook being split, substantially at a right angle to the sound channel, into a first section and a second section, with the first section, by means of which the wearing hook is mountable on the behind-the-ear hearing device, being substantially composed of a plastic and with the second section being substantially composed of a metal.
The acoustic stability of the entire hearing device can advantageously thus be improved since the metal increases the mass of the wearing hook so that it resonates less, especially at its point. Thus the frequency response of the hearing device is influenced less by the wearing hook and the propensity for feedback is reduced.
The second section of the wearing hook preferably has a plastic coating and is thereby more resistant to corrosion.
The second section can be screwed on to the first section of the wearing hook. This allows for a stable connection to be produced between the two sections. However the plastic part can also be injection-molded or attached to the metal part.
According to a further preferred embodiment the length of the second section along the sound channel exceeds one third of the total length of the sound channel. As a rule a sufficient degree of acoustic stability can be achieved in this way. However the mass and thus the volume and/or the length of the metal section should generally be chosen so that the desired acoustic properties with regard to acoustic stability occur.
Furthermore it can be advantageous if a damping material is movably introduced into the sound channel of the second section. In this way the acoustic transmission function of the wearing hook can also be positively influenced with regard to acoustic stability.
The present invention is described in more detail with reference to the appended drawings, in which
The exemplary embodiments shown in more detail below represent preferred embodiments of the present invention.
The wearing hook tapers off from its proximal end 13, where it is affixed to the hearing device, to its distal end 14, from which the sound is released. This means that the plastic part 10 that is transverse to the sound channel 12 is larger on average than the metal section 11. In the example shown in
The metal section 11 is provided with a circumferential barb 16 at its distal end 14. This ensures that a plastic tube sleeve can be affixed to the wearing hook in a mechanically fixed and acoustically isolated manner.
As the damper 17 is composed of plastic, it is difficult to fix it in a plastic hook since an adequate level of friction cannot generally be achieved. A further advantage of the metal section 11 also becomes evident here, namely the fact that adequate friction can be achieved between the plastic damper 17 and the interior metal surface of the metal section 11 in order to hold the damper permanently in the position shown in
The main purpose of the metal section 21 on the wearing hook is to increase the mass at the point of the wearing hook, i.e. at its distal end 14, 25. In
With the metal section 11, 21, 31 it is possible, in accordance with the invention, to ensure acoustic stability even in the case of hearing devices with a very high level of amplification. By contrast, in hearing devices with wearing hooks made solely of plastic, the only option is to reduce the level of amplification or to apply material to the wearing hook until its vibrations are reduced to a tolerable level. The metal half of the wearing hook also obviates the need to shape and/or dampen the acoustic transmission function of the sound tube so that there are no vibrations of the point of the hook. This is a time-consuming procedure, since an appropriate transmission function must be found separately for every length of a wearing hook.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2007 025 976.1 | Jun 2007 | DE | national |
