EP2180723B1 - Hearing aid with mobile earpiece - Google Patents

Abstract

The device has a receiver (25) for converting an electrical signal into acoustic signals. An earpiece (22) is adjusted to an auditory canal of a user when the hearing device e.g. behind-the-ear hearing device, is worn by the user. A base part (20) fastens the receiver and the earpiece, where the receiver and the earpiece are moveable in respective to the base part, where the base part comprises a bendable bar to fasten the receiver. A shell (24) is arranged at an end of the bendable bar on a side of the receiver to fasten the receiver. An independent claim is also included for a hearing device, comprising a housing.

Description

The present invention relates to a hearing device for a hearing device with a hearing aid external handset, which is designed for converting the electrical signals into acoustic signals, and an ear piece, which conforms to an ear canal when the hearing device is worn. In addition, the present invention relates in particular to a behind-the-ear hearing device or a cymbal hearing aid with such a hearing device.

Hearing aids are portable hearing aids that are used to care for the hearing impaired. In order to meet the numerous individual needs, different types of hearing aids such as behind-the-ear hearing aids (BTE), hearing aid with external receiver (RIC: receiver in the canal) and in-the-ear hearing aids (IDO), e.g. Concha hearing aids or canal hearing aids (ITE, CIC). The hearing aids listed by way of example are worn on the outer ear or in the ear canal. In addition, bone conduction hearing aids, implantable or vibrotactile hearing aids are also available on the market. The stimulation of the damaged hearing takes place either mechanically or electrically.

Hearing aids have in principle as essential components an input transducer, an amplifier and an output transducer. The input transducer is usually a sound receiver, z. As a microphone, and / or an electromagnetic receiver, for. B. an induction coil. The output transducer is usually used as an electroacoustic transducer, z. As miniature speaker, or as an electromechanical transducer, z. B. bone conduction headphones realized. The amplifier is usually integrated in a signal processing unit. This basic structure is in FIG. 1 shown using the example of a behind-the-ear hearing aid. In a hearing aid housing 1 for carrying behind the ear are one or more microphones 2 to Built-in sound recording from the environment. A signal processing unit 3, which is also integrated in the hearing aid housing 1, processes the microphone signals and amplifies them. The output signal of the signal processing unit 3 is transmitted to a loudspeaker or earpiece 4, which outputs an acoustic signal. The sound is optionally transmitted via a sound tube, which is fixed with an earmold in the ear canal, to the eardrum of the device carrier. The power supply of the hearing device and in particular the signal processing unit 3 is effected by a likewise integrated into the hearing aid housing 1 battery. 5

Hearing aids with external handset must be designed so that the handset is arranged as centrally as possible in the ear canal when carrying. Otherwise, the wearing comfort is reduced and the acoustic properties of the device are poor. For Cymba hearing aids, where most of the device, including the microphone and signal processing, is inserted into the cymbal of the pinna, the cable to which the external earphone is connected is used in addition to stabilization tasks. This means that, on the one hand, the cable exerts forces on the hearing aid body and on the other hand on the external handset. As a result, the earpiece is often pressed against the wall of the ear canal, because the ear piece (dome), which is intended to hold the listener in the auditory canal, consists of relatively soft material. The ear piece is therefore too soft to absorb the forces of the wire or the cable can. Consequently, the listener sits eccentrically in the ear canal, which under certain circumstances can lead to a significant deterioration of feedback problems.

So far, this problem was that the listener in certain cases only eccentric sitting in the ear canal, not recognized. Rather, it was assumed that a standard ear piece centered the listener exactly in the auditory canal. The situation is slightly better with so-called active earmolds that are individually adapted to the auditory canal. But even these are brought by the forces of the cable out of their exact location, so that problems arise with respect to the centricity of the listener.

From the publication US 2007/0036379 A1 is a flexible connector for connecting a hearing aid in the ear hearing and a connected thereto listener known. With the connector, the handset is movable relative to the hearing aid body. The connector may also be formed as an ear piece.

The publication US 2008/0170738 A1 discloses an adjustable ear speaker for portable devices. In the ear speaker, the handset is supported by means of a ball joint.

Furthermore, the document shows US Pat. No. 6,212,283 B1 a receiver device for in-the-ear hearing aids. A first holding element holds cables at the entrance of the ear canal. A second holding member connected to the first holding member by means of a ball bearing holds a receiver. The second holding element rests against the ear canal like the first holding element.

Furthermore, the document describes WO 02/03399 A1 a hearing aid connection system between two components of the hearing aid. To protect the contacts when the two components of the hearing aid move to each other, the connection system has a flexible cable.

The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a receiver device, the listener can be better centered in the ear canal. In addition, a BTE hearing aid and a Cymbahörgerät be provided, the external listeners in the ear canal can also be better centered.

According to the invention this object is achieved by a receiver device according to claim 1.

Advantageously, it is possible with the receiver device according to the invention, the forces acting on the ear piece of the receiver device, essentially decoupled from the listener. As a result, the listener can be placed centrally to some extent independently of the earpiece in the ear canal so that it does not press against the ear canal wall. This results in a higher wearing comfort and improved acoustic properties of the device.

The handset has an electrical cable for receiving electrical signals, the cable being fixed in or on the base part and the handset being fastened exclusively to the cable. As a result, the elasticity of the cable can be used to decouple the listener from the earpiece in terms of strength.

The base part can also have a bendable web to which the listener is attached. This is particularly advantageous if the inherent rigidity of the earphone cable is not high enough to place the earpiece in the ear canal in a suitable manner. The web can be designed so that a cable of the listener passes through it. This results in a more robust design compared to the variant in which the handset is attached solely by the cable.

Furthermore, a shell can be arranged at the listener end of the web, in which the listener is attached. Through this shell, the handset can be stabilized and the cable can be relieved.

Preferably, the base part is formed in one piece. This reduces the assembly costs.

According to a further embodiment, the base part may have a first part and a second part which are connected to one another by a ball joint, wherein the ear piece is fastened to the first part and the earpiece to the second part. If the ball joint has sufficient friction, a defined orientation of the listener before inserting the earphone into the ear canal can be done without this orientation being changed randomly at insertion.

Furthermore, through the ball joint through a recess may be formed, in which a cable of the listener runs. This measure can in turn protect the cable. Such inventive hearing devices can be used in particular for BTE hearing aids and Cymbahörgeräte having external listeners.

FIG 1

eine Prinzipskizze eines Hörgeräts gemäß dem Stand der Technik;

FIG 2

einen Querschnitt durch eine erfindungsgemäße Hörereinrichtung in einer ersten Ausführungsform;

FIG 3

einen Querschnitt durch eine Hörereinrichtung entsprechend einer zweiten Ausführungsform; und

FIG 4

einen Querschnitt durch eine Hörereinrichtung gemäß einer dritten Ausführungsform.

The present invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1

a schematic diagram of a hearing aid according to the prior art;

FIG. 2

a cross section through a receiver device according to the invention in a first embodiment;

FIG. 3

a cross section through a receiver device according to a second embodiment; and

FIG. 4

a cross section through a receiver device according to a third embodiment.

The embodiments described in more detail below represent preferred embodiments of the present invention.

The in FIG. 2 illustrated cross section through a receiver device according to a first embodiment shows a base part 10. This base part is here cylindrical and has in the present example about a diameter of 2 mm. On the outer jacket of the base part 10, an elastic earpiece 11 is attached. This ear piece 11 (Dome) clings to the ear canal wall when worn in the ear canal. In the present example, the wall thickness of the hollow cylindrical ear piece decreases towards an end face.

Through the base part 10 passes through a cable 12, which supplies a listener 13 with corresponding electrical signals. To indicate the proportions, the handset 13 is shown here cuboid and has a height of about 2 mm. He is alone connected via the cable 12 to the base part 10 at a certain distance 14.

The cable 12 has a jacket or a coating, which may consist of the same material as the base part 10. Due to this material and a suitable material thickness results in a desired flexibility or inherent rigidity of the cable 12. As a result, the handset 13 relative to the base part 10 move to a certain extent. This extent will ultimately be in the present example limited by a funnel-shaped recess 15 of the earpiece 11, which causes the decrease in the material thickness of the earpiece 11 toward the listener 13 and has an acoustically reinforcing effect in certain frequency ranges.

By the piece of cable between the base member 10 and the handset 13 so these two components are not rigidly connected to each other, but to each other. Through this movable connecting piece, the listener can, to a certain extent, follow a curvature in the auditory canal independently of the earpiece.

In FIG. 3 is a cross section through a receiver device according to a second embodiment shown. It can be seen that the base part 20 is designed in one piece here. It has a first portion 21 which is also cylindrical in shape and on the outer periphery as in the example of FIG. 2 an earpiece 22 is plugged with a funnel-shaped recess 23. In a second portion 24 of the base part 20, a receiver 25 is attached. The second section 24 is here cup-shaped and surrounds the receiver 25 largely. A cable 26 of the handset 25 is passed through both sections 21 and 24 of the base part 20. The first section 21 is in the direction away from the listener 25, ie in the direction of wearing the receiver device out of the ear canal direction, as a cable sheath 27 or as a strain relief in one piece. Of course, it remains undecided that the cable sheath 27 and the strain relief is formed in two pieces with the base part.

Between the first portion 21 and the second portion 24, the base part 20 has a web 28. Through this web 28, the cable 26 of the receiver 25 extends. The web 28 is compared to the first portion 21 and the second portion 24 in its outer dimensions relatively thin, so that the two sections 21 and 24 are movable in a certain frame to each other. The handset 25, however, is rigid in attached to the second section 24. The mobility between the first portion 21 to which the earpiece 22 is attached, and the handset 25 is thus determined in this embodiment also by the base part 20 itself. Specifically, here, the web 28 of the base part 20 influences the mobility of the handset 25, while in the example of FIG. 2 only the cable 12 affects the mobility of the handset 13. Depending on the desired flexibility so the web 28 is to be dimensioned or made of a suitable material.

A further embodiment of a receiver device according to the invention is shown in FIG FIG. 4 reproduced in cross section. The base part 30 here consists of two pieces, a first part 31 and a second part 32. Both are connected to each other via a ball joint, wherein on the first part 31, a ball portion 33 and the second part 32 a Kugelkalottenabschnitt 34 is formed. By this ball joint, the two parts 31 and 32 are aligned within a certain frame in a desired manner to each other. In the second part 32 a recess 35 is provided for a listener, which is not shown here for clarity. In addition, the second part 32 has a passage 36 through which a cable of the listener can be led out to the second part 31. For cable bushing, the second part 31 has a bore 37, which increases in the region of the spherical portion 33 conically towards the second part 32. Furthermore, a cylindrical recess 38 is indicated in the first part 31, in which optionally electronics (eg amplifiers) can be accommodated. At the first part 31 is also, as in the examples of the Figures 2 and 3 , a cylindrical ear piece 39 infected. In this example, the ear piece 39 is very thin-walled and the connection to the first part 31 of the base part 30 is made by a plurality of webs 40.

With the ball joint turn the earphone is decoupled in terms of strength of the ear piece. So while the ear piece or the first part 31 of the base part 30 serves to support the hearing aid system in or on the auditory canal, the second part 32, which can be aligned over the ball joint in a certain range, serves to center the earpiece in the auditory canal. The carrying function of the ear piece is therefore also decoupled from the centering function with respect to the listener in the receiver. In contrast, as mentioned, in hearing aid devices according to the prior art, the wearing function of the hearing system and the centering function with respect to the external earpiece unit combined, because the wire and the inherently rigid earpiece perform both functions combined. With the invention within the handset mobile receiver now results in improved comfort and optimized acoustics.

Claims (9)

1. Receiver facility for a hearing device comprising

   - a receiver (13, 25) which is external to the hearing device and which is embodied to convert the electrical signals into acoustic signals, and

   - an earpiece (11, 22, 39), which adjusts to an auditory canal when the hearing device is being worn, and

   - a base part (10, 20, 30), to which the earpiece (11, 22, 39) is fastened and to which the receiver (13, 25) is fastened so as to be moveable at least in respect of a section (21, 31) of the base part, wherein

   - the receiver (13, 25) for receiving electrical signals has an elastic cable (12),

   - the cable is fastened in or on the base part (10, 20, 30), and

   - the receiver (13, 25) is exclusively fastened to the cable (12, 26).
2. Receiver facility according to claim 1, with the base part (10, 20, 30) having a bendable bar (28), to which the receiver (13, 25) is fastened.
3. Receiver facility according to claim 2, with a cable (12, 26) of the receiver (13, 25) passing through the bendable bar (28).
4. Receiver facility according to claim 2 or 3, with a shell (24) being arranged at the end of the bar (28) on the receiver side, in which the receiver (13, 25) is fastened.
5. Receiver facility according to one of the preceding claims, with the base part (10, 20, 30) being formed in one piece.
6. Receiver facility according to claim 1, with the base part (10, 20, 30) having a first and a second part (31, 32), which are connected to one another by means of a ball joint (33, 34) and with the earpiece (11, 22, 39) being fastened to the first part (31) and the receiver (13, 25) being fastened to the second part (32).
7. Receiver facility according to claim 6, with a recess (36, 37) being formed through the ball joint (33, 34), in which recess a cable (12, 26) of the receiver (13, 25) passes.
8. Behind-the-ear hearing device with a receiver facility according to one of the preceding claims.
9. Cymba hearing device comprising a receiver facility according to one of claims 1 to 7.

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