JP2020145738A - earphone - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an earphone device capable of providing satisfactory wearing touch and further enhanced sound quality.SOLUTION: An earphone includes: a housing 5 with a driver unit 12; and a sound conduit 4 attached to and protruding from a front face of the housing 5. The sound conduit 4 is disposed further outside than the central position of the housing 5. A tip part of the sound conduit 4 is directed away from the central position of the housing 5.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to earphones, and is suitable for application to, for example, earplug-type earphones.

Conventionally, in an earphone device, a diaphragm in a driver unit housed in a housing of a housing portion is vibrated in response to an audio signal supplied from a portable music player or the like to change the air density state. As a result, the sound corresponding to the audio signal is generated.

For example, in a lateral-in-the-ear type earphone device, the earphone device can be worn on the user's ear by supporting the housing of the earphone device with the user's tragus and pair of beads. (See, for example, Patent Document 1).

In the earphone device having such a configuration, since the shape of the auricle differs depending on the user, when the user wears the earphone device, a gap is created between the housing and the ear canal, and sound leaks into the gap. There was a problem.

Further, in the earphone device having such a configuration, since the shape and size of the tragus and the pair of beads differ depending on the user, the housing cannot be supported by the tragus and the pair of beads depending on the user, and the wearing state is maintained for a long time. There was also a problem that it was not easy to wear.

On the other hand, in the vertical-in-the-ear type earphone device, the diaphragm is arranged so as to face the entrance of the user's ear canal directly, and is relatively unaffected by the shape around the entrance of the ear canal. It is designed so that a voice having stable sound quality can be provided to a user (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

In the earphone device having such a configuration, a holding tool for holding the headband or ear hanger when worn by the user is required, which is not excellent in portability and the headband is located on the head. There is a problem that the hairstyle of the user is disturbed by doing so.

As shown in FIGS. 15A, 15B, and 15C, the problems of the lateral-in-the-ear type earphone device and the vertical-in-the-ear type earphone device are solved. The earpiece 31 has a shape that matches the ear canal when worn, the substantially cylindrical sound conduit 32 provided inside the earpiece 31, the substantially spherical housing 33 to which the sound conduit 32 is attached, and the housing 33. There is an earplug-type earphone device 30 composed of a 34 to be integrally formed and a cord 7 connected to a driver unit (not shown) inside the housing 33.

Here, FIG. 15 (A) is a side view of the earphone device 30 viewed from the YY plane, and FIG. 15 (B) is a rear view of the earphone device 30 seen from the XX plane. (C) is a top view of the earphone device 30 as viewed from the XY plane.

The housing 33 vibrates the diaphragm in the driver unit according to the audio signal supplied via the cord 7, so that a sound corresponding to the audio signal can be generated.

The sound conduit 32 projects from the central portion on the front side of the housing 33, is inserted into the ear canal via the earpiece 31 when mounted, and derives the sound output via the driver unit of the housing 33 to the ear canal. It is done like this.

Since the earpiece 31 is made of an elastic material and its shape can be freely deformed, when it is inserted into the ear canal, it adheres to the ear canal and maintains a state of being in close contact with the user's ear. It is designed to provide a soft fit as well as a soft fit.

Tokusho 6-81351 Gazette Special Fair 6-59120 Gazette

By the way, in the earphone device 30 having such a configuration, as shown in the upper surface view 16 (A) in which the user wearing the earphone device 30 has an A1-A1'cross section, the housing 33 does not come into contact with the tragus 22. Since the width W2 of the housing 33 is limited, the size of the diaphragm (not shown) housed inside the housing 33 is also limited, so that the diaphragm is made smaller.

As a result, the earphone device 30 not only has a small amount of air in front of the diaphragm that can be compressed or pulled to output bass, but also the air itself often escapes to the side of the diaphragm. , The air density cannot be changed sufficiently, and the bass cannot be output efficiently.

Further, as shown in the upper surface view 16 (B) in which the user wearing the earphone device 30 has an A1-A1'cross section, the earphone device 35 using the housing 34 having a width W3 that is further wider than the width W2 of the housing 33. The diaphragm housed in the housing 34 can be enlarged by the amount of the widening width W3 of the housing 34, but when the housing 34 is attached to the user's ear, the housing 34 and the earphone 22 come into contact with each other, and the housing 34 is attached. It becomes difficult to maintain the condition or to wear it.

Therefore, in the earplug type earphone device 30, in order to improve the wearing state, the size of the diaphragm is inevitably limited, so that it is not possible to provide sound with sufficiently good sound quality, and conversely. There is a problem that if the diaphragm is enlarged, the wearability deteriorates.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to propose an earphone that is comfortable to wear and can provide sound with good sound quality.

In order to solve such a problem, in the earphone of the present invention, a housing having a driver unit and a sound conduit attached so as to project from the front surface of the housing are provided, and the sound conduit is arranged outside the center position of the housing. The tip of the sound conduit should be oriented away from the center of the housing.

As a result, when the user wears the earphone on the ear, the width of the housing can be expanded as compared with the conventional case without bringing the housing into contact with the ear bead, and the driver housed in the housing can be expanded. By expanding the diameter of the diaphragm inside the unit, it is possible for the user to hear high-quality sound in a state where it is easy to wear.

As described above, according to the present invention, a housing having a driver unit and a sound conduit mounted so as to project from the front surface of the housing are provided, and the sound conduit is arranged outside the center position of the housing. By ensuring that the tip of the headphone is oriented away from the center of the housing, the width of the housing is wider than before when the user wears the earphones on their ears without touching the housing to the ears. As it becomes possible to expand the size, the diameter of the diaphragm inside the driver unit housed in the housing can be expanded so that the user can hear high-quality sound in a state of good wearability. It is possible to realize an earphone that is comfortable to wear and can provide sound with good sound quality.

It is a side view which shows the earphone device by this invention. It is a rear view which shows the earphone device by this invention. It is a bottom view which shows the earphone device by this invention. It is a top view which shows the left ear mounting part of the earphone device by this invention. It is a side view which shows the left ear mounting part of the earphone device by this invention. It is a rear view which shows the left ear mounting part of the earphone device by this invention. It is a schematic diagram which provides the explanation of the offset and the inclination of an earphone device. It is a top view which shows the earphone device for measurement. It is a side view which shows when the earphone device for measurement is attached. It is a top view which shows when the earphone device for measurement is attached. It is a schematic diagram which shows the measurement result. It is a side view which shows the wearing state of the earphone device. It is a top view which shows the wearing state of the earphone device. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram provided for explaining the offset and inclination of the sound conduit in other embodiments. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the conventional earphone device. It is a top view which shows when the conventional earphone is attached.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(1) Appearance configuration of the earphone device As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 in which the parts corresponding to those in FIG. The earpiece 3 having a shape matching the above, the substantially cylindrical sound conduit 4 provided inside the earpiece 3, the substantially spherical housing 5 to which the sound conduit 4 is attached, and the housing 5 integrally formed with the housing 5. It is composed of a cylindrical cord holding portion 6 and a cord 7 connected to a driver unit inside the housing 5.

Here, FIG. 1 is a side view of the earphone device 1 as viewed from the YY plane, FIG. 2 is a rear view of the earphone device 1 as viewed from the XX plane, and FIG. 3 is a rear view of the earphone device 1 as X. It is a bottom view seen from the −Y plane.

As shown in FIG. 1, the earphone device 1 has a housing 5 in response to an audio signal supplied from the portable music player or the like via a cord 7 connected to the portable music player or the like (not shown). By vibrating the diaphragm (not shown) in the driver unit (not shown) housed inside, the air density on the front of the diaphragm is changed, and sound corresponding to the audio signal is generated. It is made to get.

The cord holding portion 6 of the earphone device 1 fixes the pull-out position of the cord 7 pulled out from the housing 5 and allows the user to grasp the cord holding portion 6 with a fingertip when wearing the cord.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the sound conduit 4 is projected integrally with the surface of the housing 5 on the front surface side of the housing 5, and when the earphone device 1 is attached to the user's ear, the sound is produced. Sound is derived from the conduit tip 4A to the ear canal 23 (FIG. 16).

Further, since the sound conduit 4 is made of ABS (Acrylonitril Butadiene Styrene) resin, the sound is derived to the ear canal 23 without leaking the sound output from the housing 5.

Further, since the earpiece 3 is made of silicon rubber, it has an elastic force, and when the earphone device 1 is attached to the user's ear, the earpiece 3 is deformed and adheres to the shape of the ear canal 23. It is possible to prevent the sound derived from the sound conduit 4 from leaking to the outside.

(2) Internal Configuration of Earphone Device Next, the internal configuration of the earphone device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6 in which the parts corresponding to those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 4 is a top view when the earphone device 1 has an A2-A2'cross section, FIG. 5 is a side view when the earphone device 1 has an A3-A3' cross section, and FIG. It is a rear view when the earphone device 1 has an A4-A4'cross section.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the housing 5 is formed so that the front portion 5A of the housing and the rear portion 5B of the housing, which are made of plastic, are ultrasonically welded and joined to maintain a sufficiently airtight state of the internal space. There is.

Further, the housing 5 is formed by ultrasonically welding and joining the front portion 5A of the housing and the rear portion 5B of the housing, but the resin melted at that time leaks to the outside, so that the resin is protected and concealed. It is sealed with a rubber ring 16.

Further, the housing 5 is formed to have a width W1 larger than the width W2 of the conventional housing 33 (FIG. 16A), and accordingly, the housing 5 is formed from a diaphragm (not shown) housed in the conventional housing 33. The large diaphragm 15 can be stored in the housing.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the cord holding portion 6 houses the cord knot ball 11 of the cord 7, and when the cord 7 is pulled by the user, the cord 7 is pulled from the housing 5. It is designed to act as a stopper to prevent it from falling off.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the driver unit 12 housed in the housing 5 is composed of a magnet 13, a voice coil 14, and a diaphragm 15, and the voice coil is contained in a magnetic circuit composed of the magnet 13. A diaphragm 15 having a 14 is arranged, and the diaphragm 15 is driven according to a sound signal input to the voice coil 14 via a cord 7 to change the coarseness / density state with respect to the air in front of the diaphragm 15. As a result, the sound corresponding to the voice signal is led out to the outside through the sound conduit 4.

(3) Method of setting the offset and angle of the sound conduit By the way, the earphone device 1 (FIG. 3) has a sound protruding from the front side of the housing 5 as compared with the conventional earphone device 30 (FIG. 15 (C)). The conduit 4 is attached to the X direction side of the center line L1 of the housing 5, that is, the sound conduit 4 is offset by a predetermined offset amount with respect to the center line L1 of the housing 5.

Further, in the earphone device 1, as compared with the conventional earphone device 30, the sound conduit tip portion 4A is oriented in a direction away from the center line L1 of the housing 5, that is, the sound conduit 4 is at a predetermined angle with respect to the Y axis (hereinafter, This is called the tilt angle).

As shown in FIG. 7, the offset amount and the inclination angle of the sound conduit 4 will be described with reference to a top view when the earphone device 1 has an A2-A2'cross section.

Here, the center point on the front surface of the housing front portion 5A (hereinafter referred to as the housing front midpoint P1) and the center point on the back surface of the cord holding portion 6 (hereinafter referred to as the cord holding portion midpoint P2). The center line L1 of the housing 5 is drawn by connecting the two, and the center axis L2 of the sound conduit 4 and the housing 5 passing through the center point of the sound conduit tip 4A (hereinafter, this is referred to as the sound conduit tip midpoint P3). The inclination angle AR1 about the intersection P5 with the center line L1 is the inclination of the sound conduit 4 with respect to the housing 5, and the center axis L2 of the sound conduit 4 and the front of the housing in the X-axis direction from the center line L1 on the XY plane. The distance to the intersection of parts 5A (hereinafter referred to as the sound conduit root point P4) is defined as the offset amount OF1.

(3-1) Offset setting method of sound conduit In this offset setting method, the offset amount OF1 is determined by measuring a dummy ear created by taking a mold from an actual human ear. In this embodiment, for example, it is set to 5 [mm].

(3-2) Method for Setting Inclination Angle of Sound Conduit Next, a procedure for setting an angle of inclination angle AR1 with respect to the front surface of the housing 5 of the sound conduit 4 will be described below.

In this inclination angle setting method, first, as shown in FIG. 8, a measurement earphone device 8 having a measuring rod 17 adhered to the back side of the cord holding portion 6 is prepared. The offset amount OF1 of the measurement earphone device 8 is set to 5 [mm], and the inclination angle of the sound conduit 4 with respect to the front surface of the housing 5 is set to, for example, 40 [°].

Next, in this tilt angle setting method, an arbitrary person is selected as the measurement target, the measurement earphone device 8 is attached as shown in FIG. 9, and the measurement earphone device 8 is attached as shown in FIG. The inclination angle AR2 with respect to the side surface of the head of the measuring rod 17 is measured.

Further, in the tilt angle setting method, after totaling the measurement results of the tilt angle AR2 and obtaining the average value of the tilt angle AR2, the tilt angle of the sound conduit 4 of the earphone device 8 for measurement is 40 [°] with respect to the front surface of the housing 5. ], The result of subtracting the average value of the inclination angle AR2 is defined as the inclination angle AR1 of the sound conduit 4.

In this tilt angle setting method, the above-mentioned tilt angle AR2 is measured for any 33 people, the measurement results are summarized in the table shown in FIG. 11, and the average value of the tilt angle AR2 is obtained. As a result, the tilt angle AR2 Is 7 [°], the average value 7 [°] of the tilt angle AR2 is subtracted from the tilt angle 40 [°] of the measurement earphone device 8, and the tilt angle AR1 of the sound conduit 4 is set to 33 [°]. It is designed to be set.

Incidentally, in the present embodiment, the above-mentioned measurement of the inclination angle AR2 is performed on 33 persons, but it may be performed on various other persons.

Therefore, in the earphone device 1, the width W1 of the housing 5 is the width of the conventional housing 33 by determining the position and inclination angle at which the sound conduit 4 is projected from the housing 5 based on the above-mentioned offset setting method and inclination angle setting method. Even when it is larger than W2, it can provide a good wearing feeling to a user having a general ear shape.

(4) Wearing the Earphone Device The earphone device 1 can be worn on the user's ear by inserting the earpiece 3 into the ear canal 23 (FIG. 16). FIG. 12 shows a state in which the user wears the earphone device 1, and FIG. 13 shows a top view when the user wearing the earphone device 1 has an A1-A1'cross section.

As shown in FIG. 13, in the wearing state, when the housing 5 is located in the concha space 21 indicated by the thick broken line and the earpiece 3 having elastic force is inserted into the ear canal 23, the earphone device 1 is attached. By deforming according to the shape of the ear canal 23, it adheres to the ear canal 23 and can be maintained in a worn state for a long time.

In this earphone device 1, the driver housed in the housing 5 is housed because the width W1 of the housing 5 is formed to be larger than the width W2 of the housing 33 of the conventional earphone device 30 (FIG. 16A). The diaphragm 15 (FIG. 4) in the unit can also be made larger than before. Specifically, the diameter K (FIG. 4) of the diaphragm 15 of the earphone device 1 is 13.5 [mm], whereas the diameter of the diaphragm of the conventional earphone device 30 is 9 [mm]. It has been found that when a sound of 1 [kHz] is output with a power of 1 [mW], the sensitivity can be improved by about 6 to 8 [dB] as compared with the conventional earphone device 30.

(5) Operation and Effect In the above configuration, the earphone device 1 offsets the sound conduit 4 (FIG. 7) by the offset amount OF1 in the X-axis direction with the center line L1 of the housing 5 as a reference line, and the tip of the sound conduit. Since the midpoint P3 is directed away from the center line L1, even if the housing 5 having a width W1 larger than the width W2 of the housing 33 in the conventional earphone device 30 is used, the user's ear beads 22 (FIG. 13). ) Can be mounted without contacting the housing 5.

Further, in the earphone device 1, since the offset amount OF1 and the inclination angle AR1 are set based on the average value of the actual measurement results, the housing 5 is attached to the tragus 22 when worn by a user having a general ear shape. It is possible to solve the problem that the user cannot or is difficult to wear the earphones without contacting the headphone, and can provide a good wearing feeling.

Further, the earphone device 1 is housed in the housing 5 because the width W1 (FIG. 13) of the housing 5 is formed larger than the width W2 (FIG. 16 (A)) of the housing 33 in the conventional earphone device 30. It is possible to increase the size of the diaphragm 15 (FIG. 4), and it is possible to provide high-quality sound with more bass than before.

Further, in the earphone device 1, since the sound conduit 4 is offset from the housing and is tilted by the inclination angle AR1, the earpiece 3 is in close contact with the ear canal 23 (FIG. 13) even when the housing 5 and the diaphragm 15 are enlarged. Therefore, since the wearing state can be maintained, it is possible to give the user a comfortable wearing feeling and to provide high-quality sound.

Since the earphone device 1 does not have a headband or an ear hanger, the headband portion as shown in Patent Document 2 described above is located on the head, which disturbs the user's hairstyle and is portable. The point that it is difficult to do is solved, and the usability is further improved.

According to the above configuration, the earphone device 1 can provide a sound having a good wearing feeling and a further improved sound quality.

(6) Other Embodiments In the above-described embodiment, the case where silicon rubber is used as the material of the earpiece 3 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, urethane resin or acrylic resin. Various materials such as the above may be used.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where ABS resin is used as the material of the sound conduit 4 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, various other resins such as polypropylene and polystyrene may be used. You can do it.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where only ABS resin is used as the material of the sound conduit 4 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and an elastomer resin is used as the material of the root of the sound conduit. A flexible resin such as ABS may be used as a material other than the root of the sound conduit, and a so-called two-color molding material may be used as the material of the sound conduit 4.

In this case, since the sound conduit 4 has flexibility in the portion other than the base of the sound conduit, the tip portion 4A of the sound conduit can be bent, and when the sound conduit 4 is attached to the user's ear, the sound conduit 4 and the earpiece 3 are attached. It can be bent and mounted in a direction that is more comfortable to wear.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the diameter K (FIG. 4) of the diaphragm 15 is set to 13.5 [mm] has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the housing 5 is the ear plate. As long as it can be located within the range of the cavity 21 (FIG. 13), the caliber K may be various calibers K such as 13.6 [mm] and 13.4 [mm]. In this case, the earphone device 1 can make the user listen to high-quality sound in a state of good wearability, almost as in the case where the diameter K of the diaphragm 15 is 13.5 [mm]. ..

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the inclination angle AR1 of the sound conduit 4 is set to 33 [°] has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the number of people to be measured and the measurement result are 10 [. It is also possible to handle from °] to 60 [°]. However, it was 30 [°] to 50 [°] that many measurement subjects obtained a good fit when worn.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the offset amount OF1 is set to 5 [mm] has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and when the measurement target person is a foreigner, for example, 3 to 3 to It may be set to 7 [mm].

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the inclination angle AR1 is an angle centered on the intersection P5 between the central axis L2 of the sound conduit 4 and the center line L1 of the housing 5 has been described. Not limited to this, for example, as shown in FIG. 14, when the earphone device 1 has an A2-A2'cross section, the intersection P6 between the straight line L3 passing through the midpoint P3 at the tip of the sound conduit and the center line L1 of the housing 5 is shown. The angle may be centered on.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the offset amount OF1 is the distance from the center line L1 to the sound conduit root point P4 in the X-axis direction has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, FIG. As shown in the top view when the earphone device 1 has an A2-A2'cross section, the distance is set from the center line L1 to the midpoint P3 at the tip of the sound conduit in the X-axis direction, for example, in the center line L1 and the X-axis direction. The distance to various constituent points in the sound conduit 4 may be set as the offset amount OF1.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the earphone device 1 as an earphone is configured by the housing 5 as a housing and the sound conduit 4 as a sound conduit is described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and various other cases are described. The earphone may be composed of the housing and the sound conduit.

The present invention can be applied to earphone devices used in portable music players, radios, televisions, and personal computers.

1 ... Earphone device, 3 ... Earpiece, 4 ... Sound conduit, 5 ... Housing, 30 ... Conventional earphone device.

Claims (4)

The housing with the driver unit and
With a sound conduit installed in a protruding state on the front of the above housing,
The sound conduit is arranged outside the center position of the housing,
An earphone characterized in that the tip portion of the sound conduit is directed away from the center position of the housing. The earphone according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the center position of the housing and the position where the sound conduit is arranged is 3 [mm] or more and 7 [mm] or less. The earphone according to claim 1, wherein the angle of the sound conduit attached to the front surface of the housing with respect to the center line of the housing is 10 [°] or more and 60 [°] or less. The earphone according to claim 1, wherein the sound conduit has a tip portion formed of a flexible material.

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