JP3228894U - Ear-hook type hearing aid with front sound capture and obstacle sound removal device, and sound collector. - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To hear a clear voice by mainly capturing a voice from the front of the face with an ear-hook type hearing aid and not capturing various obstacle sounds. SOLUTION: Only one sound intake port of a microphone is provided on a front side wall surface of a hearing aid main body case. A sound collector of the required length, at the same time, connected to a tube made of a material with low sound reflection and conductivity, was provided with a microphone attached to the tip of the tube. As a result, it is possible to mainly capture the sound from the front and remove the air obstruction sound wave entering the microphone. The remaining problem is that one's own voice and sounds and echoes from all directions are transmitted from the muscles and skin to the hearing aid case and microphone through intra-material conduction, which is a major obstacle sound. Therefore, a film made of a material having low sound reflection and conductivity is used to hold various appliances and equipment in the case, and at the same time, the entire inner wall surface of the case is covered with the same material film. In addition, the electric wire connected to the microphone will be coiled, and efforts will be made to eliminate obstacle noise due to internal conduction of various materials. [Selection diagram] Fig. 2

Description

The present invention relates to an ear-hook type hearing aid and a sound collector in which the sound collecting direction is set to the front of the face and obstacle sounds such as sounds and reverberant sounds from all directions except the front direction are not taken in.

In the conventional ear-hook type hearing aid, the sound collecting port of the microphone is located on the front side of the face or the upper wall surface of the ear-hook part main body case. Therefore, when the sound collection port is in two directions, the main sound collection direction of the microphone is an inverted upward conical shape with an upward diagonal forward direction and a large apex angle, so that sound and reverberant sound from all directions as air sound waves can be collected. I took in the same as the frontal sound of the face I wanted to hear, and enlarged and listened to them. For this reason, the front-face voice to be heard is buried in various obstacle sounds from all directions and cannot be heard. Even with a hearing aid with a single hole on the front side of the face, the sound in front of the face that you want to hear is buried in various obstacle sounds from all directions and cannot be heard. In addition, one's own voice and sounds and echoes from all directions are transmitted from the muscles and skin to the hearing aid case and the microphone through intra-material conduction, which is a large obstacle sound.
Furthermore, in addition, when there is no hearing aid, the obstacle sounds such as one's own voice and sounds and reverberations from various sound waves enter the ear as air sound waves, and one's own voice is transmitted through the material to the vocal band, muscles, and eardrum. I hardly feel any obstacles that I hear. However, when a hearing aid is used, the frontal facial sound to be heard is strengthened and enlarged together with these two types of obstacle sounds, and is buried in a loud obstacle sound and cannot be heard. If there are three or more people in the room, the larger the number of people and the higher the reflectance of the sound on the wall of the room, the higher the ratio of the loudness of the obstacle sound. Elimination of various disturbing sounds such as echoes is a top priority for hearing aids. When the obstruction sound is not sufficiently removed, the path difference due to the difference in the position and the number of times the sound is reflected is innumerable, and the phase difference of the sound caused by this is also innumerable. As a result, the obstacle sound is loud and "wow", and the voice of the other party is in a state where the sound is quiet but the words cannot be understood.
It can be said that the removal of various obstacle sounds is the highest priority in hearing aids. Correction for each frequency of sound waves heard by the ear is secondary.

JP 2010-192975 Patent Information Platform

Capture the voice from the front of the face you want to hear, try not to capture your own voice, sounds from all directions, and various obstacle sounds such as their echoes, and at the same time make it easier to use the telephone with a hearing aid. To do.

Regarding air sound waves, we devised the following two models to mainly capture the voice from the front of the face that we want to hear and to make it easier to use the telephone with a hearing aid.
First model: The tip of the hearing aid body case on the earphone side is slightly extended to the front of the face, and only one microphone sound intake port is provided on the case surface on the front side of the face.
Second model: As an improved type, the ear hook side tip of the hearing aid body case is lengthened and curved, and the tip of the case is on the front of the upper part of the auricle, slightly below the ear hook, and inside the ear. And provide only one microphone audio intake on the front of the case tip.

Both of these two models are provided with a sound collector in which a sound intake port and a microphone are connected by a cylinder for air sound waves. This cylinder is made of a material with low sound reflection and conductivity in order to maintain the length required to narrow the conical apex angle of the sound collection range and reduce the uptake of obstructive sounds such as reverberant sounds. Make with things. With this sound collector, various air vibration obstruction sound waves entering the microphone can be removed, and the sound from the front can be mainly captured and heard relatively clearly.

The remaining problem to be solved is that the hearing aid expands the air-damaging sound waves such as one's own voice and sounds and echoes from all directions transmitted through various materials from the skin, muscles, and skin to the hearing aid case and microphone. It is an obstacle sound. In order to reduce the uptake of this disturbing sound, various instruments, devices, etc. in the hearing aid body case are wrapped and held by a film of a flexible material having low sound wave reflection and conductivity. Furthermore, to prevent the vibration of the case from causing acoustic vibration in the air inside the case, the entire inner wall surface of the case is covered with a film of the same quality to reduce this kind of obstacle noise.

The electric wire connected to the microphone is a coil type and is connected with a slack, so that other electrical wiring etc. do not work as a sound wave conductor in the material.

With the above-mentioned sound collecting device, it is rare that the microphone directly picks up the disturbing sound of air vibration from all directions by mainly taking in the voice of the other party from the front.
In addition, since various devices and equipment inside the hearing aid body case are wrapped and held in the space inside the case with a flexible material that does not easily transmit sound waves, one's own voice and echo sounds can be heard from the skin near the ear and from the hearing aid case to the microphone. Obstacle sounds transmitted through the material are reduced. Furthermore, in order to prevent the vibration of the case from causing acoustic vibration in the air inside the case, the entire inner wall surface of the case is covered with a film of the same material to reduce this kind of obstacle noise. In addition, the electric wire connected to the microphone is a coil type and is used with slack to reduce the disturbance noise caused by the conduction in various materials. As a result, the forward voice can be heard as clear words using a hearing aid.

In the second model improved hearing aid, since the sound collecting device is located in the auricle and in front of the auricle, the original function of the auricle and the sense of which direction the sound is being heard are returned. ..

The sound intake port of the microphone is provided on the case surface on the front side of the face inside the upper part of the ear, and by connecting a sound collector to this, it is easier to capture the front sound and various obstacle sounds are removed, so use a hearing aid. The phone is easy to use.

It is a sketch which shows the Example of the ear hook type hearing aid with the basic type front sound uptake, obstacle sound removal device which provided the sound uptake device of this invention forward on the front surface of the hearing aid body case. The front part of the hearing aid body case is extended and curved, the tip part of the case is made under the ear hook and the front part of the auricle, and the front part of the case tip part is facing forward. It is a sketch which shows the Example of the ear hook type hearing aid with the capture and the obstacle sound removal device. It is a sketch of only the hearing aid of FIG. It is a sketch of only the hearing aid of FIG.

When the hearing aid of the present invention is attached to the ear in the same manner as a normal type ear-hook type hearing aid, the sound capturing device faces forward on the wall surface on the front side of the face of the hearing aid body case, and the inside of the case undergoes a wide variety of obstacle sound removal processing. Because I did, I can clearly hear the words of the other party in front of me. Also, it is easy to use a phone with a hearing aid.
To prevent howling, turn the sound collector and hearing aid body case upward before wearing, and put the hearing aid body case on your ear after wearing the earphones.

Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Reference numeral 1 denotes an audio intake port 2 provided on the front surface of the tip of the case of the hearing aid body. Case 3 of the hearing aid body is an earphone, and FIGS. 1 and 2 are performance diagrams of the hearing aid of the present invention.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a cylinder in the sound collecting device which is made of a material having low sound reflection and conductivity and holds a length necessary for narrowing the conical apex angle of the sound collecting range. 5 is a microphone.
1 audio capture port, 4 audio capture cylinder, and 5 microphones are sound collectors that work as a set. As a result, the microphone rarely picks up various obstacle sounds of air vibration directly, and the sound in a relatively narrow range in front of the face can be heard clearly.

2 This is the case of the hearing aid body. The entire inner surface of the case is covered with a film made of a material having low sound reflection and conductivity, and various instruments and equipment inside the case are also wrapped and held with a film of the same quality. As a result, one's own voice and sounds and echoes from all directions are transmitted from the muscles and skin to the hearing aid case and the microphone, and the disturbance sound is less captured. In addition, measures are taken so that electrical wiring and the like do not act as sound wave conductors in the material, and that obstacle sounds are not taken in through various other materials.

In the above items 0010 and 0011, in the conventional hearing aid, the voice of the other party to be heard could not be heard because it was hindered by various obstacle sounds, but the hearing aid of the present invention has few various obstacle sounds and is relatively in front of the face. You can hear clearly, mainly in a narrow range of voice.

1 Sound intake 2 Hearing aid body case 3 Earphones 4 Sound reflection in the sound collector and cylinder made of a material with low conductivity 5 Hearing aid microphone 6 Earphone wire

The present invention relates to an ear-hook type hearing aid and a sound collector provided with an obstacle sound removing device by air vibration and intra-material conduction, with the front of the face as the main sound collecting direction.

In conventional ear-hook hearing aids, the main sound collection direction of the microphone is upward and diagonally backward, so the voice of the other party in front of the face is greatly diffracted into the microphone and the volume is low, and it is reflected from reflective objects such as surrounding walls. -The greater the reflectance of the reverberant sound, the louder the obstacle sound was heard.
In a Japanese-style room with tatami mats, when I was able to hear the TV sound by myself using a hearing aid at just the right volume, three people shared a room with a wooden glass shoji screen for meals. At this time, one voice was heard with the same hearing aid, and although the volume was loud, I could not understand the words.

JP 2010-192975 Patent Information Platform Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 03-245699 Patent Information Platform

It is necessary to mainly capture the sound from the front of the face that you want to hear, and to avoid capturing your own voice, sounds from all directions, and obstacle sounds such as their echoes as much as possible.
Furthermore, in addition, when there is no hearing aid, the air vibration disturbance sound such as the sound from one's voice and various sound sources and the reverberant sound, and the inside of the material where one's voice can be heard transmitted through the material to the vocal cords, muscles, and eardrum. I hardly feel the conduction failure sound. However, when a hearing aid is used, the frontal facial sound to be heard is enhanced and expanded together with these two types of obstacle sounds, and is buried in a loud obstacle sound and cannot be heard. If there are three or more people in the room, the larger the number of people and the higher the reflectance of the sound on the wall of the room, the higher the ratio of the loudness of the obstacle sound. In addition, there are innumerable path differences due to differences in the position and number of sound reflections, and the resulting phase differences in sound are also innumerable. As a result, the obstacle sound becomes loud and "wow", and the voice of the other party can hear the sound but cannot understand the words.
It can be said that the removal of various obstacle sounds is the highest priority in hearing aids. At the same time, it makes it easier to use the telephone with a hearing aid.

With respect to air sound waves, in order to mainly capture the sound from the front of the face, a sound intake port is provided only at one place on the front side wall surface of the face of the main body case of the hearing aid.

A sound collecting device is provided in which the sound intake port and the microphone are connected by a cylinder. This tube is made of a material that reflects less sound and conducts less in the material to maintain an appropriate length. The appropriate length is determined by compromising the following (1) and (2).
(1) The longer the air vibration disturbance noise is removed, the better.
(2) The shorter the audio capture from the top, bottom, left, right, and rear, the better.

Wrap the microphone and amplifier with related equipment inside the hearing aid body case with a material that is reasonably flexible and has little sound reflection and internal conduction so that it does not come into contact with the hearing aid body case and other equipment. Hold on.
In addition, each wall surface between the microphone and the amplifier with related equipment and the case is covered with a material of moderate flexibility with little sound reflection and internal conduction, and a space is created in the middle of them. The lead wire between the microphone and the amplifier with the related device is connected in the space with a margin.

Since the sound intake port is provided only in one place on the front side wall surface of the face of the main body case of the hearing aid and the sound collector is connected there, the sound from the front of the face can be mainly captured, and the hearing aid can be used. The phone is easy to use.

The tube part of the sound collector greatly limits the capture of air vibration disturbance noise. In addition, when listening to sounds from directions other than the front of the face, the sounds from the top and bottom, left and right, and back of the head can be sensed as sounds with reduced volume in the order of front and back of that position, and at the same time. Each has a difference in reverberation sound due to the difference in its position. By integrating these, it becomes possible to detect the sound from which direction. If both ears are detected together, the accuracy will be higher.

The vibration of the skin that your voice is transmitted from the vocal cords to the muscles and the skin of the ear hook by intra-material conduction, the air vibration sound from the surrounding sound sources including your voice, and their reverberant air vibration sound The vibration of the skin of the ear hook that was originally generated is transmitted from the hearing aid body case to the equipment inside the case, and from the equipment to the microphone as an internal conduction sound, and when the voice magnification is increased with the hearing aid, it is louder than the voice of the other party. There is an unclear internal conduction disturbance sound.
Therefore, the microphone and the amplifier with the related device in the hearing aid body case are wrapped and held in the space inside the case with a moderately flexible material with little sound reflection and internal conduction in the material, and the microphone and the amplifier / related device, And, each wall surface between the cases is covered with the same material, a space is created in the middle of them, and the lead wire between the microphone and the amplifier with the related device is connected in the space with a space. Reduces conduction disturbance in various materials in hearing aids.

These allow the hearing aid to provide the same hearing as a healthy ear without a hearing aid, except for the correction of the frequency response of the hearing sound of one's ear.

It is a lateral side / vertical sectional view excluding the battery terminal part of the ear hook type hearing aid with the front sound capture and the obstacle sound removal device.

When the hearing aid of the present invention is attached to the ear in the same way as a normal ear-hook type hearing aid, the sound collector is oriented forward and horizontal, and at the same time, the hearing aid does not come off the auricle even if the head is moved up and down and left and right. Also, make a curved wire of the earphone lead wire cover that connects the bottom of the case and its head so that the bottom of the hearing aid body case makes good contact with the upper and rear parts of the auricle.

Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 is the case 2 of the hearing aid body, 2 is the sound intake port provided in front of the tip of the case 1 of the hearing aid body, 3 is the microphone, and 4 is made of a material having little sound reflection and internal conduction. It is a cylinder of various length. The audio intake port 2, the microphone 3, and the cylinder 4 are a sound collecting device that includes these as a set.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a microphone 3 in the hearing aid body case 1 and an amplifier 6 with a related device in the case 1 so as not to come into contact with the earphone lead wire 9 installed around the microphone 3 and the hearing aid body case 1 so as not to come into contact with the earphone lead wire 9. It is made of a suitable flexible material with less reflection and conductivity of retained sound.

A suitable flexible material 5 covers each wall surface between the microphone 3 and the associated amplifier 6 and the case 1 and between the associated amplifier 6 and the battery 8 and the case 1. Create a space 7 inside. In the space 7, the lead wires between the microphone 3 and the amplifier 6 with the related device and between the amplifier / related device 6 and the battery 8 are connected with a margin. In addition, the lead wire between the switch or the like attached to the hearing aid main body case 1 and the related equipment is also connected with a space in the space 7 above. These are for preventing conduction disturbance noise in the material.

1 Hearing aid body case 2 Sound intake port 3 Hearing aid microphone 4 Sound reflection and material A cylinder of appropriate length made of a material with low internal conduction 5 Sound reflection and material Appropriate flexible material with low internal conduction 6 Amplifier with related equipment 7 Space 8 Battery 9 Earphone wire 10 Earphone

Claims (2)

In order to mainly capture the air vibration sound from the front of the face, only one hole is provided in the wall surface of the main body case on the front side of the face of the ear-hook type hearing aid.
Then, the audio intake port and the microphone are connected by a cylinder. This tube retains the length required to narrow the conical apex angle of the sound collection range, and reflects sound and within the material to reduce the uptake of air vibration disturbance sounds such as one's own voice and reverberant sound. Create with a material with low conduction.
An ear-hook type hearing aid and a sound collector having a sound collector, which is a set of such a sound intake port, a sound collector, and a microphone. Your voice is transmitted from your vocal cords, muscles, and skin to the hearing aid body case and microphone as internal conduction sound waves, which are heard louder than the voice of the other party and interfere with conversation.
In addition, the air vibrations of your own voice, sounds from all directions, and their echoes are transmitted through the material from the skin, muscles, skin, and hearing aid case near your ears to the microphone, making them louder and less clear than the voice of the other party. It is a strong disturbance sound due to the hearing aid.
In order to remove the disturbing sound of the conduction sound waves in these materials, as the first measure, various instruments and equipment in the case are wrapped and held with a film of a well-examined material that reflects sound and has cushioning properties with low conductivity. .. In addition, as a second measure, the entire inner wall surface of the case is covered with a film of the same quality so that the vibration of the case does not cause acoustic vibration in the air inside the case. Further, as a third measure, the electric wire connected to the microphone is a coil type and is wired with a slack, and various other measures are taken to reduce the disturbance noise due to the conduction in the material.
Ear-hook type hearing aids and sound collectors that combine the above-mentioned first, second, and third measures.