JPH07131898A - Earplugs and hearing aids using them - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] The present invention is intended to propose an earplug and a hearing aid that can further reduce clogging of the earwax into the sound hole and invasion into the interior. [Structure] Sound emission chamber 20 for introducing sound emitted from a sound emission unit
A plurality of sound emission windows 23 that are provided so as to penetrate through the thickness of the peripheral wall portion of the emission sound chamber 20 and that emit the emission sound introduced into the emission sound chamber 20 from the lateral direction to the ear canal 7; By providing the collar portion 25 that laterally extends from the outer peripheral edge of the base portion 16 in the tip end direction of the emission window 23, clogging of the earwax of the sound emission window 23 can be reduced. Further, at the tip of the base portion 16, a dish-shaped recess 26 that opens toward the tip is provided.
By forming the above, the clogging of earwax of the sound emission window 23 can be further reduced. Further, since the earwax preventing member 27 that allows the emitted sound to pass therethrough and prevents the invasion of the earwax is provided inside the sound emission chamber 20, the invasion of the earwax into the sound emitting portions 21, 31, 41 is reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an earplug and a hearing aid, and is particularly suitable for being applied to a hearing aid of a type in which a hearing aid sound transmitting section is inserted into the ear canal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a hearing aid of this type, as shown in FIG. 7, a bowl-shaped earplug portion 1 formed by molding a flexible synthetic resin material is fitted into a hearing aid sound sending portion of a hearing aid body. Ear-insertion type hearing aids are considered.

As shown in FIG. 8, the base portion 2 of the earplug portion 1 is shown.
A fitting hole 3 is bored from the inside at a substantially central position of the inside of the flare part 5 so that the tip part of the case accommodating the earphone is integrated with the earplug part 1 in the fitting hole 3. Through the sound damper 4 fitted in the bottom of the fitting hole 3 and the sound hole 4 formed in the end plate at the end of the fitting hole 3 in order. , Is emitted to the outside of the earplug unit 1.

A flared portion 5 having a small thickness is extended to the rear end of the base portion 2 so as to project outward and rearward, whereby the distal end portion of the case is extended by the flexible earplug portion 1. A covering structure is obtained, so that when inserting or delivering the hearing aid into the ear canal, the base portion 2 or the flare portion 5 of the earplug 1 can be brought into contact with the inner wall of the ear canal as softly as possible. .

[0005]

However, when the wearer is shown in FIG.
When inserting the hearing aid into the ear canal 7 as shown in FIG. 2, the base 2 of the earplug 1 provided at the tip of the case 6 is inserted.
When the flare portion 5 slides in contact with the inner wall 8 of the ear canal and is pushed inward, a phenomenon occurs such that the earwax adhering to the inner wall 8 of the ear canal is scraped off. The collected earwax gradually adheres to and accumulates on the tip surface of the base 2 of the earplug 1, and when the amount of accumulation increases, the earwax is clogged in the sound hole 4 and deteriorates the hearing of hearing aid sound. There is a risk that the earbuds 1 may enter the inside of the earplug unit 1 and cause a malfunction of the earphones.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and an object thereof is to propose an earplug and a hearing aid that can further reduce clogging of the earwax in the sound hole and intrusion into the inside.

[0007]

In order to solve such a problem, in the present invention, the sound emitting section 2 inserted into the external auditory meatus 7 is provided.
In the bowl-shaped earplug 15 having the base 16 and the flare 24 formed while being attached to 1, 31, 41, a sound emitting chamber 20 for introducing sound emitted from the sound emitting unit, and the sound emitting chamber. A plurality of sound emission windows 23 that are provided so as to penetrate through the thickness of the peripheral wall portion of the sound emission chamber 20 and that emit the emission sound introduced into the emission sound chamber 20 to the external auditory meatus 7 from the lateral direction, and the sound emission window 2
3 is provided with a flange portion 25 that projects laterally from the outer peripheral edge of the base portion 16 in the front end direction.

Further, a dish-shaped recess 26 is formed at the tip of the base 16 so as to open in the tip direction.

Further, an earwax preventing member 27 that allows the emitted sound to pass therethrough and prevents the intrusion of earwax is provided in the sound emission chamber 20.

Further, the hearing aid sound sending section 2 inserted into the external auditory meatus 7
In the hearing aid 10, which is attached to the distal ends of 1, 31, 41 and the bowl-shaped earplug 15 in which the base portion 16 and the flare portion 24 are sequentially formed from the distal end side, the hearing aid sound transmitting portions 21, 31, The hearing aid chamber 20 for introducing the hearing aid from 41 and the hearing aid chamber 20 formed so as to penetrate through the thickness of the peripheral wall portion of the hearing aid chamber 20, and the hearing aid introduced into the hearing aid chamber 20 from the lateral direction to the external auditory meatus 7. A plurality of hearing aid emission windows 23 for emission
And the base 1 in the direction of the tip of the hearing aid emission window 23.
A brim portion 25 protruding laterally from the outer peripheral edge of 6 is provided in the earplug portion 15.

Further, a dish-shaped recess 26 is formed at the tip of the base 16 so as to open in the tip direction.

Further, an earwax preventive member 27 is provided in the hearing aid chamber 20 to allow the hearing aid sound to pass therethrough and prevent the intrusion of earwax.

[0013]

[Function] A sound emission chamber 20 for introducing the sound emitted from the sound emission unit.
A plurality of sound emission windows 23 that are provided so as to penetrate through the thickness of the peripheral wall portion of the emission sound chamber 20 and that emit the emission sound introduced into the emission sound chamber 20 from the lateral direction to the ear canal 7; By providing the collar portion 25 that laterally extends from the outer peripheral edge of the base portion 16 in the tip end direction of the emission window 23, clogging of the earwax of the sound emission window 23 can be reduced.

Further, since the dish-shaped recess 26 that opens in the distal direction is formed at the tip of the base portion 16, clogging of the earwax of the sound emission window 23 can be further reduced.

Further, since the earwax preventing member 27 for allowing the emitted sound to pass therethrough and preventing the intrusion of the earwax is provided in the emission sound chamber 20, the earwax is prevented from entering the inside of the sound emitting portions 21, 31, 41. To be done.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes an ear-hearing aid, in which a sound emitting portion of an earphone 13 is integrally fitted from the inside into a through hole 12 provided at a tip portion of a case 11 via a coupling member 14. An earplug portion 15 formed by molding a flexible synthetic resin material from the outside is integrally fitted.

The earplug portion 15 has a bowl shape as a whole,
A fitting hole 17 is bored from the inside of the base portion 16, and the tip of the fitting hole 17 communicates with a cylindrical hearing aid chamber 20 whose front end surface is closed by a top plate portion 19 through a communication hole 18. . An umbrella-shaped fitting portion 21 formed at the tip of the case 11 is fitted into the fitting hole 17 of the earplug portion 15, whereby hearing aid sound emitted from the tip surface of the earphone 13 is directed toward the tip of the earphone 13. Through the acoustic damper 22 provided at the outer position of the earpiece and further through the communication hole 18 of the earplug portion 15 to the hearing aid sound chamber 20. A plurality of hearing aid sound emission windows 23 are formed in the peripheral wall portion of the hearing aid room 20 so as to penetrate through the thickness of the hearing aid room 20 so that the hearing aid sound emitted to the hearing aid room 20 can be heard. It is designed so that it can be discharged laterally from the pin portion 15.

On the outer peripheral edge of the rear end portion of the base portion 16, a thin flare portion 24 is extended so as to project outward from the rear end side position of the hearing aid sound emission window 23, whereby the case 11
The distal end portion of the is covered with a flexible earplug portion 15. A brim portion 25 is provided on the outer peripheral edge of the tip portion of the base portion 16 so as to project laterally outward from the front end side position of the hearing aid sound emission window 23, and the outer peripheral edge of the collar portion 25 is rearward from the front end side. When the collar 25 is pushed to the rear, the collar 25 is bent backward as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 1, so that the collar 25 can cover the outside of the hearing aid sound emission window 23.

In addition to this, as shown in FIG.
A circular dish-shaped recess 26 is formed at the tip of the base 6 so as to open in the tip direction, whereby earwax is scraped from the front in the tip direction of the base 16 toward the base 16. The earwax can be retained in the recess 26 when the earwax is released.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the hearing aid sound chamber 20 has an earwax screen 27 made of, for example, an open-cell sponge.
Is pressed in, and thus the earphone 13 and the acoustic damper 22 are pressed.
Through the communication hole 18 and the hearing aid sound chamber 2
When it is emitted to 0, the hearing aid sound is emitted from the hearing aid sound emission window 23 to the outside of the earplug portion 15 and hence the external auditory meatus through the continuous bubbles existing in the earwax screen 27 innumerably. On the other hand, when earwax enters the hearing aid chamber 20 through the hearing aid sound emission window 23 from the outside of the earplug unit 15, that is, the ear canal side, a part of the earwax is inside the earwax screen 27. It is pushed into the infinite number of open air bubbles, but most of them are not included in the open air bubbles, so that they are retained at the hearing aid sound emission window 23.

When the hearing aid 10 is inserted into the external auditory meatus 7 in the above structure, the flexible earplug portion 15 covering the distal end portion of the case 11 is provided with the base portion 16 or the base portion 16 as shown in FIG. The flare portion 24 is slid softly against the inner wall 8 of the ear canal and pushed into the inner portion along the ear canal 7.

At this time, the recess 26 formed at the tip of the base 16 stores the earwax scraped off from the front of the base 16 into the recess 26, and the outer peripheral edge of the collar 25 is the external ear canal. By being pushed rearward from the tip end side of the base portion 16 by the inner wall 8, the collar portion 25 is bent rearward so as to cover the hearing aid sound emission window 23, and as a result, earwax enters the hearing aid sound emission window 23. Can be reduced. Further, when the ear-hearing aid 10 is detached from the external auditory meatus 7, the wearer cleans the earwax accumulated in the recess 26, so that the recess 26
Can be kept clean.

Further, when earwax enters from the hearing aid sound emission window 23, the earwax is retained by the hearing aid sound emission window 23 by the earwax screen 27 pressed into the hearing aid sound chamber 20 and does not enter the case 11. You can Further, when the open air bubbles of the earwax screen 27 become clogged as the ear-hearing aid 10 is used, the earplug unit 1
5 is an umbrella-shaped fitting portion 21 formed at the tip of the case 11.
If the earwax screen 27 is removed from the earplug and cleaned or replaced, the earwax screen 27 can always be heard without deterioration of the hearing aid.

According to the above structure, the hearing aid sound emission window 23 is provided on the base 16 of the earplug 15 formed of a flexible synthetic resin material, and the hearing aid sound emission window 23 is covered. By providing the bent collar portion 25, clogging of the hearing aid sound emission window 23 with earwax can be reduced.

Further, since the circular dish-shaped recess 26 is provided at the tip of the base 16, it is possible to further reduce clogging of the hearing aid sound emission window 23 with earwax.

Further, since the earwax screen 27 made of an open-cell type sponge is press-fitted into the hearing aid sound chamber 20, the intrusion into the case 11 can be reduced.

In the above-mentioned embodiments, the case where the present invention is applied to the in-ear type hearing aid 10 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this and can be widely applied to various hearing aids. For example, in FIG. 5, the present invention is applied to a box-shaped hearing aid, and if the earplug portion 30 is attached to the fitting portion 31 of the earphone portion 32 led out from the hearing aid body, the same effect as the above-described embodiment is obtained. Can be obtained. Further, FIG. 6 shows a case where the present invention is applied to an ear-hook type hearing aid, and if the earplug portion 40 is attached to the fitting portion 41 formed at the tip end portion of the sound guide tube 42, it is similar to the above-described embodiment. The effect of can be obtained.

In the above embodiment, the earplug 15 attached to the hearing aid has been described. However, the earplug is not limited to this, and a sound emitting portion is inserted into the external auditory meatus 7 and the sound emitting portion is inserted. It may be attached to various earphones or the like that introduce voice into the external auditory meatus 7 via the earphone.

In the above embodiment, the case where the earwax screen 27 made of the open-cell type sponge is used has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this and, for example, a nonwoven fabric may be used instead. If an earwax-preventing member that allows hearing aid sound to pass through and prevents invasion of earwax is used, the same effect as in the above case can be obtained.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, the emission sound introduced into the emission sound chamber is laterally penetrated so as to penetrate through the thickness of the peripheral wall portion of the emission sound chamber into which the emission sound is introduced. A plurality of sound emission windows for emitting sound to the external auditory meatus from the direction are provided, and a flange portion that laterally extends from the outer peripheral edge of the base portion is provided in the tip direction of the sound emission window, so that the sound emission window It can reduce earwax clogging.

Further, according to the present invention, since the recessed portion which is opened toward the front end is provided at the front end position of the base portion, the scraped earwax can be collected and the sound emitting window can be clogged with the earwax. Can be further reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, since the earwax preventing member that allows the emitted sound to pass through the inside of the sound emission room and prevents the intrusion of the earwax, the intrusion of the earwax into the sound emitting portion can be reduced. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an earplug portion of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an earplug portion of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an operation when the hearing aid of the present invention is inserted into the ear canal.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing another embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional earplug portion.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional earplug portion.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing an operation when the conventional hearing aid is inserted into the ear canal.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 15, 30, 40 ... Ear plug part, 2, 16 ... Base part, 3, 17 ... Fitting hole, 4 ... Sound hole, 5, 24 ...
Flare part, 6, 11 ... Case, 7 ... Ear canal, 8 ...
Inner wall of the ear canal, 10 hearing aid, 12 through hole, 13
Earphones, 14 ... Coupling member, 18 ... Communication hole, 19 ...
... top plate part, 20 ... hearing aid chamber, 21, 31, 41 ... fitting part, 22 ... acoustic damper, 23 ... hearing aid emission window, 2
5 ... collar, 26 ... recess, 27 ... earwax screen,
32 ... Earphone part, 42 ... Sound guide tube.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. In a bowl-shaped earplug that is attached to a sound emitting portion to be inserted into the ear canal and has a base portion and a flare portion, a sound emitting chamber for introducing a sound emitted from the sound emitting portion. A plurality of sound emission windows that are formed so as to penetrate through the thickness of the peripheral wall of the sound emission chamber and that laterally emit the emission sound introduced into the emission sound chamber to the ear canal; and the sound emission window. And a flange portion that laterally extends from the outer peripheral edge of the base portion in the tip direction of the earplug. 2. The earplug according to claim 1, wherein a dish-shaped recess that opens toward the tip is formed at the tip of the base portion. 3. The earplug according to claim 1, further comprising an earwax-preventing member that allows the emission sound to pass through and prevents the intrusion of earwax into the emission sound chamber. 4. A bowl-shaped earplug portion which is attached to the tip portion of a hearing aid delivery portion to be inserted into the external auditory meatus, and which has a base portion and a flare portion sequentially formed from the tip side. Is formed so as to penetrate through the thickness of the hearing aid chamber for introducing the hearing aid sound from the hearing aid sound output part and the peripheral wall part of the hearing aid sound chamber, and the hearing aid sound introduced into the hearing aid sound chamber is crossed. A hearing aid, comprising: a plurality of hearing aid sound emission windows that are emitted to the external auditory meatus from a direction, and a brim portion that laterally extends from the outer peripheral edge of the base portion in the tip direction of the hearing aid sound emission window. 5. The hearing aid according to claim 4, wherein a dish-shaped recess that opens in the tip direction is formed at the tip position of the base part. 6. The hearing aid according to claim 4, further comprising an earwax preventing member that allows the hearing aid sound to pass through and prevents earwax from entering the hearing aid chamber.