Acoustics – Anatomic or prosthetic relation – Ear and mouth
Patent
1985-01-04
1986-04-29
Fuller, Benjamin R.
Acoustics
Anatomic or prosthetic relation
Ear and mouth
181130, 179107E, A61B 702
Patent
active
045850895
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The progressive component miniaturization has led to the development of hearing aid structures which are so small that the entire aid can be placed in the cavity called concha, which is defined by various projecting parts of the outer ear. The first aids of this type were manufactured in that a hollow ear plug was made on the basis of a mould of the outer ear, configured to fit the ear in question and having a part which was formed with a sound channel extending through it and which protruded somewhat into the auditory canal, and then the components of the aid were inserted into the ear plug, which was finally provided with a cover. Such an extensive adaptation made the manufacturing process time-consuming and expensive.
It is known to simplify and reduce the cost of hearing aids to be positioned in the outer ear by incorporating the components in an aid housing, which is then placed in a recess adapted to the shape of the housing and provided in a custom made ear plug.
It is also known to form the aid housing as a cylinder and to place the sound exit aperture in the vicinity of the periphery on the inwardly directed end face so that the housing can rotate with respect to the ear plug in order for the sound exit to be positioned as appropriately as possible with respect to the auditory canal. However, it has been found that the position of the auditory canal with respect to the concha varies so widely that it is often necessary in practice to drill two angularly meeting holes in the ear plug to form a sound channel establishing acoustic connection between the sound exit of the hearing aid and the auditory canal. The U.S. Pat. No. 4,069,400 shows a substantially triangular hearing aid housing with a coupling element removably placed on an edge face and forming a sound exit spout. The availability of a plurality of different coupling elements with spouts pointing in different directions enables some adaptation to individual anatomic conditions; however, nor is this variational facility sufficient to ensure that complicated drilling in the ear plug can always be avoided.
The invention relates to a coupling element of the type stated in the introductory portion of the claim, and its object is to provide such a coupling element which facilites adaptation of a hearing aid to the user's ear by providing the greatest possible positional freedom at the end of a sound channel connected with the sound exit nipple of the aid.
This is achieved in that the coupling element is constructed as stated in the characterizing portion of the claim; in addition to rotation of the entire hearing aid about its own axis which is made possible by the preferred cylindrical shape, known per se, of the hearing aid and which determines the position of the nipple, the structure enables: determining a certain region for the position of the sound exit, and orientation of the tube section and the final position of the sound exit.
These adjusting possibilities ensure that the sound exit can always be placed so that connection to the sound channel can be obtained by a single, straight bore through the ear plug.
The invention will be explained more fully below with reference to the drawing, in which
FIGS. 1 and 2 are enlarged views of a substantially cylindrical hearing aid housing, seen in a direction toward an edge face and from the inner side, respectively,
FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of an embodiment of the coupling element of the invention, in a disassembled state,
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the coupling element applied to the hearing aid housing of FIGS. 1 and 2, and
FIG. 5 is a section through an outer ear, in which an ear plug and a hearing aid as well as a coupling element of the invention are positioned.
In FIGS. 1 and 2, 10 designates a relatively flat cylindrical hearing aid housing, whose front 11 is formed by a rotary botton for volume control and for actuating a switch (not shown). A battery drawer 13 is pivotally mounted in the edge face of the housing by means of a hinge 12. On the inner side, the housing has a sound
REFERENCES:
patent: 2325590 (1943-08-01), Carlisle et al.
patent: 4069400 (1978-01-01), Johanson et al.
patent: 4375016 (1983-02-01), Harada
patent: 4381830 (1983-05-01), Jelowek et al.
Eslinger Lewis H.
Fuller Benjamin R.
Topholm & Westerman I/S
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