EP2180725A2 - Hearing aid with oscillation decoupled earpiece - Google Patents

Abstract

The device has a receiver (14) for converting electrical signals, and a hollow-cylindrical earpiece (11) adapted to an ear canal during wearing of the device. A shaft (17) is attached to the receiver, and has a periphery smaller than a periphery of the receiver with respect to a common axis. A hollow-cylindrical carrier element (19) is arranged between the shaft and an inner wall of the earpiece, and movably holds the shaft in the earpiece. A material of the carrier element is softer than an inner wall of a tubular base part (10).

Description

The present invention relates to a hearing device for a hearing device with a receiver, which is designed to convert the electrical signals, and an ear piece, which conforms to an ear canal when the hearing device is worn. In particular, the present invention relates to a hearing aid for wearing behind the ear or in the cymba with such a hearing device. A hearing device is understood to mean any head-worn acoustic device, in particular a hearing aid, a headset, headphones and the like.

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, realized. The amplifier is usually integrated in a signal processing unit. This basic structure is in FIG. 1 using the example of a behind-the-ear hearing aid shown. In a hearing aid housing 1 for carrying behind the ear, one or more microphones 2 for receiving the sound from the environment are installed. 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

The functionality of hearing aids is often affected by feedback. Such feedbacks occur not only in hearing aids in which the handset and the microphones are housed in a housing. Even with hearing aids with so-called external listeners (RIC), there is often feedback due to a transmission of vibrations between the handset and the housing of the main body part. About the housing, the vibrations are then forwarded to the corresponding microphone. The transmission of the vibrations is made possible, in particular, by the rigidity of the cable or wire connecting the receiver to the hearing aid body. This problem is particularly acute in so-called Cymba devices, but also in other RIC devices in which the wire holds the device in or on the pinna and therefore must be interpreted in accordance with stiff.

So far, the feedback problems have been solved primarily by signal processing (feedback-canceler). At least internally, a mechanical solution is also known according to which, for example, a microphone is glued to the hearing aid housing so that the resonance frequency shifts accordingly.

From the publication US 2002/006209 A1 a flexible earpiece for a hearing aid is known, which can adapt to an ear canal when worn. In the inner structure of the earpiece, a spring is provided which allows a high lateral and transverse compliance.

From the publication EP 2 026 605 A1 an ear piece for a hearing aid is known, in which a handset is inserted. The handset is frictionally excluded by an elastic intermediate piece and thus stored in this elastic.

The object of the present invention is to be able to better suppress feedback in hearing devices with external hearing device.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by a receiver device for a hearing device with a receiver which is designed to convert electrical signals, and an earpiece which conforms to an auditory canal when the receiver is worn, wherein a shaft is attached to the receiver, which is based on a common axis has a smaller circumference than the smallest circumference of the listener, and wherein between the shaft and an inner wall of the earpiece, a support member is arranged, with which the shaft is movably held in the earpiece.

Advantageously, it is possible by the special suspension of the listener with the help of the shaft to make the damping support member voluminous, so that vibrations of the listener are less strongly transmitted to the ear piece.

Preferably, the earpiece is hollow-cylindrical, and in the interior of the earpiece a hollow cylindrical carrier element is arranged, in the interior of which the shaft is mounted with the earpiece. In this way, the vibrations of the listener can be well dampened in virtually all spatial directions.

In one embodiment, the material of the support member is softer than the inner wall of a tubular base member carrying the earpiece externally and the support member inside, and softer than the material of the shaft. For example, foam may be such a soft carrier material.

In an alternative embodiment, the support element on hair or thread elements, which support the shaft with its free end. Such thread elements and hair prove to be particularly advantageous in the damping of vibrations.

Furthermore, a hollow base part may be arranged in the interior of the ear piece, in the interior of which the carrier element is again arranged, so that said inner wall is formed by the base part. This base part has the advantage that a mechanically robust piece is provided, which enables the insertion of the receiver device into the auditory canal without the risk of damage. On the outside of the harder base part then a soft standard ear piece can be applied, which conforms to the ear canal.

Preferably, the shank has at its free end a larger circumference than in the majority of its extension. Thus, the handset including shaft can be fixed in its axial direction in the support member.

In addition, can pass through the shaft, an electrical line to connect the handset. This can prevent vibrations, for example, being transmitted directly from the receiver housing to the earpiece via an electrical line. It is advantageous if a cable for supplying the listener with an electrical signal is held by the above base part and a wire that is thinner than the cable and thinner than the shaft, the cable connects to the handset. This makes it possible to dampen especially low frequencies of vibrations originating from the listener.

Furthermore, the length of the wire should be significantly greater than the shortest distance between the wire and the shaft. Thus, the wire between the two contacts is not stretched, so that vibrations are transmitted less strong. In particular, it is advantageous if the wire is helical.

The above-described hearing device according to the invention can be used advantageously in particular for hearing aids for carrying behind the ear or in the Cymba.

FIG 1

eine schematische Skizze eines Hörgeräts gemäß dem Stand der Technik;

FIG 2

einen Querschnitt durch eine erfindungsgemäße Hörereinrichtung, und

FIG 3

einen vergrößerten Ausschnitt von FIG 2.

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

FIG. 1

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

FIG. 2

a cross section through a receiver device according to the invention, and

FIG. 3

an enlarged section of FIG. 2 ,

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

In the FIG. 2 The handset shown is typically used for BTE hearing aids with external handset and for Cymba hearing aids. In FIG. 2 is only the handset, ie the external listener represented, but not the hearing aid itself with signal processing and microphone.

In the picture of FIG. 2 is a base member 10 can be seen on which a standard earpiece 11 (dome) is attached. The base part 10 is made of a slightly harder plastic, whereas the ear piece 11 is made of a soft, supple material, so that the ear piece when worn in the ear canal can cling to the auditory canal wall. The base part 10 thus has a carrier function with respect to the earpiece 11.

The base part 10 is angled or curved and has an inner portion 12 which is directed into the interior of the ear canal when worn, and an outer portion 13 which projects outwardly from the ear canal when worn and is directed towards the hearing aid body. The entire base part 10 is hollow. The inner portion 12 of the base portion 10 is used for receiving a receiver 14. The outer portion 13, however, serves to receive or attach a cable that leads to the main part of the hearing aid and here symbolically consists of a conductor 15 and a plastic sheath 16. Inside the base part 10, the cable is slightly stripped so that the conductor 15 protrudes with its end into the interior of the outer portion 13.

On the handset 14, a shaft 17 is fixedly mounted on the side opposite the sound outlet side. This shaft 17 serves as the sole carrier of the receiver 14. It is rod-shaped and has at its free end a z. B. spherical thickening 18th

The inner portion 12 has inside a support member 19, which serves as an elastic suspension for the handset 14 and the shaft 17. The carrier element can be formed, for example, from a soft foam, which does not transmit the vibrations of the receiver 14 to the base part 10.

The support member 19 has in its center a passage in which the shaft 17 is inserted. The thickening 18 at the end of the shaft 17 gives the shaft 17 with receiver 14 a certain hold in the axial direction of the shaft 17, because the thickening 18 provides increased resistance when pulling the receiver 14 out of the carrier element 19.

The handset 14 is contacted electrically via the shaft 17. For this purpose, the shaft 17 is either formed directly from an electrical conductor material or it consists for example of a plastic and has a bore in the longitudinal direction through which an electrical conductor from the free end of the shaft 17, d. H. from the thickening 18 to the handset 14 is performed.

Between the shaft 17 and its end and the stripped end of the conductor 15 in the outer portion 13 of the base member 10 is for electrical signal transmission, a thin, soft, conductive wire 20. As out FIG. 2 can be easily seen, the wire 20 between the shaft 17 and the conductor 15 is not stretched, but wavy shaped. The material and the shape of the wire ensure that vibrations from the shaft 17 are practically no longer transmitted to the conductor 15 of the connecting cable to the hearing aid main body.

With the in FIG. 2 Thus, a mechanical isolation of the receiver 14 from the base part 10 and the connection wire of the hearing device can be achieved. For this purpose, as already indicated, the handset 14 is suspended inside the base part 10 (support of the ear piece), in that the handset shaft 17 is inserted in a very soft material which prevents a vibration transmission between the handset 14 and the base part 10. The electrical connection between the receiver 14 and the electrical line 15 is realized by the extremely thin wire 20. This wire 20 should be made of a highly conductive material (eg gold or silver). Through its shape and material, it also contributes significantly to the reduction of feedback. In particular, it can be designed helical or helical.

The in FIG. 2 structure shown has a special damping function, which relates to the transmission of vibrations from the handset 14 via the cable 15, 16 to the actual hearing aid. This is because not all frequencies are transmitted uniformly to the shaft 17 of the handset 14. Rather, this vibrates rather with higher frequencies than the listener 14. The wire 20, which is substantially thinner than the shaft 17, in turn, only very high frequency components of the vibrations of the shaft 17 is transmitted. Consequently, the structure of the receiver device according to the present invention has a characteristic filtering effect, which ensures that just the resonances of the handset 14 are hardly transmitted to the hearing aid. The very thin wire 20 is protected by the base part 10 against external influences.

In FIG. 3 is the section marked III FIG. 2 shown enlarged. It can be seen the handset 14 with the shaft 17 and the thickening 18 and the resulting thin wire 20. An essential aspect of the exemplary embodiment shown here is that the carrier element 19 has hair or hair-shaped elements 21 in the interior of the inner section 12 of the base part 10. It may also be threads or loops similar to a carpet. It is only important that these hair-shaped elements 21 hold the shaft 17 resiliently in the center of the inner section 12 by virtue of their rigidity. The hair-like elements are very well suited to keep the vibrations of the shaft 17 from the base part 10 and the inner portion 12.

The shaft 17 not only has a spectral filtering effect due to its thinner compared to the listener 14 design. By the shaft 17, which has a smaller circumference than the handset 14, the material thickness (in the examples of the FIGS. 2 and 3 in the radial direction) relative to the case that the carrier element has to carry the receiver 14 directly, provided that the recess in the inner portion 12 is unchanged. Otherwise, if with the same material thickness as in the embodiments of the FIGS. 2 and 3 If the handset 14 should be supported directly, the base part 10 would have to have a larger circumference. However, this would reduce the wearing comfort.

The particular advantage of the present invention, ie the physical separation of electrical connection and mechanical connection from the handset to the hearing aid microphone, can be seen in the example of FIG FIG. 3 also be well recognized. The result of these measures is a better open-loop gain and a lower feedback, which improves the overall functionality of the hearing aid.

Claims (10)

Hearing device for a hearing device with - A receiver (14) which is designed to convert electrical signals, and an ear piece (11), which conforms to an ear canal when the earpiece is worn, characterized in that - On the handset (14) has a shaft (17) is attached, which has on a common axis be-drawn on a smaller circumference than the smallest circumference of the handset (14), and - Between the shaft (17) and an inner wall of the earpiece (11) a support member (19) is arranged, with which the shaft (17) is movably supported in the earpiece (11). Hearing device according to claim 1, wherein the earpiece (11) is hollow cylindrical, in the interior of the ear-piece (11) is a hollow cylindrical support member (19) is arranged and in the interior of the support member (19) of the shaft (17) with the handset (14 ) is stored. A receiver according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the material of the support member (19) is softer than the inner wall of a tubular base member (10) carrying the outer ear piece (11) on the outside and the support member (19) inside, and softer than the material of the Shaft (17) is. Hearing device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the carrier element (19) hair (21) or Fadenelemen-te has, which support the shaft (17) with its free end. Hearing device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the shaft (17) has at its free end a larger-ren scope than in the majority of its extension. Hearing device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein by the shaft (17) extends an electrical line for connection of the handset. A receiver according to claim 3, wherein a cable (15, 16) for supplying the receiver (14) with an electrical signal is held by the base part (10), and a wire (20) thinner than the cable (15, 16) and thinner than the shank (17) connecting the cable (15, 16) to the earpiece (14). A receiver according to claim 7, wherein the length of the wire (20) is significantly greater than the shortest distance between the cable (15, 16) and the shaft (17). A receiver according to claim 8, wherein the wire (20) is helical. Hearing aid for carrying behind the ear or in the cymba with a receiver device according to one of the preceding claims.

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