Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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SPECIFICATION.
HEARING'AID'
S FIELD OF THE INVENTION .'y '
The present invention rela.tes:to.a hearing aid, and more
particularly to a hearing aid adapte;d.to be used by a person
suffering from some impairment in hi's:.or her hearing ability in
making conversation to others or in: watching television, or by a
person who is normal in hearing ability ~in~ making conversation to
others in a noisy environment, whe~rei~n the hearing aid is compact
in size and employs a high-perfornian'ce bone conduction speaker.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
t5 Heretofore, a person suffering .from some impairment in his
or hex hearing ability must rely on a.conventional hearing aid when
he or she makes conversation to other's or watches television. In
general, the conventional hearing ai:d'i's of an air conduction type,
and therefore mounted on a user's;'ear in use. Consequently, the
conventional hearing aid is not adegtiate for the purpose of hearing
only a desired one of voice soundswhen a user makes conversation
to a desired person or watches television to hear a desired one
of sounds issued from a television set.
As described above, heretofore, .there is not known any hearing
aid adapted to be used by a person -suffering from some impairment
in his or her hearing ability for:receiving primarily a desired
one of sounds in conversation or in wa.fiching television. Therefore,
it is an object of the present invention to provide a hearing aid
adapted to be used under such circunis.tances. More specifically,
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it is an object of the present ~.nvent~ion to provide a hearing aid,
which is compact in size, excellent~iri:both performance and strength
and employs a bone conduction spe~ake~. .
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The above object of the present '-i~.W ention is accomplished by
providing a hearing aid comprising: a main body portion provided
with a microphone, an amplifier and, a. driving battery; and, a speaker
portion constructed of a bone condu~.tion speaker electrically
to connected with said main body portion. As such a bone conduction
speaker used here, it is preferable to~use a bone conduction speaker
comprising: a yoke provided with a .central magnetic pole on which
a voice coil is coaxially mounted, wherein the yoke extends in four
directions to have their extensions classified into two pairs of
diametrically opposing extensioris_, . one pair of which pairs is
constructed of the extensions each provided with a magnet, the other
pair being constructed of the ex:'Censions each provided with an
upright support portion for supporting a diaphragm, wherein the
diaphragm is fixedly mounted on~~he.~diametrically opposing pair
of the upright support portions of the yoke.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
Fig. 1 is a view illustratirig~.the hearing aid of the present
invention as a whole. Fig. 2 is a view illustrating another
embodiment of the speaker po~rtionr.according to the present
invention in construction. Fig.~3~'~is further another embodiment
of the speaker portion according: to the present invention in
construction. Fig. 9 is a longitudi-iial sectional view of a housing
in which the bone conduction speaker adapted to be employed in the
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present invention is incorporated.:.~;Flg. S is a longitudinal
sectional view of the bone conduct~.ion~ speaker adapted to be used
in the present invention. Fig. 6 is .,a.~longitudinal sectional. view
taken along a line perpendicular to the line along which the
longitudinal sectional view of Fig... -5~ is taken, illustrating the
bone conduction speaker adapted to be used in the present invention.
Fig. 7 is a plan view of the~bone~~conduction speaker adapted to
be used in the present invention,-,provided that the diaphragm is
removed_ And, Fig. 8 is a plan view~of the diaphragm of the bone
conduction speaker adapted to be used in the present invention.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
With reference to the accompari~ying drawings, an embodiment
of the present invention will be~desc~ibed. A hearing aid of the
present invention is constructed ofr.armain body portion 1 and a
speaker portion 2, which is el~ect~i~ally connected With the main
body portion 1.
The main body portion leis provided with a microphone 3, a
power switch 4, a volume knob 5:~and like components. Further,
incorporated in the ma2n body portion 1 are an amplifier and a
driving battery for driving these components. A speaker cable
connecting terminal 6 is mounted on a.'side surface of the main body
portion 1. Preferably, an audio cable connecting terminal 7 is
further provided in the hearing -aid . ( see Fig . 3 ) .
The speaker portion 2 is co~st.r.ucted of: a bone conduction
speaker 8; a grip portion 9 projectiDg...outward from a side surface
of the bone conduction speaker 8; and, ~a cable 10 for electrically
connecting the speaker portion'2 wi~tli the main body portion 1 through
a connector 11 which is inserted .into the speaker cable connecting
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terminal 6.
The other end of the audio'cablewcot~nected With the audio cable
connecting terminal 7 is connected~with. an audio output terminal
of an audio output unit. It is needles to say that the audio cable
is inputting means for inputting a.n.;atidio signal, which is issued
from an audio output unit, to the main body portion 1. Such an
audio output unit comprises any o.utgut..unit issuing a sound signal
such as a voice sound signal, a~i~'audi:o signal and like signals
from its audio.output terminal, wherein the output unit may be
any one of a television set, a C1? player, a broadcasting radio
receiver and like output units.
In use, the user may hold' the..speaker portion 2 through its
grip portion 9. It is also possible for..~th~e user to wear the speaker
portion 2 through a headband, which..enables the user to use both
hands in a free manner. In other Ovoid°s~- such a headband 13 is
provided
with an insertion opening 14 in which..~a shaft portion 9a of the
grip portion 9 is mounted in an insertion manner (see Fig. 2).
Further, it is also possible to.provide a head set 17 in place
of the speaker portion 2. In this case,: the head set 17 is provided
with a bane conduction speaker-8 in .at .least one of its ear engaging
portions 16. The ear engaging port~:or~s~. ~16 are provided in opposite
ends of a curved member 15 fitted to:..the'back of the user's head
(see Fig. 3). Further, it is ahso.p.cssible to mount the speaker
portion 2 on a temple member of eyeglasses (although the speaker
portion 2 is mounted on an end portion of the temple member, it
is also possible to mount the speaker~portion 2 on an intermediate
portion of the temple member)_'Zn~this~.case, it is preferable to
detachably mount the speaker portion,~2 on the temple member.
Next, the bone conduction speaker ~8 adapted to be used in the
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present invention and shorn in sicjs.' 4'to B will be described. The
bone conduction speaker 8 is constructed of: a yoke 21 provided
with a central magnetic pole 2'2; a pa~.r..of diametrically-opposing
divided magnets 24 disposed outside..a doughnut-type voice coil 23
which surround the central magnetic :pole 22; and, a vibrating board
or diaphragm 25 mounted on a pair of~~diametrically opposing upright
support portions 26 of the yoke 2-1..
The yoke 21 is slightly Ia.rger~.than the voice coil 23, and
provided with four extensions eacYr.radially outwardly extending
in each of four directions. One pair~.~o.f the four extensions form
a pair of diametrically opposing ~ma~gnet support portions 27, 27.
The remains of the extensions form a pair of diametrically opposing
upright support portions 28, 28 for supporting the diaphragm 25.
Fixedly mounted on each of the mag:n,~t~~support portions 27, 27 is
the magnet 24, which assumes a.rectangular parallelepiped shape
disposed adjacent to the voice coil 23. Each of the magnet support
portions 27 may assume a curved shape extending along the voice
coil 23.
Each of the diaphragm snppo=~:~:portions 26, 26 assumes an
2U upright shape, and is integrally ~fo~.~med with each of the upright
support portions 28, 28 and provide~d~~..with a blind hole 29 in its
center. The blind hole 29 is uisecl.~~to fixedly mount the diaphragm
on the yoke 21. As shown in Fi;g.y8~ the diaphragm 25 has four
extensions each radially outwardly extending in each of four
25 directions. As viewed in Fig. 8; .an.~:upper and a lower one of the
extensions of the diaphragm 25 are~provided with an upper and a
lower through-hole 30, respectively: Each of these through-holes
30, 30 corresponds in position to'.ea~Ii of the blind holes 29. Also
as viewed in Fig. 8, the diaphragri~:, 2~5 is provided ~Tith a central
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elongated opening 31 laterally extending in its central area . The
diaphragm 25 is fixedly mounted on the ~_diaphragm support portions
26, 26 through screws.
Mounted on the diaphragm 25 is.:a.~plate yoke 33. This plate
yoke 33 extends along the. central, .opening 31, has its thick wall
portion positioned within the cent-ra~l.opening 31 and has an upper
surface of this thick wall portion. be flash with an upper surface
of the diaphragm 25. For example; the plate yoke 33 has its opposite
thin wall portions fixedly mounted ana year surface of the diaphragm
25 by suitable fastening mean$ such as soldering and the like . In
other words, the plate yoke 33 has'.~:only its opposite thin wall
portions fixedly mounted on the diaphragm 25 to permit its central
thick wall portion to freely .vibrate: i.n. a position corresponding
to the central opening 31 of . the .diap~h~ragm 25 .
IS In general, the central thick: wall. portion of the plate yoke
33 is provided with a pair of tapped holes 34 which is threadably
engaged with a pair of screws 36 when the plate yoke 33 is
incorporated in a housing 35. Aftez.~cQmpletion of such threadable
engagement of the screws 36 with the~~ytapped holes 34, the speaker
37 is entirely mounted in the hous~,ng 35. The housing 35 may be
divided into an upper and a lower. half.
In an assembling operation,,th~~bone conduction speaker 37
is mounted in the housing 35 througl~..=the plate yoke 33 in a floating
manner. Consequently, vibration caused by a voice sound or by
application of an audio input signal.-may be effectively transmitted
to the housing 35, which may reali;ie the bone conduction speaker
37 excellent in efficiency. FurtHermore, in construction of this
embodiment, the magnets 24.are divided ones (in contrast with the
conventional magnet assuming a~circular shape an outer surface of
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which is surrounded by a casing) , .arid coaxially disposed s0 as riot
to extend radially outwardly. ~This',.~eria.bles the bone conduction
speaker 37 of this embodiment to:be..compact in size.
In use of the hearing. aid of ,the~~~present invention in making
conversation to a conversation~partner, it is necessary for the
user to hand the partner the main body portion 1 and have the partner
talk to the microphone 3 of the ma=in ~bod~r portion I. At the same
time, it is necessary for the user~to. have the bone conduction
speaker 8 brought into slight contact, with the user's temple or
its vicinities by using the gxip po=tion, 9 and select a favorable
contact area in which the user may:'most effectively pick up the
transmitted voice sound through the~:-b~ohe conduction speaker 8. At
this time, the user may control the .transmi.tted voice sound in volume
by turning the volume control knob;~5,~of the main body portion 1.
In watching television, one- of ~oppQSi.te end portions of the
audio cable is electrically co~rtnected with the audio cable
connecting terminal 7.iri a condition ~in which the other of the
opposite end portions ~is electrically connected with an audio
output terminal which is general2,y:provided in a rear side of a
television set . After that, as is. ~i:n~ the case described above, the
user wears the bone conduction speaker 8 on his head. More
specifically, through the headband ~13, the head set, or the temple
member of the eyeglasses, the bone 'conduction speaker 8 is brought
into slight contact with the u~er's~head.
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INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILTTX
The present invention has the.constructiori described above.
Consequently, the present invention. is adapted to be used by a person
suffering from some impairment .in: .hearing ability when he or she
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makes conversation to others csr-, watches television. The present
invent3.on is also adapted to be used by.persons each normal in
hearing ability when they make conversation to each other in a noisy
environment.
