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US 10,771,879 B2Granted
Headphone eartips with internal support components for outer eartip bodies
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsEthan L. Huwe, Brad G. Boozer, Erik L. Wang, Phillip Qian
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Headphone eartips with internal support components and methods for making the same are provided. Different support components may provide specific amounts and types of additional rigidity at specific portions of an exterior surface of an outer eartip body that may be expected to interface with specific portions of an ear canal geometry when an eartip subassembly is positioned within the ear canal, such that the eartip subassembly may conform to the various shapes of the ear canal while maintaining an acoustic seal.
Claims20
An eartip, comprising:
- an inner eartip body defining an inner eartip space and having an inner eartip front end and an inner eartip back end opposite from the inner eartip front end, the inner eartip body comprising:
- an inner eartip exterior surface extending between the inner eartip front end and the inner eartip back end;
- and
- an inner eartip interior surface opposite from the inner eartip exterior surface and extending between the inner eartip front end and the inner eartip back end;
- an outer eartip body extending from the inner eartip front end at an interface and operative to be at least partially positioned within an ear canal;
- and
- an internal support subsystem comprising a coil spring within the inner eartip body between the inner eartip interior and exterior surfaces extending around the inner eartip space providing cross-sectional rigidity to the inner eartip body about a respective portion of the inner eartip space.
4 more elements
An eartip, comprising:
- an inner eartip body defining an inner eartip space and having an inner eartip front end and an inner eartip back end opposite from the inner eartip front end, the inner eartip body comprising:
- an inner eartip exterior surface extending between the inner eartip front end and the inner eartip back end;
- and
- an inner eartip interior surface opposite from the inner eartip exterior surface and extending between the inner eartip front end and the inner eartip back end;
- an outer eartip body extending from the inner eartip front end at an interface and operative to be at least partially positioned within an ear canal;
- and
- an internal support subsystem comprising one or more internal support components positioned at least partially in contact with, and around a circumference of, the inner eartip body for providing cross-sectional rigidity to the inner eartip body about a respective portion of the inner eartip space;
- wherein the internal support subsystem comprises a plurality of internal support components spaced apart from one another and wherein the plurality of internal support components are equally spaced apart from one another in a vertical dimension.
5 more elements
An eartip, comprising:
- an inner eartip body defining an inner eartip space and having an inner eartip front end and an inner eartip back end opposite from the inner eartip front end, the inner eartip body comprising:
- an inner eartip exterior surface extending between the inner eartip front end and the inner eartip back end;
- and
- an inner eartip interior surface opposite from the inner eartip exterior surface and extending between the inner eartip front end and the inner eartip back end;
- an outer eartip body extending from the inner eartip front end at an interface and operative to be at least partially positioned within an ear canal;
- and
- an internal support subsystem comprising one or more internal support components positioned at least partially in contact with, and around a circumference of, the inner eartip body for providing cross-sectional rigidity to the inner eartip body about a respective portion of the inner eartip space;
- wherein the internal support subsystem comprises a plurality of internal support components spaced apart from one another and wherein the plurality of internal support components includes a first internal support component and a second internal support component, the first internal support component being positioned on a different surface than the second internal support component.
5 more elements
An eartip, comprising:
- an inner eartip body defining an inner eartip space and having an inner eartip front end and an inner eartip back end opposite from the inner eartip front end, the inner eartip body comprising:
- an inner eartip exterior surface extending between the inner eartip front end and the inner eartip back end;
- and
- an inner eartip interior surface opposite from the inner eartip exterior surface and extending between the inner eartip front end and the inner eartip back end;
- an outer eartip body extending from the inner eartip front end at an interface and operative to be at least partially positioned within an ear canal;
- and
- an internal support subsystem comprising one or more internal support components positioned at least partially in contact with, and around a circumference of, the inner eartip body for providing cross-sectional rigidity to the inner eartip body about a respective portion of the inner eartip space;
- wherein the internal support subsystem comprises a plurality of internal support components spaced apart from one another and wherein the plurality of internal support components includes a first internal support component and a second internal support component, the first internal support component is constructed as a ring and the second internal support component is constructed as a spring.
5 more elements
An eartip, comprising:
- an inner eartip body defining an inner eartip space and having an inner eartip front end and an inner eartip back end opposite from the inner eartip front end, the inner eartip body comprising:
- an inner eartip exterior surface extending between the inner eartip front end and the inner eartip back end;
- and
- an inner eartip interior surface opposite from the inner eartip exterior surface and extending between the inner eartip front end and the inner eartip back end;
- an outer eartip body extending from the inner eartip front end at an interface and operative to be at least partially positioned within an ear canal;
- and
- an internal support subsystem comprising one or more internal support components positioned at least partially in contact with, and around a circumference of, the inner eartip body for providing cross-sectional rigidity to the inner eartip body about a respective portion of the inner eartip space;
- wherein the internal support subsystem comprises a plurality of internal support components spaced apart from one another and wherein each internal support component is shaped as a ring and is positioned along a plane.
5 more elements
A device, comprising:
- a housing subassembly including a housing opening;
- sound emitting component housed within the housing subassembly and configured to emit sound through the housing opening;
- and
- an eartip coupled to the housing subassembly for receiving the from the sound emitting component, the eartip comprising:
- an inner eartip body defining an inner eartip space and having an inner eartip front end and an inner eartip back end opposite from the inner eartip front end, the inner eartip body comprising:
- an inner eartip exterior surface extending between the inner eartip front end and the inner eartip back end;
- and
- an inner eartip interior surface opposite from the inner eartip exterior surface and extending between the inner eartip front end and the inner eartip back end;
- an outer eartip body extending from the inner eartip front end at an interface and operative to be at least partially positioned within an ear canal;
- and
- an internal support subsystem comprising a coil spring within the inner eartip body between the inner eartip interior and exterior surfaces extending around the inner eartip space providing cross-sectional rigidity to the inner eartip body about a respective portion of the inner eartip space.
8 more elements
A device, comprising:
- a housing subassembly including a housing opening;
- sound emitting component housed within the housing subassembly and configured to emit sound through the housing opening;
- and
- an eartip coupled to the housing subassembly for receiving the from the sound emitting component, the eartip comprising:
- an inner eartip body defining an inner eartip space and having an inner eartip front end and an inner eartip back end opposite from the inner eartip front end, the inner eartip body comprising:
- an inner eartip exterior surface extending between the inner eartip front end and the inner eartip back end;
- and
- an inner eartip interior surface opposite from the inner eartip exterior surface and extending between the inner eartip front end and the inner eartip back end;
- an outer eartip body extending from the inner eartip front end at an interface and operative to be at least partially positioned within an ear canal;
- and
- an internal support subsystem comprising one or more internal support components positioned at least partially in contact with, and around a circumference of, the inner eartip body for providing cross-sectional rigidity to the inner eartip body about a respective portion of the inner eartip space;
- wherein the internal support subsystem comprises a plurality of internal support components spaced apart from one another and wherein the plurality of internal support components are equally spaced apart from one another in a vertical dimension.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.