# US 11,122,358 B2 · Hearing device comprising a vent with an adjustable acoustic valve > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,122,358 B2 - Document ID: US11122358B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/815,277 - Filed: 2020-03-11 - Published: 2020-10-01 - Granted: 2021-09-14 - Earliest claimed: 2019-03-27 - Assignees: Sonova AG - Applicants: Sonova AG - Inventors: Erwin Kuipers - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11122358B2 ## CPC - H04R 1/1091: {Details not provided for in groups H04R1/1008 - H04R1/1083} - H04R 25/652: {Ear tips; Ear moulds (hybrid ear moulds or post-processing thereof for their customisation H04R25/659)} - H04R 1/1016: {Earpieces of the intra-aural type} - H04R 2460/11: Aspects relating to vents, e.g. shape, orientation, acoustic properties in ear tips of hearing devices to prevent occlusion - H04R: LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; ELECTRIC HEARING AIDS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS (producing sounds with frequency not determined by supply frequency G10K) ## Abstract Provided is a hearing device including a housing configured to be at least partially inserted into an ear canal of a user, a vent that provides venting between an inner region of the ear canal and the ambient environment, an acoustic valve with a valve member configured to adjust the effective size of the vent, an actuator that actuates the valve member, and an acoustic output transducer acoustically coupled to the inner region of the ear canal and configured to generate a sound output according to an audio signal. The hearing device further includes a control unit operatively connected to the actuator and the acoustic output transducer and configured to control the audio signal supplied to the acoustic output transducer such that the sound output is modified during adjustment of the valve member. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A hearing device comprising a housing (12) configured to be at least partially inserted into an ear canal (14) of a user and comprising a vent (16), wherein the vent is configured to provide for venting between an inner region (18) of the ear canal and an ambient environment (20) outside the ear canal through the vent, an acoustic valve (22) comprising a valve member (24) configured to adjust an effective size of the vent and an actuator (26) configured to actuate the valve member for adjustment of the effective size of the vent, an acoustic output transducer (36) acoustically coupled to the inner region of the ear canal and configured to generate a sound output according to an audio signal supplied to the acoustic transducer, characterized by a control unit (38) operatively connected to the actuator and the acoustic output transducer and configured to control the audio signal supplied to the acoustic output transducer such that the sound output is modified during adjustment of the valve member compared to the sound output during times with no adjustment of the valve member in a manner so as to reduce or eliminate the user's perception of sound resulting from adjustment of the valve member. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The hearing device of claim 1, wherein the control unit (38) is configured to adjust, during adjustment of the valve member (24), the level of the audio signal supplied to the acoustic output transducer (36) by adjusting a gain applied to the audio signal. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The hearing device of claim 2, wherein the control unit (38) is configured to increase, during adjustment of the valve member (24), the gain applied to the audio signal supplied to the acoustic output transducer (36). ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The hearing device of claim 3, wherein the control unit (38) is configured to increase, during adjustment of the valve member (24), based on a psychoacoustic model and taking account spectral characteristics of the sound resulting from adjustment of the valve member, the gain applied the audio signal supplied to the acoustic output transducer (36) in a frequency selective manner such that the sound output of the acoustic output transducer is suitable to mask the sound resulting from adjustment of the valve member. ### Claim 5 (depends on 3) The hearing device of claim 3, wherein the control unit (38) is configured to gradually increase the gain during an initial attack interval and to gradually decrease the gain during a final release interval. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The hearing device of claim 5, wherein the initial attack interval immediately precedes the adjustment of the valve member (24). ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The hearing device of claim 5, wherein the attack time constant applied in the initial attack interval is shorter than the release time constant applied in the final release interval. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The hearing device of claim 1, further comprising a microphone arrangement (28) for capturing the audio signal supplied to the acoustic output transducer (36) from ambient sound and/or an audio signal input (30) for receiving the audio signal form an external sound source. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The hearing device of claim 8, wherein the control unit (38) is configured to change a gain model applied to the audio signal supplied to the acoustic output transducer (36) according to the position of the valve member (24) resulting from the adjustment of the valve member. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The hearing device of claim 1, wherein the control unit (38) is configured to adjust the composition of the audio signal by adding, during adjustment of the valve member (24), a valve adjustment audio signal to the audio signal supplied to the acoustic output transducer (36). ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The hearing device of claim 10, wherein the control unit (38) is configured to generate the valve adjustment audio signal, by selecting level and spectral composition of the valve adjustment audio signal based on a psychoacoustic model and taking account the spectral characteristics of the sound resulting from adjustment of the valve member (24), in a manner so that the sound output of the acoustic output transducer (36) is suitable to mask the sound resulting from adjustment of the valve member. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The hearing device of claim 10, wherein the control unit (38) is configured to generate the valve adjustment audio signal, by selecting level and spectral composition of the valve adjustment audio signal based on a psychoacoustic model and taking account the spectral characteristics of the sound resulting from adjustment of the valve member (24), in a manner so that the sound output of the acoustic output transducer (26) resulting from the valve adjustment audio signal is suitable for being perceived by the user. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The hearing device of claim 12, wherein the control unit (38) is configured to generate the valve adjustment audio signal in a manner so that it encodes information for the user concerning the adjustment of the valve member (24). ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The hearing device of claim 13, wherein the control unit (38) is configured to generate the valve adjustment audio signal in a manner so that it so that it is perceiveably different depending on whether the adjustment of the valve member (24) increases the effective size of the vent (16) or reduces the effective size of the vent. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) A method of operating the hearing device (10) of claim 1, comprising; inserting the housing (12) at least partially into the ear canal (14) of a user; supplying an audio signal to the acoustic output transducer (36) and generating, by the acoustic output transducer (36), a sound output according to audio signal; adjusting the valve member relative to the housing by the actuator (26); and modifying, by control unit (38) during adjustment the valve member, the audio signal supplied to the acoustic output transducer such that the sound output is modified during adjustment of the valve member compared to the sound output during times with no adjustment of the valve member in a manner so as to reduce or eliminate the user's perception of sound resulting from adjustment of the valve member.