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US 2014/0190494 A1Published application
Selective attenuating earplug
Assignee3M Innovative Properties Company
InventorJacob Ely
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A selective attenuating earplug is provided. In an exemplary embodiment, a selective attenuating earplug includes a switch adjustable between a first position and a second position, and the switch includes at least one cantilever spring arm.
Claims22
A selective attenuating earplug, comprising:
- a tip having a first end and a second end;
- a body attached to the tip;
- an acoustic channel extending from a first end of the tip to an aperture of the body;
- and
- a switch adjustable between a first position in which the aperture is at least partially open to allow passage of sound through the aperture and the acoustic channel and a second position in which the aperture is blocked;
- wherein the switch comprises a first cantilever spring arm including a shape that interacts with a feature on a surface of the body, and the shape is biased against the feature on the surface of the body to maintain the switch in the first position or the second position.
3 more elements
A selective attenuating earplug, comprising:
- a sound attenuating tip having a first end and a second end;
- a body coupled to the sound attenuating tip;
- an acoustic channel extending from a first end of the sound attenuating tip to an aperture of the body;
- and
- a switch comprising a first cantilever spring arm having a sealing pad, the switch adjustable between a first position in which the aperture is at least partially open to allow passage of sound through the aperture and the acoustic channel and a second position in which the aperture is blocked by the sealing pad;
- wherein the first cantilever spring arm biases the sealing pad towards the aperture in a first position and towards a surface of the body in a second position.
3 more elements
A hearing protection device, comprising:
- first and second selective attenuating earplugs joined by a cord, wherein each of the first and second selective attenuating earplugs comprise a tip having a first end and a second end;
- a body attached to the tip;
- an acoustic channel extending from a first end of the tip to an aperture of the body;
- and a switch adjustable between a first position in which the aperture is at least partially open to allow passage of sound through the aperture and the acoustic channel and a second position in which the aperture is blocked;
- wherein the switch comprises a first cantilever spring arm including a shape that interacts with a feature on a surface of the body, and the shape is biased against the feature in the surface of the body to maintain the switch in the first position or the second position.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.