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US 6,585,075 B1Granted
Hearing aid having hard mounted speaker and energy absorbing tip
OwnerEdouard A. Gauthierinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A hearing aid having a speaker that is hard mounted to the housing of the hearing aid and has an energy absorbing tip at that end of the hearing aid that is innermost in the ear and closest to the ear canal of the person wearing the hearing aid. According to another aspect of the present invention, the open end of the sound outlet through which an amplified version of the input sound is conducted is remote from that end of the hearing aid that is innermost in the ear and closest to the ear canal of the person wearing the hearing aid.
Claims22
A hearing aid comprising:
- a housing having:
- (a) a sound inlet through which an outside sound enters said housing, and
- (b) a sound outlet through which an amplified version of the outside sound exits said housing to the ear canal of the person wearing the hearing aid;
- a battery within said housing;
- a microphone within said housing responsive to the outside sound entering said housing through said sound inlet for developing an electrical signal representative of the outside sound entering said housing;
- an amplifier powered by said battery and responsive to the electrical signal for developing an amplified version of the electrical signal;
- an energy absorbing tip;
- and
- a speaker:
- (a) surrounded by said energy absorbing tip,
- (b) responsive to the amplified version of the electrical signal for developing and conducting to said sound outlet the amplified version of the outside sound entering said housing, and
- (c) rigidly mounted directly to said housing to channel acoustic energy and mechanical energy generated by said speaker to said energy absorbing tip.
9 more elements
A hearing aid comprising:
- a housing having a sound inlet through which an outside sound enters said housing;
- a battery within said housing;
- a microphone within said housing responsive to the outside sound entering said housing through said sound inlet for developing an electrical signal representative of the outside sound entering said housing;
- an amplifier powered by said battery and responsive to the electrical signal for developing an amplified version of the electrical signal;
- a speaker mounted to said housing and responsive to the amplified version of the electrical signal for developing an amplified version of the outside sound entering said housing;
- a sound outlet to which the amplified version of the outside sound is conducted from said speaker for exiting from said hearing aid and having an open end remote from that end of said hearing aid that is innermost in the ear and closest to the ear canal of the person wearing said hearing aid;
- and
- an end member between said open end of said sound outlet and that end of said hearing aid that is innermost in the ear and closest to the ear canal of the person wearing said hearing aid;
- and a wax guard extending over said end member and toward said speaker to inhibit wax from entering space between said open end of said sound outlet and that end of said hearing aid that is innermost in the ear and closest to the ear canal of the person wearing said hearing aid.
6 more elements
A hearing aid comprising:
- a housing having a sound inlet through which an outside sound enters said housing;
- a microphone within said housing responsive to the outside sound entering said housing through said sound inlet for developing an electrical signal representative of the outside sound entering said housing;
- a battery within said housing;
- an amplifier powered by said battery and responsive to the electrical signal for developing an amplified version of the electrical signal;
- a speaker responsive to the amplified version of the electrical signal for developing an amplified version of the outside sound entering said housing;
- and
- a sound outlet having:
- (a) a tubular outlet passage extending away from said speaker and toward that end of said hearing aid that is innermost in the ear and closest to the ear canal of the person wearing the hearing aid and through which the amplified version of the outside sound passes from said speaker, and
- (b) a pair of side outlet passages extending in opposite directions perpendicular to said tubular outlet passage and through which the amplified version of the outside sound passes from said tubular outlet passage to exit said housing to the ear canal of the person wearing the hearing aid.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.