Back to results
US 7,681,577 B2Granted
Ear tip
AssigneeKlipsch, LLC
InventorMark A. Blanchard
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Loading patent…
Loading patent…
AssigneeKlipsch, LLC
InventorMark A. Blanchard
Estimating the term…
An improved ear tip for earphones and hearing protection is provided where comfort and occlusion of the ear are of most importance. The ear tip comprises an elastomer polymer resin material molded to form the material to the shape of the ear canal. A chamber is defined having a proximal and distal end, the distal end engages the acoustic exit of the transducer, sound source or sound attenuator and the proximal end of the bore is adapted to be disposed adjacent an eardrum. The inner body attaches to a nozzle, or audio playback orifice to naturally transition the acoustics from the transducer or sound attenuator to the eardrum via the ear canal. The ear tip can have a plurality of flexible annular flanges disposed at spaced intervals of the body with decreasing circumference as the flanges transition to the proximal end. Each flange tapers in a radius or curvilinear geometry as it progresses to the end of the object.
An ear tip comprising an annular flange having a first end and a second end, where the flange has a non-circular lateral cross section running from approximately the first end to the second end, the non-circular lateral cross-section has a major axis and a minor axis, the major axis having a greater length than the minor axis, the flange tapering to the first end from the second end, an inner body extending internally from the first end within a hollow interior defined by the flange toward the second end and terminating prior to reaching the second end, and an acoustic channel extending through the inner body, where the flange at least partially occludes an ear canal from ambient noise and creates at least a partial air seal in the ear canal and the acoustic channel is configured to allow the passage of sound into the ear canal when the inner body is connected with a sound source.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.