KR100615827B1 - Earphone without impulse noise for protection against conductive hearing loss - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an earphone without shock noise to prevent conductive hearing loss. In this case, the earphone includes an earphone housing 40 and a loudspeaker 50 mounted in an acoustic chamber of the earphone housing. The front part of the earphone housing has an ear plug 41 suitably made to be caught between the migration and the migration of the outer ear, and the rear end of the earphone housing has a hood 42 including a hollow acoustic chamber 43. The loudspeaker is supported in the hollow acoustic chamber of the hood, and a plurality of acoustic holes 44 are distributed around the hood. The loudspeaker sound output end in the sound compartment should be positioned to face the hood and to face the plug. Conductive cord 60 is connected to the bottom end of the earphone housing to deliver current to the loudspeaker.

Earphone housing, sound output end, hood, sound room, loudspeaker, sound room

Description

Earphones without shock noise to prevent conductive hearing loss {EARPHONE WITHOUT IMPULSE NOISE FOR PROTECTION AGAINST CONDUCTIVE HEARING LOSS}

The present invention relates to an earphone without shock noise for preventing conductive hearing loss, wherein the earphone can prevent the sound wave direction of the loudspeaker of the earphone from being directly transmitted to the eardrum located at the innermost part of the external auditory canal. The middle ear can be protected from conductive hearing loss by direct impact of negative pressure.

Typically, sound defined as physical energy is known to be delivered in the form of energy. The farther the sound travels, the greater the energy involved. This means, for example, sound by thunder or shooting. Thus, energy in sound is measured by a logarithm system, and decibels are often used as a unit for measuring sound intensity. However, since decibels are relative rather than absolute, decibels mean comparing the intensity between two sounds. Thus, typically how much decibels the sound contains means that the pressure is many times greater than the reference sound. When measured with an audiometer, if the decibel increases from 0 to 60, this indicates an increase in energy in the sound to 10 ⁶ . However, even if the sound pressure represents 60 decibels, this is never a loud sound, but rather a sound that sounds a little louder in the vicinity of people in everyday life.

The ear of the person shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 consists of three main parts: the external ear 10, the middle ear 20 and the inner ear 30. The outer ear 10 may include a helix 11, an antihelix 12, an auricle 13, a concha 14, an antitragus 15, a tragus 16, And for adults, the ear canal 17 has a length of 24mm. The tympanic membrane 171 is located at the innermost portion of the ear canal 17. The ear canal 17 and the middle ear 20 are separated by a tympanic membrane, and the middle ear 20 is a vertebrae formed between the outer ear 10 and the inner ear 30 as the vertebrae 21, the acupuncture 22, And has a spine (23). The end portion of the vertebrae 21 is hidden in the eardrum in the eardrum, and the body of the vertebrae 21 and the head of the bone 22 are joined together to form a word. In addition, the thigh 22 has a short leg 221 and a long leg 222, the short leg 221 in the thigh contact the ear wall, the end of the long leg 222 is the spine 23 Is connected with the head. The end of the spine 23 is formed in the shape of a foot as shown in FIG.

Moreover, the inner ear 30 includes a cochlea 31 and a labyrinth organ 32, whereby the snail 31 within the inner ear controls the human auditory system, while the labyrinth organ 32 balances the body. Keep it. The capsule is enclosed in two sophisticated parts, and in addition, some of the perilymph in the outermost layer of the capsule covers the snail 31 and the labyrinth organ 32. The perilymph acts as an air cushion to protect the head when the head is subjected to strong vibrations. Indeed, the snail 31 and labyrinth organ 32 flow in lymphatic fluid. The interior of the snail 31 consists of three parts, a cochlear duct including a scala vestibuli, a scala tympani, and a perilymph. The nerve cells in the snail 31 contain approximately 30,000 hairy (hairy) nerve endings. Also, an oval window 33 and a round window 34 are located near the ear canal wall surface of the middle ear 20, and the spine bottom is supported by the opening of the oval window 33, the interior of which is Is attached to the sedation system 311 of the snail 31, the snail 31 is able to accommodate the sound pressure transmitted from the cleaning bone, the garden window 34 to the tympanic system 312 of the snail 31 It is mounted to directly receive the sound transmitted from the ear of the middle ear (20).

Moreover, after the sound pressure is transferred from the migration 16 to the tympanic 171, a portion of the sound pressure is partially reflected back to the migration 16, while another portion of the sound pressure passes through the tympanic 171. (20) is reached. Part of the portion of the negative pressure transmitted to the middle ear 20 is moved to the end of the foot-like spine 23 via the vertebrae 21 and the acupuncture 22, and then through the oval window 33 to the inner ear 30 Will reach within the snail 31. Other remaining negative pressure is transferred into the snail 31 of the inner ear 30 by the air medium in the ear (the latter consisting of the vertebrae 21, the bone 22 and the spine 23, later referred to as scavenging bone).

As a result, the sound pressure delivered to the human ear is divided into two parts to enter the inner ear 30. However, the sound transmitted by the cleaning bone into the oval window 33 is more effective and important than the sound transmitted through the ear by the air medium into the garden window 34. For that reason, 99.9% of the energy of the negative pressure delivered to the ear of the middle ear 20 and then reached by the air medium through the garden window 34 and into the perilymph of the snail 31 is dissipated by the liquid surface or Because it is echoed again. Only 0.1% of the energy can reach the snail 31 via the perilymph.

Thus, the most effective way to transmit sound is to start from the eardrum 171 and reach the garden window 33 via the sweeping bone. However, when the sound pressure is transmitted to the end of the spine 23 to impact the oval window 33, the sound pressure reaches the snail 31 via an incompressible periphery, where the sound pressure is the liquid surface. It is not destroyed or echoed by. Immediately following, the perilymph containing the negative pressure stimulates the hairy nerve endings in the snail 31 to cause displacement or bending, which acts as an electrochemical impulse to the mechanical force in the negative pressure. Switch to Shock. The electrochemical impulse then delivers the auditory nerve to the auditory cortex of the brain. This is the sound that people can finally perceive.

From the above point of view, the human hearing is formed by the movement of the hairy nerve endings, and it is realized that hearing is made only by weakly displacing the hairy nerve endings. Thus, human hearing is very sensitive and the perceptible tonal range is also wide. Generally, the frequency range that humans can perceive is approximately 20 Hz to 20000 Hz, the intensity range is 10 ^-12 W / m ² to 10 ² W / m ^2, and the sound pressure is 180 dB or less. However, not all perceivable sounds are suitable for the human ear to accept. Tones in the undesired range (called so-called noise with sound pressure above 90 dB) easily damage the auditory area within the ear. Factory workers who have been exposed to industrial noise for a long time and who do not wear any hearing protection devices (such as ear plugs or earphones at all) have a potential hearing damage of up to 25% in a few years.

This is because the sound pressure of the industrial noise causes the hair nerve endings in the ear to cause dislocation or bending. After leaving the noisy environment for a period of time, the nerve endings return to their original positions. The restorative effect of the hairy nerve endings continues to deteriorate with time, resulting in impaired hearing in the inner ear. While this kind of hearing loss is largely within the minimum limits of perceivable hearing, another kind is usually caused by direct shocks to the head or by momentary shock noise, which results in damage to the eardrum or scavenging bones. By raising, the sound pressure transmitted in the middle ear 20 simultaneously enters the oval window 33 and the garden window 34 in the vestibule 33 and is disturbed from each other. Therefore, hearing loss occurs. This kind of loss of conductivity in the middle ear is called conductive hearing loss.

Obviously, the hearing loss resulting from intra-dual conduction loss, such as this kind, has increased in recent years, most of which are younger classes using Walkman. It is well known that a normal stereo loudspeaker or earphone is driven by a current connected to an electrical cord such that the front cone paper box and vibrating eardrum form reciprocating vibrations to produce sound and music. Complex physical phenomena are created by these simple repetitive reciprocating motions, whereby forward conical paper boxes and vibrating eardrums advance the air, resulting in the compaction of the molecules in the air with high compression air, while the forward conical paper When the box and vibrating eardrum retreat back, the molecules in the air become lean to low compressed air.

However, the air molecules have a property of not being compressed or compressed, and as a result, elasticity is formed by the compressed air to push the energy generated by the loudspeaker farther. When the loudspeaker starts to reciprocate, the adjacent air pushes the energy forward by the loudspeaker. The energy that delivers sound is called sound pressure.

Thus, acoustic energy transfer means a continuous connection between a high pressure space and a low pressure space. The pressure space is a wave containing wave peaks and continuous advancing wave curves, with the result that the direction of movement of the entire sound produced by the loudspeaker is made by sound pressure, and the farther away is the sound or music produced by the loudspeaker You can hear it.

Subsequently, the method and distribution state of the sound produced by the loudspeaker depends on the frequency of the loudspeaker. For example, the bass of the sound itself does not have a direction. When the bass sounds, it propagates slowly in all directions. As a result, the setting place for the lowest sound is not necessarily required as in the case of a normal loudspeaker, and the method of sound propagation of the sound is similar to that of a laser beam. At this time, since the traveling direction of the laser beam is mostly a straight line, the reflected surface must be protected from the reaction of sound quality and the sound field destruction for the setting direction of the treble body. In other words, when a loudspeaker utters, the sound pressure is the same everywhere. However, the front of the loudspeaker must face a continuous double impact of sound pressure and treble. Thus, when people listen to rock and roll heavy metal music or fast rhythm music, emotions become intense and certain vibrations are formed.

The loudspeaker propagates the converted sound or music signal by using vibration to a space for forming a sound field. Therefore, people feel a strong tremor when they receive a strong sound pressure in the sound field, and a weak tremor when they receive a weak sound pressure. Even so, people are still within the vibration range in the sound field. Thus, when in the sound field, people are subjected to shock vibrations of sound pressure no matter what music or sound is played. The smallest loudspeaker mounted on an earphone also has its own sound field range. The only difference is the difference in strength.

There are two types of conventional earphones. One is an ear plug type and the other is an ear muff type. Whatever earphone is used, the loudspeaker of the earphone is placed close to the outer opening of the ear canal, with the right side of the loudspeaker facing the eardrum inside the ear canal so that the ear receives sound or music directly from the loudspeaker. The ear can accommodate excellent sound quality in this way because the ear is within the sound field range of the loudspeaker and the sound pressure vibrates between the loudspeaker and the eardrum. First of all, with respect to the ear receiving the same sound, the sound pressure of the earphone is approximately 10 dB higher than that of a normal loudspeaker. In addition, the sound pressure generated by the Walkman earphone is mostly 90 dB or more. As a result, conduction loss or hearing loss in the middle ear is easily caused by this intense sound pressure and continuous impact noise.

Applicant is an officially licensed medical doctor with years of clinical experience. As patients with hearing loss continue to grow to younger patients seeking medical counseling, we found that the reason lies in the use of Walkman to cause impaired conduction in the middle ear. In addition, impact noise is a major cause of damage to the eardrum and scavenging bones.

Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide an earphone, by which the earphone can listen to excellent music as in the conventional earphone, the conductive function of the middle ear is protected from damage by the impact noise.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an earphone without shock noise to prevent conductive hearing loss (deafness), in which the sound and external sound transmitted by the loudspeaker of the earphone can be captured by the ear, As a result, you can recognize all the events happening outside without taking off your earphones.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a human ear.

Figure 2 collectively showing the vertebrae, bones and spines of the middle ear.

3 is a perspective view of the outer ear;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the present invention caught between two weeks and the migration.

5 is a front view of the earphone according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a partial cross-sectional view of the earphone according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a cross-sectional view of the earphone housing according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

8A to 8C illustrate front, rear and side views of an ear plug mounting ring according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

9 is a schematic view of earphones connected with an ear plug mounting ring according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

4 to 6, the earphone having no impact noise for preventing conductive hearing loss according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention is an earphone housing 40 and a loudspeaker 50 mounted in the earphone housing 40. And a conductive cord 60 connected to the loudspeaker 50.

The front portion of the earphone housing 40 provides an earplug 41 suitable for being caught between the migration 16 and the migration 15 of the outer ear 10. The rear portion of the earphone housing 40 has a hood 42 having a hollow acoustic chamber 43 formed therein, and the conductive cord 60 of the earphone housing 40 is configured to transmit current to the loudspeaker 50. It is connected to the bottom end. A plurality of sound holes 44 are spaced apart from each other on the hood 42, and external sound may enter the earphone housing 40 through the sound holes.

The loudspeaker 50 is supported in the hollow acoustic chamber 43 of the hood 42. The loudspeaker 50 has a sound output end facing (facing) the hood 42, ie the rear portion of the earphone housing 40, and the rear end of the loudspeaker 50 has an ear plug of the earphone housing 40. Face 41. In other words, the sound output end of the loudspeaker 50 should be arranged in the opposite direction (opposite) with the rear portion of the ear plug 41 of the earphone housing 40.

As mentioned above, the earphone housing 40 is worn on the user's ear by hooking the ear plug 41 between the migration 16 and the migration 15 of the outer ear 10, and the earphone housing 40. Hood 42 is exposed on the outside of the ear canal 17. From this point of view, when the loudspeaker 50 in the earphone housing 40 emits sound toward the transfer 15 through the acoustic hole 44, the sound pressure is absorbed and reflected by the transfer 15 It can be appreciated that the entire ear is located within the sound field range of the loudspeaker 50. Therefore, the sound quality obtained from the earphone of the present invention is the same as that of the conventional earphone. However, the sound pressure does not directly impact the eardrum 171 of the ear canal 17, and at the same time avoids the momentary shock noise emitted while the music is being played, resulting in no impaired conduction of the middle ear 20, resulting in conductive hearing. Will not affect.

Figure 7 shows a second preferred embodiment of the earphone without shock noise to prevent conductive hearing loss in accordance with the present invention. The earphone also includes an earphone housing 70 and a loudspeaker 50 installed in the earphone housing 70. The front portion of the earphone housing 70 is arranged to be caught between the ear 16 and the ear 15 of the ear and attached to the auricle 14. The earphone housing 70 has a hollow sound chamber 71 for receiving and holding the loudspeaker 50 therein. A plurality of acoustic holes 72 are distributed on the surface around the front of the earphone housing, and the conductive cord 60 is connected to the bottom end to deliver current to the loudspeaker 50. The loudspeaker 70 also has an acoustic output end disposed facing the rear end of the earphone housing.

As shown in FIG. 7, which is a second embodiment, when the loudspeaker 50 in the earphone housing 70 emits sound, sound pressure is released toward the rear wall of the earphone housing 70, and Reflected by the inner wall of the rear end, the entire ear is located in the sound field of the loudspeaker 50. Therefore, the received sound quality is the same as that of the conventional earphone. However, the sound pressure does not directly impact the eardrum 171 of the ear canal 17, and avoids the instantaneous impact noise emitted while the music is being played, so that the conductive function of the middle ear 20 is not impaired and thus affects conductive hearing. Will not affect.

As shown in Figs. 8 and 9, a third embodiment of the present invention is shown. The third embodiment is an alternative form of the first preferred embodiment, wherein the ear plug 41 in the first embodiment is configured as an independent component in the third embodiment. The ear plug body 80 of the third embodiment is installed at the bottom end of the earphone housing 40. The ear plug body 80 extends downwardly from the top of the ear plug body 80 to fit the plug hook 81 and the ear plug body 80 suitable for being caught between the migration 16 and the mattress 15. A ring seat 82 connected to the bottom of the ear plug body 80 is provided for mounting at the rear end of the earphone housing 40. In addition, the earphone housing 40 can adjust its position up and down with respect to the ring seat 82, which is to fit the size of the user's ear.

In conclusion from the above, the present invention includes the following advantages.

1. With respect to sound having the same frequency, the sound pressure applied to the human ear can be reduced to the lowest magnitude, while the sound quality can be achieved the same as the conventional earphone.

2. The ear canal of the human ear can be protected from the impact of impact noise, thereby avoiding impairing the transmission function of the middle ear. Therefore, conductive hearing loss does not occur to people who want to wear earphones for a long time.

3. By using the present invention, the sound emitted by the loudspeaker in the earphone and the external sound can be captured by the ear, so that all the events occurring outside can be immediately identified and appropriate action taken.

Claims (4)

In earphones without impulse noise to prevent conductive hearing loss, An earplug suitable for engagement between the tragus and antitragus of the external ear, providing a hood with a rear portion forming a hollow acoustic chamber therein, the plurality of acoustic holes Earphone housing is formed spaced apart on the hood, A sound output end supported in the hollow acoustic chamber of the hood and facing the rear portion of the hood and the earphone housing and a rear end facing the ear plug of the earphone housing, the sound output end being the earphone A loudspeaker disposed in a direction opposite to the rear portion of the ear plug of the housing, and A conductive cord connected to the bottom end of the earphone housing and transferring current to the loudspeaker Earphones including a. The method of claim 1, Earphones are integrally formed in the front portion of the earphone housing. The method of claim 1, The ear plug includes a stand-alone ear plug body installed at the bottom end of the earphone housing, the ear plug body extending downward from the top of the ear plug body and adapted to be caught between the migration and the migration. A hook seat connected to a hook and a lower end of the ear plug body and for mounting the ear plug body to a rear end of the earphone housing, wherein the earphone housing can be adjusted up and down with respect to the ring seat. Earphones. In earphones without shock noise to prevent conductive hearing loss, An earphone housing having a front portion arranged so as to be caught between the migration and migration of the outer ear and attached to a concha, a hollow acoustic chamber located therein, and a plurality of acoustic holes formed in the front portion, A sound output end supported in the hollow acoustic chamber of the earphone housing and disposed to face the rear end of the earphone housing and a rear end facing the front portion of the earphone housing, the sound output end being the earphone housing A loudspeaker disposed in a direction opposite to the front portion of A conductive cord connected to the bottom end of the earphone housing and transferring current to the loudspeaker Earphones including a.

Images