Hearing aid compatible device
First Claim
1. A bezel for enhancing inductive coupling to a hearing aid worn by a user, the bezel comprising:
- a back side adapted to attach to an electronic device having an acoustic transducer;
a front side; and
a multiple turn electromagnetic coil disposed in proximity to one of the front side and the back side, and positioned to inductively couple to the acoustic transducer and the multiple turn electromagnetic coil positioned to inductively couple to a hearing aid worn by a user when located alongside a face of the user.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A removable bezel (122) for use with an audio device (120) to enhance operation with a hearing aid (102). The removable bezel (122) has an electromagnetic coil (132) that is coupled to the audio output (124, 304, 404, 406) of the audio device. The electromagnetic coil (132) is either inductively coupled to an acoustic transducer (124) within the audio device (120) or by a direct electrical connection (314). The electromagnetic coil (132) has multiple turns and provides an enhanced magnetic field to a “T-Coil” magnetic pick up (112) within most conventional hearing aids (102). A cellular phone (104) is an example of an audio device used with the present invention. A method for use of the removable bezel (122) is also provided.
27 Citations
16 Claims
-
1. A bezel for enhancing inductive coupling to a hearing aid worn by a user, the bezel comprising:
-
a back side adapted to attach to an electronic device having an acoustic transducer;
a front side; and
a multiple turn electromagnetic coil disposed in proximity to one of the front side and the back side, and positioned to inductively couple to the acoustic transducer and the multiple turn electromagnetic coil positioned to inductively couple to a hearing aid worn by a user when located alongside a face of the user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
-
-
5. A removable bezel for enhancing inductive coupling to a hearing aid worn by a user, the removable bezel comprising:
-
a back side adapted to attach to an electronic device;
a front side;
a direct electrical connection adapted to connect to an electrical audio signal produced by the electronic device; and
a multiple turn electromagnetic coil, electrically connected to the direct electrical connection, disposed in proximity to one of the front side and the back side, the multiple turn electromagnetic coil positioned to inductively couple to a hearing aid worn by a user when located alongside a face of the user. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7)
-
-
8. An audio device for enhancing inductive coupling to a hearing aid worn by a user, the audio device comprising:
-
an enclosure;
an audio processor for producing an analog audio output signal;
a removable bezel adapted to attach to the enclosure; and
a multiple turn electromagnetic coil coupled to the audio processor and disposed in proximity to the removable bezel, the multiple turn electromagnetic coil positioned to inductively couple to a hearing aid worn by a user when located alongside a face of the user. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A method of providing an electromagnetic coupling between an audio device and a hearing aid, the method comprising:
-
attaching a removable bezel to an audio device, the audio device comprising an acoustic transducer, the removable bezel comprising a multiple turn electromagnetic coil that is positioned to inductively couple to the acoustic transducer;
locating the removable bezel near a user;
driving the acoustic transducer with an audio signal; and
inductively coupling electromagnetic energy from the multiple turn electromagnetic coil of the removable bezel to a hearing aid worn by the user. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
-
Specification