Customized hearing protection earplug and method for manufacturing the same

• US 20060042868A1
• Filed: 12/23/2004
• Published: 03/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sonova AG (Sonova Holding AG)
• Original Assignee: Phonak AG (Sonova Holding AG)
• Inventors: Berg, Christian, Bleiker, Gregory, Haussmann, Mathias
• Granted Patent: US 7,478,702 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 181/135
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 11/08 internal, e.g. earplugs
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 11/10 inflatable or expandable
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 80/00 Products made by additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/652 Ear tips; Ear moulds hybrid ear moulds or post-processing thereof for their customisation H04R25/659
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/658 Manufacture of housing parts

Abstract

The invention relates to a hearing protection earplug (10) to be worn at least in part in a user'"'"'s ear canal, comprising a shell (12) having a outer surface individually shaped according to the measured inner shape of the user'"'"'s outer ear and ear canal, and a functional member (20, 30, 120, 144, 220, 320, 420) engaging said shell in a manner so as to be movable relative to said shell between a first functional position and a second functional position, said shell and said functional member having been produced by an additive layer-by-layer build-up process and having an elasticity of between shore D85 and D65.

Claims

1. A hearing protection earplug to be worn at least in part in a user'"'"'s ear canal, comprising a shell having an outer surface individually shaped according to a measured inner shape of said user'"'"'s outer ear and ear canal, and a functional member engaging said shell in a manner so as to be movable relative to said shell between a first functional position and a second functional position, said shell and said functional member having been produced by an additive layer-by-layer build-up process and having an elasticity of between shore D85 and D65.

2. The earplug of claim 1, wherein said shell and said functional member have been produced by laser sintering of a powder material, such as polyamide powder, by a laser stereo-lithography process or by a photo-polymerization process.

3. The earplug of claim 1, wherein said shell and said functional member are connected by an elastic portion of said shell, said elastic portion having a shape enabling movement of said functional member relative to said shell.

4. The earplug of claim 1, wherein said shell and said functional member are fixedly connected and wherein said functional member has a shape enabling movement of a portion of said functional member relative to said shell.

5. The earplug of claim 1, wherein said shell and said functional member are separate parts.

6. The earplug of claim 1, wherein said functional member is manually operable by said user.

7. The earplug of claim 1, wherein said shell is adapted to provide for an acoustic attenuation of at least 10 dB averaged over an audible frequency range when worn at least in part in said user'"'"'s ear canal.

8. The earplug of claim 1, wherein said functional member is adapted to change the outer shape of said shell when being moved from said first functional position to said second functional position in order to enhance retention of said shell within the user'"'"'s ear canal.

9. The earplug of claim 8, wherein said shell comprises an axial portion in which the thickness of an outer wall is reduced relative to a remainder of said shell in order to enable said outer wall of said axial portion to bulge outwardly upon movement of said functional member from said first functional position into said second functional position.

10. The earplug of claim 9, wherein said functional member is adapted to axially compress said shell when being moved from said first functional position to said second functional position in order to make said outer wall of said axial portion bulge outwardly.

11. The earplug of claim 10, wherein said functional member is rotatable around a longitudinal axis of said shell and is in threaded engagement with said shell in order to axially compress said shell upon rotation.

12. The earplug of claim 9, wherein said functional element comprises or is connected to an internal element which is adapted to be forced radially outwardly towards said outer wall of said axial portion upon movement of said functional member from said first functional position to said second functional position in order to make said outer wall of said axial portion bulge outwardly.

13. The earplug of claim 12, wherein said internal element is a spiral spring element.

14. The earplug of claim 13, wherein one end of said spiral spring element is fixed in a circumferential direction of said shell, while another end of said spiral spring element is movable in said circumferential direction of said shell upon rotation of said functional member between said first functional position and said second functional position.

15. The earplug of claim 13, wherein one end of said spiral spring element is fixed in the circumferential direction of shell, while another end of said spiral spring element is movable in a radial direction of said shell upon movement of said functional member from said first functional position to said second functional position.

16. The earplug of claim 13, wherein said spiral spring element is formed integral with said shell.

17. The earplug of claim 12, wherein said internal element is a wedge element and wherein said functional member is adapted to drive said wedge element for movement in a radial direction of said shell upon movement of said functional member from said first functional position to said second functional position, said wedge element being adapted to force at least a portion of said outer wall of said axial portion radially outwardly upon movement of said wedge element in said radial direction of said shell.

18. The earplug of claim 17, wherein said wedge element is adapted for engagement with at least one first wall portion which engages with a second wall portion in such a manner that said second wall portion is forced radially outwardly by said first wall portion when said first wall portion is forced radially outwardly by said wedge element,

19. The earplug of claim 15, wherein said functional member is a lever which is rotatable around an axis oriented at an angle between 70 and 110 degrees to the longitudinal axis of said shell.

20. The earplug of claim 1, wherein said functional member is adapted to change the sound transmission through a sound passage extending through said shell when being moved from said first functional position to said second functional position in order to change an acoustic setting of said earplug.

21. The earplug of claim 20, wherein said functional member is adapted to acoustically open and close said sound passage in said first and second functional position, respectively, with an acoustic attenuation across said sound passage differing by at least 10 dB averaged over an audible frequency range between said first and said second functional position.

22. The earplug of claim 20, wherein said sound passage includes an acoustic filter.

23. The earplug of claim 20, wherein said functional member is designed as a button manually operable by said user.

24. The earplug of claim 20, wherein said functional member is designed as an acoustic valve which is operable by the said pressure level experienced by said valve.

25. The earplug of claim 20, wherein said shell comprises an additional sound passage by-passing said functional member.

26. The earplug of claim 25, wherein said additional sound passage includes an acoustic filter.

27. The earplug of claim 20, wherein said functional member includes biasing means formed integral with said shell for biasing said functional member into said first functional position.

28. The earplug of claim 21, wherein said functional member is designed as an acoustic valve which is moveable from said first position into said second position by detachably engaging an active unit comprising at least one of an acoustic output transducer and a microphone with said shell, and wherein said output transducer or said microphone, respectively, is acoustically connected with a distal end of said sound passage (216) when said active unit is engaged with said shell.

29. The earplug of claim 1, wherein said functional member is movable axially relative to said shell.

30. The earplug of claim 1, wherein said functional member is rotatable relative to said shell.

50. A use of the hearing protection earplug of claim 1, comprising:

manually moving said functional member between said first and second position.

51. The use of claim 50, wherein said functional member is manually moved between said first and second position when said earplug is worn at least in part in said user'"'"'s ear canal.

31. A hearing protection system comprising an earplug to be worn at least in part in a user'"'"'s ear canal and a holder comprising a receptacle for detachably receiving at least part of said earplug when not worn by said user, said earplug comprising a shell having an outer surface individually shaped according to a measured inner shape of said user'"'"'s outer ear and ear canal, said shell and said holder having been produced by an additive layer-by-layer build-up process, and said receptacle of said holder having an individual inner shape corresponding to the shape of said outer surface of said shell.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein said receptacle is adapted to hold said earplug by snap-fit engagement.

33. The system of claim 31, wherein said shell and said holder have an elasticity of between shore D85 and D65.

34. The system of claim 31, wherein said system comprises two of said earplugs and wherein said holder comprises two of said receptacles in order to detachably hold both of said earplugs.

35. The system of one of claims 31 to 34, wherein said holder (11) is adapted to be fixed at the user'"'"'s clothing.

36. A method for manufacturing an earplug comprising a shell to be worn at least in part in a user'"'"'s ear canal and a functional member engaging said shell a manner so as to be movable relative to said shell between a first functional position and a second functional position, comprising:

measuring an inner shape of said user'"'"'s ear canal and outer ear;

selecting at least one earplug function according to said user'"'"'s desires and needs;

determining, based on said measured inner shape of said user'"'"'s ear canal and outer ear and on said at least one selected earplug function, a desired individual shape of said shell and a shape of said functional member, wherein an outer surface of said shell is individually shaped according to said measured inner shape of said user'"'"'s ear canal and outer ear and wherein said functional member is adapted to provide for said at least one selected earplug function; and

simultaneously forming said shell and said functional member according to said determined shapes by an additive layer-by-layer build-up process, thereby movably engaging said functional member with said shell.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein said functional member has a standardized shape.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein said functional member is individually shaped according to at least one of said user'"'"'s individual desires and needs and according to said individual shape of said user'"'"'s ear canal and outer ear.

39. The method of claim 36, wherein said at least one earplug function is selected from a predefined list of earplug functions stored in a database.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein said list includes a definition of a shape of the respective functional member associated to each of said earplug functions.

41. The method of claim 36, wherein said shell and said functional member are formed as separate parts.

42. The method of claim 36, wherein said build-up process is selected from the group consisting of layer-by-layer laser sintering of a powder material, a laser stereo-lithography process and a photo-polymerization process.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein said powder material is a polyamide powder.

44. The method of claim 36, wherein said inner shape of said user'"'"'s ear canal and outer ear is measured by in-vivo scanning of said user'"'"'s ear canal and outer ear or by taking an impression of said user'"'"'s ear canal and outer ear and subsequent scanning of said impression.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein said scanning process uses light such as laser light.

46. The method of claim 36, wherein said selected earplug function is an adjustable acoustic attenuation of said earplug.

47. The method of claim 36, wherein said selected earplug function is an adjustable outer shape of said shell.

48. A method for manufacturing a hearing protection system comprising an earplug having a shell to be worn at least in part in a user'"'"'s ear canal and a holder comprising a receptacle for detachably receiving at least part of said earplug when not worn by the user, comprising:

measuring an inner shape of said user'"'"'s ear canal and outer ear, determining, based on said measured inner shape of said user'"'"'s ear canal and outer ear, the desired individual shape of said shell and the shape of said functional member, and forming said shell and said holder by an additive layer-by-layer build-up process, wherein said receptacle of said holder is formed with an individual inner shape corresponding to a shape of an outer surface of said shell.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein said holder and said earplug are formed simultaneously.