Earplug and method for manufacturing the same
First Claim
1. An active hearing protection earplug comprising a shell to be worn at least in part in a user'"'"'s ear canal and being adapted to attenuate sound waves arriving at an outer end of said shell, and an active system comprising an input transducer for converting ambient sound into audio signals, an audio signal processing unit for processing said audio signals, and an output transducer unit mounted within said shell for converting said processed audio signals into sound output at an inner end of said shell, wherein amplification of said active system is negative and wherein said output transducer unit comprises at least two separate outputs.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention relates to an active hearing protection earplug comprising a shell (2000) to be worn at least in part in a user'"'"'s ear canal and being adapted to attenuate sound waves arriving at the outer end (2001) of the shell, and an active system (2002, 2010) comprising an input transducer (2024) for converting ambient sound into audio signals, an audio signal processing unit (2028) for processing said audio signals, and an output transducer unit (2010) mounted within the shell for converting said processed audio signals into sound output at the inner end of the shell, wherein the amplification of the active system is negative and wherein the output transducer unit comprises at least two separate outputs (2032, 2034). The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing such an earplug.
49 Citations
34 Claims
- 1. An active hearing protection earplug comprising a shell to be worn at least in part in a user'"'"'s ear canal and being adapted to attenuate sound waves arriving at an outer end of said shell, and an active system comprising an input transducer for converting ambient sound into audio signals, an audio signal processing unit for processing said audio signals, and an output transducer unit mounted within said shell for converting said processed audio signals into sound output at an inner end of said shell, wherein amplification of said active system is negative and wherein said output transducer unit comprises at least two separate outputs.
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10. A method for manufacturing an earplug including a shell to be worn at least in part in a user'"'"'s ear canal and an acoustic output transducer unit, mounted within said shell, for sound output at an inner end of said shell, comprising:
- determining a desired sound frequency response function of said output transducer unit when mounted within said shell, establishing an acoustic model of said shell including said output transducer unit, and forming a shell having a receptacle for mounting said output transducer unit within said shell and a sound cavity connecting said output transducer unit to a sound outlet opening at said inner end of said shell, wherein said sound cavity is shaped and sized according to said model in order to tune an actual sound frequency response of said output transducer unit according to said desired sound frequency response of said output transducer unit.
- View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
- 15. An active hearing protection earplug comprising a hard shell to be worn at least in part in a user'"'"'s ear canal, said shell having an elasticity of from shore D-85 to shore D-65 and an outer surface individually shaped according to a measured inner shape of said user'"'"'s outer ear and ear canal and being adapted to attenuate sound waves arriving at an outer end of said shell, and an active system mounted at or within said shell and comprising an input transducer for converting sound waves arriving at the outer end of the earplug into audio signals, a signal processing unit for processing said audio signals, and an output transducer unit for converting said processed audio signals into sound output at an inner end of said shell, wherein amplification of said active system is negative, wherein said output transducer is hard mounted within a predefined cavity within said shell.
- 19. A hearing protection earplug comprising an integral shell to be worn at least in part in a user'"'"'s ear canal and being adapted to attenuate sound waves arriving at an outer end of said shell, said shell comprising a measurement channel formed as a cavity integral with said shell and extending from an outer end of said shell through said shell to an inner end of said shell or into an interior of said shell, said measurement channel comprising, at an outer end thereof, means for acoustically connecting said measurement channel to an external measurement unit in a detachable manner, wherein said shell is a hard shell with an elasticity of from shore D-85 to shore D-65 which has an outer surface individually shaped according to a measured inner shape of said user'"'"'s outer ear and ear canal.
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21. The earplug of 20, wherein said adapter element is adapted to be closed by a plug in a detachable manner when not connected to said external measurement tube.
- 23. Hearing protection earplug comprising a shell to be worn at least in part in a user'"'"'s ear canal and being adapted to attenuate sound waves arriving at an outer end of said shell, said shell comprising a sound passage adapted to pass sound to a sound outlet opening at an inner end of said shell, wherein said sound passage comprises closing means which are adapted to acoustically close said sound passage if a sound pressure level at said closing means exceeds a threshold value and to acoustically open said sound passage if said sound pressure level does not exceed said threshold value.
Specification