MASS LOADED EARBUD WITH VENT CHAMBER

• US 20150382100A1
• Filed: 04/17/2015
• Published: 12/31/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Azmi, Yacine, Howes, Michael B., Andersen, Esge B., Aase, Jonathan S.
• Granted Patent: US 9,578,412 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1016 Earpieces of the intra-aural type
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1091 Details not provided for in groups H04R1/1008 - H04R1/1083
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/2811 for loudspeaker transducers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/2823 Vents, i.e. ports, e.g. shape thereof or tuning thereof with damping material number or position of ports H04R1/2815; vents in bandpass type enclosures H04R1/2846
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/2826 for loudspeaker transducers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/2849 for loudspeaker transducers

Abstract

Intra-concha earphones are disclosed. In an embodiment, an intra-concha earphone includes a housing having a rear space divided into a back volume, a bass duct, and a vent chamber between a driver and a rear wall. The vent chamber may be acoustically coupled with the back volume through both an acoustic port and the bass duct. Furthermore, the vent chamber may be acoustically coupled with a surrounding environment through a vent port, which may be a sole acoustic opening in the rear wall. Thus, sound emitted by the driver may propagate through the acoustic port and the bass duct to meet in the vent chamber before being discharged through the vent port to the surrounding environment. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.

Claims

1. An intra-concha earphone, comprising:

a housing having a driver therein, the housing including a rear wall behind the driver and a rear space between the driver and the rear wall, wherein the driver is to convert an electrical audio signal into a sound;

a chamber partition in the rear space, the chamber partition defining a back volume behind the driver, wherein the chamber partition includes an acoustic port and a bass aperture;

a vent chamber between the chamber partition and the rear wall, wherein the vent chamber is acoustically coupled with the back volume through the acoustic port; and

a bass duct extending between the bass aperture and the vent chamber, wherein the vent chamber is acoustically coupled with the back volume through the bass duct.

2. The intra-concha earphone of claim 1, wherein the rear wall includes a vent port, and wherein the vent chamber is acoustically coupled with a surrounding environment through the vent port.

3. The intra-concha earphone of claim 2, wherein a first portion of the sound emitted by the driver propagates through the acoustic port and a second portion of the sound propagates through the bass duct, and wherein the first portion and the second portion meet in the vent chamber before exiting the housing through the vent port.

4. The intra-concha earphone of claim 3, wherein the vent port is a sole acoustic opening in the rear wall.

5. The intra-concha earphone of claim 3, further comprising a duct port in the chamber partition, wherein the bass duct extends between the bass aperture at the back volume and the duct port at the vent chamber.

6. The intra-concha earphone of claim 5, wherein the chamber partition includes a back surface having a duct contour between the bass aperture and the duct port, the duct contour defining the bass duct between the back surface and the rear wall.

7. The intra-concha earphone of claim 6, wherein the duct contour follows a curvilinear path over the back surface.

8. The intra-concha earphone of claim 7, wherein the duct port and the acoustic port are separated by less than 1 mm across the vent chamber.

9. The intra-concha earphone of claim 3 further comprising an acoustic mesh covering the acoustic port, wherein the acoustic mesh has a first acoustic impedance, wherein the bass duct has a second acoustic impedance, and wherein the second acoustic impedance is less than the first acoustic impedance.

10. The intra-concha earphone of claim 9 further comprising a vent mesh covering the vent port, wherein the vent mesh has a third acoustic impedance, and wherein the third acoustic impedance is less than the second acoustic impedance.

11. The intra-concha earphone of claim 10, wherein the first acoustic impedance is at least 25 times the third acoustic impedance.

12. The intra-concha earphone of claim 11, wherein the third acoustic impedance is less than 10 Rayl, and wherein the vent mesh includes a plurality of mesh openings having respective diameters of less than 300 micron.

13. The intra-concha earphone of claim 12 further comprising a microphone located in the vent chamber.

14. An intra-concha earphone, comprising:

a driver having an outer edge, the driver being to convert an electrical audio signal into a sound; and

a housing around the outer edge, the housing enclosing a rear space between the driver and a rear wall, wherein the rear space includes a back volume directly behind the driver, a vent chamber between the back volume and the rear wall, and a bass duct extending between a bass aperture at the back volume and a duct port at the vent chamber, wherein the vent chamber is acoustically coupled with the back volume through both the bass duct and an acoustic port spaced apart from the bass aperture at the back volume, and wherein the vent chamber is acoustically coupled with a surrounding environment through a vent port in the rear wall.

15. The intra-concha earphone of claim 14, wherein a first portion of the sound emitted by the driver propagates through the acoustic port and a second portion of the sound propagates through the bass duct, and wherein the first portion and the second portion meet in the vent chamber before exiting the housing through the vent port.

16. The intra-concha earphone of claim 15, wherein the vent port is a sole acoustic opening in the rear wall.

17. The intra-concha earphone of claim 16 further comprising an acoustic mesh covering the acoustic port, wherein the acoustic mesh has a first acoustic impedance, wherein the bass duct has a second acoustic impedance, and wherein the second acoustic impedance is less than the first acoustic impedance.

18. An intra-concha earphone, comprising:

a driver having an outer edge, the driver being to convert an electrical audio signal into a sound; and

a housing around the outer edge, the housing having a rear wall enclosing a rear space between the driver and the rear wall, wherein the rear space includes a back volume behind the driver, a vent chamber between the back volume and the rear wall, and a bass duct extending between a bass aperture at the back volume and a duct port at the vent chamber, and wherein the rear wall includes a sole externally visible opening.

19. The intra-concha earphone of claim 18, wherein a first portion of the sound emitted by the driver propagates through the acoustic port and a second portion of the sound propagates through the bass duct, and wherein the first portion and the second portion meet in the vent chamber before exiting the housing through the sole externally visible opening.

20. The intra-concha earphone of claim 19 further comprising an acoustic mesh covering the acoustic port, wherein the acoustic mesh has a first acoustic impedance, wherein the bass duct has a second acoustic impedance, and wherein the second acoustic impedance is less than the first acoustic impedance.