METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ALERTING USER TO SOUND OCCURRENCE

• US 20170117004A1
• Filed: 10/20/2016
• Published: 04/27/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2015
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Ufirst Inc.
• Original Assignee: Ufirst Inc.
• Inventors: LEE, Hyun Sang
• Application Number:
  US15/298,745
• Publication Number:
  US 20170117004A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 11/045 using mechanical stimulation of nerves
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/51 for comparison or discrimination
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1075 Mountings of transducers in earphones or headphones
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2460/13 Hearing devices using bone conduction transducers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 5/0335 Earpiece support, e.g. headbands or neckrests for monophonic headphones H04R1/105

Abstract

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for providing a notification through a sound alerting apparatus comprises determining whether sensitivities of ambient sounds respectively received through sound sensors are a preset vibration reference sensitivity or higher, calculating a gap between the sensitivities when the sensitivities are the preset vibration reference sensitivity or higher, and operate at least one of vibration generators according to the gap to alert a user to a sound occurrence.

Claims

1. A method for providing a notification through a sound alerting apparatus, the method comprising:

determining whether sensitivities of ambient sounds respectively received through sound sensors are a preset vibration reference sensitivity or higher;

calculating a gap between the sensitivities when the sensitivities are the preset vibration reference sensitivity or higher; and

operate at least one of vibration generators according to the gap to alert a user to a sound occurrence.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein when the gap is a predetermined value or less, the vibration generators are operated to alert the user to the sound occurrence, and when the gap is higher than the predetermined value, a direction of one receiving a higher sensitivity of sound of the sound sensors is identified.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein one of the vibration generators which is disposed corresponding to the sound sensor receiving the higher sensitivity of sound is operated to alert the user to the sound occurrence in the identified direction.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the vibration generators is operated according to a preset vibration strength and time to alert the user to the sound occurrence.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising outputting each of the ambient sounds through an earphone.

6. A sound alerting apparatus, comprising:

microphones receiving and processing ambient sounds;

vibration generators each operated under a control signal to generate a vibration; and

a controller determining whether sensitivities of the ambient sounds respectively received from the microphones are a preset vibration reference sensitivity or higher, calculating a gap between the sensitivities when the sensitivities are the preset vibration reference sensitivity or higher, and operating at least one of the vibration generators according to the gap to alert a user to a sound occurrence.

7. The sound alerting apparatus of claim 6, wherein when the gap is a predetermined value or less, the controller operates the vibration generators to alert the user to the sound occurrence, and when the gap is higher than the predetermined value, the controller identifies a direction of one receiving a higher sensitivity of sound of the sound sensors.

8. The sound alerting apparatus of claim 7, wherein the controller operates one of the vibration generators which is disposed corresponding to the sound sensor receiving the higher sensitivity of sound to alert the user to the sound occurrence in the identified direction.

9. The sound alerting apparatus of claim 6, wherein the controller operates at least one of the vibration generators according to a preset vibration strength and time to alert the user to the sound occurrence.

10. The sound alerting apparatus of claim 6, further comprising an earphone outputting each of the ambient sounds to the user.