Hearing aid with dual pickup
First Claim
1. A hearing aid system comprising:
- a hearing aid including a microphone responsive to audible sounds for producing first electrical signals, means for amplifying said first electrical signals, and first transducer means for converting said first electrical signals to audible sound signals;
second transducer means for generating sound signals in response to second electrical signals;
a hollow acoustic conduit extending between said second transducer means and said microphone for conducting the sound signals from said second transducer means to said microphone;
means for applying said second electrical signals to said second transducer means;
a first housing for at least said microphone and amplifying means of said hearing aid;
a second housing for said second transducer means; and
,means for mounting said second housing on said first housing with said first housing supporting said second housing.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A conventional hearing aid for a hard-of-hearing person has a microphone input for sensing sounds or voice communication. In a high noise environment, a somewhat remotely located speaker wishing to communicate with the person talks into a microphone input to a transmitter so that his spoken word is transmitted as a modulated carrier wave. The hard-of-hearing person is provided with a receiver which receives and detects the modulated carrier wave. The detected signal is applied to a transducer to reproduce the spoken word. A hollow elongated conduit comprising a flexible tube having a small bore extending therethrough, conducts the audible sound representing the spoken word from the transducer to the microphone input of the hearing aid, thus enabling the wearer of the hearing aid to hear the remotely spoken sounds of a lower level than the ambient noise while at the same time hearing the ambient noise. The conduit may contain a wire for acoustic loading and/or structural strength. The receiver is detachable from the transducer so that the transducer may be worn or carried about with the hearing aid by the user.
37 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A hearing aid system comprising:
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a hearing aid including a microphone responsive to audible sounds for producing first electrical signals, means for amplifying said first electrical signals, and first transducer means for converting said first electrical signals to audible sound signals; second transducer means for generating sound signals in response to second electrical signals; a hollow acoustic conduit extending between said second transducer means and said microphone for conducting the sound signals from said second transducer means to said microphone; means for applying said second electrical signals to said second transducer means; a first housing for at least said microphone and amplifying means of said hearing aid; a second housing for said second transducer means; and
,means for mounting said second housing on said first housing with said first housing supporting said second housing. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A hearing aid system comprising:
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a hearing aid including a microphone responsive to audible sounds for producing first electrical signals, means for amplifying said first electrical signals, and first transducer means for converting said first electrical signals to audible sound signals; second transducer means for generating sound signals in response to second electrical signals; a hollow acoustic conduit extending between said second transducer means and said microphone for conducting the sound signals from said second transducer means to said microphone; means for applying said second electrical signals to said second transducer means; first and second housings for said hearing aid and said second transducer means, respectively; and
,an audio output tube extending from the first housing; said hollow acoustic conduit extending around said audio output tube to mechanically help support said second housing and said hollow acoustic conduit on said first housing.
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5. A method of communicating with a hard-of-hearing person in an environment wherein the ambient sound level at the person is higher than the level of speech voiced by a remote speaker, said method comprising:
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providing the person with a hearing aid with a microphone input for picking up said ambient sound; providing the remote speaker with a microphone and transmitter whereby the speech voiced by said remote speaker is transmitted by wireless as a modulated carrier wave; providing the person with a receiver and transducer for receiving and detecting said modulating carrier wave and reproducing the speech voiced by said remote speaker as audible signals; and conducting the audible signals comprising said reproduced speech through a hollow conduit from said transducer to the microphone input of said hearing aid while simultaneously permitting said ambient sound to enter said microphone unobstructed. - View Dependent Claims (6)
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7. A hearing aid system comprising:
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a hearing aid including a microphone responsive to audible sounds in the environment surrounding the wearer for producing first electrical signals, means for amplifying said first electrical signals, and first transducer means for converting said first electrical signals to audible sound signals; second transducer means for generating sound signals in response to second electrical signals; and
,a hollow acoustic conduit for conducting the sound signals from said second transducer means to a region in the vicinity of said microphone for application of said sound signals to said microphone concurrently with said audible sounds, without noticeably affecting the intensity of said audible sounds. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A system for aiding a hard-of-hearing student in a classroom, said student wearing a personal hearing aid including a student microphone for picking up sounds in the environment surrounding the student and producing first electrical signals therefrom, means for amplifying said first electrical signals, and first transducer means for converting said first electrical signals to audible sound signals, said system including:
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a teacher microphone and transmitter for the wireless transmission of signals representing the teacher'"'"'s voice; a receiver associated with the student, said receiver including a volume control means for controlling the magnitude of electrical output signals produced by said receiver; a second transducer means responsive to the electrical output signals from the receiver for producing audible signals representing the teacher'"'"'s voice; an elongated hollow conduit for conveying said audible signals to a region near said student microphone for application to said student microphone simultaneously with said sounds from the environment whereby said student may simultaneously hear both said teacher'"'"'s voice, at a sound level controlled by said volume control means, and said sounds from said environment. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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Specification