Two active element in-the-ear microphone system
First Claim
1. An in-the-ear bone and airborne audio pickup system for use in conjunction with systems requiring speech sound input, comprising:
- a housing adapted for positioning at the ear canal of the user, said housing having a plurality of audio transmission paths for separately receiving low speech frequency voice-range audio signals and high speech frequency voice-range audio signals generated by the user'"'"'s voice;
a first sound transducer means coupled to one of said plurality of audio transmission paths and adapted to be responsive to nonairborne sound;
a second sound transducer means coupled to another of said plurality of audio transmission paths and adapted to be responsive to airborne sound;
electronic circuit means coupled to each of said first and second sound transducer means for enhancing the quality of voice audio information received by said first and second sound transducer means;
means for combining outputs of said electronic circuit means into a single electrical signal; and
means for coupling said electrical signal to an external device or system.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The herein described invention relates to an ear mounted, in-the-ear compound microphone system which simultaneously uses both an accelerometer, or vibration transducer, to sense bone conducted low speech frequencies and a microphone with controlled frequency response to sense airborne high speech frequencies within the ear canal. It combines the speech spectrum components picked up by the two transducers into a single composite audio signal with improved human speech frequency response characteristics. It simultaneously demonstrates significantly reduced sensitivity to surrounding background noise and provides measurable hearing protection for the user. Through adjustment and alteration of the supporting electronic circuitry, the operating characteristics and performance of the compound microphone can be changed. The in-the-ear microphone system can be used with a two-way speech system by installing a miniature earphone element within a common housing with the microphone.
521 Citations
14 Claims
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1. An in-the-ear bone and airborne audio pickup system for use in conjunction with systems requiring speech sound input, comprising:
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a housing adapted for positioning at the ear canal of the user, said housing having a plurality of audio transmission paths for separately receiving low speech frequency voice-range audio signals and high speech frequency voice-range audio signals generated by the user'"'"'s voice; a first sound transducer means coupled to one of said plurality of audio transmission paths and adapted to be responsive to nonairborne sound; a second sound transducer means coupled to another of said plurality of audio transmission paths and adapted to be responsive to airborne sound; electronic circuit means coupled to each of said first and second sound transducer means for enhancing the quality of voice audio information received by said first and second sound transducer means; means for combining outputs of said electronic circuit means into a single electrical signal; and means for coupling said electrical signal to an external device or system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A speech pickup system for use in a system requiring voice input for operation, control, information submission, or communication comprising:
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a housing having a hollow extension tip with an ear canal tip mounted thereon for insertion into the ear canal of a user; first sound sensing and transducing means and second sound sensing and transducing means mounted within said housing, said first sound sensing and transducing means being responsive to nonairborne sound, and said second sound sensing and transducing means being responsive to airborne sound; first sound transmission means and second sound transmission means in said housing, hollow extension tip and ear canal tip, coupling said first and second sound sensing and transducing means respectively to the user, for reception of the user'"'"'s speech thereby; electronic circuitry to normalize a first and second transducer speech signals and thence combine them into a single composite signal; and means for coupling the output of said circuitry to an external device or system. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. Apparatus for detecting user speech for use in a system requiring voice input, said apparatus being adapted for placement in the ear of a user during operation, said apparatus comprising:
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a housing having a dense outer surface for transmitting vibration therethrough, and a hollow ear canal tip mounted thereon for insertion into the ear canal of a user; a first sound sensing and transducing means mounted within said housing in operating contact with said housing surface and adapted to detect speech generated sound vibration present in said surface, said first sound sensing and transducing means being adapted to generate first electrical signals responsive to detected speech generated sound vibration; and
,a second sound sensing and transducing means being adapted to generate second electrical signals responsive to airborne sound located in said ear canal. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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Specification