Ear canal microphone
First Claim
1. An open ear canal hearing aid system, comprising:
- a first ear canal tube sized for positioning in an ear canal so that the ear canal is at least partially open for directly receiving ambient sounds, wherein said first ear canal tube has a first end in said ear canal with an opening for receiving said ambient sounds and a second end connected to an input of a microphone;
sound processing means for processing the ambient sound signals produced by said microphone within a predetermined amplitude and frequency range to produce processed sounds; and
a second ear canal tube sized for positioning in the ear canal so that the ear canal is at least partially open for directly receiving ambient sounds, wherein said second ear canal tube transports processed sounds into the ear canal.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An open ear canal hearing aid system is disclosed which comprises a plurality of ear canal tubes sized for positioning in an ear canal of a user so that the ear canal is at least partially open for directly receiving ambient sounds. The open ear canal hearing aid system further comprises a sound processor for amplifying ambient sounds received through one of the ear canal tubes within a predetermined frequency range and to produce processed sounds and for supplying the processed sounds to the second ear canal tube. According to other embodiments of the present invention, the speaker and/or microphone can be located in the ear canal at the end of the ear canal tubes. In these embodiments, the speaker and/or microphone are electrically connected to the sound processor by wires in the ear canal tubes.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. An open ear canal hearing aid system, comprising:
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a first ear canal tube sized for positioning in an ear canal so that the ear canal is at least partially open for directly receiving ambient sounds, wherein said first ear canal tube has a first end in said ear canal with an opening for receiving said ambient sounds and a second end connected to an input of a microphone; sound processing means for processing the ambient sound signals produced by said microphone within a predetermined amplitude and frequency range to produce processed sounds; and a second ear canal tube sized for positioning in the ear canal so that the ear canal is at least partially open for directly receiving ambient sounds, wherein said second ear canal tube transports processed sounds into the ear canal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An open ear canal hearing aid system, comprising:
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a first ear canal tube sized for positioning in an ear canal so that the ear canal is at least partially open for directly receiving ambient sounds, wherein said first ear canal tube has a first end in said ear canal with an opening for receiving said ambient sounds and a second end connected to an input of a microphone; sound processing means for processing the ambient sound signals produced by said microphone within a predetermined amplitude and frequency range to produce processed sounds; and a second ear canal tube sized for positioning in the ear canal so that the ear canal is at least partially open for directly receiving ambient sounds, wherein said ear canal tube contains a speaker located in said ear canal for broadcasting processed sounds. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An open ear canal hearing aid system, comprising:
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a first ear canal tube sized for positioning in an ear canal so that the ear canal is at least partially open for directly receiving ambient sounds, wherein said first ear canal tube has a microphone located at one end of the tube in the ear canal for receiving ambient sounds and for producing sound signals; sound processing means located outside of said ear canal for processing the sound signals produced by the microphone within a predetermined amplitude and frequency range to produce processed sounds, wherein said sound signals are transmitted from the microphone to the sound processing means by wires in said first ear canal tube; and a second ear canal tube sized for positioning in the ear canal so that the ear canal is at least partially open for directly receiving ambient sounds, wherein said second ear canal tube transports processed sounds into the ear canal. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An open ear canal hearing aid system, comprising:
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a first ear canal tube sized for positioning in an ear canal so that the ear canal is at least partially open for directly receiving ambient sounds, wherein said first ear canal tube has a microphone located at the end of the tube in the ear canal for receiving ambient sounds and for producing sound signals; sound processing means for processing the sound signals produced by the microphone within a predetermined amplitude and frequency range to produce processed sounds, wherein said sound signals are transmitted from the microphone to the sound processing means by wires in said first ear canal tube; and a second ear canal tube sized for positioning in the ear canal so that the ear canal is at least partially open for directly receiving ambient sounds, wherein said second ear canal tube has a speaker located at one end of the tube located in the ear canal for broadcasting processed sounds into the ear canal. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. An open ear canal communications earpiece, comprising:
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a microphone means for detecting ambient sounds in an ear canal; sound processing means for processing the ambient sound signals produced by said microphone within a predetermined amplitude and frequency range to produce processed signals; and speaker means for broadcasting processed signals into said ear canal, wherein said communications earpiece is positioned in said ear of a user so that the ear canal is at least partially open for directly receiving ambient sounds. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. An open ear canal communications earpiece, comprising:
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a microphone means for detecting ambient sounds in an ear canal; sound processing means for processing the ambient sound signals produced by said microphone within a predetermined amplitude and frequency range to produce processed signals; and speaker means for broadcasting processed signals into said ear canal, wherein said communications earpiece is positioned in said ear of a user so that the ear canal is at least partially open for directly receiving ambient sounds, wherein said sound processing means does not amplify low frequency sound, the system relying on the open ear canal transmission of low frequency ambient sounds.
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Specification