Earset assembly

• US 7,983,433 B2
• Filed: 11/08/2006
• Issued: 07/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Think-A-Move Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Think-A-Move Ltd.
• Inventors: Nemirovski, Guerman G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kuntz; Curtis
• Assistant Examiner(s): Joshi; Sunita
• Application Number:
  US11/557,775
• Publication Number:
  US 20070121974A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,714 Days
• Field of Search: 381/312, 381/318, 381/326, 381/328, 381/325
• US Class Current: 381/318
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2021/02165 Two microphones, one receiving mainly the noise signal and the other one mainly the speech signal
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/0364 for improving intelligibility
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1016 Earpieces of the intra-aural type
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/225 for telephonic receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2201/107 Monophonic and stereophonic headphones with microphone for two-way hands free communication

Abstract

Disclosed is an earset assembly that has a housing having a microphone port and a speaker port. A microphone is enclosed by the housing and has first and second input ports. The first input port is acoustically coupled to the microphone port to detect air pressure changes of the ear of a user. A speaker is enclosed by the housing and has an output port acoustically coupled to the speaker port to broadcast sounds to the user. The output port is acoustically coupled to the second input port of the microphone so that the microphone cancels at least a portion of feedback from the sounds broadcast by the speaker and detected at the first input port of the microphone.

Claims

1. An earset assembly, comprising:

a housing having a microphone port and a speaker port that are located in physical communication with an ear canal of a user when the earset assembly is retained by an ear of the user;

a microphone enclosed by the housing and having first and second input ports, the first input port acoustically coupled to the microphone port by a first tube so that sound waves present at the microphone port of the housing are communicated to the first input port of the microphone via the first tube so that the microphone detects air pressure changes occurring in the ear canal of the user, wherein the first tube is enclosed by the housing and wherein the coupling of the first input port of the microphone to the microphone port of the housing is closed to an environment surrounding the user; and

a speaker enclosed by the housing and having an output port acoustically coupled to the speaker port by a second tube that is enclosed by the housing to broadcast sounds to the ear canal of the user and the output port acoustically coupled to the second input port of the microphone by a third tube that is enclosed by the housing, is separate from the first tube, and is acoustically joined with the second tube so that the microphone cancels at least a portion of feedback from the sounds broadcast by the speaker and detected at the first input port of the microphone by travel through the second tube, the ear canal and the first tube.

2. The earset assembly according to claim 1, wherein the microphone is a unidirectional microphone.

3. The earset assembly according to claim 1, wherein the input ports of the microphone are vibration receptor knobs and the output port of the speaker is a vibration transmission knob.

4. The earset assembly according to claim 1, wherein the air pressure changes occurring in the ear canal of the user include sound waves emanating from the ear that correspond to speech of the user.

5. The earset assembly according to claim 1, wherein the acoustic coupling from the output port of the speaker to the second input port of the microphone includes an acoustic resistance.

6. The earset assembly according to claim 1, wherein the microphone includes an acoustic resistance between the second input port and a transducer element.

7. The earset assembly according to claim 1, wherein the housing has a second microphone port acoustically coupled to the second input port of the microphone so that the microphone cancels at least a portion of ambient noise detected at the first input port of the microphone.

8. The earset assembly according to claim 7, wherein the ambient noise includes sounds emanating from the mouth of the user.

9. The earset assembly according to claim 7, wherein a fourth tube that is enclosed by the housing is used to establish the acoustic coupling of the second microphone port with the second input port of the microphone.

10. The earset assembly according to claim 9, wherein the fourth tube is acoustically joined to the third tube.

11. A communication system comprising the earset assembly of claim 1 and a telephone having a connection to the earset assembly to receive an output signal from the microphone and to transmit an output signal to the speaker.

12. A sound processing system comprising the earset assembly of claim 1 and a sound processing apparatus having a connection to the earset assembly to receive an output signal of the microphone.

13. The sound processing system according to claim 12, wherein the sound processing apparatus executes a logic routine to process the output signal.

14. The sound processing system according to claim 12, wherein the sound processing apparatus is a speech recognition system.

15. The sound processing system according to claim 12, wherein the sound processing apparatus is a medical diagnostic system.

16. The sound processing system according to claim 12, wherein the sound processing apparatus is a control system for a controllable device.

17. An earset assembly, comprising:

a housing having a first microphone port that is located in physical communication with an ear canal of a user when the earset assembly is retained by an ear of the user and a second microphone port that is open to an environment surrounding the user; and

a microphone enclosed by the housing and having;

a first input port acoustically coupled to the first microphone port by a first tube so that sound waves present at the microphone port of the housing are communicated to the first input port of the microphone via the first tube so that the microphone detects air pressure changes occurring in the ear canal of the user, wherein the first tube is enclosed by the housing and wherein the coupling of the first input port of the microphone to the microphone port of the housing is closed to the environment surrounding the user; and

a second input port acoustically coupled to the second microphone port by a second tube that is enclosed by the housing so that the microphone cancels at least a portion of ambient noise from the environment that is detected at the first input port of the microphone.

18. The earset assembly according to claim 17, wherein the acoustic coupling from the second microphone port to the second input port of the microphone includes an acoustic resistance.

19. The earset assembly according to claim 17, wherein the air pressure changes occurring in the ear canal of the user include sound waves emanating from the ear that correspond to speech of the user.

20. The earset assembly according to claim 17, wherein the ambient noise includes sounds emanating from the mouth of a user.

21. A sound processing system comprising the earset assembly of claim 17 and a sound processing apparatus having a connection to the earset assembly to receive an output signal of the microphone.