Hearing device with a sound transducer and method for producing a sound transducer

• US 8,345,904 B2
• Filed: 05/19/2010
• Issued: 01/01/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sivantos Pte. Ltd. (WS Audiology A/S)
• Original Assignee: Siemens Medical Instruments Pte Ltd (WS Audiology A/S)
• Inventors: Albach, Thorsten, Lerch, Reinhard, Sutor, Alexander, Weidner, Tom, Weistenhöfer, Christian
• Primary Examiner(s): Donels, Jeffrey
• Application Number:
  US12/783,100
• Publication Number:
  US 20100296681A1
• Time in Patent Office: 958 Days
• Field of Search: 381312-331
• US Class Current: 381/322
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1075 Mountings of transducers in earphones or headphones
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 15/00 Magnetostrictive transducers magnetostrictive elements in general H10N30/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 17/00 Piezoelectric transducers; Electrostrictive transducers piezoelectric or electrostrictive elements in general H10N30/00; details of piezoelectric or electrostrictive motors, generators or positioners H10N30/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2201/003 Mems transducers or their use
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/604 of acoustic or vibrational transducers

Abstract

In hearing devices, more particularly in hearing aids, it is desirable to be able to design an earpiece for generating sound in the audible range which is as small as possible. Such an earpiece can then be worn comfortably on an ear or in an auditory canal. A sound transducer for the hearing device disclosed here may be formed as a micro-electromechanical system and the transducer enables generation of an acoustic signal with little distortion. Provision is made for a hearing device with a sound transducer, which has a field generation apparatus for generating an electric or magnetic field and an emission apparatus for generating sound. Here, the emission apparatus has a multiplicity of fingers that are penetrated by the field of the field generation apparatus, wherein the shape of the fingers can be changed by means of the field of the field generation apparatus in order to generate the sound.

Claims

1. A hearing device, comprising:

a sound transducer having;

a field generation apparatus for generating an electric or magnetic field; and

an emission apparatus for generating sound, said emission apparatus having a multiplicity of fingers disposed to be penetrated by the field of said field generation apparatus, said fingers having a shape to be changed by way of the field of said field generation apparatus in order to generate the sound.

2. The hearing device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said fingers comprises at least two mutually parallel layers, and at least one of said layers is deformable by an effect selected from the group consisting of an inverse piezoelectric effect or a magnetostrictive effect.

3. The hearing device according to claim 2, wherein at least one of said fingers comprises two layers that are each deformable by one of the effects.

4. The hearing device according to claim 1, wherein said emission apparatus includes a layer formed with a hole, and said fingers are disposed above said hole.

5. The hearing device according to claim 1, wherein said emission apparatus includes a membrane covering said fingers.

6. The hearing device according to claim 5, wherein said membrane is made of polyethylene terephthalate.

7. The hearing device according to claim 1, wherein said fingers are disposed in two mutually parallel rows of fingers.

8. The hearing device according to claim 7, wherein said fingers in a respective said row are of equal length.

9. The hearing device according to claim 1, wherein said fingers include fingers of mutually different lengths.

10. The hearing device according to claim 1, wherein said fingers include fingers disposed at an offset to one another.

11. The hearing device according to claim 1, wherein two fingers of equal length are in each case arranged opposite to one another.

12. The hearing device according to claim 1, wherein said field generation apparatus comprises a permanent magnet.

13. The hearing device according to claim 1, wherein said field generation apparatus includes a flat coil.

14. The hearing device according to claim 1, wherein said field generation apparatus is formed, at least in part, as a first microchip, and said emission apparatus is formed as a second microchip.

15. A method for producing a sound transducer with a multiplicity of fingers for generating sound, the method which comprises:

providing a substrate;

arranging a protective layer on a front side of the substrate, wherein a shape of the fingers is determined by a profile of an edge of the protective layer; and

applying a medium for dissolving the substrate to the front side and a rear side of the substrate.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein:

the providing step comprises providing a carrier substrate with layers arranged thereon for forming the fingers; and

the carrier substrate consists of silicon with the crystal orientation <

100>

; and

the protective layer is formed such that a longitudinal axis of the respective fingers is arranged at an angle of 45°

to the crystal axes of the carrier substrate.