Method and structure for achieving spectrum-tunable and uniform attenuation
First Claim
1. An earplug comprising:
- a reservoir, where the reservoir includes a flowable medium;
a valve;
a channel; and
a flexible distal end,where the reservoir is operationally connected to the distal end by the channel, where the valve is in the channel between the reservoir and the distal end,where the valve is configured to allow the flowable medium to flow from the reservoir to the distal end,where the flowable medium is selected to attenuate at least one acoustic frequency within a first acoustic frequency bandwidth, andwhere an operational pressure of the flowable medium and any second flowable medium surrounded by the flexible distal end is selected to be within a gauge pressure range during use.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates hearing protection devices for the human ear. More particularly, embodiments of the invention provide hearing protection devices capable of tunable acoustic attenuation. The invention relates further to ear plugs comprising a fluid-containing balloon for occlusion of the ear canal, which are capable of being adjusted for example by modifying fluid composition and/or fluid pressure within the balloon to vary attenuation at different frequencies of the audible sound spectrum. Other embodiments provide an earplug with fixed attenuation comprising: a body of compressible/expandable-recovery material shaped and sized to fit in an ear canal; and at least one chamber disposed within the body and comprising a filler material chosen from at least one of water, aphrons, water with solid or gelatinous particles suspended, and oil with particles suspended.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. An earplug comprising:
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a reservoir, where the reservoir includes a flowable medium; a valve; a channel; and a flexible distal end, where the reservoir is operationally connected to the distal end by the channel, where the valve is in the channel between the reservoir and the distal end, where the valve is configured to allow the flowable medium to flow from the reservoir to the distal end, where the flowable medium is selected to attenuate at least one acoustic frequency within a first acoustic frequency bandwidth, and where an operational pressure of the flowable medium and any second flowable medium surrounded by the flexible distal end is selected to be within a gauge pressure range during use. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An earplug comprising:
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a reservoir; and a medium, where the medium is contained within the reservoir, where the reservoir is deformable and configured to expand back to a precompressed state when compressed and released, where the reservoir is configured to be compressed by a user'"'"'s fingers and inserted into an ear canal, where upon or after insertion into the ear canal the reservoir is configured to expand, applying pressure to the ear canal wall. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. An acoustic shaping panel comprising:
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a front; a back; a rim; and a medium container, where the medium container is configured to be pressurized, where the medium container contains a medium, where the front, back, and rim substantially encloses the container, where the medium is selected to shape an incident acoustic spectrum to a designed transmitted acoustic spectrum. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification