Hearing aid, expansion unit and method for manufacturing a hearing aid

• US 8,798,294 B2
• Filed: 07/18/2007
• Issued: 08/05/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: K/S HIMPP
• Original Assignee: Exsilent Research B.V.
• Inventors: Havenith, Michel Martin Marie, Pander, Aeldrik, Kaal, Marcus Johannes Aloysius
• Primary Examiner(s): Toledo, Fernando L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shamsuzzaman, Mohammed
• Application Number:
  US12/374,490
• Publication Number:
  US 20090262964A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,575 Days
• Field of Search: 381/312, 381314-315, 381326-328, 381/330
• US Class Current: 381/314
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/0216 BTE hearing aids having a receiver in the ear mould
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/31 Aspects of the use of accumulators in hearing aids, e.g. rechargeable batteries or fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/33 Aspects relating to adaptation of the battery voltage, e.g. its regulation, increase or decrease
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2460/15 Determination of the acoustic seal of ear moulds or ear tips of hearing devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2499/11 Transducers incorporated or for use in hand-held devices, e.g. mobile phones, PDA's, camera's
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/505 using digital signal processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/607 of earhooks
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/658 Manufacture of housing parts
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49005 Acoustic transducer

Abstract

A hearing aid includes a device housing to be worn outside an ear of a user and which co-acts with an in-the-ear part provided with a sound-emitting opening and which is intended and adapted to be received at least substantially in the ear of the user. The in-the-ear part is physically separated from the device housing, wherein at least a microphone and a loudspeaker are accommodated together with the sound-emitting opening in the in-the-ear part. An electronic connection is present between the device housing and the in-the-ear part. A power supply of a hearing aid particularly includes a capacitor (40), more particularly an ultra-capacitor. The functionality of a hearing aid can be expanded with an expansion unit (50). For an accurate fit of the in-the-ear part use is made of a digital representation which has been modified on the basis of fitting data of a fitting body.

Claims

1. A hearing aid, comprising:

a behind-the-ear (BTE) component, comprising a device housing configured to be worn behind an ear of a user;

a completely-in-canal (CIC) component, comprising a sound-emitting opening, said completely-in-canal (CIC) component being configured to be received completely recessed in the ear canal of the user; and

at least an electric power supply, a microphone, a loudspeaker and a processing device for a purpose of reproducing sound received via the microphone and delivering reproduced sound via the loudspeaker and the sound-emitting opening to an auditory organ of the user,

wherein the completely-in-canal (CIC) component is physically separated from the behind-the-ear (BTE) component,

wherein said completely-in-canal (CIC) component and said behind-the-ear (BTE) component are mutually connected via an electrical cable connection which, at least during operation, establishes an electronic connection between the behind-the-ear (BTE) component and the completely-in-canal (CIC) component,

wherein the loudspeaker as well as the microphone are accommodated in the completely-in-canal (CIC) component,

wherein said electrical cable connection has a length sufficient for the completely-in-canal (CIC) component and the microphone to reside completely recessed in the ear canal of the user,

wherein said processing device is a programmable digital sound processor which reproduces said sound in at least partly processed manner, and

wherein the completely-in-canal (CIC) component is accommodated in a casing which comprises at least one flexible fin at an outer circumference thereof for lying resiliently against an inner wall of the ear canal, and

wherein the completely-in-canal (CIC) component is removable from the ear by the electrical cable connection and/or a pull cord in the form of a monolithic extension of the casing which is formed integrally therewith.

2. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 1, wherein the completely-in-canal (CIC) component comprises the processing device together with the loudspeaker and the microphone.

3. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 1, wherein the completely-in-canal (CIC) component is removably fitted in said casing.

4. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 1,

wherein the device housing comprises a primary power supply, and

wherein the completely-in-canal (CIC) component comprises a secondary power supply.

5. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 4, wherein at least one of the primary and secondary power supply comprises an ultra-capacitor having in a fully charged state an energy-weight ratio of more than about 1.0 Wh/kg.

6. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 5, wherein the ultra-capacitor is formed from a plurality of elongate dielectric tubes placed at least substantially parallel adjacently of each other and having a diameter in the order of several to several tens of nanometers and a length which is several thousand to several hundreds of thousands times greater than said diameter.

7. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 5, further comprising:

a DC-DC converter configured to receive a variable direct voltage from the ultra-capacitor and to generate an at least almost fixed, lower direct voltage,

wherein the ultra-capacitor is coupled via the DC-DC converter to the at least one electronic component in order to apply thereover a stable direct voltage.

8. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 5, wherein the ultra-capacitor is coupled to an inductive coupling element configured to operationally intercept and receive an externally applied electromagnetic induction field as charging current therefrom.

9. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electrical cable connection comprises, on at least one end, a connector for a releasable connection to at least one of the device housing and the completely-in-canal (CIC) component of the device.

10. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 1, wherein the device housing comprises at least one further microphone.

11. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 1, wherein the device housing comprises an exchangeable outer shell.

12. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

a portable external expansion unit, wherein electronic coupling means are provided between said external expansion unit and said outside-the-ear (BTE) component.

13. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 12,

wherein the coupling means comprise means for wireless signal transmission in accordance with a first protocol for wireless communication between the hearing aid and the expansion unit, and

wherein the expansion unit comprises with means for wireless signal transmission in accordance with a differing second protocol for wireless communication between the expansion unit and a further device.

14. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 12,

wherein a rechargeable power supply is applied in the behind-the-ear (BTE) component,

wherein the expansion unit is provided with a further power supply, and

wherein the coupling means comprise a power supply connection for power supply from the power supply of the expansion unit to the rechargeable power supply of the behind-the-ear (BTE) component.

15. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 12, wherein the expansion unit comprises at least one further microphone.

16. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 12,

wherein the expansion unit comprises coupling means for signal transmission from an external audio source in order to receive an audio signal therefrom, and

wherein the expansion unit is configured to transmit the audio signal to the hearing aid.

17. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 12, wherein the expansion unit comprises storage means for electronic data storage.

18. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 12, wherein the expansion unit comprises a standardized communication interface for data exchange with a computer.

19. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 12, wherein the expansion unit is provided with a programming interface configured to exchange data with a corresponding programming interface of the hearing aid for adjusting the processing device.

20. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 12, wherein the expansion unit is connected to a necklace.

21. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 12, wherein the expansion unit is configured to co-act with an electronic host device.

22. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 21, wherein the expansion unit is at least partially accommodated in a standardized add-on body manually releasable from the host device.

23. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 5, wherein the ultra-capacitor having has in the fully charged state an energy-weight ratio of between about 1.0 and 10 Wh/kg.

24. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 6, wherein the plurality of elongate dielectric tubes are carbon elongate dielectric tubes.

25. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 12, wherein the portable external expansion unit is processor-controlled.

26. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 17, wherein the storage means for electronic data storage is an electronically rewritable and readable semiconductor memory.

27. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 26, wherein the storage means for electronic data storage is a Flash EEPROM.

28. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 18, wherein the standard communication interface is one of USB (Universal Serial Bus) or IEEE 1394 (FireWire).

29. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 22, wherein the standardized add-on body is one of the group consisting of an SDIO (Secure Digital Input Output) card, a Smart Card, an MM (Multi Media) card, a PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) card, an Express card, and a CardBus card.