General purpose device to assist the hard of hearing

• US 9,466,226 B1
• Filed: 02/15/2016
• Issued: 10/11/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bariska, Arthur J. Jr., Masser, Joel L., McKenzie, Kevin D., Tedesco, Eileen P.
• Primary Examiner(s): GIRMA, FEKADESELASS
• Application Number:
  US15/043,776
• Time in Patent Office: 239 Days
• Field of Search: 340/4.14
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 11/04 Methods or devices for enabling ear patients to achieve auditory perception through physiological senses other than hearing sense, e.g. through the touch sense electronic stimulation of auditory nerves A61N1/36036
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 17/117 by using a detection device for specific gases, e.g. combustion products, produced by the fire G08B17/103, G08B17/11 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/14 Toxic gas alarms G08B21/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 5/22 using electric transmission; using electromagnetic transmission
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 7/06 using electric transmission , e.g. involving audible and visible signalling through the use of sound and light sources
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 21/009 Teaching or communicating with deaf persons G09B21/04 takes precedence; deaf and dumb persons G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/41 Detection or adaptation of hearing aid parameters or programs to listening situation, e.g. pub, forest
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/407 Circuits for combining signals of a plurality of transducers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 29/008 Visual indication of individual signal levels visual indication of stereophonic sound image H04S7/40

Abstract

An approach to notifying a person who is hard of hearing of audible events based on a configurable device. The device has microphones and associated buttons mounted on its surface. The user programs the device by depressing a selected button longer than a preconfigured time to place the device in listen mode. The user generates the desired audible event and the device records the audible event. The selected button is depressed again to instruct the device to associate the audible event with a visual alarm indicator of colored/flashing lights and/or a text projection. The device listens for the audible event and activates the visual alarm indicator when the device detects the audible event.

Claims

1. An apparatus for notifying hard of hearing individuals of audible events, the apparatus comprising:

a power supply for powering the apparatus;

one or more microphones, wherein the one or more microphones are tuned to different frequencies, for detecting sound associated with one or more audible events and generating an associated independent visual alarm for the one or more audible events and wherein any sound louder than a preconfigured level is associated with a preconfigured audible event;

one or more momentary contact buttons wherein at least one of the one or more buttons are associated with at least one of the one or more microphones for configuring the associated microphone to detect a selected audible event and for acknowledging any of the associated independent visual alarms;

one or more visual indicators wherein at least one of the one or more visual indicators is configured to activate, based on the associated independent visual alarm, when the selected audible event is detected and wherein the one or more visual indicators are at least one of different colored lights, flashing lights, strobe lights, a text projector and a display;

a control computer for controlling operations comprising one or more inputs associated with the one or more buttons, one or more inputs associated with the one or more microphones, one or more outputs associated with the one or more visual indicators, determining a function of the one or more buttons based on how long the one or more buttons are depressed and determining the direction of the sound based on the different frequencies of the one or more microphones; and

a shell for mounting the power supply, the one or more microphones, the one or more buttons, the one or more visual indicators and the control computer wherein the shell has a plurality of facets and the one or more microphones are attached to a portion of the plurality of facets and one of the plurality of facets is a base suitable for placement on a flat surface.