Hearing aid with added functionality

• US 20180324535A1
• Filed: 03/23/2018
• Published: 11/08/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/03/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bragi GmbH
• Original Assignee: Bragi GmbH
• Inventors: Boesen, Peter Vincent
• Granted Patent: US 10,708,699 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• 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 2460/13 Hearing devices using bone conduction transducers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/305 Self-monitoring or self-testing
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/407 Circuits for combining signals of a plurality of transducers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/55 using an external connection, either wireless or wired
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/602 of batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/606 acting directly on the eardrum, the ossicles or the skull, e.g. mastoid, tooth, maxillary or mandibular bone, or mechanically stimulating the cochlea, e.g. at the oval window
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/70 Adaptation of deaf aid to hearing loss, e.g. initial electronic fitting

Abstract

A sound processing method for a hearing aid in embodiments of the present invention may have one of more of the following steps: (a) receiving a command from a user to begin an upload and/or download of a file, (b) initiating communications to commence the upload and/or download of the file, (c) selecting the file to upload and/or download to a memory on the hearing aid, (d) downloading and/or uploading the file into or out of the memory, (e) executing the file loaded into memory, (f) asking the user if they wish to download and/or upload another file to/from the memory, and (g) continuing normal hearing aid operations if the user does not wish to execute the file in the memory.

Claims

1. A hearing aid, comprising:

a hearing aid housing;

a processor disposed within the hearing aid housing for processing sound signals based on settings to compensate for hearing loss of an individual according to a hearing loss profile;

at least one microphone for receiving sound signals to be processed, the at least one microphone operatively connected to the processor;

at least one speaker for outputting sound signals to a user after processing of the sound signals;

a memory disposed within the hearing aid housing and operatively connected to the processor;

wherein the hearing aid is configured to allow the individual to store files in the memory.

2. The hearing aid of claim 1 wherein the files comprise audio files.

3. The hearing aid of claim 2 wherein the audio files include music files.

4. The hearing aid of claim 1 wherein the files comprise program files.

5. The hearing aid of claim 4 wherein the program files include programs for executing on the processor to play audio files.

6. The hearing aid of claim 1 further comprising a rechargeable battery enclosed within the hearing aid housing.

7. The hearing aid of claim 6 further comprising a recharging interface operatively connected to the rechargeable battery to allow the rechargeable battery enclosed within the hearing aid housing to recharge.

8. The hearing aid of claim 1 further comprising a user interface operatively connected to the processor to allow the individual to communicate with the hearing aid.

9. The hearing aid of claim 1 further comprising a communications interface operatively connected to the processor to allow the hearing aid to communicate with another computing device.

10. The hearing aid of claim 1 further comprising:

a user interface operatively connected to the processor to allow the individual to communicate with the hearing aid;

a communications interface operatively connected to the processor to allow the hearing aid to communicate with a computing device;

wherein the hearing aid is adapted to allow the individual to instruct the hearing aid using the user interface to receive a file from the computing device and store the file within the memory.

11. The hearing aid of claim 10 wherein the file is a program file for execution by the processor.

12. The hearing aid of claim 10 wherein the file is an audio file for playback by the hearing aid.

13. A sound processing method for a hearing aid having the steps, comprising:

receiving a command from a user to begin an upload and/or download of a file;

initiating communications to commence the upload and/or download of the file;

selecting the file to upload and/or download to a memory on the hearing aid; and

downloading and/or uploading the file into or out of the memory.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising executing the file loaded into memory.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising asking the user if they wish to download and/or upload another file to/from the memory.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of continuing normal hearing aid operations if the user does not wish to execute the file in the memory.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the memory is split where a user can save files on a user designated partition.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the file is an audio file.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the file is an executable file.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the file is an executable file with enhanced functionality for the hearing aid.