Hearing aid responsive to signals inside and outside of the audio frequency range
First Claim
1. A hearing aid for a user havingan acoustic sensor (10) responsive to sound signals of the audio frequency range, and providing first analog electrical signals representative of said sound signals within said audio frequency range;
- an analog-to-digital converter (11) receiving the first analog signals and converting the first analog signals into first digital signals;
a microcomputer (12) coupled to receive the first digital signals;
a first memory (15) coupled to said microcomputer, said first memory having a program stored therein;
said microcomputer including means for processing the first digital signals in accordance with said program stored in said first memory and for producing processed first digital signals;
a digital-to-analog converter (13) coupled to receive said processed first digital signals from the microcomputer (12) at an output (B2) of the microcomputer;
an electroacoustic transducer (14) for converting said processed first digital signals into audible analog output signals representative of said sound signals, for transmission to the ear of a user,at least one further sensor (16,
18), said at least one further sensor being responsive to sense signals outside of said audio frequency range and which are outside of the sensing range of said first mentioned acoustic sensor (10), and providing second electrical signals representative of said signals sensed thereby;
means (17, B1) for applying said second electrical signals, in digital form, to said microcomputer (12) to thereby apply to said microcomputer second digital signals; and
a second memory (19) coupled to said microcomputer (12), said second memory having stored therein a program containing instruction information for controlling said microcomputer (12), said program stored in said second memory being different from said program stored in said first memory; and
said microcomputer (12) including means for digitally processing data represented by said second digital signals in accordance with said program stored in said second memory and for providing further digitally processed signals at said output (B2) of said microcomputer.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A hearing aid having a microphone (10), a microcomputer (12) for digital signal processing of digitized microphone signals and an electroacoustic converter (14) for acoustic reproduction of the processed digitized signals, is equipped with at least one further sensor (16, 18) responsive to signals outside the acoustical range of audibility. These further sensor signals are processed according to a different program stored in a second memory (19) and supplied as additional data via an output (B2) of the microcomputer (12) preferably to the electro-acoustical converter (14). As a result, data such as the signals of a traffic light transmitter, signals from a paging system, or signals announcing a telephone call, door bell or the like, can be superimposed on the normal auditory functions. By appropriately coordinate signal trains, for example generated in accordance with the program stored in the second memory, a hearing-impaired person can easily distinguish among these additional functions.
76 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A hearing aid for a user having
an acoustic sensor (10) responsive to sound signals of the audio frequency range, and providing first analog electrical signals representative of said sound signals within said audio frequency range; -
an analog-to-digital converter (11) receiving the first analog signals and converting the first analog signals into first digital signals; a microcomputer (12) coupled to receive the first digital signals; a first memory (15) coupled to said microcomputer, said first memory having a program stored therein; said microcomputer including means for processing the first digital signals in accordance with said program stored in said first memory and for producing processed first digital signals; a digital-to-analog converter (13) coupled to receive said processed first digital signals from the microcomputer (12) at an output (B2) of the microcomputer; an electroacoustic transducer (14) for converting said processed first digital signals into audible analog output signals representative of said sound signals, for transmission to the ear of a user, at least one further sensor (16,
18), said at least one further sensor being responsive to sense signals outside of said audio frequency range and which are outside of the sensing range of said first mentioned acoustic sensor (10), and providing second electrical signals representative of said signals sensed thereby;means (17, B1) for applying said second electrical signals, in digital form, to said microcomputer (12) to thereby apply to said microcomputer second digital signals; and a second memory (19) coupled to said microcomputer (12), said second memory having stored therein a program containing instruction information for controlling said microcomputer (12), said program stored in said second memory being different from said program stored in said first memory; and said microcomputer (12) including means for digitally processing data represented by said second digital signals in accordance with said program stored in said second memory and for providing further digitally processed signals at said output (B2) of said microcomputer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification