Ear piece having disposable, compressible polymeric foam sleeve
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. An ear piece component for use with a user-disposable sleeve, having a duct and soft polymeric foam firmly secured to the duct, to facilitate transmission of sound to an ear canal of a user, said ear piece component comprising:
- a connecting portion having (i) distal and proximal ends and an exterior surface between said distal and proximal ends, (ii) a sound tube extending through said connecting portion between said distal and proximal ends, and (iii) means on said exterior surface for disposably attaching the duct of the sleeve to said connecting portion, anda flange portion secured to said proximal end.
4 Assignments
Litigations
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Disposably attached to the ear piece of a hearing aid, which includes any sound transmission device, is a user-disposable sleeve comprising soft polymeric retarded recovery foam that can be compressed to be freely insertable into a person'"'"'s ear and allowed to recover to become wedged in the canal. Preferably, the sleeve is disposably attached to the ear piece by mating of screw threads on the sleeve and the ear piece. The ear piece may be a separate component from the hearing aid. The component is made either of rigid or flexible plastic and has connecting portions of various lengths depending on the depth of insertion of the sleeve into the canal. The sleeve may be of various lengths depending on the depth of insertion into the ear canal desired. The sleeve/ear piece assembly may also have a layer of sound transmitting scrim over its central opening to minimize penetration of the connecting portion past the end of the sleeve.
288 Citations
38 Claims
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1. An ear piece component for use with a user-disposable sleeve, having a duct and soft polymeric foam firmly secured to the duct, to facilitate transmission of sound to an ear canal of a user, said ear piece component comprising:
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a connecting portion having (i) distal and proximal ends and an exterior surface between said distal and proximal ends, (ii) a sound tube extending through said connecting portion between said distal and proximal ends, and (iii) means on said exterior surface for disposably attaching the duct of the sleeve to said connecting portion, and a flange portion secured to said proximal end. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An assembly for transmitting sound to an ear canal of a user, comprising:
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(a) a user-disposable sleeve comprising a duct and soft polymeric foam firmly secured to said duct, said sleeve formed with distal and proximal ends and a central longitudinal passage between said distal and proximal ends, and (b) an ear piece component comprising a connecting portion having (i) distal and proximal ends and an exterior surface between said distal and proximal ends, (ii) a sound tube extending through said connecting portion between said distal and proximal ends, and (iii) means on said exterior surface for disposably attaching said duct of said sleeve to said connecting portion in said central longitudinal passage, and a flange portion attached to said proximal end. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A user-disposable sleeve freely insertable into an ear canal of a user for facilitating transmission of sound to the ear of the user, comprising:
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(a) a soft, retarded recovery polymeric foam having proximal and distal ends and a central longitudinal passage therethrough, and (b) a moldable flexible plastic duct having proximal and distal ends, an exterior surface, and an aligning flange extending from said exterior surface between said proximal and distal ends, said foam firmly secured to said duct between said aligning flange and said distal end of said duct. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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25. A user-disposable sleeve for limited insertion into the rim of an ear canal of a user for facilitating a transmission of sound to the ear of the user, comprising:
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(a) a soft polymeric foam having proximal and distal ends, a central longitudinal passage therethrough, said foam having a slow, substantially complete recovery and capable of being compressed to be insertable into the rim of the ear canal of the user and to become wedged into the ear canal when said foam is allowed to recover; and (b) a sound transmitting, puncture resistant scrim covering said central longitudinal passage. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. An assembly for transmitting sound to the ear canal of a user, comprising:
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(a) a user-disposable sleeve comprising a soft, retarded recovery polymeric foam, said sleeve formed with distal and proximal ends, a central longitudinal passage between said distal and proximal ends, and a sound transmitting scrim covering said central longitudinal passage; and (b) a connecting portion having distal and proximal ends and an exterior surface between said distal and proximal ends, a sound tube extending through said connecting portion between said distal and proximal ends communicating with said central longitudinal passage, said connecting portion having an abutment flange on said exterior surface for disposably attaching said proximal end of said sleeve to said distal end of said connecting portion. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification