JP2000013896A - Hearing aid - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a hearing aid that can use both an open earphone and a closed earphone. SOLUTION: A sound quality changeover switch 7 and a receptacle 8 for a sealed earphone are provided on a side surface of a hearing aid main body case 1.
And a receptacle 9 for an open earphone.
The plug 11 of the sealed earphone 10 to be inserted into the receptacle 8 is of a two-pin type, and can be inserted in only one direction by changing the thickness of each pin. By extending one end as the shape of the plug 11, when inserted in the correct direction, the one end engages the receptacle 9 for the open earphone.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hearing aid, and more particularly to a hearing aid for a senile deaf person.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the elderly population has been rapidly increasing, and the problem of nursing care for the elderly has become an urgent social issue.
Many of these care-requirers have presbycusis, and there is a problem that it is difficult for the care-giver's questions and instructions to be transmitted. If the caregiver's questions, instructions, etc., are not sufficiently transmitted, it becomes difficult, for example, to thoroughly administer the medication time and dosage. In order to solve such a problem, it has been considered to lend a hearing aid to a care-requiring person to use the hearing aid. Of course, hearing aids for presbycusis are widely sold, not limited to lending for nursing care.

[0003] The types of hearing aids are broadly classified. An ear-hung type in which a case incorporating a microphone and a volume control mechanism is mounted on the ear, a microphone and a volume control mechanism are housed in a capsule, and the capsule is inserted into an ear canal. There is an in-ear type, and a box type that incorporates a microphone and volume control mechanism in a box-shaped case large enough to fit in a breast pocket.

Although the hearing aid according to the present invention is different from the above-mentioned types of hearing aids in appearance and use form, it is considered to be close to a box-type hearing aid. Therefore, a conventional box-type hearing aid is shown in FIG. Will be explained.

In a conventional box-type hearing aid, various functional members are incorporated in a thin case 100 sized to fit in a breast pocket.
Alternatively, a power switch 102, a microphone sound hole 103 for taking in external sound, and a volume adjustment dial 104 are provided on an upper end surface 101 which is located at an easily operable position, and a sound quality switch 105 on one side, a receptacle 106 for a closed earphone. And a receptacle 107 for external input for listening to the sound of a television or radio.

[0006] A similar box-type hearing aid has been proposed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-233390.

[0007]

A conventional hearing aid has a structure in which only one of a closed earphone and an open earphone can be used. Here, the closed earphone is an external earphone according to JIS C5512 (1986), and refers to a magnetic earphone having earplugs for sealing the ear canal,
The open type earphone refers to an open air type earphone used for a portable tape recorder or the like, that is, a dynamic type earphone having a structure that does not seal the ear canal (for example, MDR-E837MM manufactured by Sony Corporation).

[0008] Both have advantages and disadvantages, and the closed earphones convert the sound in the low frequency range to electroacoustic with a sufficient gain. However, because of the closed structure, the bat sound tends to increase somewhat and the temperature is high. In the situation, the inside of the ear canal is likely to be filled with moisture. On the other hand, the open type earphone has a small gain in the low frequency range, but can almost eliminate the bat sound, and it is difficult for moisture to collect.

[0009] Here, the Komori sound means the following sound. That is, the voice emitted by the speaker is radiated to the external space, and propagates to the speaker's own ear canal by bone conduction.
As a result, the external auditory meatus wall vibrates, and the voice uttered by the speaker is secondarily generated in the external auditory meatus space closed by earplugs or the like. The sound generated secondarily is called a bat sound.

As described above, despite the advantages and disadvantages of the closed earphones and the open earphones, conventionally, there is only one receptacle. For example, when only the closed earphones can be used, a long time is required. It is difficult to use, especially in a situation where the outside air temperature is high, so that the inside of the closed ear canal sweats and the discomfort of the hearing aid wearer also increases. In addition, care recipients often enjoy audio-visual equipment such as televisions and radios for a long time while lying in bed.
It is desirable to arrange an environment where sound can be heard comfortably in a state as close to nature as possible. Conversely, if only open earphones can be used, howling may occur. Particularly, in the case of severe presbycusis, the sound volume tends to increase. When the sound volume increases, the sound leaking into the microphone inevitably increases, and howling tends to occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and has as its object to provide a senile deaf person, particularly a care recipient or a caregiver who is a senile deaf person. Is to propose a hearing aid that can be worn more comfortably.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention has a microphone for detecting external sound, a hearing aid processing unit for hearing-aid processing the output of the microphone, and a receptacle for an open type earphone and a closed type earphone. The hearing aid device comprises a hearing aid device main body having a receptacle formed therein, an open earphone having a plug inserted into the open earphone receptacle, and a plug inserted into the closed earphone receptacle. .
With such a configuration, it is possible to select an appropriate earphone according to the degree of hearing loss of the care recipient, the noise level of the atmosphere, the state of use, and the like.

[0013] In the above hearing aid device, the acoustic gain of a system consisting of a microphone, a hearing aid processing unit, and an open type earphone, and the acoustic gain of a system consisting of a microphone, a hearing aid processing unit, and a closed type earphone are substantially the same. Is preferred.
With such a configuration, a constant volume is guaranteed even when switching between the closed earphone and the open earphone.

In the above hearing aid device, the shape of the plug of the open type earphone and the shape of the plug of the closed type earphone cannot be inserted into the corresponding receptacle while one plug is inserted into the corresponding receptacle. Preferably, it is shaped. If both the plug of the open type earphone and the plug of the closed type earphone can be inserted into the receptacle at the same time, the maximum output sound pressure will decrease. However, such a disadvantage can be suppressed by adopting the above-described configuration.

Further, an external input terminal may be provided as a hearing aid device, and an output obtained from the external input terminal may be subjected to hearing processing in addition to an output of the microphone in the hearing aid processing unit. With such a configuration, use becomes easier.

Further, when an external input terminal is provided, it is preferable that the hearing aid processing section selects one of the output of the microphone and the output obtained from the external input terminal to perform the hearing aid processing.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 is an overall perspective view of the hearing aid according to the present invention as viewed from the front, FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view of the hearing aid as viewed from the back, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. The entire shape of the case 1 is formed in a flat and long box shape, and a substantially half (lower half in the figure) is a gripping part 1a, and the remaining part is an operation part 1b (upper half in the figure).

Regarding the grip 1a, the shape of the lower edge is rounded to prevent the corners from hitting the palm when held with one hand so that the grip does not hurt. A through-hole 2 is formed for use when hanging. A string can be hung on the neck through the through hole 2.

A power switch 3 is provided near the boundary between the grip 1a and the operation unit 1b. The power switch 3 may be provided on a side surface of the hearing aid main body case 1.

A microphone sound hole 4 and a volume control knob 5 are provided on the front of the operation unit 1b. The microphone sound hole 4 may be formed in a slit shape instead of a circular hole, and may be formed from the front surface of the hearing aid main body case 1 to the upper end surface. The volume in the longitudinal direction of the knob 5 for adjusting the volume is at least half the width of the front surface of the operation unit, thereby improving the operability.

The shape of the knob 5 for adjusting the volume is as follows.
As described above, the shape is arbitrary such as a dial shape or a square button shape. In the case of the dial shape, the diameter is one width of the front width of the operation unit.
/ 2 or more, and in the case of a push-type square button shape, the long side is made to be 1/2 or more of the width of the front of the operation unit.

Further, the operability may be improved by changing the color of the volume control knob 5 to a color different from that of the hearing aid main body case 1.

A plurality of projections 6 indicating the sound volume level are provided along the portion where the sound volume adjusting knob 5 rotates. These projections 6 are designed to increase in size sequentially according to the volume level.

On the other hand, on the side of the hearing aid main body case 1, a sound quality changeover switch 7, a receptacle 8 for a closed earphone, and a receptacle 9 for an open earphone are provided. Hermetic earphone 10 inserted into receptacle 8
The plug 11 is of a two-pin type, and can be inserted only in one direction by changing the thickness of each pin. By extending one end as the shape of the plug 11, when inserted in the correct direction, the one end engages the receptacle 9 for the open earphone.

As described above, when the plug 11 of the closed type earphone is inserted into the receptacle 8,
Of the open earphone 12 cannot be inserted into the receptacle 9 because a part of the plug 13 is placed on the receptacle 9 for the open earphone.

When the plug 13 of the open earphone 12 is inserted into the receptacle 9 first, the plug 11 hits the plug 13 and the plug 11 cannot be inserted into the receptacle 8. In this way, by allowing only one of them to be inserted, the maximum output sound pressure does not decrease and the battery life is prolonged.

As shown in FIG. 2, a receptacle 24 for an external input terminal is provided on the upper end surface of the hearing aid main body case 1, and the hearing aid main body case 1 is placed on a desk or the like on the back surface of the hearing aid main body case 1. A vibration absorbing member 25 for reducing pickup of vibration sound by a microphone is attached.
In the embodiment, the shape of the main body case 1 is as follows.
Although a flat and long box shape is shown, the present invention is not limited to this.

On the other hand, FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the hearing aid device. In the hearing aid device main body 1, a microphone 14 for detecting an external sound, an external input terminal 15 for connecting to an external audiovisual device, and a microphone 14 are provided. The hearing aid processing unit 16 that performs hearing aid processing so that the output from the external input terminal 15 is adapted to the hearing loss of the hearing aid wearer, and a battery (not shown) that drives the hearing aid processing unit 16 are incorporated.

The hearing aid processing unit 16 is a hearing aid circuit 17 for performing hearing aid processing on the output from the microphone 14 and the external input terminal 15.
, An attenuator 18 for attenuating the output of the hearing aid circuit 17 in five stages, a volume switch 19 for selecting the attenuation output of the attenuator 18, an amplifier 20 for amplifying the output selected by the volume switch 19, and adjusting the sound quality of the output of the amplifier 20. Sound quality adjuster 21, an amplifier 22 for amplifying the output of the sound quality adjuster 21,
23. The open earphone 12 converts the output of the amplifier 22 into an electroacoustic signal, and the closed earphone 10 converts the output of the amplifier 23 into an electroacoustic signal.

The gain of the amplifier 22 and the gain of the amplifier 23 are
Since the open earphone 12 and the closed earphone 10 have different conversion gains, the difference is provided accordingly. That is,
The sum of the gain of the amplifier 22 and the gain of the open earphone 12 and the sum of the gain of the amplifier 23 and the gain of the closed earphone 10 are adjusted to be the same. Therefore, even if a predetermined sound pressure is applied to the microphone 14 and the volume switch 19 is set to any of the positions 18a, 18b, 18c, 18d, and 18e of the attenuator 18, the sound obtained in the ear canal by the closed earphone 10 can be obtained. The pressure and the sound pressure obtained in the ear canal by the open earphone 12 are equal.

The attenuator 17 is adapted to control the volume desired by the hearing aid wearer to the closed earphone 12 or the open earphone 1.
This is for changing the gain of the hearing aid processing unit 16 so as to be obtained from 0.

The volume switch 19 is operated by rotating the volume control knob 5 so as to rotate the output terminal 1 of the attenuator 18.
Any one of 8a to 18e is connected to the input of the amplifier 20. By rotating the volume adjustment knob 5 counterclockwise from clockwise, the output terminal 18 of the attenuator 18 is
a to 18e are sequentially connected, and the closed earphone 10 and the open earphone 12 output a hearing aid having a volume corresponding to this.

The sound quality adjuster 21 processes the output of the amplifier 20 and outputs a sound in which a low range is cut and a high range is emphasized, or a sound in which a low range is emphasized. These switches are performed by a sound quality switch 7 provided on the side of the hearing aid main body.
Done by

The hearing aid described above comprises, as an electroacoustic transducer, a closed earphone 10 that can be separated from the hearing aid main body 1 and an open earphone 1 that can be separated from the hearing aid main body 1.
Since the device 2 is provided, the mild presbycusis can use the two types of earphones 10 and 12 depending on the preference at that time. For example, in the case of mild presbycusis, use the closed earphone 10 when low volume sound is desired, and use the open earphone 12 when the muffled sound is uncomfortable or when the ear canal is ventilated. Can be worn. In addition, a wearer who has a high degree of presbycusis and who uses the open earphones 12 and howling occurs can use the closed earphones 10.

The microphone 14 and the hearing aid processor 16
Gain of the system composed of the closed earphone 10, the microphone 14, the hearing aid processing unit 16, and the open earphone 12
And the acoustic gain of the system composed of With this, even if you change the earphone according to the situation at that time,
There is no need to adjust the volume again.

Further, when both the closed earphone 10 and the open earphone 12 are connected to the hearing aid device main body 1 at the same time,
There is a disadvantage that the battery is unnecessarily consumed and the maximum output sound pressure is reduced. However, since this hearing aid is configured so that the closed earphone 10 and the open earphone 12 cannot be connected at the same time, these disadvantages are effectively prevented.

Further, an external input terminal 15 is provided in addition to the microphone 14, and the hearing aid processing unit 16 simultaneously performs the hearing aid processing on the output of the microphone 14 and the output obtained from the external input terminal 15. If a line of an audio signal obtained from an audiovisual device such as a radio is connected, the hearing aid wearer can hear an external audio signal collected by a microphone together with the audio signal obtained from the audiovisual device.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a hearing aid device according to another embodiment. In the above-described embodiment, only one of the plug 11 of the closed earphone and the plug 13 of the open earphone has the same shape. By devising it, it is impossible to insert it into each of the receptacles 8 and 9 at the same time, so that the maximum output sound pressure does not decrease and the battery life is extended, but as shown in FIG. 2 circuits 2
A configuration may be adopted in which an interlocking switch for contacts is provided to select one of the earphones.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a hearing aid according to still another embodiment. In this embodiment, a microphone 14 for detecting an external sound and an external input terminal for connection to an external audiovisual device are provided. 15, a hearing aid processing unit 16 for performing hearing aid processing on the output from the microphone 14 and the external input terminal 15 so as to be adapted to the hearing loss of the hearing aid wearer, and an input switch 30. The input switch 30 is
One of the output from the microphone 14 and the output from the external input terminal 15 is connected to the hearing aid processing unit 16. 6, the same members as those in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

In another embodiment shown in FIG. 6, since the input switch 30 is provided, the hearing aid wearer can
When listening to an external sound, the input switch 30 can be connected to the output terminal of the microphone 14. When connecting to an external audiovisual device, the input switch 30 can be connected to the external connection terminal 15.

Also, when enjoying the sound of the audiovisual device, the surrounding sound may be an obstacle. In such a case, if the input changeover switch 30 is connected to a position where the audio signal of the audiovisual device is heard, only the audio of the audiovisual device can be enjoyed. When hearing external sounds, if the presbycusis is advanced, it is inevitable to use the closed earphones 10 to prevent howling, but when enjoying the sound of audiovisual equipment, howling does not occur. It is possible to use the open-type earphone 12 excellent in feeling.

In the above-described embodiment, the earplug of the closed earphone 10 is of a type that seals the external auditory canal. However, depending on the degree of hearing loss of the wearer, the earplug may be closed.
A so-called vented earplug may be provided in which the earplug is provided with a communication hole for communicating the inside of the ear canal with the outside.

[0043]

As described above, according to the hearing aid of the present invention, since both the open earphone and the closed earphone can be used, the degree of hearing loss of the care recipient, the noise level of the atmosphere, It can be used properly according to the situation. For example, a person with mild presbycusis can wear a hearing aid using their favorite earphones from open earphones and closed earphones.

Further, since the acoustic gain is made substantially the same regardless of whether the open type earphone or the closed type earphone is used, there is no discomfort even if the earphone is switched without adjusting the volume.

Further, when one earphone is used, the other earphone cannot be used, so that the maximum output sound pressure does not decrease and the battery consumption can be suppressed.

The external input terminal is connectable, and the hearing aid processing section performs hearing aid processing on the output obtained from the external input terminal in addition to the output of the microphone. I can hear you.

Further, if the hearing aid processing unit selects one of the output of the microphone and the output obtained from the external input terminal to perform the hearing aid processing, even if the person is severely senile deaf, When listening to the voice, an open-type earphone that is comfortable to wear can be used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a hearing aid according to the present invention as viewed from the front.

FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view of the hearing aid viewed from the back.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a hearing aid according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a hearing aid device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a hearing aid device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a conventional box-type hearing aid.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... A body case of a hearing aid, 1a ... Grip part, 1b ... Operation part, 2 ... Through hole, 3 ... Power switch, 4 ... Microphone sound hole, 5 ... Volume adjustment knob, 6 ... Protrusion indicating volume level, 7 ... Sound quality changeover switch, 8 ... Receptacle for closed earphone, 9 ... Receptacle for open earphone, 10 ... Closed earphone, 11 ... Plug for closed earphone, 12 ... Open earphone, 13 ... Open earphone Plug, 14 microphone, 15 external input terminal,
Reference numeral 16: hearing aid processing unit, 17: hearing aid circuit, 18: attenuator, 19: volume switcher, 20, 22, 23: amplifier, 2
1 ... Sound quality adjuster, 30 ... Input selector switch.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A hearing aid device having a microphone for detecting an external sound, a hearing aid processing unit for hearing aid processing the output of the microphone, and having a receptacle for an open earphone and a receptacle for a closed earphone, and the open earphone A hearing aid comprising: an open-type earphone having a plug inserted into a receptacle for use; and a sealed-type earphone including a plug inserted into the receptacle for a closed-type earphone. 2. The hearing aid according to claim 1, wherein an acoustic gain of a system including the microphone, the hearing aid processing unit, and an open earphone, and an acoustic gain of a system including the microphone, the hearing aid processing unit, and a closed earphone. Hearing device characterized by having substantially the same. 3. The hearing aid according to claim 1, wherein the plug of the open earphone and the closed earphone are included.
A hearing aid device provided with a duplicate connection preventing means for setting any one of the loads as a load of the hearing aid processing unit; 4. The hearing aid according to claim 1, wherein the shape of the plug of the open earphone and the plug of the closed earphone is such that one plug is inserted into a corresponding receptacle and the other plug is inserted into the receptacle. A hearing aid having a shape that cannot be inserted into a corresponding receptacle. 5. The hearing aid according to claim 1, wherein the hearing aid has an external input terminal, and a hearing aid processing unit hearing aids an output obtained from the external input terminal in addition to a microphone output. A hearing aid characterized by processing. 6. The hearing aid according to claim 5, wherein the hearing aid processing unit selects one of an output of a microphone and an output obtained from an external input terminal to perform a hearing aid processing. .