WO2019198194A1 - Audio output device - Google Patents

Abstract

In order to allow sounds to the front and sounds to the back to be easily distinguished from each other or facilitate good transmission of sound in an audio output device to be worn on the head, the present invention provides an audio output device (100) to be worn on the head for hearing audio including a plurality of sound producing bodies for one of the left and right ears, wherein at least one of the plurality of sound producing bodies is a bone-conduction sound producing body. The plurality of sound producing bodies may include a plurality of bone-conduction sound producing bodies (102) to (105).

Description

Audio output device

The present invention relates to an audio output device that can be worn on the head and can listen to audio.

Earphones and headphones that transmit sound to the inner ear are used as sound output devices that can be worn on the head and listen to sound. In addition, so-called bone conduction speakers that transmit voice vibration to bones such as the mandible of the head are also used.

In the sound output device such as the earphone described above, as a technique that enables discrimination of front and rear sounds, a plurality of sounding bodies are provided for one ear, and sound waves are emitted by directing a plurality of sound wave emission axes to different portions of the ear canal wall The technique which performs is known (for example, refer patent document 1).

In addition, in a bone conduction speaker, a technique for attaching a bone conduction unit to an eyeglass frame and providing a position adjusting means is known as a technique for easily positioning the bone conduction unit (for example, Patent Document 2). reference.).

JP 2013-17150 A JP 2007-72015 A

In the technique described in Patent Document 1, it is not always easy to identify front and rear sounds even if the sound wave emission axis is varied in a narrow space in the ear canal.

Also, with the technique described in Patent Document 2, it takes time to adjust the position of the bone conduction unit, and it is not always easy to obtain a good sound conduction state.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is an object of the present invention to facilitate identification of front and rear sounds and to easily obtain a good sound conduction state.

To achieve the above objective,
The first invention is
An audio output device for listening to audio by wearing it on the head,
There are multiple sounding bodies per one of the left and right ears,
At least one of the plurality of sounding bodies is a bone conduction sounding body.

As a result, the bone conduction sounding body can easily obtain different auditory characteristics depending on the wearing position value, etc. Easy to plan.

The second invention is
The audio output device of the first invention,
The plurality of sounding bodies include a plurality of bone conduction sounding bodies.

This makes it easy to bring at least one bone conduction sounding body into contact with the temporal region or the like in an appropriate contact state, so that sound can be easily conducted well. Therefore, it is possible to easily detect a good sound regardless of the size or shape of the head without adjusting the position of the bone conduction sounder by simply mounting the sound output device on the head. Can do.

In the present invention, it is possible to easily identify front and rear sounds, left and right sounds, and upper and lower sounds, or to easily obtain a good sound conduction state.

It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the audio | voice frame type audio | voice output apparatus. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a structure which combined the audio | voice output apparatus with the portable information terminal. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a goggle type audio | voice output apparatus. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a neckband type audio | voice output apparatus. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a headband type audio | voice output apparatus. It is a side view which shows the structure of a headphone-type audio | voice output apparatus. It is a front view which shows the structure of a headphone-type audio | voice output apparatus.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In each of the following embodiments, components having functions similar to those of the other embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. In addition, the constituent elements shown in each embodiment or modification may be variously combined within a logically possible range.

(Embodiment 1)
An eyeglass-type sound output device in which a plurality of bone conduction sounding bodies are provided on a spectacle frame will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the audio output device 100 includes, for example, four bone conduction sounders 102 to 105 for one of the left and right ears in the spectacle frame 101. The arrangement of the bone conduction sounding bodies 102 to 105 is not particularly limited. For example, the bone conduction sounding bodies 102 to 105 can come into contact with the temporal region from the temple part to the modern part of the vine, that is, from the front side to the upper side and the rear side of the ear. In the position. Further, the glasses frame 101 is provided with a signal output circuit unit 106 for outputting an audio signal to the bone conduction sounding bodies 102 to 105.

For example, the signal output circuit unit 106 receives a signal transmitted from a portable information terminal 500 such as a cellular phone by wireless communication using Bluetooth (registered trademark) as shown in FIG. It outputs to the bodies 102-105. The above audio signal can be used as a hearing aid if a real-time on-site voice input to the microphone 501 of the portable information terminal 500 or a microphone (not shown) provided in the glasses frame 101 is used as a sound source. Instead, it may be audio signals of various sound sources acquired or generated by the portable information terminal 500.

In the sound output device 100 configured as described above, if any of the bone conduction sounding bodies 102 to 105 is in contact with the temporal region in an appropriate contact state, it is easy to conduct sound well. it can. Therefore, by simply mounting the glasses-type sound output device 100 on the head, the position of the bone conduction sounding bodies 102 to 105 is not adjusted, and good sound can be output regardless of the size and shape of the head. Sensing can be easily enabled.

Here, the bone conduction sounding bodies 102 to 105 may be simultaneously activated, but only a part may be activated to reduce power consumption. Control for setting only such a part to the operating state may be performed, for example, by sending a control signal from the portable information terminal 500, or to the bone conduction sounders 102 to 105 that are not in the operating state. A silent signal may be sent, or a switch may be provided on the glasses frame 101. The determination of which bone conduction sounding body 102 to 105 is in an operating state can be made in accordance with, for example, the operation of the portable information terminal 500 by the user. Thereby, it is possible to easily perform sound conduction by bone conduction while suppressing power consumption.

Alternatively, the bone conduction sounding bodies 102 to 105 to be operated may be selected depending on the type of the sound source. For example, when there is a difference in sensitivity between the bone conduction sounders 102 to 105, when listening to music or having a conversation, the bone conduction sounders 102 to 105 having high sensitivity with respect to highly important sounds are used. While listening to background music, it is possible to reduce the burden of hearing by using relatively low-sensitivity bone-conducting sound generators 102-105 while listening to background music. Good.

(Modification of Embodiment 1)
When two or more of the bone conduction sounding bodies 102 to 105 can conduct sound, the two or more bone conduction sounding bodies 102 to 105 can conduct sounds corresponding to different sound signals. May be. Specifically, for example, sound with different sound sources, sound with different delay amounts, sound with different frequency characteristics, sound that has been subjected to surround processing or collected separately, etc. are output, and the front and rear sounds and left and right sounds are output. Sounds and upper / lower sounds can be easily identified, and a sense of reality can be enhanced. In other words, when listening to the surrounding sound directly with the ear, it is considered that the sound source position is determined by the characteristics of the ear according to the reflection of the sound at the outer ear, etc. When sounds with different amounts are conducted, it is possible to determine the position of the sound source by learning the difference in the senses obtained. In particular, when a bone conduction sounder is used, it is easy to greatly change the position of contact with the head, which facilitates localization of the sound source position due to differences in auditory characteristics and increased presence. be able to. In addition, for example, in sports watching, some of the bone conduction sounding bodies 102-105 emit live commentary, and other bone conduction sounding bodies 102-105 emit a cheer of the stadium. Can also be increased. In addition, even in the case of a hearing-impaired person or the like, it is possible to obtain a feeling close to listening to sound from a sound source in multiple directions per ear.

Also, as the sound generator, the earphone 601 may be used in combination with one or a plurality of bone conduction sounders 102 to 105 as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. That is, since the earphone 601 and the bone conduction sounding bodies 102 to 105 can easily make the auditory characteristics greatly different, the localization of the sound source due to the difference in the auditory characteristics and the increase in the sense of reality can be facilitated. it can.

It should be noted that a lens for correcting vision may be fitted into the lens portion of the glasses frame 101, or a transparent glass or a sunglasses lens may be fitted. Further, a display device may be provided so that realistic viewing is possible at the same time.

(Other embodiments)
The goggle-type sound output apparatus having goggles 201 as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 is not limited to the above-described glasses-type sound output apparatus 100 as long as it can be worn on the head above the neck. 200, a neckband type audio output device 300 having a neckband 301 that wraps around the back of the neck, the back of the head, or the shoulder, etc., a headband type audio output device 400 having the headband 401, and the like. Good. Further, for example, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a headphone type audio output device 450 having an ear pad portion 451 in which the bone conduction sounding bodies 102 to 105 and the acoustic speaker 453 are arranged, and a headband portion 452, A helmet-type audio output device may be configured by combining the above-described configuration with a helmet member that covers the head completely. With these, it is possible to easily fit the head or to give fashion variations.

3 to 7 show examples in which two or four bone conduction sounding bodies 102 and 103 are provided for one of the left and right ears, but the present invention is not limited to this. It is only necessary to include a plurality of sounding bodies including one bone conduction sounding body.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100-400 Audio | voice output apparatus 101 Eyeglass frame 102-105 Bone conduction sounding body 106 Signal output circuit part 201 Goggles 301 Neckband 401 Headband 450 Audio | voice output apparatus 451 Ear pad part 452 Headband part 453 Acoustic speaker 500 Portable information terminal 501 Microphone 601 Earphone

Claims (8)

An audio output device for listening to audio by wearing it on the head,
There are multiple sounding bodies per one of the left and right ears,
An audio output device, wherein at least one of the plurality of sounding bodies is a bone conduction sounding body. The audio output device according to claim 1,
The sound output device, wherein the plurality of sounding bodies include a plurality of bone conduction sounding bodies. The audio output device according to any one of claims 1 and 2,
An audio output device characterized by being one of a glasses type, a goggle type, a neckband type, a headband type, a headphone type, and a helmet type. The audio output device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
An audio output device configured to be capable of operating only a part of the plurality of sounding bodies. The audio output device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
An audio output device configured to be capable of bringing at least two sounding bodies out of the plurality of sounding bodies into an operating state. The audio output device according to claim 5,
An audio output device, wherein at least two of the sounding bodies in the operation state are configured to output audio corresponding to the same audio signal. The audio output device according to claim 5,
An audio output device, wherein at least two of the sounding bodies in the operation state are configured to output audio corresponding to different audio signals. The voice output device according to claim 7,
The audio corresponding to the different audio signals is at least one of audio with different sound sources, audio with different delay amounts, audio with different frequency characteristics, and audio subjected to surround processing, .

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