JPH06217389A - Personal electroacoustic transducer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the personal electroacoustic transducer in which a human voice or a surrounding sound is collected equal to the sound collection by human ears, the collected sound is listened to with excellent sound quality or used for a sound source supplied of the absorbed sound to an external recorder. CONSTITUTION:A moving coil type earphone unit 41 is contained in a 1st independent chamber case 4. The 1st independent chamber case 4 is provided with an ear hole insertion section 42 and a tip of the ear hole insertion section 42 is provided with a sounding hole 44 from the earphone unit 41. A 2nd independent chamber case 5 is coupled with a part opposite to the position of the sounding hole 44 of the ear hole insertion section 42 of the 1st independent chamber case 4. A microphone unit 51 to collect the sound around ears is housed in a 2nd independent chamber case 5. An input section of a sound signal fed to the earphone unit 41 and a sound output section guiding an output sound signal of the microphone unit 51 externally are provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention picks up a human voice or ambient sound as if it were picked up by the human ear, listens to the picked-up sound with good sound quality, and / or an external recorder. For example, the present invention relates to a personal electroacoustic transducer that can be used as a sound source for supplying collected sound.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art This type of personal electroacoustic device has not been available in the past. However, there are ear hole insertion type hearing aids as an electroacoustic transducer that picks up a human voice and ambient sound in the same way as when picked up by the human ear, such as a tape recorder or a CD.
BACKGROUND ART Single-function devices such as headphones and earphones are known as means for personally listening to reproduced sound from a player or the like.

In an ear-hole insertion type hearing aid, a microphone is located in the vicinity of a human ear hole, and a sound can be picked up almost as if it is picked up by the ear. You will be able to hear the sound.

[0004]

However, since the hearing aid of the type that is inserted into the ear canal is configured so that the entire structure is inserted into the ear canal, the individual functional parts (microphone unit, earphone unit, circuit) are not provided. It is necessary to make the parts) very small. For this reason, as the earphone unit, a magnetic type (static type) earphone unit is used, which can be made extremely small and has high efficiency.

However, this type of earphone unit is inferior in sound quality to the moving coil type dynamic type, and even if it can be used for a narrow band such as a human voice or ambient sound, it cannot be used in a CD player. As a sound conversion means for the reproduction signal or the reproduction signal of the tape recorder, there is a drawback that sufficient sound quality cannot be obtained.

Further, since it is extremely small, the microphone unit and the earphone unit are housed in the one-chamber housing, which makes it difficult to obtain a howling margin.
It is necessary to have a special structure in terms of howling prevention in terms of spatial acoustics and mechanical vibration propagation. For example, it is necessary to make an anti-vibration damper structure, or to collect an ear hole mold of an individual and adjust the housing shape to that shape.

In addition, when the wearer of the hearing aid personally listens to the reproduced sound of the tape recorder or the CD player,
It is troublesome to remove the hearing aid and wear headphones or earphones.

Further, in the case of a small device such as the above-mentioned ear canal insertion type hearing aid, there is a drawback that it is difficult to attach and detach. Considering that most of the hearing aid wearers are elderly people and are not good at detailed work, there is a great demand for easy wearing and removing.

Further, even in the case of a hearing-impaired person, there is a demand to alleviate the noise when working in the noise.
Also, when you feel sick, noise around you is a concern. In such a case, it would be convenient if the external sound could be leveled down.

When recording a conference or conversation, if a voice equivalent to what the listener is actually listening to can be recorded,
The reproduced sound is very natural and realistic.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a personal electroacoustic transducer capable of improving the above-mentioned drawbacks and satisfying the above requirements.

[0012]

A personal electroacoustic transducer according to the present invention is provided with a moving coil type earphone unit 41, an earpiece insertion section 42 in which the earphone unit 41 is housed, and an earpiece insertion section 42. A first independent chamber housing 4 having a sound emission opening 44 for outputting a sound from the earphone unit 41 at the tip of the insertion portion 42, and the first
A second independent unit that is connected at a portion of the independent chamber housing 4 opposite to the position of the sound emitting opening 44 of the insertion portion 42 in the ear canal and houses the microphone unit 51 for collecting the sound around the ear. It is characterized by including the room housing 5, an input section of an audio signal supplied to the earphone unit 41, and an audio output section for deriving an output audio signal of the microphone unit 51 to the outside.

[0013]

According to the present invention having the above-described structure, the sound picked up by the microphone unit 51 is supplied from the output section to the input section via the external drive circuit 2, and the earphone unit 4
1 can be supplied. When the drive circuit is provided in the second independent chamber housing 5, the output of the microphone unit 51 is supplied to the earphone unit 41 via the drive circuit without passing through the output section and the input section. As a result, the same effect as that of the hearing aid can be obtained, but since the earphone unit 41 is a moving coil type, a sound with good sound quality can be obtained. Further, at this time, the earphone unit 41 and the microphone unit 51 are separated from each other in the independent chamber housings 4,
Since it is housed in the housing 5, a large howling margin can be secured.

Further, when the reproduced sound signal of the CD player or the tape recorder is supplied from the input section, the reproduced sound can be heard by the moving coil type earphone unit 41 with good sound quality. At that time, the microphone unit 51
It is also possible to mix the external sound picked up in the playback signal.
Therefore, even a hearing-impaired person can listen to the reproduction signal of the sound reproduction device while wearing the device.

The audio signal picked up by the microphone unit 51 can be recorded by an external recorder via the output section. In this case, when the reproduced sound is heard by the earphone, the sound is the same as when actually picked up and heard by the ear.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the entire embodiment of the personal electroacoustic transducer of this example. In this example, a left ear electroacoustic transducer 1L and a right ear electroacoustic transducer 1R are provided.
It comprises a drive circuit box 2 and an input / output cable 3 which connects the electroacoustic transducers 1L and 1R to the drive circuit box 2.

The electroacoustic transducers 1L and 1R have substantially the same structure, and include the first independent chamber housings 4L and 4R and the second independent chamber housings 4L and 4R.
Independent room housings 5L and 5R are configured as two independent rooms.

FIG. 2 shows an electroacoustic transducer 1L or 1R.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the above, and both have the same configuration, and therefore will be described below with reference numerals excluding suffixes L and R.

A moving coil type dynamic earphone unit 41 is housed in the first independent chamber housing 4. The housing 4 is made of resin, for example, and an earplug 42 to be inserted into the ear canal is integrally formed with the housing 4. The earplug 42 has a substantially truncated cone shape, and its ridge line is curved so as to fit exactly into the ear canal. Then, a hollow opening 44 communicating with the sound emitting space 43 of the earphone unit 41 is opened at approximately the center of the earplug 42 so that the sound reproduced by the earphone unit 41 is emitted into the ear canal from the hollow opening 44. Has been done.

The side of the first independent chamber housing 4 opposite to the side on which the earplugs 42 are formed has a flat plate shape, and the flat plate portion 45 is connected to the second independent chamber housing 5. The second independent chamber housing 5 has a prismatic or cylindrical shape, and its centerline direction extends in the plane direction of the flat plate portion 45. The microphone unit 51 is housed inside the housing 5. The end portion of the second independent chamber housing 5 on the side of the connection portion with the first independent chamber housing 4 is an inclined portion 52 oblique to the flat plate portion 45.
The microphone unit 5 is attached to the inclined portion 52.
A plurality of small holes 53 are drilled for the purpose of picking up the sound by 1.

A connecting portion 54 for connecting the input / output cable 3 is formed at the extension end of the second independent chamber housing 5 on the side opposite to the connecting portion with the first independent chamber housing 4. . In the case of this example, in the second independent chamber housing 5, the connection point of the cable 3 with the input cable 31 is a lead portion (not shown).
Is connected to the earphone unit 41 via the, and the connection point with the output cable 32 is connected to the output end of the microphone unit 51 via the lead portion (not shown).

The apparatus of this example is mounted as shown in FIG. 3A, but the first independent chamber housing 4 is inserted into the ear hole e (see FIG. 3B). Therefore, the first independent chamber housing 4 is
The earplug 42 is inserted into the ear canal and is formed into a size that can be stored in the recess of the concha cavity b which is the recess of the auricle a. When stored in the recess of the concha cavity b, the housing 4 At least two points on the outer peripheral surface are formed to be supported by the tragus c and the antitragus d, which are a part of the auricle a.

When the device is stored in the concave portion of the concha of the ear b in this way, the position of the ear hole e becomes a position deviated from the central position of the first housing 4 as shown in FIG. 3B. Therefore, the formation position of the earplug 42 is provided at a position eccentric from the central portion of the housing 4 so as to match the position of the ear hole e. Therefore, the position of the earplug 42 is different between the left ear and the right ear. That is, when the second casing 5 is connected to the first casing 4 so that the center line position thereof coincides with the center of the first casing 4, the earplug 42 is the second casing for the left ear. It is on the left side from the center of connection with 5, and on the right side for the right ear. Further, in the second casing 5, the first casing 4 is the concha space b.
When it is inserted into the concave portion of the auricle, it protrudes to the outside of the auricle a, and the portion of the second casing 5 can be attached to and detached from the ear by using the finger as a fingerhold. Will be easier for older people.

Next, the drive circuit box 2 is formed in a small and thin box shape that fits in a chest pocket, for example, and an electric circuit as shown in FIG. 4 is provided inside the drive circuit box 2. Although FIG. 4 shows only one channel, there are actually two systems, one for the left ear electroacoustic transducer 1L (left channel) and one for the right ear electroacoustic transducer 1R (right channel). .

As shown in FIG. 4, the output audio signal of the microphone unit 51 in the second independent chamber housing 5 is input to the input terminal 20a via the output cable 32. The signal input to the input terminal 20a is amplified by the microphone amplifier 21 and supplied to the mixing amplifier 23 via the volume control volume 22.

The output signal of the mixing amplifier 23 is led to the output terminal 20b via the power amplifier 24. An input cable 31 is connected to the output terminal 20b, and the output signal of the power amplifier 24 is supplied to the earphone unit 41 to reproduce sound. That is, the sound collected by the microphone unit 51 is reproduced by the earphone unit 41. At this time, since the earphone unit 41 is of the moving coil type, the reproduced sound quality is good, and moreover, the sound is picked up near the ear,
It is almost the same as the sound that is picked up directly by the ear and heard.

The volume at this time is adjusted by the volume 22. For this reason, box 2 has volume 2
A second adjusting knob 22R is provided. By adjusting the adjusting knob 22R, the user who is used as a hearing aid can hear a human voice or ambient sound at a volume corresponding to his / her hearing ability that varies from individual to individual.

In this case, since the microphone unit 51 is inside the housing 5 and the earphone unit 41 is housed inside the housing 4 and is inside each separate housing, the howling margin becomes large and a stable reproduced sound can be obtained. You can

If the shape of the earplug 42 is adapted to the shape of the ear canal of each individual, the howling margin can be further increased, and it is possible to cope with a person with severe hearing loss.

Further, in this example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in, the box 2 includes a stereo type external input jack 201 and a microphone output jack 202. The external input jack 201 is connected to the external input terminals 20c for the left channel and the right channel.
The microphone output jack 202 is connected to the output terminals 20d for the left channel and the right channel.

Therefore, in the external input jack 201,
When a stereo plug to which the output end of an external source such as a CD player or a tape recorder is connected is connected (inserted), the left channel or right channel external input audio signal is supplied to the terminal 20c of FIG. This terminal 20
The external input audio signal of c is supplied to the mixing amplifier 23 via the input attenuator 25 and the buffer amplifier 26, and mixed with the audio from the microphone 51.

As a result, the audio signal from the external source can be heard. In this case, since the earphone unit 41 is of the moving coil type, the reproduced sound can be enjoyed with high quality. Then, even when the earplug 42 is fitted exactly in the ear canal, the ambient sound can be obtained from the microphone unit 51.

As described above, even when the present device is used as a hearing aid, audio reproduction can be enjoyed simply by pushing an output plug such as a telephone into the input jack of the box 2.

Conventionally, it was necessary to remove the hearing aid once, replace it with headphones, and listen at a high volume, but this is improved. In the case of a hearing-impaired person and a hearing-impaired person, there is an advantage that the microphone unit 51 can also capture an external sound when enjoying audio reproduction at a high volume. At this time, by adjusting the knob 22M of the volume 22 and the knob 25M of the attenuator 25, the mixing amount of both can be adjusted. Of course, the volume 22 can completely reduce the audio signal from the microphone unit 51.

Then, in this example, the output signal of the mixing amplifier 23 is led to the output terminal 20d via the buffer amplifier 27.

The output terminal 20d is connected to one contact portion of the stereo microphone output jack 202. Therefore, by inserting a plug to the recording signal input terminal of the recorder into the jack 202 and recording the signal of the output terminal 20d, the so-called binaural sound is recorded by the left and right microphone units 51, 51. Can be recorded on a recording medium such as. This playback sound is
The sound is reproduced with earphones, but the sound is very realistic.

Although the input / output cable 3 is connected to the box 2 in the above example, the box 2 can be a separate body. That is, FIG. 5 shows an example of the case, and in Box 2,
Further, an input jack 203 and an output jack 204 are provided. The left channel contact or right channel contact of the input jack 203 is connected to the input terminal 20a, and the left channel contact or right channel contact of the output jack 204 is connected to the output terminal 20b. On the other hand, the earphone plug 33 and the microphone output plug 34, each having a stereo plug configuration, are connected to the input cable 31 of the input / output cable 3.
And the output cable 32, respectively.

In the case of this example, by inserting the plugs 33 and 34 into the jacks 203 and 204 of the box 2, it is possible to obtain the same structure as the example of FIG.

Further, by inserting the plug 33 into the headphone jack of the audio device, the reproduced sound can be heard by the earphone unit 41, and by inserting the plug 34 into the microphone jack of the recorder and recording, as described above. Binaural recording is possible. If the cable 3 is short, the above operation can be realized by using a relay cord.

The cable 3 is not connected to the second independent chamber housing 5, but is connected to the drive circuit box 2 side so that the electroacoustic transducers 1L and 1R and the drive circuit box 2 are separated. May be.

In this case, the second independent chamber housing 5 is provided with a one-channel specification input jack and an output jack.

Although the drive circuit box 2 is constructed as a separate body in the above example, the drive circuit portion 55 and the battery 56 may be inserted into the second independent chamber housing 5 as shown in FIG.

In the case of this example, the second housing 5 is provided with jacks 57 and 58 corresponding to the jacks 201 and 202 of the drive circuit box 2.

Instead of providing the jacks 57 and 58, a wireless transmitter / receiver may be provided in the housing 5 to wirelessly transmit / receive input / output signals (radio waves, infrared rays, etc.).

The above example is an example of wearing on both ears, but it goes without saying that one ear may be used.

[0047]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the moving coil type unit is used as the earphone unit, the reproduced sound with good sound quality can be obtained.

With this earphone unit, the sound picked up by the microphone unit near the ear can be reproduced, and the hearing aid for people with weak hearing can be provided with good sound quality.

Since the earphone unit and the microphone unit are housed in independent housings to have a large howling margin, a stable sound can be heard.

Further, the apparatus of the present invention is provided with a voice input section, and by inputting a reproduction signal of an audio device such as a CD player from this input section, the reproduced sound can be heard by the earphone unit. Therefore, even a user who uses the device of the present invention as a hearing aid can listen to the reproduced audio signal of the audio device without reattaching it to headphones or the like, which is very convenient.

Moreover, the device of the present invention can listen to the sound picked up by the microphone unit by superimposing it on the reproduced sound signal of the acoustic device, and listening to the surrounding sound while enjoying the reproduced sound of the acoustic device. You can also

Further, the apparatus of the present invention is provided with an output section for the audio output signal of the microphone unit, and by supplying the audio signal from this output section to the recorder, the sound is picked up in the vicinity of the human ear. It is possible to record a voice signal equivalent to what a human is listening to.

Further, in the device of the present invention, the structure is made up of two housings, and the second housing for accommodating the microphone unit is shaped so as to project to the outside when the device is worn on the ear. By doing so, the second housing portion can be easily attached and detached using the second housing portion as a fingerhold.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an embodiment of a personal electroacoustic transducer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a usage state of the personal electroacoustic transducer according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a circuit configuration diagram of an example of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a system configuration diagram of another example of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of still another example of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1L, 1R Left-ear and right-ear electroacoustic transducers 2 Drive circuit box 3 Input / output cables 4L, 4R First independent room housing 5L, 5R Second independent room housing 33 Earphone plug 34 Microphone output plug 41 Earphone unit 42 earplugs 44 hollow opening 51 microphone unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A moving coil type earphone unit, the earphone unit being housed therein, having an ear hole insertion portion, and having a sound emission opening for sound from the earphone unit at the tip of the ear hole insertion portion. A microphone that is coupled to the first independent-chamber casing at a portion of the first independent-chamber casing on the side opposite to the position of the sound emission opening of the ear hole insertion portion, and collects sound around the ear. Personal electroacoustic conversion including a second independent-chamber housing in which the unit is housed, an input unit for an audio signal supplied to the earphone unit, and an audio output unit for deriving an output audio signal of the microphone unit to the outside. apparatus. 2. The second independent-chamber housing according to claim 1, wherein the second independent-chamber housing protrudes outward with respect to the first independent-chamber housing so that a finger can be easily attached and detached. Personal electroacoustic transducer. 3. The personal electroacoustic transducer according to claim 1, wherein a drive circuit that amplifies an output audio signal of the microphone unit to form a signal for driving the earphone, comprises: A personal electroacoustic transducer that is housed together with a power supply battery in a housing separate from the second housing. 4. The personal electroacoustic transducer according to claim 1, wherein an output audio signal of the microphone unit is amplified in the second independent chamber housing to form a signal for driving the earphone. A personal electroacoustic transducer comprising a drive circuit and a power supply battery, and an output signal of the drive circuit is supplied to the earphone. 5. A personal electroacoustic apparatus in which the personal electroacoustic transducer according to claim 1 is prepared for the left ear and the right ear, respectively. 6. The personal electric device according to claim 5, wherein the position of the ear hole insertion portion for the left ear and the position for the right ear are provided at positions displaced from the center position of the first independent chamber housing. Acoustic transducer.