Patent ID: 6438244
Filing Date: 2002-08-20
Classification: B01J,C07B,C07D,C07H,C12Q,C40B,G01N,H04R

Abstract:
A hearing aid that is positioned in the ear during use, comprising:a) a mounting member providing a support for holding one or more electronic hearing aid components mounted thereto; b) an outer shell that is only temporarily joined to the mounting member and being removable therefrom, the outer shell and mounting member defining an enclosure that contains a plurality of electronic hearing aid components and a void space that can be filled with a soft polymeric filler material; c) the soft polymeric filler material having a durometer shore A of less than 40, and that substantially fills the enclosure engaging the inner respective surfaces of the mounting member and outer shell to form a polymeric body and thereby minimize the volume of void space and encapsulate the electronic hearing aid components, the outer shell inner surface being shaped to conform the ear canal of a user; d) the soft polymeric body and the encapsulated electronic hearing aid components defining a soft structure compliant to the ear canal during use, and substantially solid so that it is free of void spaces between the hearing aid electronic components and ear canal; e) the combination of the soft compliant structure and encapsulated electronic hearing aid components enabling a precise representation of the user's ear canal, flexing with jaw motion, and a cushioning of the interface between ear canal and electronic hearing aid components; f) one of the electronic hearing aid components including a wiring harness that is configured to maintain its integrity during flexing of the soft polymeric body.