Patent Publication Number: US-9843872-B2

Title: Sound collection equipment and method for detecting the operation status of sound collection equipment

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a sound collection equipment and a method for detecting an operation status of a sound collection equipment, in particular to a sound collection equipment having both a speaker and a microphone and the method for detecting an operation status of a sound collection equipment. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Typically, when a user uses a sound collection equipment such as a hearing aid, the speaker generates annoying high frequency sounds when the microphone is too close to the speaker. This phenomenon, referred to as audio feedback, generally occurs unintentionally when the microphone and the speaker are in close proximity to each other during operation, and the high frequency sound can startle users and generate unpleasant user experiences. 
     Therefore, it is desirable to provide a method to reduce or eliminate the audio feedback phenomenon in order to resolve the above mentioned issue. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The objective of the present invention is to provide a sound collection equipment and a method to detect the operating state of the sound collection equipment. 
     In order to achieve the above objective, the sound collection equipment of the present invention comprises a speaker, a microphone and a processor unit. The speaker is used for generating a test sound. The microphone is used for receiving the test sound. The processor unit is electrically connected to the speaker and the microphone. The processor unit is used for determining if the energy of the test sound received by the microphone exceeds a predetermined energy value and judging that the sound collection equipment is in use if the energy does not exceed the predetermined energy value. 
     The method for detecting the operating state of a sound collection equipment according to the present invention comprises a speaker and a microphone. The method for detecting the operating state of a sound collection equipment according to the present invention includes the following steps: generating a test sound via the speaker, receiving the test sound via the microphone, and determining if the energy of the test sound received by the microphone exceeds a predetermined energy value; if the energy of the test sound does not exceed a predetermined energy value, judging that the sound collection equipment is in a usage state; and if the energy of the test sound exceeds a predetermined energy value, judging that the sound collection equipment is not in the usage state. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the accompanying drawings, which disclose several embodiments of the present invention. It is to be understood that the drawings are to be used for purposes of illustration only, and not as a definition of the invention. 
       In the drawings, wherein similar reference numerals denote similar elements throughout the several views: 
         FIG. 1  is a device architecture diagram of the sound collection equipment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a step flowchart of a method for detecting an operating state of a sound collection equipment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of the first embodiment indicating that the electronic device is in a usage state; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of the first embodiment indicating that the electronic device is not in a usage state; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram of the second embodiment indicating that the electronic device is in a usage state; and 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic diagram of the second embodiment indicating that the electronic device is not in a usage state. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The following embodiments are provided in order to further explain the implementations of the present invention. It should be noted that the objects used in the diagrams of the embodiments are provided with proportions, dimensions, deformations, displacements and details as examples and that the present invention is not limited thereto; identical components in the embodiments are the given same component numbers. 
       FIG. 1  is a device architecture diagram of the sound collection equipment of the present invention 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , in an embodiment of the present invention, a sound collection equipment  1  of the present invention comprises a speaker  10 , a microphone  20 , a processor unit  30  and a sound amplifier  40 . In a specific embodiment of the present invention, the sound collection equipment  1  is a hearing aid, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, the speaker  10  is used for generating a high frequency test sound S, wherein the frequency of the test sound S preferably ranges between 8,000˜40,000 Hz and the loudness does not exceed 20 dB, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, the microphone  20  is used for receiving external sounds, including a test sound S generated by the speaker  10 . After the test sound is transmitted to the microphone  20 , the microphone  20  can generate an input sound signal, and the input sound signal is transmitted to the processor unit  30  for processing. 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, the processor unit  30  is electrically connected to the speaker  10  and the microphone  20 . The processor unit  30  comprises a digital signal processor  31  and a micro controller  32 . 
     The digital signal processor  31  is used for processing the input sound signal transmitted from the microphone  20  to generate a corresponding output sound signal. The output sound signal is transmitted to the sound amplifier  40 . 
     The micro controller  32  is used for determining whether the energy of the test sound S received by the microphone  20  exceeds a predetermined energy value and judging that the sound collection equipment  1  is in a usage state after determining that the energy of the test sound S does not exceed the predetermined energy value. Oppositely, the micro controller  32  judges that the sound collection equipment  1  is not in the usage state when the micro controller  32  determines that the energy of the test sound S exceeds the predetermined energy value. When the micro controller  32  judges the sound collection equipment  1  is not in the usage state, the micro controller  32  further controls the sound amplifier  40  to stop amplifying sounds received by the microphone  20  or to reduce an amplified level of the sounds received by the microphone  20 . The operating state of the sound collection equipment  1  is explained in detail in the following paragraphs and thus is not provided here. 
     The sound amplifier  40  is electrically connected to the processor unit  30 . The sound amplifier  40  is used for amplifying the output sound signal generated by the digital signal processor  31  of the processor unit  30  and transferring the amplified output sound signal to the speaker  10  so that the speaker  10  plays sounds according to the amplified output sound signal. 
     Next, refer to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 6 , wherein  FIG. 2  is a step flowchart of a method for detecting an operating state of a sound collection equipment according to the present invention. The steps shown in  FIG. 2  are further presented in detail in  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 6 . It should be noted that the following implementation is based on the sound collection equipment  1  described previously to illustrate the method for detecting an operating state of a sound collection equipment according to the present invention. However, the scope of the method for detecting an operating state of a sound collection equipment according to the present invention is not limited to the sound collection equipment  1  described previously. 
     First, executing step S 1 : generating a test sound via the speaker. 
     The method for detecting an operating state of a sound collection equipment of the present invention is applicable to a sound collection equipment  1  and is used for detecting if the sound collection equipment  1  is in use. In the first step of the method, the micro controller  32  of the processor unit  30  controls the speaker  10  to generate a test sound S. 
     Executing step S 2 : receiving the test sound via the microphone. 
     When step S 1  is completed, the microphone  20  of the sound collection equipment  1  receives the test sound S generated by the speaker  10 . 
     Executing step S 3 : determining if the energy of the test sound received by the microphone exceeds a predetermined energy value. 
     After the microphone  20  receives the test sound S, the micro controller  32  of the processor unit  30  determines if the energy of the test sound received by the microphone  20  exceeds a predetermined energy value (for example: 10 dB). 
     As shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 3 , in an embodiment of the present invention, when a user uses the sound collection equipment  1 , i.e., the sound collection equipment  1  is in a usage state, the speaker  10  of the sound collection equipment  1  is placed near the ears of the user, and the microphone  20  hangs on the user&#39;s chest. Accordingly, the distance between the speaker  10  and the microphone  20  is equal to or greater than a certain distance. As shown in  FIG. 4 , when the user does not use the sound collection equipment  1  and wants to store the sound collection equipment  1 , the microphone  20  frequently is placed at less than the certain distance from the speaker  10  in order to reduce the required storage space. Therefore, the sound collection equipment  1  being in the usage state refers to the speaker  10  being at a predetermined distance (for example: 60 cm or more) from the microphone. Because the sound collection equipment  1  is in the usage state, the distance between the speaker  10  and microphone  20  is equal to or greater than the predetermined distance. Thus, the energy of the test sound S received by the microphone  20  does not exceed the predetermined energy value. On the other hand, when the sound collection equipment  1  is not in the usage state, the distance between the speaker  10  and the microphone  20  is shorter than the predetermined distance. Thus, the energy of the test sound S received by the microphone  20  exceeds the predetermined energy value. As a result, when the energy of the test sound S does not exceed the predetermined energy value, it is judged that the sound collection equipment  1  is in the usage state (step S 4 ). When the energy of the test sound S exceeds the predetermined energy value, it is judged that the sound collection equipment  1  is not in the usage state (step S 5 ). 
     As shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 5 , in another embodiment of the present invention, when a user uses the sound collection equipment  1 , i.e., the sound collection equipment  1  is in the usage state, the speaker  10  of the sound collection equipment  1  is placed near the ears, and the microphone  20  is placed at the back of the ear. The speaker  10  and the microphone  20  are blocked by the auricle. On the other hand, as shown in  FIG. 6 , once the user removes the sound collection equipment  1  from the ear, the speaker  10  and the microphone  20  are not blocked by any objects. Accordingly, the sound collection equipment  1  being in the usage state refers to an object being located between the speaker and the microphone of the sound collection equipment  1 . When the sound collection equipment  1  is in the usage state, the speaker  10  and the microphone  20  of the sound collection equipment  1  are blocked by an object, and the energy value of the test sound S received by the microphone  20  does not exceed a predetermined energy value. On the other hand, when the sound collection equipment  1  is not in the usage state, the speaker  10  and the microphone  20  of the sound collection equipment  1  are not blocked by an object, and the energy value of the test sound S received by the microphone  20  exceeds a predetermined energy value. When it is determined that the energy of the test sound S does not exceed a predetermined energy value, it is judged that the sound collection equipment  1  is in the usage state (step S 4 ). On the other hand, when it is determined that the energy of the test sound S exceeds a predetermined energy value, it is judged that the sound collection equipment  1  is not in the usage state (step S 5 ). 
     Execute step S 6 : controlling the sound amplifier to stop amplifying the sound received by the microphone or to reduce an amplification level of the sound received by the microphone. 
     Once it is determined that the sound collection equipment  1  is not in the usage state, the micro controller  32  of the processor unit  30  controls the sound amplifier  40  to stop amplifying the sound received by the microphone  20  or to reduce an amplification level of the sound received by the microphone  20  in order to prevent the audio feedback resulting from the speaker  10  and the microphone  20  being placed too close to each other. 
     According to the above description, the method for detecting an operating state of a sound collection equipment of the present invention is to judge if the sound collection equipment  1  is in the usage state by determining the energy level of the test sound S and to stop amplifying the sound received by the microphone or to reduce an amplification level of the sound received by the microphone so as to prevent the audio feedback from occurring when the sound collection equipment  1  is not in the usage state. 
     While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made to the described embodiments. It is intended to include all such variations, modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the invention, as defined in the accompanying claims. It is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.