Patent Publication Number: US-7715582-B2

Title: Hearing device with locking system for connectors

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This invention relates generally to hearing devices, hearing instruments or hearing aids and particularly to hearing devices with at least a first component to be arranged outside the ear or the ear canal respectively and a second component to be arranged in the ear or ear canal respectively, communicatively connected to each other by connecting means. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     State of the art hearing devices are commonly either behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing devices, in-the-ear (ITE) hearing devices, in-the-canal (ITC) hearing devices or completely-in-the-canal (CIC) hearing devices. BTE hearing devices comprise sound conduction tubes to transmit the amplified sound from the BTE hearing device arranged behind the ear into the user&#39;s ear canal. The other hearing devices, ITE, ITC and CIC, are already arranged at or in the ear canal and thus have only short sound conduction tubes or no tubes at all. 
     Although the ITC and especially CIC hearing devices are preferred by many users due to their low visibility from outside, their drawbacks of limited maximum amplification, limited battery lifetime, limited receiver quality and not suitable space within the ear canal, BTE hearing devices are still demanded and will still be used in the future. 
     In order to combine the advantages of BTE hearing devices and ITE, ITC and CIC hearing devices, combined hearing devices have already been proposed, comprising essentially two separate parts. The first part comprises most of the electronic modules, such as micro processors, tuners, power source, regularly in form of replaceable or re-chargeable batteries, and microphones and is adapted to be worn externally by the user, either behind the ear or to be clipped to the clothing of the user. This part will be called the BTE part. The second part comprises an output transducer, regularly a speaker, and a shell, which is adapted or shaped to be worn partially or completely within the ear canal. This part will be called ITC or CIC part respectively. Those two parts are usually connected to each other by a permanently wired connection. 
     In the field of hearing aids, the electric-to-acoustic transducer, regularly a speaker, is called receiver, as it will be done further on in this description. 
     A modular connector system for auditory devices of the type of combined BTE/CIC is known from WO2004/025990. The BTE-component of this earpiece auditory device is connected via a connector to the CIC-component comprising the receiver. 
     The connector consists of a hollow tube with electric wires within this tube. The connector is either hard wire coupled or detachably coupled to the receiver and thus to the CIC-component. The receiver is coupled to the shell of the CIC-component either by mean of a fastener or directly plugged into an opening of the shell. The shell may include an ear mold to be inserted into the ear canal of the user. 
     The fastener is either fixed to the shell by resilient snap-in tongues or by means of screws. The use of the resilient snap-in tongues allows an easy assembling of the fastener, but is only suitable if the shell of the CIC-component includes a soft ear mold, that may be squeezed to loosen the tongues for a non-destructively disassembling of the fastener and therefore of the connector. Such a fastening means is not suitable in case of rigid shells, as the fasteners may not be disassembled without breaking at least a part of the shell or the fastening means. In any case, this can only be done by specialists skilled in the art. 
     The use of detachable connecting means such as screws on the other hand requires a well-skilled and time-consuming assembling technique and further disturbs the regularly smooth shape of the outer surface of the housing of the CIC-component. Furthermore, the screws require a certain amount of space in their axial direction which is opponent to the requirement of miniaturization and reduces the freedom of design of the shape of the housing of the CIC-component. Thus, only a limited miniaturization is possible and not all possible ear canal geometries may be covered by such a construction. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved detachable connection between the two components of such a hearing device and the connection means. 
     The present invention provides a hearing device with locking apparatus comprising a first component with a housing being adapted to be carried outside of or at the human body; a second component to be inserted either partially or fully into an ear canal of a human body; a connecting means connecting mechanically said first and said second component, comprising a tube and a first fasteners being arranged at one end of said tube; said first fastener, being adapted to detachably connect said second component with said connecting means; further comprising an individual locking element to be swiveled into retaining or locking surfaces arranged within said second component, thereby contacting outer surfaces of said first fastener in its connected state with said second component. 
     To prevent the first fastener to be pulled out of said second component, a swiveling individual locking element is provided to securely lock said first fastener within said second component. By providing said locking element at the second component, the first fastener arranged at one end of the connecting means may be easily fixed and on demand later on detached from said second component of the hearing device. Thus, an easy disconnection of the second component from the connecting means and therefore from the first component of the hearing device may be performed and a quick and easy replacement of the first component or eventually of the second component may be accomplished. 
     In a further embodiment, an opening is arranged at the second component for receiving at least a part of said first fastener, wherein at least one recess is arranged at the sidewall of said opening providing said retaining or locking surfaces for said individual locking element. The recess will receive the respective ends of the locking element, when the locking element is turned or swiveled into its locking position. Therefore, the recess is arranged at the sidewall of said opening, within the turning or swiveling plane of said locking element. Preferably, the width of such a recess is slightly lower than the thickness of the end parts of the respective locking element to be inserted into such a recess. The locking element will thereby be resiliently jammed in its locking position. An unintentional loosening of the locking element will thus be prevented. 
     In a further embodiment, two recesses are arranged at opposite sidewalls of said opening. Thus by turning or swiveling said locking element into the locking position, the two opposing locking parts or edges of the locking element will be inserted together into the recesses, thereby assuring the locking plate to keep its alignment within its turning or swiveling plane. 
     In a further embodiment, said locking element is a thin locking plate, to be arranged transversally to the insertion direction of the first fastener into said second component. A great advantage of having such a locking element is the fact, that due to its small thickness, the additional space needed in the insertion direction is only marginal and does practically not affect the overall length of said first fastener with receiver. 
     In a further embodiment, the locking plate has a rhombic shape, preferably with rounded edges at least at the smaller diameter of said plate, and has an opening arranged in its center. Said opening may be rectangular, triangular, square, hexagonal or of any other shape suitable for turning said locking plate with a corresponding shaped tool. 
     A first advantage of this shape of the locking plate is its easy but defined insertion position into the opening for the first fastener in the second component. As this opening will regularly have a rectangular shape, the locking plate may only be inserted in its unlocking alignment. The rounded edges will then allow a smooth turning of the locking element about around 45° in its locking position. The turning of the locking element may be performed by inserting the end of a screw driver into said rectangular opening. Thus, the locking and unlocking of the locking element may be quickly and easily done without the need of having skilled knowledge. 
     In a further embodiment, the hearing device further comprises a second fastener being arranged at the other end of said tube and adapted to detachably connect said first component with said connecting means. Thus, the connecting means may not only be detached from said second component of the hearing device, but as well from the first component of the hearing device. That may be very useful if the connecting means only has to be replaced. 
     In a further embodiment, said tube of the connecting means is a hollow tube with at least one end-to-end opened channel arranged within said tube. This channel may be used to keep the electric wires for the receiver or for the transmission of sound from an external source to the second component of the hearing aid. It is clear, that not only one channel may be arranged within said channel, but two or more channels may be arranged within said channel. 
     In a further embodiment, a solid wire is provided within said tube, said solid wire being firmly attached to either one or both fasteners. Such a solid wire may act as a pull-out safety device preventing the tube from being pulled out from its fastener. 
     In an alternative embodiment, said second component is an ITE-device having a faceplate and a shell connected to said faceplate. 
     In a further embodiment, an opening is provided in said faceplate for entering said first fastener into said shell of said ITE-device. The shape of this opening corresponds to the cross section of the fastener. 
     In a further embodiment, a cavity is provided at said faceplate arranged at the inside of said shell, either made as a part of said faceplate or as a separate part attached to said faceplate. The opening of the faceplate thus leads directly into said cavity. The cavity may be made by directly forming the inside of the faceplate respectively. Preferably, the shape of the cavity corresponds to the outer shape of the first fastener. Thus, the fully inserted first fastener will be firmly embedded by the walls of said cavity. Alternatively, it is possible to build said cavity by providing a separate shell, for instance made out of another material than the faceplate. Preferably, the material of the housing of said cavity is a soft and adaptable plastic material to elastically embedding said first fastener in its inserted state. This cavity has at its bottom end an opening or an open channel, acting as sound transmitting channel from the front end of a receiver arranged at the end of the fastener to the inside of the ear opposite to the eardrum. 
     In a further embodiment, said first fastener comprises a multipart housing, comprising at least two half-shells attached to each other. The first fastener may be composed out of two half-shells that may be attached to each other to form the final housing of the first fastener. 
     In an alternative embodiment, the locking element is a pin, for instance with truncated conically shaped ends. It has been found, that the use of a pin, preferably with a small diameter, is as well usable for locking the first fastener within the second component of the hearing device. Furthermore, the pin in its locking position, lying crosswise within the opening of the second component, may be used as holding bar for any device or element to be attached to this bar. Thus, an element with ears formed by two resiliently arranged grippers, may be detachable clamped to the bar by sliding the ears over the bar. 
     In a further embodiment, a recess is provided at the back end of said first fastener to receive said locking element, having a shape that allows the locking element to be turned or swiveled around an axis perpendicular in relation to the surface of the back end of said first fastener. The locking element thus will on one hand be defined when positioned at the back end of said first fastener and on the other hand be defined when rotated from the unlocked into the locked position. 
     In a further embodiment, the hearing device further comprises a covering plate covering the back end of said first fastener in its inserted state within said second component. The covering plate will close the opening provided for the first fastener and thereby provide a smooth and regular outer surface of the second component of the hearing device. This covering plate further prevents the inside of said opening of being contaminated by wear and dust. 
     In a further embodiment, said hearing device has tongues arranged at the inner side of the covering plate to resiliently be plugged into respective receiving bores arranged at the back end of said first fastener. To hold the covering plate in its covering position, the tongues are plugged into the bores by pressing onto the outside surface of the covering plate. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       For purpose of facilitating and understanding of the invention, some exemplary embodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings to be considered in connection with the following description. Thus the invention may be readily understood and appreciated, but not limited to these embodiments. 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded isometric view of an embodiment of a hearing device with locking element according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a front view onto the right-side of a fastener with inserted receiver of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded isometric view onto a further embodiment of an ITE-part of a hearing device according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a partial view onto the backside of one embodiment of the ITE-part of a hearing device according to the present invention with a locking plate in its open position; 
         FIG. 5  is the same view as in  FIG. 8  with the locking plate in its locked position; 
         FIG. 6  is a partial view onto the backside of another embodiment of the ITE-part of a hearing device according to the present invention with a locking pin in its open position; 
         FIG. 7  is the same view as in  FIG. 5  with the locking pin in its locked position; 
         FIG. 8  is a view to the inner side of the covering plate shown in  FIGS. 1 and 3 . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a first embodiment of a hearing device according to the present invention is shown in its partly disassembled state. The hearing device comprises a BTE-device  10  (behind-the-ear) as a first component, an ITE-device  20  (in-the-ear) as a second component and a tube  30  as connecting means between the BTE-device and the ITE-device. 
     The BTE-device  10  has a housing  11  adapted to be worn behind the ear by the user and containing common electronic modules, such as a sound processing circuitry, microphone and battery. 
     The ITE-device  20  has a housing  21  adapted to be inserted into the outer part of the ear canal. The shape of housing  21  in this example is individually shaped to fit exactly into the ear shell and/or ear canal of an individual person. This is done by applying an individual fitting process by a specialized fitter. A faceplate  22  is arranged at the back end of housing  21 , to receive the active components of ITE-device  20  as well as tube  30 . 
     Tube  30  has a first fastener  31  arranged at its left end and a second fastener  32  arranged at its right end. The second fastener  32  is adapted in its shape and functionality to be plugged onto the upper front  11 ′ of housing  11  of BTE-device  10 . The second fastener  32  will be secured to the housing  11  by a pin  33  which may be inserted through bores arranged transversally to the connecting direction in both the second fastener  32  and the connecting part  12  of housing  11 . 
     The connecting part  12  comprises two electrical female connectors to be connected to electric cables arranged within tube  30  or its male connectors of first fastener  32 . 
     The first fastener  31  is put over the back end of a receiver  23  of the ITE-device  20 . The first fastener  31  together with the receiver  23  may be inserted into the inside of housing  21  of the ITE-device  20  through an opening  24  arranged in faceplate  22 . A locking plate  5  is inventively provided to firmly hold first fastener  31  in its inserted position within ITE-device  20  or faceplate  22  respectively. The function of locking plate  5  will be described more precisely later in this description. 
     To cover and seal opening  24  of faceplate  22 , a covering plate  25  is provided to be inserted over opening  24 , having an aperture  26  for the lead through of tube  30 . 
     For a communicative connection between the BTE-device  10  and the ITE-device  20 , two electric wires  38  are arranged within tube  30  for establishing an electrical connection between receiver  23  and electronic components of the BTE-device  10 , as depicted in  FIG. 2 . The ends of the electric wires  38  are bent around the end  30 ′ of tube  30  and led to the interior back side of first fastener  31  to electric contacts arranged at the backside of receiver  23 . The electric wires  38  may be soldered to those electric contacts or electrically connected in any other known manner. 
     The position of the end  30 ′ of tube  30  may be secured by pressing, gluing or any other suitable connecting means within the bore or opening  37  of the housing of the first fastener  31 . The end of an additional, solid wire  39 , acting as a pull-out safety device, is additionally secured to the housing of first fastener  31 , preferably within or close to the bore or opening  37 . 
     This solid wire  39  runs for example together with the wires  38  within tube  30  from the first fastener  31  to the second fastener  32 . Both types of wire  38  and  39  are preferably arranged within the hollow space of tube  30 , but may be as well arranged within the wall of tube  30 . Tube  30  may have a single open channel or multiple open channels. 
     In  FIG. 3 , the view of a disassembled embodiment of a first fastener  31  and ITE-device  20  according to the present invention is shown. The cavity  27  is made as a hollow part separate from faceplate  22  and not as a one piece part. This part may for example be made out of plastic, for instance as a rigid or elastic mold. 
     Again, the fixing of the first fastener  31  is realized by using a thin locking plate  5  that may be rotated within opening  24  of faceplate  22  to interlock into recesses  24 ′ arranged at the sidewalls of the border area of opening  24 . 
     Covering plate  25  will thus only be used to cover opening  24  and locking plate  5  and provides a smooth and continuous shape of the outside surface of the first fastener  31  at the place of the entry of tube  30 . 
     A gasket  35  may be provided to seal the gap between receiver  23  and first fastener  31 . 
       FIG. 4  depicts the front view into the opening  24  of faceplate  22  of an ITE-device  20  with the first fastener  31  already inserted. The back end of the first fastener  31  is positioned slightly below the outside edging of opening  24 , with tube  30  protruding to the outside of faceplate  22 . Locking plate  5  is applied into a recess  31 ′ provided at the back end of first fastener  31 . 
     The locking plate  5  has a rhombic shape with rounded edges  6  at least at the smaller diameter and has a rectangular opening  7  arranged in its center. Locking plate  5  may now be turned for example by using a screw-driver inserted into the rectangular opening  7  about 45°, thereby shifting its smaller edges  8  into grooves or recesses  24 ′ arranged within the upper part of the sidewall of opening  24 . The first fastener  31  is now detachably hold and fixed by locking plate  5  in its inserted state within faceplate  22 , as shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     The recess  31 ′ has a shape suitable to guide locking plate  5  during the turning of locking plate  5  from the open to the locked position by guiding the rounded edges  6 . Thus, no vertical guide or pin is necessary for holding locking plate  5  in its working position. Thus, the locking mechanism only needs space in its insertion direction in the amount of the thickness of locking plate  5 . 
     Covering plate  25  may now be inserted above locking plate  5  to close opening  24  of faceplate  22 . A rectangularly shaped nose  25 ′ may be provided at the inner side of covering plate  25 , adapted to be clamped into said rectangular opening  7  of locking plate  5 , as shown in  FIG. 8 . By using this configuration, neither the backside of first fastener  31  nor locking plate  5  is visible from the outside of ITE-device  20 . 
     Furthermore, the use of a flat locking plate  5  reduces the amount of space needed for attaching the first fastener  31  within the ITE-device  20  particularly with respect to the longitudinal dimension of ITE-device  20 . It is thus possible to provide an ITE-device  20  with minimal longitudinal dimension that may fit even for extremely convoluted shaped ear canals. It is clear that any other suitable attaching means may be provided at covering plate  25  to attach covering plate  25  with faceplate  22 . 
     Another embodiment of a locking device for locking the first fastener  31  within ITE-device  20  is shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 . A locking pin  9  is used instead of a flat locking plate  5 . This locking pin  9  has a generally cylindrical shape with truncated conically shaped ends  9 ′. It may be inserted in a crosswise position in relation to opening  24  into a circularly shaped recess  31 ′ arranged at the backside of first fastener  31 . By twisting locking pin  9  for instance clockwise around the longitudinal axis of ITE-device  20 , its ends  9 ′ may engage into respectively arranged grooves or recesses  24 ′ arranged within the sidewall of opening  24 . The first fastener  31  will thus be locked in its inserted position within ITE-device  20  and the opening  24  may be covered again by a covering plate  25  as already described. 
     By twisting locking pin  9  anti-clockwise, its ends  9 ′ disengage from the recesses  24 ′ and thus release the first fastener  31 . Thereafter, locking pin  9  and first fastener  31  may be taken out from the opening  24 . 
     It will be clear to one skilled in the art that other applications may be substituted for those set forth herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.