Patent Publication Number: US-2022239998-A1

Title: Headphone ear pad to optimize comfort and maintain sound quality

Description:
FIELD 
     The application relates generally to headphone ear pads. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Headphones are an important part of many audio applications including computer gaming. As understood herein, many users experience discomfort problems, and in the most extreme cases users cut their games short because of this. 
     As further understood herein, part of the problem stems from using, for headphone ear cups, materials that are usually optimized to achieve goals other than comfort do not always fit every user and can sometimes result in an uncomfortable headset with the combination of foam and cloth/leather covering. The most common discomfort factors reported are heat and pressure discomfort. 
     SUMMARY 
     Present principles provide an ear pad structure to minimize these discomforts and, for example, allow gamers to play longer by targeting the key sources of gaming discomfort via the creation of a new latticed material structure. For heat discomfort, users will often complain of feeling “too hot” or “too sweaty.” The primary reason for this discomfort is the humidity and heat-trapping nature of conventional materials, such as foam and polyurethane. Through a carefully designed lattice structure, present principles reduce the heat buildup by creating a custom lattice to facilitate heat transfer. For pressure discomfort, users will often report “pressure on top of the head” a “squeezing pressure” on the sides of the head, or a “pinching” feeling. Present principles provide a lattice that contours to the head of a user with an even pressure distribution to prevent or mitigate these discomforts, rendering an optimal ear pad for the over-the-ear listening experience, with a novel material profile and lattice structure optimizing for sound and comfort simultaneously. An outer layer structure such as Polyurethane or cloth may be combined with an inner layer lattice structure made of foam or gel. 
     Accordingly, a device includes an ear pad for a head-worn apparatus that in turn includes an annular lattice establishing a body having a variable resistance to compression in at least one dimension defined by the lattice. 
     The dimension may be a radial dimension defined by the annular lattice, an axial dimension, or both. 
     In some examples a first segment of the ear pad has a first thickness in an axial dimension and a second segment of the ear pad has a second thickness in the axial dimension. The first segment can transition smoothly without discontinuities in thickness to the second segment. 
     The lattice may be an irregular lattice, or it may be a regular lattice. 
     The perimeters of lattice strands may define openings of different sizes. Likewise, the strands may define widths of different sizes. 
     In an example embodiment, the body has an inner annular surface, and the device can include a skin covering the inner annular surface. 
     In another aspect, a method includes generating a primitive shape of an ear pad using computer aided design (CAD), and based at least in part on the primitive shape, creating a lattice to establish at least a body of the ear pad. 
     In another aspect, an assembly includes at least one head-worn support and left and right ear pads on the support for cushioning a user around ears of the user when the user wears the head-worn support. The ear pads have variable compressive properties. 
     The details of the present application, both as to its structure and operation, can best be understood in reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and in which: 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a headset configured as headphones with ear pads consistent with present principles; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates an ear pad showing the lattice; 
         FIG. 3  is a side profile view of the ear pad in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates an ear pad showing the lattice and an inner skin covering the annular inside surface of the lattice; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates heat transfer and sound capturing attributes of the ear pad in  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIGS. 6-10  illustrate various examples of lattices that can be used; 
         FIG. 11  illustrates example logic in example flow chart format of manufacturing a 3D printed ear pad; 
         FIG. 12  illustrates a workflow consistent with  FIG. 11 ; 
         FIG. 13  illustrates further details of a workflow; and 
         FIG. 14  illustrates a 3D printing system. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Now referring to  FIG. 1 , a head-worn apparatus is shown, generally designated  10 , configured in the example illustrated as a headset or headphone with a head band  12  supporting left and right speaker assemblies  14 , each of which includes at least a speaker and an annular ear pad  16  to cushion against the wearer&#39;s face. The speaker assemblies  14  with ear pads  16  preserves sound transmission to the ears while allowing heat to escape from the face, while contouring to the head. 
     As set forth further below, each ear pad  16  may include a custom designed and generated lattice structure for optimal comfort. By analyzing 3D scans and using pressure mapping measurements, an inventive internal configuration of the ear pad  16  optimizes material performance. This inner structural configuration can be tuned to achieve a desired wear performance in different areas of the ear pad to optimize for comfort. The performance of each segment of this material may be different, unlike current foam ear cups that are all the exact same material with the same behavior all throughout and lack a contoured shape. For example, one part of the ear pad  16  might be extremely soft, while another part is much harder. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates an ear pad  16  consistent with present principles which has a body defined by an annular lattice  18 . The lattice is annular in that it is formed with a central cylindrical hollow sound passageway  20  to channel sound from the speaker of the speaker assembly to the ear of a wearer. The outer periphery  22  of the lattice also may be round. As set forth elsewhere herein, the lattice may be configured such that the body  18  has a variable resistance to compression from one part of the lattice to another. The variable resistance may be in at least one dimension defined by the lattice, such as the radial dimension defined by the annular lattice, or an axial dimension, or both. 
     This variable resistance may be achieved by making one part of the lattice less dense (fewer strands or straps/larger lattice openings) and hence less resistive to compression than another part of the lattice. Or a first segment  24  of the ear pad established by the lattice can have a different thickness, e.g., in an axial dimension than a second segment  26 . As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the first segment  24  can transition smoothly without discontinuities in thickness to the second segment  26 . The strands of the lattice may have variable widths such that some strands (e.g., in areas which are desired to be relatively stiffer and thus more resistive to compression) can be thicker than strands in other areas desired to be less stiff and thus less resistive to compression. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates that the lattice may be an irregular lattice, meaning that its strands  28  form closed perimeters such as triangles that can have different shapes and/or sizes across the lattice. 
     In some embodiments the inner surface of the ear pad  16  may be covered by a continuous skin  32  ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ). The skin  32  may be porous or non-porous. Additionally, while  FIG. 2  shows an ear pad in which the annulus  20  formed by the lattice is not covered,  FIGS. 4 and 5  show that an ear pad  400  consistent with present principles may include a annulus skin  402  that covers the annulus of the lattice to both add stiffness to the inner part of the ear pad when such is desired and/or to channel sound from the speaker  404  to the ear  406 , with heat being allowed to escape from the wearer&#39;s body through radially outer portions  408  of the lattice as indicated by the arrow  410 . 
       FIGS. 6-10  illustrate various examples of lattices that can be used for an ear pad consistent with present principles.  FIG. 6  illustrates a lattice  600  the strands  602  of which form closed perimeters that are hexagonal. The lattice in  FIG. 6  is regular in that the hexagons are all approximately equally spaced and of equal size to each other. 
       FIG. 7  illustrates a lattice  700  in which strands  702  form triangular closed perimeters. Some strands  704  in  FIG. 7  form diamond-shaped perimeters. 
       FIG. 8  illustrates a lattice  800  the strands  802  of which form circular perimeters. 
       FIG. 9  illustrates a lattice  900  the strands  902  of which form both triangular perimeters  904  and diamond-shaped perimeters  906 . 
       FIG. 10  illustrates a lattice  1000  the strands  1002  of which form various perimeters including octagonal perimeters. 
       FIG. 11  illustrates further. At block  110  a primitive 3D form is provided from, e.g., computer aided design (CAD) software of a desired contour of an ear pad, such as the contour shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . Moving to block  1102 , desired pressure gradients are provided for various parts of the ear pad, with the contour and pressure information being used at block  1104  to produce a lattice-based ear pad using 3D printing techniques. 
     Note that techniques other than 3D printing may be used. For example, injection molding may be used to produce an ear pad consistent with present principles. Or strands of a lattice to form an ear pad may be joined after manufacture of the strands by, e.g., sonic welding, rf sealing, adhesive bonding, etc. The 3D printing technique is thus an example. 
     The principles of  FIG. 11  are amplified in  FIG. 12 . A CAD file is produced representing a 3D primitive shape  1200 . A desired surface pressure profile  1202  also is produced representing the desired (variable) pressure on the wearer at various portions of the inner surface of the ear pad. Additionally, a vertical pressure gradient profile  1204  is provided (two example vertical pressure gradients  1204 ,  1204   a  illustrated as examples). The higher-pressure portions are translated into thicker regions  24  in  FIGS. 2 and 3  during 3D printing whereas the lower pressure portions are translated into thinner regions  26 . 
       FIG. 13  continues the explanation. Designer steps typically include producing the 3D primitive  1300  for 3D printing, spin clean, and bake flat processes. Lattice characteristics in terms of resistance to compression may be produced region  1302  by region of the ear pad. Surfaces of the lattice to be covered by a solid skin are designated at  1304 . This data is then provided to the 3D printer which extracts the desired mesh and skin surfaces and any desired surface textures to produce at  1306  a zonal lattice with variable stiffness merged with the demanded textured skin portions. 
       FIG. 14  illustrates that the above may be implemented by a designer computer  1400  producing CAD primitives and other information discussed herein, which is provided to a 3D printer computer  1402 . The 3D printer computer  1402  controls a 3D print apparatus  1404  to produce the ear pads  1406  described herein. 
     Components included in one embodiment can be used in other embodiments in any appropriate combination. For example, any of the various components described herein and/or depicted in the Figures may be combined, interchanged, or excluded from other embodiments. 
     “A system having at least one of A, B, and C” (likewise “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” and “a system having at least one of A, B, C”) includes systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc. 
     It will be appreciated that whilst present principals have been described with reference to some example embodiments, these are not intended to be limiting, and that various alternative arrangements may be used to implement the subject matter claimed herein.