Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US6766878?dq=5,758,352
Timestamp: 2014-03-15 16:47:36
Document Index: 321144406

Matched Legal Cases: ['art. 2', 'art.\n5', 'art.\n11', 'art.\n13', 'art. 14', 'art.\n17']

Patent US6766878 - Custom-moulded ear-plug, and process for producing a custom-moulded ear-plug ... - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsA hearing device for inserting into or adjacent to the ear of an individual. A shell is custom-shaped to fit the individual. The shell is made mainly of a first material and includes a part made mainly of the first material. The part has an inner surface. A pattern of embossments or indentations is provided...http://www.google.com/patents/US6766878?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US6766878 - Custom-moulded ear-plug, and process for producing a custom-moulded ear-plug deviceAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS6766878 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 10/305,472Publication dateJul 27, 2004Filing dateNov 27, 2002Priority dateSep 25, 2000Fee statusPaidAlso published asCA2410995A1, CA2410995C, DE50009311D1, EP1320339A2, EP1320339B1, US20030133583, WO2002024127A2, WO2002024127A3Publication number10305472, 305472, US 6766878 B2, US 6766878B2, US-B2-6766878, US6766878 B2, US6766878B2InventorsChristoph Widmer, Hans Hessel, Markus WeidmannOriginal AssigneePhonak AgExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (31), Non-Patent Citations (1), Referenced by (16), Classifications (12), Legal Events (3) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetCustom-moulded ear-plug, and process for producing a custom-moulded ear-plug deviceUS 6766878 B2Abstract A hearing device for inserting into or adjacent to the ear of an individual. A shell is custom-shaped to fit the individual. The shell is made mainly of a first material and includes a part made mainly of the first material. The part has an inner surface. A pattern of embossments or indentations is provided in the inner surface. The pattern is made out of the first material. The pattern represents an individualized identification code of the part or the device. The pattern is generated concurrent to the manufacture of said part. The pattern can be generated using a laser sintering process, a laser lithography process, a stereo lithography process, or a thermojet process.
What is claimed is: 1. A device for improving hearing, for inserting into or adjacent to the ear of an individual, comprising:
a shelf custom-shaped to fit the individual, said shell comprised substantially of a first material, said shell including a part, said part comprised substantially of said first material, said part having an inner surface; a pattern of embossments or indentations of said inner surface, said pattern made out of said first material, wherein said pattern represents an individualized identification code of said part or said device, and further wherein said pattern is generated concurrent to the manufacture of said part. 2. The device of claim 1 wherein said shell is comprised mostly of said first material.
3. A device for improving hearing, the device for inserting into or adjacent to the ear of an individual, comprising:
a part with an outer surface custom-shaped to fit the individual, said part including a first material, said part also having an inner surface; a pattern of embossments or indentations of said inner surface, said pattern made out of said first material, wherein said pattern represents an individualized identification code of said part or said device, and further wherein said pattern is generated using one of a laser sintering process, a laser lithography process, a stereo lithography process, and a thermojet process. 4. The device of claim 3, wherein said pattern is generated concurrent to the manufacture of said part.
5. The device of one of claims 1-4, wherein at least a part of said pattern is coated with a second material.
6. The device of claim 5, wherein said second material is selected from one of a paint and a varnish.
7. The device of one of claims 1-3, wherein said device is a hearing aid device.
8. A process for manufacturing a device for improving hearing comprising the steps of:
providing a part for said device custom-shaped for use in or adjacent to an ear of an individual, said part including a first material, said part also having surface; applying a pattern to said surface of said part, wherein said pattern is formed by embossing or indenting said surface, and further wherein said pattern is made out of said first material; and controlling subsequent manufacturing steps of said device or said part by reading said pattern. 9. The process of claim 8, wherein said pattern is customized to the individual.
10. The process of claim 9, wherein said pattern is generated concurrent to the manufacture of said part.
11. The process of claim 9, wherein said pattern is generated using one of a laser sintering process, a laser lithography process, a stereo lithography process, and a thermojet process.
12. The process of claim 11, wherein said pattern is generated concurrent to the manufacture of said part.
13. A device for improving hearing, for inserting into or adjacent to the ear of an individual, comprising:
a shell custom-shaped to fit the individual, said shell comprised substantially of a first material, said shell including a part, said part comprised substantially of said first material, said part having a surface; a pattern of embossments or indentations of said surface, said pattern made out of said first material, wherein said pattern represents an individualized identification code of said part or said device, and further wherein said pattern is generated concurrent to the manufacture of said part. 14. The device of claim 13 wherein said shell is comprised mostly of said first material.
15. A device for improving hearing, the device for inserting into or adjacent to the ear of an individual, comprising:
a part with an outer surface custom-shaped to fit the individual, said part including a first material, said part also having a marking surface; a pattern of embossments or indentations of said marking surface, said pattern made out of said first material, wherein said pattern represents an individualized identification code of said part or said device, and further wherein said pattern is generated using one of a laser sintering process, a laser lithography process, a stereo lithography process, and a thermojet process. 16. The device of claim 15, wherein said pattern is generated concurrent to the manufacture of said part.
17. The device of one of claims 13-16, wherein at least a part of said pattern is coated with a second material.
18. The device of claim 17, wherein said second material is selected from one of a paint and a varnish.
19. The device of one of claims 13-16, wherein said device is a hearing aid device.
This application is a continuation of PCT/CH00/00525 filed of Sep. 25, 2000.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In many cases, custom-moulded ear-plug devices must be customized in adaptation to the particular area of application. This is especially true for in-ear custom-moulded ear-plug devices which must be specially adapted to the shape of the ear canal of the individual concerned�a typical requirement most of all for in-ear hearing aids. But for other in-ear custom-moulded ear-plug units as well, such as earphones and protective noise- or water-blocking ear plugs, this is highly desirable for optimal wearing comfort. Even for outer-ear custom-moulded ear-plugs it would often be desirable to enhance the wearing comfort by custom-fitting the custom-moulded ear-plug device. It is primarily in the fabrication of such custom-moulded ear-plug devices, especially when they have to be equipped with correspondingly customized modules such as electronic components, that problems are encountered in terms of reliable contour duplication and the avoidance of mix-ups first of the custom-moulded ear-plug shells and then of the modules to be installed in them, problems which can be solved only at relatively great expense. But problems arise even in the case of custom-moulded ear-plugs which are produced without incorporating customized modules such as the aforementioned electronic components, by virtue of the fact that, after all, one has to make certain that the correct individual custom-moulded ear-plug device is shipped to the right recipient.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the objective of this invention to provide an custom-moulded ear-plug device which will solve these problems in extremely simple fashion. To that end, the shell of the custom-moulded ear-plug unit according to this invention is provided with molded-in projections or indentations for marking purposes.
According to this invention, the novel process that solves the problem referred to above is characterized in that a shell of the custom-moulded ear-plug device is produced with individually identifying markings, the individualized shell serving to identify the product. By means of that individualized shell which accompanies the job, any further product completion such as, in particular, the assembly of the shell with the modules to be built-in such as electronic components, batteries etc., can be customized. At least the shell will allow at any time the identification of a specific job so that even in a manual fabrication i.e. assembly process the installation of the correct modules can be assured. In a particularly preferred implementation of the process per this invention which makes optimal use of the novel, individualized marking method, at least some of the subsequent production steps following the fabrication of the shell are automated with the aid of machine recognition of the markings. The process per this invention is especially suitable for the fabrication of in-ear or outer-ear hearing aids, and particularly so for in-ear hearing aids which require an extra measure of attention to individualized production details and the avoidance of any mix-ups, given the considerable differences in the shape of each person's auditory canal. Custom-moulded ear-plug devices eligible for the implementation of this invention, and preferred design versions thereof, are described below with reference to the drawings in which, by way of example:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a simplified schematic illustration of a production system permitting the optimized commercial manufacture of custom-moulded ear-plug devices;
FIG. 4 shows schematically an in-ear hearing aid, equipped in conventional fashion with a cerumen shield;
FIG. 5 is an illustration, analogous to that in FIG. 4, of an in-ear hearing aid produced with an integrated cerumen shield;
FIGS. 7(a) to (f) are partial perspective illustrations of custom-moulded ear-plug shell surfaces provided with venting grooves;
FIG. 8 schematically shows part of the surface of an custom-moulded ear-plug device, provided with a venting groove which over its length features varying cross-sectional shapes and dimensions;
FIG. 9 is a schematic illustration of an in-ear custom-moulded ear-plug device with an extended venting groove;
FIGS. 11 (a) to (e) are partial illustrations of custom-moulded ear-plug shells with venting channels of mutually different cross-sectional shapes and dimensions;
FIG. 12 is an illustration, analogous to that in FIG. 8, of a venting channel in an custom-moulded ear-plug shell which over its length features varying cross-sectional shapes and surface dimensions;
FIG. 13 is a schematic illustration, analogous to that in FIG. 9, of an in-ear custom-moulded ear-plug unit with a machined, extended venting channel;
FIG. 14 is an illustration, analogous to that in FIG. 10, of an in-ear custom-moulded ear-plug device with multiple venting channels;
FIG. 15 shows schematically a longitudinal section of an in-ear custom-moulded ear-plug device with a ribbed inner surface;
FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view of part of the custom-moulded ear-plug unit in FIG. 15, with ribs of mutually different cross sections;
FIG. 17 is a perspective view of part of an custom-moulded ear-plug shell with internal ribbing per FIG. 15 or 16, in which, over their length, the ribs feature varying cross-sectional shapes and dimensions;
FIG. 18 is an illustration, analogous to that in FIG. 15, of an in-ear custom-moulded ear-plug device with exterior ribbing;
FIG. 19 schematically shows part of an custom-moulded ear-plug shell, ribbed as per FIG. 18, the ribs featuring mutually different cross-sectional surface dimensions;
FIG. 20 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an custom-moulded ear-plug device with exterior and possibly interior ribbing and with an inner space that is at least partially filled with a filler material;
FIG. 21 schematically shows a longitudinal section of part of an custom-moulded ear-plug shell with flexible and resiliently compressible segments;
FIG. 23 shows the custom-moulded ear-plug unit per FIG. 22 as it is being slipped over an electronic module;
FIG. 24 is a perspective and schematic view of an in-ear custom-moulded ear-plug device, in particular an in-ear hearing aid, with a two-part, separable and joinable custom-moulded ear-plug shell;
FIG. 25 is a schematic, partial illustration of the integration of acoustic conductors and adapters connecting to an acoustoelectric or, respectively, electroacoustic converter in an custom-moulded ear-plug device;
FIG. 26 is an illustration, analogous to that in FIG. 25, of the positioning of two or more acoustic conductors within the shell of an custom-moulded ear-plug device; and
FIG. 27 is a simplified signal-flow/functional block diagram showing a process, and a system for the implementation of said process, which adapts the shape of an custom-moulded ear-plug device to the dynamic movement of the area of application.
FIG. 28 is a schematic illustration of a marked surface of the custom-molded ear-plug;
FIG. 29 is a schematic illustration of a cut-away of a marked surface of the custom-molded ear-plug showing the indentations/projections forming the markings and showing the indentations forming the markings covered with an additional substance;
FIG. 30 is a block diagram of the manufacturing process using a marked surface of the custom-molded ear-plug for identification purposes;
FIG. 31 is another schematic illustration of a marked surface of the custom-molded ear-plug.
The term custom-moulded ear-plug device refers to a unit which is applied directly outside the pinna and/or at the pinna and/or in the auditory meatus or ear canal. It includes external or pinnal hearing aids, in-ear hearing aids, headphones, noise-and water-blocking ear plugs, and the like.
The web site: tk.hut.fi/-koukka/RP/rptree.html (1) or to
Wohlers Report 2000, Rapid Prototyping & Tooling State of the Industry (2) The different incremental processes currently known and employed in rapid prototyping indicate that laser sintering, laser or stereo lithography or the thermojet process are particularly well suited to the building of custom-moulded ear-plugs or their shells and especially the specific configurations described below. These preferred additive structuring processes are therefore briefly summarized as follows:
The web site: www.padtinc.com/srv_rpm_sis.html (3) �Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) of Ceramics�, Muskesh Agarwala et al., presented at the Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium, Austin, Tex, August 1999 (4) The web site: www.calp.rutgers.edu/RP_Library/process.html (5) The web site: www.biba.uni-bremen.de/groups/rp/lom.html (6) The web site: www.biba.uni-bremen.de/groups/rp/rp_intro.html (7) Donald Klosterman et al., �Direct Fabrication of Polymer Composite Structures with Curved LOM�, Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium, University of Texas at Austin, August 1999 (7)
The web site: lff.me.utexas.edu/sls.html (8) The web site: www.padtinc.com/srv_rpm_sla.html (9) The web site: www.Cs.hut.fi/�ado/rp/rp.html (10) Thus, the basic principle employed in the incremental-buildup or additive-structuring process consists in the deposition of a thin layer of material on a surface, whether that is a full-surfaced blank as in laser sintering or in stereo lithography, or, as in the thermojet process, already a contoured section of the custom-moulded ear-plug unit or shell that is being constructed. The desired sectional shape is then stabilized, i.e. hardened.
As shown in FIG. 3, the laser 5 solidifies the layer S1 in one powder or fluid bed 1 a, then moves over to bed 1 b (dotted line) where, during the solidification phase at bed 1 a, the powder deposition device 9 b applies powder on a previously solidified layer S1. or, in the case of laser or stereo lithography, the layer S1 is dipped. Not until the laser 5 is activated at bed 1 b will the powder feed unit 9 a deposit a new powder layer at bed 1 a on the layer S1 just solidified, or will the layer S1 be dipped in the fluid bed 1 a. When employing the thermojet process, and for correspondingly increased productivity, sectional layers are simultaneously deposited for more than one custom-moulded ear-plug unit or shell, essentially in one single stroke by one applicator head or by several such heads operating in parallel.
FIG. 19 shows that this approach can be taken with the hollow, cavity-type custom-moulded ear-plugs, but it is equally suitable for custom-moulded ear-plug units without a cavity, for instance without electronic components, and thus for devices such as ear protectors and water-blocking ear plugs. The cross section of an custom-moulded ear-plug unit of this type is schematically shown in FIG. 20. In this case, the core 53 is made for instance of a highly compressible absorption material, surrounded by a contour-shaping skin 55 with ribbing 57. The �skin� 55 and the ribbing 57 are produced jointly and integrally, for which once again the production method first above described, employing the additive build-up process, offers itself. To what extent any such additive build-up process will be implementable any time soon when applied to a work piece with inhomogeneous materials, remains to be seen. If that turns out to be possible, the road is clear, for instance in the case of the design example per FIG. 20, to also build the filler 53 concurrently with the skin 55 and the ribs 57, layer by sequential layer.
A problem especially with in-ear hearing aids consists in the fact that the shape of the area of application, i.e. the auditory canal, changes progressively. This is obviously true in the case of youngsters growing up, but even the ear canal of adults changes, often considerably, and mostly in a constrictive sense (e.g. the so-called diver's ear).
This can already be improved alone by means of the measures explained in the above chapter 3) due to the fact that they permit an automatic adaptation of the shape of the custom-moulded ear-plug unit to the changing area of application. The following will describe additional measures especially for in-ear custom-moulded ear-plug devices. It should be pointed out, however, that for outer-ear custom-moulded ear-plugs as well, such as pinnal hearing aids, it becomes possible to replace the �housing�, and not only when that is necessary for reasons of wearing-comfort but also, if desired, for instance for changing the aesthetic appearance of such an outer-ear hearing aid.
When custom-molded ear-plug devices and especially in-ear hearing aids are manufactured, they are customized for each individual wearer. It would therefore be highly desirable to label each such manufactured custom-molded ear-plug unit as shown in FIGS. 28 and 31, especially each in-ear custom-molded ear-plug device and most particularly each in-ear hearing aid. Hence, it is recommended that each custom-molded ear-plug unit or its shell 100 be provided with a recessed or raised labeling area 101/120 for individualized markings that may include, in addition to the name of the individual buyer, such information as the manufacturer, product serial number, left or right ear application, etc. Most preferably, such labeling is produced during the fabrication of the custom-molded ear-plug unit by means of the ablation process referred to under 1) above. This ensures that there can be no mix-up with the custom-molded ear-plug devices. This is particularly important in the subsequent, possibly automated assembly process involving additional modules, for instance in the assembly of in-ear hearing aids, as shown in FIG. 30.
In a particularly preferred embodiment of the custom-molded ear-plug unit according to this invention and shown in FIGS. 28-31, the material of the indentations 102 and/or projections 103 of the shell does not differ from that of the other, noncontiguous regions of the shell 100.
Apart from possibly containing information relative to the manufacturer, type of material, left- or right-ear application, serial number etc., the above-mentioned recessed 102 or raised 103 marking provisions according to this invention include, in particularly preferred fashion, an identification of the specific shell produced for a particular person as shown in FIGS. 28 and 31, for example.
To further facilitate visual or machine recognition of the aforementioned indentations or projections it is proposed that these indentations 102 and/or projections 103 or at least some of them, are at least in part coated with a material 105 that differs from the shell material 100, i.e. preferably with paint or varnish, as shown in FIG. 29 item D. This will significantly facilitate visual recognition but even more machine recognition (as shown in FIG. 30, for example) for instance by later scanning and reflectometry. Preferential consideration in this invention is given to custom-molded ear-plug devices in the form especially of hearing aids, including outer-ear or in-ear hearing aids and most particularly in-ear hearing aids.
According to this invention, the novel process that solves the problem referred to above is characterized in that a shell 100 of the custom-molded ear-plug device is produced with individually identifying markings 101/120, the individualized shell serving to identify the product. By means of that individualized shell which accompanies the job, any further product completion such as, in particular, the assembly of the shell with the modules to be built-in such as electronic components 114, batteries etc., can be customized (see FIG. 30). At least the shell will allow at any time the identification of a specific job so that even in a manual fabrication i.e. assembly process the installation of the correct modules can be assured. In a particularly preferred implementation of the process per this invention, shown in FIG. 30, which makes optimal use of the novel, individualized marking method, at least some of the subsequent production steps 112 following the fabrication of the shell 100 are automated with the aid of machine recognition of the markings 110. The process per this invention is especially suitable for the fabrication of in-ear or outer-ear hearing aids 116, and particularly for in-ear hearing aids which require an extra measure of individualized production detail and avoidance of mix-ups, given the considerable differences in the shape of each person's auditory canal.
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