Patent ID: 7864972

Claim:
An in-ear interface, comprising: an ear module made of a non-rigid material and shaped to be at least partially received in an ear canal, the ear module having: a core made of a deformable material and defining a cavity and a sound bore for enabling sound transmittance into the ear canal; a sheath covering a portion of an outer surface of the core so as to define an expandable space between the sheath and the core; and an opening defined in the core communicating with the expandable space whereby the expandable space is adapted to receive a settable compound to expand the ear module to the shape of the ear canal; and an insert secured to the ear module and having a slender portion sized to extend substantially into the sound bore, and a base portion of the insert received at least partially in the cavity, the insert being made of a non-rigid material deformable concurrently with the core when the ear module is inserted in the ear canal while the slender portion is in the sound bore to generally maintain a shape of the sound bore during insertion into the ear canal, reception and curing of the settable compound in the expandable space, the slender portion being bendable relative to the base portion of the insert to facilitate insertion thereof into the sound bore.