Patent ID: 8306237

Claim:
A wearable sound-emitting device to mask and/or cancel ambient sounds, comprising: a wearable, stretchable, and soft member; wherein this member is worn around a portion of a person's head; wherein the wearable member includes at least one ear-covering portion; wherein this ear-covering portion is stretchable and soft; wherein this ear-covering portion is held in stretched tension between at least two points that are separated by the diameter of the ear; wherein this ear-covering portion clings to the ear due to this stretched tension so that it is not dislocated away from the ear as the person tosses and turns in their sleep; one or more sound-conducting tubes or channels; wherein these tubes or channels are filled with a gas and/or liquid; and wherein these tubes or channels are woven, sewn, adhered, looped, tied or otherwise integrated with or onto the ear-covering portion; wherein at least one of these sound-conducting tubes or channels has multiple holes and/or diaphragms along its wall that allow sonic energy to escape at selected locations along its wall; and wherein at least two of these holes and/or diaphragms are between 0.1 mm and 30 mm in diameter; and one or more sound-producing members; wherein these sound-producing members are in sound-conducting communication with the interior of the one or more sound-conducting tubes or channels; and wherein sound from the sound-producing members is conducted through the one or more sound-conducting tubes or channels to the person's ears in order to mask and/or cancel ambient sounds.