Patent ID: 8027481

Claim:
A personal hearing control system, comprising: an ear canal microphone suitable for placement within a user's ear canal; a speaker suitable for placement between said ear canal microphone and said user's outer ear, said speaker including a diaphragm which directs sound into said user's ear canal in response to a driving signal, said ear canal microphone arranged to produce an output signal which varies with the instantaneous pressure in said ear canal; and a controller which receives the output signal from said ear canal microphone and provides said driving signal to said speaker, said controller forming a closed loop feedback system with said ear canal microphone and speaker which operates to control the relationship between the instantaneous pressure in said ear canal and said diaphragm's velocity such that said velocity is proportional to said instantaneous pressure over the range of sound frequencies that would normally be affected by the occlusion effect and thereby reduce or eliminate the occlusion effect that would otherwise be experienced by said user.