PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-8553923-B2
Application Number: US-2917708-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Earphone having an articulated acoustic tube

Abstract:
An in-ear earphone has a housing in which a driver is located. An articulated acoustic tube is coupled to the housing at its near end portion. The acoustic tube has an open far end portion that is to be inserted into an ear. A hinge or pivot mechanism is formed in the tube, between the near and far end portions. An acoustic aperture formed within the mechanism acoustically couples sound pressure waves, generated by the driver, to the far end portion of the acoustic tube. Other embodiments are also described.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An in-ear earphone comprising:
 a housing; 
 a driver located in the housing to receive an externally generated audio signal; and 
 an articulated acoustic tube having a near end portion, with a near end opening therein and a far end portion with a far end opening therein, the articulated acoustic tube coupled to the housing at its near end portion and configured to be inserted into an ear at its far end portion, the far end opening being acoustically coupled to the near end opening through an articulated region in the acoustic tube. 
 
     
     
       2. The earphone of  claim 1  wherein the articulated acoustic tube comprises a hinge or pivot mechanism between the near and far end portions, an acoustic aperture formed within the hinge or pivot mechanism acoustically couples sound pressure waves, generated by the driver, through to the far end portion of the tube. 
     
     
       3. The earphone of  claim 2  wherein the hinge or pivot mechanism allows the articulated acoustic tube to be pivoted up and down, and left and right. 
     
     
       4. The earphone of  claim 2  wherein the hinge or pivot mechanism allows the articulated acoustic tube to be pivoted to any position within the volume of a cone. 
     
     
       5. The earphone of  claim 2  wherein the hinge or pivot mechanism comprises a ball and socket joint through which the acoustic aperture is formed. 
     
     
       6. The earphone of  claim 2  wherein the hinge or pivot mechanism comprises a first rigid tube whose end portion is gripped and held by a flexible sleeve, against that of a second rigid tube. 
     
     
       7. The earphone of  claim 2  wherein the articulated tube has three or more jointed tube segments where there is a respective articulation joint between every adjacent pair of the segments. 
     
     
       8. The earphone of  claim 1  further comprising a tip to be fitted to the far end portion of the articulated acoustic tube and to be inserted into an ear canal so as to make an airtight seal all around the outside surface of the tip. 
     
     
       9. An in-ear earphone comprising:
 means for converting an incoming, externally generated electrical signal to the earphone, into sound pressure waves; 
 means for containing the converting means; 
 first means aimed in a first direction for guiding the sound pressure waves; 
 second means aimed in a second direction for guiding the sound pressure waves; and 
 means for a) acoustically coupling the first and second guiding means and b) changing an angle between the first and second directions. 
 
     
     
       10. A system comprising:
 a portable digital media playback device having a headphone output port; and 
 an in-ear earphone having a housing, a driver located in the housing to receive an electrical audio signal from the headphone output, an articulated acoustic tube having a near end open portion and a far end open portion, the near end open portion and the far end open portion forming open ends of the articulated acoustic tube, the articulated acoustic tube coupled to the housing at the near end open portion, the far end open portion being acoustically coupled to the near end open portion through the articulated acoustic tube, and wherein the far end open portion is movable with respect to the near end portion. 
 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 10  wherein the articulated acoustic tube comprises a hinge or pivot mechanism between the near and far end open portions, an acoustic aperture formed within the hinge or pivot mechanism acoustically couples sound pressure waves, generated by the driver, through to the far end open portion of the tube. 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 11  wherein the hinge or pivot mechanism allows the articulated acoustic tube to be pivoted up and down, and left and right. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 11  wherein the hinge or pivot mechanism comprises a ball and socket joint through which the acoustic aperture is formed. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 10  wherein the articulated tube has three or more jointed tube segments where there is a respective articulation joint between every adjacent pair of the segments. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 10  wherein the articulated acoustic tube comprises a spiral twist joint or gooseneck hinge. 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 10  wherein the far end open portion of the articulated acoustic tube can be moved up, down, left, and right relative to the near end open portion. 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 16  wherein the acoustic tube maintains any new position of the far end open portion. 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 16  wherein the acoustic tube automatically returns the far end open portion from its new position to a resting position once the far end open portion has been removed from the ear. 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 10  further comprising:
 an ear tip fitted to the far end open portion of the articulated acoustic tube.

Description:
This invention relates generally to headphones and in particular to in-ear earphones. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Whether listening to an MP3 player while traveling, or to a hi-fi stereo system at home, consumers are increasingly choosing the in-ear ear earphone for their listening pleasure. This electro-acoustic transducer device has a relatively low profile that provides convenience for the wearer, while also providing good sound quality. An in-the-canal earphone, also referred to as an ear bud, has an acoustic output tube whose end portion is designed to be partially inserted into an ear canal so as to create an airtight cavity therein. This provides the wearer with good acoustic isolation against external sounds. The tube is a rigid member that may even be fitted with a custom molded flexible tip or cap at its open end portion, to provide a better fit to the ears of the discriminating audiophile. Some in-ear earphones feature a permanent bend in the tube or have a custom shaped tube, which may allow it to be inserted easier into and create a better airtight seal, against the rather peculiar-shaped surface of the human ear canal. 
     SUMMARY 
     An embodiment of the invention is an in-ear earphone having a housing, a driver located in the housing, and an articulated acoustic tube coupled to the housing at its near end portion. The tube has an open far end portion that is to be inserted into an ear, e.g. partially into the ear canal. The articulated tube, which acoustically couples a sound output port of the driver to the ear canal, may promote improved sound quality and comfort for a broader range of ears. Not only does the human ear canal have a peculiar shape, there is also a wide variation in the shape of ears. The articulated tube may conform itself by changing one or more of its angles between its near and far end portions, to suit the shape of the ear and ear canal of a given wearer. This may provide a better fitting earphone, i.e. one whose fit is more comfortable, more stable and/or better sealed. For instance, consider a wearer who has gripped the earphone by its housing and is inserting the open far end portion into his ear. As the tube enters the ear and/or ear canal, its outside surface touches the ear or ear canal surfaces. As a result, forces are applied to different parts of the region between the near and far end portions, which causes the region to in effect bend by forming one or more angles (as defined or allowed by the available articulation) to conform with the shape of the outside surface of the ear and/or ear canal. As the wearer continues to insert the tube further into the ear, the region between the near and far end portions of the tube “automatically” changes shape, or its one or more angles are adapted, in response to making contact with the bends in the surface of the ear and/or ear canal. 
     The articulated acoustic tube may have a hinge or pivot mechanism formed within, between its near and far end portion, to provide the articulation. This mechanism also acoustically couples sound pressure waves, generated by the driver, through to the far end portion. Other embodiments are also described. 
     The above summary does not include an exhaustive list of all aspects of the present invention. Indeed, the inventors contemplate that the invention includes all systems and methods that can be practiced from all suitable combinations of the various aspects summarized above, as well as those disclosed in the Detailed Description below and particularly pointed out in the claims filed with the application. Such combinations may have particular advantages not specifically recited in the above summary. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment of the invention in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and they mean at least one. 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram of an in-ear earphone having an articulated acoustic output tube. 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram of an earphone with another type of articulated acoustic tube. 
         FIG. 3  shows an earphone with an ear tip fitted to its output sound port. 
         FIG. 4  shows an earphone having a multi-segmented articulated acoustic tube. 
         FIG. 5  shows an earphone having a goose neck or spiral twist acoustic output tube. 
         FIG. 6  is a diagram of a system application of an earphone. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In this section several embodiments of this invention are explained with reference to the appended drawings. Whenever the shapes, relative positions and other aspects of the parts described in the embodiments are not clearly defined, the scope of the invention is not limited only to the parts shown, which are meant merely for the purpose of illustration. 
       FIG. 1  is a diagram of an in-ear earphone  100  having an articulated acoustic output tube  108 , in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The earphone  100  has a housing  104  (also referred to as an ear plug housing) in which a driver  106  (also referred to as a receiver) is located or contained. The driver  106  may be fixed in position relative to and inside the housing  104  as shown. The driver has an electrical audio signal input port. The driver converts an input or incoming electrical audio signal into sound pressure waves that are delivered through its at least one driver sound output port  103 . These open into a chamber  107 , that is also inside the housing  104 . The chamber  107  may be essentially airtight except for the driver output port  103  and a housing sound output port  105 . The latter is acoustically coupled to a near end portion of the articulated tube  108 . The shape of the chamber  107  and the shape and material of its interior walls should be designed to promote the quality of sound delivered from the driver through the housing output port  105  and that is then heard by the wearer of the earphone  100 . 
     The articulated acoustic output tube  108  has an open far end portion  115  that is inserted into the ear. The far end portion may be partially inserted into the ear canal. At its near end portion, the tube  108  is coupled to the housing  104 . The tube  108  may also be viewed another way, as extending from its near end portion at the housing output port  105  to its far end portion  115 , and being articulated at least once between the housing output port  105  and its far end portion. The articulation may be obtained using a hinge or pivot mechanism  110  formed within the tube and located as shown between its end portions. An acoustic aperture and/or an acoustic pathway is formed within the hinge or pivot mechanism  110 , to acoustically couple sound pressure waves that are being generated by the driver  106 , and that are directed through the chamber  107  and out of the housing port  105 , through to the far end portion  115  of the tube  108 . The sound pressure waves are thus guided by the tube  108  towards its far end  115 . The articulation allows the tube  108  to in effect bend as necessary, while guiding the sound pressure waves, to accommodate the shape of the ear canal (not shown). Once it has been completely removed from the ear canal by the wearer, the articulated tube  108  may return to a straight shape, either automatically (if there is resiliency built into the articulation), or manually by the wearer. A few different types of articulation are contemplated—these are described below. 
     Still referring to  FIG. 1 , the hinge or pivot mechanism  110  in this example joins a near segment  112  of the tube  108  to its adjacent far segment  114  as shown, to acoustically couple the two segments  112 ,  114  to each other. Both of the segments  112 ,  114  may be “rigid” as defined here (see below). In the embodiment of  FIG. 1 , the segment  112  is fixed to and may be an integral part of the housing  104  in which the housing port  105  is formed. Each segment  112 ,  114  may be viewed as being aimed in its respective direction, for guiding the sound pressure waves within it in that direction. When the tube  108  is straight, the longitudinal axes of the segments  112 ,  114  are aligned parallel to each other and the segments  112 ,  114  are said to be aimed in the same direction. The mechanism  110  should be sealed with respect to the housing  104  and the tube  108 , i.e. it should maintain an essentially airtight acoustic pathway from inside the housing  104  all the way to the open far end portion  115  of the tube, both when the tube is straight and when it has been bent at the mechanism  110 . This helps provide better acoustic coupling and impedance matching of the driver sound output port to the eardrum. In one embodiment, the hinge or pivot mechanism allows the acoustic tube  108 , and in particular the far segment  114 , to be pivoted in essentially all directions, i.e. up, down, left and right to any position within the volume of a cone, relative to the near segment  112 . In other words, the mechanism  110  is used to change the angle between the directions in which the segments  112 ,  114  are aimed. 
       FIG. 1  depicts the mechanism  110  as a ball and socket joint (also referred to as having a gimbel-like construction) through which an acoustic aperture or pathway is formed. The ball portion has an acoustic pathway  109  running through it that opens to the housing port  105  at its near end portion. At its far end portion, the pathway  109  opens to the near end portion of a further acoustic pathway  111 , the latter being formed in the socket portion. The far end portion of the pathway  111 , in this embodiment, is the far end portion  115  of the articulated tube  108  (that is to be inserted into the ear canal). Note that the positions of the ball and socket portions could be reversed so that the ball portion is integral with the far segment  114 , and the socket portion is integral with the near segment  112 . 
     Turning now to  FIG. 2 , another earphone, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, is shown. Here, the hinge or pivot mechanism of the articulated acoustic tube  108  comprises a first rigid tube (represented by the near segment  112 ) whose far end portion is gripped and held by a flexible sleeve  213  against the near end portion of a second rigid tube (represented by the far segment  114 ). In this embodiment, the far end portion of the second rigid tube happens to be the far end portion  115  of the tube  108  that is to be inserted into the ear. An essentially airtight seal is achieved by the flexible seal  213 , around the gap between first and second rigid tubes and the acoustic pathway that runs through the first and second rigid tubes. At the same time, this hinge or pivot mechanism allows the wearer to manually pivot the second rigid tube relative to the first rigid tube to a any desired angle—where once again the allowable movement of the tube  108  defines a cone. The sleeve  213  may be made of a thin piece of flexible silicone tubing. 
     The term “rigid” as used here to describe the first and second tubes in  FIG. 2 , and/or the first and second tube segments  112 ,  114  in  FIG. 1 , means one that does not flex in the presence of internal acoustic pressure (sound waves emanating from the driver  106 ), thereby keeping consistent its internal surface area. This provides a consistent acoustic response across a large number of manufactured specimens of the earphone  100 . Moreover, the tube segment  114 , being rigid, should not flex when an ear tip or cap  304  is being fitted to its far end portion as shown in  FIG. 3 . In contrast, the term “flexible” as used to describe the sleeve  213  of  FIG. 2  is one that can be bent easily and repeatedly, without breaking and without losing the ability to seal against the tube segments  112 ,  114 , e.g. by the wearer using her fingers to position the second tube segment  114  at a desired angle relative to the first tube segment  112  and the housing  104 . 
     Still referring to  FIG. 3 , the earphone in this embodiment has an ear tip or cap  304  fitted to the far end portion  115  of the articulated tube  108 . The tip  304  has a central opening  306  that lines up with the open far end portion  115 , so that sound pressure waves are directed from the housing port  105 , through the acoustic pathway  111  inside the articulated tube  108 , out of the opening  306 , and into the ear canal  309 . The tip  304  may be made of a flexible material such as silicone or gel material, and is shaped and sized as shown so as to allow the wearer to squeeze its outside surface while inserting it into the ear canal  309 , to thereby make an airtight seal all around its outside surface which is in contact with the surface of the ear canal  309 . Multiple tips  304  each of a different outer diameter and/or of a different outer surface shape, can be supplied for a single earphone, to suit different types of ear canals  309 . 
       FIG. 4  depicts another embodiment of the invention, as an earphone whose articulated tube  108  is multi-segmented. The articulated tube  108  has at least three jointed tube segments  412 ,  413 ,  414  connected in sequence as shown, starting with the housing port  105  and ending at the far end portion of the segment  414  (which is the far end portion  115  of the articulated tube  108 ). There is a respective joint between every adjacent pair of the segments. In other words, one instance of the hinge or pivot mechanism  110  joins segments  412 ,  413 , and another instance of the mechanism  110  joins segments  413 ,  414 . In this embodiment, the tube  108  has only a discrete number of (at least two) predefined, and, in this example, fixed, locations that are spaced apart from each other along its length direction as shown, at which it can in effect bend, to better conform with the shape of the wearer&#39;s ear and/or ear canal. The same type of mechanism  110  may be repeated throughout the articulated tube  108 . Alternatively, the tube  108  could have more than one type of hinge or pivot mechanism  110  joining its multiple pairs of adjacent segments. 
       FIG. 5  shows a further embodiment of the invention, as an earphone whose articulated acoustic tube  108  has a spiral twist joint or gooseneck hinge (also referred to as a gooseneck hinge acoustic tube). The gooseneck hinge acoustic tube extends from its near end portion, at the sound port  105  of the housing  104 , to a further sound port in its far end portion  115  (that is to be inserted into an ear). Sound pressure waves generated by the driver  106  (not shown) in the housing  104  are acoustically coupled or guided through the sound port  105 , through an internal pathway of a flexible inner tube  514 , and out of the open far end portion  115 . The flexible inner tube  514  may be surrounded by a spiral twist joint or gooseneck hinge structure  518  as shown, to achieve a function similar to that of a gooseneck hinge used in consumer grade lamps. In other words, the gooseneck hinge structure  518  maintains an angular position of the far end portion  115  relative to the housing  104 . The inner tube  514  also seals off the inside of the housing  104  and the internal acoustic pathway, from the port  105  all the way to the open far end portion  115 , to provide good acoustic isolation from outside the earphone. An ear tip (not shown) may be fitted to a rigid tip of the far end portion  115 . 
     In this embodiment, the near end portion of the gooseneck hinge tube is aimed in one direction (for guiding the sound pressure waves), while the far end portion  115  is aimed in a different direction. The body of the gooseneck hinge tube, between the end portions, serves to both acoustically couple the respective end portions and allow the angle between their respective directions to be changed at will (by the wearer of the earphone). The tube may be designed to maintain any new angle of the far end portion; alternatively, it may be “resilient” so as to automatically return the far end portion  115  to a resting position (e.g., one where the tube  108  is straight along its entire length, as shown in  FIG. 5 ). 
     The invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above. For example, in contrast to a hearing aid which produces an electrical audio signal from a built-in pickup and then converts the electrical signal to sound waves, the driver in an earphone  100  (that is in accordance with an embodiment of the invention) receives its input electrical signal directly from an external amplifier. As depicted in  FIG. 6 , this may be via a cable  604  that is connected to a headphone output port  606  of an external, portable, consumer grade digital media storage and playback device  608  such as an IPOD player or an IPHONE communications device that is located nearby. As an alternative, the earphone may be integrated with a wireless interface to receive the electrical signal via a wireless connection with the external amplifier. In addition, a passive or active crossover circuit may be built into the housing or into the driver&#39;s case, to receive and filter the external electrical signal (prior to being input to a motor of the driver). Accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of the claims.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20080211
Publication Date: 20131008
Grant Date: 20131008
Priority Date: 20080211
Inventors: TISCARENO VICTOR M.
HAILEY MICHAEL B.
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04R1/1066", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/1016", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/1016", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/1066", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 40938899