UNAA
`
`US005295193A
`5,295,193
`[11] Patent Number:
`[45] Date of Patent: Mar. 15, 1994
`
`Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Wegner, Cantor, Mueller &
`Player
`
`United States Patent 5
`Ono
`
`[54] DEVICE FOR PICKING UP
`BONE-CONDUCTED SOUND IN EXTERNAL
`AUDITORY MEATUS AND
`COMMUNICATION DEVICE USING THE
`SAME
`
`[76]
`
`Inventor: Hiroshi Ono, No. 10-15, Koyama
`7-chome, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo,
`Japan
`
`[21] Appl. No.: 824,104
`
`ABSTRACT
`[57]
`A device for picking up bone-conducted sound in the
`external auditory meatus includes a fitting portion for
`accommodation in a navicular cavity formed between a
`tragus cartilage portion and an entrance portion of an
`external auditory meatus, and a bone conduction micro-
`phoneunit for insertion into the external auditory mea-
`tus in such a manneras to be broughtinto contact with
`[22] Filed:
`Jan. 22, 1992
`a wall of the external auditory meatus. The bone con-
`duction microphone unit is held by the fitting portion
`51)Tint,CScccscseeeesesesseseeceeneeeee HO4R 25/00
`via a resilient member in such a mannerthat at least a
`[52]
`sasesee 381/151; 381/68.3
`
`portion of the bone conduction microphone unit con-
`(58)
`eee 381/151, 68.3, 68.7,
`tacting the external auditory meatus is
`resiliently
`381/68.6, 188, 68, 183, 187
`broughtinto contact with the wall of the external audi-
`tory meatus substantially orthogonally. Also disclosed
`is a communication device in which an earphone unit
`for transmitting sound from the outside is accommo-
`dated in thefitting portion of the device for picking up
`bone-conducted sound in the external auditory meatus,
`and a sound conductive tube of the earphone unit is
`open at a portion of the fitting portion facing the exter-
`nal auditory meatus.
`
`[56]
`
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`3,529,102 9/1970 Rosenstand .......secsesecsssesee 381/68.6
`4,588,867
`5/1986 Komomii .......cccsesscnseseees 381/151
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`4-096599 3/1992 Japan ...recrescerssesssrerersesearsoeees 381/151
`
`Primary Examiner—Forester W. Isen
`Assistant Examiner-~Huyen D. Le
`
`3 Claims, 2 Drawing Sheets
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`APPLE ET AL. 1010
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`1
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 15, 1994
`
`Sheet 1 of 2
`
`5,295,193
`
`FIG. 1
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`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 15, 1994
`
`Sheet 2 of 2
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`5,295,193
`
`FIG 2
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`1
`
`3,295,193
`
`DEVICE FOR PICKING UP BONE-CONDUCTED
`SOUND IN EXTERNAL AUDITORY MEATUS AND
`COMMUNICATION DEVICE USING THE SAME
`
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`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`1. Field of the Invention
`The present invention relates to a device for picking
`up bone-conducted soundin the external auditory mea-
`tus and a communication device using the same.
`2. Description of the Related Art
`Conventionally, in order to transmit speech in noisy
`places such as coal mining sites, quarrying sites, air-
`ports, construction sites, and sheet metal factories, a
`method in which a unidirectional microphoneis used
`for the lips and a method in which an acceleration-type
`vibration pickup is used by being attached to the throat
`or the forehead have been adopted extensively. With
`the former unidirectional microphone, however, there
`are limitations in the elimination of external noise, and
`this method is therefore unsuitable for intensely noisy
`places. Meanwhile,in the latter case, since the vibration
`pickup needs to be closely secured to the throat or the
`forehead, there have been drawbacksin that the attach-
`ment thereof is complicated or troublesome, that the
`vibration pickup, when fitted, does not make a good
`appearance, and that a sensation of a foreign object
`being attached or discomfort in use felt by the useris so
`conspicuousthatit cannot withstand a long time ofuse.
`Accordingly, the present inventor has proposed in
`Japanese Patent Publication No. 39763/1978 a device
`for picking up bone-conducted sound vibrations from
`the wall of the external auditory meatus by disposing a
`vibration pickup in an earpiece forming a tubular casing
`for insertion into the external auditory meatus of the
`ear, the operating direction of the vibration pickup
`being substantially orthogonal to the direction of the
`external auditory meatus.
`With the above-described pickup device, however,
`the earpiece constituting the tubular casing is difficult to
`be held stably unlessit is inserted sufficiently deeply in
`the external auditory meatus. Therefore,if the earpiece
`is inserted sufficiently, the contact area and the contact
`pressure with respect to the external auditory meatus
`increase. This is favorable for the improvementof the
`function of the device, but the earpiece is applied too
`tightly in the external auditory meatus, so that a sensa-
`tion of a foreign object being attached or discomfort is
`imparted to the user. In addition, the contact pressure
`becomes too high for some people, who cometo have a
`sensation of pressure or a sensation ofthe external audi-
`tory meatus being blocked.
`In addition, as another conventional device, a com-
`pact two-way communication device is known which
`incorporates an earphone unit
`in a portion thereof 55
`whichis formed integrally with a tubular casing having
`a built-in microphone unit of the above-described type,
`so as to permit communication. With such a device,
`however, since the microphone unit and the earphone
`unit are formedintegrally and are disposed in proximity
`to each other, there are cases where the sound pressure
`from the earphoneunit is transmitted circuitously to the
`microphone unit. For the purpose of controlling the
`same, a method is adopted in which the earphoneunit is
`surrounded by a sound absorbing material or a vibration
`absorbing material. However, if the external noise be-
`comeslarge, the sound pressure in the earphoneunit is
`inevitably increased, with the result that there has been
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`the drawback that the circuitous transmission occurs
`and a howling is produced. Hence, this two-way com-
`munication device can be used only when the sound
`pressure in the earphone unit is set to a low level.
`Air vibrations of sound from the earphone unit, exter-
`nal noise, and thelike are, in principle, difficult to pick
`up by the vibration pickup-type external auditory mea-
`tus microphone, and the direction of air vibrations of
`external noise and thelike and the direction of vibration
`of the external auditory meatus microphone unit are in
`an orthogonal relationship. Hence, the signal-to-noise
`(S/N) ratio of speech in the noise should naturally be
`high. This being the case, however, since the aforemen-
`tioned microphone unit and the casing incorporating
`the earphone unit are formed integrally, the overall
`shape becomes large, and the vibration absorbing area
`increases, so that the external noise is picked up via the
`casing. Thus, there has been the drawback that al-
`though the vibration pickup type should exhibit an
`excellent anti-noise characteristic, the S/N ratio de-
`clines in a very noisy condition.
`
`-
`
`SUMMARYOF THE INVENTION
`
`Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present
`invention to provide a device for picking up bone-con-
`ducted sound in the external auditory meatus, which is
`capable of securing a contact area and a contact pres-
`sure which are neither too large or too small with re-
`Spect to the external auditory meatus without needing
`to insert an earpiece deeply into the external auditory
`meatus, and which is capable of holding a bone conduc-
`tion microphoneunit stably in a fitting portion.
`A second object of the present invention is to provide
`a communication device which is provided with both
`an earphone unit and a microphone unit and which is
`capable of two-way communication and exhibits an
`excellent S/N ratio in a very noisy condition.
`To attain the primary object of the invention, in ac-
`cordance with a first aspect of the invention, there is
`provided a device for picking up bone-conducted sound
`in the external auditory meatus, comprising: a fitting
`portion for accommodation in a navicular cavity
`formed between a tragus cartilage portion and an en-
`trance portion of an external auditory meatus; and a
`bone conduction microphoneunit inserted into the ex-
`ternal auditory meatus in such a manner as to be
`brought into contact with a wall of the external audi-
`tory meatus, wherein the bone conduction microphone
`unit is held by the fitting portion via a resilient member
`in such a mannerthat at least a portion of the bone
`conduction microphone unit contacting the external
`auditory meatusis resiliently brought into contact with
`the wall of the external auditory meatus substantially
`orthogonally.
`Toattain the second object of the invention,in accor-
`dance with a second aspect of the invention, there is
`provided a communication device incorporating therein
`the device according to thefirst aspect of the invention,
`wherein an earphone unit for transmitting sound from
`the outside is accommodated in thefitting portion of the
`device for picking up bone-conducted sound in the
`external auditory meatus, and a sound conductive tube
`of the earphone unit is open at a portion of the fitting
`portion facing the external auditory meatus.
`In the first aspect of the invention, the fitting portion
`is first accommodated in the space of the navicular
`cavity in the ear, and is supported by an entrance por-
`
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`5,295,193
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`4
`
`DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED
`EMBODIMENTS
`
`3
`tion of the external auditory meatus and a tragus carti-
`lage portion. Meanwhile, when the microphone unit
`held in the fitting portion is inserted into the external
`Referring now to the accompanying drawings, a
`auditory meatus up to an appropriate depth, the micro-
`description will be given of the preferred embodiments
`phoneunit is resiliently brought into contact with the
`of the present invention.
`wall surface of the external auditory meatus substan-
`FIG.1 is a cross-sectional view of a pickup device in
`tially orthogonally through the holding force of the
`accordance with a first embodiment of the present in-
`resilient member,so as to facilitate the picking up ofthe
`vention. In FIG. 1, reference character A denotes the
`vibrations in the external auditory meatus wall. This
`10
`external auditory meatus, and B denotes a traguscarti-
`contactpressureis set to be a desirable value in view of
`lage portion. A hollow spaceCcalled a navicular cavity
`the material, size, and the like of the aforementioned
`is formed in an intra-auricular surface between the ex-
`resilient member.Asa result, an contact pressure which
`ternal auditory meatus A and the tragus cartilage por-
`is neither too large or too small is imparted to the exter-
`tion B.
`nal auditory meatus wall of the user. It is acoustically
`The pickup device of the present invention comprises
`preferred that the portion of the bone conduction mi-
`a fitting portion 1 and a bone conduction microphone
`crophone unit contacting the wall surface of the exter-
`unit 2. The fitting portion 1 has a substantially disk-
`shaped portion 10 whose frontal portion has a rounded
`nal auditory meatusbe located at a distal end portion of
`cross section, and a hole portion 11 is formed therein at
`the bone conduction microphoneunit.
`a position offset from the axis of the fitting portion 1.
`Thus, in the pickup device of this invention,thefit-
`This fitting portion 1 is formed of a relatively hard
`ting portion and the bone conduction microphoneunit
`material such as a plastic into a hollow configuration,
`are supported in contact with the navicular cavity and
`and has a configuration and a size such that an outer
`the external auditory meatus, respectively, and they are
`peripheral surface of the disk-shaped portion 10 is just
`supported very stably at a plurality of positions in the
`fitted in the space formed by the navicular cavity C.
`three-dimensional space. Furthermore,thefitting por-
`A circuit portion 14, such as an impedance conver-
`tion is supported over a substantially large area ofits
`sion circuit and the like, for transmitting an electrical
`outer periphery.
`signal received through the bone conduction micro-
`In the pickup device ofthe invention supportedin the
`phoneunit 2 to a transmitter (not shown)via a cable 15
`above-described manner, the bone conduction micro-
`so as to transmit the signal to the other receiving party,
`phone unit in contact under an appropriate pressure
`is incorporated in the inner spacein the fitting portion 1.
`picks up bone-conducted sound on the external auditory
`Thetransmitter is normally accommodatedin the user’s
`meatus wall. This picked-up sound signal is transmitted
`pocket or the like. It should be noted that when the
`to the other receiving party by means of a transmitter
`receiving party is located in a near distance,it is possible
`incorporated in the pickup device or provided outside
`to provide the circuit addition to the aforementioned
`thereof.
`impedance conversion circuit and the like, and to effect
`transmission to the receiving party directly from an
`In the second aspectofthe invention,the fitting por-
`antenna.
`tion of the communication device is fitted to the exter-
`A vibration pickup element 23 of the bone conduc-
`nal auditory meatus in the same manneras that of the
`tion microphoneunit 2 is supported in a tubular casing
`pickup device in accordancewiththefirst aspect of the
`21 by meansof a holder 22 to which vibrations of the
`invention, and the bone-conducted sound is picked up
`external auditory meatus are transmitted via a distal end
`from the bone conduction microphone unit. Mean-
`portion 2A of the bone conduction microphone unit 2.
`while, the sound from the otherparty is received as an
`Connected to the pickup 23 is a lead wire for transmit-
`electrical signal, and is converted to air-pressure vibra-
`ting the electrical signal of the pickup 23 caused by
`tions in the earphone unit and is sent to the external
`vibrations to the aforementioned circuit portion 14. The
`auditory meatus via its sound conductive tube. Thus,
`internal configuration of the bone conduction micro-
`two-way communication can be effected by the use of
`phone unit 2 may be utterly the same as that of a con-
`the bone conduction microphoneunit and the earphone
`ventional pickup device.
`unit. At that time, since the bone conduction micro-
`The tubular casing 21 of the bone conduction micro-
`phone unit is spaced apart from the fitting portion in
`phoneunit 2 described aboveis held in such a manner
`which the earphone unit
`is accommodated, and is
`that a proximal portion thereof is inserted in and se-
`cured to the aforementioned hole portion 11 via a resil-
`acoustically separated from it,
`the bone conduction
`ient member 13. The tubular casing 21 is connected to
`microphone unit does not pick up the sound from the
`the circuit portion-14 disposed in thefitting portion 1.
`earphoneunit. In addition, since the resilient memberis
`The material and size of this resilient member 13is set
`interposed between the bone conduction microphone
`in such a mannerthat the external sound collected by
`unit and thefitting portion, the external soundis pre-
`the fitting portion 1 will not be transmitted to the bone
`vented from being transmitted to the bone conduction
`conduction microphoneunit 2 through the disk-shaped
`microphone unit via the fitting portion.
`portion 10 and that the distal end portion 2A of the bone
`conduction microphoneunit 2 is resiliently brought into
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`contact with microphone unit 2 is resiliently brought
`FIG.1 is a cross-sectional view of a pickup device
`into contact with the external auditory meatus substan-
`and a communication device in accordance withafirst
`tially orthogonally with respect to the wall surface of
`embodimentof the present invention; and
`65
`the external auditory meatus under an appropriate pres-
`sure.
`FIG,2 is a cross-sectional view of the pickup device
`and the communication device in accordance with a
`The pickup device of this embodiment arranged as
`second embodimentof the present invention.
`described aboveis used in the following manner.
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`First, the fitting portion 1 is inserted into the navicu-
`lar cavity C, and the bone conduction microphoneunit
`2 is inserted into the space of the external auditory
`meatus A. As a result, the outer peripheral portion of
`the substantially disk-shaped fitting portion 1 is sup-
`ported over an extensive range by the tragus cartilage
`portion B,an entrance portion of the external auditory
`meatus A, and the intra-auricular surface forming the
`navicular cavity C therebetween. Meanwhile, the bone
`conduction microphone unit 2 is placed in the space in
`the external auditory meatus A,andits distal end por-
`tion 2A is brought into contact with the wall of the
`external auditory meatus by meansofthe resilient mem-
`ber 13.
`Thus the bone conduction microphone unit 2 is capa-
`ble of securing a contact area and contact pressure
`sufficient for picking up the bone-conducted sound, and
`is held in a position in which the user does not feel a
`sensation of a foreign object being attached or a sensa-
`tion of the external auditory meatus being blocked.
`In such a condition, the sound uttered by the useris
`picked up by the bone conduction microphoneunit 2 as
`the bone-conducted sound, andits electrical signal is
`transmitted from the transmitter to the receiver of the
`other party. via the circuit portion 14. In this embodi-
`ment, when picking up the bone-conducted sound by
`meansof the bone conduction microphone unit 2, even
`if the external sound is collected by the disk-shaped
`portion 10 in the fitting portion 1, since the resilient
`member 13 is interposed between the disk-shaped por-
`tion 10 and the bone conduction microphoneunit 2, the
`external soundis not transmitted to the bone conduction
`microphoneunit 2. In addition, since the bone conduc-
`tion microphoneunit 2 itself is formed separately from
`the disk-shaped portion 10 and is made compact, the
`surface area of the bone conduction microphoneunit 2
`is small, and is located inwardly. Hence, the bone con-
`duction microphoneunit 2 does not practically pick up
`the external sound.
`In this embodiment, it is possible to dispose an ear-
`phone unit 3 in the disk-shaped portion 10 so as to ar-
`range a communication device capable of transmission
`and reception in conjunction with the bone conduction
`microphoneunit 2, as shown in FIG. 1. This earphone
`unit 3 itself may be a known one,andis adapted to issue
`sound through a sound conductive tube 31 by convert-
`ing the signal received from the outside via the transmit-
`ter/receiver into air vibrations. The sound is transmit-
`ted to the external auditory meatus through an opening
`32 provided in the fitting portion at a portion of the
`disk-shaped portion 10 facing the entrance of the exter-
`nal auditory meatus. In that case, since the earphone
`unit 3 is arranged by being spaced apart from the distal
`end portion 2A, which is a pickup portion of the bone
`conduction microphoneunit 2, the so-called circuitous
`transmission of the sound from the earphone unit 3 to
`the bone conduction microphoneunit 2 does not occur,
`norare the vibrations of the earphoneunit 3 transmitted
`to the bone conduction microphone unit 2 via the dish-
`shaped portion 10.
`Referring now to FIG.2, a description will be given
`of a second embodimentof the present invention. Al-
`though in the foregoing embodiment the bone conduc-
`tion microphoneunit is held by the fitting portion by
`meansofa block-like resilient member, this embodiment
`is characterized in that a major portion of the bone
`conduction microphone unit is covered with a tubular
`resilient member, and that the bone conduction micro-
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`phoneunitis held by thefitting portion via this resilient
`member. It should be noted that those portions identical
`with those of the first embodiment are denoted by the
`same reference numerals, and a description thereof will
`be omitted.
`In FIG.2, a resilient member 13’ has a small diameter
`tubular portion 13’A and a proximal portion 13'B
`formed with a greater diameter than that of the tubular
`portion 13’A. The tubular portion 13’Ais fitted over the
`tubular casing 21 of the bone conduction microphone
`unit 2 in such a manneras to cover a major portion of
`the tubular casing 21 excluding the distal end portion
`2A thereof, and the proximal portion 13’B is affixed to
`the disk-shaped portion 10 of the fitting portion 1. By
`adopting this arrangement,
`in this embodiment
`the
`sound from the earphone unit 3 is prevented morereli-
`ably from being transmitted circuitously to the bone
`conduction microphoneunit 2.
`In addition, as a preferred form of this embodiment,
`the disk-shaped portion 10 is provided with a partition
`10A disposed between the bone conduction micro-
`phone unit 2 and the earphoneunit 3 to ensure that the
`sound from the earphone unit 3 is prevented far more
`reliably from being transmitted circuitously to the bone
`conduction microphoneunit 2.
`As described above, in accordance with the present
`invention, as for the pickup device, since the fitting
`portion is supported in the space formed in the navicu-
`lar cavity, and the bone conduction microphoneunit is
`supported by the wall of the external auditory meatus,
`the pickup device is supported in a three-dimensional
`manner, and is supported stably and reliably Further-
`more, since the bone conduction microphone unit is
`held by thefitting portion via the resilient member,it is
`possible to readily obtain an appropriate pressure of
`contact with the external auditory meatus with a simple
`structure. In addition, even if the fitting portion picks
`up the external sound, the external sound is prevented
`from being transmitted to the bone conduction micro-
`phone unit, which can otherwise resuit in the so called
`howling phenomenon. On the other hand, if the ear-
`phone unit is accommodated in the fitting portion so as
`to arrange the two-way communication device,
`the
`vibrations of the earphone unit are prevented from
`being transmitted to the bone conduction microphone
`unit via the fitting portion by virtue of the aforemen-
`tioned resilient member. In addition, since the bone
`conduction microphone unit can be disposed at a posi-
`tion spaced apart from the earphone unit, the sound
`pressure of the earphone unit is prevented from being
`transmitted circuitously to the bone conduction micro-
`phoneunit.
`Whatis claimedis:
`1. A device for picking up bone-conducted sound in
`the external auditory meatus, comprising:
`a fitting portion having an outer peripheral portion
`which is shaped and sized to be accommodated in
`use in a navicular cavity formed between a tragus
`cartilage portion and the entrance portion of the
`external auditory meatus, the outer peripheral por-
`tion in use contacting a wall of the navicular cavity
`to support the fitting portion in the navicular cav-
`ity;
`a bone conduction microphoneunit, having a contact
`portion which in use is brought into contact with a
`wall of the external auditory meatus for picking up
`bone-conducted sound; and
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`3,295,193
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`7
`a resilient member between the bone conduction
`microphoneunit andthefitting portion, by which
`the fitting portion holds said bone conduction mi-
`crophone unit, said resilient member in use resil-
`iently applying a force to the contact portion of the 5
`microphone unit to urge the contact portion into
`contact with the wall of the external auditory mea-
`tus substantially orthogonally to said wall,
`the
`contact portion contacting said wall along an arc
`comprising less than the entire circumference of 10
`the external auditory meatus.
`2. A device for picking up bone-conducted sound in
`the external auditory meatus according to claim 1,
`
`8
`wherein a portion of said bone conduction microphone
`unit excluding the portion thereof contacting the wall
`of the external auditory meatusis at least partially cov-
`ered with a resilient member.
`3. A communication device incorporating therein the
`device according to claim 1, wherein an earphone unit
`for transmitting sound from the outside is accommo-
`dated in said fitting portion of said device for picking up
`bone-conducted soundin the external auditory meatus,
`and a sound conductive tube of said earphone unit is
`open at a portionofsaid fitting portion facing the exter-
`nal auditory meatus.*
`*
`&@©
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