JPS6031399B2 - hearing aid - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a hearing aid, and in particular to a hearing aid that has a built-in automatic volume control circuit that can detect your own utterances and automatically increase or decrease the volume even if the volume is set to match the volume of another person. It takes.

Hearing aids need to be able to handle loud and soft sounds, low voices and high voices evenly, and are equipped with a volume adjustment device for this purpose.

However, many volume adjustment devices are difficult to use and are not suitable for frequent adjustments. Also, unlike the human ear, hearing aids cannot selectively hear only the sounds that are needed, so people are bothered by unnecessary sounds.

Particularly during a conversation, depending on the position of the microphone, if you adjust the volume adjustment device to match the volume of the other person, your own voice will also be amplified and returned to your ears at a loud volume. Adjustments need to be made repeatedly, which is troublesome.
What's more, if you try to speak and turn down the volume when the other person speaks, you may not be able to fight back, so even if you stop talking and raise the volume, you won't be able to make it in time. The present invention eliminates the drawbacks of conventional hearing aids, and even if the volume adjustment device is set to match the voice of the other party, the volume is automatically adjusted when the user speaks, eliminating the need for cumbersome manual adjustments. This reduces the need for

That is, the present invention is a hearing aid equipped with an automatic volume control circuit that detects body vibrations caused by the user's own voice and automatically increases or decreases the volume to control the volume. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is a microphone, 2 is an amplifier, 3 is a filter that adjusts frequency characteristics in accordance with the hearing characteristics of the wearer, 4 is a rear-stage amplifier, 5 is an earphone, and 6 is a volume control circuit. Also, 7 is a resistance attenuator, 10 is a sensor, 9
is an IJ relay amplifier, and 8 is a relay switch. Sensor 1: A device that converts mechanical vibration energy into electrical energy, such as a machine using Rochelle salt, etc.
Electrical transducers are used. In order to detect the utterances of a hearing aid wearer, this sensor 1 is used by attaching it to a place near the palate of the wearer 11, such as the zygomatic arch, behind the ear, or near the throat, where vibrations generated can be easily detected. be done. In such a hearing aid, the relay switch 8 is connected to the A side when vibrations caused by the wearer's utterances are not detected by the sensor 10'.

That is, the output signal of the microphone 1 generated by the input sound is amplified by the amplifier 2, and is given an appropriate frequency characteristic through a filter 3 selected according to the hearing characteristics of the wearer, so that an appropriate volume can be given. The signal is amplified by the rear-stage amplifier 4 via a volume adjustment resistor (not shown) set to , and is listened to by the listener 5 . Here, when the wearer 11 utters a voice, the resulting vibration is detected by the sensor 101 and the generated signal is transmitted to the relay amplifier 9.
The signal is amplified by the signal, operates the relay switch 8, and connects the switch 8 to the B side.

Therefore, the output signal of the microphone according to the wearer's voice input from the microphone 1 reaches the earphone 5 via the amplifier 2, the filter 3, the resistive attenuator 7, the relay switch 8, and the rear stage amplifier 4. Therefore, if the degree of attenuation of this resistance attenuator 7 is selected to be an appropriate value in relation to the distance to the other party in the conversation, it is possible to eliminate the unpleasantness of the sound caused by excessive output due to one's own vocalization. In the above embodiment, an example was explained in which a relay switch was used as the switch 8. However, by using a transistor as the switch and using means for changing its operating point, it can function as both a switch and a resistance attenuator. You can.

In addition, although Figure 1 shows an example in which a resistive attenuator is installed between the amplifiers, the same effect can be obtained even if the resistor attenuator is installed on the input side or output side of the amplifier, and the location can be selected as required. Of course you can do it.

Furthermore, the same effect as described above can be obtained by receiving the gain of the amplifier and the vibrations caused by the wearer's voice using the sensor 10 and controlling the gain of the amplifier using the sensor 10.

It is also possible to completely block the signal to Yaffoon 5 when the wearer speaks, but if you only adjust the volume, you will be able to hear the other party's voice even if you speak at the same time as the other party, and you will be able to When the person stops speaking, the original circuit is automatically restored, so there is no need to miss anything, and there is no need to operate the adjustment device each time.

As described above, the hearing aid according to the present invention is equipped with an automatic volume control circuit that detects the wearer's vocalizations and automatically adjusts the volume to a preset volume, so that the output from the earphones matches the volume of the conversation partner's voice. Even if the hearing aid is tuned to your own voice, the volume can be adjusted to a preset level that is not unpleasant to your own ears, eliminating the discomfort caused by excessive output during self-speech, which is the case with conventional hearing aids. can.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Microphone, 2... Amplifier, 5... Audio volume control circuit, 6... Automatic volume control circuit, 10... Sensor, 7 ...Resistance attenuator. younger brother l figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A hearing aid characterized by being equipped with a sensor that detects the wearer's utterances by sensing vibrations in the wearer's body, and a volume control circuit that automatically increases or decreases the volume based on signals from the sensor.