JP6863687B2 - earphone - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an earphone that is worn on the user's ear and reproduces sound, and particularly to an earphone in which the outlet of the sound wave to be reproduced is inserted into the entrance of the user's ear canal.

Headphones and earphones reproduce sound by applying an audio signal to speaker units arranged close to each other so as to come into contact with the user's ear. There are various forms of earphones worn on the user's ear.

For example, some earphones are provided with a relatively large speaker unit such as a headphone, and are provided with an ear hook that is attached so that the main body is placed on the pinna. In addition, there is an inner ear type that is used by mounting the main body so as to fit inside the auricle and emitting sound from the sound emitting surface of the main body toward the ear canal. In addition, there is a type of earphone called the canal type that is used by inserting the main body so that it fits inside the auricle, and then inserting the sound tube that protrudes from the main body into the ear canal together with the earpiece attached to it. It is widespread.

The smaller the speaker unit, the more difficult it is to obtain a high sound pressure level and sufficiently widen the audio reproduction frequency band to ensure good reproduction sound quality. Similar problems occur with speaker units in earbud or canal earphones that are worn on the user's ear. In particular, for canal-type earphones in which the outlet of the sound wave to be reproduced is inserted into the entrance of the user's ear canal, it is recommended to use a speaker unit with a small housing for attaching the speaker unit and a large diaphragm diameter that has the necessary and sufficient sound reproduction capability. There is a problem that it is difficult and easily affected by the structure of the housing.

The conventional earphone housing may be provided with an opening, a hole, an acoustic passage, a leak port, or the like that communicates the internal space and the external space of the housing. In particular, there is a case in which a relatively long acoustic passage communicating from the internal space corresponding to the back side of the speaker unit of the housing to the external space is provided (Patent Documents 1 and 2).

Further, conventionally, a housing in which an acoustic space is formed inside and a tubular sound guiding portion is projected on the front surface, an ear tip attached to the sound guiding portion and inserted into the external auditory canal, and a first type. A frame having a vent hole and provided in the housing to separate the acoustic space into a first acoustic space and a second acoustic space, and a frame attached to the frame to convert an electric signal into a first sound wave. A sound wave conversion unit for outputting to a sound guide unit and a sound pressure adjusting unit attached to the frame are provided, and the sound pressure adjusting unit includes a third acoustic space communicating with the first ventilation hole and the first acoustic space. A tubular second vent that communicates with the two acoustic spaces and the third acoustic space, and a first acoustic that is inserted into the second vent and reduces the sound pressure in a predetermined frequency band by adjusting the insertion position. There is a canal type earphone characterized by having a resistor (Patent Document 3).

However, further improvement is desired for conventional earphones. In particular, in a canal-type earphone in which the outlet of the sound wave to be reproduced is inserted into the entrance of the user's ear canal, the structure of the housing forming an extremely small internal space affects the sound pressure frequency characteristics of the sound wave to be reproduced. There is a problem that it is difficult to realize natural and preferable sound reproduction unless the sound is clearly heard.

Jikkai Sho 63-95388 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2015-195444 Japanese Patent No. 5696249

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to attach a speaker unit to a canal type earphone in which the outlet of the sound wave to be reproduced is inserted into the entrance of the user's ear canal. An object of the present invention is to provide an earphone that realizes clear and preferable sound reproduction by configuring a housing that obtains an appropriate sound pressure frequency characteristic in such a case.

In the earphone of the present invention, a speaker unit that converts audio signals into sound waves, a cord that supplies audio signals to the speaker unit, and a speaker unit are attached inside the speaker unit, and one side and the other side of the diaphragm of the speaker unit are attached. An earphone including a housing that defines a first acoustic space and a second acoustic space, respectively, and the housing forms a first acoustic passage that communicates with the first acoustic space and guides sound waves to the user's external auditory canal. A speaker portion, a leak port portion that forms a second acoustic passage that communicates with the second acoustic space and guides sound waves to the external space, and a cord bush portion that is formed of a flexible material and fixes a cord to the housing. The second acoustic passage of the leak port portion is formed of a flexible tubular material, and the cord bush portion is formed so as to include both the cord and the tubular material.

Preferably, in the earphone of the present invention, the tubular material of the leak port portion is formed so that the opening end portion communicating with the second acoustic space projects from the housing toward the inside of the second acoustic space.

Further, preferably, in the earphone of the present invention, in the tubular material of the leak port portion, the opening area of the opening end portion communicating with the second acoustic space or the external space is larger than the cross-sectional area at the intermediate portion thereof. Is formed in.

Further, preferably, the earphone of the present invention further includes a protective member having a breathable end portion in which the tubular material of the leak port portion communicates with the second acoustic space or the external space.

Further, preferably, the housing of the present invention includes an earpiece attachment portion for attaching an earpiece to be inserted into the user's ear canal at the tip of the nozzle portion, and further includes an earpiece to be attached to the earpiece attachment portion.

Hereinafter, the operation of the present invention will be described.

In the earphone of the present invention, a speaker unit that converts an audio signal into sound waves and a speaker unit are attached inside the speaker unit, and a first acoustic space and a second acoustic space are provided on one side and the other side of the diaphragm of the speaker unit, respectively. It is provided with a housing that defines a space. The housing includes a nozzle portion that communicates with the first acoustic space and forms a first acoustic passage that guides sound waves to the user's ear canal, and a cord bush portion that is formed of a flexible material and fixes a cord to the housing. Be prepared. Therefore, if the nozzle portion of the housing further has an earpiece attachment portion for attaching the earpiece to be inserted into the user's ear canal, a canal-type earphone in which the earpiece is in close contact with the ear canal can be realized.

The housing of the earphone includes a leak port portion that communicates with the second acoustic space and forms a second acoustic passage that guides sound waves to the external space. The second acoustic passage of the leak port portion is formed of a flexible tubular material, and the cord bush portion is formed so as to include both the cord and the tubular material. Since the tubular material, which is a hollow tubular member, has flexibility, the cord bush portion shapes the tubular material into a predetermined shape and fixes it to the housing.

Therefore, in a canal type earphone, the cord bush is made of a flexible tubular material even when a second acoustic passage having a thin and long dimension must be formed in order to obtain appropriate sound pressure frequency characteristics. Since the portion is fixed along the cord, only the leak port portion does not remarkably protrude from the housing, and the entire housing can be miniaturized. As a result, natural and preferable audio reproduction can be realized.

Further, in the earphone of the present invention, since the cord bush portion made of a flexible material fixes the cord to the housing, the cord can be shaped into a predetermined shape and fixed to the housing without bending the tubular body. As a result, it is possible to prevent a problem that the second acoustic passage is closed or narrowed when the tubular body forming the leak port portion is bent. When the tubular body is included in the cord bush portion, it is possible to give the cord bush portion a design and realize an earphone having an excellent aesthetic appearance.

Preferably, the tubular material of the leak port portion of the housing may be formed so that the open end portion communicating with the second acoustic space projects from the housing toward the inside of the second acoustic space. In such a case, since the second acoustic passage having a dimension longer than the dimension corresponding to the total length of the cord bush portion having at least a substantially linear shape can be formed, the resonance frequency can be adjusted even in a relatively low frequency band. This has the advantage that the audio reproduction frequency band can be sufficiently widened to ensure good reproduction sound quality.

Further, the second acoustic passage of the leak port portion may be formed so that the opening area of the opening end portion communicating with the second acoustic space or the external space is larger than the cross-sectional area at the intermediate portion thereof. For example, if the opening end of the tubular body forming the leak port portion is cut diagonally to form an elliptical opening, the opening area can be made larger than the cross-sectional area at the intermediate portion, and the leak can be made. The operation and effect as a port can be enhanced. When the tubular material of the leak port portion further includes a protective member having air permeability at the opening end portion communicating with the second acoustic space or the external space, foreign matter is mixed into the inside of the tubular material from the opening end portion. Therefore, it is possible to prevent problems such as the second acoustic passage being closed or narrowed.

The earphone of the present invention can provide a canal type earphone that realizes clear and preferable sound reproduction by configuring a housing including a leak port portion that obtains an appropriate sound pressure frequency characteristic when a speaker unit is attached. ..

It is a figure explaining the earphone by a preferable embodiment of this invention. (Example 1) It is a figure explaining the internal structure of the earphone by a preferable embodiment of this invention. (Example 1) It is a graph explaining the sound pressure frequency characteristic of an earphone by a preferable embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, earphones according to preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

1 and 2 are diagrams illustrating an earphone 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an earphone 1 worn on one ear of a user, and illustrates a state in which a part of a leak port 7, which will be described later, protrudes from the lower end of a cord bush 4.

Further, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the internal structure of the earphone 1. FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2B is a structural diagram showing only the leak port 7 corresponding to the cross section AA'in FIG. 2A. FIG. 2 (c) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB'of the leak port 7 in FIG. 2 (b). The illustration and description of the other earphone 1 configurations that are not necessary for the description of the present invention will be omitted.

The earphone 1 of this embodiment is a canal type earphone in which the outlet of the sound wave to be reproduced is inserted into the ear canal hole of the user's auricle. The earphone 1 is provided with earphones having a substantially symmetrical shape to be worn on the left and right ears of the user, and can support stereo reproduction. Hereinafter, a configuration corresponding to one ear of the earphone 1 will be described. Of course, the form of the earphone 1 is not limited to the case of this embodiment.

The earphone 1 is provided with a speaker unit 3 that reproduces sound by supplying an audio signal via a cord 5 to the housing 2. The speaker unit 3 is an electro-acoustic converter that includes a magnetic circuit having a magnetic gap and vibrates a diaphragm that is inserted into the magnetic gap and connected to a voice coil to which a voice signal is supplied. The speaker unit 3 radiates sound waves having an opposite phase relationship to the front side and the back side of the diaphragm (not shown). Therefore, it is necessary to attach the speaker unit 3 to the housing 2 so as to separate one side and the other side of the diaphragm of the speaker unit 3.

The housing 2 of this embodiment can be equipped with a speaker unit 3 having a diameter corresponding to the size of the ear canal hole of the user's auricle. The housing 2 includes a substantially cylindrical base member 11 including a nozzle portion, and a housing member 12 connected to the rear side of the base member 11 to form a cavity. The base member 11 and the housing member 12 of the housing 2 define an acoustic space 17 on the front side of the diaphragm of the speaker unit 3, and the acoustic space 17 is separated from the acoustic space 17 on the rear side where the magnetic circuit of the speaker unit 3 exists. The space 18 is formed.

The base member 11 is made of a metal material or a resin material, and includes a speaker unit mounting portion for mounting the speaker unit 3 on an inner wall portion. The outer diameter frame of the speaker unit 3 has an outer diameter that substantially matches the inner diameter of the speaker unit mounting portion of the substantially cylindrical base member 11. The base member 11 includes a nozzle portion formed so that the tip side is thinner than the speaker unit mounting portion so as to be inserted into the external auditory canal hole of the user's pinna. The nozzle portion forms an acoustic passage on the inner side thereof that communicates with the acoustic space 17 and guides sound waves to the user's ear canal.

An earpiece mounting portion for mounting the earpiece 6 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the nozzle portion of the base member 11. By attaching the elastic cap-shaped earpiece 6, a canal-shaped earphone in which the earpiece 6 is in close contact with the ear canal canal can be realized. The earpiece 6 allows the user to stably wear the earphone 1 on the pinna. A protective net 14 as a protective member having air permeability is attached to the open end of the nozzle portion. The protective net 14 prevents problems such as foreign matter entering from the open end of the nozzle portion and closing the acoustic passage. Further, the base member 11 may include a leak hole or a port (not shown) that communicates with the acoustic space 17 and guides a sound wave to an external space.

On the other hand, the housing member 12 is made of a metal material or a resin material, and a cord bush 4 for fixing a cord 5 for supplying an audio signal to the speaker unit 3 is connected to the housing member 12. The cord bush 4 is made of a flexible rubber material so as to include the cord 5 inside, and one side of the cord bush 4 is attached to a mounting hole of the housing member 12. Further, the cord bush 4 is formed so as to include a leak port 7 described later together with the cord 5 inside.

The housing member 12 defines an acoustic space 18 formed separately from the acoustic space 17, and further includes a leak port 7 that communicates with the acoustic space 18 and forms an acoustic passage that guides sound waves to an external space. The leak port 7 constitutes an acoustic passage using a tube having an outer diameter of 2.0 mm, an inner diameter of 1.0 mm, and a length of about 40.0 mm, which is a hollow tubular material made of a flexible silicone resin. As shown in the figure, in the leak port 7, the opening end portion 7a communicating with the acoustic space 18 is arranged inside the housing member 12, and the opening end portion 7c communicating with the external space is arranged outside the housing member 12.

The length and inner diameter of the tube of the leak port 7 are preferably adjusted according to the volume of the air chamber of the acoustic space 18. Further, the leak port 7 may be a hollow tubular material having flexibility to obtain a required inner diameter dimension, and the material is not limited to silicone resin. The leak port 7 may be other than a silicone resin, and may be, for example, a rubber-based material, an elastomer resin material, or a PVC (polyvinyl chloride) resin material.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2B, the leak ports 7 formed in a straight line pass through the holes of the cord bush 4, and both ends thereof appear inside and outside the housing 2. In the leak port 7, the opening ends 7a and 7c are formed so that the opening area thereof is larger than the cross-sectional area at the intermediate portion 7b by cutting the tubular material diagonally. A protective net 15 as a protective member having air permeability is attached to the open end portion 7c of the leak port 7. The protective net 15 prevents problems such as foreign matter entering the inside from the open end of the leak port 7 and closing the acoustic passage.

In the canal type earphone 1, in order to obtain an appropriate sound pressure frequency characteristic, a leak port 7 which is a thin and long-sized acoustic passage must be formed. Since the leak port 7 is a member that is extremely thin and long compared to the dimensions of the housing 2, it requires special ingenuity to attach it to the housing 2. In order to attach the long leak port 7 to the housing 2 as in the case of this embodiment, it is necessary to shape the cord bush 4 into a predetermined shape without providing a bent portion. This is because if a bent portion is formed in which the tube bends sharply, the inside of the tubular body is closed or the area inside the tube is remarkably narrowed, so that the tube does not function as an acoustic passage.

In the housing 2, the cord bush 4 is fixed to the housing member 12 constituting the acoustic space 18 without bending the leak port 7. A groove into which the leak port 7 is fitted is formed inside the cord bush 4. To fix the leak port 7 to the cord bush 4, an adhesive or an adhesive material such as double-sided tape may be used. The cord bush 4 may be integrally formed including the cord 5 and the leak port 7 by two-color molding.

Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the leak port 7, which is a hollow tubular member, has flexibility and is therefore shaped into a predetermined substantially linear shape without being bent by the cord bush 4. , Fixed to the housing member 12. At the same time, one end of the tubular leak port 7 is exposed to the outside of the housing 2. However, since the leak port 7 is fixed along the cord 5 by the cord bush 4, the leak port 7 does not remarkably protrude from the housing 2, and the entire housing 2 of the earphone 1 can be miniaturized.

The cord bush 4 for fixing the leak port 7 can be used not only as a groove for accommodating the tubular leak port 7 but also for other fixing structures. In the case of this embodiment, the cord bush 4 covers and fixes the cord 5 and the leak port 7, and can give the cord bush 4 a design to improve the appearance of the earphone 1.

FIG. 3 is a graph for explaining the sound pressure frequency characteristics of the earphone 1 of this embodiment and the earphone 10 of the comparative example. The horizontal axis represents the frequency of the input audio signal, and the vertical axis represents the ear which is a measuring jig. Shows the sound pressure level in the external auditory canal when attached to the mold. The earphone 10 (not shown) of the comparative example is a case where the housing 2 of the earphone 1 of the present embodiment does not include the leak port 7 which communicates with the acoustic space 18 and forms an acoustic passage for guiding the sound wave to the external space. .. The speaker unit 3 is common. Therefore, FIG. 3 shows the action and effect of the leak port 7 in the canal type earphone 1.

As shown in FIG. 3, the sound pressure frequency characteristic of the earphone changes greatly depending on the presence or absence of the leak port 7. The earphone 1 of this embodiment is improved so that the sound pressure level of about 300 Hz to 1 kHz is substantially flat as compared with the earphone 10 of the comparative example. As a result, the intelligibility of the reproduced sound can be improved. As the canal type earphone 1 in which the outlet of the sound wave to be reproduced is inserted into the entrance of the user's ear canal, it is possible to realize natural and preferable voice reproduction as compared with the earphone 10 of the comparative example.

Here, the leak port 7 is formed so that the opening end portion 7a communicating with the acoustic space 18 projects from the inner wall portion of the housing member 12 toward the inside of the acoustic space 18. This is because the length of the leak port 7 is preferably longer than the length corresponding to the peripheral length of the substantially circular housing 2, but is preferably longer than the length of the cord bush 4. .. When the leak port 7 is shortened, the sound pressure around 300 Hz does not decrease as in the case of the above embodiment, so that the clarity of the reproduced sound is lowered and the reproduced sound quality is deteriorated.

In the canal type earphone 1, the leak port 7 that forms an acoustic passage without winding the thin tubular material as described above is preferable, but on the other hand, the leak port 7 having the same thinness / length is used. When applied to other conventional non-canal type earphones, the same effect cannot be obtained. In that case, there arises a problem that the sound pressure level in the low frequency range becomes high, the intelligibility becomes low, and the voice reproduction frequency band becomes narrow. As a result, it becomes difficult for such earphones to ensure good reproduction sound quality.

In order to accommodate the leak port 7, which is relatively long compared to the size of the housing 2 of the earphone 1, in the housing 2, it is necessary to shape the leak port 7 into a predetermined shape without providing a bent portion inside the acoustic space 18. .. On top of that, if necessary, the long tubular leak port 7 may be shaped so as to be spirally wound so as to be wound by overlapping at least one rotation. Even if it fits in one rotation or less, if a fixing portion is provided so as to shape the leak port 7 so as to spirally wind it, the leak port 7 can be aligned with the inner wall portion of the housing member 12 constituting the acoustic space 18. Can be fixed.

The leak port 7 of the housing 2 is a pipe portion having a similar cross-sectional area even if the acoustic passage communicating with the acoustic space 18 and guiding the sound wave to the external space is not necessarily formed by a flexible tubular body. , The cord bush 4 may be provided so as to penetrate the cord bush 4 as a substitute. Further, the leak port 7 may not be entirely formed of a flexible tubular body, but a part of the leak port 7 may be replaced by a pipe portion penetrating the cord bush 4 as described above. If the leak port 7 can be lengthened, the audio reproduction frequency band can be sufficiently widened to ensure good reproduction sound quality.

Further, if the leak port 7 is formed so that the opening area of the opening end portions 7a and 7c is larger than the cross-sectional area at the intermediate portion 7b by cutting the tube or the tubular body diagonally. , The operation and effect as a leak port can be enhanced. Therefore, the leak port 7 may be formed by connecting tubular bodies having different thicknesses or by connecting cord bushes 4 having different thicknesses.

Further, in the above embodiment, the leak port 7 is provided with a protective member 15 having air permeability at the opening end 7c communicating with the external space, but the protective member 15 is an opening end communicating with the acoustic space 18 of the leak port 7. It may be provided in the part 7a. It is possible to prevent a problem that the leak port 7 is closed or narrowed due to foreign matter entering the inside of the leak port 7.

The earphone of the present invention is not limited to the canal type earphone as shown in the figure, and may be an earphone provided with another ear hook portion. Further, not limited to the earphones, an overhead type earphone may be configured by connecting earphones corresponding to both the left and right ears with a headband. Earphones are not limited to home stereo playback or multi-channel surround playback, but can also be applied to in-vehicle audio equipment and sound reproduction equipment such as movie theaters.

1, 10 Earphones 2 Housing 3 Speaker unit 4 Cord bush 5 Cord 6 Earpiece 7 Leak port 11 Base member 12 Housing member 14, 15 Protective net 17, 18 Acoustic space

Claims (4)

A speaker unit that converts audio signals into sound waves
And code for supplying the audio signal to the speaker unit,
Attaching the speaker unit therein, a earphone and a housing defining a one side and the other side and to a first sound space each second acoustic space of the vibration plate of the speaker unit,
The housing includes a nozzle portion to form a first acoustic path for guiding sound waves to communicate with the first sound space in the user's ear canal, a second acoustic path for guiding sound waves to communicate with the second sound space to the outer space It includes a leak port section which forms a code bush that is formed of a material having flexibility to secure the cord to the housing, and
The second acoustic path of the leak port portion is formed in the tubular member having flexibility,
Wherein the code bush is formed to include both the code and the tubular member,
One end of the cord bush portion is connected to the housing and communicates with the second acoustic space.
One open end of the tubular material of the leak port portion, which communicates with the second acoustic space, is formed so as to project from the housing toward the inside of the second acoustic space.
The tubular material of the leak port portion is located in the housing and the cord bush portion from the one open end portion to the other open end portion.
Wherein the tubular member of the leak port portion, the other open end, from the other end of the cord bush, that through communication with the external space,
earphone. The opening area of the tubular material of the leak port portion at the opening end portion communicating with the second acoustic space or the external space is formed so as to be larger than the cross-sectional area at the intermediate portion thereof.
The earphone according to claim 1. The tubular material of the leak port portion further includes a protective member having air permeability at the opening end portion communicating with the second acoustic space or the external space.
The earphone according to claim 1 or 2. The housing includes an earpiece attachment portion at the tip of the nozzle portion for attaching an earpiece to be inserted into the user's ear canal.
Further comprising the earpiece attached to the earpiece mounting portion,
The earphone according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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