Ear tip designed to enable in-ear detect with pressure change in acoustic volume

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10652644-B2
Application number	US-201916272982-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 11, 2019
Priority date	Sep 20, 2018
Publication date	May 12, 2020
Grant date	May 12, 2020

Abstract

An earbud tip for an in-ear headphone can include an outer body; an inner tube extending at least partially within the outer body, the tube having opposing first and second ends and first and second openings at the opposing first and second ends, respectively, the first opening configured to emit audio signals provided by a speaker of an in-ear headphone into a user's ear canal during operation of the in-ear headphone and when the earbud tip seals the user's ear canal and the second opening configured to be removably coupled to a portion of the in-ear headphone; and one or more channels extending from an outer periphery of the earbud tip to the inner tube.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An earbud tip for an in-ear headphone, the earbud tip comprising:
an outer body;
an inner tube extending at least partially within the outer body, the tube having opposing first and second ends and first and second openings at the opposing first and second ends, respectively, the first opening at an exterior surface of the outer body enabling audio signals provided by a speaker of an in-ear headphone to be directed into a user's ear canal during operation of the in-ear headphone and the second opening configured to be removably coupled to a portion of the in-ear headphone; and
wherein an exterior surface of the outer body includes a plurality of peaks and valleys disposed radially around the first opening at a distal end of the outer body and wherein, when the earbud tip is inserted in a user's ear canal, the outer body creates a seal within the ear canal that creates a pressure change in acoustic volume when audio signals are delivered through the earbud tip to the user's ear.

2. The earbud tip of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of valleys is part of a channel extending from the first opening across a portion of the distal end of the outer body.

3. The earbud tip of claim 1 wherein the plurality of peaks and valleys comprise at least one or more grooves, divots or dimples formed in the outer body.

4. The earbud tip of claim 1 wherein the plurality of valleys in the exterior surface of the outer body extend across an outer surface of the earbud tip from an outer periphery to the first opening of the earbud tip.

5. The earbud tip of claim 1 wherein the plurality of peaks and valleys are formed on a rim of the earbud tip extending circumferentially around the first opening.

6. The earbud tip of claim 1 wherein the plurality of peaks and valleys disposed radially around the first opening are configured to deter unintentional sealing of the earbud tip against a planar surface outside the ear canal or clothing of a user.

7. An in-ear headphone comprising:
an earbud housing, a speaker positioned within the earbud housing, a conduit at least partially enclosed by the earbud housing configured to direct audio signals provided by the speaker into an ear canal of a user, and an earbud tip coupleable to a portion of the conduit and configured to seal the ear canal of the user when positioned therein, the earbud tip comprising:
an inner tube extending at least partially within an outer body of the earbud tip, the tube having opposing first and second ends and first and second openings at the opposing first and second ends, respectively, the first opening enabling audio signals provided by the speaker to be directed into the user's ear canal and the second opening configured to be removably coupled to the portion of the conduit; and
one or more channels extending from an outer periphery of the earbud tip to the inner tube body;
wherein, when the earbud tip is inserted in a user's ear canal, the outer body creates a seal within the ear canal that creates a pressure change in acoustic volume when audio signals are delivered through the earbud tip to the user's ear.

8. The in-ear headphone of claim 7 wherein the one or more channels comprise one or more vents extending through the outer periphery of the earbud tip and in fluid communication with the inner tube.

9. The in-ear headphone of claim 7 wherein the one or more channels comprise at least one or more grooves, divots, depressions, recesses, or dimples.

10. The in-ear headphone of claim 7 wherein the one or more channels extend across a top surface of the earbud tip from the outer periphery to the first opening of the earbud tip.

11. The in-ear headphone of claim 7 wherein the one or more channels are formed on a rim of the earbud tip extending circumferentially around the first opening.

12. The in-ear headphone of claim 7 wherein the one or more channels are configured to deter unintentional sealing of the earbud tip against a planar surface outside the ear canal.

13. The in-ear headphone of claim 7 wherein the one or more channels are configured to deter unintentional sealing of the earbud tip against clothing of the user.

14. The in-ear headphone of claim 7 wherein comprising one or more ear presence sensors configured to detect when the earbud tip is located near or in the user's ear canal.

15. The in-ear headphone of claim 14 wherein the one or more ear presence sensors comprise at least one of a force sensor, mechanical sensor, capacitive sensor, resistance-based sensor, light-based sensor, accelerometer-based sensor, acoustic-based sensor, or pressure sensor.

16. The in-ear headphone of claim 14 further comprising control circuitry configured to process signals from the one or more ear presence sensors to detect when the earbud tip is located near or in the user's ear canal.

17. The in-ear headphone of claim 14 wherein the one or more ear presence sensors are configured to detect when the earbud tip is located in the user's ear canal by measuring a pressure change in acoustic volume from when the earbud tip is not sealed against the user's ear canal to when the earbud tip is sealed against the user's ear canal.

18. The in-ear headphone of claim 17 further comprising one or more light-based sensors configured to detect when the earbud tip is located near the user's ear canal prior to the one or more ear presence sensors detecting when the earbud tip is located in the user's ear canal.

19. The in-ear headphone of claim 17 further comprising control circuitry configured to at least one of activate media playback, resume media playback, restore volume level of media playback, or activate noise cancelling in response to the one or more ear presence sensors detecting that the earbud tip is located in the user's ear canal.

20. An earbud tip for an in-ear headphone, the earbud tip comprising:
an outer body;
an inner tube extending at least partially within the outer body, the tube having opposing first and second ends and first and second openings at the opposing first and second ends, respectively, the first opening configured to emit enabling audio signals provided by a speaker of an in-ear headphone to be directed into a user's ear canal during operation of the in-ear headphone and when the earbud tip seals the user's ear canal and the second opening configured to be removably coupled to a portion of the in-ear headphone; and
one or more channels arranged radially around the first opening and extending through an outer periphery of the earbud tip to the inner tube;
wherein, when the earbud tip is inserted in a user's ear canal, the outer body creates a seal within the ear canal that creates a pressure change in acoustic volume when audio signals are delivered through the earbud tip to the user's ear.

21. An earbud tip for an in-ear headphone, the earbud tip comprising:
a deformable outer body;
an inner tube extending at least partially within the deformable outer body, the tube having opposing first and second ends and first and second openings at the opposing first and second ends, respectively, the first opening enabling audio signals provided by a speaker of an in-ear headphone to be directed into a user's ear canal during operation of the in-ear headphone and the second opening configured to be removably coupled to a portion of the in-ear headphone; and
wherein an exterior surface of the deformable outer body is a continuous surface surrounding the first opening and extending along a curve towards the seco

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Bruss John R
• Le Duy P
• Corbin Sean S
• Boyd Robert A

Classifications

• H04R1/1066

  Constructional aspects of the interconnection between earpiece and earpiece support (earpiece support for monophonic headphones H04R1/105; earpiece support for stereophonic headphones H04R5/0335) · CPC title

• H04R2460/11

  Aspects relating to vents, e.g. shape, orientation, acoustic properties in ear tips of hearing devices to prevent occlusion · CPC title

• H04R2460/15

  Determination of the acoustic seal of ear moulds or ear tips of hearing devices · CPC title

• H04R1/105

  Earpiece supports, e.g. ear hooks (for stereophonic headphones H04R5/0335) · CPC title

• H04R2420/07

  Applications of wireless loudspeakers or wireless microphones · CPC title