Cerumen protection plug

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11228851-B2
Application number	US-201716767088-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 28, 2017
Priority date	Nov 28, 2017
Publication date	Jan 18, 2022
Grant date	Jan 18, 2022

Abstract

A cerumen protection plug for a hearing device. The cerumen protection plug prevents cerumen from passing along a sound conduit in the hearing device and blocking sound output from a receiver in the hearing device. The cerumen protection plug includes a circular plug containing a cerumen barrier. A positioning handle allows the cerumen barrier to be positioned along the sound conduit, where it prevents cerumen that has entered the sound conduit from traveling along the sound conduit to the receiver or an output port of the receiver.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cerumen filter plug for use in a sound conduit of a hearing device, the sound conduit acoustically coupled to a transducer port and comprising a sound opening and a conduit wall defining an acoustic pathway between the transducer port and the sound opening, the cerumen filter plug comprising:
a ring structure configured to be inserted through the sound opening into the sound conduit and comprising an outer-ring-surface configured to contact an inner-surface of the conduit wall and an inner-ring-surface configured to define a ring opening providing for transmission of acoustic signals through the ring structure;
a filter structure disposed within the ring opening and configured to provide a barrier to passage of cerumen through the ring opening; and
an engagement body including a protrusion extending from the filter structure along a central axis of the ring structure and configured for engagement and/or coupling with a manipulation tool,
wherein in use the protrusion of the engagement body is configured to extend along a longitudinal axis of the sound conduit towards the sound opening.

2. The cerumen filter plug of claim 1 , wherein the filter structure comprises at least one of a filter screen, a filter mesh, a plurality of filter filaments, and a spoke.

3. The cerumen filter plug of claim 1 , wherein the ring structure comprises a hub disposed at the central axis of the ring structure and the filter structure extends between the hub and the inner-ring-surface, and wherein the engagement body is either coupled with the hub or is an integral extension of the hub.

4. The cerumen filter plug of claim 1 , wherein the engagement body is configured to provide for positioning the cerumen filter plug in the sound conduit such that at least a part of the inner-surface of the conduit wall extends between the ring structure and the sound opening.

5. The cerumen filter plug of claim 1 , wherein the engagement body comprises a holding fixture configured to provide for the coupling of the holding fixture with the manipulation tool.

6. The cerumen filter plug of claim 5 , wherein the holding fixture is configured to provide for click-fit coupling with the manipulation tool.

7. The cerumen filter plug of claim 1 , wherein the engagement body extends at least 0.5 millimeters from the filter structure.

8. The cerumen filter plug of claim 1 , wherein an outer-surface of the ring structure comprises at least one ridge extending along the outer-surface parallel to the central axis.

9. The cerumen filter plug of claim 8 , wherein the filter structure comprises at least two spokes and the at least one ridge is positioned above a space between the at least two spokes.

10. The cerumen filter plug of claim 1 , wherein the filter structure comprises either one spoke, two spokes, three spokes or four spokes.

11. The cerumen filter plug of claim 1 , wherein at least a part of the protrusion of the engagement body is configured to engage with the manipulation tool by fitting inside a cavity in a tip of the manipulation tool.

12. The cerumen filter plug of claim 11 , wherein the part of the protrusion of the engagement body comprises a tapered shape.

13. The cerumen filter plug of claim 1 , further comprising:
a shoulder extending outward from the protrusion of the engagement body and configured to engage with the manipulation tool so that the manipulation tool can push the cerumen filter plug along the sound conduit.

14. The cerumen filter plug of claim 1 , wherein the ring structure has an external diameter greater than at least one of 1.5 millimeters, 1.6 millimeters, 1.7 millimeters, and 1.8 millimeters.

15. The cerumen filter plug of claim 1 , wherein the outer-ring-surface of the ring structure is configured to produce essentially equal resistance to insertion of the cerumen filter plug into the sound outlet and extraction of the cerumen filter plug from the sound opening.

16. A method for manufacturing the cerumen filter plug of to claim 1 , comprising:
injecting a material into a mould of the cerumen filter plug.

17. A method for positioning a cerumen filter plug along a sound conduit of a hearing device, the method comprising:
providing the cerumen filter plug, wherein the cerumen filter plug comprises a ring structure encircling a cerumen filter disposed between the ring structure and a hub and a holding mechanism including a protrusion extending from the hub along a longitudinal axis of the ring structure; and
using a manipulation tool to engage with the holding mechanism and position the cerumen filter plug in the sound conduit,
wherein in use the protrusion of the holding mechanism is configured to extend along a longitudinal axis of the sound conduit towards a sound opening of the sound conduit.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the sound conduit comprises a receiver output port and the sound opening and the cerumen filter plug is positioned in the sound conduit such the ring structure is closer to the receiver output port than the sound opening.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein positioning the cerumen filter plug in the sound conduit comprises at least one of: inserting the cerumen filter plug in the sound conduit and removing the cerumen filter plug from the sound conduit.

Assignees

• Sonova Ag

Inventors

• Dittli Erich
• Bosshard Christoph
• Ruefenacht Marius
• Muller Joseph
• Ochsenbein Andre
• Meier George
• Muller Andreas
• Karamuk Erdal
• Muller Markus

Classifications

• H04R25/654 Primary

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