Sub-surface indicator lighting

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11388530-B2
Application number	US-201916973247-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 16, 2019
Priority date	Jul 19, 2018
Publication date	Jul 12, 2022
Grant date	Jul 12, 2022

Abstract

Presented herein are devices/apparatuses having indicator lights (visual indicators), such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), positioned underneath/below the outer surface of a housing of the device. However, the indicator lights positioned below the outer surface of the housing, sometimes referred to herein as “sub-surface” or “sub-housing” indicator lights, are optically coupled to the outer surface of the housing via one or more optical connectors (e.g., light guides, light pipes, light diffusers, etc.). As such, the light emitted by the sub-surface indicator lights is still visible at the outer surface of the device housing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus, comprising:
a housing including at least one acoustic port;
a microphone positioned within the housing in alignment with the acoustic port;
at least one optical connector positioned within the acoustic port; and
at least one indicator light that is separate from the microphone and positioned within the housing, wherein the at least one indicator light is optically coupled to the acoustic port via the optical connector such that light emitted from the at least one indicator light is visible outside of the housing via the acoustic port.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one optical connector is a microphone gasket configured to mount the microphone to the housing and to create an acoustic seal between the microphone and the housing.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the microphone gasket is formed from a substantially flexible material and is configured to mechanically isolate the microphone from vibrations delivered to the housing.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the microphone gasket is formed from a substantially flexible material and includes one or more translucent rigid members extending there through to transport light emitted by the at least one indicator light to the acoustic port.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one optical connector comprises a microphone membrane configured to be attached to an outer surface of the housing.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the at least one optical connector comprises the microphone membrane and a second optical connector optically coupling the at least one indicator light to the microphone membrane.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one optical connector further comprises an optical housing insert disposed in the acoustic port, wherein the optical housing insert includes a cavity to retain a microphone protector therein.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the microphone is a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) microphone electrically mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB) within the housing, and wherein the at least one indicator light is also electrically mounted on the PCB.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the MEMS microphone is mounted on a first surface of the PCB and the at least one indicator light is mounted on a second surface of the PCB, wherein
the first surface of the PCB and the second surface of the PCB are on opposing sides of the PCB.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the least one indicator light comprises one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs).

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the one or more light LEDs comprise at least one multi-color LED.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is an external component of an auditory prosthesis and the housing is shaped as a behind-the-ear (BTE) unit configured to be worn on the ear of a recipient of the auditory prosthesis.

13. An apparatus, comprising:
a housing comprising at least one acoustic port, an outer surface, and an inner surface;
a printed circuit board (PCB) positioned within the housing adjacent to the acoustic port;
a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) microphone mounted on the PCB in-line with the acoustic port;
at least one indicator light that is separate from the MEMS microphone and mounted on the PCB below the inner surface of the housing; and
at least one optical connector optically coupling the at least one indicator light to the outer surface of the housing.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the at least one indicator light is mounted on the PCB proximate to the acoustic port and is optically coupled to the acoustic port via the optical connector such that light emitted from the at least one indicator light is visible at the outer surface of the housing via the acoustic port.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the at least one optical connector is a microphone gasket configured to mount the MEMS microphone to the housing and to create an acoustic seal between the MEMS microphone and the housing.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the microphone gasket is formed from a substantially flexible material and is configured to mechanically isolate the MEMS microphone from vibrations delivered to the housing.

17. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the at least one optical connector comprises a microphone membrane configured to be attached to the outer surface of the housing.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the at least one optical connector comprises the microphone membrane and a second optical connector optically coupling the at least one indicator light to the microphone membrane.

19. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the at least one optical connector further comprises an optical housing insert disposed in the acoustic port, wherein the optical housing insert includes a cavity to retain a microphone protector therein.

20. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the at least optical connector optically couples the at least one indicator light to the outer surface of the housing via an optical port that is separate from the acoustic port.

Assignees

• Cochlear Ltd

Inventors

• Isaacson Nathan
• Frieding Jan Patrick

Classifications

• F21Y2115/10

  Light-emitting diodes [LED] · CPC title

• H04R19/04

  Microphones (H04R19/01 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A61N1/02

  Details · CPC title

• A61N1/025

  Digital circuitry features of electrotherapy devices, e.g. memory, clocks, processors · CPC title

• A61N1/375

  Constructional arrangements, e.g. casings · CPC title