Assembly for hearing aid

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12108221-B2
Application number	US-202318236763-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 22, 2023
Priority date	Dec 29, 2016
Publication date	Oct 1, 2024
Grant date	Oct 1, 2024

Abstract

An assembly for a hearing aid is disclosed. The hearing aid with the assembly includes an in the ear part and a behind the ear part and a part mechanically interconnecting the two parts. In the interconnection, a flexible substrate is arranged. The flexible substrate includes conductive paths. The conductive paths may be used for communication between the in the ear part and the behind the ear part, and/or for an antenna function.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A hearing aid comprising:
a behind-the-ear housing configured to be positioned at or behind an ear of a user, wherein the behind-the-ear housing comprises an input transducer and an internal antenna fully arranged within the behind-the-ear housing, wherein electrical components are configured to define an antenna length of the antenna;
an in-the-ear housing configured to be positioned at or at least partly in an ear canal of the ear, wherein the in-the-ear housing comprises an output transducer; and
a connector comprising a flexible body extending between the behind-the-ear housing and the in-the-ear housing and configured to electrically connect the behind-the-ear housing with the in-the-ear housing, and further comprising a flexible substrate having a plurality of electrical connections;
wherein the flexible substrate comprises a first side and a second side opposite the first side, wherein at least a first portion of the plurality of electrical connections are formed at the first side of the flexible substrate and at least a second portion of the plurality electrical connections are formed on the second side of the flexible substrate,
wherein the behind-the-ear housing comprises an interface having a plurality of pins or sockets configured to interface with a corresponding plurality of sockets or pins of the connector.

2. The hearing aid according to claim 1 , wherein the flexible body surrounds the flexible substrate so as to form a protective member along the length of the flexible substrate.

3. The hearing aid according to claim 1 , wherein the behind-the-ear housing further comprises a wireless interface coupled to the flexible substrate.

4. The hearing aid according to claim 1 , wherein the flexible substrate has a rectangular cross section, and/or wherein the flexible substrate is a multi-layer flexible circuit board where at least part of the plurality of transmission paths are formed on respective opposite sides of the flexible substrate.

5. The hearing aid according to claim 1 , wherein the connector includes a tab connector, the hearing aid further comprising an adaptor having a first end configured to interface with the plurality of pins or sockets and a second end configured to interface with the tab connector.

6. The hearing aid according to claim 1 , wherein the internal antenna fully arranged in the behind-the-ear housing is an internal parasitic antenna element, the internal parasitic antenna element being tuned to the operation frequency of the hearing aid.

7. The hearing aid according to claim 6 , wherein the connector comprises an external antenna.

8. The hearing aid according to claim 7 , further comprising an electronic component arranged at a position between ends of the flexible substrate, the electronic component isolating the external antenna so as to define antenna length in connection with the external antenna.

9. The hearing aid according to claim 8 , wherein the electrical component is an antenna trap configured so that an operational frequency of the external antenna is a carrier frequency of around 2.4 GHz.

10. The hearing aid according to claim 7 , wherein the hearing aid further comprises a feeding unit configured to supply current to the internal parasitic antenna element and the external antenna part.

11. The hearing aid according to claim 1 , wherein the in-the-ear housing includes one or more sensors selected from the group including sensors for sensing temperature, pressure, EEG, accelerometers, gyro sensors or other direction/inclination/orientation sensors.

12. The hearing aid according to claim 1 , wherein the in-the-ear housing includes a memory device and/or a processor and/or a filter device.

13. The hearing aid according to claim 1 , wherein the in-the-ear housing includes a first input transducer, and the hearing aid further comprises a processor in the behind-the-ear housing and/or in the in-the-ear housing, configured to process the output from the first input transducer.

14. The hearing aid according to claim 13 , wherein the in-the-ear housing further comprises a second input transducer, and the processor is further configured to process audio signals based on output from both the first input transducer and the second input transducer.

15. The hearing aid according to claim 1 , further comprising a processor, in the behind-the-ear part and/or in the in-the-ear part, configured to process the output from the input transducer so as to compensate for a hearing loss of the user.

16. A hearing aid comprising:
a behind-the-ear housing configured to be positioned at or behind an ear of a user, wherein the behind-the-ear housing comprises an input transducer,
an antenna fully enclosed by the behind-the-ear housing, wherein electrical components are configured to define an antenna length of the antenna,
a wireless interface arranged in the behind-the-ear housing and configured to receive and/or transmit data using the antenna,
an in-the-ear housing configured to be positioned at or at least partly in an ear canal of the ear, wherein the in-the-ear housing comprises an output transducer;
a connector comprising a flexible body extending between the behind-the-ear housing and the in-the-ear housing and configured to electrically connect the behind-the-ear housing with the in-the-ear housing;
wherein the flexible body comprises multiple electrical wires, and
wherein the behind-the-ear housing comprises an interface having a plurality of pins or sockets configured to interface with a corresponding plurality of sockets or pins of the connector.

17. The hearing aid according to claim 16 , wherein the connector comprises a plug housing and wherein a memory unit is arranged in the plug housing.

18. The hearing aid according to claim 16 , wherein a memory unit is arranged in the in-the-ear-housing.

19. The hearing aid according to claim 16 , wherein the electrical components form an antenna trap so that the antenna has two operational frequencies.

Assignees

• Oticon As

Inventors

• Møller Kenneth Rueskov
• Troelsen Jens
• Sø Rune
• Sundberg Oliver
• Danielsen Finn
• Johansen Jesper B
• Sager Mads
• Petersen Svend Oscar
• Jakobsen Bent

Classifications

• H04R2225/51

  Aspects of antennas or their circuitry in or for hearing aids · CPC title

• H04R2225/025

  In the ear hearing aids [ITE] hearing aids · CPC title

• H04R25/65

  Housing parts, e.g. shells, tips or moulds, or their manufacture · CPC title

• H04R25/554 Primary

  using a wireless connection, e.g. between microphone and amplifier or using Tcoils · CPC title

• H04R25/505

  using digital signal processing · CPC title