Headphone and acoustic characteristic adjusting method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016192065-A1
Application number	US-201414911494-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 2, 2014
Priority date	Aug 12, 2013
Publication date	Jun 30, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

[Object] To make it possible to improve an acoustic characteristic.
[Solution] There is provided a headphone including a driver unit that includes a diaphragm, a housing that accommodates the driver unit, and forms a sealed-type front-face air chamber spatially blocked from an outside except for an opening for sound output on a front face side provided with the diaphragm of the driver unit, and an acoustic tube whose end is directly connected to a first ventilation hole provided in a frame of the driver unit, and that spatially connects a driver-unit rear-face air chamber formed between the frame and the diaphragm with the outside of the driver unit via a tube.

First claim

1 . A headphone comprising:
a driver unit that includes a diaphragm; a housing that accommodates the driver unit, and forms a sealed-type front-face air chamber spatially blocked from an outside except for an opening for sound output on a front face side provided with the diaphragm of the driver unit; and an acoustic tube whose end is directly connected to a first ventilation hole provided in a frame of the driver unit, and that spatially connects a driver-unit rear-face air chamber formed between the frame and the diaphragm with the outside of the driver unit via a tube.

2 . The headphone according to claim 1 ,
wherein, in an acoustic equivalent circuit of the headphone, a parallel resonance generating anti-resonance at a predetermined resonance frequency is formed by an acoustic capacitor corresponding to a capacitance component of the driver-unit rear-face air chamber, and an acoustic inductance corresponding to an inductance component of the acoustic tube.

3 . The headphone according to claim 2 ,
wherein the resonance frequency is determined at least based on a value of the acoustic inductance and a value of the acoustic capacitor.

4 . The headphone according to claim 3 ,
wherein, in the frame of the driver unit, a second ventilation hole spatially connecting the driver-unit rear-face air chamber with the outside of the driver unit is provided at a position different from a position of the first ventilation hole, wherein, in the second ventilation hole, a ventilation resistance body acting as resistance in the acoustic equivalent circuit of the headphone is provided, and wherein a sound pressure level of the headphone in a predetermined frequency band is determined at least based on a value of an acoustic resistor corresponding to a resistance component of the ventilation resistance body in the acoustic equivalent circuit.

5 . The headphone according to claim 4 ,
wherein the sound pressure level of the headphone in the predetermined frequency band is determined at least based on the value of the acoustic capacitor corresponding to the capacitance component of the driver-unit rear-face air chamber, the value of the acoustic inductance corresponding to the inductance component of the acoustic tube in the acoustic equivalent circuit, and the value of the acoustic resistor.

6 . The headphone according to claim 3 ,
wherein the value of the acoustic inductance is determined according to a length and an inner cross-sectional area of the acoustic tube, and wherein the length and the inner cross-sectional area of the acoustic tube is set in a manner that the resonance frequency is a value between 200 (Hz) to 400 (Hz).

7 . The headphone according to claim 6 ,
wherein, in the acoustic tube, a ratio of the length to the inner cross-sectional area is 76 (1/mmm) to 1124 (1/mm).

8 . The headphone according to claim 1 ,
wherein the acoustic tube includes a tubular member formed of a material having flexibility.

9 . The headphone according to claim 8 ,
wherein the frame of the driver unit has a disk shape, and wherein the tubular material is arranged along a circumference direction of the disk shape.

10 . The headphone according to claim 1 ,
wherein the acoustic tube is formed by arranging a rod-like member whose face has a groove formed toward a longitudinal direction in a manner that the face on which the groove is formed is closely fitted to one face on a rear face side opposite to the front face side of the frame of the driver unit, and at least one part of the groove is in contact with the first ventilation hole.

11 . The headphone according to claim 10 ,
wherein the frame of the driver unit has a disk shape, and wherein the rod-like member is curved in an arch shape to have curvature equal to or less than a circumference of the disk-like shape, and arranged along a circumference direction of the disk-like shape.

12 . The headphone according to claim 1 ,
wherein the driver unit is a dynamic driver unit.

13 . The headphone according to claim 12 ,
wherein a balanced armature driver unit is further accommodated within the housing.

14 . The headphone according to claim 1 ,
wherein the acoustic tube spatially connects the driver-unit rear-face air chamber with the outside of the housing via the tube.

15 . The headphone according to claim 14 ,
wherein a rear-face air chamber as a space surrounded by the housing and the driver unit is formed on a rear face side opposite to the front face side of the driver unit, wherein an opening spatially connecting the rear-face air chamber with the outside of the housing is provided in the housing, and wherein the other end of the acoustic tube is provided within the rear-face air chamber.

16 . The headphone according to claim 14 ,
wherein the other end of the acoustic tube is provided in the outside of the housing.

17 . The headphone according to claim 1 ,
wherein a sound guiding tube as a tubular part projecting toward the outside is formed in one part of a region constituting the front-face air chamber of the housing, wherein the opening for sound output is provided in a tip end part of the sound guiding tube, and wherein the headphone is a canal-type earphone in which the tip end part of the sound guiding tube is inserted into an external auditory canal of a user.

18 . The headphone according to claim 1 ,
wherein the headphone includes a pair of the housings that accommodate the driver unit, wherein the pair of the housings are coupled with each other by a support member curved in an arch shape, and wherein the headphone is an overhead-type headphone worn on a head of a user with the support member in a manner that the opening for sound output of the housing faces an ear of the user.

19 . An acoustic characteristic adjusting method comprising:
accommodating a driver unit that includes a diaphragm within a hosing, and forming a sealed-type front-face air chamber spatially blocked from an outside except for an opening for sound output, between the housing and a front face side provided with the diaphragm of the driver unit; and providing an acoustic tube whose end is directly connected to a first ventilation hole provided in a frame of the driver unit, and that spatially connects a driver-unit rear-face air chamber formed between the frame and the diaphragm with the outside of the driver unit via a tube.

Assignees

• Sony Corp

Inventors

• Oosato Yuusuke
• Suzuki Takahiro

Classifications

• H04R11/02

  Loudspeakers · 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

• H04R1/2819

  for loudspeaker transducers · CPC title

• H04R1/2857

  for loudspeaker transducers · CPC title

• H04R1/1008

  Earpieces of the supra-aural or circum-aural type · CPC title