Earpiece positioning and retaining
A positioning and retaining structure for an in-ear earpiece. An outer leg and an inner leg are attached to each other at an attachment end and attached to a body of the earpiece at the other end. The outer leg lies in a plane. The positioning and retaining structure have a stiffness that is greater when force is applied to the attachment end in a counterclockwise direction in the plane of the outer leg than when force is applied to the attachment end in a clockwise direction in the plane of the outer leg. The positioning and retaining structure position an earpiece associated with the earpiece in a users ear and retains the earpiece in its position.
1. An earphone comprising:
an acoustic driver that converts applied audio signals to acoustic energy;
a housing containing the acoustic driver, the housing including a front chamber acoustically coupled to the acoustic driver, wherein the housing includes a nozzle that extends the front chamber towards the ear canal of a user when the earphone is worn; and
an ear interface comprising:
a body portion that occupies substantially the entire lower concha of a user's ear when worn by the user,
an outlet extending from the body portion and into at least the entrance of the user's ear canal when worn by the user, wherein the outlet at least partially surrounds the nozzle of the housing and provides a passageway for conducting acoustic energy to the user's ear canal, and
a leg extending from the body portion, wherein the leg is formed of a compliant material and applies an outward pressure to the antihelix of the user's ear along substantially the entire length of the leg when the ear interface is worn by the user.
2. The earphone of claim 1 wherein the acoustic driver includes a diaphragm that moves along a first axis, and the nozzle extends towards the ear canal along a second axis that is not parallel to the first axis.
3. The earphone of claim 1 wherein the leg is a first leg, and the ear interface further comprises a second leg extending from the body portion and supporting the first leg at a point distant from the body.
4. The earphone of claim 1 wherein the leg lies in a plane when not worn by the user.
5. The earphone of claim 4 wherein the plane in which the leg lies is tilted relative to a plane through the center of the body, such that the leg is tilted outward from the side of the user's head when worn.
6. The earphone of claim 4 wherein the leg is generally curved in the plane, and has a greater stiffness in directions tending to straighten the leg than in directions tending to increase the curvature.
7. The earphone of claim 1 wherein the leg has an oblong shape in cross-section, with the dimension parallel to the contact surface of the antihelix being greater than the dimension normal to the contact surface of the antihelix.
8. The earphone of claim 1 wherein the leg has an oblong shape in cross-section, with the dimension parallel to the contact surface of the antihelix being greater than the dimension normal to the contact surface of the antihelix.
9. An earphone comprising:
an acoustic driver that converts applied audio signals to acoustic energy by moving a diaphragm along a first axis;
a housing containing the acoustic driver, the housing including a front chamber acoustically coupled to the acoustic driver and a nozzle acoustically coupled to the front chamber, wherein nozzle extends the front chamber towards the user's ear canal along a second axis that is not parallel to the first axis; and
an ear interface comprising:
a body portion that occupies the lower concha of a user's ear when worn by the user,
an outlet extending from the body and into at least the entrance of the user's ear canal when worn by the user,wherein the outlet at least partially surrounds the nozzle of the housing, and
a leg formed of a compliant material, wherein the leg applies an outward pressure to the antihelix of the user's ear along at least a portion of a length of the leg when the ear interface is worn by the user.
10. The earphone of claim 9 wherein the leg extends from the body portion of the ear interface.
11. The earphone of claim 10 wherein the leg terminates at an extremity that seats at the end of the anti-helix under the base of the helix of the user's ear.
12. The earphone of claim 11 wherein the leg lies in a plane when not worn by the user, and the plane is tilted relative to a plane through the center of the body, such that the leg is tilted outward from the side of the user's head when worn.
13. The earphone of claim 9 wherein the nozzle is positioned at an edge of the acoustic driver.
14. The earphone of claim 9 wherein the driver is circular, the housing conforms to the outer circumference of the driver, and the housing has an outer diameter in a plane containing the driver that is greater than 11 mm.
15. The earphone of claim 9 wherein the leg is a first leg, and the ear interface further comprises a second leg extending from the body portion and supporting the first leg at a point distant from the body.
16. The earphone of claim 9 wherein the ear interface is removable from the earphone.
17. An earphone comprising:
an acoustic driver that converts applied audio signals to acoustic energy by moving a diaphragm along a first axis;
a housing containing the acoustic driver; and
a removable ear interface comprising:
a body portion that fits beneath the tragus and anti-tragus and occupies the lower concha of a user's ear when worn by the user,
an outlet extending from the body portion and into at least the entrance of the user's ear canal when worn by the user, wherein the outlet extends towards the user's ear canal along a second axis that is not parallel to the first axis, and
a leg extending from the body portion and terminating at an extremity, wherein the leg is formed of a complaint material and applies an outward pressure to the antihelix of the user's ear along substantially the entire length of the leg when the ear interface is fit into the user's ear, and the extremity of the leg seats at the end of the anti-helix under the base of the helix of the user's ear.
18. The earphone of claim 17 wherein the driver is circular, the housing conforms to the outer circumference of the driver, and the housing has an outer diameter in a plane containing the driver that is greater than 11 mm.
19. The earphone of claim 17 wherein the leg is generally curved in a plane, and has a greater stiffness in directions in the plane than in directions perpendicular to the plane.
20. The earphone of claim 17 wherein the leg is generally curved in a plane, and has a greater stiffness in directions tending to straighten the leg than in directions tending to increase the curvature.
21. The earphone of claim 17 wherein the leg has an oblong shape in cross-section, with the dimension parallel to the contact surface of the antihelix being greater than the dimension normal to the contact surface of the antihelix.
22. The earphone of claim 17 wherein the leg is a first leg, and the ear interface further comprises a second leg extending from the body portion and supporting the first leg at a point distant from the body.
23. The earphone of claim 17 wherein the ear interface is removable from the earphone.
24. An earphone comprising:
an acoustic driver having a sound-radiating surface;
a housing containing the acoustic driver; and
a removable ear interface comprising:
a body portion that fits beneath the tragus and anti-tragus and occupies the lower concha of a user's ear when worn by the user,
an outlet extending from the body portion and into at least the entrance of the user's ear canal when worn by the user, and
a leg extending from the body portion and terminating at an extremity, wherein the leg is formed of a complaint material and applies an outward pressure to the antihelix of the user's ear along substantially the entire length of the leg when the ear interface is fit into the user's ear, and the extremity of the leg seats at the end of the anti-helix under the base of the helix of the user's ear.
25. The earphone of claim 24 wherein:
the sound radiating surface moves along a first axis;
the housing includes a front chamber acoustically coupled to the acoustic driver and a nozzle acoustically coupled to the front chamber, the nozzle extending the front chamber towards the user's ear canal along a second axis that is not parallel to the first axis; and
the outlet of the ear interface at least partially surrounds the nozzle of the housing.
26. The earphone of claim 24 wherein the leg lies in a plane when not worn by the user.
27. The earphone of claim 26 wherein the plane in which the leg lies is tilted relative to a plane through the center of the body, such that the leg is tilted outward from the side of the user's head when worn.
28. The earphone of claim 26 wherein the leg is generally curved in the plane, and has a greater stiffness in directions tending to straighten the leg than in directions tending to increase the curvature.
29. The earphone of claim 24 wherein the leg has an oblong shape in cross-section, with the dimension parallel to the contact surface of the antihelix being greater than the dimension normal to the contact surface of the antihelix.
30. The earphone of claim 24 wherein the leg is a first leg, and the ear interface further comprises a second leg extending from the body portion and supporting the first leg at a point distant from the body.