Spectacle hearing aid

Sept. 5, 1961

2,999,136

N. H. HOLT ET AL

SPECTACLE HEARING AID

<img file="US2999136A_D0001.tif" />

<img file="US2999136A_D0002.tif" />

FIt w

Sept. 5, 1961

N. H. HOLT ET AL

2,999,136

SPECTACLE HEARING AID

Filed Jan. 6, 1956

Sheets-Sheet 2

<img file="US2999136A_D0003.tif" />

Norman H. Holtt by Roger E. Erickson

XlT—raf^/NE -rts·

Sept. 5, 1961

2,999,136

N. H. HOLT ETAL

SPECTACLE HEARING AID

Filed Jan. 6, 1956

Sheets-Sheet 3

<img file="US2999136A_D0004.tif" />

2,999,136

Patented Sept. 5, 1961

United States Patent Office

2,999,136

SPECTACLE HEARING AID

Norman H. Holt and Roger E. Erickson, St. Paul, Minn., assignors to Telex, Inc., St. Paul, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota

Filed Jan. 6, 1956, Ser. No. 557,717

Claims. (CI. 179—107)

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in hearing aids of a type particularly adapted for utilization by persons wearing spectacles or eyeglasses and. in which a portion of the spectacle frame is used for supporting 'the hearing aid.

While various attempts have been made to provide hearing aids supported by and contained in spectacles, these attempts have largely been unsatisfactory since they have required extensive modification of existing spectacles or have required spectacles particularly built to support such hearing aids, are cumbersome, clumsy and inefficient, do not unobtrusively support the hearing aid and are not readily utilizable devices.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a hearing aid structure which may readily be used with existing conventional spectacles (eyeglasses) and requiring very little modification thereof;

It is further an object of this invention to provide a hearing aid structure which may readily be secured to either or both of the bow pieces of spectacles and which will be unobtrusive to external attention;

It is still a further object of this invention to provide a complete hearing aid structure adapted for use with conventional spectacles, the hearing aid structure provided in a single self-contained package adaptable for mounting on one of the bows of the spectacles;

It is a further object of this invention to provide in a hearing aid a new and useful battery supporting structure, interchangeable chassis and novel unitary hearing aid structure primarily for use to be supported by spectacles;

Still a further object of this invention is to provide in a spectacle bow, a hearing aid;

A further object is to provide an interchangeable hearing aid chassis which may be inserted in either a “left” or “right” housing;

A further object of this invention is to provide in a pair of spectacles a plurality of hearing aid structures, one for each ear, and means whereby the volume of each hearing aid may be individually adjusted;

Another object of this invention is to provide new and useful hearing aid structure adapted to be mounted upon and supported by a spectacle bow providing increased sensitivity, reproduction and eliminating acoustical feedback.

The foregoing are some of the major, but by no means all of the objects of this invention, and other and further objects are inherent and will become apparent as the apparatus is described, pictured and claimed.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, this invention then comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these being indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed.

This invention will be described with reference to the figures of the attached drawings, in which corresponding numerals refer to the same parts and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the instant invention, showing a hearing aid supported from a left ear spectacle bow, and in position upon a human head;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of a pair of the spectacles of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an elevational view of the spectacles of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of spectacles, similar to FIGURE 2, but showing a binural hearing system provided by two hearing aids, one for each ear, and supported upon the spectacle bows;

FIGURE 5 is a view of a modified hearing aid of the 10 instant invention positioned upon a human head and supported from the ear instead of by the spectacle bow;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged elevational view of the hearing aid of FIGURE 1 for use on the left ear, and showing in phantom view the modification used to provide 15 a similar hearing aid for use on the right ear;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged bottom plan view, partially broken away, of the hearing aid of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged view of the interchangeable chassis or circuit supporting structure removed from the 20 hearing aid housing;

FIGURE 9 is an elevational view of the battery box or slide of the instant invention;

FIGURE 9A is a view taken along the line and in the direction of the arrows 9A—9A of FIGURE 9;

FIGURE 10 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line and in the direction of the arrows 10—10 of FIGURE 7, but with the chassis removed;

FIGURE 11 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view of the hearing aid of FIGURES 6 and 7; and 30 FIGURE 12 is a similar view showing a modified form of receiver connection.

Reference now to the drawings and specifically reference to FIGURES 1 and 2 shows spectacles or eyeglasses 10 of conventional construction and comprising lenses 35 11, and a supporting front or bridge 12 to which is pivoted at the ends a pair of temples or bows 13 and 14. Bow 13 is a right ear bow, and bow 14 is a left ear bow. Except for modification as later explained the spectacles are conventional, the ends 15 of the bow as 40 shown by end 15 for bow 13, curling downwardly behind the ear of the wearer and slightly inwardly to conform to the contour of the head for securely retaining the spectacles thereon.

According to this invention, as will be appreciated with 45 reference to FIGURES 1-4, either one of the bows or temples 13 or 14 may be severed at a point indicated by severance line 16 for bow 13, the curved portion 15 removed and the hearing aid structure secured thereto. Bow 14 is shown so severed and the hearing aid structure 50 20 secured thereto. The hearing aid structure 20 is provided with an integral forward hollow tubular extension 22, to receive the bow shaft of bow 14 which shaft is cemented therein to provide the unitary structure of FIGURES 1, 2 and 3. (The shaft of bow 14 may likewise 55 be clamped in extension 22 or friction fitted, as desired.) If desired the aid '20 may be used on bow 14 and a corresponding aid 20A having a reversed housing may be used for bow 13 or aid 20A may be used for bow 13 alone. . In other words, a conventional spectacle frame is modi60 fled by removal of one or both of the downwardly curved portions 15 of the temples or bows and the end of the bow shaft then inserted in a hollow extension of the hearing aid and cemented thereto to carry the hearing aid, the hearing aid assuming the position normally occupied by 65 the downwardly and inwardly curved bow portion to provide the complete unique spectacle hearing aid structure.

While it is stated that a conventional spectacle frame is “modified,” there is no intention to limit our invention to the talcing of an existing pair of spectacles and so modi⁷θ fying them, but the term “modified” is used to refer to the difference between the spectacles of this invention

2.999,136 and a conventional pair of spectacles, i.e., the conventional spectacles are used as a frame of reference.

Since hearing aids 20 and 20A are substantially identical, the description will proceed with reference to aid 20, it being understood that hearing aid 28A is merely provided with a reversed housing and the difference in housings will be explained.

With reference to FIGURES 6 and 7, the aid 20 comprises a housing 21—22 having an enlarged substantially rectangular component containing portion or body 21 and a tubular extension 22 of reduced cross-section, and extending at an angle with reference to body 21. Tubular extension 22 is provided with a well 23 extending as shown therein in FIGURE 6 to receive the shaft of the spectacle bow when the aid is in the position of FIGURE 1. The component containing portion or body 21 is unitary with extension 22 and tapers smoothly thereinto as will be apparent from FIGURES 6 and 7, to provide a pleasing appearance. Likewise, the exterior surface 24 of body 21 forms a sort of raised plateau tapering downwardly and outwardly at the side walls 25, at end wall 26 to the back 27 of the body, and at end wall 23 to the extension 22.

As will be seen by reference to FIGURE 11, the extension 22 is positioned at the back 27 of the hearing aid and at an angle with reference to the body 21 in two directions so that body 21 when in use will extend downwardly witii reference to the bow 14 as shown in FIGURE 1 and also inwardly with reference thereto as shown in FIGURE 2.

The front surface of the body 21 is provided with a first circular aperture 30 through which is exposed a grille 31 for the hearing aid microphone as later explained and a second aperture 32 in which is positioned a resilient washer or grommet 33 for the ear tube cap as likewise later explained.

The end 26 of the hearing aid is provided with a slot 34 extending substantially from side to side thereof as shown in FIGURE 8 for the reception of a volume control lever 35.

The back 27 of the hearing aid comprises a removable plate secured in position by a screw 36 and having a depressed tongue 37 engaging an edge of the slot 34 as shown in FIGURE 11 for retention in place. The cover 27 is mounted flush with the edges of walls 25 and 26 and with the bottom of extension 22 where it joins body 21. In use, the back cover 27 rests against the head of the user as shown in FIGURES 1-4.

The foregoing has described the housing 21—22 of hearing aid 20 for use with reference to the left temple or bow 14.

The housing 21A—22A for hearing aid 20A used for the right temple or bow 13 is substantially similar to the housing 21 for hearing aid 20 used for the left temple or bow 14. As shown for the hearing aid 20 in use on the left bow 14, the back 27 is adjacent the head, the tubular extension 22 positioned substantially horizontal and the body 21 extends downwardly and inwardly therefrom. Likewise, the hearing aid 20A is positioned on bow 13 so that the tubular extension 22A is substantially horizontal and the body 21A positioned so that the back plate 27 is adjacent the head. For the back plate 27 to be directed inwardly in both instances the tubular extension 22A corresponding to the extension 22 must join the body 21A for hearing aid 20A in opposite direction of the direction of joining of extension 22 to body 21 of hearing aid 20. This is adequately illustrated in FIGURES 4 and 6 of the drawings, FIGURE 6 shows the tubular extension 22 for hearing aid 20 extending in one direction and (in phantom view) tubular extension 22A for hearing aid 20A extending in the opposite direction. As will be apparent with reference to FIGURES 4 and 6, the battery box 40 is usually positioned in top wall 25 but will work equally well if positioned in the bottom wall 25 and may be so used as desired.

The box, drawer or slide 40 is of the configuration shown best in FIGURES 9 and 10 and when in position in the housing 21 or 21A protrudes slightly as shown in FIGURES 6 and 7. The protruding end 41 of the box is provided a pair of offset triangular depressions 5 providing a finger ridge 43 so that the drawer 40 may be readily grasped and inserted or removed from the housing. The drawer is provided with a circular aperture 44 having a lip 45 for retaining a pill-shaped battery. When the drawer is in the position of FIGURE 7 the battery is 10 retained between the lip 45 and the spring finger 65, one contact communicating with spring finger 65 and the other communicating with the contact 66 on plate 51. The drawer 40 is trapizoidal in cross-section as shown in FIGURE 9A and cooperates with the corresponding con15 figuration of the aperture in the body 21 or 21A.

The interchangeable chassis unit 50 supporting the hearing aid circuitry is best illustrated with reference to FIGURES 8 and 11. The chassis comprises a center supporting plate 51 having various apertures, printed 20 circuitry and circuit components thereon. A standard four stage coupled transistor circuit is used, provided with variable volume control. The particular circuitry forms no part of this invention per se and will not be described in detail. However, it comprises a number of transistors 25 T, condensers Cl—C5, resistors Rl—R6, microphone assembly 53 and a receiver assembly 54. The volume control 35 is conventional in that one limit position gives minimum volume, the other limit position gives maximum volume, and the intermediate positions allow selec30 tive control of the volume of the circuitry.

The microphone assembly 53 is supported from the plate 51 and positioned so that the aperture 30 directs external sound into the face of the microphone.

It is provided with a face grille 31 and a concentric 35 resilient washer 29 circumscribing the face grille, which washer 29 seats against the underside of wall 24 to minimize the volume of the air cavity leading to the microphone diaphragm and hence to avoid resonance.

The receiver assembly 54 is provided with a shock 40 mounting comprising two resilient coverings 54A and 54B, covering 54A providing a rubber dish for receiving the bottom of the cylindrical receiver assembly and through which the connections penetrate and cover 54A cooperating therewith and provided with the integral grommet or washer 33 which penetrates the aperture 32 and serves to seal the receiver assembly 54 to the aperture and to the body 21.

The cap 56 of the external sound tube 57 has an outside diameter such as to provide frictional engagement 50 with the inside diameter of the grommet or washer 33 and to slip over the hollow extension 58 of the receiver.

There is thus provided an internal receiver assembly 54 leading to a tubular conduit 57 for piping sound to the hearing aid ear piece or ear cushion 59, the washer 55 or grommet 33 in cooperation with cap 56, serving to provide an acoustic seal to prevent leakage of sound from the receiver assembly 54 from going back into the microphone assembly 53 and causing acoustic feedback. Housing 54A—54B provides a good shock mount to pregQ vent mechanical vibrations from receiver assembly 54 from coupling back to the circuit plate or chassis 51 and microphone assembly 53. Thus, no effort is made to shock mount the microphone 53 itself, rather the receiver 54 is isolated by means of the shock mounts g5 54A—54B and the acoustic seal provided by cap 56 and grommet 33 in order to prevent feedback.

In the modified form shown in FIGURE 12, the internal receiver assembly 54 is replaced by a pin-jack receptacle 60 in which the pins 61 of jack 62 are in70 serted, the ear piece 59A in this instance constituting an external receiver connected to the circuitry by the jack 62 and lead 57A.

As shown in FIGURE 11 the chassis unit 50 is held in position in the container 20 by a screw 63, in this in75 stance threaded into a plug embedded in the synthetic

2,099,136 resinous material of the container 20. The screw 63 also serves to anchor one end of the resilient battery mount 64 the other end of which is fixedly anchored to the plate 51. The mount 64 comprises a central spring finger 65 having an outwardly turned end and slightly β depressed so as to resiliently engage any battery carried by the battery box 40. As will be seen by reference to FIGURES 8, 9 and 10, when the battery box is in position, the resilient finger 65 will securely engage one of the terminals, the other terminal being engaged by the 10 contact 66 on plate 51.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a spectacle hearing aid, in which the hearing aid component is supported upon either one or both of the bows 13 and 14 of the spectacles by clipping off the downwardly turned 15 portion 15 of one of the bows and cementing the bow shaft in the tubular socket extension of the hearing aid. There is thus provided a complete hearing aid on one bow (or on two bows if two hearing aids are used) all contained in one package and following the normal slope 20 of the terminal end of a bow to be unobtrusively positioned behind the ear of the wearer.

In the event that two hearing aid units are used, there is provided a binaural hearing effect in which the amplification of each can be individually adjusted to each 25 ear to provide optimum binural hearing.

The amplifier structure of the hearing aid is a symmetrical unit which can be inserted into either a “left” or “right” housing and the hearing aid receiver may be either of the external or internal type. Where the 30 hearing aid receiver is mounted on the chassis 50 together with the microphone assembly 53 as shown in FIGURE 11, it is shock mounted in the grommet 33 of plasticized polyvinyl chloride resin or rubber sealing it to the container 20 and preventing acoustic feedback. 35 Where an external receiver is used, the pin-jack connects it to the circuitry as shown in FIGURE 12. In either event the connector whether it be 57 or 57A may be readily separated from the housing for removal of the chassis 50. 40

The microphone assembly 53 is positioned at the bottom of the container 20 on its outwardly disposed surface to provide maximum pickup and such positioning has been found markedly superior to any other positioning. It is mounted so that it will press directly 45 against the underside of portion 24 of the container with the rubber wafer 29 therebetween to minimize, the volume of the air cavity leading to the microphone diaphragm and hence to avoid resonance. Any resonance in the sound channel or cavity will be at such high 50 frequency as not to be troublesome in the audio range being amplified.

In the modification shown in FIGURE 5, the aid 2GB is similar to aid 20A except that the lead 57 is cemented to the end of the tubular extension 22B, and, curling 55 around the ear, serves to retain the hearing aid in place. In this modification the aid may be utilized without the spectacle frame as desired.

It is apparent that many modifications and variations of this invention as hereinbefore set forth may be made 60 without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. The specific embodiments described are given by way of example only and the invention is limited only by the terms of the appended claims.