Ear-Worn Sensor Mount With Resilient Bias for Stable Tissue Contact
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Solution Overview
Problem
Ear-worn hearing devices with integrated sensors face challenges such as movement within the ear during physical activity, leading to suboptimal sensor positioning and increased costs due to the complexity and variety of ear-tips with integrated sensors, which are often replaced.
Innovation Solution
The integration of a resilient portion with a flex harness and sensors that bias toward ear tissue for optimal sensor performance, using a flexible cantilevered design and resilient lobes to maintain sensor contact, reducing the need for complex and varied ear-tips.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the sensor is integrated with a pliable ear-tip, then the sensor positioning accuracy is improved, but the device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The hearing device is divided into separate functional modules: a reusable main body containing electronics and a replaceable ear-tip containing the sensor. This segmentation allows the sensor to be integrated with the ear-tip for accurate positioning while keeping the complex electronic components separate, reducing overall device complexity and manufacturing cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The ear-tip is designed as a universal component that can be used with different hearing device models and accommodates various sensor types. This multi-functionality reduces the need for model-specific sensor integrations, simplifying manufacturing and reducing costs while maintaining accurate sensor positioning.
2Measurement precision
If the sensor is integrated with a pliable ear-tip, then the sensor positioning accuracy is improved, but the manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the hearing device into a reusable main body and a replaceable ear-tip with sensor, the manufacturing process is simplified. The ear-tip can be manufactured using cost-effective methods such as injection molding, while the sensor is pre-integrated during ear-tip assembly rather than requiring complex integration with the main device body.
Solution Approach 2:
The ear-tip with integrated sensor is designed as a replaceable, lower-cost component that can be manufactured more economically than the main device body. This allows the sensor to be integrated with a disposable or replaceable component rather than the expensive main device, reducing overall manufacturing costs while maintaining sensor positioning accuracy.
3Reliability
If ear-tips with integrated sensors are replaced when damaged or lost, then the sensor functionality is maintained, but the cost increases due to maintaining inventory and replacing components
Solution Approach 1:
The ear-tip with integrated sensor is designed as a universal component that fits multiple hearing device models. This universality reduces the number of different ear-tip variants that need to be inventoried, as a single design can serve multiple device models, thereby reducing inventory costs while maintaining sensor functionality across different devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The universal ear-tip design serves as a standardized template that can be replicated across different hearing device models. This copying approach reduces the need to maintain separate sensor-integrated ear-tip inventories for each device model, reducing inventory complexity and costs while ensuring sensor functionality is maintained across the product line.
Data Source
AI summary
An ear-worn hearing device is disclosed and includes a body portion with a sound-producing transducer acoustically coupled to a sound passage of a nozzle. a resilient portion protrudes from a side of the body portion and includes a physiological or activity sensor coupled to a flexible portion of a flex harness. The resilient portion at least partially covers a portion of the flex harness without impeding operation of the sensor, wherein the flexible portion and the sensor are flexible toward and away from the body portion upon depression and release of the resilient portion.