Earphone Internal Duct for Sealed Acoustic Tuning

Solution Overview

Problem

Earphones face issues with water or foreign substances entering the housing through exposed tuning grooves, leading to sound loss and discomfort due to pressure differences, and external noise interference.

Innovation Solution

An earphone design featuring a housing and cover with internal ducts that communicate through a tuning hole and duct, eliminating external holes and maintaining a sealed state to prevent water and noise ingress while allowing airflow adjustments.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If an exposed tuning groove is provided in the cover to change tone, then sound feature can be adjusted, but water or foreign substances can flow into the housing through the tuning groove

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetone adjustmentVSAvoidwater ingress

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the tuning function from the exposed external groove and relocates it to an internal duct structure. The tuning hole is positioned inside the housing rather than on the external surface, allowing tone adjustment while maintaining a sealed external cover that prevents water ingress.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces a sealed duct structure as an intermediary between the external environment and the internal housing. This duct with tuning hole allows acoustic function while the sealed connection prevents water and foreign substances from entering the housing.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Adaptability or versatility

If an exposed tuning groove is provided in the cover to change tone, then sound feature can be adjusted, but external noise causes a loss of sound of the earphone

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetone adjustmentVSAvoidsound loss

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSObject-generated harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the tuning function from the exposed external groove and relocates it to an internal duct structure. The tuning hole is positioned inside the housing rather than on the external surface, allowing tone adjustment while maintaining a sealed external cover that prevents water ingress.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces a sealed duct structure as an intermediary between the external environment and the internal housing. This duct with tuning hole allows acoustic function while the sealed connection prevents water and foreign substances from entering the housing.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Object-affected harmful factors

If the housing is completely sealed to prevent water ingress, then water resistance is improved, but pressure difference causes tympanum fatigue or deafness

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvewater resistanceVSAvoidpressure difference discomfort

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSObject-generated harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a sealed duct structure as an intermediary between the external environment and the internal housing. This duct with tuning hole allows acoustic function while the sealed connection prevents water and foreign substances from entering the housing.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent employs a porous or permeable structure in the duct system that allows air molecules to pass through. This enables pressure equalization between the internal and external environments while maintaining sufficient sealing to prevent water ingress, thus resolving the contradiction between water resistance and pressure comfort.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #31Porous materials

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

The design effectively prevents water and foreign substances from entering the earphone, reduces sound loss, and alleviates pressure-related discomfort by maintaining a sealed environment, while minimizing external noise interference and allowing precise sound tuning.

Implementation Method 1

The duct and the tuning hole allow the first space portion and the second space portion to communicate with each other

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectAirflow:

Implementation Method 2

maintaining a sealed state to prevent water and noise ingress

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectSealing:

Implementation Method 3

a speaker unit which generates a sound wave in a housing

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectSound wave generation: Sound

Data Source

PatentUS11095969B2Earphone including internal duct

Publication Date: 2021.08.17 ALMUS CORP

AI summary

Disclosed is an earphone including an internal duct. The earphone includes a housing, a cover coupled to the housing and including a nozzle, and a speaker unit disposed in the cover. Here, the housing and the cover include, in common, a first space portion disposed in front of the speaker unit and a second space portion disposed in the rear of the speaker unit and partitioned from the first space portion. The speaker unit includes a yoke, a magnet fixed to the yoke, a plate disposed on a top surface of the magnet, a voice coil, a diaphragm disposed above the plate and to which the voice coil is fixed, a frame disposed outside the magnet, a first grill coupled to the frame and disposed above the diaphragm, and a second grill coupled to the frame and disposed on a front surface of the diaphragm and outside the frame.