Earphone Valve for Adaptive Wind Noise Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Earphones often block external sounds too effectively, causing reverberation and discomfort when the user speaks, and wind noise can further disrupt the listening experience.
Innovation Solution
An earphone design with a ventilated path and a valve that switches between open and closed states based on operation mode and sound signal analysis, using microphones to differentiate between voice and wind noise, allowing for adaptive acoustic control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the earphone closes the ear to block external sounds, then external noise isolation is improved, but the wearer experiences discomfort due to reverberation of uttered voice and wind noise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies a valve mechanism that dynamically switches between open and closed states based on operation mode and wind noise detection. The valve transitions from a static closed state to a dynamic system that adapts its acoustic seal, opening when wind noise is detected or in specific modes like voice assistant mode, and closing in noise cancellation mode for music playback, thereby resolving the contradiction between noise isolation and comfort
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs microphones to detect sound signals and a control unit that analyzes these signals to determine wind noise presence. This feedback loop allows the system to automatically adjust the valve state based on real-time acoustic conditions, enabling the earphone to respond adaptively to environmental factors and operational context, thus maintaining comfort while providing noise isolation when appropriate
2Ease of operation
If the earphone opens the ear to allow external sound entry, then comfortability is improved, but wind noise enters and disrupts the listening experience
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit continuously monitors sound signals from microphones and identifies wind noise characteristics. When wind noise is detected, the system provides feedback to actuate the valve to a closed state, automatically blocking the harmful wind noise while maintaining the comfort benefits of the open configuration when wind noise is absent
Solution Approach 2:
The valve acts as an intermediary mechanism between the external environment and the ear canal. It mediates the conflict between needing an open configuration for comfort and needing a closed configuration to block wind noise, selectively opening or closing based on real-time conditions to optimize both comfort and noise protection
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the earphone maintains a closed state for noise cancellation, then external noise isolation is improved, but the wearer feels discomfort when uttering voice due to reverberation
Solution Approach 1:
The valve transitions from a static closed state to a dynamic configuration that opens during voice assistant operations or when utterance is detected. This dynamic adjustment allows the system to maintain noise cancellation benefits during music playback while eliminating voice reverberation discomfort during speech-based interactions
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the acoustic parameter of the ear canal configuration by switching the valve state. This parameter change modifies the acoustic environment from a closed, reverberant space to an open, non-reverberant space based on the operational context, thereby eliminating voice discomfort while preserving noise isolation when needed
Data Source
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AI summary
An earphone includes a housing having a space therein and a path capable of ventilation from one end side on an external auditory canal side of a wearer to the other end side on an ambient environment side, a valve switching the path between an open state and a close state, a first microphone collecting an external sound on the ambient environment side, a second microphone collecting an uttered voice of the wearer, and a control unit controlling the open state and the close state. The control unit switches the path between the open state and the close state in accordance with an operation mode, and maintains or switches the path in or to the close state in a case where it is determined that a sound signal collected by the microphone and the second microphone during the operation mode is a wind noise.