Hearing Aid Receiver and Filter Socket Oblique Detachment
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Solution Overview
Problem
In ITE hearing aids, there is a challenge in optimizing sound quality and reducing component volume while ensuring easy servicing and maintenance, as existing designs often require complex arrangements to avoid ear wax migration and maintain sound quality.
Innovation Solution
The receiver and filter socket are arranged with an oblique direction of detachment relative to the primary sound outlet, allowing the filter socket to be placed deeply in the ear channel and the receiver to be positioned further into the ear, enabling easier servicing by allowing the receiver to be pulled out through the filter socket without disassembling the hearing aid, and incorporating a signal processor with long electrical wires for access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the filter socket is placed deeply in the ear channel to reduce component volume, then the volume of the hearing aid is reduced, but the receiver becomes difficult to access for servicing
Solution Approach 1:
The hearing aid is divided into separable modules: the receiver can be detached from the housing through the filter socket, allowing independent servicing of the receiver without removing the entire hearing aid from the ear. This segmentation enables deep placement of components while maintaining serviceability.
Solution Approach 2:
The filter socket serves as an intermediary access path through which the receiver can be removed and reinserted. This intermediary structure allows servicing of deep-placed components without requiring disassembly of the entire hearing aid housing or removal from the ear canal.
2Reliability
If the receiver is positioned further into the ear to optimize sound quality, then sound quality is improved, but the receiver becomes harder to service
Solution Approach 1:
The receiver is made as a separable module that can be independently removed through the filter socket. This allows the receiver to be positioned optimally for sound quality while maintaining easy access for servicing through the same filter socket opening.
3Volume of moving object
If the filter socket and receiver are arranged in a compact configuration, then the volume required for components is reduced, but the arrangement becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The filter socket serves multiple functions: it acts as a protective filter opening, a sound passage, and an access channel for receiver servicing. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate access mechanisms, simplifying the overall arrangement while enabling compact component placement.
Data Source
AI summary
A hearing aid includes: a receiver having a side face with a sound outlet, and wherein a primary direction of the sound outlet is perpendicular to the side face; a hearing aid housing having an outer surface and an internal cavity configured for containing the receiver; a filter socket coupled to the hearing aid housing; and a filter releasably attached to the filter socket; wherein the filter socket defines a direction of detachment of the filter from the filter socket, and wherein the direction of detachment is arranged obliquely with respect to the primary direction of the sound outlet.