Hearing Device Seal Modules for Modular Fitting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional extended wear hearing devices face challenges with seal sizing, leading to discomfort, potential injury, and inadequate acoustic feedback suppression due to permanently secured seals, which require manufacturers to stock a wide variety of sizes and limit customization, resulting in high carrying costs and waste.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of a hearing device seal module with a tubular seal carrier and resilient seal support region, allowing for securement of appropriately sized seals during fitting, enabling quick and repeatable assembly, and facilitating the use of various seal sizes without expiring, as the seals can be easily removed and replaced.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If seals are permanently secured to the core at the manufacturing site, then the hearing device can be produced with a fixed configuration, but fitting facilities must stock a large number of hearing devices in various sizes, resulting in high carrying costs and waste due to battery expiration
Solution Approach 1:
The hearing device is divided into separable components: the core and the seal. The seal can be independently attached or detached from the core, allowing facilities to stock minimal cores and attach appropriate seals at the time of fitting. This segmentation eliminates the need to maintain large inventories of pre-assembled devices in various sizes.
Solution Approach 2:
The seal attachment system transitions from a static, permanent bond to a dynamic, adjustable configuration. The seal can be attached, removed, and reattached as needed, providing flexibility in sizing and configuration after the device has been manufactured and stored.
2Device complexity
If seals are permanently secured to the core at the manufacturing site, then the device structure is simplified, but the ability to provide customized seal combinations is eliminated
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the seal from the core and providing independent attachment capability, the system enables customized seal combinations (e.g., different sizes on medial and lateral sides) without increasing the fundamental structural complexity of the device.
Solution Approach 2:
The seal attachment mechanism is prepared in advance during manufacturing, but the actual customization is performed at the time of fitting. This allows the device to maintain simple manufacturing processes while enabling complex post-manufacturing configurations.
3Strength
If mechanical interconnects such as locking mechanisms and threaded connectors are used to connect seals to cores, then the seal connection can be secure, but the devices become difficult to use given the small size of RIC hearing devices
Solution Approach 1:
The complex mechanical interconnect features (locking mechanisms, threaded connectors) are extracted from the small hearing device and replaced with a simpler attachment mechanism that is easier to manipulate at the scale of RIC and CIC devices, while still providing secure seal connection.
Solution Approach 2:
The seal attachment mechanism is designed to be simple and disposable or easily replaceable, eliminating the need for complex, precision mechanical interconnects that would be difficult to assemble on tiny devices. The seal can be attached and detached without requiring sophisticated tools or techniques.
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
This solution reduces carrying costs and waste by allowing fitting facilities to store fewer core units, as seal modules can be easily swapped, ensuring optimal fit and comfort while minimizing expired inventory.
Implementation Method 1
a resilient seal support region formed from resilient material and configured to receive the hearing device core
Data Source
AI summary
A hearing device seal module for use with a hearing device core including a tubular seal carrier defining a lumen configured for passage of the hearing device core and including a resilient seal support region formed from resilient material and configured to receive the hearing device core, a seal carrier support configured to hold at least a portion of the resilient seal support region open during an insertion of the hearing device core, and a first seal secured to a first portion of the seal support region and extending outwardly therefrom.