Hybrid Eartip Structure for Noise Blocking and Comfort
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional ear tips cause discomfort, ear pain, and ear diseases due to poor air circulation, pressure, and accumulation of foreign substances, leading to reduced wearing comfort and sound quality.
Innovation Solution
The eartip features a hybrid structure with different materials for the body, upper end connection, umbrella, and lower end parts, including thermoplastic elastomer, silicone, and polyurethane foam, which provide a stable fit, reduce pressure, and improve noise blocking while preventing foreign substance accumulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If canal-type earphones are used to block external noise and improve fixing force, then noise blocking and stability are improved, but wearing comfort deteriorates due to pressure and poor air circulation
Solution Approach 1:
The eartip is constructed with multiple materials having different properties: a hard material for the body part to maintain shape and blocking capability, and a soft material for the contact part to provide comfort and air circulation. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by making different parts serve different functions - the body part ensures noise blocking while the contact part ensures wearing comfort.
2Ease of manufacture
If eartip is made of single material to simplify structure, then manufacturing is easier, but performance is insufficient to simultaneously ensure comfort and noise blocking
Solution Approach 1:
The eartip uses a composite structure with a first material for the body part and a second material for the contact part. The first material provides structural integrity and noise blocking, while the second material provides comfort and air circulation. This composite approach resolves the contradiction by combining materials with complementary properties to achieve both manufacturing feasibility and superior overall performance.
3Strength
If filler is inserted into eartip to improve contact with ear hole, then fixing force is improved, but wearing comfort deteriorates due to pressure and discomfort
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a filler that creates pressure and discomfort, the invention uses a soft material specifically for the contact part that naturally conforms to the ear canal shape. This soft material provides both the necessary fixing force through conformal contact and maintains wearing comfort by being gentle on the skin, resolving the contradiction between fixing force and comfort.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is an eartip which stably fixes a position of an earphone and includes a body part that has a hollow cylinder structure corresponding to an outer circumferential surface of the earphone, having a binding groove recessed to a predetermined depth in an annular structure along an inner circumferential surface of the body part, and being made of a first material, an upper end connection part that is formed in an integrated structure with an upper end of the body part, and a lower end formation part that is formed in an integrated structure from a lower end of the umbrella structure formation part, has a hollow cylinder structure extending downward to a predetermined height while surrounding the outer circumferential surface of the body part and spaced a predetermined distance from the outer circumferential surface of the body part.