In-The-Ear Hearing Protection Earpiece with Dynamic Cable Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing In-The-Ear (ITE) headsets fail to provide sufficient hearing protection in medium to high ambient noise environments and lack flexibility in cable routing options, often causing discomfort and interference with glasses or eye protection when the cable is routed over the ear.
Innovation Solution
The design of an ITE headset with earpieces that allow the cable to be routed over, under, or in front of the ear, featuring a custom moulded earbud with concha retention and a spigot that fixes the orientation and position, enabling comfortable and flexible use while providing effective passive sound attenuation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If the cable is routed over the ear to maintain headset position, then the headset stability is improved, but it causes interference with glasses or eye protection and reduces ease of operation
Solution Approach 1:
The earpiece incorporates a movable connection point that can be positioned at different locations on the earpiece body, allowing the cable routing to be dynamically adjusted between over-ear and under-ear configurations. This enables the headset to adapt its cable routing based on user needs while maintaining stability through proper mechanical engagement.
2Device complexity
If a fixed spigot orientation is used to simplify the structure, then the device complexity is reduced, but it limits the adaptability of cable routing configurations
Solution Approach 1:
The connection mechanism is segmented into a spigot component and a movable connection point component. The spigot provides fixed structural support while the connection point can be repositioned along the earpiece body, separating the functions of structural stability and routing flexibility to resolve the contradiction between simplicity and adaptability.
3Ease of manufacture
If the cable entry angle is fixed to simplify manufacturing, then the manufacturing precision requirements are reduced, but it reduces the versatility of wearing configurations
Solution Approach 1:
The cable entry mechanism incorporates a movable connection point that can be positioned at different angles and locations on the earpiece body. This dynamic positioning capability allows the same earpiece to accommodate multiple cable routing configurations (over-ear, under-ear, in-front) without requiring multiple fixed-angle cable entries, thus maintaining manufacturing simplicity while achieving versatility.
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 headset provides adequate hearing protection in medium to high noise environments, allowing users to switch between cable routing configurations easily, enhancing comfort and usability without compromising noise reduction.
Implementation Method 1
The earbud is arranged to block the users ear canal to provide a means of passive sound attenuation
Implementation Method 2
The earbud comprises a concha retention means, which is arranged to engage a surface of the user's concha when the earbud is received by the ear canal of the user
Data Source
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AI summary
An earpiece for a hearing protection device arranged to provide hearing protection in environments with medium to high ambient noise levels, the earpiece comprising a body (2), an earbud, which is arranged to be inserted into an ear canal of a user to block the ear canal of the user, and a cable (3), wherein the earbud and the cable extend from the body, and the earpiece is arranged such that when the earbud is received by the ear canal of the user's left ear, the cable extends from the body in an upwardly or downwardly direction, and when the earbud is received by the ear canal of the user's right ear, the cable extends from the body in the other of the upwardly or downwardly directions.