Rotatable Ear Tip Assembly With External Venting for Earphones
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing earphones cause skin irritation and otitis externa due to the ear tip rotating with the housing, have increased volume and weight due to internal air vents, and reduced sound quality from limited sound passage width.
Innovation Solution
The earphone design includes a rotatable ear tip and housing connection with an external air vent structure, minimizing friction and preventing the ear tip from rotating, reducing thickness, and maintaining sound passage width.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the ear tip is fixedly coupled to the housing in an overlapping manner, then the coupling is maintained using friction force, but the ear tip rotates together with the housing causing skin irritation and otitis externa
Solution Approach 1:
The ear tip is divided into a first ear tip and a second ear tip that are rotatably connected through a rotation prevention structure. This segmentation allows the first ear tip to remain stationary relative to the housing while the second ear tip can rotate independently, preventing skin irritation while maintaining coupling stability through the friction force in the overlapping region.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotation prevention structure is extracted as a separate functional component within the ear tip assembly. This structure specifically prevents rotation at the critical coupling interface while allowing the overlapping coupling mechanism to maintain stability through friction, thereby separating the rotation prevention function from the overall coupling mechanism.
2Reliability
If an air vent structure is formed in the inner space of the housing, then heat and moisture are vented, but the volume and weight of the device increase
Solution Approach 1:
The air vent structure is relocated from the inner space of the housing to the coupling portion, utilizing the thickness direction (z-axis) as an additional dimension. The air vent allows air to pass through from the front surface to the rear surface of the coupling portion, enabling ventilation without increasing the overall volume or weight of the earphone device.
Solution Approach 2:
The air vent is localized to the coupling portion where space is already utilized for the overlapping structure. By forming the air vent in this local region with specific permeability characteristics, the ventilation function is achieved without requiring additional volume, and the local permeability allows air flow while maintaining the structural integrity of the coupling portion.
3Reliability
If the recess is formed deep in the thickness direction of the coupling portion, then the hook member is stably stopped, but the width of the sound passage is limited reducing sound quality
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling portion is designed with asymmetric thickness distribution: it has a greater thickness in the region where the air vent and rotation prevention structure are located to provide stability, while maintaining a smaller thickness in the sound passage region to preserve sound quality. This asymmetric design allows the recess to be formed without excessively limiting the sound passage width, as the thicker region is positioned away from the critical sound transmission path.
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
Prevents skin irritation, reduces device weight and volume, enhances sound quality, and effectively vents heat and moisture, addressing issues in existing earphone designs.
Implementation Method 1
A connection gap is formed between facing surfaces of the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion, and the coupling portion of the housing and the ear tip are connected so as to be rotatable relative to each other
Implementation Method 2
the air vent structure performs a function of replacing air in the inner space of the ear closed by the ear tip with air outside the ear tip in a worn state
Data Source
AI summary
An example earphone includes a housing having a speaker module embedded therein and an ear tip connected to the housing. The housing includes a coupling portion having a sound hole formed in an end portion thereof. The ear tip includes a first tip including a first hollow aligned with the sound hole in a first direction and a first sidewall that surrounds the first hollow and a second tip including a second hollow in which the first tip is accommodated and a second sidewall that surrounds the second hollow, the first direction being a direction toward the speaker module from the sound hole. The first tip includes a first connecting portion having a protrusion form on an end portion thereof in the first direction. The coupling portion includes, on one surface thereof, a second connecting portion including a groove with which the first connecting portion is engaged. A connection gap is formed between facing surfaces of the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion, and the coupling portion of the housing and the ear tip are connected so as to be rotatable relative to each other.