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DE-102025108964-B3 - Hearing aid and antenna element for a hearing aid

DE102025108964B3DE 102025108964 B3DE102025108964 B3DE 102025108964B3DE-102025108964-B3

Abstract

The invention relates to a hearing aid (2), in particular a behind-the-ear hearing aid or receiver-in-the-canal hearing aid, comprising a device housing (4) with a battery compartment (14) and a battery compartment door (16) closing the battery compartment (14), wherein the battery compartment door (16) is pivotably mounted by means of a hinge (18), and an antenna element (20) with a housing-side housing section (22, 22a, 22b) and with a door section (24) which extends at least partially over the battery compartment door (16), wherein the housing section (22, 22a, 22b) and the door section (24) are electrically connected via a sliding contact arranged on the hinge (18).

Inventors

  • Kishen Kunalan
  • Aisyah Binte Mazlan
  • Ravikumar Badiger
  • Sreedhar Kumar Pagolu

Assignees

  • Sivantos Pte. Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20250310

Claims (10)

  1. a hearing aid (2) comprising a device housing (4) with a battery compartment (14) and a battery compartment door (16) closing the battery compartment (14), wherein the battery compartment door (16) is pivotably mounted by means of a hinge (18). is, and - an antenna element (20) with a housing-side housing section (22) and with a door section (24) which extends at least partially over the battery compartment door (16), - wherein the housing section (22, 22a, 22b) and the door section (24) are electrically connected via a sliding contact (26) arranged on the hinge (18).
  2. hearing aid (2) after Claim 1 , characterized in that the door section (24) has a sliding contact head (54) arranged on the hinge (18), which is hinge-type in a contact cup (56) of the housing section (22, 22a, 22b) and is slidingly contacted with it.
  3. hearing aid (2) after Claim 2 , characterized in that the hinge (18) has a housing-side hinge band (30) and a door-side hinge band (32) which are rotatably or pivotably coupled to each other via a hinge pin (34), wherein the sliding contact head (54) is arranged radially on the outside of the door-side hinge band (32).
  4. Hearing aid (2) according to one of the Claims 1 until 3 , characterized in that the door section (24) extends approximately in a U-shape along a back (46) of the battery compartment door (16) between the hinge (18) and a handle tab (44) of the battery compartment door (16), wherein the U-short leg (50) of the door section (24) is at least partially integrated into the handle tab (44).
  5. hearing aid (2) after Claim 1 until 4 , characterized in that the housing section (22, 22a, 22b) is designed as a wire and the door section (24) as a metal surface.
  6. Hearing aid (2) according to one of the Claims 1 until 5 , comprising a support frame (28) for receiving and holding electrical components, characterized in that the housing section (22) is guided at least partially on the support frame (28).
  7. hearing aid (2) after Claim 6 , characterized in that the housing-side hinge band (30) of the hinge (18) is integrally formed on the support frame (28).
  8. hearing aid (2) after Claim 6 or 7 , wherein the support frame (28) has two frame halves (28a, 28b), characterized in that a first housing section (22a) is guided in a first frame half (28a) and a second housing section (22b) is guided in a second frame half (28b), wherein the housing sections (22a, 22b) are electrically connected to each other via the door section (24).
  9. Hearing aid (2) according to one of the Claims 1 until 8 , characterized in that the door section (24) is arranged on an inside of the battery compartment door (16), and that the door section (24) is covered with an electrically insulating layer.
  10. Antenna element (20) for a hearing aid (2) according to one of the Claims 1 until 9 , comprising - a housing section (22, 22a, 22b) for arrangement in a device housing (4) of the hearing aid (2), and - a door section (24) for at least partial arrangement over a battery compartment door (16) of the hearing aid (2) coupled to the device housing (4) by means of a hinge (18), and - a sliding contact (26) for arrangement on the hinge (18), by means of which the housing section (22, 22a, 22b) and the door section (24) are electrically connected or connectable.

Description

The invention relates to a hearing aid comprising a device housing with a battery compartment and an antenna element. The invention further relates to an antenna element for such a hearing aid. A hearing aid is generally defined as an electronic device that supports the hearing ability of a person wearing it. In particular, the invention relates to a hearing aid designed to fully or partially compensate for the hearing loss of a hearing-impaired user. Such a hearing aid is also referred to as a "hearing aid" (HA). In addition, there are hearing aids that protect or improve the hearing ability of users with normal hearing, for example, by enabling improved speech understanding in complex listening situations. Such devices are also referred to as "personal sound amplification products" (PSAPs). Finally, the term "hearing aid," as used here, also includes headphones worn on or in the ear (wired or wireless, and with or without active noise cancellation), headsets, etc., as well as implantable hearing aids, such as cochlear implants. A hearing aid can also be part of an AR system (AR: Augmented Reality) or VR system (VR: Virtual Reality) to output the acoustic information of a virtual sound source to the user. Hearing aids in general, and hearing assistance devices in particular, are usually designed to be worn on the head, specifically in or on one of the user's ears, particularly as behind-the-ear (BTE) or in-the-ear (ITE) devices. With regard to their internal structure, hearing aids typically have at least one output transducer that converts an input audio signal into a signal perceptible to the user as sound, and then outputs this signal to the user. In most cases, the output transducer is an electro-acoustic transducer that converts the (electrical) output audio signal into sound waves, which are then delivered into the user's ear canal. In a behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aid, the output transducer, also known as the receiver, is usually integrated outside the ear within the hearing aid housing. In this case, the sound emitted by the output transducer is guided into the user's ear canal via a sound tube. Alternatively, the output transducer can also be located within the ear canal, and thus outside the behind-the-ear housing. Such in-the-canal (ITE) hearing aids are also known as RIC devices (Receiver-In-Channel). In-the-ear (ITE) hearing aids that are so small that they do not protrude beyond the ear canal are also known as CIC devices (Completely-In-Canal). In other designs, the output transducer can also be an electromechanical transducer that converts the output audio signal into structure-borne sound (vibrations), which is then transmitted, for example, to the user's skull bones. Furthermore, there are implantable hearing aids, particularly cochlear implants, and hearing aids whose output transducers directly stimulate the user's auditory nerve. In addition to the output transducer, a hearing aid often has at least one (acousto-electrical) input transducer. During operation, the input transducer(s) pick up sound waves from the environment surrounding the hearing aid and convert these waves into an input audio signal (i.e., an electrical signal that carries information about the ambient sound). This input audio signal – also referred to as the “recorded sound signal” – is regularly output to the user in its original or processed form, e.g. to implement a so-called transparency mode in headphones, for active noise cancellation, or – e.g., in a hearing aid – to achieve improved sound perception for the user. Furthermore, a hearing aid often includes a signal processing unit (signal processor). In the signal processing unit, the input audio signal(s) are processed (i.e., modified with respect to their sound information). The signal processing unit then outputs a correspondingly processed audio signal (also referred to as the "output audio signal" or "modified sound signal") to the output converter and/or to an external device. Hearing aids are generally powered by batteries as their internal energy storage. The hearing aid housing has a battery compartment to hold the battery, which is covered by a battery compartment door or flap, thus protecting it from the environment. The battery can be inserted into and removed from the battery compartment through the battery compartment door. Hearing aids are preferably designed to be particularly space-saving and compact, so that they can be worn as discreetly as possible. This has led to the production of increasingly smaller hearing aids, which offer greater wearing comfort and are therefore barely noticeable to the user when worn in or on the ear. However, due to the reduced installation space, it is becoming increasingly difficult to accommodate and/or integrate conventional antenna elements for wireless signal transmission into such hearing aids. For this purpose, it is possible, for example, to integrate the antenna element onto or into a foldable or bendable