US-12621614-B2 - Hearing device comprising an adjustable vent

US12621614B2US 12621614 B2US12621614 B2US 12621614B2US-12621614-B2

Abstract

A hearing device with an adjustable vent is disclosed. The device includes at least one microphone configured to provide an input signal representing sound, a processor configured to process the input signal and provide a processed signal, at least one loudspeaker configured to receive the processed signal from the processor and to provide an acoustic signal based on the processed signal to the ear of a user, an earpiece comprising a vent, and an electrically controllable valve configured to control the vent, and a valve control unit configured to receive one or more control signals in dependence of a current hearing situation of the hearing device, wherein the valve control unit is configured to adjust the electrically controllable valve in dependence of the one or more control signals to provide the vent to be in a state between an acoustically more open and an acoustically less open state.

Inventors

Anders Højsgaard Thomsen
Mikkel NIELSEN
Karsten Bo Rasmussen
Svend Oscar Petersen
Edvinas BUREIKA
Christian Asp MOGENSEN
Troels Holm PEDERSEN
Gorm Dannesboe
Jacob Anders ROUG
Mathias Bruun LARSEN

Assignees

OTICON A/S

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20240508
Priority Date: 20190207

Claims (14)

1 . A hearing device configured to be located fully or partially in or at an ear of a user, the hearing device comprising: at least one microphone configured to provide an input signal representing sound, a processor configured to process the input signal and provide a processed signal, at least one loudspeaker configured to receive the processed signal from the processor and to provide an acoustic signal based on the processed signal to the ear of a user, an earpiece comprising a vent, and an electrically controllable valve configured to control the vent, and a valve control unit configured to receive one or more control signals in dependence of a current hearing situation of the hearing device, wherein the valve control unit is configured to adjust the electrically controllable valve in dependence of the one or more control signals to provide the vent in a state between an acoustically more open and an acoustically less open state; wherein the vent comprises: a first vent portion and a second vent portion separated by the valve, a valve housing having an opening connecting the first vent portion with the second vent portion, the valve comprises a lid unit rotatable about a lid unit rotation axis, wherein the lid unit comprises a cylinder side surface section and a supporting section extending toward the lid unit rotation axis, wherein the lid unit rotation axis is in a center of an imaginary cylinder which comprises the side surface section, wherein at a first rotation position of the lid unit, the lid unit covers the opening, and at a second rotation position of the lid unit, the lid unit uncovers the opening, and wherein the valve comprises an actuator configured to rotate the lid unit, and the valve control unit is configured to control and drive the actuator.
2 . The hearing device according to claim 1 , wherein the hearing device comprises a feedback estimation unit, and at least one of the one or more control signal is obtained in dependence of an output of the feedback estimation unit, and wherein the valve control unit is configured to determine whether the valve is open, partly open, or closed on a basis of a signal from the feedback estimation unit.
3 . The hearing device according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more control signals is obtained in dependence of an input to the hearing device via an external device wherein the input is for one of an audio streaming or a telephone call.
4 . The hearing device according to claim 1 , wherein the valve control unit is configured to adjust the valve synchronously with a user's other hearing device.
5 . The hearing device according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more control signals is obtained in dependence of a level estimate of a current acoustic environment of the hearing device.
6 . A hearing device configured to be located fully or partially in or at an ear of a user, the hearing device comprising: at least one microphone configured to provide an input signal representing sound, a processor configured to process the input signal and provide a processed signal, at least one loudspeaker configured to receive the processed signal from the processor and to provide an acoustic signal based on the processed signal to the ear of a user, an earpiece comprising a vent, and an electrically controllable valve configured to control the vent, and a valve control unit configured to receive one or more control signals in dependence of a current hearing situation of the hearing device, wherein the valve control unit is configured to adjust the electrically controllable valve in dependence of the one or more control signals to provide the vent in a state between an acoustically more open and an acoustically less open state; wherein the vent is configured as part of a speaker unit of said hearing device, wherein said speaker unit comprises a snout, wherein, within said snout, said vent extends in a longitudinal direction of the snout, and is configured as a bore, wherein the valve is configured to be arranged within said bore.
7 . The hearing device according to claim 6 , wherein the processor comprises a hearing loss compensation unit and at least one of the one or more control signals is obtained in dependence of a gain set in the hearing loss compensation unit.
8 . The hearing device according to claim 6 , wherein at least one of the one or more control signals is obtained in dependence of a user hearing loss, hearing aid type, and/or an ear mould.
9 . The hearing device according to claim 6 , wherein the valve control unit is configured to control the electrically controllable valve to selectively provide the vent in an open state, a closed state, and one or more states therebetween.
10 . A hearing device configured to be located fully or partially in or at an ear of a user, the hearing device comprising: at least one microphone configured to provide an input signal representing sound, a processor configured to process the input signal and provide a processed signal, at least one loudspeaker configured to receive the processed signal from the processor and to provide an acoustic signal based on the processed signal to the ear of a user, an earpiece comprising a vent, and an electrically controllable valve configured to control the vent, and a valve control unit configured to receive one or more control signals in dependence of a current hearing situation of the hearing device, wherein the valve control unit is configured to adjust the electrically controllable valve in dependence of the one or more control signals to provide the vent in a state between an acoustically more open and an acoustically less open state; wherein the hearing device comprises a feedback estimation unit, and at least one of the one or more control signal is obtained in dependence of an output of the feedback estimation unit, wherein the valve control unit is configured to determine whether the valve is open, partly open, or closed on a basis of a signal from the feedback estimation unit.
11 . The hearing device according to claim 10 , comprising a hearing loss compensation unit, wherein the gain of the hearing loss compensation unit is at a reduced level, when the valve is more open; and wherein the gain of the hearing loss compensation unit is above the reduced level, when the valve is less open.
12 . The hearing device according to claim 10 , wherein the hearing device is configured to close the valve in response to detecting a stream of sound from an external device.
13 . The hearing device according to claim 10 configured to close the valve in response to determining a user interface initiation of an action to close the valve.
14 . The hearing device according to claim 10 , wherein the valve comprises a piston unit movable along a longitudinal axis of the vent; wherein the piston unit is able to occlude, at least partly and/or in full, the vent by moving inside the vent from a distal end, positioned near an ear canal entrance, of the vent to a proximal end, positioned near the tympanic membrane; and wherein the valve comprises an actuator configured to move the piston unit.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a Divisional of application Ser. No. 17/543,269, filed on Dec. 6, 2021, which is a Divisional application Ser. No. 16/773,483, filed on Jan. 27, 2020 (now U.S. Pat. No. 11,228,848, issued on Jan. 18, 2022), which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) to application Ser. No. 19/155,935.0 filed in Europe on Feb. 7, 2019, all of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference into the present application. FIELD The present disclosure relates to a hearing device comprising an adjustable vent, e.g. comprising a valve. More particularly, the disclosure relates to the hearing device configured to adjust said vent in response to a change in acoustic environment or to user actions, and to how said adjustable vent is designed. The hearing device may be constituted by or comprise a hearing aid. BACKGROUND Hearing devices, which are designed to be placed within an ear canal, are typically designed with a vent to avoid discomfort for the user (occlusion). There are cases in which no vent or only a small one are important design criteria, and there are other cases where the vent should be as big as possible. This vent size is in most available hearing devices constant during use (e.g. determined in advance of the use of the hearing device, e.g. customized to a user's needs), and if it is possible to change the vent size, it is usually done by changing some mechanical parts, such as domes in hearing aid devices. In some cases, it is beneficial to be able to change the vent size, e.g. in cases when the hearing device has no vent, or a vent with only a small opening, and a user starts talking. Due to the occlusion effect, it may be uncomfortable for the user, and the option of adjusting the vent size (increasing its opening) would be attractive. The general knowledge related to determining the vent size for a given hearing device style and a given need of a user for amplification is known in the field of hearing devices. It is known, for example, that better sound attenuation (or sounds from the outside) is achieved with a closed vent (it is used in headsets with higher attenuation which allows to, for example, play music quieter and make less impact on hearing). It is also beneficial to keep the vent closed in the case of a need for high amplification of lower frequencies. On the other hand, while a user of the hearing device is talking, an open vent is a better solution. In the area of a hearing aids, it is usually a compromise between different, mutually excluding conditions. It is therefore a purpose of this invention to overcome some of the problems known from the prior art. SUMMARY It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a hearing device which is able to change the vent size in response to a change in a user hearing situation. According to an aspect of the disclosure, a hearing device is provided, which is configured to be located fully or partially in or at an ear of a user. The hearing device comprises: at least one microphone configured to provide an input signal representing sound,a processor configured to process said input signal and provide a processed signal,at least one loudspeaker configured to receive said processed signal from said processor and to provide an acoustic signal based on said processed signal to the ear of a user,an earpiece comprising a vent, andan electrically controllable valve configured to control said vent, anda valve control unit configured to receive one or more control signals in dependence of a current hearing situation of the hearing device, wherein said valve control unit is configured to adjust the electrically controllable valve in dependence of said one or more control signals to provide the vent to be in a state between an acoustically more open and an acoustically less open state. A hearing device is thereby provided which is able to automatically regulate the valve (and vent) in response to a change in the current hearing situation by responding to the occurring control signals determining different conditions (e.g. hearing situations). In a preferred embodiment, the electrically controllable valve is located in or form part of the vent. In this way, the valve enables that the vent can be opened or closed efficiently and in response to the one or more controls signals provided to the valve via the control unit. The hearing device may comprise a feedback estimation unit and at least one of said one or more control signal may be obtained in dependence of an output of said feedback estimation unit. This enables to better predict feedback and keep it on a desired level by varying the vent size. The at least one microphone may be configured to deliver said input signal as a control signal to said valve control unit. This allows to detect sounds, like pure tones, which may make it impossible to correctly detect conditions triggering, for example, the feedback estimation unit to emit a control s