US-20260129376-A1 - WIRELESSLY RECHARGEABLE HEARING DEVICE AND CHARGER FOR SAME

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a wirelessly rechargeable hearing device, a charger for a wirelessly rechargeable hearing device, and a system comprising a wirelessly rechargeable hearing device and a charger for the wirelessly rechargeable hearing device.

Inventors

• Anders Hjermø Michaelsen
• Kim Fälling ANDERSEN
• Søren Davids
• Palle STAFFELDT
• Morten Lerstrup PEDERSEN
• Anders Bøje NIELSEN
• Mikkel NIELSEN

Assignees

• GN HEARING A/S

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20251231

Priority Date

20210915

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A wirelessly rechargeable hearing device comprising: a housing; a rechargeable battery; inductive charging circuitry comprising a receiver coil configured for inductive coupling to a transmitter coil in a charger; and a first magnetic component in the housing, wherein the first magnetic component is configured to magnetically engage with a second magnetic component of the charger in such a way as to facilitate inductive coupling between the receiver coil and the transmitter coil; wherein the first magnetic component faces towards at least a part of a circumference of a curvilinear side of the rechargeable battery.
2. 2 . The wirelessly rechargeable hearing device according to claim 1 , wherein the first magnetic component is a magnetic material, or a magnet.
3. 3 . The wirelessly rechargeable hearing device according to claim 1 , wherein the first magnetic component is shaped to at least partially correspond with an outer surface of the rechargeable battery.
4. 4 . The wirelessly rechargeable hearing device according to claim 1 , wherein the first magnetic component is a part of the rechargeable battery.
5. 5 . The wirelessly rechargeable hearing device according to claim 1 , wherein the hearing device is an in-ear hearing device.
6. 6 . The wirelessly rechargeable hearing device according to claim 1 , wherein the hearing device is a completely-in-the-canal hearing aid.
7. 7 . The wirelessly rechargeable hearing device according to claim 1 , wherein the inductive charging circuitry is configured according to a standard of wireless power transfer.
8. 8 . The wirelessly rechargeable hearing device according to claim 7 , wherein the inductive charging circuitry is configured according to a Near Field Communications (NFC) standard, or a Qi® standard.
9. 9 . The wirelessly rechargeable hearing device according to claim 1 , wherein the receiver coil is separated from an outer surface of the rechargeable battery by a distance that is anywhere between 0.1 mm and 1 mm.
10. 10 . The wirelessly rechargeable hearing device according to claim 1 , wherein the receiver coil is adjacent to a side or a terminal of the rechargeable battery.
11. 11 . The wirelessly rechargeable hearing device according to claim 1 , wherein the first magnetic component is configured to interact magnetically with the second magnetic component in a direction that is at an angle of between −15 to 15 degrees to a centerline of the receiver coil.
12. 12 . The wirelessly rechargeable hearing device according to claim 1 , wherein the receiver coil has a planar configuration.
13. 13 . The wirelessly rechargeable hearing device according to claim 12 , wherein a plane of the receiver coil has a normal that intersects the rechargeable battery of the hearing device.
14. 14 . A wirelessly rechargeable hearing device comprising: a housing; a rechargeable battery; inductive charging circuitry comprising a receiver coil configured for inductive coupling to a transmitter coil in a charger; and a first magnetic component in the housing, wherein the first magnetic component is configured to magnetically engage with a second magnetic component of the charger in such a way as to facilitate inductive coupling between the receiver coil and the transmitter coil; wherein the first magnetic component is configured to interact magnetically with the second magnetic component in a direction that is non-parallel with respect to a centerline of the receiver coil, the centerline being perpendicular to loops of the receiver coil.
15. 15 . A wirelessly rechargeable hearing device comprising: a housing; a rechargeable battery having a planar surface; inductive charging circuitry comprising a receiver coil configured for inductive coupling to a transmitter coil in a charger; and a first magnetic component in the housing, wherein the first magnetic component is configured to magnetically engage with a second magnetic component of the charger in such a way as to facilitate inductive coupling between the receiver coil and the transmitter coil; wherein the first magnetic component is between the receiver coil and the planar surface of the rechargeable battery.
16. 16 . The wirelessly rechargeable hearing device according to claim 15 , wherein the first magnetic component is configured to interact magnetically with the second magnetic component in a direction that is at an angle of between −15 to 15 degrees to a centerline of the receiver coil, the centerline being perpendicular to loops of the receiver coil.
17. 17 . The wirelessly rechargeable hearing device according to claim 15 , wherein the hearing device is an in-ear hearing device.
18. 18 . The wirelessly rechargeable hearing device according to claim 15 , wherein the hearing device is a completely-in-the-canal hearing aid.
19. 19 . The wirelessly rechargeable hearing device according to claim 15 , wherein the inductive charging circuitry is configured according to a standard of wireless power transfer.
20. 20 . The wirelessly rechargeable hearing device according to claim 15 , wherein the inductive charging circuitry is configured according to a Near Field Communications (NFC) standard, or a Qi® standard.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION DATA This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/944,996 filed on Sep. 14, 2022, pending, which claims priority to, and the benefit of, Danish Patent Application No. PA 2021 70453 filed on Sep. 15, 2021. The entire disclosures of the above applications are expressly incorporated by reference herein. FIELD The present disclosure relates to a wirelessly rechargeable hearing device having inductive charging circuitry, where the hearing device comprises a magnetic component configured to magnetically engage with another magnetic component comprised in a charger. Further, the disclosure relates to a charger for the wirelessly rechargeable hearing device, where the charger comprises a magnetic component, which is configured to magnetically engage with a magnetic component in the hearing device. Lastly, a system comprising the wirelessly rechargeable hearing device and the charger, and where the magnetic components and the induction coils are configured to aid the user in placing the hearing device in the charger in such a way that the induction coils are able to couple inductively. BACKGROUND A hearing device may be a hearable, an earphone, a hearing protection device, a hearing aid (e.g. an invisible-in-canal (IIC), completely-in-canal (CIC), in-the-canal (ITC), in-the-ear (ITE), receiver-in-ear (RIE), microphone-and-receiver-in-ear (MaRIE), behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aid), an ear plug, or other hearing device. Such hearing devices contain a plurality of electronic components and circuits that create, process, and/or cancel audible sound for the potential benefit of the user. Some or all of the sound may be digitized and may be altered by one or more of the components and circuits, e.g. the sound may be amplified, filtered, moderated, equalized, adjusted, cancelled, etc. The electronic components require power, which is supplied by a battery that may be rechargeable or non-rechargeable. If the battery is not rechargeable, the hearing device may have a battery door in the shell of the hearing device through which the battery can be removed and replaced. Having a battery door imposes design restrictions on the hearing device, which are especially significant for in-ear hearing devices, where there is little available space, making rechargeable batteries advantageous. One option is wired recharging, wherein the battery is not replaced, but rather recharged by connecting the battery to an external charger via an electrical connection, e.g. via conductive contact points. Another option is wireless recharging, where the battery is recharged using inductive charging. A fluctuating magnetic field created by an alternating current in a transmitter coil comprised in the charger induces an alternating electric current in a receiver coil comprised in the hearing device. The alternating current induced in the receiver coil is rectified and used to charge the battery. Thus, by using wireless charging the hearing device does not need a battery door nor an electrical wired pathway between the battery and a charger. The strength of the coupling between the receiver coil and the transmitter coil is in part dependent on how well the two induction coils are aligned and the distance between them. It is thus a technical problem with wirelessly rechargeable devices that the receiver and transmitter coils should be sufficiently aligned to achieve and to optimise the recharging of the hearing device. The user is not aided in aligning the induction coils in the same way that the user is aided by the design of an electric wire and its corresponding plug(s), or by the design of the battery and the battery holder. Further, alignment between the induction coils becomes more difficult the smaller the hearing device is, and the smaller the induction coils are. Thus, the problem of achieving sufficient alignment of the induction coils is present in all wirelessly rechargeable hearing devices and can be particularly difficult for in-ear hearing devices, and especially the in-ear hearing devices with the smallest form factors such as the CIC hearing aids. Therefore, it is an object to provide an improved wirelessly rechargeable hearing device. It is a further object to provide a wirelessly rechargeable hearing device, which aids the user in placing the hearing device correctly in the charger such that recharging of the hearing device is possible and/or is optimised. It is a further object to facilitate reproducible placement of the wirelessly rechargeable hearing devices in a charger. It is further an object to provide an improved system for charging of a wirelessly rechargeable hearing device. Further, it is desirable that the use of space available within the wirelessly rechargeable hearing device be optimised to limit design restrictions on hearing devices, which already struggle with having little available space. SUMMARY In a first aspect is provided a wirelessly rechargeable hearing device