High fidelity insert earphones and methods of making same

Abstract

An insert earphone is provided in which a piece of foam material is used to resiliently mount a receiver within a chamber portion of a one-piece plastic housing member. The receiver has an output port extending through a central aperture of the piece of foam material and into one end of a passage defined by a tubular portion of the housing member with a damper being disposed in the other end of the passage. The tubular portion is inserted into an ear tip or other coupling device and has an enlarged diameter end section to achieve a locking action. Two such insert earphones may be coupled through cables to a junction unit and filters are provided for enhancing the drive of the earphones at high frequencies, the filters being preferably mounted in the junction unit.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the InventionThis invention relates to earphones and methods of making the same to obtain earphones and earphone assemblies which reproduce sounds with very high fidelity and with minimum noise and which are suitable for use by the most discriminating listeners. The earphones and assemblies of the invention are very compact and light in weight, are highly reliable and are readily and economically manufacturable.2. Background of the Prior Art"Audiophile" earphones have been marketed for use by audiophiles or discriminating listeners interested in the highest possible sound reproduction. Such audiophile earphones have been ostensibly capable of effecting high fidelity sound reproduction although it has been recognized by many users as well as the makers of such earphones that they have left much to be desired with respect to fidelity of reproduction. It has apparently been assumed by such users and makers that deficiencies in quality of sound rep...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

Additional important features of the invention relate to features of construction which facilitate manufacture of insert earphones and which at the same time achieve reproduction of sounds with very high fidelity and with a high degree of reliability. Certain of such features relate to the provision of a housing member which can be readily molded from plastic in one piece and which serves the functions of connecting to an outlet port of a receiver, supporting a damper and providing a sound passage. The housing member also serves to releasably connect to a coupling device such as an earmold or ear tip and it performs all of such functions with a high degree of accuracy and reliability. Others such features relate to the provision of a resilient support for the receiver to minimize the effects of vibrations and noise and to methods of making the earphone to facilitate manufacture at low cost.

Problems solved by technology

It was discovered that one serious problem with audiophile earphones has been related to the failure to recognize the need to compensate for loss of external-ear resonance when using an earphone and the failure to provide compensating acoustic characteristics between the ear canal of a user and the transducer or receiver used to develop an audio signal from an applied electrical signal.

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