JPH03276529A - Small electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to small electronic devices, and is suitable for application to small electronic devices such as small hearing aids, small radios, and the like.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention provides a small electronic device with a common touch contact that comes into contact with the human body when worn, thereby realizing a small electronic device in which a touch operation for inputting a command signal is even simpler.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, small hearing aids such as in-the-ear hearing aids that are inserted into the ear canal and ear-hook hearing aids that are attached to the back of the auricle have been proposed, and it is important to downsize the overall configuration. This has the advantage of further improving the feeling of wearing. However, in practice, as the overall configuration has been miniaturized, there is a problem that it becomes difficult to apply a volume control with a rotary knob.To solve this problem, a pair of electrical touch contacts are installed on the surface of the case. A method has been proposed in which a change in the resistance value between the touch contacts when the pair of touch contacts is touched by the wearer's fingertips is input as a signal for volume adjustment (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-97100). .

When a touch contact using such a method is to be applied to, for example, a custom hearing aid, it has conventionally been considered to configure it as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12.

In FIGS. 11 and 12, a hearing aid 1 has a surface plate 3, which is a so-called face plate, attached to the outer surface of a shell 2 formed by molding the shape of the external ear canal (external auditory canal and concha) of the wearer. The battery compartment 4 is located approximately in the center of the surface plate 3.
, a power switch 5, and a microphone 6, a pair of touch contacts 7A and 7B for ascending commands are arranged on the upper part of the surface plate 3, and a pair of touch contacts 8A and 8B for descending commands are arranged on the lower part. to be placed.

In the configuration of FIGS. 11 and 12, when wearing the hearing aid 1, the wearer inserts the ear canal insertion part 2A of the shell 2 into the external auditory canal, and also fits the auricle holding part 2B into the inner recess of the concha. The surface plate 3 is held in an exposed state so as to close the inner recess of the concha, and in this state, by turning on the power switch 5 with a fingertip, the sound introduced from the microphone old day 6 is transferred to the inside of the shell 2. Hearing aid processing is performed in a signal processing circuit (not shown) provided in the shell 2, and thus the hearing aid emitted from the earphone 9 provided at the tip of the shell 2 can be heard.

In this state, if the volume of the hearing aid is too high, the wearer can perform a touch operation such as simultaneously touching the lowering command touch contacts 8A and 8B with their fingertips, and at this time the hearing aid processing circuit will control the lowering command touch contacts 8A and 8B. When it is detected that a human body resistance is connected between 8B and 8B, the volume of the hearing aid emitted from the hearing aid processing circuit is lowered.

On the other hand, if the volume of the hearing aid is too low, the wearer can perform a touch operation such as simultaneously touching the touch contacts 7A and 7B for ascending commands with their fingers, and at this time the hearing aid circuit will contact touch contacts 7A for ascending commands. Based on the fact that the human body resistance is connected between the terminals 7B and 7B, a response operation is performed to increase the volume of the hearing aid processing sound.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

By the way, when a pair of contacts is used in this way, the resistance value between the corresponding pair of touch contacts changes significantly (when no touch operation is being performed, the insulation resistance value between the contacts on the front plate 3 is the same, and when a touch operation is being performed If a rise command or a fall command is input using the human body resistance value (when the wearer reaches the human body resistance value), if dirt such as sweat, moisture, or dirt gets between the pair of touch contacts, the wearer may There is a possibility that the resistance value between the contacts when the contacts are not touched may be extremely reduced due to the dirt.

In such a state, the difference between the resistance value of the contact resistance between the touch contacts when a touch operation is performed and the resistance value between the touch contacts when no touch operation is performed (the value of the insulation resistance of the surface plate 3) This means that the value cannot be increased, and as a result, touch operations cannot be detected correctly, leading to a risk of malfunction.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and provides a small electronic device that can further reduce the occurrence of malfunctions and also allows touch operations to increase or decrease the volume to be performed more easily and accurately. This is what I am trying to propose.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve this problem, in the present invention, when worn,
Common touch contacts 14 on the surface of the case that comes into contact with the wearer
In addition, command touch contacts (12, 13) and 42 are provided on the surface of the case that does not come into contact with the wearer, and when the wearer touches the command touch contacts (12, 13) and 42, a common touch An operation command signal is taken into the inside based on a change in resistance value between the contact 14 and the command touch contacts (12, 13) and 42.

[Effect]

Common touch contact point 1 when a wearer wears a small electronic device
A common touch contact 14 is located at a position where 4 contacts the wearer.
By providing this, it is possible for the wearer to accurately capture the operation command signal into the small electronic device by simply touching the command touch contacts (12, 13) and 42. .

〔Example〕

An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a hearing aid will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[11 First Embodiment In FIGS. 1 to 3, in which parts corresponding to those in FIGS. 11 and 12 are denoted by the same reference numerals, 11 indicates the hearing aid as a whole, and the hearing aid is provided in the center of the top plate 3. battery compartment 4,
A front plate 3 is placed on the upper side of the power switch 5 and the microphone 6.
A rise command touch contact point 12 consisting of a single contact bottle is installed so as to protrude from the surface plate 3, and a single contact point 12 is also installed on the lower side so as to protrude from the surface plate 3. A touch contact point 13 for commanding the lower command made of a bottle is provided.

In addition, a button-shaped common touch contact 14 is disposed on a portion of the shell 2 that comes into contact with the skin of the case when worn, for example, on the surface of the auricle holder 2B, so as to protrude from the auricle holder 2B. ing.

In this way, a case is formed by the shell 2 and the surface plate 3, and when the ear hole insertion part 2B of the shell 2, which constitutes a part of the case, is inserted into the ear canal of the wearer, the auricle holding part 2B is inserted into the inside of the auricle. By being pressed into the recess, the common touch contact 14 comes into contact with the skin inside the auricle of the wearer.

Touch contact 12 for ascending command, touch contact 13 for descending command
The common touch contact 14 is connected as a command input means to a hearing aid signal processing circuit 15 shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, the hearing aid signal processing circuit 15 is housed in a storage chamber that is formed in the shell 2 and closed off by the top plate 3.

In FIG. 4, the hearing aid signal processing circuit 15 is connected to the microphone 6
Dialogue sound introduced through the sound path from the microphone 21 is converted into a hearing aid input signal S1, and after the DC component of this hearing aid input signal S1 is removed by a coupling capacitor C1, it is passed through an input resistor R1 to an inverting amplifier circuit 2.
Enter 2.

The inverting amplifier circuit 22 receives the hearing aid input signal S with an amplification degree determined by the resistance ratio of the input resistor R1 and the feedback resistor R2.
1 and inputs this first stage amplified output S2 to the second stage inverting amplifier circuit 23 via a gain adjustment resistor R3.

A parallel circuit of a fixed feedback resistor R4 and a variable feedback resistor circuit 31 is connected to the second-stage inverting amplifier circuit 23 as its feedback resistor, so that the second-stage inverting amplifier circuit 23
The stage inverting amplifier circuit 23 amplifies the first stage amplified output S2 with an amplification degree determined by the ratio of the gain adjustment resistor R3, the fixed feedback resistor R4, and the combined resistance of the variable feedback resistor circuit 31, and outputs it as the second stage amplified output S3. It is applied to the amplifier circuit 24.

Thus, the hearing aid output signal S4 is output to the output terminal of the output amplification circuit 24.
is obtained and supplied to the earphone 25.

The variable feedback resistor circuit 31 is composed of a digital conductance block composed of an IC circuit, and connects variable resistor output bins P1 and P2 to a fixed feedback resistor R.
4, the variable resistor output bin P1
and 22 is connected in parallel to the fixed feedback resistor R4.

Variable resistance output bin P of variable feedback resistance circuit 31
1 and P2 are connected to the resistance output terminal of the current control resistance circuit 31A as shown in FIG. By causing a counter to perform a counting operation, the resistance value can be variably controlled to correspond to the current value of the counter.

The first condition input bin P3 is for generating a volume increase command signal to increase the hearing aid volume as a setting condition signal 311 to the logic control circuit 31C, as shown in FIG.
It is connected to the touch contact 12 for ascending command, and when the ascending command signal S12 is taken in by the wearer's touch operation on the touch contact 12 for ascending command, the logic input interface circuit 31B outputs the logic control circuit 31C according to the setting condition signal Sll. The counter is set to the up-count operation mode, thereby causing the clock output S13 of the clock oscillation circuit 31D to count up.

On the other hand, when the wearer touches the condition input bin P4 and receives the lowering command signal 314, the logic input interface circuit 31B outputs the setting condition signal Sl.
1 sets the logic control circuit 31C to a down-count mode, thereby causing the clock output S13 of the clock oscillation circuit 31D to count down.

The count contents of the counter of the logic control circuit 31C are converted into an analog count output S16 in the analog conversion circuit 31E as a count output 515, and then logarithmically converted in the logarithmic conversion circuit 31F and sent as a resistance value control signal S17 to the current control resistance circuit 31A. is supplied to

Thus, the current control resistance circuit 31A is the logic control circuit 31
A resistance value corresponding to the count contents of the counter at C is generated between variable resistance output bins P1 and 22.

In addition to this configuration, a logic input interface circuit 31
An input mode designation pin P5 is connected to B, and the manual mode of the first and second condition input bins P3 and P4 can be changed by this third input mode designation pin P5.

In this embodiment, the logic input interface circuit 31B
is the command signal 3 that is input from the condition input bin P3 or P4, respectively, when a positive voltage is applied as the input mode designation signal 318 to the input mode designation pin P5, for example.
12 or S14 to generate a setting condition signal Sll commanding rise or fall, respectively, when a negative voltage input mode designation signal S18 is applied to input mode designation pin P5, the condition is set. When the wearer repeatedly touches the condition input bin P3 based only on the command signal 512 input from either the input bin P3 or P4 (in this embodiment, the first condition input bin P3), A setting condition signal Sll containing an ascending command or a descending command is alternately sent to the logic control circuit 31C.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the negative end of the power battery 32 is connected to the negative power line LN.
The input mode designation pin P5 is connected to the input mode designation pin P5, and thus the variable feedback resistance circuit 31 is configured to operate in the two-switch command mode. Along with this, the power supply battery 32
The positive side of the touch panel is connected to the positive power line LP through the power switch 5, and the common touch contact 14 is connected to the positive power line LP.

Thus, when the hearing aid 11 is worn by the wearer and the wearer touches the touch contact 12 or 13 for a rise command or a fall command with a fingertip, the common touch contact 1
4 and touch contact 12 or 13 for ascending command or descending command
The resistance value between the two ends of the line is extremely reduced due to human body resistance (actually, it becomes less than 30 [MΩ]). At this time, the logic input interface circuit 31B of the variable feedback resistance circuit 31 takes in the rise command signal S12 or the fall command signal S14, and enters a state in which the logic control circuit 31C performs an up-count or down-count operation.

On the other hand, in a state where the wearer is not touching both the up command touch contact 12 and the down command touch contact 130, the logic input interface circuit 31B
By not outputting the setting condition signal 311, the counter of the logic control circuit 31C is kept in a state in which it does not perform a counting operation.

In this embodiment, the power supply pin P6 of the variable feedback resistance circuit 31 is connected to the positive power line LP, and the resistance value holding bin P7 is connected to the connection midpoint J1 between the power supply battery 32 and the power switch 5. and this results in
When the power switch 5 is turned off, the hearing aid signal processing circuit 1 including the variable feedback resistance surface JIW 31
5 is in the OFF operation state as a whole, the resistance holding power is supplied from the connection midpoint J1 of the power supply battery 32 to the resistance value holding bin P7, so that the count contents of the counter of the logic control circuit 31C are changed. , so that when the power switch 5 is turned on again, the resistance value before being turned off can be directly output between the variable resistance output bins P1 and 22.

Furthermore, in the case of this embodiment, the variable feedback resistance circuit 31 derives the clock frequency setting bin P8 from the clock oscillation circuit 31D, and the clock frequency setting bin P8 is derived from the clock oscillation circuit 31D.
8 and the negative power supply line LN (FIG. 4), the clock frequency of the clock output 313 of the clock oscillation circuit 31D can be externally connected to the variable feedback resistor circuit 31. By selecting the value of the clock frequency setting element, the value can be set as required.

In the above configuration, when the wearer inserts the ear hole insertion part 2A of the hearing aid 11 into the ear canal and puts the hearing aid 11 into the ear canal as a whole, the microphone 21
The dialogue sound received is adjusted to a volume according to the resistance value generated between the variable resistance output bins P1 and 22 of the variable feedback resistance circuit 31, and is emitted into the internal auditory canal from the earphone provided at the tip of the ear canal insertion part 2A. Ru.

In this state, if you want to increase (or decrease) the volume of the hearing aid that the wearer can hear, use the touch contact 12 for raising commands among the parts arranged on the surface plate 3 exposed inside the auricle. (or touch contact 13 for descending command).

At this time, the common touch contact 14 is pressed against the skin inside the auricle and is in electrical contact, so that the variable feedback resistance circuit 31 is connected to the touch contact 12 for ascending command (or touch contact 13 for descending command). )
By connecting a human body resistance between the touch contact point 14 and the common touch contact point 14, the resistance value between the touch contact points is significantly reduced, and as a result, the logic input interface circuit 31B outputs the rising action signal 512 (or the falling command signal 514). is determined to have been input, and in response to this, the counter of the logic control circuit 31C is operated to count up (or count down), thereby increasing (or decreasing) the resistance value of the current control resistance circuit 31A.

This ascending (or descending) operation continues while the wearer is touching the ascending command touch contact 12 (or descending command touch contact 13), and thus the resistance value of the current control resistance circuit 31A changes to the clock oscillation. The clock output 313 of circuit 31D increases by one step per clock period (
or descend) and go.

In this state, the wearer presses the touch contact 12 (
Or, when you release your finger from the touch contact 13 for descending command, the resistance value between the common touch contact 14 and the touch contact 12 for ascending command (or the touch contact 13 for descending command) increases extremely to the air resistance value. As a result, the logic input interface circuit 31B detects that the user has released the finger and stops the counting operation of the counter of the logic control circuit 31C, thereby maintaining the resistance value of the current control resistance circuit 31A.

In this way, the wearer can adjust the volume by repeatedly touching the up command touch contact 12 (down command touch contact 13) until the volume of the hearing aid becomes audibly comfortable. All you have to do is select and touch the touch contact 12 for ascending command or the touch contact 13 for descending command signal, which are arranged on the upper part or the lower part of the face plate 3, respectively. .

Incidentally, the common touch contact 14, which constitutes one of the pair of contacts necessary for inserting the human body resistance, is able to touch the inner surface of the outer ear (in this case, the inner surface of the outer ear) by simply attaching the shell 2 to the ear. (skin) without putting any strain on the wearer, the wearer can adjust the volume by simply feeling around on the surfaces vi, 3 and moving their fingertips to the upper or lower part. All you need to do is perform a simple operation.

[2] Second Embodiment FIGS. 6 and 7 show a one-switch type embodiment as the second embodiment, and the corresponding parts of FIGS. 1 to 3 and 4 are the same. In this case, the variable feedback resistor circuit 31 is connected to the input mode designation bin P5, as indicated by the reference numeral.
is connected to the positive power supply line LP, and the variable feedback resistor circuit 31 determines that the one-switch input mode is specified and selects one of the condition input bins P3 or P4 (in this embodiment, the condition input bin Set only P3) to the operating state.

Under the input conditions that put the condition input bin P3 into the operating state in this way, the condition input bin P3 is connected to the touch contact 42 for ascending/descending commands (FIG. 7).

In the case of this embodiment, the touch contact 42 for raising/lowering commands is disposed on the lower part of the top plate 3, as shown in FIG. In all cases of lowering, it is only necessary to bring the fingers to the lower part of the top plate 3.

In the configurations shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the wearer uses the hearing aid 41
After the ear canal insertion part 2A is inserted into the external ear canal and the hearing aid is attached to the ear, if the volume of the hearing aid is to be adjusted, the touch contact 42 for raising/lowering commands can be repeatedly touched.

At this time, the logic input interface 31B of the variable feedback resistance circuit 31 is connected to the logic control circuit 31C every time the wearer touches the touch contact 42 for ascending/descending commands.
A responsive operation is performed in which the resistance value between the variable resistance output bins P1 and 22 is alternately raised or lowered by alternately causing the counter to count up or down.

Thus, even in the cases of FIGS. 6 and 7, the wearer can adjust the volume of the hearing aid by simply touching the touch contacts on the top plate 3. By reducing the number of touch contacts on the face plate 3 to one, the user's touch operation can be further simplified.

[3] Other embodiments (1) FIGS. 8 and 9 show still other embodiments of the present invention, and corresponding parts to those in FIGS. 1 to 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals. . The hearing aid 51 in the case of FIG. 8 has a film-like common touch contact 14X by gold plating a part of the surface of the shell 2, instead of the button-shaped common touch contact 14 in FIGS. 1 to 3. is formed on the surface of the case.

With the configuration as shown in FIG. 8, the common touch contact 14X can be prevented from protruding from the surface of the shell 2, thereby further improving the wearing comfort of the wearer.

Further, in the case of the hearing aid 52 shown in FIG. 9, the entire surface of the shell 2 is plated with gold, and the gold plating constitutes the common touch contact 14Y.

If configured as shown in FIG. 9, the wearer's wearing comfort can be improved in the same way as in the case of FIG. 8, and the common touch contact 1
By making the electrical contact surface between the wearer 4Y and the wearer even larger, the contact resistance between the wearer and the common touch contact 14Y can be made even smaller.

(2) Fig. 10 shows still another embodiment of the present invention, in which the two-switch configuration described above with respect to Figs. 1 to 4 is applied to an ear-hook type hearing aid. .

In FIG. 10, as shown by assigning the same reference numerals to parts corresponding to those in FIGS. 1 to 3, the hearing aid 51 has a C-shaped case 52 as a whole. An old day (not shown) that leads to the earphones is formed, and a old day (not shown) that leads to the earphones is also formed. In FIG. 10, numeral 53 is a wind cover (windproof cover) that is installed near the microphone and reduces wind noise. Further, 54 is a hook connected to the earphone in the past, which serves to transmit amplified sound and, together with the curved inner surface 55 of the case 52, to hang the back surface of the auricle.

A common touch contact 14 consisting of a contact bottle is provided on the inner surface 55 of the case 52, and when the hearing aid 51 is hung on the ear, the common touch contact 14 contacts the skin on the outer surface of the auricle, thereby processing hearing aid signals. The positive power supply line LP of the circuit 15 (FIG. 4) is electrically connected to the wearer via the common touch contact 14.

On the outer surface 56 of the case 52 there is a touch contact 1 for ascending command.
2 and a touch contact 13 for descending command are arranged,
A power switch 5 and a battery chamber 4 are provided at the lower end of the outer surface 56.

According to the configuration shown in FIG. 10, when the hearing aid 51 is hung on the ear, the common touch contact point 14 provided on the inner surface 55 of the case 52 can be brought into contact with the rear surface of the auricle. is released from the hook 54 simply by selectively touching the touch contact 12 for ascending command and the touch contact 13 for descending command disposed on the outer surface 56 of the case 52. You can adjust the volume of your hearing aids.

According to the configuration shown in FIG. 10, it is possible to realize a hearing aid in which the volume can be adjusted much more easily.

(3) In the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a hearing aid is described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can also be applied to a command signal in various small electronic devices worn on the human body, such as a microphone, a radio, etc. It can be widely applied as a means of incorporating.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, when a small electronic device is worn by a wearer, a common touch contact is provided on the case part that comes into contact with the wearer, and a command is provided on the surface plate that does not come into contact with the wearer. By providing a touch contact point for the wearer, it is possible to realize a small electronic device that allows the wearer to perform touch operations even more easily.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 to 3 are a front view, a right side view, a left side view, and a fourth
The figure is a connection diagram showing a two-switch type hearing aid signal processing circuit.
Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing the variable feedback resistor circuit of Fig. 4, Fig. 6 is a front view showing a second embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a hearing aid insert, and Fig. 7 is used in that case. A connection diagram showing a one-switch type hearing aid signal processing circuit,
FIGS. 8 and 9 are left side views showing the third and fourth embodiments of the insert-type hearing aid, and FIG. 10 is a front view showing the embodiment in which the present invention is applied to the ear-hook type hearing aid. , FIG. 11, and FIG. 12 are a front view and a right side view of a conventional insert-type hearing aid. 1.11.41.51.52 Hearing aid, 2.
... Shell, 3 ... Surface plate, 4 ...
...Battery compartment, 5...Power switch, 6...
...Microphone old days, 12.13...for ascending command,
Touch contact for descending command, 14... Common touch contact, 31... Variable feedback resistance circuit, 4
2...Touch contact for raising/lowering commands.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A common touch contact is provided on the surface of the case that comes into contact with the wearer when worn, and a command touch contact is provided on a part of the case surface that does not come into contact with the wearer, and the wearer touches the command touch contact. A small electronic device, wherein an operation command signal is taken into the device based on a change in resistance value between the common touch contact and the command touch contact.