The present invention relates to a module for an earpiece.

More specifically, the invention relates to a module intended to be affixed in an earpiece. It is known that earpieces can be used in various applications, for example as ear protectors that optionally can be equipped with a built-in sound-attenuation element, with which the degree of sound attenuation of the earpiece can be adjusted.

Traditionally such an earpiece is formed by a body, the shape of which is adapted to the external auditory canal, and which is equipped with two channels that lead from the outside world to the space between the tympanic membrane and earpiece.

In the one channel, the inlet channel, there is a sound filter on the outside of the auricle. This sound filter can be a filter with fixed attenuation or a filter with adjustable attenuation, equipped with an adjustable valve, with which the degree of attenuation can be adjusted, i.e. with which the proportion of the original sound intensity in the outside world that is passed on to the tympanic membrane can be adjusted. This control valve can be adjusted by means of a tool with which a screw can be turned that positions a fine needle at the desired depth in the valve, and whereby the degree of attenuation of the sound filter can be varied.

If the sound filter consists of a fixed sound filter that cannot be adjusted, and which lets through a predetermined fraction of the sound, the perforations that are provided in the filter determine the degree of attenuation.

In the case of the fixed sound filter, the degree of attenuation can only be changed by replacing the earpiece by another earpiece with a different fixed filter with a different degree of attenuation.

The second channel, also called the test channel, also runs from the outer ear to the space between the tympanic membrane and the earpiece, but is not closed off by a sound filter. The channel can be closed with a fixed cap, which prevents the passage of sound or can be opened by removing the cap.

The open test channel can be connected to a measuring instrument with which the degree of attenuation can be determined by measuring what sound intensity still penetrates to the level of the tympanic membrane at a certain setting of the adjustable valve of the sound filter. On the basis of these test data, the control valve can be set to the desired result and thus to the desired actual degree of attenuation at the tympanic membrane. Once adjusted, the control valve cannot be changed by unauthorised persons. The test channel also enables the good operation of the sound filter to be checked after a certain period of use, for example annually, in order to adjust the adjustable valve if necessary or to eliminate defective sound filters. Such two-channel earpieces have already been described in BE 1.010.200.

These known installations present the disadvantage that when a sound filter has to be replaced, the entire earpiece must be replaced as the sound filter cannot be removed separately from the earpiece.

Another disadvantage is that when the adjustable sound valve has to be replaced for a repair, or when replaced by another type, the entire earpiece then has to be replaced.

An additional disadvantage is that for each strength of fixed sound filter, a separate earpiece is needed, because the replacement of the sound filter is not possible in the same earpiece.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a solution to the aforementioned and other disadvantages, by providing a module equipped with a sound filter that can be affixed in a suitable recess in an earpiece, or can be taken out of the recess, and which is equipped with two channels that connect to two channels that are already present in the earpiece.

The first channel in the module is equipped with a sound filter that can either be a filter with constant attenuation or an adjustable valve for a sound filter.

The second channel of the module connects to the second channel in the earpiece that acts as a test channel, through which the degree of attenuation of the sound observed in the space between the tympanic membrane and the earpiece can be measured, so that the degree of attenuation can be determined and so that the sound filter can be set or chosen for the desired strength.

An advantage of such a module is that a sound filter can be easily replaced by another filter, without having to replace the earpiece itself. Another advantage is that an adjustable sound valve with the module can be taken out of the earpiece and adjusted, after which it can again be affixed in the earpiece, even without having to take the earpiece out of the auditory canal .

Another advantage is that the earpiece itself can be replaced by a different earpiece, in the event of damage or an unsuitable shape for the user, without the sound filter or the adjustable valve having to be replaced by another one. Thus it is possible for a certain user to continue using the same earpiece, but to replace the module in it for a degree of attenuation that is suitable for the current sound environment.

Preferably the module forms a soundproof connection from its two sound channels to the two sound channels in the earpiece when the module is put in the earpiece. In an alternative embodiment the two sound channels in the module can be connected to two channels in the earpiece, that already converge in the earpiece into a single channel that opens out into the cavity between the earpiece and the tympanic membrane.

In another alternative embodiment of the two sound channels in the module can already converge in the module into a single channel that connects to a single channel in the earpiece .

Preferably the module is provided with a small handle with which the module can be easily inserted or removed from the earpiece . Preferably the small handle has an embossed code that enables the degree of attenuation of the module to be felt by touching the handle, in the same way that braille is read, without having to take out or read the module. Preferably the small handle is provided with a perforation through which a line can be led to fasten a necklace, for example . With the intention of better showing the characteristics of the invention, a few preferred embodiments of a module according to the invention are described hereinafter by way of an example, without any limiting nature, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 schematically shows a cross-section of an auditory canal equipped with a two-channel earpiece according to the state of the art;

figure 2 schematically shows the same cross-section equipped with a two-channel module for a two-channel earpiece according to the invention;

figure 3 schematically shows a cross-section of a two- channel module equipped with a sound filter with adjustable valve that connects to an earpiece with two channels;

figure 4 shows figure 3, but whereby the two channels in the earpiece merge into one channel in the earpiece itself;

figure 5 schematically shows a cross-section of a two- channel module of which the two channels merge into one channel in the module itself;

figure 6 shows a perspective view from the top of a two-channel module according to the invention;

figure 7 shows a perspective view from the bottom of a two-channel module according to the invention. Figure 1 shows an earpiece 1 with a sound filter 2, placed in the external auditory canal 3 of a user, as applied in the known state of the art. The earpiece is provided with two channels: a first channel 4 equipped with a sound filter 2, and a second channel 5 provided with a small cap 6.

Figure 2 shows a module 7 for an earpiece 1 according to the invention, whereby the detachable module 7 is provided with two channels 8, 9 that connect to the two channels 4, 5 provided in the earpiece 1.

Figure 3 schematically shows a cross-section of the detachable module 7, fitted into an earpiece 1 provided with two channels 4, 5 that each reach to the deepest end of the earpiece 1.

Figure 4 shows a variant of figure 3, in which the two channels 4, 5 in the earpiece merge into one channel 10 in the earpiece itself before reaching the deepest end of the earpiece 1.

Figure 5 shows a variant of figure 4 in which the two channels 8, 9 in the module 7 itself merge into one channel 11, before opening out into a single channel 10 in the earpiece .

Figure 6 and figure 7 show a top and bottom view respectively in three dimensions of a module 4 provided with two channels: a first channel 8 that connects to a sound filter 2, and a second channel 9 that is open to the outside world, but which can be closed off with a cap 6. The module 7 is provided with a small handle 12, in which there is a perforation 13 and which is optionally provided with an embossed code 14. The module 4 is also provided with two connecting nipples 15, 16 that connect to the two channels of the earpiece 4, 5 in the recess 17 provided to this end in the earpiece.

The operation of the module 4 is very simple and as follows. The module 7, which is equipped with a fixed or adjustable sound filter 2 on the first channel 8, can be gripped and inserted in the recess 17 of the earpiece with the small handle 12, whereby the earpiece 1 may or may not be in the external auditory canal 3 of the user. The second channel 9 in the module is an open channel 7 that connects the space between the tympanic membrane 18 and the earpiece 1 to the outside world and acts as a test channel. After removing the cap 6, this channel can be connected to a sound meter 19, with which the degree of attenuation 20 of the sound can be measured, that is imposed by the sound filter 2.

By measuring the degree of attenuation 20 it can be changed if necessary by adjusting the adjustable sound filter 2 to the desired degree of attenuation 20, or by replacing the fixed sound filter 2 by another sound filter with a different fixed degree of attenuation 20. This replacement can easily be done by replacing the detachable module 4 with another module in which a fixed sound filter 2 with a different degree of attenuation 20 is built in. The earpiece 1 itself does not need to be replaced and remains suitable for the external auditory canal 3 of the user. Only the module 7 has to be replaced, so that the same user can select a different degree of attenuation according to the circumstances.

Optionally the user can feel on an embossed code 21, applied to the small handle 12, the degree of attenuation 20 of the module 4 in question.

The present invention is by no means limited to the embodiments described as an example and shown in the drawings, but such a module with a sound filter can be affixed in an earpiece in different variants, without departing from the scope of the invention.