Tibbetts Industries, Inc.

Sonion Nederland B.v.

Other

Knowles Electronics, Inc.

Telex Communications, Inc.

Jli Electronics, Inc.

Quiet, Inc.

Peter L Madaffari

Scott A Moser

James S Collins

Vijay Parsa

Niamh C Finnegan

Walter Paul Sjursen

Ponnusamy Palanisamy

George C Tibbetts

Christopher Just Poux

Dennis Jacobus Mattheus Mocking

Sietse Jacob Van Reeuwijk

Jody DiLorenzo

Niels Beekman

Michael J Wurtz

Carlos Montoya

Richard Moroney

An attenuator is disclosed that enables a microphone's relatively undistorted pick up of a voice that is generated in close proximity to the microphone. This attenuator is a key component of a groundbreaking assistive device or handset/headset that empowers individuals with speech impairments to effectively communicate and reintegrate into society. By leveraging advanced acoustic hardware, intelligent voice algorithms, and a comprehensive image-or-vocabulary-to-impaired-voice database, the handset/headset facilitates understanding the user's impaired speech by harvesting understood terminology and outputting the same in a communicative context. Thus, the handset/headset enables seamless public interaction, independence, and improved quality of life to the user with speech impediments and ensures equal participation and inclusion in everyday verbal interactions.

Precisely controlled microphone acoustic attenuator with protective microphone enclosure

The acoustic attenuator also serves as a protective microphone enclosure that reduces exposure to debris as well as environmental humidity 5 and harmful gases.

A head-gear mounted bone-conducting microphone includes a housing attachable to a helmet and a transducer housed in a flexible shroud. The shroud is attached to the housing. A resilient material is disposed within the shroud. A void is provided between the resilient material and the housing to prevent the transducer from transmitting vibrations directly from the housing to the transducer. This configuration allows the microphone to effectively mechanically isolate the minuscule vibrations associated with speech from the enormous vibrations associated with most loud environments (machinery, equipment, transportation, aircraft, tanks, construction, sporting events, etc.).

Head-gear mounted bone-conducting microphone

A compact moving armature receiver where the diaphragm element is positioned in the air gap of the magnet assembly and where a suspension element is provided for defining the front chamber, the suspension element has a stiffness of at the most 500 N/m. The suspension element and the diaphragm element may be made from the same sheet of a foil, and the suspension element may be formed by bent or curved peripheral parts of the foil.

Moving armature receiver

The present invention relates to dual-diaphragm electroacoustic transducers wherein a common magnetic flux path comprises first and second magnetic gaps and a magnet assembly. The invention may provide a miniature transducer with a compact magnetic flux path of improved performance. Electroacoustic transducers in accordance with the invention may comprise a small number of separate parts and provide good acoustic conversion efficiency in a miniature or compact housing.

Dual diaphragm electroacoustic transducer

A hearing aid microphone module housing all the electronic components needed for a functional hearing aid other than the battery and receiver is described which uses flip-chip technology to couple a JFET buffer to the components. The buffer is disposed on a PCB which defines a back volume of the housing.

Microphone assembly for hearing aid with JFET flip-chip buffer

A JFET preamplifier for use with a high impedance transducer, having an inherently capacitive input bias impedance. The capacitance of the input bias impedance is effectively neutralized by capacitively coupling the JFET gate bias circuit to the source electrode of the JFET. The JFET preamplifier is configured as a source follower which reduces any capacitance between the JFET gate and source electrode by the open loop gain of the amplifier. By capacitively coupling the JFET gate bias circuit capacitance to the JFET source electrode, the overall input capacitance of the preamplifier stage is reduced.

Amplifier with reduced input capacitance

A preamplifier for use with high impedance audio frequency transducers, having two capacitance coupled stages each including a field effect transistor connected in follower mode. The two stages provide an impedance converter. The first field effect transistor is of substantially smaller geometry than the second, providing a low noise, low input capacitance. The second stage further reduces output impedance while maintaining low power supply feedthrough. A capacitor connected in shunt between the stages is employed for frequency shaping.

Low noise amplifier for microphone

A housing and diaphragm assembly for use in an acoustic transducer comprises a performed face plate having a ring shaped ridge for mounting the diaphragm. The housing includes a tubular sleeve having one end received over the ridge and secured to the face plate. Additional elements comprising an electret transducer are mounted with the diaphragm on the ridge internally of the housing.

Transducer assembly

An in-the-ear electroacoustic transducer is constructed to limit the effect of accretion of cerumen on acoustically active surfaces: to prevent cerumen from plugging passages for acoustical energy to the tympanic membrane and to facilitate the removal of cerumen from the transducer by the user. A casing has a hollow tubular wall, and diaphragm means is mounted to the casing near one end thereof, the casing being shaped for insertion in the ear to define a space generally bounded by the ear canal, the tympanic membrane and the diaphragm means. The diaphragm means has a flexible film surround, and stop means are provided to limit its movement inwardly of the casing. The transducer can be incorporated in or utilized as various hearing aids respectively adapted for different depths of insertion within the ear canal.

Non-occludable transducers for in-the-ear applications

An audio frequency amplification circuit for use with low level, high impedance signal sources, such as a miniature electret microphone, particularly useful where the power supply range is variable or may be limited to a single cell. The preferred embodiments of the circuit include a field effect transistor preamplifier stage operating as a voltage follower which is biased by a first and second impedance network coupled to the gate electrode of the FET transistor. A first impedance network is coupled between the power source terminals to provide a floating bias point. A second, high impedance network comprising (in one embodiment) a pair of parallel, reverse oriented diodes and a high impedance resistor is coupled between the bias point and the gate terminal of the transistor. In a further embodiment, the first impedance network comprises series connected high impedance resistors, and the second impedance network includes only the parallel, reverse oriented diodes. In either embodiment, extremely low capacitance elements may be coupled across the high impedance resistors, the elements preferably comprising stray capacitance from circuit conductor layout. Such source-follower biasing networks provides high input impedance and extended dynamic range without introducing noise or distortion. The audio frequency amplification circuit is preferably used as the preamplifier stage of a miniature electret microphone of extremely low source capacitance and mounted within the microphone in close proximity to the electret. Such a miniaturized, wide dynamic range microphone is especially adapted for use mounted on acoustic or electric musical instruments.

Self-biasing, low noise amplifier of extended dynamic range

An amplifier having improved input impedance and reduced susceptibility to power supply ripple, particularly suited for use with a high impedance signal source, utilizes at least two field-effect transistors; the signal source is connected to the gate of the first FET, which is connected to a reference potential by a high resistance, whereas the source electrode of the first FET is connected to the reference potential (usually ground) through a much smaller load resistance and is also connected to the gate of the second FET. The source of the second FET is connected to the drain of the first FET and the drain of the second FET is connected to a power source, usually a low voltage source.

Growing community of inventors

Camden, ME, United States of America

Peter L Madaffari