Panasonic Corporation

Shigekiyo Fujii

Hiroshi Kondo

Yasushi Ueda

Yasushi Imamura

Yoshiyuki Yoshizumi

Kazutaka Maruoka

Hiroyoshi Isozaki

Akira Ochi

Yosuke Aida

A hearing aid includes: first and second microphones; first and second A/D converters; a microphone sensitivity correction unit; a hearing assistance processing unit; a microphone sensitivity correction value calculation unit; a storage unit; a failure detection unit; a sound output unit; a D/A converter; and a receiver. The outputs of the first and second A/D converters are input to the microphone sensitivity correction value calculation unit. One output the microphone sensitivity correction value calculation unit is connected to the microphone sensitivity correction unit, and another output thereof is connected to the storage unit. An output of the storage unit and a signal output from the another output of the microphone sensitivity correction value calculation unit are input to the failure detection unit. Output signals of the failure detection unit and the hearing assistance processing unit are input to the sound output unit.

Hearing aid

A hearing aid () comprises a microphone () converting sound into an electrical signal, a processor () disposed inside a main body case (), a first volume adjuster () having a variable resistor, and a receiver () converting an electrical signal into sound. The processor () has an amplifier () amplifying an electrical signal from the microphone (), a second volume adjuster () setting a degree of amplification by the amplifier (), and a controller () controlling the second volume adjuster () and the amplifier (). The controller () detects the resistance value of the variable resistor, determines whether or not the resistance value has exceeded a specific threshold, acquires a specific value for the degree of amplification by the amplifier (), and sets the degree of amplification by the amplifier () to this specific value when the controller determines that the resistance value has exceeded the specific threshold.

Hearing aid and method of controlling volume of hearing aid

The invention is a hearing aid that is mounted on both the left and right ears and generates a notification sound to notify the user to a state change. This hearing aid comprises a first hearing aid and a second hearing aid mounted on the left and right ears, respectively. The first and second hearing aids each have a communication unit, an operating unit, a notification sound generator, and a notification sound generation delay unit. The communication unit performs communication between the first and second hearing aids. The operating unit changes the operating state of the first and second hearing aids. The notification sound generator generates a notification sound when the operating state of the first and second hearing aids changes due to operating of the operating unit. The notification sound generation delay unit controls the notification sound generator of the first hearing aid or the second hearing aid so as to delay by a specific amount the timing at which a notification sound is generated by the notification sound generator in the first hearing aid or the second hearing aid, on the basis of delay time information received through the communication unit.

[PROBLEMS] To easily associate the parameters representing the acoustic characteristic of a hearing aid with the audibility of the hearing aid user, shorten the time for adjusting the hearing aid, and improve the accuracy of the adjustment of the parameter. [MEANS FOR SOLVING PROBLEMS] By applying a two-dimensional matrix for changing the acoustic parameters of the hearing aid, a person adjusting the hearing aid can easily change the acoustic parameters depending on the audibility of the hearing aid user, the accuracy of the adjustment of the acoustic parameters is improved, and the period of time for adjusting the hearing aid is shortened.

Hearing aid adjuster

A hearing aid adjusting apparatusfor adjusting a parameter of a hearing aidhas an input devicefor accepting an operation input, a storagefor storing the parameter for every predetermined surrounding setting, a controllerfor controlling the parameter for every surrounding setting, and a displayfor displaying information about the parameter, and the input deviceaccepts selection of the plural surrounding settings and operates one of the selected surrounding settings, and the controllercollectively converts a parameter in the selected surrounding setting based on an operation accepted by the input device

Hearing aid adjusting apparatus, hearing aid, and program

A technique is disclosed, which can shorten attack time and release time without using RC filter with time constant. According to this technique, diodesandrectify AC signal at output stage of an amplifierby voltage doubler rectification, and a smoothing capacitorsmoothens the signals rectified by the diodesand. A transistorof an attenuation circuitturns on when DC voltage smoothened by the smoothing capacitor exceeds a predetermined level, and level of the output signal of the amplifier is attenuated by drawing the input signal of the amplifier.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Shigekiyo Fujii