Yamaha Corporation

Tsuneyasu Demukai

Yoshikatsu Matsubara

Souichi Takigawa

Nobushiro Aiba

Masayoshi Yamashita

An inserting type earphone device is broken down into a signal-to-sound converter, an ear pad to be inserted into an acoustic meatus of user, a sound tube provided between the signal-to-sound converter and the ear pad and a switching mechanism provided in association with the sound tube and ear pad, and a sound hole, which is formed in the sound tube for connecting a sound propagation hole to the outside, is open to and closed with the switching mechanism; the switching mechanism makes the sound hole open and closed through rotation thereof around the sound tube so that the ear pad is not inclined in the acoustic meatus during the rotation, whereby the ear pad is not dropped off from the acoustic meatus.

Earphone device and sound generating apparatus equipped with the same

An insert earphone device includes an electro-acoustic device, an inserting body, a sound tube connected between the electro-acoustic device and the inserting body and an active valve unit provided on the sound tube, the sound tube is formed with a sound propagation path open at both ends thereof to the electro-acoustic device and the inserting body and an external sound entrance open at both end thereof to environment and the sound propagation path, and the active valve unit is formed of electroactive polymer and responsive to voltage supplied through a cable so as to close and open the external sound entrance; when a user wishes to hear external sound, the user changes the polarity of voltage so that the active valve unit is deformed for conducting the environment to the sound propagation path, whereby the user hears the external sound without removing the earphone device from the ear.

Growing community of inventors

Hamamatsu, Japan

Tsuneyasu Demukai