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US3658150A - Hearing augmentation device - Google Patents

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US3658150A
US3658150A US121309A US3658150DA US3658150A US 3658150 A US3658150 A US 3658150A US 121309 A US121309 A US 121309A US 3658150D A US3658150D A US 3658150DA US 3658150 A US3658150 A US 3658150A
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ear
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William A Turner
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    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61F—FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS
    • A61F11/00—Methods or devices for treatment of the ears or hearing sense; Non-electric hearing aids; Methods or devices for enabling ear patients to achieve auditory perception through physiological senses other than hearing sense; Protective devices for the ears, carried on the body or in the hand
    • A61F11/30—Non-electric hearing aids, e.g. ear trumpets, sound amplifiers or ear-shells

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  • ABSTRACT A hearing augmentation device including an inverted, substantially U-shaped headband section adapted to partially encircle a persons head sufficiently snugly to be clamped thereto; the headband section extending across the top of the head of a person wearing the device and terminating adjacent each of such a wearers ears.
  • a bone contact section is interconnected with each terminus of the headband section; each bone contact section being adapted to press against the bony cage above and behind an ear of the wearer of the device through the skin only thinly covering the bone.
  • Each bone contact section carries a sound wave receptor element arranged to extend outwardly from the adjacent side of the head of the wearer of the device behind the adjacent ear; each sound wave receptor element deflecting sound waves into the wearers adjacent ear and also vibrating in response thereto to induce vibrations in the adjacent bone contact section and therefore in the bony cage above and behind the wearers adjacent ear interpretable as audible signals.
  • This invention relates generally to a hearing augmentation device, and more specifically to a device of this type mountable on the human head and including elements adapted to deflect audible signals into the ears as well as to vibrate in response thereto and induce vibrations in the bony cage adjacent each of the ears interpretable as audible signals.
  • a person for example, could be a hunter who through the use of such a device would be able to detect sounds made by such agile and relatively quiet moving game as deer, squirrels, or turkeys which otherwise would be inaudible to him; or he might be a birdwatcher enabled by the use of such a device to distinguish between the calls of the various birds at a distance.
  • an object of the instant invention is the provision of a simple, inexpensive, and readily portable hearing augmentation device.
  • Another object of the present invention is the provision of a simple and inexpensive device readily mountable on a persons head operable to augment the sense of hearing of the wearer.
  • a device including a resilient headband section of inverted substantially U-shaped form adapted to comfortably partially encircle a persons head sufficiently snugly to be clamped thereto; such resilient headband section extending across the top of the wearers head and terminating adjacent an upper portion of each of the wearers ears.
  • the device further includes a substantially L-shaped bone contact section interconnected with each terminus of the headband section each having a shorter leg pressing against the skin of the person wearing the device only thinly covering the skull just above the adjacent ear and also having a longer leg pressing against the skin only thinly covering the skull behind the adjacent ear.
  • each bone contact section of the device carries a somewhat musselshell-shaped sound wave receptor element arranged to extend outwardly from the adjacent side of the head behind the adjacent ear of the person wearing the device; each sound wave receptor element deflecting sound waves into the adjacent ear and also vibrating in response to impinging sound waves to induce vibrations in the adjacent bone contact section which in turn induces vibrations in the adjacent bony cage surrounding the ear interpretable as audible signals.
  • FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the hearing augmentation device acc-ording to the present invention
  • FIG. 2 is a view thereof, partially in section, taken looking upwardly along the line 2 2 of FIG. 1;
  • FIG. 3 is a side elevational view thereof
  • FIG. 4 is an elevational view thereof, partially in section, taken on the line 4 4 of FIG. 1;
  • FIG. 5 is a pictorial representation thereof on a reduced scale as mounted for utilization on the head of a user thereof.
  • a hearing augmentation device generally designated by the reference numeral 11.
  • the device 11 includes a headband section 12 formed of a somewhat resilient material such as a suitable plastic and of operationally inverted, substantially U-shaped configuration externally provided with a reinforcing or strengthening rib 13 extending substantially along the entire length thereof.
  • the headband section 12 of the device inasmuch as human heads occur in a variety of shapes and sizes, may also be provided in a plurality of different shapes and sizes each of which may be adapted to fit any one of a range of head shapes and sizes sufficiently snugly to be thereby clamped thereto.
  • the headband section 12 When the headband section 12 is snugly mounted on a persons head as contemplated herein to extend across the top of the wearer's head and terminate adjacent an upper portion of each of the wearers ears the ensuing distortion thereof will produce stresses therein which could be expected to be a maximum at the longitudinal center thereof and which could be expected to become progressively smaller towards each terminus thereof. Accordingly, the width of the headband section 12 is a maximum at the longitudinal center thereof; the width of headband section 12 tapering therefrom towards a minimum at each terminus thereof. The headband section 12 so formed would be somewhat more uniformly stressed than would be the case if it were provided with a uniform cross-sectional area throughout the length thereof.
  • the rib l3 externally provided on the headband section 12 likewise is of maximum cross sectional area at the longitudinal center of the headband section 12 for the same reason; the rib I3 tapering from this point and becoming progressively smaller towards a point adjacent each terminus ofthe headband section 12.
  • the device ll further includes a substantially L-shaped bone contact section preferably integrally interconnected with each terminus of the headband section I2 thereof.
  • Each of the bone contact sections of the device I1 includes a shorter leg I4 operationally extending substantially horizontally and rear wardly from the adjacent terminus of the headband section 12; the shorter leg 14 of each bone contact section of the device 11 being adapted to press relatively tightly against the skin only thinly covering the skull of the wearer of the device 11 just above the wearers adjacent ear.
  • Each of the bone contact sections of the device 11 further includes a longer leg 15 integrally interconnected with the operationally rearmost extremity of the shorter leg 14 thereof and operationally extending downwardly therefrom; the longer leg 15 of each bone contact section of the device 11 being adapted to press relatively tightly against the skin only thinly covering the skull of the wearer of the device 11 just behind the wearers adjacent ear.
  • the device 11 also includes a sound wave receptor element 16 integrally interconnected with and carried by the longer leg 15 of each of the bone contact sections thereof.
  • Each of the sound wave receptor elements 16 is substantially oval in frontal elevation, as shown in FIG. I, and is of substantially uniform thickness; the sound wave receptor elements 16 each having a concave operationally frontally facing surface and having a correspondingly convex operationally rearwardly facing surface.
  • the concavity of the operationally frontally facing surface of each of the sound wave receptor elements 16 is a maximum fairly closely adjacent the line of juncture of the same with the longer leg 15 of the adjacent bone contact section of the device 11.
  • Each of the sound wave receptor elements 16 of the device 11 preferably measures about 6 inches in height by about 3 inches in width.
  • the entire device 11 may be formed of a somewhat resilient and suitable plastic material, with the bone contact sections thereof being integrally interconnected with the headband section 12 thereof, and with each sound wave receptor element 16 thereof being integrally interconnected with the adjacent bone contact section thereof.
  • the headband section 12 of the device 11 could be formed of a suitably resilient metal, and separately formed bone contact sections of the device 11 could be connected to such a headband section 12 thereof by means of such suitable conventional fasteners as rivets or the like, although in such a case each of the bone contact sections of the device 11 and the sound wave receptor element 16 carried thereby should still be integrally formed of a suitable plastic material to secure the most advantageous results.
  • the device 11 is mounted on a person's head in the manner hereinbefore described and as illustrated in FIG. of the drawing.
  • the external or auricle portion of the human ear even when unusually generously proportioned, is simply too small to deflect sound waves having wave lengths in all but a small portion of the human audibility range into the inner car
  • the sound wave receptor elements 16 of the device 11 sized and shaped as hereinbefore set forth are capable of deflecting sound waves having wave lengths extending throughout practically the entire human audibility range into the inner ear
  • the hearing augmentation device may greatly enhance the sense of hearing of a user thereof.
  • the sound wave receptor elements 16 of the device 11 In addition to deflecting sound waves into the inner ear the sound wave receptor elements 16 of the device 11 also vibrate in response thereto and induce vibrations in the bone contact sections of the device 11 as hereinbefore set forth.
  • the bone contact sections of the device 11 function similarly to the bone conduction receiver elements of certain conventional electrically energized hearing aids to vibrate the bones of the skull to stimulate the hearing mechanism; the theory of such stimulation of the hearing mechanism being described in such detail in many widely circulated works of general reference as to obviate the necessity ofany further description herein.
  • a hearing augmentation device comprising: means adapted to at least partially snugly encircle the head of a human being to be thereby clamped thereto; at least a first bone contact section carried by said means adapted to at least partially encircle the head of a human being, said bone contact section being adapted to press relatively tightly against the skin only thinly covering the skull of said human being adjacent an ear of said human being; and
  • said bone contact section is substantially L-shaped and includes a shorter leg operatively positionable above said ear of said human being as well as a longer leg operatively positionable behind said ear of said human being, said longer leg of said bone contact section carrying the sound wave receptor element.
  • said means adapted to at least partially encircle the head of said human being is a substantially U-shaped headband section having a terminus positionable adjacent said ear of said human being.
  • a second bone contact section is further carried by said means adapted to at least partially encircle the head of a human being, said second bone contact section bein adapted to press relativel tightly against the skin only thrn y covering the skull of sat human being adjacent the other ear of said human being, and wherein a second sound wave receptor element is carried by said second bone contact section to extend substantially outwardly from the head of said human being adjacent said other ear of said human being, said second sound wave receptor element being sized and shaped to deflect sound waves into said other car of said human being and being adapted to vibrate in response to the impingement of said sound waves thereon to induce vibrations in said second bone contact section which in turn vibrate the bone of the skull adjacent said other car of said human being.
  • said second bone contact section is substantially L-shaped and includes a shorter leg operatively positionable above said other car of said human being as well as a longer leg operatively positionable behind said other car of said human being, said longer leg of said second bone contact section carrying said second sound wave receptor element.
  • said means adapted to at least partially encircle the head of said human being is a substantially U-shaped headband section terminating adjacent each of the ears of said human being.

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  • Otolaryngology (AREA)
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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
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Abstract

A hearing augmentation device including an inverted, substantially U-shaped headband section adapted to partially encircle a person''s head sufficiently snugly to be clamped thereto; the headband section extending across the top of the head of a person wearing the device and terminating adjacent each of such a wearer''s ears. A bone contact section is interconnected with each terminus of the headband section; each bone contact section being adapted to press against the bony cage above and behind an ear of the wearer of the device through the skin only thinly covering the bone. Each bone contact section carries a sound wave receptor element arranged to extend outwardly from the adjacent side of the head of the wearer of the device behind the adjacent ear; each sound wave receptor element deflecting sound waves into the wearer''s adjacent ear and also vibrating in response thereto to induce vibrations in the adjacent bone contact section and therefore in the bony cage above and behind the wearer''s adjacent ear interpretable as audible signals.

Description

United States Patent Turner [54] HEARING AUGMENTATION DEVICE [72] Inventor: William A. Turner, 205 Sycamore Road,
Franklin, Va. 23851 22 Filed: Mans, 1971 211 Appl.No.: 121,309
Primary Examiner-Stephen J. Tomsky [151 3,658,150 1 Apr. 25, 1972 Attorney-J. Maxwell Carson, Jr.
[57] ABSTRACT A hearing augmentation device including an inverted, substantially U-shaped headband section adapted to partially encircle a persons head sufficiently snugly to be clamped thereto; the headband section extending across the top of the head of a person wearing the device and terminating adjacent each of such a wearers ears. A bone contact section is interconnected with each terminus of the headband section; each bone contact section being adapted to press against the bony cage above and behind an ear of the wearer of the device through the skin only thinly covering the bone. Each bone contact section carries a sound wave receptor element arranged to extend outwardly from the adjacent side of the head of the wearer of the device behind the adjacent ear; each sound wave receptor element deflecting sound waves into the wearers adjacent ear and also vibrating in response thereto to induce vibrations in the adjacent bone contact section and therefore in the bony cage above and behind the wearers adjacent ear interpretable as audible signals.
6 Claims, 5 Drawing F igtres PATENTEDAPRZS m2 3,658,150
FIG. 5
INVENTOR. WLLIAM A. TURNER ATTORNEY HEARING AUGMENTATION DEVICE This invention relates generally to a hearing augmentation device, and more specifically to a device of this type mountable on the human head and including elements adapted to deflect audible signals into the ears as well as to vibrate in response thereto and induce vibrations in the bony cage adjacent each of the ears interpretable as audible signals.
Under certain circumstances, a person whose sense of hearing is in no way impaired, and who therefore could not be expected to own any of the presently widely commercially available and relatively expensive electrically energized hearing aid devices or the like, would find the use of a simple, inexpensive and readily portable device for enhancing the sense of hearing to be quite beneficial. Such a person, for example, could be a hunter who through the use of such a device would be able to detect sounds made by such agile and relatively quiet moving game as deer, squirrels, or turkeys which otherwise would be inaudible to him; or he might be a birdwatcher enabled by the use of such a device to distinguish between the calls of the various birds at a distance. Security guards and watchmen, obviously, would be enabled to more effectively perform their duties if provided with such a device, and even householders who merely desire to watch a television program with the sound turned quite low to avoid disturbing other members of the household who may have retired for the night would find it possible to clearly hear the audio portion of the program under such conditions through the use of such a device. The hearing augmentation device forming the subject matter of the present application would be readily useable by such persons as those hereinbefore set forth for the attainment of the foregoing advantageous results, and is considered to fill a need not heretofore satisfied by any prior art in this field.
Accordingly, an object of the instant invention is the provision of a simple, inexpensive, and readily portable hearing augmentation device.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of a simple and inexpensive device readily mountable on a persons head operable to augment the sense of hearing of the wearer.
According to the instant invention, the foregoing and other objects are obtained by providing a device including a resilient headband section of inverted substantially U-shaped form adapted to comfortably partially encircle a persons head sufficiently snugly to be clamped thereto; such resilient headband section extending across the top of the wearers head and terminating adjacent an upper portion of each of the wearers ears. The device further includes a substantially L-shaped bone contact section interconnected with each terminus of the headband section each having a shorter leg pressing against the skin of the person wearing the device only thinly covering the skull just above the adjacent ear and also having a longer leg pressing against the skin only thinly covering the skull behind the adjacent ear. The longer leg of each bone contact section of the device carries a somewhat musselshell-shaped sound wave receptor element arranged to extend outwardly from the adjacent side of the head behind the adjacent ear of the person wearing the device; each sound wave receptor element deflecting sound waves into the adjacent ear and also vibrating in response to impinging sound waves to induce vibrations in the adjacent bone contact section which in turn induces vibrations in the adjacent bony cage surrounding the ear interpretable as audible signals.
A more complete appreciation of the invention and many attendant advantages thereof will be readily apparent as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:
FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the hearing augmentation device acc-ording to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a view thereof, partially in section, taken looking upwardly along the line 2 2 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a side elevational view thereof;
FIG. 4 is an elevational view thereof, partially in section, taken on the line 4 4 of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 5 is a pictorial representation thereof on a reduced scale as mounted for utilization on the head of a user thereof.
Referring now more particularly to the drawing, wherein like reference numerals designate the same or identical parts throughout the several views, and more specifically to FIGS. 1 4, there is shown a hearing augmentation device, generally designated by the reference numeral 11. The device 11 includes a headband section 12 formed of a somewhat resilient material such as a suitable plastic and of operationally inverted, substantially U-shaped configuration externally provided with a reinforcing or strengthening rib 13 extending substantially along the entire length thereof. The headband section 12 of the device 11, inasmuch as human heads occur in a variety of shapes and sizes, may also be provided in a plurality of different shapes and sizes each of which may be adapted to fit any one of a range of head shapes and sizes sufficiently snugly to be thereby clamped thereto. When the headband section 12 is snugly mounted on a persons head as contemplated herein to extend across the top of the wearer's head and terminate adjacent an upper portion of each of the wearers ears the ensuing distortion thereof will produce stresses therein which could be expected to be a maximum at the longitudinal center thereof and which could be expected to become progressively smaller towards each terminus thereof. Accordingly, the width of the headband section 12 is a maximum at the longitudinal center thereof; the width of headband section 12 tapering therefrom towards a minimum at each terminus thereof. The headband section 12 so formed would be somewhat more uniformly stressed than would be the case if it were provided with a uniform cross-sectional area throughout the length thereof. The rib l3 externally provided on the headband section 12 likewise is of maximum cross sectional area at the longitudinal center of the headband section 12 for the same reason; the rib I3 tapering from this point and becoming progressively smaller towards a point adjacent each terminus ofthe headband section 12.
The device ll further includes a substantially L-shaped bone contact section preferably integrally interconnected with each terminus of the headband section I2 thereof. Each of the bone contact sections of the device I1 includes a shorter leg I4 operationally extending substantially horizontally and rear wardly from the adjacent terminus of the headband section 12; the shorter leg 14 of each bone contact section of the device 11 being adapted to press relatively tightly against the skin only thinly covering the skull of the wearer of the device 11 just above the wearers adjacent ear. Each of the bone contact sections of the device 11 further includes a longer leg 15 integrally interconnected with the operationally rearmost extremity of the shorter leg 14 thereof and operationally extending downwardly therefrom; the longer leg 15 of each bone contact section of the device 11 being adapted to press relatively tightly against the skin only thinly covering the skull of the wearer of the device 11 just behind the wearers adjacent ear.
The device 11 also includes a sound wave receptor element 16 integrally interconnected with and carried by the longer leg 15 of each of the bone contact sections thereof. Each of the sound wave receptor elements 16 is substantially oval in frontal elevation, as shown in FIG. I, and is of substantially uniform thickness; the sound wave receptor elements 16 each having a concave operationally frontally facing surface and having a correspondingly convex operationally rearwardly facing surface. The concavity of the operationally frontally facing surface of each of the sound wave receptor elements 16 is a maximum fairly closely adjacent the line of juncture of the same with the longer leg 15 of the adjacent bone contact section of the device 11. Each of the sound wave receptor elements 16 of the device 11 preferably measures about 6 inches in height by about 3 inches in width.
As indicated hereinbefore, the entire device 11 may be formed of a somewhat resilient and suitable plastic material, with the bone contact sections thereof being integrally interconnected with the headband section 12 thereof, and with each sound wave receptor element 16 thereof being integrally interconnected with the adjacent bone contact section thereof. Alternatively, however, the headband section 12 of the device 11 could be formed of a suitably resilient metal, and separately formed bone contact sections of the device 11 could be connected to such a headband section 12 thereof by means of such suitable conventional fasteners as rivets or the like, although in such a case each of the bone contact sections of the device 11 and the sound wave receptor element 16 carried thereby should still be integrally formed of a suitable plastic material to secure the most advantageous results.
In use, the device 11 is mounted on a person's head in the manner hereinbefore described and as illustrated in FIG. of the drawing. Inasmuch as the external or auricle portion of the human ear, even when unusually generously proportioned, is simply too small to deflect sound waves having wave lengths in all but a small portion of the human audibility range into the inner car, while the sound wave receptor elements 16 of the device 11 sized and shaped as hereinbefore set forth are capable of deflecting sound waves having wave lengths extending throughout practically the entire human audibility range into the inner ear, it will be apparent that the hearing augmentation device according to the present invention may greatly enhance the sense of hearing of a user thereof. In addition to deflecting sound waves into the inner ear the sound wave receptor elements 16 of the device 11 also vibrate in response thereto and induce vibrations in the bone contact sections of the device 11 as hereinbefore set forth. The bone contact sections of the device 11 function similarly to the bone conduction receiver elements of certain conventional electrically energized hearing aids to vibrate the bones of the skull to stimulate the hearing mechanism; the theory of such stimulation of the hearing mechanism being described in such detail in many widely circulated works of general reference as to obviate the necessity ofany further description herein.
Obviously, other modifications and variations of the instant invention are possible in the light of the foregoing teachings. it is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.
Iclaim: l. A hearing augmentation device, comprising: means adapted to at least partially snugly encircle the head of a human being to be thereby clamped thereto; at least a first bone contact section carried by said means adapted to at least partially encircle the head of a human being, said bone contact section being adapted to press relatively tightly against the skin only thinly covering the skull of said human being adjacent an ear of said human being; and
at least a first sound wave receptor element carried by said bone contact section to extend substantially outwardly from the head of said human being adjacent said ear of said human being, said sound wave receptor element being sized and shaped to deflect sound waves into said ear of said human being and being adapted to vibrate in response to the impingement of said sound waves thereon to induce vibrations in said bone contact section which in turn vibrate the bone of the skull adjacent said ear of said human being.
2. The device according to claim 1, wherein said bone contact section is substantially L-shaped and includes a shorter leg operatively positionable above said ear of said human being as well as a longer leg operatively positionable behind said ear of said human being, said longer leg of said bone contact section carrying the sound wave receptor element.
3. The device according to claim 2, wherein said means adapted to at least partially encircle the head of said human being is a substantially U-shaped headband section having a terminus positionable adjacent said ear of said human being.
4. The device according to claim 1, wherein a second bone contact section is further carried by said means adapted to at least partially encircle the head of a human being, said second bone contact section bein adapted to press relativel tightly against the skin only thrn y covering the skull of sat human being adjacent the other ear of said human being, and wherein a second sound wave receptor element is carried by said second bone contact section to extend substantially outwardly from the head of said human being adjacent said other ear of said human being, said second sound wave receptor element being sized and shaped to deflect sound waves into said other car of said human being and being adapted to vibrate in response to the impingement of said sound waves thereon to induce vibrations in said second bone contact section which in turn vibrate the bone of the skull adjacent said other car of said human being.
5. The device according to claim 4, wherein said second bone contact section is substantially L-shaped and includes a shorter leg operatively positionable above said other car of said human being as well as a longer leg operatively positionable behind said other car of said human being, said longer leg of said second bone contact section carrying said second sound wave receptor element.
6. The device according to claim 5, wherein said means adapted to at least partially encircle the head of said human being is a substantially U-shaped headband section terminating adjacent each of the ears of said human being.

Claims (6)

1. A hearing augmentation device, comprising: means adapted to at least partially snugly encircle the head of a human being to be thereby clamped thereto; at least a first bone contact section carried by said means adapted to at least partially encircle the head of a human being, said bone contact section being adapted to press relatively tightly against the skin only thinly covering the skull of said human being adjacent an ear of said human being; and at least a first sound wave receptor element carried by said bone contact section to extend substantially outwardly from the head of said human being adjacent said ear of said human being, said sound wave receptor element being sized and shaped to deflect sound waves into said ear of said human being and being adapted to vibrate in response to the impingement of said sound waves thereon to induce vibrations in said bone contact section which in turn vibrate the bone of the skull adjacent said ear of said human being.
2. The device according to claim 1, wherein said bone contact section is substantially L-shaped and includes a shorter leg operatively positionable above said ear of said human being as well as a longer leg operatively positionable behind said ear of said human being, said longer leg of said bone contact section carrying the sound wave receptor element.
3. The device according to claim 2, wherein said means adapted to at least partially encircle the head of said human being is a substantially U-shaped headband section having a terminus positionable adjacent said ear of said human being.
4. The device according to claim 1, wherein a second bone contact section is further carried by said means adapted to at least partially encircle the head of a human being, said second bone contact section being adapted to press relatively tightly against the skin only thinly covering the skull of said human being adjacent the other ear of said human being, and wherein a second sound wave receptor element is carried by said second bone contact section to extend substantially outwardly from the head of said human being adjacent said other ear of said human being, said second sound wave receptor element being sized and shaped to deflect sound waves into said other ear of said human being and being adapted to vibrate in response to the impingement of said sound waves thereon to induce vibrations in said second bone contact section which in turn vibrate the bone of the skull adjacent said other ear of said human being.
5. The device according to claim 4, wherein said second bone contact section is substantially L-shaped and includes a shorter leg operatively positionable above said other ear of said human being as well as a longer leg operatively positionable behind said other ear of said human being, said longer leg of said second bone contact section carrying said second sound wave receptor element.
6. The device according to claim 5, wherein said means adapted to at least partially encircle the head of said human being is a substantially U-shaped headband section terminating adjacent each of the ears of said human being.
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Cited By (14)

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USD244467S (en) 1975-09-11 1977-05-24 Soundmasters, Inc. Sound intensifying receiver
USD278431S (en) 1982-08-27 1985-04-16 Beard Kenneth K Acoustic reflector headset
US4890688A (en) * 1989-04-14 1990-01-02 David Baker Anechoic ear piece
USD351387S (en) 1993-02-01 1994-10-11 Roberts Philip O Acoustic reflector
US20050146404A1 (en) * 2002-04-09 2005-07-07 Eric Yeatman Microengineered self-releasing switch
US20060151236A1 (en) * 2005-01-07 2006-07-13 Mccool Patrick J Enhancing audio reinforcement systems and methods
US20080123884A1 (en) * 2006-08-22 2008-05-29 David Donenfeld Passive hearing aid device
US8220585B2 (en) * 2010-11-08 2012-07-17 Barry Vogel Non-electronic hearing aid
USD667813S1 (en) * 2011-06-16 2012-09-25 Hickson Grant H Sound amplifying apparatus with adjustable headband for enhancing the hearing of a user
USD674492S1 (en) 2010-11-08 2013-01-15 Barry Vogel Non-electronic hearing aid
US20160262939A1 (en) * 2013-10-17 2016-09-15 Yosuke KUMAGAWA Auditory sensitivity adjustment device
USD930840S1 (en) * 2019-10-17 2021-09-14 Stanley E. Misiaszek Hearing enhancement device
US20220078538A1 (en) * 2020-09-10 2022-03-10 Listen Co., LLC System and method for improving accuracy of aural detection of singing
US20240171897A1 (en) * 2022-11-22 2024-05-23 Justin Lee Adjustable and Retractable Headset For Enhanced Hearing Experience

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GB364066A (en) * 1929-06-22 1931-12-30 Johanna Blaschke Device for controlling the acoustic power of the human voice or of the sound of the sound of a musical instrument and the like
US2537201A (en) * 1948-11-29 1951-01-09 Amfitheatrof Daniele Sound gatherer
US3139150A (en) * 1962-09-18 1964-06-30 Weil Maximilian Sound interceptors for stereophonic perception

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
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GB364066A (en) * 1929-06-22 1931-12-30 Johanna Blaschke Device for controlling the acoustic power of the human voice or of the sound of the sound of a musical instrument and the like
US2537201A (en) * 1948-11-29 1951-01-09 Amfitheatrof Daniele Sound gatherer
US3139150A (en) * 1962-09-18 1964-06-30 Weil Maximilian Sound interceptors for stereophonic perception

Cited By (16)

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USD674492S1 (en) 2010-11-08 2013-01-15 Barry Vogel Non-electronic hearing aid
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USD667813S1 (en) * 2011-06-16 2012-09-25 Hickson Grant H Sound amplifying apparatus with adjustable headband for enhancing the hearing of a user
US20160262939A1 (en) * 2013-10-17 2016-09-15 Yosuke KUMAGAWA Auditory sensitivity adjustment device
US9717632B2 (en) * 2013-10-17 2017-08-01 Yosuke KUMAGAWA Auditory sensitivity adjustment device
US10383770B2 (en) 2013-10-17 2019-08-20 Yosuke KUMAGAWA Auditory sensitivity adjustment device
USD930840S1 (en) * 2019-10-17 2021-09-14 Stanley E. Misiaszek Hearing enhancement device
US20220078538A1 (en) * 2020-09-10 2022-03-10 Listen Co., LLC System and method for improving accuracy of aural detection of singing
US20240171897A1 (en) * 2022-11-22 2024-05-23 Justin Lee Adjustable and Retractable Headset For Enhanced Hearing Experience

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