US 11,991,503 B2
Hearing assistance device with multipurpose microphone
Joshua Elliot Braband, Eden Prairie, MN (US); Sidney A. Higgins, Maple Grove, MN (US); and David Tourtelotte, Eden Prairie, MN (US)
Assigned to Starkey Laboratories, Inc., Eden Prairie, MN (US)
Appl. No. 17/756,220
Filed by Starkey Laboratories, Inc., Eden Prairie, MN (US)
PCT Filed Nov. 20, 2020, PCT No. PCT/US2020/070808
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date May 19, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/102469, PCT Pub. Date May 27, 2021.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/937,950, filed on Nov. 20, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0417683 A1, Dec. 29, 2022
Int. Cl. H04R 25/00 (2006.01)
CPC H04R 25/609 (2019.05) [H04R 25/48 (2013.01); H04R 25/65 (2013.01); H04R 2225/57 (2019.05); H04R 2225/61 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A hearing assistance device, comprising:
a first housing configured to be worn above an ear of a wearer, the first housing including hearing assistance electronics;
a second housing configured to be worn in the ear of the wearer, the second housing including a receiver configured to output signals processed by the hearing assistance electronics;
a cable configured to connect to the first housing at a first end and to the second housing at the second end;
a microphone at the second end of the cable, the microphone including an input port facing an acoustic channel; and
a switch in the acoustic channel, the switch having a first position in which the acoustic channel is open towards an inner portion of the ear of the wearer such that acoustic input to the microphone is received from the inner portion of the ear of the wearer, and a second position in which the acoustic channel is open away from the inner portion of the ear of the wearer such that acoustic input to the microphone is received from an area outside the ear of the wearer.
 
14. A method, comprising:
processing sound received through a first acoustic path of a microphone using a processor of a hearing assistance device, wherein the microphone is in a receiver housing configured to be placed in or near an ear of a wearer of the hearing assistance device;
actuating a switch in the receiver housing to shift from the first acoustic path to a second acoustic path of the microphone; and
processing sound received through the second acoustic path using the processor of the hearing assistance device.