Patent EP0270268A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0270268A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Hearing aid ear piece having disposable, compressible polymeric foam sleeve
Assignee: 3M Co
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Filing: 1987-11-12
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2007-11-12
Abstract
Abstract Detachably secured to the ear piece (11) of a hearing aid is a user-disposable sleeve (13) comprising soft polymeric retarded recovery foam (14) that can be compressed to be freely insertable into a person's ear canal and then allowed to recover to become wedged in the canal. The sleeve preferably includes a flexible, elongated plastic duct (16) over which the foam fits, and the duct is formed with a screw thread of a rigid plastic which mates with a screw thread on the ear piece for each attachment and removal. The external surface of the foam preferably is substantially cylindrical and can be formed with flutes (26) to provide venting of the user's ear.
Inventors
- 👤 Carl S. C/O Minnesota Mining And Ahlberg
- 👤 Davis W. C/O Minnesota Mining And Chamberlin
- 👤 Jerold W. C/O Minnesota Mining And Bushong
- 👤 Robert J. C/O Minnesota Mining And Oliveira
- 👤 Vasant V. C/O Minnesota Mining And Kolpe
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 05:41
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04R; H04R25/00; H04R25/65; H04R25/652; H04R25/656; H04R25/60; H04R2460/00; H04R2460/11; H04R2460/17; H04R25/654; H04R25/658
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 16
Claim 1
Independent Claim
58 words
A sleeve adapted for use with a hearing aid, which hearing aid has an ear piece including a sound tube, said sleeve comprising a substantially cylindrical body with an external surface, a central passage through said body, and at least one flute on the external surface of said body, said sleeve being made from a retarded recovery foam.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
58 words
A sleeve adapted for use with a hearing aid, which hearing aid has an ear piece including a sound tube, said sleeve comprising a substantially cylindrical body with an external surface, a central passage through said body, and at least one flute on the external surface of said body, said sleeve being made from a retarded recovery foam.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
18 words
A sleeve according to claim 1 further comprising means for disposably attaching the sleeve to the ear piece.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
37 words
A sleeve according to claim 2 wherein the ear piece is formed with a distal screw thread and the sleeve is formed with a proximal screw thread which mates with the screw thread of the ear piece.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
45 words
A sleeve according to claim 1 wherein said foam is highly compressible, has slow, substantially complete recovery, and can be compressed to be freely insertable into a user's external ear canal and to become wedged in the canal when the foam is allowed to recover.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
22 words
A sleeve according to claim 1 further comprising a moldable, flexible plastic duct secured in the central passage of the cylindrical body.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
111 words
A user-disposable sleeve for a hearing aid, which hearing aid comprises an ear piece including a sound tube, said sleeve comprising a flexible, elongated duct which is formed with a longitudinal passage and means for disposably attaching the duct to said ear piece with said passage connecting the sound tube of the hearing aid to the user's ear, soft polymeric foam fitting over and firmly secured to the duct, which foam has an external surface, is highly compressible, has slow, substantially complete recovery, and can be compressed to be freely insertable into a user's external ear canal and to become wedged in the canal when the foam is allowed to recover.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
111 words
A user-disposable sleeve for a hearing aid, which hearing aid comprises an ear piece including a sound tube, said sleeve comprising a flexible, elongated duct which is formed with a longitudinal passage and means for disposably attaching the duct to said ear piece with said passage connecting the sound tube of the hearing aid to the user's ear, soft polymeric foam fitting over and firmly secured to the duct, which foam has an external surface, is highly compressible, has slow, substantially complete recovery, and can be compressed to be freely insertable into a user's external ear canal and to become wedged in the canal when the foam is allowed to recover.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
46 words
A user-disposable sleeve according to claim 6 wherein the elongated duct approximates the size of the sound tube and wherein the distal end of the sound tube and the proximal end of the sleeve are each formed with screw threaded portions which mate with one another.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
17 words
A user-disposable sleeve according to claim 6 formed with at least one flute on the external surface.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
33 words
A sleeve according to either claim 1 or claim 6 wherein the external surface of the sleeve comprises a skin of higher density cell structure than that of the interior of said sleeve.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
29 words
A sleeve according to either claim 1 or claim 6 wherein the foam has a Retarded Recovery Value of at least 4 seconds and no more than 45 seconds.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
53 words
Hearing aid comprising an ear piece including a sound tube, a user-disposable sleeve according to either claim 1 or claim 6 and means on the sleeve and the ear piece for disposably attaching the sleeve to the ear piece, the attaching means having a Holding Value at least 1-1/2 times the Pullout Value.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
23 words
Hearing aid as defined in claim 12 wherein said attaching means comprise mating screw threads formed on the duct and the ear piece.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
26 words
Hearing aid as defined in claim 12 wherein the external surface of the sleeve is formed with at least one flute for venting the user's ear.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
53 words
Hearing aid as defined in claim 13 wherein the distal end of the ear piece is formed with an annular channel extending around the sound tube and with a series of air vents each opening into the annular channel, the at least one flute communicating with the air vents through the annular channel.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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