Sound amplitude limiters

Claim 2

A sound-amplitude limiter which is self-contained in the ear canal of the user, and which is used by persons with normal hearing as an indentical pair, comprising: a. a casing which is adapted to be fitted into the ear canal; b. a microphone within the outer tip of said casing adjacent the external ear; c. a speaker within the inner tip of said casing adjacent the ear drum; d. an amplifier-type circuit of nominal gain of one with outputlimiter and a battery located within said casing between said microphone and said speaker; e. a plug of sound-deadening material located within said casing between said microphone and said speaker, said plug of sounddeadening material having two electrical connecting wires passing through it; f. the above mentioned electronic components hooked-up in operAble relationship as a miniature public address system so that sound inputs above the limit of comfort for the human ear are reduced to that limit at the ear drum, while sound inputs below said limit are electronically reproduced at the ear drum.

Claim 3

The sound-amplitude limiter of claim 1 wherein said casing which is adapted to be fitted into the ear canal is comprised of: a. an inner casing towards the inner ear made of a soft, resilient, pliable material such as rubber or latex, which said inner casing has undulating surfaces enabling tight fitness within the ear canal without irritation. b. an outer casing towards the outer ear made of the same of similar material and with the same or similar undulating surfaces as said inner casing.

Claim 4

The sound-amplitude limiter of claim 2 wherein: a. said inner casing is fitted over, contains, and is bonded to an inner cylindrical housing having male threads at its protruding outer end; b. said outer casing is fitted over, contains, and is bonded to an outer cylindrical housing having female threads at its inner end; c. said inner and outer housings, which are contained by said inner and outer casings, respectively, screw together and form a compartment for said microphone, said battery, and said amplifier-type circuitry with output-limiter; d. said compartment is further divided into a microphone compartment at the outer end by an outer housing plate which is rigidly affixed to said outer housing, an amplifier compartment at the inner end by an inner housing plate which is rigidly affixed to said inner housing, and a battery compartment between said inner and outer housing plates; said microphone and said amplifier being separated by said battery to minimize any feedback effects.

Claim 5

The sound-amplitude limiter of claim 3, wherein: a. said inner and outer housing plates have battery clips attached thereto which provide a slight compression force against the battery terminals and a slight tension force against said male and female threads as said inner and outer housing are screwed together; b. the inner face of said outer housing plate contains three hairspring-loaded arc-shaped contacts which are evenly spaced about the outer circular periphery, which said arc-shaped contacts subtend small arcs and make connection with three appropriately-mating semi-spherical contacts evenly spaced about the outer circular periphery of the outermost face of the inner housing, as the inner and outer housings are screwed together and tightened; c. said arc-shaped contacts and said semi-spherical contacts provide electrical connection for the two microphone leads and the outer housing plate battery clip lead to said amplifier.

Claim 6

The sound-amplitude limiter of claim 4 wherein: a. an inner end plate is affixed adjacent to the inner end of said speaker, the flanges of said inner end plate being sandwiched between said speaker and said inner casing, and the axes of the tiny apertures in said inner end plate being perpendicular to and offset from the acoustic output aperture of said speaker; b. an outer end plate with a hook is affixed adjacent to the outer end of said outer housing, said outer end plate being sandwiched between said outer casing and said outer housing and secured by screws onto said outer housing, and the tiny apertures in said outer end plate being aligned with the tiny apertures in said outer housing.

Claim 7

A sound-amplitude limiter which is self-contained in the ear canal of the user, and which is used by persons with normal hearing as an identical pair, comprising: a. an inner part nearest the inner ear and an outer part nearest the outer ear which parts can be unscrewed or otherwise unattached from each other when the device is removed from the ear canal for maintenance or battery change; b. said inner part containing a speaker at the inner tip; a plug of sound-deadening material such as milkweed floss, kapok, glass fiber, or silicone rubber; and an inner cyliNdrical housing having a cylindrical compartment, closed at the inner end and open at the outer end, containing an amplifier of nominal gain of one with output-limiter at the inner end and having male threads on the protruding outer end; c. said outer part containing an outer cylindrical housing having a cylindrical compartment, open at the inner end and closed at the outer end, containing a microphone at the outer end and having female threads on the inner end; d. said inner cylindrical housing and said outer cylindrical housing when screwed together forming a compartment for said battery; e. the above mentioned electronic components hooked-up in operable relationship as a miniature public address system so that sound inputs above the limit of comfort for the human ear are reduced to that limit at the ear drum, while sound inputs below said limit are electronically reproduced at the ear drum.

Claim 8

A sound-amplitude limiter which is self-contained in the ear canal of the user, and which is used by persons with normal hearing as an identical pair, comprising: a. an inner part nearest the inner ear and an outer part nearest the outer ear which parts can be unscrewed or otherwise unattached from each other when the device is removed from the ear canal for maintenance or battery change; b. said inner part containing a speaker at the inner tip; a plug of sound-deadening material such as milkweed floss, kapok, glass fiber, or silicone rubber; and an inner cyliNdrical housing having a cylindrical compartment, closed at the inner end and open at the outer end, containing an amplifier of nominal gain of one with output-limiter at the inner end and having male threads on the protruding outer end; c. said outer part containing an outer cylindrical housing having a cylindrical compartment, open at the inner end and closed at the outer end, containing a microphone at the outer end and having female threads on the inner end; d. said inner cylindrical housing and said outer cylindrical housing when screwed together forming a compartment for said battery; e. the above mentioned electronic components hooked-up in operable relationship as a miniature public address system so that sound inputs above the limit of comfort for the human ear are reduced to that limit at the ear drum, while sound inputs below said limit are electronically reproduced at the ear drum.

Claim 9

The sound-amplitude limiter of claim 6 wherein: a. said inner part nearest the inner ear is fitted within, contained by, and bonded to a cylindrical-shaped inner casing having an aperture at the inner tip for the transmission of sound from said speaker to the ear drum, said inner casing also having an aperture at the outer end of sufficient size to fit over and contain said inner cylindrical housing; b. said inner casing is made of a soft, resilient, pliable material such as rubber or latex, which said inner casing has undulating surfaces enabling tight fitness and conformity within the ear canal without irritation; c. said outer part nearest the outer ear is fitted within, contained by, and bonded to a cylindrical-shaped outer casing having an aperture at the outer tip for the transmission of sound from the ambient environment to said microphone, said outer casing also having an aperture at the inner end of sufficient size to fit over and contain said outer cylindrical housing; d. said outer casing is made of a soft, resilient, pliable material such as rubber or latex, which said outer casing has undulating surfaces enabling tight fitness and conformity within the ear canal without irritation.

Claim 10

The sound-amplitude limiter of claim 7 wherein: a. said inner and outer casings can be made in various shapes and sizes or custom-molded for the particular user; b. said outer part does not have a hook, but said outer casing has a broadened outer tip which limits the inward travel of the device within the ear canal and is suitable for finger insertion and removal; c. said outer part does not have a hook, but said outer casing has an enlarged, spherical outer end protruding beyond the ear canal which is filled with additional sound-deadening material and in which the microphone has been re-positioned to the outermost tip of said outer casing, with the connecting wires of said microphone running through the additional sound-deadening material to terminals in the microphone compartment of the outer housing, which said microphone compartment has also been filled with additional sound-deadening material, rendering the device especially useful for extreme noise cinditions.

Claim 11

The sound-amplitude limiter of claim 8 wherein: a. an outer housing plate is rigidly affixed within said outer cylindrical housing, which said outer housing plate separates said microphone on the outer side from said battery on the inner side; b. an inner housing plate is rigidly affixed within said inner cylindrical housing, which said inner housing plate separates said amplifier with output-limiter on the inner side from said battery on the outer side; c. said microphone and said amplifier with output-limiter are separated by said battery to minimize any feedback effects; d. said inner and outer housing plates have battery clips attached thereto which provide a slight compression force against the battery terminals and a slight tension force against said male and female threads as said inner and outer cylindrical housing are screwed together and tightEned; e. the inner face of said outer housing plate contains three hairspring-loaded contacts which are evenly spaced about the outer circular periphery, which said contacts subtend small arcs and make connection with three appropriately mating semi-spherical contacts evenly spaced about the outer circular periphery of the outermost face of the inner housing, as the inner and outer housings are screwed together and tightened; f. said contacts provide electrical connection for the two microphone leads and the outer housing plate battery clip lead to said amplifier; g. an inner end plate is affixed adjacent to the inner end of said speaker, the flanges of said inner end plate being sandwiched between said speaker and said inner casing, and the axes of the tiny apertures in said inner end plate being perpendicular to and offset from the acoustic output aperture of said speaker; h. an outer end plate with a hook is affixed adjacent to the outer end of said outer housing, said outer end plate being sandwiched between said outer casing and said outer housing and secured by screws onto said outer housing, and the tiny apertures in said outer end plate being aligned with the tiny apertures in said outer housing.

Claim 12

A sound-amplitude limiting device which is self-contained in the ear canal of the user, which is used by persons with normal hearing as an identical pair, and which is of the approximate size, shape, and fitness within said ear canal as an ear-plug; which said device limits the intensity of environmental sound reaching the ear drum to be below the limit of comfort while simultaneously allowing environmental sound below said limit of comfort to reach the ear drum undiminished, by means of a highly-effective sound-deadening substance located between the speaker and microphone of a microminiaturized electronic sound-reproducing system including battery and amplifier-type circuitry of nominal gain of one with output-limiter, said speaker being located at the inner tip of the device nearest the ear drum, and said microphone being located at the outer tip of the device nearest the external ear.

Claim 13

A sound-amplitude limiting device which is self-contained in the ear canal of the user, which is used by persons with normal hearing as an identical pair, and which is of the approximate size, shape, and fitness within said ear canal as an ear-plug; which said device limits the intensity of environmental sound reaching the ear drum to be below the limit of comfort while simultaneously allowing environmental sound below said limit of comfort to reach the ear drum undiminished, by means of a highly-effective sound-deadening substance located between the speaker and microphone of a microminiaturized electronic sound-reproducing system including battery and amplifier-type circuitry of nominal gain of one with output-limiter, said speaker being located at the inner tip of the device nearest the ear drum, and said microphone being located at the outer tip of the device nearest the external ear.