Patents by Inventor Christopher F. Vlach

Christopher F. Vlach has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8983103
    Abstract: An earpiece may be used to detect sounds from an ear canal of a user. The earpiece may include a microphone assembly and an acoustic pathway that is at least partially defined by a hollow elongated member having a nonlinear portion following a spiraled path. The acoustic pathway fluidly couples the microphone assembly with an ear canal of the user when the earpiece is positioned with respect to the ear of the user. Sounds produced by the user travel from the ear canal through the acoustic pathway for detection by the microphone assembly. Also, the hollow elongated member behaves as an acoustic waveguide to amplify a desired frequency and/or attenuate other, less desirable, frequencies of the sounds produced by the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: Think-A-Move Ltd.
    Inventors: Christopher F. Vlach, Tom Darbonne
  • Publication number: 20120294465
    Abstract: An earpiece may be used to detect sounds from an ear canal of a user. The earpiece may include a microphone assembly and an acoustic pathway that is at least partially defined by a hollow elongated member having a nonlinear portion following a spiraled path. The acoustic pathway fluidly couples the microphone assembly with an ear canal of the user when the earpiece is positioned with respect to the ear of the user. Sounds produced by the user travel from the ear canal through the acoustic pathway for detection by the microphone assembly. Also, the hollow elongated member behaves as an acoustic waveguide to amplify a desired frequency and/or attenuate other, less desirable, frequencies of the sounds produced by the user.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 23, 2011
    Publication date: November 22, 2012
    Inventors: Christopher F. Vlach, Tom Darbonne
  • Patent number: 8103029
    Abstract: An earset assembly including a first earpiece, a second earpiece, and an electrical circuit. The first earpiece includes an internal microphone to capture speech of a user and an internal speaker, and is positionable with respect to a first ear of the user so that the internal microphone detects the speech from the first ear of the user. The second earpiece includes an internal speaker, and is positionable with respect to a second ear of the user. The electrical circuit operatively connects the internal microphone and the internal speakers to a communication device. In an audio listening state, the electrical circuit is configured to operatively couple the internal speakers respectively to first and second audio ports of the communication device for outputting stereo audio content with the speakers, and the internal microphone is switched to an off state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2012
    Assignee: Think-A-Move, Ltd.
    Inventors: Lester S. H. Ngia, Christopher F. Vlach, Tarun Pruthi
  • Patent number: 8019107
    Abstract: An earpiece may be used to detect sounds from an ear canal of a user. The earpiece may include a microphone assembly and an acoustic pathway that is at least partially defined by a hollow elongated member. The acoustic pathway fluidly couples the microphone assembly with an ear canal of the user when the earpiece is positioned with respect to the ear of the user. Sounds produced by the user travel from the ear canal through the acoustic pathway for detection by the microphone assembly. Also, the hollow elongated member behaves as an acoustic waveguide to amplify a desired frequency and/or attenuate other, less desirable, frequencies of the sounds produced by the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2011
    Assignee: Think-A-Move Ltd.
    Inventors: Lester S. H. Ngia, Tarun Pruthi, Christopher F. Vlach
  • Publication number: 20090208047
    Abstract: An earpiece may be used to detect sounds from an ear canal of a user. The earpiece may include a microphone assembly and an acoustic pathway that is at least partially defined by a hollow elongated member. The acoustic pathway fluidly couples the microphone assembly with an ear canal of the user when the earpiece is positioned with respect to the ear of the user. Sounds produced by the user travel from the ear canal through the acoustic pathway for detection by the microphone assembly. Also, the hollow elongated member behaves as an acoustic waveguide to amplify a desired frequency and/or attenuate other, less desirable, frequencies of the sounds produced by the user.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2008
    Publication date: August 20, 2009
    Inventors: Lester S. H. Ngia, Tarun Pruthi, Christopher F. Vlach
  • Publication number: 20090209304
    Abstract: An earset assembly including a first earpiece, a second earpiece, and an electrical circuit. The first earpiece includes an internal microphone to capture speech of a user and an internal speaker, and is positionable with respect to a first ear of the user so that the internal microphone detects the speech from the first ear of the user. The second earpiece includes an internal speaker, and is positionable with respect to a second ear of the user. The electrical circuit operatively connects the internal microphone and the internal speakers to a communication device. In an audio listening state, the electrical circuit is configured to operatively couple the internal speakers respectively to first and second audio ports of the communication device for outputting stereo audio content with the speakers, and the internal microphone is switched to an off state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2008
    Publication date: August 20, 2009
    Inventors: Lester S. H. Ngia, Christopher F. Vlach, Tarun Pruthi
  • Patent number: 7502484
    Abstract: An ear sensor apparatus includes a microphone positionable with respect to an ear canal to detect sound signals from the ear canal and to generate a corresponding output signal. The apparatus may include a seal for substantially blocking ambient sound signals from reaching the microphone and an interface to convey the output signal to a remote speech recognition apparatus. The output signal may be normalized so that the normalized output signal is more representative of speech from a user's mouth than speech detected from the user's ear.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2009
    Assignee: Think-A-Move, Ltd.
    Inventors: Lester S. H. Ngia, Christopher F. Vlach, Guerman G. Nemirovski