Patents Assigned to Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH
  • Patent number: 8098858
    Abstract: The influence of interference from power supply lines in hearing devices is to be reduced. Thus a hearing device with an antenna for receiving and/or sending inductive signals, a signal processing device, to which the antenna is connected, a power supply unit for supplying power to the signal processing device and an electrical conductor for electrical connection of the power supply unit to the signal processing device is provided. The electrical conductor is L-shaped or U-shaped and closely follows the contours of the power supply unit. In addition the electrical conductor forms a part of an essentially round or rectangular ring, the axis of which has a main directional component perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the antenna. A magnetic field created by the conductor is thus perpendicular to the antenna, so that its magnetic interference influence is reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2012
    Assignee: Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH
    Inventors: Volker Gebhardt, Peter Nikles, Erika Radick
  • Patent number: 8098865
    Abstract: An ear hook is to be able to be tightly attached to a hearing device housing in a simple fashion. To this end, provision is made for it to be possible to clip the ear hook onto the hearing device housing. One of the two parts; hearing device housing and ear hook has a sound outlet tube, which can be inserted into a corresponding opening in the other part. The two parts are detachably fastened to one another in an axial direction in respect of the sound outlet tube by means of a magnetic connection. The magnetic connection ensures that the two components are fitted tightly onto one another, though it enables said two components to rotate in respect of each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2012
    Assignee: Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH
    Inventors: Wai Kit David Ho, Wee Haw Koo, Beng Hai Tan
  • Patent number: 8098863
    Abstract: Hearing apparatuses and in particular hearing devices are to be designed smaller. To this end, provision is made to integrate an electrical control facility for controlling the hearing apparatus into the cover for covering a programming connection of the hearing apparatus. This multifunctionality of the cover allows installation space to be saved. It is particularly favorable if an actuating element of an electrical push button is mounted to the same bolt, to which the cover itself is also mounted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2012
    Assignee: Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH
    Inventors: Wai Kit David Ho, Wee Haw Koo, Beng Hai Tan
  • Patent number: 8098860
    Abstract: Hearing apparatus and especially hearing devices are to be designed to be smaller. To this end there is provision for the shell or otoplastic to be worn in the auditory canal or for the housing of the hearing apparatus to be made of battery layers, so that the shell or otoplastic or the housing of the hearing apparatus itself represents the battery. Alternatively the hearing device battery can also be relocated from a conventional hearing device into a normal otoplastic, with this also reducing the volume of the hearing device. The reduction in volume allows the acceptance of wearing the hearing device to be greatly increased, and a variant of the hearing apparatus can be more easily implemented as a cymba device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2012
    Assignee: Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH
    Inventor: Wolfgang Geiger
  • Patent number: 8098861
    Abstract: A battery compartment door for an electronic device, said door being operable between open and closed conditions of use with respect to the device, including a cradle shaped to at least partially receive a terminal of a battery, wherein the cradle is adapted to electrically couple the terminal to an electric circuit of the device when the door is arranged in the closed condition of use.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2012
    Assignee: Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH
    Inventors: Wai Kit David Ho, Wee Haw Koo, Beng Hai Tan
  • Patent number: 8098862
    Abstract: Provisions to charge the battery of a hearing apparatus without having to remove the battery from the housing are provided. A hearing apparatus separates charging contacts, which are disposed on the surface of the housing and serve to charge the battery, from the battery and to connect the battery to an amplifier circuit, when the battery is not being charged. Otherwise, when the battery is being charged, the hearing apparatus connects the charging contacts to the battery and separates the battery from the amplifier circuit. This double switching function means that the amplifier circuit is protected from charging power surges and also in the normal operating state of the hearing apparatus electrochemical reactions at the charging contacts are avoided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2012
    Assignee: Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH
    Inventors: Frank Koch, Thomas Lotter, Uwe Rass
  • Patent number: 8098206
    Abstract: A device having an electric antenna and a magnetic antenna is described, the antennas being spatially arranged in immediate mutual proximity. The electric antenna has at least one current-carrying electric conductor which acts as a resonator for the electric antenna, while the magnetic antenna has a coil with at least one current-carrying conductor loop which acts as an inductor of the magnetic antenna. Thus the electric antenna and the magnetic antenna are spatially arranged relative to each other such that the direction of the current in the electric conductor of the electric antenna extends substantially at right angles to the direction of the current in the conductor loop of the magnetic antenna.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2012
    Assignee: Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH
    Inventor: Ulrich Schätzle
  • Patent number: 8094851
    Abstract: The size of hearing apparatuses and in particular of hearing devices is to be reduced. To this end, provision is made to combine a rocker-like actuator of the hearing apparatus for manually adjusting a parameter of a signal processing unit for pressing from a neutral position in a first adjusting position or a second adjusting position with an on/off switch. To this end, the rocker-like actuator can be pressed into an additional switching position. The multiple functionalities of the actuator allow installation space to be conserved and thus allow the housing of the hearing apparatus to be simplified and minimized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2012
    Assignee: Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH
    Inventors: Markus Heerlein, Thomas Kasztelan, Wee Haw Koo
  • Patent number: 8090111
    Abstract: A signal separator, a method and computer product for determining a first output signal describing an audio content of a useful-signal source in a first microphone signal, and for determining a second output signal describing an audio content of the useful-signal source in a second microphone signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2012
    Assignees: Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
    Inventors: Robert Aichner, Herbert Buchner, Walter Kellermann
  • Patent number: 8090128
    Abstract: The object is to improve the action of a directional microphone in real acoustic environments. To do this, it is envisaged that the interference powers in a directional microphone with three microphones are reduced in that a first and a second microphone signal are adaptively filtered with respect to a first direction, with a direction-determining first parameter being adapted in such a way that the summation of interference powers is reduced. The second and a third microphone signal is adaptively filtered with respect to the first direction, with a direction-determining second parameter being adapted in such a way that the summation of interference powers is reduced. The two parameters are different from each other. This makes it possible, even in real environments, to suppress two interference sources from different directions with one second-order directional microphone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2012
    Assignee: Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH
    Inventor: Henning Puder
  • Patent number: 8085961
    Abstract: A hearing device and method for monitoring the hearing ability of a person with impaired hearing allow changes of the hearing ability specifically of a person wearing a hearing aid are to be better able to be registered and taken into account. For this purpose, the setting of an operating element, this serves for setting an output sound level of a hearing device. Furthermore, the ambient sound level in the vicinity of the hearing device is measured. After that, the current setting is compared with the current, measured ambient sound level and a corresponding control signal is output dependent on the result of the comparison. This control signal serves, for example, for signaling to the wearer of a hearing aid the loss of hearing or the automatic adjustment of the hearing aid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2011
    Assignee: Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH
    Inventors: Stefan Aschoff, Matthias Fröhlich
  • Patent number: 8081768
    Abstract: To determine target amplification curves in hearing devices, audiometric mismeasurements are to be corrected. To this end, it is proposed first to measure a bone conduction hearing threshold of a patient. Furthermore a database having typical sound conduction components for a number of typical hearing impairments is provided. One of these sound conduction components is selected in order to smooth the measured bone conduction hearing threshold, with a smoothed bone conduction hearing threshold resulting. One or a number of target amplification curves is formed from the smoothed bone conduction hearing threshold, if necessary with further hearing thresholds. Error corrections can be reliably carried out with the aid of the database.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2011
    Assignee: Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH
    Inventor: Andre Steinbuss
  • Patent number: 8068653
    Abstract: A method and system for detecting the second bend plane of an ear canal surface is disclosed. A region of interest of the ear canal is defined between the first bend plane and the ear canal tip. A set of curves is defined in the region of interest and a set of high curvature points is detected from the set of curves. The second bend plane is detected using the set of high curvature points.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2011
    Assignee: Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH
    Inventors: Gregory G. Slabaugh, Tong Fang, Rupen Melkisetoglu, Simon Floery
  • Patent number: 8064731
    Abstract: A method for rigid registration of ear impression models, including: extracting a canal region from an undetailed ear impression model, the undetailed ear impression model representing an undetailed surface of an ear canal and outer ear geometry; extracting a canal region from a detailed ear impression model, the detailed ear impression model representing a detailed surface of the ear canal; generating an orientation histogram for the canal region of the undetailed ear impression model and an orientation histogram for the canal region of the detailed ear impression model; performing a rotational alignment between the orientation histograms; computing a translational shift between the canal regions after performing the rotational alignment; and performing a registration between the undetailed and detailed ear impression models after computing the translational shift.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2011
    Assignee: Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH
    Inventors: Alexander Zouhar, Gregory G. Slabaugh, Gozde Unal, Tong Fang
  • Patent number: 8059825
    Abstract: The data of a hearing device system with two hearing devices are to be available in a more comfortable manner. To this end, provision is made for each of the two hearing devices to be equipped with a data acquisition facility, in order to acquire internal signal processing data and/or external data. The two data acquisition facilities and/or the hearing devices are designed to establish a wireless communication link. A synchronized data acquisition is possible in both hearing devices with the aid of this link. This binaural wireless data logging dispenses with the need for comparing the recording times (synchronization). A division of the recording onto two hearing devices enables storage capacity to be saved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2011
    Assignee: Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH
    Inventor: Matthias Latzel
  • Patent number: 8055001
    Abstract: An especially small operating device for a hearing aid, but one which is nevertheless simple for a user to actuate manually, which still enables a multiplicity of different operating functions in a simple and clear manner is provided. The use of a fingerprint sensor is provided for this purpose, whereby different operating functions are assigned to the individual fingers of the user. Depending on the finger with which the user actuates the fingerprint sensor, different operating functions are initiated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2011
    Assignee: Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH
    Inventor: Mihail Boguslavskij
  • Patent number: 8050436
    Abstract: In acoustic systems, especially with hearing aids, feedback whistling keeps occurring. To avoid this, a limit gain frequency response of the amplification device, which represents the limits of feedback whistling, is thus recorded. On the basis of the curve recorded a required gain frequency response with a number of interpolation points is created, with each interpolation point having a predetermined minimum distance in each case to the limit gain frequency response in at least two different directions. This enables feedback whistling to be largely avoided, even with shifts in resonant frequencies.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2011
    Assignee: Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH
    Inventor: Robert Kasanmascheff
  • Patent number: 8045740
    Abstract: A hearing device opening in a housing of an in-the-ear hearing device is to be able to be sealed in a simple manner. To this end, an elastic band is provided, which is attached to a second housing part and/or faceplate and to a first housing part or inside the second housing part. The band pulls the second housing part into the corresponding opening of the first housing part. The second housing part is herewith automatically brought into position and retained. An electrical component can be mounted on the elastic band if necessary.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2011
    Assignee: Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH
    Inventors: Harald Klemenz, Tom Weidner
  • Patent number: 8041044
    Abstract: It should be possible to balance microphones and hearing apparatus more reliably. To this end, provision is made for a method for checking a measuring situation, wherein at least two measurement points of a frequency response of the hearing apparatus are recorded. A check then establishes whether the at least two measurement points lie in a predetermined tolerance range above a threshold. If this is the case, an OK signal is output. Otherwise, if at least one of the measurement points lies outside the tolerance range, the position of the measurement point outside the tolerance range is ascertained and a fault signal is output depending on the ascertained position. It is therefore possible to establish, for example, whether a measuring chamber lacks proofness, a microphone is blocked or the microphone is completely malfunctioning.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2011
    Assignee: Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH
    Inventors: Harald Klemenz, Hartmut Ritter
  • Patent number: 8032082
    Abstract: There is described an amplifier for a radio frequency signal for transmitting a transmit signal to an otological apparatus. The amplifier comprises at least one power transistor for switching an output signal. A breaker gap of the power transistor is actively connected to a network such that a power loss converted in the power transistor is at least partially reduced during a switchover into a switched-on state and/or at least during a switchover into a switched-off state. The breaker gap of the at least one transistor is at least indirectly connected in series to a power supply source by way of a choke coil. The amplifier comprises a transmit coil as an output load, with the transmit coil comprising an inductor and being actively connected to the power transistor. The transmit coil is coupled to the choke coil in a transformer-like manner, with the choke coil thus being able to transmit an output power to the transmit coil. The transmit coil can generate a transmit signal from the output power.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2011
    Assignee: Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH
    Inventors: Mihail Boguslavskij, Jürgen Reithinger