Patents Examined by Norman Yu
  • Patent number: 11386880
    Abstract: The problem to be solved is to improve a noise cancelling function. A detection microphone, a speaker, and a housing are included. The detection microphone detects noise and has an input vibrating plate. The speaker has an output vibrating plate. The housing accommodates at least the speaker and the detection microphone therein. The input vibrating plate and the output vibrating plate are disposed approximately in the same orientation. This ensures that a sound is output from the speaker while a sound is input to the detection microphone with the input vibrating plate and the output vibrating plate facing each other, thus making it possible to bring the input vibrating plate and the output vibrating plate closer to each other. As a result, it is less likely for a phase lag to take place between the sound output from the speaker and the sound input to the detection microphone, thus providing higher noise detection accuracy of the detection microphone and contributing to an improved noise cancelling function.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hayami Tobise, Kenichi Oide
  • Patent number: 11375322
    Abstract: The present application relates to a hearing aid adapted to be worn in or at an ear of a hearing aid user and/or to be fully or partially implanted in the head of the hearing aid user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignee: Oticon A/S
    Inventors: Thomas Lunner, Lars Bramsløw
  • Patent number: 11336994
    Abstract: A dipole loudspeaker for producing sound at bass frequencies. The dipole loudspeaker includes: a diaphragm having a first radiating surface and a second radiating surface, a drive unit configured to move the diaphragm at bass frequencies such that the first and second radiating surfaces produce sound at bass frequencies, and a frame. The loudspeaker is for use with an ear of a user being located at a listening position that is in front of the first radiating surface and is 40 cm or less from the first radiating surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2022
    Assignee: PSS BELGIUM NV
    Inventor: David Corynen
  • Patent number: 11337018
    Abstract: An example computer system identifies a capability of a playback device to reproduce audio content. Based on the capability, the computer system identifies a first version of audio content for playback by the playback device and causes the playback device to play back the first version of audio content. While the playback device is playing back the first version of the audio content, the computer system detects a change in a network connection between the computer system and the playback device. Based on the detected change in the network connection and the capability of the playback device, the computer system identifies a second version of audio content for playback by the playback device and causes the playback device to transition from playing back the first version of the audio content to playing back the second version of the audio content.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2022
    Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
    Inventor: Romi Kadri
  • Patent number: 11330378
    Abstract: A hearing device, e.g. a hearing aid or a headset, configured to be worn by a user at or in an ear or to be fully or partially implanted in the head at an ear of the user comprises an input unit for providing at least one electric input signal in a time-frequency representation and a signal processor comprising a neural network configured to provide respective gain values G(k,t) in said time-frequency representation for reducing noise components in said at least one electric input signal. The neural network comprises at least one layer defined as a modified gated recurrent unit, termed Peak GRU, comprising memory in the form of a hidden state vector h, and wherein an output vector o is provided by said Peak GRU in dependence of an input vector x and said hidden state vector h, wherein an output o(j,t) of the Peak GRU at a given time step t is stored as said hidden state h(j,t) and used in the calculation of the output o(j,t+1) in the next time step t+1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2022
    Assignee: Oticon A/S
    Inventors: Zuzana Jel{hacek over (c)}icová, Rasmus Jones, David Thorn Blix
  • Patent number: 11323794
    Abstract: Personal electronic devices are provided in the form of personal audio equipment. Devices of the present disclosure include readily-moldable ear inserts that are selectively formed to fit the shape of a user's ear and do not require heating, curing, setting, or other temperature manipulation. In some embodiments, the devices comprise wireless audio technology and wireless conductive charging.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: Buderflys Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Shea Gerhardt
  • Patent number: 11304001
    Abstract: A method for detecting wind using a microphone and a speaker of an electronic device. The method obtains a microphone signal produced by the microphone. The method obtains a speaker input signal produced by the speaker that is emulating a microphone capturing ambient sound in an environment through the speaker. The method determines a coherence between the microphone signal and the speaker input signal and determines whether the coherence is below a coherence intensity threshold. In response to determining that the coherence is below the coherence intensity threshold, the method determines a presence of wind in the environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2022
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Nikolas T. Vitt, Joyce E. Gorny, Thomas M. Jensen, Jeffrey N. Gleason, Tyrone T. Chen
  • Patent number: 11290807
    Abstract: The speaker device (100) includes a diaphragm (11), an exciter (13) which vibrates in response to an input electrical signal, and a vibration-transmitter (15) which is connected to both the diaphragm (11) and the exciter (13) and transmits the vibration of the exciter (13) to the diaphragm (11), in which the diaphragm (11) has a loss coefficient at 25° C. of 1×10?2 or higher and the vibration-transmitter (15) has a specific elastic modulus of 20 mm2/s2 or higher.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: AGC Inc.
    Inventors: Jun Akiyama, Kento Sakurai
  • Patent number: 11290793
    Abstract: The invention provides a sounding device having a housing body with a containment space, a sound outlet formed in the housing body, a speaker unit fitted in the housing body, an intake valve that communicates the outside with the front cavity and that is used for introducing air into the front cavity, and an unidirectional outlet valve that communicates the front cavity with the outside and discharges air in the front cavity to the outside through the sound outlet. The speaker unit separates the containment space into a front acoustic cavity and a back cavity, the sound outlet is communicated with the front acoustic cavity and forms a front cavity together. The invention also provides a mobile terminal. Compared with the related art, the sounding device and the mobile terminal of the invention have better reliability and better performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: AAC Technologies Pte. Ltd.
    Inventors: Xingzhi Huang, Lin Liu, Dijiang Tong, Zhe Zhang, Jun Wu, Zhichen Chen, Zhaoyu Yin
  • Patent number: 11272297
    Abstract: Presented herein are directed to techniques for using objective measurements to determine a combined efficiency of an implantable actuator and a mechanical coupling of the implantable actuator to an auditory structure of an ear of a recipient. In particular, the implantable actuator is activated so as to deliver, via the mechanical coupling, mechanical stimulation to the auditory structure to effect a pressure change in an inner ear of the recipient. At least one stimulation device, that is separate from the implantable actuator, is configured to deliver secondary stimulation to the recipient to also effect a pressure change in the inner ear of the recipient. Objective measurements are performed to intra-operatively capture auditory evoked responses of the recipient in response to the mechanical stimulation and in response to the secondary stimulation. These auditory evoked responses are analyzed to determine a vibratory coupling efficiency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: Cochlear Limited
    Inventors: Bernd Waldmann, Tiago Rocha Felix
  • Patent number: 11262971
    Abstract: A speaker integrated into a scanner is provided. The scanner comprises speaker firmware that presents the scanner as two separate logical devices to an Operating System (OS) of a connected host device. The integrated speaker of the scanner can be configured from the OS of the host device to be a primary or secondary speaker of the host device. The host device ports audio generated data on the host device over a wired or wireless connection to the speaker firmware, and the speaker firmware plays the host-generated audio data over or through the integrated speaker of the scanner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: NCR Corporation
    Inventor: Roland Ellis
  • Patent number: 11265656
    Abstract: A hearing assistance system and method are described herein. The system includes a first ear-worn device, a second ear-worn device, and a case. The system is configured to detect a vibration sequence at an IMU and decide whether to pair wireless communication devices of the first and second ear-worn devices based on the vibration sequence detected at the IMU.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: Starkey Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Sidney A. Higgins, David Alan Fabry
  • Patent number: 11259138
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a method for determining a dynamic head-related transfer function for a subject includes receiving audio recordings of a sound captured by audio sensors. The sound is emitted by an in-ear speaker worn by the subject. Additionally, a reference signal captured by a microphone coupled to the in-ear speaker and one or more images captured by image sensors are received. The one or more images depict a body pose of the subject while the sound is emitted by the in-ear speaker and may be used to generate a pose representation of the body pose of the subject. A head-related transfer function for each audio sensor is determined based on the pose representation, the audio recordings of the sound, and the reference signal. The dynamic head-related transfer function is determined based on the head-related transfer function for each audio sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLC.
    Inventors: Nicholas Pourazima, Israel Dejene Gebru, Dejan Markovic, James White, Steven Krenn, Matthew Stewart
  • Patent number: 11252524
    Abstract: The present technology relates to signal processing device and method that make it possible to reproduce sound more effectively. A signal processing device includes a rotation operation unit that rotates a head-related transfer function in a spherical harmonic domain by an operation on the basis of a rotation matrix corresponding to rotation of a head of a listener, the operation in which an order of the rotation matrix is limited, and a synthesis unit that synthesizes the head-related transfer function after rotation obtained by the operation and a sound signal of the spherical harmonic domain to generate a headphone drive signal. The present technology is applicable to an audio processor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tetsu Magariyachi, Yuhki Mitsufuji
  • Patent number: 11245983
    Abstract: Provided are an audio processing device, an audio processing method, an information processing device, and a computer program that perform echo cancellation corresponding to double talk. The audio processing device includes an estimation unit that estimates a filter representing a transmission characteristic from a speaker where a reference signal is output to a microphone in which the reference signal sneaks, an adjustment unit that adjusts a step size on the basis of a filter update coefficient estimated by the estimation unit, and an update unit that updates the filter according to the update coefficient and the step size. The adjustment unit adjusts the step size on the basis of a ratio of power of the filter update coefficient to maximum power of the filter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kazuya Tateishi
  • Patent number: 11240589
    Abstract: A method and system is disclosed for a headset with force isolation, where the headset comprises a headband having two upper headband sections coupled by a center block and two ear cups, where each ear cup is coupled to one of the two upper headband sections. The two upper headband sections may include side support strips between which a movable strip may be placed, thereby increasing the rigidness of the headband when fully extended between the side support strips. The rigidness of the headband may decrease when the movable strips are retracted from between the side support strips and into the center block utilizing a slider knob. The side support strips may be plastic and the movable strip may be metal. The center block may be more rigid than the side support strips. The center block may be plastic. The headband may include headband endcaps at lower ends of the headband.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: Voyetra Turtle Beach, Inc.
    Inventors: Scot Cochran, Tim Wiley, Andy Logan
  • Patent number: 11234078
    Abstract: A system that includes an audio source device configured to obtain audio data of at least one audio channel of a piece of program content. The audio source device has an optical transmitter for transmitting the audio data as an optical signal and a radio frequency (RF) transceiver. The system also includes a wireless earphone that has an optical receiver for receiving the audio data as the optical signal, a RF transceiver for transmitting feedback data indicating a reception quality of the received optical signal at the wireless earphone as a wireless RF signal, and a speaker for outputting the audio data contained within the optical signal and/or the data packets as sound.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2022
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Robert D. Silfvast, Tushar Gupta, Jahan C. Minoo, Nicholas C. Soldner, Daniel Javaheri-Zadeh
  • Patent number: 11228832
    Abstract: An electronic device is disclosed. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device comprises a housing including a plate defining a first face of the electronic device and a side portion extending along an edge of the plate and defining a side face of the electronic device, a speaker including a sound outlet disposed in a support portion of the housing extending from the side member to an inner space of the electronic device, the sound outlet disposed in a direction facing the first face, a sheet disposed between the plate and the speaker, and an acoustic duct defined in part by the sheet and the support portion, spaced apart from the plate, and extending from the sound outlet of the speaker to the side face.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2022
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Myoungsung Sim, Youngbae Park, Choonghyo Park, Byounghee Lee, Seungnam Kim, Juhwan Woo, Hochul Hwang
  • Patent number: 11202140
    Abstract: A system comprises automatic noise cancellation circuitry and interface circuitry operable to provide an interface via which a user can configure which sounds said automatic noise cancelling circuitry attempts to cancel and which sounds said automatic noise cancelling circuitry does not attempt to cancel. The interface circuitry may be operable to provide an interface via which a user can select a sound to whitelist or blacklist. The interface circuitry may be operable to provide an interface via which a user can increase or decrease an amount of noise cancellation that is desired. The interface circuitry may be operable to provide an interface via which a user can select from among three or more levels of noise cancellation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2021
    Assignee: Voyetra Turtle Beach, Inc.
    Inventors: Richard Kulavik, Christopher Church
  • Patent number: 11197118
    Abstract: Examples of the disclosure describe systems and methods for presenting an audio signal to a user of a wearable head device. According to an example method, a first input audio signal is received, the first input audio signal corresponding to a source location in a virtual environment presented to the user via the wearable head device. The first input audio signal is processed to generate a left output audio signal and a right output audio signal. The left output audio signal is presented to the left ear of the user via a left speaker associated with the wearable head device. The right output audio signal is presented to the right ear of the user via a right speaker associated with the wearable head device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: Magic Leap, Inc.
    Inventors: Samuel Charles Dicker, Harsh Mayur Barbhaiya