Sonova AG

An exemplary hearing device includes a housing and a chip package disposed within the housing. The chip package may comprise a printed circuit board, an integrated circuit configured to perform an electronic function associated with the hearing device, and a plurality of solder bumps on a bottom surface of the integrated circuit. The plurality of solder bumps may provide conductive connectivity between the integrated circuit and the printed circuit board. The plurality of solder bumps may comprise a first group of solder bumps located within a center region of the bottom surface of the integrated circuit and a second group of solder bumps located within a peripheral region of the bottom surface, the peripheral region surrounding the center region. All signals required for the integrated circuit to perform the electronic function may be provided by way of the first group of solder bumps.

Described herein is a protective element configured to be connected to an electroacoustic transducer or sound tube included in a hearing device. The protective element comprises a 3D-shaped membrane enclosing a cavity with an opening at which the 3D-shaped membrane is configured to connect to the electroacoustic transducer or sound tube. Wherein the 3D-shaped membrane has one or more thinner portions configured to transmit sound and one or more thicker portions at which a rigidity of the 3D-shaped membrane is greater than at the one or more thinner portions; and one or more stiffeners are formed by one or more of the one or more thicker portions extending between the one or more thinner portions.

The disclosure relates to a hearing device configured to be worn at an ear of a user, the hearing device including a sound delivery (SD) part configured to be at least partially inserted into an ear canal and having a custom shell at least partially customized to the ear canal and an electroacoustic transducer housed within the custom shell. The hearing device further includes a mechanical element connected to a medial end of the custom shell of the SD part, the mechanical element having a structure enclosing a cavity with an opening facing the SD part such that the cavity is acoustically coupled to the electroacoustic transducer. The structure includes a section in which thinner portions and thicker portions are alternatingly arranged around an axis of the structure.

Described herein are a protective element configured to be connected to an electroacoustic transducer or a sound tube included in a hearing device, the protective element comprising a 3D-shaped membrane enclosing a cavity with an opening at which the membrane is configured to connect to the transducer or sound tube, wherein the membrane has one or more thinner portions configured to transmit sound and one or more thicker portions at which a rigidity of the membrane is greater than at the thinner portions.

Described herein are a receiver for a hearing instrument, the receiver comprising: a case having a tubular shape with at least one open end, a flexible or partially flexible printed circuit board populated with a plurality of MEMS receiver cells, wherein the printed circuit board is folded to form a hollow body and inserted in the case with the MEMS receiver cells facing inward and/or outward, and at least one cap closing the open end of the case, wherein one of the caps comprises a sound port for guiding sound produced by the MEMS receiver cells out of the receiver.

The disclosure relates to a hearing device configured to be worn at an ear of a user, the hearing device comprising a sound delivery (SD) part configured to be at least partially inserted into an ear canal, the SD part comprising a sound tube having an axis in which direction sound is propagating, wherein the sound tube is acoustically coupled to an electroacoustic transducer; and a mechanical element configured to be connected to the SD part, the element comprising a structure enclosing a cavity with an opening facing the SD part when the element is connected to the SD part such that the cavity is acoustically coupled to the electroacoustic transducer.

Described is a hearing device configured to be worn by a user, the hearing device having a battery compartment configured to house a battery and a microphone, wherein the battery compartment is located in a housing. The housing includes: a casing configured to form the battery compartment; and a lid member having a hinged end pivotally connected to the casing such that the lid member is configured to pivot between an open position and a closed position relative to the casing; wherein the lid member is formed to define an opening through the lid member; wherein, when the lid member is in the closed position, the opening is configured to allow the microphone to be in air communication with ambient air.

Described herein are a protective element configured to be connected to an electroacoustic transducer or a sound tube included in a hearing device, the protective element comprising a 3D-shaped membrane that has two or more first portions having a first thickness that are configured to transmit sound and two or more second portions having a second thickness. The first thickness is less than the second thickness such that a rigidity of the 3D-shaped membrane is greater at the two or more second portions than at the two or more first portions. At least two of the two or more second portions are spaced from one another along a circumference of the 3D-shaped membrane by at least one of the two or more first portions.

Described herein are a protective element configured to be connected to an electroacoustic transducer or a sound tube included in a hearing device, the protective element comprising a 3D-shaped membrane that has two or more first portions having a first thickness that are configured to transmit sound and two or more second portions having a second thickness. The first thickness is less than the second thickness such that a rigidity of the 3D-shaped membrane is greater at the two or more second portions than at the two or more first portions. At least two of the two or more second portions are spaced from one another along a circumference of the 3D-shaped membrane by at least one of the two or more first portions.

A microphone assembly includes at least three microphones to capture an input audio signal; an audio signal processing unit for processing the input audio signals to generate an output audio signal with a directivity; an audio source direction estimation unit; and a control unit. The audio source direction estimation unit includes first and second direction of arrival estimation modules for estimating first and second angles of incidence between an audio source and first and second axes defined by first and second pairs of the microphones, respectively; and an elevation estimation module for estimating an angle of elevation of the audio source with regard to a microphone plane based on the estimated first angle of incidence and the estimated second angle of incidence. The control unit uses the estimated angle of elevation to control a directivity parameter of the audio signal processing unit.