5,327,500

43.66.Ts CERUMEN BARRIER FOR CUSTOM IN THE EAR TYPE HEARING INSTRUMENTS

Donald E. K. Campbell, Winter Springs, FL 32708 5 July 1994 (Class 381/68.6); filed 21 December 1992

The patent shows an arrangement that covers the end of the tubing from the receiver of the hearing aid to prevent the direct entrance of earwax. Sound is transmitted via very narrow slits on each side of the barrier, typi-

cally only about 1/64 in. wide. The barrier is held in place by a projection that snaps into a socket adjacent to the sound outlet.mSFL

5,285,502

43.66.Ts AID TO HEARING SPEECH IN A NOISY ENVIRONMENT

Joseph P. Walton et al., assignors to Auditory System Technologies, Incorporated

8 February 1994 (Class 381/94); filed 31 March 1992

This acoustic signal processor, intended for application in a hearing aid, continuously adjusts the low-band attenuation of a high-pass filter to reduce the noise component in the output. The controlling noise level is

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detected by a low-pass filter having the same mid-band cutoff frequency.-- DLR

5,283,833

43.66.Ts METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SPEECH PROCESSING USING MORPHOLOGY AND RHYMING

Kenneth W. Church and Cecil H. Coker, assignors to AT&T Bell Laboratories

1 February 1994 (Class 381/41); filed 19 September 1991

The patent presents a system containing both synthesis and recognition components which converts between audible speech and spelled written text (orthography) for use in telephone communications between hearing/

TELEPHONE NETWORK

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709

f70

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t_• ! •f701 HEARING - IMPAIRED

AND/OR SPEECH - IMPAIRED

USER

SPEECH SYNTHESIS

SPEECH RECOGNIZED v

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711

HEARING AND/OR

SPEAKING USER

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speaking persons and those with hearing or speech disabilities. In different versions word rhyming patterns are used, either to pronounce a word like another or to spell out another word having a rhyming pronunciation.__DLR

5,327,499

43.66.Ts SAFETY DEVICE FOR A HEARING AID

Mary D. Sohayda, Carteret, NJ 07008 5 July 1994 (Class 381/68); filed 10 June 1992

The patent shows a chain attached at one end to an in-the-ear hearing aid and at the other end to an earring or other device worn by the user.-- SFL

5,332,871

43.66.Vt SLIDING VALVE EAR PLUG

Noel L. Carrigan, O'Fa!!on, IL 62269 26 July 1994 (Class 181/135); filed 23 December 1991

The patent shows an earplug with several flexible sealing rings that has a hole through its center to allow the entrance of sound. The hole is covered by a sliding valve if noise levels are high to obtain the attenuation of the earplug.--SFL

5,326,349

43.70.Aj ARTIFICIAL LARYNX

David R. Baraft, Berwyn, PA 19312 5 July 1994 (Class 623/9); filed 9 July 1992

Artificial larynxes for persons whose larynx has been surgically re- moved have a long history. This patent devotes over two pages to that history including references from work at Bell Telephone Laboratories in the 1930s to more recent publications by J. L. Flanagan, and the review and tutorial article by Dennis and Laura Klatt in the February 1990 issue of our Journal. In this patent the transducer, power supply, and power amplifier in

3831 J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 96, No. 6, December 1994 Reviews of Acoustical Patents 3831

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