Manufacturing methods and systems for rapid production of hearing-aid shells
US7050876B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 6, 2000 |
| Grant date | May 23, 2006 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 24, 2023 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02A90/10
- WIPO fieldOther special machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
Methods, apparatus and computer program products provide efficient techniques for designing and printing shells of hearing-aid devices with a high degree of quality assurance and reliability and with a reduced number of manual and time consuming production steps and operations. These techniques also preferably provide hearing-aid shells having internal volumes that can approach a maximum allowable ratio of internal volume relative to external volume. These high internal volumes facilitate the inclusion of hearing-aid electrical components having higher degrees of functionality and/or the use of smaller and less conspicuous hearing-aid shells. A preferred method includes operations to generate a watertight digital model of a hearing-aid shell by thickening a three-dimensional digital model of a shell surface in a manner that eliminates self-intersections and results in a thickened model having an internal volume that is a high percentage of an external volume of the model. This thickening operation preferably includes nonuniformly thickening the digital model of a shell surface about a directed path that identifies a location of an undersurface hearing-aid vent. This directed path m…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.