Earplug shaper having curved shaping surfaces

US8870558B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Daniel Schumaier · US

Inventors

• Daniel R. Schumaier · Elizabethton, US
• David M. Campbell, II · Johnson City, US
• Jerry V. Foster · Lawrenceville, US
• Harry S. Strothers, IV · Chamblee, US
• Allison Guyton · Lawrenceville, US
• Jason R. Herman · Lawrenceville, US
• Christopher S. Kudika · Duluth, US
• Scott A. Lutz · Atlanta, US
• Stephen J. Drabant · Lawrenceville, US
• Katherine A. King · Gainesville, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jul 6, 2011
• Grant date: Oct 28, 2014
• Expiry date: Oct 2, 2032

Classification

• Technology area (CPC A): Human Necessities
• CPC primary: A61F11/08
• WIPO field: Medical technology
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

An earplug shaping device compresses a compressible earplug prior to insertion of the earplug into a user's ear canal. The device includes a first member and a second member which rotate with respect to each other. The outer surface of the first member and inner surface of the second member define a space that decreases in size as the first and second members rotate with respect to each other, thereby compressing the compressible earplug. Various embodiments of the earplug shaper employ a ratchet mechanism permitting substantially only one direction of rotation.