Headphone earpieces which comprise each at least one electroacoustic transducer operating on the orthodynamic principle and including a small-mass diaphragm of an extension corresponding at least to that of an average auricle, with the coupling space of each of the earpieces being designed for a minimum reflection, are equipped with an ear cushion which, with the headphone in position of use, tightly encloses the coupling space toward the outside. The disadvantages of headphone with an orthodynamically driven diaphragm which have hitherto been used only with the coupling space tightly enclosed, may be eliminated by omitting the tight enclosure of the coupling space and effecting the coupling to the ear by means of an ear cushion (1) of reticulate foam material by which the coupling space is enclosed at least laterally and which, while resting against the ear (2) or the user's head, has an acoustic frictional resistance approximately of the order of magnitude of the transformed wave impedance of air, so that the diaphragm (3) oscillation is impeded predominantly by friction and the critical damping of the low-frequency resonance (70 to 300 Hz) of the diaphragm is insured.
An earcup assembly is disclosed for use in a headset. The earcup assembly includes an earseal ring that includes an outer peripheral surface, an inner peripheral surface that provides an opening an annular base surface for securing the earseal to the headset, and an annular exposed surface opposite the base surface. The inner surface includes a first portion adjacent the exposed surface that provides a first peripheral distance around the opening and the inner surface further includes a second portion adjacent the base surface that provides a second peripheral distance around the opening. The second distance is larger than the first distance.
A cushion for a headset earphone comprises a resilient ring having opposite input and output faces, and a through-opening defining an interior surface between the two faces. The input face has structure for acoustically coupling the opening to an output face of an audio speaker, and the output face is resiliently conformable to a lateral face of an external ear of a listener, thereby acoustically coupling the opening, and hence, the speaker, to the listener's ear. The interior surface of the cushion can be configured to effectively match the acoustical impedance at the output face of the speaker to the acoustical impedance at the entrance of the listener's ear. In one possible embodiment, the ring is formed of an elastomer filled with microcapsules containing a material capable of an endothermic phase changes at a constant temperature, such that the cushion more effectively conducts heat away from the ear, thereby providing long term listening comfort. In another embodiment, the through-opening is acoustically coupled to the output of the transducer with an acoustic plug such that the cushion is flexibly articulated about the plug relative to the speaker, thereby enabling the cushion to comply more easily to the listener's ear using lower contact forces between the cushion and the ear.
