III IIIUSOO5579284A III United States Patent 19 11 Patent Number: 5,579,284 May (45) Date of Patent: Nov. 26, 1996 54) SCUBA DIVING VOICE AND 5,033,999 7/1991 Mersky ..................................... 600/25 COMMUNICATION SYSTEM USENG BONE 5,136,555 8/1992 Gardos .............. ... 367,132 CONDUCTED SOUND 5,185,605 2/1993 Roberts, Jr. et al. ................... 340/850 5,455,842 10/1995 Mersky et al........................... 367/132 76 Inventor: David F. May, P.O. Box 2603, 1636 Primary Examiner-Ian J. Lobo State St. Unit E, Columbus, India. Attorney, Agent, or Firm Taylor & Associates, P.C. 472O2 57 ABSTRACT 21 Appl. No.: 541,826 An underwater scuba diver communication system is dis closed which is comprised of an oral bone conduction 22) Fied: Oct. 10, 1995 mouthpiece based sound transmission and conduction 51 Int. Cl. .............................................. H04B 11/00 device, an oral-mouthpiece based microphone, an ultra (52) U.S. C. ... 367/132; 340/850 sonic sound transmission device, an ultrasonic receiving 58 Field of Search ..................................... 367/132, 131; device and the electronic circuitry required to facilitate the 340/850 transmission or reception of ultrasound transmitted signals through a water medium. The system is constructed to 56) References Cited provide underwater diver voice communication with a modi fied scuba mouthpiece not unlike in appearance or function U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS from a conventional second stage mouthpiece for a scuba 3,789,353 1/1974 Hunter et al. ........................... 340/5T diver breathing apparatus. This mouthpiece can also be 3,819,860 6/1974 Miller ...................................... 179/1 P configured to provide binaural input and/or output with two 4,071,110 l/1978 Payne ...................................... 367/132 different transducers for locating sound direction underwa 4,232,194 11/1980 Adams ..., ... 1791.5 R ter. 4,791,673 12/1988 Schreiber ................................ 381/51 5,031,611 7/1991 Moles ................................. 128/2011 28 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets U.S. Patent Nov. 26, 1996 Sheet 1 of 4 5,579,284 22, 24 TRANSCEIVER ASSEMBLY 20 - SNO TRANSOUCER(S) AUDIO AMPLIFIER 34 4O SOUND 38 WDICE ACTIVATION (VOX) RECEIVING DR PUSH-TO-TALK (PTT) TRANSOUCER CIRLIT 48 ULTRASONIC TRANSMITTER TRANSOLCER 54 ULTRASONIC RECEIVER CIRCUIT RECEIVER 52 TRANSOLCER 58 BATTERY 38 SUNO TRANSDUCERS 22, 24 WX CIRCUIT OR MICROPHONE 26 74 8O 84 VOICE SIGNAL FILTER MOD FLATOR "RASSIN AMPLIFIER TRANSMITTER CIRCUIT 44 UTRAS IND TRANSMITTING 48 -Fig. 6 TRANSDCER U.S. Patent Nov. 26, 1996 Sheet 2 of 4 5,57 9,284 - is U.S. Patent Nov. 26, 1996 Sheet 3 of 4 5,579,284 45 88 90 92 96 94 98 IOO / SIGNAL (Aa) O2 ALDI) 34 AMPLIFIER FILTER DEMODULATOR FILTER AMPLIFIER RECEIVER CIRCUIT 36 ULTRASONIC RECEIVING SLIND TRANSDUCER TRANSOLCERS O4 O8 - INVERSION AND MICROPHONE PREAMP ATTENUATION CIRCUIT 2 AMPLIFIER SIND 22, 24 TRANSOUCER(S) U.S. Patent Nov. 26, 1996 Sheet 4 of 4 5,57 9,284 5,579,284 1 2 SCUBA DIVING VOICE AND covering a device enclosing the ears of the individual COMMUNICATION SYSTEM USING BONE listener; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,868,572 to Kaufman, represen CONDUCTED SOUND tative of personal audio devices worn inside the ear of the individual listener. CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED Conventional bone conduction audio devices are typically APPLICATIONS hearing aids for the hearing impaired. Examples of such bone conduction hearing aids are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. This is a non-provisional U.S. patent application based 2,230,500 to Lybarger; U.S. Pat. No. 2,258,638 to Zarth; and upon provisional U.S. patent application Ser. No. 60/011, West German Patent No. 2451977 to Breckwoldt. Most 345, filed Jul. 21, 1995, entitled “SCUBA DIVING VOICE O modern bone conduction hearing aids include the ability to AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEMUSING BONE CON implant the bone conduction oscillator beneath the listener's DUCTED SOUND''. skin in direct contact with the mastoid bone. Particular to tooth oscillated bone conduction is U.S. Pat. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION No. 5,033,999 to Mersky, which is representative of a 1. Field of the Invention 15 method and apparatus for endodontically augmenting hear The present invention relates to audio communication ing by the direct encapsulation of an audio transducer inside Systems, and, more specifically, to underwater audio com a tooth. munication systems. What is needed in the artis an underwater communication 2. Description of the Related Art 20 system which provides effective one-way or two-way com Most modern personal audio communication systems do munication with a diver, and which does not include the not use bone conduction for sound transmission to the ear. inherent problems associated with conventional systems Instead, sound is transmitted by air conduction to the ear using air conduction to transmit the sound waves through the canal where it is subsequently conducted through the middle ear canal. ear to the cochlea where these vibrations are interpreted in 25 the brain as sound. Examples of these systems are many SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION from hand held 2 way radios, to FM and AM radios, to short The present invention provides a communication system and long wave radio communication systems. All of these using bone conduction for sound transmission to the ear by rely on air conducted sound for the listener and speaker. means of audible frequency transducers molded into a Several disadvantages of this type of system are found for 30 mouthpiece. The mouthpiece allows the user to hear voice or underwater swimming. First, in order to facilitate an air gap other communication sounds with clarity. Additionally, the between the ear and the sound source, it is necessary to mouthpiece converts spoken sounds to electrical signals provide a mask with an apparatus over the ears or a helmet such that those sounds can be subsequently transmitted. covering the entire head. Some systems provide sound Aside from providing sound for hearing and voice reception, directly to the ear by placing a sound source against the 35 the mouthpiece functions the same as a currently commer outside of the outer ear. This has been the conventional cially available scuba diving mouthpiece which is attached approach for several years. While this approach is effective to a second stage scuba diving regulator and used for and provides for communication, this system is very expen breathing. sive, Cumbersome to use, is uncomfortable, requires special The invention comprises, in one form thereof, a scuba training for use, and provides poor sound quality. Further, 40 diving mouthpiece which is attachable to a source of air and such a system introduces a process and equipment which is supplies air to a diver. A mouth engageable body includes at very different from conventional scuba diving equipment, least one biteplate which is adapted for being disposed whereby in the case of an underwater loss of air, a buddy between and engageable by the teeth of the diver. At least assistance measure requiring sharing of air is ineffective. one sound transducer is associated with the body, and The helmet or full face hood currently used for commu 45 capable of transmitting audio sounds through the biteplate, nication is also more dangerous to the user in the event that whereby the audio sounds may be conducted to the teeth of water enters the air gap space in the hood because it is more the diver. difficult to clear the water from the intended air space due to The present invention provides an underwater communi the increased air volume and sealing surface than a normal 50 cations system based on oral bone conducted sound through mask which only covers the eyes and nose. A user's ability a scuba diving mouthpiece. It both receives spoken sounds to obtain air for breathing also is impaired if problems occur for subsequent transmission and receives sounds from an with the full face hood, making it more dangerous than amplifier source to be transmitted to the user's cochlea normal scuba diving gear. through bone conducted sound. No additional head gear or Commercial units which rely on air conduction or direct 55 ancillary tubes, tethers, or attachments are required, thus ear contact sound transmission are currently available. creating a scuba diving device very similar to that with Brand names and constructions are differentiated primarily which all scuba divers are trained. The present invention is on the type of sonar carrier, frequency of transmission, easily and economically manufactured, easy to operate, and power, type of transmission send switch, transducer types easily maintained. and headgear configurations. This type of diving apparatus 60 The present invention reduces problems which are inher is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,789,353 to Hunter. ent in commercially available underwater communications Examples of conventional audio listening systems with systems. By receiving sounds with bone conduction through out headphones are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,134 to a mouthpiece, a user is not required to wear any additional Waldron for a sound system enclosed in a vest meant to be head straps. With current underwater communication sys worn by the listener; U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,553 to Hass, for a 65 tems, the full face mask, earphone, straps on the device Scarf-tube enclosing a sound source meant to be worn which covers the mouth, or other pieces of equipment added around the listener's neck; U.S. Pat. No. 3,869,584 to Wilde, to the scuba diver may become entangled. Problems can lead 5,579,284 3 4. to a mask flooding condition, mask removal condition, or FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, sectional view taken along line loss of air supply from a second stage regulator torn from the 3-3 in FIG.