Hearing Protection Devices And Attenuation Button For Same

Abstract

A manually, selectively attenuating earplug button is disclosed, for insertion into a cavity of an earplug of a hearing protection device. The earplug button comprises a nested configuration of a first housing member (including a first opening to receive sound from an ambient environment) and a second housing member, surrounding the first housing member and including a second opening to output at least a portion of the sound passing through an audio channel located between said first and second openings. The first and second housing members include sidewall apertures for permitting a wearer to manually adjust the amount of sound admitted to the wear's ear from said ambient environment by rotating the first housing member (and thus its sidewall aperture) with respect to the second housing member.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A manually-adjustable earplug button comprising
 a first cylindrical housing member including a first opening formed along a longitudinal central axis and at least one first aperture formed through a sidewall thereof, the first opening defining an input audio port, providing an inner chamber of an audio channel in combination with the at least one first aperture; and   a second cylindrical housing member disposed to surround the first cylindrical housing member so as to form a nested configuration while providing a gap to allow for the first cylindrical housing member to freely rotate within the second cylindrical housing member, the second cylindrical housing member including at least one second aperture formed through a sidewall thereof, wherein an overlap between the least one first and second apertures forms an outer chamber of the audio channel terminating at a second opening, the audio channel manually adjustable by rotation of the first cylindrical housing member to adjust an amount of overlap between the at least one first aperture and the at least one second aperture.   
     
     
         2 . The earplug button as defined in  claim 1  wherein the earplug button further comprises
 a turning knob disposed on a top surface of the first cylindrical housing member, said turning knob having a textured surface to promote manual rotation of the first cylindrical housing member within the second cylindrical housing member. 
 
     
     
         3 . The earplug button as defined in  claim 1  wherein the second cylindrical housing member includes a plurality of gripping members formed on an outer surface thereof, the plurality of gripping members engaging with a surrounding earplug to maintain stationary position of the second cylindrical housing member during manual rotation of the first cylindrical housing member. 
     
     
         4 . The earplug button as defined in  claim 1  wherein the first cylindrical housing member and the second cylindrical housing member are formed of materials selected from the group consisting of: nylon, polystyrene, polypropylene, polyethylene, and thermoplastic. 
     
     
         5 . The earplug button as defined in  claim 1  wherein the at least one first aperture has a tapered top edge to provide overlap control with the at least one second aperture, creating multiple levels of attenuation adjustment. 
     
     
         6 . The earplug button as defined in  claim 1  wherein the second cylindrical housing members includes a bottom horizontal surface for supporting a lower termination of the first cylindrical housing member. 
     
     
         7 . The earplug button as defined in  claim 1  wherein the at least one first aperture comprises a pair of first apertures formed in opposition to one another and the least one second aperture comprises a pair of second apertures formed in opposition to one another.