Claims:1. A sound attenuation apparatus (100) for providing sound attenuation to a wearer, the sound attenuation apparatus (100) comprising ear protection cups (102), a sealing membrane, and a filler element (302), wherein the ear protection cups (102), comprising a right ear protection cup (102-1) and a left ear protection cup (102-2), are shaped in a form to enclose an ear of a person; the sealing membrane (105) is surrounded over an inner end of the ear protection cups, wherein the sealing membrane (105) is acting as a cushion and a sound barrier while the ear protection cups presses against a head of the person; and the filler element (302) sandwiched between the sealing membrane 105 and the ear protection cups 102 or placed in a cavity formed by the sealing membrane (105) in order to provide cushioning to the wearer.

2. The sound attenuation apparatus (100) as claimed in claim 1 further comprises a headband (104) attached the right ear protection cup (102-1) and the left ear protection cup (102-2), wherein the headband (104) provides pressure for sealing the right ear protection cup (102-1) and the left ear protection cup (102-2) respectively.

3. The sound attenuation apparatus (100) as claimed in claim 1 further comprises a locking mechanism in order to restrict movement of the sealing membrane (105) during application of the sound attenuation apparatus (100).

4. The sound attenuation apparatus (100) as claimed in claim 3, wherein the sealing membrane (105) forms a periphery of the ear protection cups (102) along with the locking feature.

5. The sound attenuation apparatus (102) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the filler element (302) is placed in the cavity formed by the sealing membrane (105) seated over the ear protection cups (102) or in a space between the ear protection cups (102) and the sealing membrane (105).

6. The sound attenuation apparatus (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sealing membrane 105 comprises a membrane which follow the outer ear features with or without an ear canal sealing feature (502) that enters and thereby close an ear canal, to increase the contact of the sealing membrane (105).

7. The sound attenuation apparatus (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sealing membrane (105) is made up of a flexible plastic, an elastomer, a polypropylene, a silicone, polyurethane and a combination thereof.

8. The sound attenuation apparatus (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the filler element (302) includes a variable density foam, a memory foam, a paper pulp, a wooden pulp, compressed wood particles, a spray foam, a graphene, a non-woven of different material, jute or coconut fibers, an activated carbon, a charcoal and its combinations.

9. The sound attenuation apparatus (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein an outer surface and an inner surface of the ear protection cups (102) comprises a textured surface (107) and a flat periphery (108).

10. The sound attenuation apparatus (100) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the ear protection cups (102) are designed to include features related to the sound absorbing, sound reflecting and sound diffusion technology, wherein the features include the textured surface (107) and the flat periphery (108).
, Description:FORM 2

THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENT RULES, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See Section 10 and Rule 13)

Title of invention:
A SOUND ATTENUATION APPARATUS

Applicant:
Faberz Technologies Private Limited
A company Incorporated in India under the Companies Act, 2013
Having address:
Shop #2, Rajendra Apartments,
Gosaviwadi, Opp. Police Station, Nashik Road,
Nashik - 422101, Maharashtra, India

The following specification describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.
PRIORITY INFORMATION
[001] The present application does not claim priority from any application.

TECHNICAL FIELD
[002] The present disclosure described herein, in general, relates to a sound attenuation apparatus intended to be worn over the ears of a wearer in order to protect against high intensity ambient noise.

BACKGROUND
[003] A sound attenuation equipment’s are required at the places where a high volume or high intensity of noise is felt. Absence of the sound attenuation equipment’s may cause deleterious physiological effects and may result into a hearing disability. It may be noted that workmen and engineers working at airports and/or factories are often subjected to a continuous high volume of noise as they work adjacent to aircraft jet engines. Such workmen and engineers may be affected by the high intensity of noise generated from the aircraft jet engine noise unless appropriate precautionary measure(s) are followed to protect themselves against the high intensity of noise.
[004] Though various conventional device(s) and method(s) are available that facilitates sound attenuation. All the conventional devices relay on sound absorption technology rather than sound proofing technology to achieve the required sound attenuation. However, such devices have not proven to be entirely satisfactory, owing primarily to sound attenuating characteristics and the related cost. Rather, in such devices, the sound attenuation is achieved with sound absorption with the use of design features and also have not used other features related to sound reflection, sound diffusion and sound absorption in order to meet sound attenuation parameters.

SUMMARY
[005] Before the present methods, are described, it is to be understood that this application is not limited to the particular methods, and methodologies described, as there can be multiple possible embodiments which are not expressly illustrated in the present disclosures. It is also to be understood that the terminology used in the description is for the purpose of describing the particular versions or embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application. This summary is provided to introduce concepts related to a sound attenuation apparatus for providing sound attenuation to a wearer and the concepts are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify essential features of the disclosure nor is it intended for use in determining or limiting the scope of the disclosure.
[006] According to various aspects of present disclosure, a sound attenuation apparatus for providing sound attenuation to a wearer is disclosed. The sound attenuation apparatus may comprise ear protection cups, a sealing membrane, and a filler element. The ear protection cups may further comprise a right ear protection cup and a left ear protection cup. In one aspect, ear protection cups may be shaped in a form to enclose an ear of a person. The sealing membrane may be surrounded over an inner end of the ear protection cups. In one aspect, the sealing membrane may also act as a cushion and a sound barrier while the ear protection cups presses against a head of the wearer. The filler element, on the other hand, is sandwiched between the sealing membrane and the ear protection cups or placed in a cavity formed by the sealing membrane in order to provide cushioning thereby comfort to the wearer, along with additional sound attenuation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[007] The foregoing detailed description of embodiments is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawing. For the purpose of illustrating the disclosure, there is shown in the present document example constructions of the disclosure; however, the disclosure is not limited to the specific methods disclosed in the document and the drawings.
[008] The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figure. In the figure, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer like features and components.
[009] Figure 1 illustrates a sound attenuation apparatus for providing sound attenuation to a wearer, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0010] Figures 2A and 2B illustrate a headband, connected with ear protection cups, is attached to a helmet, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0011] Figures 3A, 3B, 3C, and 3D illustrate various components of the ear protection cups, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0012] Figures 4A and 4B illustrate the sound attenuation apparatus placed on an ear of the wearer, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0013] Figures 5A and 5B illustrate different embodiment of the sound attenuation apparatus.
[0014] The figure depicts an embodiment of the present disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0015] Some embodiments of this disclosure, illustrating all its features, will now be discussed in detail. The words "comprising," "having," "containing," and "including," and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items. It must also be noted that, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Although any methods similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of embodiments of the present disclosure, the exemplary, methods are now described. The disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the disclosure, which may be embodied in various forms.
[0016] The disclosed embodiments can be used as standalone or in combination to achieve the required attenuation. Various modifications to the embodiment will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments illustrated, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.
[0017] The proposed invention provides a sound attenuation apparatus for providing sound attenuation to a wearer is disclosed. The sound attenuation apparatus comprises ear protection cups, a sealing membrane, and a filler element. The ear protection cups, the sealing membrane, and the filler element are positioned onto a frame. In one implementation, the frame is made to form a structure for the ear protection cup to anchor and also transmit the force from a headband to an area around the ears of the wearer. It may be understood that the frame provides an appropriate sealing that may help in attenuating the sound.
[0018] In one aspect, the ear protection cups, comprising a right ear protection cup and a left ear protection cup, are shaped in a form to enclose an ear canal of the wearer. It may be understood that the ear protection cups may be designed in any shape including, but not limited to, oval, elliptical, and poly-cylindrical. The ear protection cups further include an inner surface and an outer surface. The inner and outer surface may have a rough finish similar to matt or diamond shape or pyramid shape or concave shape or convex shape or any other profile structures distributed along the inner and outer surface for diffusing the sound. The outer surface, on the other hand, may be highly polished finish that enables to reflect the sound. In some cases, the outer and inner surface may also have a profile that enables reflection and diffusion of the sound.
[0019] In one embodiment, the ear protection cups may be understood as a device that may be coupled to the headband. In one aspect, the headband may be coupled in a manner such that the headband applies a pressure on the ear protection cups towards to the ears in order to achieve the appropriate sealing around the ear. In other words, the headband maintains the position of the ear protection cups and provides the required pressure for sealing of the ear protection cups. In addition to the above, the headband may further be used as a headphone. To do so, the headband may be provided with a channel for passing wires through the headband towards the ear protection cups. The ear protection cups further contain a speaker deployed in each ear protection cup connected with the wire. In one embodiment, the headband or the ear protection cups may further be coupled with a wired or wireless communication module for facilitating communication with an external music instrument. Examples of the communication module may include, but not limited to, a Bluetooth™ and WI-FI™.
[0020] In an embodiment the headband, coupled with the ear protection cups, may be assembled with a hardhat or a helmet. It may be noted that shape and profile of the headband is designed in a manner such that the transmission of the pressure is uniform across the hardhat or the helmet. It may be noted that the headband may be assembled at a particular angle with the ear protection cups thereby making it difficult to disengage during operation. In one aspect, the angle of the headband may be adjusted vertically as well as angularly.
[0021] The sound attenuation apparatus further comprises the sealing membrane surrounded over the inner surface of the ear protection cups with varying thickness. In one aspect, the sealing membrane may be made up of a flexible material and designed in distinct shapes. Examples of the flexible material may include, but not limited to, a plastic, an elastomer, a polypropylene, a silicone, polyurethane and a combination thereof. Examples of the shapes may include, but not limited to, a flat shape or an angular shape or protrusion, or replicate the ear features.
[0022] In one aspect, the sealing membrane forms a periphery along the ear protection cups to facilitate a cushion at the same time also acting as a sound barrier while the ear protection cups pressed against a head of the wearer. The variation in the thickness facilitates to achieve required flexibility and comfort around the ears and optimize the stiffness for the sound barrier at the center of the ears.
[0023] The sound attenuation apparatus further comprises the filler element used as a filler as well as to provide cushioning to the wearer. In one implementation, the filler element may be placed in a cavity formed between the sealing member and the ear protection cups. Upon placing the filler element within the cavity, the filler element may come directly in contact with the ears and may provide the sufficient cushion for providing a comfort to the wearer. Since the filler element is filled in the cavity, the filler element may further minimal stiffness to the sealing membrane so as to keep the sound attenuation apparatus upright. In one example, a type of the filler element used in the sound attenuation apparatus may include but is not limited to variable density foam, memory foam, paper pulp, wooden pulp, compressed wood particles, spray foam, graphene, non-woven of different material, jute or coconut fibers, activated carbon, charcoal and its combinations.
[0024] Though the filler element may add the stiffness to the sound attenuation apparatus, such stiffness may not be sufficient to keep the ear protection cups intact with the ears of the wearer. This is because the properties of a material used in the ear protection cups and the sealing membrane. In order to provide an additional stiffness, the sound attenuation apparatus further may comprise of a rigid circumferential features like flat structure deployed on the inner surface or the outer surface of the ear protection cups. The rigid flat structure may provide appropriate stiffness as required.
[0025] The sound attenuation apparatus further comprises a locking mechanism to restrict movement of the sealing membrane during application of the sound attenuation apparatus. At a locked position, the locking mechanism binds the sealing membrane with the ear protection cups thereby restricts the movement of the sealing membrane. In one aspect, the locking mechanism may be deployed on an opposite side to a side that makes contact with the filler element. The locking mechanism along with the sealing membrane and the filler element facilitates to achieve a sealing in the space, around the ears, to prevent the sound to the wearer from the high intensity of noise.

GENERAL WORKING CONDITIONS AND SETUP
[0026] Referring to a figure 1, a sound attenuation apparatus 100 for providing sound attenuation to a wearer is shown. As shown in the figure, the sound attenuation apparatus 100 comprises the ear protection cups, comprising a right ear protection cup 102-1 and a left ear protection cup 102-2 (hereinafter also collectively referred to as an ear protection cup 102), are designed in a manner to enclose the ears of the wearer. The outer and the inner surface of the ear protection cup 102 having a textured surface to reflect, distort and absorb the sound energy. The sound attenuation apparatus 100 further comprises a headband 104. Both ends of the headband 106 is attached to the right ear protection cup 102-1 and the left ear protection cup 102-2 respectively. In one aspect, the headband 104 provides a pressure to keep the ear protection cups intact thereby provides sealing to the right ear protection cup 102-1 and the left ear protection cup 102-2 respectively. In one embodiment, the headband 104 may be assembled with a helmet 202, as shown in figures 2A and 2B.
[0027] Figures 2A and 2B illustrate the different perspectives of the sound attenuation apparatus 100 assembled with the helmet 202. As shown in the figure 2A, the headband 104, connected with the ear protection cup 102, is attached to the helmet 202 in order to provide the pressure for keeping the ear protection cups intact. It may be noted that shape and profile of the headband 104 is designed in a manner such that the transmission of the force is uniformly spread across the helmet 202. In this figure, the left ear protection cup 102-2 and the headband 104 can be seen. The figure 2B, on the other hand, illustrates the both the right ear protection cup 102-1 and the left ear protection cup 102-2 along with the headband 104.
[0028] Figures 3A and 3B show the assembly of the ear protection cup 102 and the sealing membrane 105. In one of the embodiment a groove is created in the sealing membrane 105 which is used to lock over the ear protection cup 102. The tolerance between the groove width of the sealing membrane 105 and the thickness of the ear protection cup 102 provide the necessary fit for locking. In one aspect, the space for the filler element 302 to seat in the sealing membrane 105 is shown and position when the filler element is sandwiched 303 between the sealing membrane 105 and ear protection cup 102. In one of the embodiment, an additional filler element may be placed in the space for the filler element 302, in order to increase the sound attenuation. Referring to Figures 3C and 3D, the sound attenuation apparatus 100 comprises a textured surface 107 present on the outer surface and the inner surface of the ear protection cup 102. It may be understood that the textured surface 107 may be finished with an appropriate material and finish to attain the required sound attenuation.
[0029] Referring to Figures 4A and 4B. The sound attenuation apparatus 100 cross section is illustrated in the figure 4A. In one embodiment the modified shape 402 of the sealing membrane 105 is shown that provides the additional attenuation and the engagement mechanism of the sound attenuation apparatus 100 along with the human ear. In the figure 4B, the ear protection cup 102 is provided with a flat periphery 108 along an outer edge of the ear protection cup 102. The flat periphery 108 applies pressure on the sealing membrane 105, to apply force in order to achieve the optimum sealing and comfort. In one embodiment the profile of the sealing membrane 105 is modified in order to lock the feature in place with reference of the ear protection cup 102.
[0030] Referring to a figures 5A and 5B, the ear protection cups 102 for providing sound attenuation to a wearer is shown. In one embodiment, the sealing membrane 105 comprises an ear canal sealing feature 502 that sufficiently seals a cavity of an ear canal to attenuate the sound, as shown in the figure 5A. In another embodiment, the sealing membrane further comprises an ear plug 504 that enters and thereby closes the ear canal, as shown in the figure 5B. In one aspect, the ear plug 504, upon entering into the ear canal, increases the contact of the sealing membrane 105 with the ear canal resulting into the attenuation of the sound. It may be noted that the ear plug 504 is made up of a flexible material that may deform and fit in to a range of different sizes of the ear canal.
[0031] Exemplary embodiments discussed above may provide certain advantages. Though not required to practice aspects of the disclosure, these advantages may include those provided by the following features.
[0032] Some embodiment of the present invention enables to solve the discomfort caused to the wearer from wearing conventional sound attenuation apparatuses that are large and heavy in size and weight.
[0033] Some embodiment of the present invention facilitates a headband, attached to a helmet, that connect the helmet to earmuffs and further applies a sustainable pressure on the earmuffs to provide sealing around the ears.
[0034] Some embodiment of the present invention facilitates additional cushioning to the wearer to provide comfort while the sound attenuation apparatus is in operation.
[0035] Although implementations for a sound attenuation apparatus for providing sound attenuation to a wearer have been described in language specific to structural features and/or methods, it is to be understood that the implementations and/or embodiments are not necessarily limited to the specific features or methods described.