Earpiece, for use on stethoscope, having a harder, load-bearing portion and a softer, acoustic sealing portion

摘要

The earpiece is characterized by having a harder portion which connects it to a stethoscope tube and supports its share of the weight of the stethoscope and a soft, compliant portion which extends farther into the ear passage than the hard portion and serves as the acoustic seal for the earpiece. In one embodiment the earpiece is a single piece made of foam plastic with the hardened portion including the surface of the lumen hardened using techniques well known in the art. In a second embodiment the harder portion is one piece and the softer, acoustic sealing portion a separate part which may be adhesively attached to the harder portion or be held in place by friction and therefore separately replaceable.