Dilatant earcup soft seal

摘要

A dilatant circumaural hearing protection earcup soft seal is disclosed. The design of the instant invention is predicated on the theory that the primary function of an effective earcup soft seal is to hold the earcup it is attached to stiffly against the user's head. Experimental evidence shows that an earcup is "pumped" in response to acoustic pressure and reconstructs the acoustic signal inside the earcup as a diaphragm, even though very little noise may pass directly through the earcup itself. The soft seals of the instant invention utilize the dilatant property of some materials to provide a soft seal that conforms slowly and comfortably to a user's head but is stiff under the influence of high shear rate acoustic pressure.