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Disclosed are foam compositions with enhanced sound attenuation characteristics for use in earpieces, for example, user-disposable foam members such as foam tips for sound control devices including sound transmission devices and earplugs in which a relationship between the size of the pores and the

Disclosed are foam compositions with enhanced sound attenuation characteristics for use in earpieces, for example, user-disposable foam members such as foam tips for sound control devices including sound transmission devices and earplugs in which a relationship between the size of the pores and the volume of the cells of the polymeric may be controlled.

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1. A sound control device including an earpiece member for placement in close proximity to an ear canal of a user for attenuating sound, the earpiece member comprising: a non-reticulated polymeric foam material having a plurality of cells defined by interconnected cellular walls of the polymeric foa

1. A sound control device including an earpiece member for placement in close proximity to an ear canal of a user for attenuating sound, the earpiece member comprising: a non-reticulated polymeric foam material having a plurality of cells defined by interconnected cellular walls of the polymeric foam material and a plurality of pores extending through the cellular walls between adjacent cells to interconnect adjacent cells of the polymeric foam material;wherein the average volume of the cells of the polymeric foam material is between about 8,000 microns3 to about 8,000,000 microns3;wherein the average diameter of the pores of the polymeric foam material is between about 5 microns to about 50 microns; andwherein a ratio between the average diameter of the pores to an average diameter of the cells is between 0.02 to 0.75. 2. The sound control device of claim 1, wherein the cells of the polymeric foam material have an average diameter between about 25 microns to about 250 microns, and wherein a ratio between the average diameter of the pores to the average diameter of the cells is between 0.02 to 0.2. 3. The sound control device of claim 1, wherein the cells of the polymeric foam material have an average diameter between about 20 microns to about 200 microns, and wherein a ratio between the average diameter of the pores to the average diameter of the cells is between 0.2 to 0.75. 4. The sound control device of claim 1, wherein the polymeric foam material includes a plurality of filler particles embedded in the cellular walls, at least a majority of the filler particles having a channel extending continuously through the filler particle, wherein the channel of at least a portion of the filler particles extends between adjacent cells of the polymeric foam material. 5. The sound control device of claim 4, wherein the channels of the filler particles form the pores between adjacent cells. 6. The sound control device of claim 1, wherein the polymeric foam material includes a plurality of hollow microspheres having spherical walls, interiors of which form at least a portion of the cells, and openings through the spherical walls provide at least a portion of the pores between adjacent cells. 7. The sound control device of claim 1, wherein the polymeric foam material includes a filler material in a volume fraction of between 0.075 to 0.225. 8. The sound control device of claim 1, wherein the polymeric foam material has 80% or more open cells. 9. The sound control device of claim 1, wherein the polymeric foam material is a slow recovery foam having a slow recovery time of between 1 to 60 seconds. 10. The sound control device of claim 9, wherein the polymeric foam material retains at least a portion of the slow recovery time when saturated in water. 11. The sound control device of claim 1, wherein the polymeric foam material is crushed to rupture cellular walls of the polymeric foam material to create at least a portion of the pores between adjacent cells. 12. The sound control device of claim 1, further comprising filler particles dispersed in the polymeric foam material. 13. The sound control device of claim 12, wherein the filler particles are glass beads or bubbles coated with a coupling agent prior to adding the glass beads or bubbles to a reaction mixture for forming the polymeric foam material. 14. A foam earpiece for a sound control device which can be placed in close proximity to the ear canal of a user to attenuate sound, the foam earpiece comprising: a non-reticulated polyurethane foam material formed of a polymer mixture of a diisocyanate mixture reacted with a polyol mixture in the presence of a catalyst mixture;the polyurethane foam material having a plurality of open cells defined by interconnected cellular walls of the polyurethane foam material and a plurality of pores extending through the cellular walls between adjacent open cells to interconnect adjacent open cells of the polyurethane foam material;the polyurethane foam material having a percent of open cells of 80% or more;wherein the average volume of the open cells of the polyurethane foam material is between about 8,000 microns3 to about 8,000,000 microns3;wherein the average diameter of the pores of the polyurethane foam material is between about 5 microns to about 50 microns; andwherein a ratio between the average diameter of the pores to an average diameter of the cells is between 0.02 to 0.75. 15. The foam earpiece of claim 14, wherein the open cells of the polyurethane foam material have an average diameter between about 25 microns to about 250 microns, and wherein a ratio between the average diameter of the pores to the average diameter of the open cells is between 0.02 to 0.2. 16. The foam earpiece of claim 14, wherein polymer mixture has an isocyanate index in the range of between 92 and 104. 17. The foam earpiece of claim 14, wherein the polymer mixture includes a filler material having a particle size of about 5 microns to about 100 microns. 18. The foam earpiece of claim 17, wherein the filler material is included in the polymer mixture in a volume fraction of between 0.075 to 0.225. 19. The foam earpiece of claim 17, wherein the polyurethane foam material is crushed to rupture cellular walls of the polyurethane foam material to create at least a portion of the pores between adjacent open cells. 20. The foam earpiece of claim 19, wherein the polyurethane foam material is controllably crushed to a thickness of between 30% and 60% of an original thickness of the polyurethane foam material. 21. The foam earpiece of claim 19, wherein the filler material modifies the cellular walls to control the size of the pores when the polyurethane foam material is crushed. 22. The foam earpiece of claim 14, wherein the polyurethane foam material includes a plurality of filler particles embedded in the cellular walls, at least a majority of the filler particles having a channel extending continuously through the filler particle which extends between adjacent open cells of the polyurethane foam material. 23. The foam earpiece of claim 22, wherein the channels of the filler particles form the pores between adjacent open cells. 24. The foam earpiece of claim 14, wherein the polymer mixture includes about 44-46 weight percent of the diisocyanate mixture, about 48-52 weight percent of the polyol mixture and about 3-4 weight percent of the catalyst mixture. 25. The foam earpiece of claim 14 in combination with a sound control device. 26. A method of forming an earpiece member for placement in close proximity to an ear canal of a user for attenuating sound, the method comprising: reacting a diisocyanate with a polyol mixture in the presence of a catalyst mixture to form a polyurethane foam material having a plurality of cells defined by interconnected cellular walls;crushing the polyurethane foam material to rupture the cellular walls between adjacent cells of the polyurethane foam material, wherein subsequent to crushing the polyurethane foam material, the polyurethane foam material is a non-reticulated foam material having 80% or more open cells interconnected with adjacent open cells by pores extending through the cellular walls between adjacent open cells;wherein the average volume of the cells of the polyurethane foam material is between about 8,000 microns3 to about 8,000,000 microns3;wherein the average diameter of the pores of the polyurethane foam material is between about 5 microns to about 50 microns; andwherein a ratio between the average diameter of the pores to an average diameter of the cells is between 0.02 to 0.75; andforming an earpiece member from the polyurethane foam material. 27. The method of claim 26, wherein the polyurethane foam material includes a plurality of filler particles, wherein the plurality of filler particles strengthen the cellular walls of the polyurethane foam material during the crushing step to limit the diameter of the pores of the polyurethane foam material. 28. The method of claim 27, wherein during the crushing step the polyurethane foam material is compressed to a thickness in a range of 30% to 60% of an initial thickness of the polyurethane foam material. 29. The method of claim 26, further comprising: dispersing filler particles in the polyurethane foam material. 30. The sound control device of claim 29, further comprising: coating a coupling agent onto the filler particles prior to adding the filler particles to the reaction mixture for forming the polyurethane foam material. 31. A sound control device including an earpiece member for placement in close proximity to an ear canal of a user for attenuating sound, the earpiece member comprising: a non-reticulated polymeric foam material having a plurality of cells defined by interconnected cellular walls of the polymeric foam material and a plurality of pores extending through the cellular walls between adjacent cells to interconnect adjacent cells of the polymeric foam material;wherein the mode volume of the cells of the polymeric foam material is between about 8,000 microns3 to about 8,000,000 microns3;wherein the mode diameter of the pores of the polymeric foam material is between about 5 microns to about 50 microns; andwherein a ratio between the mode diameter of the pores to a mode diameter of the cells is between 0.02 to 0.75. 32. The sound control device of claim 31, wherein the cells of the polymeric foam material have a mode diameter between about 25 microns to about 250 microns, and wherein a ratio between the mode diameter of the pores to the mode diameter of the cells is between 0.02 to 0.2. 33. A sound control device including an earpiece member for placement in close proximity to an ear canal of a user for attenuating sound, the earpiece member comprising: a non-reticulated polymeric foam material having a plurality of cells defined by interconnected cellular walls of the polymeric foam material and a plurality of pores extending through the cellular walls between adjacent cells to interconnect adjacent cells of the polymeric foam material;wherein the polymeric foam material is sufficiently flexible to conform to a contoured portion of a user's anatomy;wherein the average diameter of the pores of the polymeric foam material is between about 5 microns to about 50 microns; andwherein a ratio between the average diameter of the pores to an average diameter of the cells is between 0.02 to 0.75. 34. The sound control device of claim 33, wherein the polymeric foam material has a compressional modulus in the range of about 0.5 psi to about 4.5 psi measured at 37 degrees Celsius and 50% relative humidity. 35. The sound control device of claim 33, wherein the cells of the polymeric foam material have an average diameter between about 25 microns to about 250 microns, and wherein a ratio between the average diameter of the pores to the average diameter of the cells is between 0.02 to 0.2.