KR20170011521A - Smart Thermometer and Method for Calculating Temperature Thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a smart thermometer and a temperature calculating method thereof. The present invention includes a sensor unit which includes at least two or more temperature sensors which receive infrared rays radiated from an object to be measured and convert the infrared rays into electrical signals and a proximity sensor which senses a distance from the object, a control unit which calculates a final temperature value by correcting a temperature value calculated by the electrical signals obtained from the two or more temperature sensors included in the sensor unit based on the distance from the measured object which is sensed by the proximity sensor, and a display unit which outputs the final temperature value calculated by the control unit. Accordingly, the present invention can accurately measure a temperature.

Description

{Smart Thermometer and Method for Calculating Temperature Thereof}

The present invention relates to a smart thermometer and a method for calculating the temperature of a clinical thermometer, and more particularly, to a smart thermometer and a temperature calculating method of a thermometer that accurately measure a temperature of a person or an object, will be.

Recently, various infectious diseases are prevalent. In particular, fever is a common symptom of infectious diseases, and thus it is essential to measure body temperature in order to confirm infection. Therefore, not only in hospitals, but also in homes and companies are equipped with a thermometer and health management of members is becoming common.

In addition, it is essential to have a thermometer in a home for a woman who cares for the infant or a woman who controls the pregnancy cycle by measuring the basal body temperature.

Accordingly, there is a demand for a smart thermometer capable of accurately measuring body temperature, determining the presence or absence of a body abnormality through a measured body temperature, and performing health management with measurement records.

As such a clinical thermometer, Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0458154 discloses a forehead type infrared clinical thermometer and a control method thereof. Specifically, a thermometer for receiving infrared rays radiated from a human body and outputting the infrared rays as an electric signal to calculate a body temperature is disclosed.

However, according to the conventional thermometer, there is a problem that it is difficult to accurately measure the temperature since the receiving sensitivity of the infrared rays received by the infrared ray sensor varies depending on the distance and angle between the human body and the infrared ray sensor. In particular, since the body temperature is measured with different sensitivity depending on the performance of the thermometer, a clinical thermometer capable of accurately measuring the body temperature is required.

Therefore, a technique for solving the above-described problems is required.

On the other hand, the background art described above is technical information acquired by the inventor for the derivation of the present invention or obtained in the derivation process of the present invention, and can not necessarily be a known technology disclosed to the general public before the application of the present invention .

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for calculating the temperature of a smart thermometer and a clinical thermometer.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a smart thermometer and a method of calculating the temperature of a clinical thermometer that can accurately measure temperature.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for measuring a temperature of an object to be temperature-measured, comprising the steps of: measuring at least two temperature sensors for receiving infrared rays emitted from a temperature measurement object and converting the infrared rays into electrical signals; And a temperature sensor for detecting a temperature of the object to be measured based on the distance measured by the proximity sensor and the temperature value calculated by the electrical signal obtained from the two or more temperature sensors included in the sensor unit And a display unit for outputting a final temperature value calculated by the control unit.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a temperature measuring apparatus comprising: a proximity sensor for sensing a distance to a temperature measurement object; And a second temperature sensor having a reception angle inclined by the same angle with respect to a direction of the first temperature sensor and the second temperature sensor, and when a temperature measurement command is input from the user, Receiving infrared rays incident on the reception angle using a temperature sensor; Sensing the distance to the temperature measurement object using the proximity sensor at the same time as performing the receiving step; Converting the energy of infrared rays received in the receiving step into an electrical signal to calculate a temperature value; A correction coefficient corresponding to a distance from the temperature measurement object sensed in the sensing step or a correction coefficient according to an average measurement distance sensed a plurality of times by the proximity sensor in response to a temperature measurement command generated in the past, Correcting a temperature value calculated in the calculating step; And displaying the calibrated final temperature value in the calibrating step.

According to one of the above-mentioned objects of the present invention, an embodiment of the present invention can provide a smart thermometer and a temperature calculating method of a clinical thermometer that can measure an accurate temperature.

Further, according to any one of the tasks of the present invention, it is possible to accumulate the history of the measured body temperature and the temperature to manage the health of the person or the state of the environment.

Further, according to any one of the means for solving the problems of the present invention, it is possible to provide a smart thermometer and a temperature calculating method of a clinical thermometer which can correct an error of a measured value in accordance with a distance and an angle change with an object to be measured.

The effects obtained by the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and other effects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description will be.

1 is an exemplary view showing a front appearance of a smart thermometer according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an exemplary view showing a rear appearance of a smart thermometer according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a smart thermometer according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 and 5 are conceptual diagrams for explaining a temperature measurement method of a smart thermometer according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of calculating a temperature of a clinical thermometer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. In order to clearly illustrate the present invention, parts not related to the description are omitted, and similar parts are denoted by like reference characters throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, when a part is referred to as being "connected" to another part, it includes not only "directly connected" but also "electrically connected" with another part in between . Also, when an element is referred to as "comprising ", it means that it can include other elements as well, without departing from the other elements unless specifically stated otherwise.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an exemplary view showing a front appearance of a smart thermometer according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exemplary view showing a rear appearance of a smart thermometer according to an embodiment of the present invention, 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a smart clinical thermometer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the smart thermometer 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is an electronic device having a substantially bar type body 110. Of course, the shape of the appearance can be configured differently from the example shown in Fig. 1 or Fig.

A probe having a sensor unit 120 including a plurality of sensors 121, 122, 123, and 124 may be positioned at a front side of the smart thermometer 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The sensor unit 120 includes a first temperature sensor 121 and a second temperature sensor 122 disposed at mutually opposing positions and a second temperature sensor 122 located between the first temperature sensor 121 and the second temperature sensor 122 A proximity sensor 123, and optionally a humidity sensor 124.

In particular, the sensor unit 120 may include a plurality of temperature sensors including a first temperature sensor 121 and a second temperature sensor 122, and the plurality of temperature sensors are simultaneously driven to receive infrared rays.

Specifically, the first temperature sensor 121 and the second temperature sensor 122 generate an electromotive force by using the radiant energy of infrared rays radiated from the temperature measurement object (which may be a person or an object) It can be converted into an electrical signal. By converting this to a temperature value, it is possible to measure the temperature ultimately.

On the other hand, the proximity sensor 123 senses the distance between the temperature measurement object and the proximity sensor 123. The proximity sensor 123 is also driven when the first temperature sensor 121 and the second temperature sensor 122 are driven so that the distance between the temperature measurement object and the apparatus when the temperature is measured can be measured.

At this time, the proximity sensor 123 forms the same distance as the first temperature sensor 121 and the second temperature sensor 122, respectively, between the first temperature sensor 121 and the second temperature sensor 122 as described above As shown in FIG. That is, the first temperature sensor 121 and the second temperature sensor 122 are arranged to be spaced apart from each other by the same distance with respect to the proximity sensor 123.

On the other hand, the first temperature sensor 121 and the second temperature sensor 122 may have inclined receiving angles that are opposite to each other with respect to the distance direction between the proximity sensor 123 and the temperature measuring object and by the same angle. This will be described later in more detail with reference to FIG.

Furthermore, the first temperature sensor 121 and the second temperature sensor 122 receive infrared rays with a directivity about the reception angle when measuring the temperature of the object to be temperature-measured, and when measuring the ambient temperature of the temperature measurement object, It is possible to receive infrared rays with directivity. That is, the first temperature sensor 121 and the second temperature sensor 122 may measure the temperature of the specific temperature measurement object or may measure the temperature around the smart thermometer 100 non-directionally. Therefore, according to the smart thermometer 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention, both the temperature of a specific object and the general ambient temperature can be measured. Further, as will be described later, the temperature of the object to be measured can be corrected using the ambient temperature.

The sensor unit 120 may further include a humidity sensor 124. The humidity sensor 124 may be disposed around other sensors 121, 122, 123 in the probe to measure humidity.

Meanwhile, the smart thermometer 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include an input unit 130. The input unit 130 is a hardware configuration for receiving a temperature measurement command from a user, and may include at least one input button. Also, the input unit 130 can select various device setting information from the user. For example, the user can select whether the measurement target is a person or an object, or can select a device setting. Further, it is possible to select whether or not the communication unit to be described later is driven.

Meanwhile, the smart thermometer 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a display unit 140. The display unit 140 can visually display the measured temperature as shown in FIG. An icon for indicating whether the remaining amount of battery of the smart thermometer 100, an icon for indicating whether the communication unit is to be described later, an icon for indicating whether the measurement object is a person or an object, and setting information of the apparatus (on / Etc.) can be displayed.

The display unit 140 may include an LED lamp that selectively emits light inside the outer wall forming the body 110 of the smart thermometer 100. At least a part of the outer wall of the smart thermometer 100, May be formed of a translucent material that transmits light emitted by the LED lamp when the LED lamp emits light. At this time, it is preferable that the transparency of the outer wall has transparency to such an extent that the internal structure or the structure is not shone to the outside when the LED lamp is turned off, and only the LED lamp can transmit the light emitted by the LED lamp.

Meanwhile, the smart thermometer 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention may include a controller 150. The control unit 150 calculates a temperature value based on the electrical signals obtained by the first temperature sensor 121 and the second temperature sensor 122 included in the sensor unit 120.

At this time, the control unit 150 can calculate the final temperature value by correcting the measured temperature value based on the distance to the temperature measurement object sensed by the proximity sensor 123. [ The control unit 150 may extract a correction coefficient corresponding to the distance value with the temperature measurement object sensed when the temperature is measured, and may correct the temperature value using the extracted correction coefficient. For this purpose, the storage unit 160 may store a correction coefficient corresponding to the distance to the temperature measurement object.

Alternatively, the control unit 150 may transmit the distance from the temperature measurement object sensed by the proximity sensor 123 to the external information processing apparatus through a communication unit, which will be described later, each time the temperature is measured, The correction coefficient according to the average measurement distance of the user of the smart thermometer 100 can be received. Accordingly, the control unit 150 may correct the temperature value using the correction coefficient provided by the external information processing apparatus.

Further, the control unit 150 may calculate the final temperature value based on the ambient temperature measured by at least one of the first temperature sensor 121 and the second temperature sensor 122 included in the sensor unit 150 , The temperature value of the temperature measurement object may be corrected.

The smart thermometer 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include a storage unit 160. The storage unit 160 may store correction coefficient information according to the distance to the temperature measurement object or correction coefficient information according to the ambient temperature. The storage unit 160 may also store the history of the measured temperature values.

Meanwhile, the smart thermometer 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention communicates with an external information processing apparatus (not shown) through a network to transmit distance information to a temperature measurement object sensed by the proximity sensor 123 every time temperature is measured, To the information processing apparatus.

The network may be a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a value added network (VAN), a personal area network (PAN), a mobile radio communication wireless networks, such as a wireless network, a wireless broadband Internet (Wibro), a Mobile WiMAX, a High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), or a satellite communication network.

The external information processing apparatus may be implemented as a computer, a portable terminal, a television, a wearable device, or a server, which can be connected to a remote server through a network or to be connected to other terminals and other servers. Here, the computer includes, for example, a notebook computer, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, and the like, each of which is equipped with a web browser (WEB Browser), and the portable terminal may be a wireless communication device , Personal Communication System (PCS), Personal Digital Cellular (PDC), Personal Handyphone System (PHS), Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), International Mobile Telecommunication (IMT) (W-CDMA), Wibro (Wireless Broadband Internet), Smart Phone, Mobile WiMAX (Mobile Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) (Handheld) based wireless communication device. In addition, the television may include an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), an Internet television (TV), a terrestrial TV, a cable TV, and the like. Further, the wearable device is an information processing device of a type that can be directly worn on a human body, for example, a watch, a glasses, an accessory, a garment, shoes, or the like, and can be connected to a remote server via a network, Lt; / RTI >

The external information processing apparatus can be, for example, a smart phone communicating with the smart thermometer 100 through a Bluetooth communication method. The external information processing apparatus may be provided with an application interlocked with the smart thermometer 100.

The communication unit 170 stores information on the final temperature calculated by the controller 150, distance information between the temperature measurement object when the temperature value is measured, and humidity information acquired by the humidity sensor 124, Device.

Accordingly, the external information processing apparatus can manage the history of the measured temperature transmitted from the smart thermometer 100, and can provide information on the health state of the temperature measurement object accordingly.

Hereinafter, a process of measuring the temperature using the smart thermometer 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6. FIG. FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are conceptual diagrams for explaining a temperature measurement method of a smart thermometer according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a temperature calculation method of a clinical thermometer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, the smart thermometer 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a first temperature sensor 121 and a second temperature sensor 122. At this time, the proximity sensor 123 is located at the center of the first temperature sensor 121 and the second temperature sensor 122.

[53] Since the distance between the first temperature sensor 121 and the second temperature sensor 122 is b, The distance between the first temperature sensor 121 and the second temperature sensor 122 and the proximity sensor 123 becomes b / 2.

On the other hand, the reception angle r of the infrared ray incident on the first temperature sensor 121 and the second temperature sensor 122 is kept constant. At this time, the reception angle r is set so that the first temperature sensor 121 and the second temperature sensor 122 receive the infrared rays IR radiated from the same point when the distance to the temperature measurement object B is a, .

Referring now to FIG. 5, a more realistic temperature measurement situation can be seen. The distance b and the reception angle r between the first temperature sensor 121 and the second temperature sensor 122 are set to be equal to the distance between the temperature measurement object B and the sensors 121, It does not change.

The distance a from the temperature measurement object B and the radiation angles r1 and r2 at the temperature measurement object B of the infrared rays IR received by the first temperature sensor 121 and the second temperature sensor 122 ) Is changed.

Accordingly, in the embodiment of the present invention, the temperature value is corrected according to the distance from the object B to be measured.

However, in the conventional technique, it is not considered that the amount of received infrared light increases or decreases according to the change of the radiation angles r1 and r2. However, in the embodiment of the present invention, since at least two temperature sensors 121 and 122 are utilized as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, any one of the temperature sensors 122, The radiation angle r2 of the infrared ray IR incident on the other temperature sensor 121 decreases as compared with the situation shown in Fig. Is increased in comparison with the situation shown in FIG. 4, the temperature sensors 121 and 122 can compensate for the increase / decrease of the light amount according to the change of the infrared radiation angle.

Therefore, more accurate temperature measurement is possible.

6, when a user inputs a temperature measurement command from the user (S110), the proximity sensor 123 detects the distance to the temperature measurement object, A first temperature sensor 121 and a second temperature sensor 122 which are arranged at the same distance apart and which have a reception angle that is opposite to each other with respect to the distance direction between the proximity sensor 123 and the object to be temperature- (S120), infrared rays are received to measure the temperature of the object to be temperature-measured using the smart thermometer. The temperature can be measured by converting the radiant energy of the received infrared rays into an electrical signal.

At the same time, the proximity sensor 123 may be used to detect the distance to the temperature measurement object (S130).

At the same time, the ambient temperature of the temperature measurement object can be measured using at least one of the first temperature sensor 121 and the second temperature sensor 122 (S140).

The smart thermometer 100 uses a correction coefficient according to a distance to a temperature measurement object or a correction coefficient according to an average measurement distance sensed several times by the proximity sensor in response to a temperature measurement command generated in the past, The temperature value calculated in the calculating step can be corrected (S150). At this time, the process of correcting the temperature value based on the ambient temperature measured in step S140 may be performed at the same time.

Accordingly, the smart thermometer 100 can display the corrected final temperature value (S160).

The method of calculating the temperature of the clinical thermometer according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 includes the steps of time-series processing in the smart thermometer 100 shown in FIGS. Therefore, even if omitted from the following description, the above description regarding the smart thermometer 100 shown in Figs. 1 to 3 can also be applied to the method according to the embodiment shown in Fig.

The method according to the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 6 may also be implemented in the form of a recording medium including instructions executable by a computer, such as program modules, being executed by a computer. Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. In addition, the computer-readable medium can include both computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes both volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Communication media typically includes any information delivery media, including computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave, or other transport mechanism.

The method according to an embodiment of the present invention may also be implemented as a computer program (or a computer program product) including instructions executable by a computer. A computer program includes programmable machine instructions that are processed by a processor and can be implemented in a high-level programming language, an object-oriented programming language, an assembly language, or a machine language . The computer program may also be recorded on a computer readable recording medium of a type (e.g., memory, hard disk, magnetic / optical medium or solid-state drive).

Thus, a method according to an embodiment of the present invention may be implemented by a computer program as described above being executed by a computing device. The computing device may include a processor, a memory, a storage device, a high-speed interface connected to the memory and a high-speed expansion port, and a low-speed interface connected to the low-speed bus and the storage device. Each of these components is connected to each other using a variety of buses and can be mounted on a common motherboard or mounted in any other suitable manner.

Where the processor may process instructions within the computing device, such as to display graphical information to provide a graphical user interface (GUI) on an external input, output device, such as a display connected to a high speed interface And commands stored in memory or storage devices. As another example, multiple processors and / or multiple busses may be used with multiple memory and memory types as appropriate. The processor may also be implemented as a chipset comprised of chips comprising multiple independent analog and / or digital processors.

The memory also stores information within the computing device. In one example, the memory may comprise volatile memory units or a collection thereof. In another example, the memory may be comprised of non-volatile memory units or a collection thereof. The memory may also be another type of computer readable medium such as, for example, a magnetic or optical disk.

And the storage device can provide a large amount of storage space to the computing device. The storage device may be a computer readable medium or a configuration including such a medium and may include, for example, devices in a SAN (Storage Area Network) or other configurations, and may be a floppy disk device, a hard disk device, Or a tape device, flash memory, or other similar semiconductor memory device or device array.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing description of the present invention is for illustrative purposes only and that those of ordinary skill in the art can readily understand that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the present invention. will be. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single entity may be distributed and implemented, and components described as being distributed may also be implemented in a combined form.

The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the detailed description and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents are to be construed as being included within the scope of the present invention do.

Claims (10)

A sensor unit including at least two temperature sensors for receiving infrared rays radiated from a temperature measurement object and converting the infrared rays into an electric signal, and a proximity sensor for sensing a distance between the object and the temperature measurement object;
A control unit for calculating a final temperature value by correcting a temperature value calculated by an electrical signal obtained from at least two temperature sensors included in the sensor unit based on a distance to a temperature measurement object sensed by the proximity sensor; And
And a display unit for outputting a final temperature value calculated by the control unit. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the at least two temperature sensors comprise:
A first temperature sensor and a second temperature sensor arranged to be spaced apart from each other by the same distance about the proximity sensor and having a tilting angle that is opposite to and opposite to the distance direction between the proximity sensor and the temperature measurement object, Smart thermometer, including temperature sensor. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the first temperature sensor and the second temperature sensor comprise:
Wherein when the temperature of the object to be measured is measured, infrared rays are received with a directivity around the reception angle and infrared rays are received omnidirectionally when the ambient temperature of the temperature measurement object is measured. The method of claim 3,
Wherein,
Further comprising the step of calibrating a temperature value calculated by an electrical signal obtained from at least two temperature sensors included in the sensor unit based on the ambient temperature to calculate the final temperature value. The method according to claim 1,
The display unit includes:
And an LED lamp that emits light selectively inside the outer wall of the smart thermometer,
Wherein at least a part of the outer wall where the display unit is located is formed of a translucent material that transmits light emitted by the LED lamp when the LED lamp emits light. The method according to claim 1,
In the smart thermometer,
And a communication unit communicating with the external information processing apparatus to transmit distance information to the temperature measurement object sensed by the proximity sensor at each time of temperature measurement to the external information processing apparatus. The method according to claim 6,
Wherein,
And a control unit that receives a correction coefficient corresponding to an average measurement distance of the user from the external information processing apparatus through the communication unit and calculates the correction coefficient based on the correction coefficient by using an electric signal obtained from two or more temperature sensors included in the sensor unit Smart thermometer to calibrate the temperature value. The method according to claim 6,
The sensor unit includes:
Further comprising a humidity sensor for measuring humidity,
Wherein,
And transmits the humidity information acquired from the humidity sensor to the external information processing apparatus when the temperature of the temperature measurement object is measured. A temperature sensor for measuring a temperature of the object to be temperature-measured, the temperature sensor comprising: a proximity sensor for sensing a distance to a temperature measurement object; And a second temperature sensor having a first temperature sensor and a second temperature sensor,
Receiving infrared rays incident on the reception angle using the first temperature sensor and the second temperature sensor when a temperature measurement command is input from a user;
Sensing the distance to the temperature measurement object using the proximity sensor at the same time as performing the receiving step;
Converting the energy of infrared rays received in the receiving step into an electrical signal to calculate a temperature value;
A correction coefficient corresponding to a distance from the temperature measurement object sensed in the sensing step or a correction coefficient according to an average measurement distance sensed a plurality of times by the proximity sensor in response to a temperature measurement command generated in the past, Correcting a temperature value calculated in the calculating step; And
And displaying the calibrated final temperature value in the calibrating step. 10. The method of claim 9,
The method for calculating the temperature of the clinical thermometer,
Further comprising the step of measuring an ambient temperature of the temperature measurement object using at least one of the first temperature sensor and the second temperature sensor simultaneously with the performing of the receiving step,
Wherein the correcting comprises:
And correcting the temperature value based on the ambient temperature obtained in the measuring step.

Images