CN115876327A - Ear thermometer and probe of temperature measuring device - Google Patents

Abstract

An ear thermometer and a probe of a temperature measuring device, the ear thermometer comprising a probe for insertion into an ear canal and a body for holding; the probe comprises a heat insulation nozzle, a heat conduction piece arranged in the heat insulation nozzle and an infrared temperature sensor; the heat insulation pipe nozzle is provided with a bottom end connected with the main body and a top end protruding out of the main body, and the top end is provided with an opening; the infrared temperature sensor is used for receiving infrared radiation from the part to be measured, which passes through the opening, and is provided with a first end facing the opening and a second end opposite to the first end; the heat conducting member extends from the opening to the second end and is in heat conducting connection with the second end to form a heat transfer path from the opening of the heat insulation nozzle to the second end, and heat at the opening is transferred to the second end through the heat transfer path; at least one electronic device electrically connected with the infrared temperature sensor is arranged in the main body so as to output the temperature of the part to be measured, which is measured by the infrared temperature sensor. The ear thermometer has higher measurement precision.

Description

Ear type thermometer and probe of temperature measuring device

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of medical instruments, in particular to an ear thermometer and a probe of a temperature measuring device.

Background

Doctors, nurses, parents, and healthcare providers alike use a typical thermometer to measure the body temperature of a subject. For effective use, the thermometer reading needs to be sufficiently accurate and preferably from the subject's internal or core temperature. Thermometers currently in use on the market include glass thermometers, electronic thermometers, frontal thermometers, ear thermometers, and the like. The glass clinical thermometer generally needs several minutes to reflect the temperature of the human body, and also causes discomfort to the therapist, and the glass clinical thermometer itself causes environmental pollution, and compared with the glass clinical thermometer, the electronic clinical thermometer shortens the measuring time to about 30s and improves the accuracy, but the electronic clinical thermometer still needs to be put into the mouth, rectum or armpit of the measured person during the measurement, and also causes discomfort to the measured person. Although the forehead type thermometer is fast in measurement, due to the limitation of a measurement part, the measurement result is often influenced by the ambient temperature of a measured person, and the accuracy cannot meet the medical grade requirement. Ear thermometers measure temperature by sensing infrared radiation from the tympanic membrane in the external ear canal, which accurately represents the core body temperature, and which requires only a few seconds. Ear thermometers are gaining acceptance by healthcare institutions.

The measurement principle of ear thermometers is by measuring radiation emanating from the tympanic membrane with an infrared temperature sensor inside. Taking a thermopile sensor as an example, a thin film in the thermopile sensor absorbs incoming radiation, raising the temperature of the thin film, the hot junction of the thermocouple constituting the thermopile can be very small and placed on the thin film, while the cold junction is in thermal contact with the sensor body of the thermopile sensor (e.g., in proximity to the sensor can), and the thermocouple outputs a voltage change proportional to the temperature change between the hot and cold junctions of the thermocouple, from which a temperature measurement is obtained. However, the temperature measured by the infrared temperature sensor is affected by the ambient temperature of the infrared temperature sensor, and when the temperatures of the hot end and the cold end of the infrared temperature sensor are consistent, the measured error is small. Many ear thermometers on the market often have measurement errors caused by temperature unevenness.

Most of ear thermometers sold on the market at present adopt a scheme of isolating human body heat from being transferred to an infrared temperature sensor, or artificially increasing the heat capacity of a sensor tank body to attempt to reduce the temperature change of the infrared temperature sensor in the measuring process. However, in any case, heat transfer from the front side of the infrared window of the infrared temperature sensor (the tympanic membrane is located in front of the ear thermometer during the use of the ear thermometer) is always present, which results in non-uniform heat at the front and rear ends of the infrared temperature sensor, i.e., a large temperature difference is generated between the front and rear ends of the infrared temperature sensor, and the temperature difference causes the measurement result of the ear thermometer to vary with the time the ear thermometer is placed in the ear canal.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention mainly provides an ear thermometer with high measuring accuracy and low cost and a probe of a temperature measuring device.

In view of the above, in one embodiment, the present application provides an ear thermometer including a probe for insertion into an ear canal and a body for holding;

the probe comprises a heat insulation nozzle, a heat conduction piece arranged in the heat insulation nozzle and an infrared temperature sensor;

the heat insulation pipe nozzle is provided with a bottom end connected with the main body and a top end protruding out of the main body, and the top end is provided with an opening;

the infrared temperature sensor is used for receiving infrared radiation from a part to be measured, which passes through the opening, so as to measure the temperature of the part to be measured, and the infrared temperature sensor is provided with a first end facing the opening and a second end opposite to the first end;

the heat conducting member extends from the opening to the second end and is in heat conducting connection with the second end to form a heat transfer path from the opening of the heat insulation nozzle to the second end, and heat at the opening is transferred to the second end through the heat transfer path to reduce the temperature difference between the first end and the second end of the infrared temperature sensor;

at least one electronic device electrically connected with the infrared temperature sensor is arranged in the main body to output the temperature of the part to be measured by the infrared temperature sensor.

In view of the above, another embodiment of the present application provides a probe of a temperature measuring device, including a heat insulating nozzle, a heat conducting member installed in the heat insulating nozzle, and an infrared temperature sensor;

the heat insulation pipe nozzle is provided with a bottom end connected with the temperature measuring device and a top end protruding out of the temperature measuring device, and the top end is provided with an opening;

the infrared temperature sensor is used for receiving infrared radiation from a part to be measured, which passes through the opening, so as to measure the temperature of the part to be measured, and the infrared temperature sensor is provided with a first end facing the opening and a second end opposite to the first end;

the heat conducting member extends from the opening to the second end and is in heat conducting connection with the second end to form a heat transfer path from the opening of the heat insulation nozzle to the second end, and heat at the opening is transferred to the second end through the heat transfer path to reduce the temperature difference between the first end and the second end of the infrared temperature sensor.

According to the ear thermometer of the embodiment, the heat outside the probe is isolated by the heat insulation nozzle and enters the heat insulation nozzle through the opening of the heat insulation nozzle, the heat conduction piece is arranged in the heat insulation nozzle, the heat conduction path formed by the heat conduction piece enables the heat at the opening to be directly transferred to the second end of the infrared temperature sensor, namely, the end far away from the opening of the heat insulation nozzle, the directional conduction from the external heat to the second end of the infrared temperature sensor is realized, the temperature change from the first end to the second end of the infrared temperature sensor is as small as possible, the measurement error of the infrared temperature sensor is reduced, the measurement precision of the ear thermometer is improved, and due to the heat insulation effect of the heat insulation nozzle, in some application scenes, a disposable sheath is not worn on the heat insulation nozzle for heat insulation, and even if the disposable sheath is used, the sheath which is as light and thin as possible can be adopted, so that the use cost of consumable materials (the disposable sheath) is reduced.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an ear thermometer;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of a probe according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an embodiment of a jacket worn on a heat insulating nozzle;

100. a probe;

110. a heat insulating nozzle; 111. an opening;

120. an infrared temperature sensor; 121. a first end; 122. a second end; 123. a second boss;

130. a heat conductive member; 131. heating the bumps; 132. a first boss;

140. an insulating support;

150. an ejection mechanism; 151. a movable member; 151a, a locking part; 152. a fixing member; 153. an elastic member;

200. a main body;

300. a sheath; 310. a clamping section; 320. a fixed section; 330. and (4) connecting the sections.

Detailed Description

The present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. Wherein like elements in different embodiments are numbered with like associated elements. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a better understanding of the present application. However, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that some of the features may be omitted or replaced with other elements, materials, methods in different instances. In some instances, certain operations related to the present application have not been shown or described in this specification in order not to obscure the core of the present application with unnecessary detail, and it is not necessary for those skilled in the art to describe these operations in detail, so that they may be fully understood from the description in the specification and the general knowledge in the art.

Furthermore, the features, operations, or characteristics described in the specification may be combined in any suitable manner to form various embodiments. Also, the various steps or actions in the method descriptions may be transposed or transposed in order, as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. Thus, the various sequences in the specification and drawings are for the purpose of clearly describing certain embodiments only and are not intended to imply a required sequence unless otherwise indicated where a certain sequence must be followed.

The numbering of the components as such, e.g., "first", "second", etc., is used herein only to distinguish the objects as described, and does not have any sequential or technical meaning. The term "connected" and "coupled" when used in this application, unless otherwise indicated, includes both direct and indirect connections (couplings).

Referring to fig. 1-2, the present invention provides an ear thermometer, which includes a probe 100 and a body 200 connected to the probe 100, wherein the body 200 is a handle-like structure that is easy to hold, and a user holds the body 200 to insert the probe 100 into an ear canal for measuring temperature.

The probe 100 comprises a heat insulation nozzle 110, a heat conduction member 130 installed in the heat insulation nozzle 110 and an infrared temperature sensor 120, at least one electronic device electrically connected with the infrared temperature sensor 120 is arranged in the main body 200 to output the temperature of the part to be measured by the infrared temperature sensor 120, and the electronic device comprises, but is not limited to, various boards, circuit boards, batteries and other necessary electronic components for completing the functions of the ear thermometer or a module formed by physically and/or signal connection of the electronic components.

The heat insulating nozzle 110 has a bottom end connected to the main body 200, and the connection of the heat insulating nozzle 110 to the main body 200 is a broad sense, and it may be either integrally formed with the main body 200 or detachably connected to the main body 200, for example, by a screw connection with the main body 200. In addition, the heat insulating nozzle 110 has a tip end protruded outward of the main body 200, and the tip end is provided with an opening 111. To facilitate insertion into a deeper location in the ear canal, the insulating nozzle 110 may be configured as a cone, with the tip of the cone oriented in the direction of the tip of the insulating nozzle 110. One of the functions of the heat insulating nozzle 110 is to insulate external heat, an inner cavity of the heat insulating nozzle 110 communicates with the outside through an opening 111 at the top end, and heat outside the heat insulating nozzle 110 enters the inner cavity of the heat insulating nozzle 110 through the opening 111.

The infrared temperature sensor 120 is used for receiving the infrared radiation from the portion to be measured through the opening 111 to measure the temperature of the portion to be measured, specifically, the infrared temperature sensor 120 has a first end 121 facing the opening 111 and a second end 122 opposite to the first end 121, a window of the infrared temperature sensor 120 is disposed on the first end 121, and the infrared radiation from the ear canal reaches the window (referred to as window in the background art) of the infrared temperature sensor 120 after passing through the opening 111 of the heat insulation nozzle 110.

The material of the thermal conduction member 130 is a material with high thermal conductivity (e.g., metal), the material of the thermal insulation nozzle 110 is a material with low thermal conductivity, and the high thermal conductivity and the low thermal conductivity are defined in the present document as generally understood in the art for the definition of high thermal conductivity and low thermal conductivity, and also defined as the relative relationship between the thermal conductivity of the thermal insulation nozzle 110 and the thermal conduction member 130, that is, the thermal conduction capability of the thermal conduction member 130 exceeds the thermal conduction capability of the thermal insulation nozzle 110, the thermal conduction member 130 extends from the opening 111 to the second end 122 and is in thermal conduction connection with the second end 122 to form a thermal transmission path from the opening 111 to the second end 122 of the thermal insulation nozzle 110, and the heat at the opening 111 of the thermal insulation nozzle 110 is transmitted to the second end 122 of the infrared temperature sensor 120 through the thermal transmission path to reduce the temperature difference between the first end 121 and the second end 122 of the infrared temperature sensor 120. In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 2, one end of the heat conducting member 130 close to the opening 111 of the heat insulating nozzle 110 is below the opening 111 of the heat insulating nozzle 110, i.e., does not protrude out of the heat insulating nozzle 110, and in other embodiments, the end of the heat conducting member 130 may be flush with the opening 111 of the heat insulating nozzle 110 or protrude out of the opening 111 of the heat insulating nozzle 110. The other end of the heat conducting member 130 (the end far from the opening 111 of the heat insulating nozzle 110) extends to a position close to the main body 200, in other embodiments, the other end of the heat conducting member 130 may only extend to a position close to the second end 122 of the infrared temperature sensor 120 or to other positions, and the heat conducting member 130 is also in a cone structure, and the cone-shaped heat conducting member 130 and the cone-shaped heat insulating nozzle 110 are attached or almost attached near the opening 111 of the heat insulating nozzle 110, so that heat can be prevented from entering a gap between the heat conducting member 130 and the heat insulating nozzle 110.

In some embodiments, the heat conducting member 130 protrudes inward to form a heated protrusion 131 near the inner wall of the opening 111 of the heat insulating nozzle 110, heat entering the opening 111 is transferred to the heat transfer path by the heated protrusion 131, and then transferred to the second end 122 of the infrared temperature sensor 120 by the heat transfer path, the heated protrusion 131 may form a circular disk in a horizontal direction, and the heated protrusion 131 can absorb more infrared energy from the measured object (e.g., ear canal), so that the temperature of the second end 122 of the infrared temperature sensor 120 is closer to the temperature of the first end 121.

The heat transfer path formed by the thermal conductive member 130 of the high thermal conductivity material transfers heat at the opening 111 to the second end 122 of the infrared temperature sensor 120 with precision and small error, thereby reducing measurement error of the probe 100.

The heat conducting member 130 may be connected to the second end 122 of the infrared temperature sensor 120 in a variety of ways, such as a direct contact heat conducting connection or an indirect contact heat conducting connection, which will be described in the following.

In some embodiments, the second end 122 of the infrared temperature sensor 120 is directly bonded to the inner wall of the thermal conductive member 130 by a thermally conductive adhesive, thereby completing a thermally conductive connection with the thermal conductive member 130.

In some embodiments, the ear thermometer further includes an insulating support 140. The inner wall of the heat conducting member 130 protrudes inwards to form a first boss 132, the second end 122 of the infrared temperature sensor 120 protrudes outwards to form a second boss 123 matched with the first boss 132, the heat insulating support member 140 is fixedly installed in the heat insulating nozzle 110, one end of the heat insulating support member 140 abuts against the second end 122 of the infrared temperature sensor 120, and a force pressing the second boss 123 against the first boss 132 is applied to the infrared temperature sensor 120, so that the heat conducting member 130 and the infrared temperature sensor 120 are overlapped through the first boss 132 and the second boss 123, and the infrared temperature sensor 120 is fixed. In some embodiments, an air gap and/or a thermal insulation medium is present between the thermal conductive member 130 and the infrared temperature sensor 120 except where the first boss 132 overlaps the second boss 123, that is, the infrared temperature sensor 120 is connected to the thermal conductive member 130 only through the second end 122, so as to avoid heat dissipation.

In some embodiments, the thermal insulation support 140 may be an elastic bracket made of thermal insulation material, one end of the elastic bracket is connected to the main body 200 for fixing, and the other end abuts against the second end 122 of the infrared temperature sensor 120. In other embodiments, the thermal insulation support 140 comprises a spring and a thermal insulation member, the spring is fixedly installed in the thermal insulation nozzle 110, and one end of the spring presses the thermal insulation member against the second end 122 of the infrared temperature sensor 120 by its own elastic force.

In some embodiments, the material of the thermal insulation support 140 may be a material with low thermal conductivity, such as filled foam, which plays a supporting role after being fixed, or an epoxy resin liquid adhesive.

In addition to the above two types of heat conduction members 130 and the second end 122 of the infrared temperature sensor 120 are connected in a heat conduction manner, in other embodiments, a first mounting structure is disposed on an inner wall of the heat conduction member 130, the second end 122 of the infrared temperature sensor 120 has a second mounting structure, and the infrared temperature sensor 120 is fixed on the heat conduction member 130 through cooperation of the first mounting structure and the second mounting structure, for example, the first mounting structure is a slot disposed on an inner wall of the heat conduction member 130, the second mounting structure is a heat conduction jaw disposed on the second end 122 of the infrared temperature sensor 120, and for example, an inner thread is disposed on an inner wall of the heat conduction member 130, an outer thread is disposed on a sidewall of the second end 122 of the infrared temperature sensor 120, the second end 122 of the infrared temperature sensor 120 is connected with the heat conduction member 130 in a thread manner, and other examples of the first mounting structure and the second mounting structure are not repeated herein.

In use, the ear thermometer described above allows the insulated nozzle 110 to be inserted directly into the ear canal for temperature measurement. For greater safety and hygiene, in some embodiments, the ear thermometer further includes a sheath 300, and the sheath 300 is detachably disposed on the insulated nozzle 110, for example, the sheath 300 can be disposable, so that the ear thermometer is safer and more hygienic. It should be noted that the heat-insulating nozzle 110 of the present invention can insulate heat, and prevent the ambient temperature from affecting the measurement of the infrared temperature sensor 120, so the sheath 300 does not need to have a heat-insulating function, that is, the sheath 300 can be made thinner than the sheaths 300 used by other ear thermometers, thereby reducing the cost of consumables.

In some embodiments, the sheath 300 can be made of a material with elasticity and can be worn on the insulating nozzle 110 by self deformation, and in other embodiments, the ear thermometer further comprises an ejection mechanism 150, the ejection mechanism 150 is disposed on the body 200, and the ejection mechanism 150 is used for ejecting the sheath 300 sleeved on the insulating nozzle 110 from the insulating nozzle 110 to separate the sheath 300 and the insulating nozzle 110. Fig. 3 shows an embodiment of the eject mechanism 150, which is an example of the eject mechanism 150.

The pop-up mechanism 150 includes a movable element 151 and a fixed element 152, the fixed element 152 is connected to the main body 200, a through hole is formed in the fixed element 152, the movable element 151 passes through the through hole and is connected to the main body 200 through an elastic element 153, the movable element 151 can be controlled to reciprocate in the through hole of the fixed element 152 by applying a force to the movable element 151 along the axial direction of the elastic element 153, a locking portion 151a is formed at one end of the movable element 151 close to the opening 111 of the heat insulation nozzle 110, and the locking portion 151a is inclined towards the main body 200.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view showing that the sheath 300 is worn on the heat insulating nozzle 110, and the sheath 300 has a cone structure as a whole as the heat insulating nozzle 110. The right end of sheath 300 in this figure may be referred to as the head of sheath 300, the left end of sheath 300 in this figure may be referred to as the tail of sheath 300, the tail of sheath 300 extends outward to form a fixed section 320, the side wall of sheath 300 near the tail protrudes outward to form a clamping section 310 which is matched with clamping part 151a, and a connecting section 330 is arranged between clamping section 310 and fixed section 320.

The process of mating the jacket 300 to the heat insulating nozzle 110 is: the sheath 300 is moved to make the heat insulation nozzle 110 enter the sheath 300 from the tail of the sheath 300, and due to the elasticity of the sheath 300, the sheath 300 is spread during the movement, so that the clamping section 310 on the sheath 300 is deformed to be matched with the clamping part 151a, and the sheath 300 is fixed on the heat insulation nozzle 110.

The process of ejecting the jacket 300 from the insulating nozzle 110 is: in fig. 3, a force toward the left is applied to the moving member 151, the moving member 151 drives the clamping section 310 of the sheath 300 to move toward the left in the process of moving toward the left, at this time, the fixing section 320 cannot move due to being abutted to the fixing portion, in the process of continuously moving toward the left of the moving member 151, the connecting section 330 continuously deforms and generates a force for ejecting the sheath 300 to the right, and when the moving member 151 moves to a certain position, the force generated by the connecting section 330 is increased to separate the clamping section 310 from the clamping portion 151a, so that the sheath 300 is ejected to the right.

The present invention also provides a probe for a temperature measuring device, which is different from the probe 100 for an ear thermometer described above in that it can be used in other temperature measuring devices, and the shape of the heat insulating nozzle of the probe can be changed to suit the application, without being limited to a cone.

The probe of the embodiment realizes accurate heat conduction through the heat transfer path formed by the heat conducting piece, reduces the temperature difference at two ends of the infrared temperature sensor, enables measurement to be more accurate, and is low in use cost and convenient to use.

The present invention has been described in terms of specific examples, which are provided to aid understanding of the invention and are not intended to be limiting. For a person skilled in the art to which the invention pertains, several simple deductions, modifications or substitutions may be made according to the idea of the invention.

Claims (12)

1. An ear thermometer, comprising a probe for insertion into an ear canal and a body for holding;

the probe comprises a heat insulation nozzle, a heat conduction piece arranged in the heat insulation nozzle and an infrared temperature sensor;

the heat insulation pipe nozzle is provided with a bottom end connected with the main body and a top end protruding out of the main body, and the top end is provided with an opening;

the infrared temperature sensor is used for receiving infrared radiation from a part to be measured, which passes through the opening, so as to measure the temperature of the part to be measured, and the infrared temperature sensor is provided with a first end facing the opening and a second end opposite to the first end;

the heat conducting member extends from the opening to the second end and is in heat conducting connection with the second end to form a heat transfer path from the opening of the heat insulation nozzle to the second end, and heat at the opening is transferred to the second end through the heat transfer path to reduce the temperature difference between the first end and the second end of the infrared temperature sensor;

at least one electronic device electrically connected with the infrared temperature sensor is arranged in the main body to output the temperature of the part to be measured by the infrared temperature sensor.

2. The ear thermometer of claim 1 further comprising a sheath removably disposed over said insulating nozzle.

3. The ear thermometer of claim 2 further comprising an ejection mechanism;

the ejection mechanism is at least partially arranged on the main body and is used for ejecting the sheath sleeved on the heat insulation nozzle from the heat insulation nozzle so as to realize the separation of the sheath and the heat insulation nozzle.

4. The ear thermometer of claim 1 wherein said thermally conductive member projects inwardly adjacent an inner wall of said opening of said heat insulating nozzle to form a heated projection, heat entering said opening being transferred from said heated projection to said second end of said infrared temperature sensor.

5. The ear thermometer of claim 1 further comprising an insulating support;

the inner wall of the heat conducting piece protrudes inwards to form a first boss;

the second end of the infrared temperature sensor protrudes outwards to form a second boss matched with the first boss;

the thermal insulation support piece is fixedly installed in the thermal insulation nozzle, one end of the thermal insulation support piece is abutted to the second end of the infrared temperature sensor, and the force for pressing the second boss on the first boss is applied to the infrared temperature sensor so as to fix the infrared temperature sensor.

6. The ear thermometer of claim 5 wherein said thermal conductor member overlaps said infrared temperature sensor by said first and second bosses and there is an air gap and/or a thermal insulating medium between said thermal conductor member and said infrared temperature sensor except where said first and second bosses overlap.

7. The ear thermometer of claim 5 wherein said thermally insulating support is a resilient support made of thermally insulating material; or

The heat insulation support piece comprises a spring and a heat insulation piece, the spring is fixedly installed in the heat insulation nozzle, and one end of the spring presses the heat insulation piece against the second end of the infrared temperature sensor through self elastic force.

8. The ear thermometer of claim 1 wherein the second end of said infrared temperature sensor is in direct contact with said thermally conductive member or is attached to said thermally conductive member by a thermally conductive adhesive.

9. The ear thermometer of claim 1 wherein the inner wall of said thermally conductive member is provided with a first mounting structure and the second end of said infrared temperature sensor is provided with a second mounting structure, said infrared temperature sensor being secured to said thermally conductive member by the engagement of said first mounting structure with said second mounting structure.

10. The ear thermometer of claim 1 wherein said thermal conductor has a pyramidal configuration with a tip of said thermal conductor oriented toward said opening.

11. The ear thermometer of claim 1, wherein the heat conductive member is made of a material having a high thermal conductivity, and the heat insulating nozzle is made of a material having a low thermal conductivity.

12. A probe of a temperature measuring device is characterized by comprising a heat insulation nozzle, a heat conducting piece arranged in the heat insulation nozzle and an infrared temperature sensor;

the heat insulation nozzle is provided with a bottom end connected with the temperature measuring device and a top end protruding out of the temperature measuring device, and the top end is provided with an opening;

the infrared temperature sensor is used for receiving infrared radiation from the part to be measured, which passes through the opening, so as to measure the temperature of the part to be measured, and the infrared temperature sensor is provided with a first end facing the opening and a second end opposite to the first end;

the heat conducting member extends from the opening to the second end and is in heat conducting connection with the second end to form a heat transfer path from the opening of the heat insulation nozzle to the second end, and heat at the opening is transferred to the second end through the heat transfer path to reduce the temperature difference between the first end and the second end of the infrared temperature sensor.

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