JP2003010265A - Communication terminal apparatus and system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a terminal instrument by which a handicapped person being disabled in action and voice can detect a specified gesture and a system including the terminal instrument by which a sign which a user wish to communicate can be restored to its original state in another place. SOLUTION: The terminal instrument has a box body provided with a band for winding it on the arms or the legs and a displaying member and a movement sensor are arranged side by side in the direction approximately at right angles to the band in the box body and in addition, an electronic discriminating circuit for discriminating to which sign among a plurality of the signs movement of the arms or the legs detected by the movement sensor corresponds and a transmitting means are provided and a pattern corresponding to the specified sign discriminated by the electronic discriminating circuit is displayed on the displaying part and the transmitting means transmits a signal corresponding to the specified sign to the outside.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication terminal device and a communication system that allow a user to move a hand or a foot to transmit a signal for expressing an intention to the outside.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art To measure the movement of a human body, collect and record the data so that the results can be directly read, or to send the result to a station or the like at another place, and further to perform a motion analysis and various diagnoses. In the past, a large number of measuring terminal devices to be worn on the human body and overall systems have been proposed. Many of these proposals measure the calorie consumption of the human body or the state of exercise of the human body for the purpose of health management and use for sports. Many terminal devices are attached to the waist, but some of them are of wristwatch type, and have a pendulum, an acceleration sensor, etc. for measuring movement.

[0003]

The terminal equipment worn on the human body, in short, detects the movement of a part of the human body on which the terminal equipment is worn. Conventionally, in order to infer the appearance of the motion of the entire human body from the detected motion data of a part of the human body, the wearing site on the human body, the direction of detecting the acceleration, etc. have been devised. However, if the viewpoint is changed, it is possible to faithfully detect the movement of the human body part to which the terminal device is attached, and thus the gesture of the person (that is, the specific movement of the specific body part for transmitting a certain intention), etc. There is a possibility that the signal of can be detected and easily transmitted to a remote place. From this point of view, there have been few or almost no proposals in the past, and for that reason, almost no proposals have been made as to what kind of body part movement should be detected.

An object of the present invention is to provide a terminal device capable of detecting a specific gesture and a system including the terminal device and capable of restoring a signal desired by a user to be transmitted at another place. In addition, as a main user expected to have an effect of transmitting a signal to another person by using the terminal device of the present invention to communicate, a person with a disability (including a temporary state) who has lost physical freedom or vocalization ability, An elderly person or a patient who cannot operate a nurse call in a hospital is assumed.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the communication terminal device of the present invention has the following features. (1) A housing having a size that can be easily gripped with one hand is provided, and a display member and a motion sensor are arranged side by side inside the housing, and the upper limb or the lower limb detected by the motion sensor is further provided. An electronic discriminating circuit for discriminating which of a plurality of predetermined cues the movement corresponds to from the output of the motion sensor vibrating body and a transmitting means are provided, and a pattern corresponding to the specific cues discriminated by the electronic discriminating circuit is displayed. In addition to displaying on the display unit, the transmitting unit transmits a signal corresponding to the specific signal to the outside.

The communication terminal device of the present invention may further include at least one of the following features. (2) The housing has a band for winding around the upper limb or the lower limb, and the display member and the motion sensor are arranged inside the housing in a direction substantially perpendicular to the band.

(3) At least a part of the display member and the motion sensor are arranged to overlap each other inside the housing.

(4) The motion sensor is a vibrating body made of a piezoelectric material capable of detecting at least uniaxial angular velocity and uniaxial acceleration, and the detectable angular velocity is within a plane substantially parallel to the display member. It must be related to rotational movement.

(5) The acceleration that can be detected by the motion sensor relates to a motion in a direction substantially parallel to the display member.

In order to achieve the above object, the communication system of the present invention has the following features. (6) A housing having a size that can be easily gripped with one hand is provided, and a display member and a motion sensor are arranged side by side in the housing in a direction substantially perpendicular to the band, and the motion sensor is further provided. The electronic discriminating circuit is provided with an electronic discriminating circuit and a transmitting means for discriminating from the output of the motion sensor vibrating body which of a plurality of predetermined cues the movement of the upper limb or the lower limb detected in step 5 corresponds to. While displaying a pattern corresponding to a specific signal on the display unit, the transmitting unit receives a signal corresponding to the specific signal to the outside, and receives the signal transmitted by the transmitting unit. An external device for restoring and displaying the signal corresponding to the signal.

[0011]

1 shows an example of an embodiment of a communication terminal device of the present invention, (a) is a plan view and (b) is a central sectional view. Reference numeral 1 denotes a housing, which is slightly large but has the shape of a wristwatch. 2 is a band for winding an arm. Reference numeral 3 is a display unit which is a window opened on the upper surface of the terminal device, and 4 is an operation button which is a switch. The following members are incorporated inside the housing 1. Reference numeral 5 is a motion sensor for detecting the motion of the housing 1, and 6 is an LCD, that is, a liquid crystal display device, which displays information such as the meaning of a gesture (gesture) on the display window 3. Reference numeral 7 denotes a general substrate, which is a circuit substrate on which ICs for display drive circuits and control circuits are mounted.

Reference numeral 8 is a button type battery for power supply, 9 is a communication module, and a transmitting / receiving IC, and 10 is a communication board on which the IC and an antenna member (not shown, for example, one loop antenna) are mounted. When a gesture (or rather, a gesture) is performed while the case 1 is worn on the arm with the band 2, information corresponding to the gesture is displayed on the display unit and wirelessly transmitted to the outside. Since the housing 1 is desired to be thin (and small) in order to improve the wearing feeling, it is preferable that the motion sensor 5 is also a box-shaped body having a thin thickness, and this is arranged in parallel with the LCD 6 and the general substrate 7. It is arranged. (Alternatively, the LCD 6 and the integrated substrate 7 may be overlapped with each other, and the battery 8 may be aligned with these.) In the plan view (a), the X, Y, and Z coordinate systems are taken as illustrated.
Further, the magnitude of acceleration is G, the magnitude of angular velocity is Ω, and the direction components thereof are represented as Gy and Ωz as shown in the figure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example of an embodiment of the communication system of the present invention. The system is roughly composed of a wristwatch type terminal device 200 (a plurality of which may exist in a satellite type) showing an electronic circuit configuration of the communication terminal device shown in FIG. 1, and a relay device 220 which is a communication target thereof. Consists of First, inside the wristwatch type terminal device 200, the sensor vibrating body in the motion sensor has an acceleration sensor unit 201 and an angular velocity sensor unit 202. By the action of them and the detection circuits 204 and 205, the acceleration signal and the angular velocity signal are output in time series.

When a user of the wristwatch type terminal device 200 (a wearer who is a disabled person or the like) makes a gesture, the acceleration and angular velocity signals detected from the gesture are stored in the waveform storage means 207, 20.
8, the signal waveform is stored for a predetermined time. The feature extraction circuits 209 and 210 check the stored signal waveform feature and combination state. By comparing with a predetermined basic pattern of each cue, which cue the user has made is identified, and a signal corresponding to the result is output. The signal consists of a display signal and a transmission signal. The former is input and displayed on the display means 212 to be displayed (converted into characters, symbols or voices) to enable the user's confirmation, and the latter is transmitted to the transmission means 213 (transmission). Circuit and antenna that creates the signal).

If the terminal device is always in the operating state, the power is consumed so much that the power is normally turned off or in the standby state, and the start operation means 203 (operation switch button or application of strong acceleration such as applause) has already been described. Make sure that each circuit of is put into operation. Further, the message confirmation means 214 prevents transmission of an unintentional or erroneously determined signal, and the transmission means 213 until the user confirms that it is an intended signal (message) and operates it.
Has the effect of prohibiting the operation of. Further, the receiving means 215
The display means 2 receives a simple response (reply) from the supporter who is outside and has a role of receiving the outgoing message of the user.
Display on 12.

Next, inside the relay device 220, there is a receiving means 221 for receiving a signal signal transmitted by the wristwatch type terminal device 200 (one or more), and the message information thereof is a message display means 222 peculiar to the relay device 220.
In addition to being displayed (converted into characters, images or sounds), a communication means 223 to the supporter's mobile phone and a communication means 224 to the supporter's personal computer are also provided in case the supporter is not nearby. Start up and send messages respectively.
When the supporter performs a reply operation (either on the relay device 220 or from a mobile phone or a personal computer), the reply signal is transmitted to the receiving means 215 in the wristwatch type terminal device 200.

Consider now the cues the user may send. Considering the convenience of discrimination by the motion sensor, the basic operation corresponding to each direction component of G and Ω as purely as possible will be given.
As the direction, the one defined in FIG. 1 (a) is used. (1) Ωx: An action of twisting the lower arm (lower arm) around the wrist. (2) Ωy: An action like a beckoning that swings the lower arm vertically to the back of the hand. (3) Ωz: Negative action of swinging the lower arm in the direction parallel to the back of the hand. (4) Gx: An action such as a thrust that moves the lower arm back and forth in that direction. (5) Gy: An action like a hand sword that moves the lower arm parallel to the back of the hand. (6) Gz: An action like clapping that moves the lower arm vertically to the back of the hand. Considering the combination of one or more of these basic actions, the intensity and speed of actions, the presence or absence of periodic actions, the count of the number of actions, etc., it may be possible that some motion sensors cannot identify all the basic actions. Still, it is relatively easy to identify around 10 or more motions. The action that can be identified is, for example, applied to a message such as (1) want to go to the toilet, (2) painful, (3) come soon, (4) solved, (5) thank you, etc. so that it is easy to remember. It can also be used for private communication and control of home appliances.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a sensor vibrating body in the embodiment of the motion sensor used in the communication terminal device of the present invention, (a) is a plan view and (b) is a sectional view. The sensor vibrating body 20 is cut out from a piezoelectric material such as a quartz Z plate, and an angular velocity detection unit (so-called vibration gyroscope) and an acceleration detection unit are integrated and enclosed in an airtight container (not shown). To be done. The angular velocity detection unit is a three-leg tuning fork, and is composed of outer legs 23 and 25 that are excited to open and close, a middle leg 24 that is not driven, and a tuning fork base portion 26 that connects them. The three-leg tuning fork is a gyro sensor suitable for detecting a rotation Ωz about the Z axis perpendicular to the plate surface, and a couple of Coriolis force generated in the opposite directions on the outer legs 23 and 25 due to such rotation is intermediate. The leg 24 is vibrated. By synchronously detecting the oscillating voltage obtained from the detection electrodes of the middle leg, an analog output proportional to the Coriolis force and thus the angular velocity Ωz can be obtained.

The acceleration detecting portion of the sensor vibrating body 20 has three
Two pairs of rod-shaped vibrating bodies 31A, 31B, 32A, 32B provided around the leg tuning fork, and a load mass 30 coupled to them (thick metal plating [dotted part] to increase mass) Is included). Each pair of rod-shaped vibrating bodies is excited so as to open and close symmetrically as shown by the vibration mode 35. When the acceleration Gy acts in the Y direction shown in the figure, the inertial force of the load mass 30 gives a tension or compression force to each rod-shaped vibrating body to change its natural frequency. Therefore, the amount of change can be measured to know the acceleration Gy. it can. Alternatively, one rod-shaped vibrating body may be provided on each side of the sensor vibrating body 20, and they may be symmetrically excited and used.

The lower surface of the base portion 21 of the sensor vibrating body 20 is a fixed portion A22 (shown by the shaded portion), and is adhered to the upper surface of the pedestal A12 fixed to the bottom portion of the container. In order to prevent the load mass 30 from moving in an unfavorable direction, a small area fixing portion B34 provided via a support spring 33 (also formed by cutting out a piezoelectric plate material) is fixed to the bottom of the container. It is adhered to the upper surface of B. This sensor vibrator can measure Ωz and Gy.

FIG. 4 is an internal plan view of another example of the embodiment of the motion sensor used in the communication terminal device of the present invention. In this example, two sensor vibrating bodies having different detection directions are installed in a common box-shaped container 100 so that angular velocity and acceleration in a plurality of directions can be simultaneously measured. However, the inside is shown by removing the member serving as the lid. The rear side of the figure, that is, the side closer to the bottom of the container is referred to as a sensor vibrating body 20D, and the front side of the figure, that is, the side closer to the lid side of the container is referred to as a sensor vibrating body 20U. The base portions 21D and 21U of each sensor vibrating body
Are fixed to pedestals (not shown) of different heights in the container 100 and are supported in parallel and orthogonally with a slight gap.

Each sensor vibrating body has a shape in which the circumference of a two-leg tuning fork is surrounded by a pair of rod-shaped vibrating bodies and its load mass. Two
The leg tuning fork is an angular velocity sensor that detects the vibration in the direction perpendicular to the plate surface of each leg due to the Coriolis force generated by the rotation around the rotation axis parallel to the axial direction (direction of the slit dividing the leg). It is well known that the angular velocity can be known.
As a result, the illustrated ΩD and ΩU can be measured.

The acceleration detecting section is a rod-shaped vibrating body,
Different from the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, one is provided on each side, and the amount of piezoelectric polarization generated by static deflection is directly measured without excitation. Sensor vibrating body 20D
Knows GD by measuring the displacement perpendicular to the axis of the tuning fork within the plate surface of the loaded mass by means of parallel spring-like bending of the rod-shaped vibrating body, and the sensor vibrating body 20U detects the direction perpendicular to the plate surface of the loaded mass. The displacement is measured by bending in a direction perpendicular to the plate surface of the rod-shaped vibrating body, and GU is known. Reference numeral 11 is a hermetic terminal pin, which is connected to a pad (not shown) provided on the electrode film on each sensor vibrating body by wire bonding (a wire is also not shown). Reference numeral 15 is an insulating glass. If the sensor vibrating body shown in FIG. 3 is additionally laminated, all the degrees of freedom of motion (6) can be measured without increasing the thickness of the container.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it goes without saying that the embodiments are not limited to the above range and there is room for further various modifications. For example, since a large number of types of sensor vibrators have been proposed (for example, 2-axis to 3-axis accelerometers and multi-axis gyro sensors), it is possible to use a combination of those that can be miniaturized. it can. If the size allows, a single enclosure is also good. In addition, there is room for consideration of the arrangement of parts in the housing according to the adopted sensor vibrating body. Further, in the above example, the terminal device is described as being attached to the wrist of the upper limb, but it may be attached to the upper arm (upper arm) or the lower limb in some cases. Further, as a development, it is possible that the user would normally carry it in a pocket etc. without using a band, grasp it when using it, and shake it, and decide the shape and the installation direction of the sensor vibrating body corresponding to it. In that case, the size of the terminal device is such that it can be easily grasped and shaken with one hand, and is smaller than that of a mobile phone.

The case where the voice display is applied will be described. Although a small speaker that can be built into a wristwatch-type terminal device already exists as an audio display device, what is called a flat speaker made of a thin plate of a piezoelectric material is under development, and there is a high possibility that it can be used. This is installed on the surface of the band, for example. If the thin plate of the piezoelectric material is a transparent material such as PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride), it can be installed on the front surface of the optical display device on the upper surface of the wristwatch type terminal device.
There is also room for using a speaker that uses a one-turn flat coil. It should be noted that the voice display corresponding to the predetermined signal may be a synthetic voice, but with the aid of voice recording technology, for example, when the infant is a user of the terminal device, the mother's voice and the laryngeal cancer patient In the case of, it is possible to use one's own voice before the loss of developmental function by surgery, which has a unique effect.

[0026]

Since the communication terminal device of the present invention is a small one having a small sensor and a discriminating circuit built-in and a mounting band, it can be easily worn on the upper limbs and lower limbs without feeling a burden, and a predetermined operation can be performed. Since it is possible to detect the signal and send it to a distant place freely, it is extremely effective as a communication assisting device for people who have difficulty speaking or operating equipment such as call buttons, keyboards and mice.

Further, by using as the sensor a small sensor capable of detecting at least one axis of angular velocity and one axis of acceleration, it is possible to increase the degree of freedom of measurable motion and enhance the type of the signal and the detection accuracy.

Further, since the communication system of the present invention comprises the above-mentioned terminal equipment and the external device for receiving the signaling signal transmitted by the terminal equipment and restoring the intention of transmission, it is possible to transmit the signaling to other persons regardless of distance. It is effective and extremely effective for purposes such as nursing care, nursing, and assistance.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an example of an embodiment of a communication terminal device of the present invention, (a) is a plan view and (b) is a central sectional view.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example of an embodiment of a communication system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a sensor vibrating body in an embodiment of a motion sensor used in a communication terminal device of the present invention, (a) is a plan view and (b) is a sectional view.

FIG. 4 is an internal plan view of another example of the embodiment of the motion sensor used in the communication terminal device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 case Two bands 3 Display 4 operation buttons 5 motion sensor 6 LCD 7 General board 8 batteries 9 Communication module 10 Communication board 11 terminal pins 12 pedestal A 13 pedestal B 15 insulating glass 20 sensor vibrating body 21 base 22 Fixed part A 23, 25 outer legs 24 Middle leg 26 Tuning Fork Base 30 load mass 31A, 31B, 32A, 32B Rod-shaped vibrating body 33 Support spring 34 Fixed part B 100 containers

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Hideki Tamura             1173 Kusakoshi, Oita, Miyota Town, Kitasaku District, Nagano Prefecture             Inside 1394 Micro Stone Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 2F105 AA10 BB07                 4C341 LL10                 5K048 AA04 BA01 DB01 FB05 FB15                       HA02

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A housing having a size that can be easily gripped with one hand, a display member and a motion sensor are provided side by side inside the housing, and the upper limb detected by the motion sensor or An electronic discriminating circuit for discriminating which one of a plurality of predetermined cues the lower limb movement corresponds to from the output of the motion sensor vibrating body and a transmitting means are provided, and the electronic discriminating circuit corresponds to the specific cues discriminated. A communication terminal device, wherein a pattern is displayed on the display unit and the transmitting unit transmits a signal corresponding to the specific signal to the outside. 2. The housing is provided with a band for winding on an upper limb or a lower limb, and the display member and the motion sensor are arranged inside the housing in a direction substantially perpendicular to the band. The communication terminal device according to claim 1, which is characterized in that. 3. The communication terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the display member and the motion sensor are arranged at least partially overlapped with each other inside the housing. 4. The motion sensor is a vibrating body made of a piezoelectric material capable of detecting at least a uniaxial angular velocity and a uniaxial acceleration, and the detectable angular velocity is a rotation in a plane substantially parallel to the display member. 4. The communication terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the communication terminal device is related to exercise. 5. The communication terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the acceleration that can be detected by the motion sensor relates to a motion in a direction substantially parallel to the display member. 6. A housing having a size that can be easily gripped with one hand, wherein a display member and a motion sensor are arranged side by side inside the housing in a direction substantially perpendicular to the band. The electronic discriminating circuit comprises an electronic discriminating circuit and a transmitting means for discriminating from the output of the motion sensor vibrating body which of a plurality of predetermined cues the movement of the upper limb or the lower limb detected by the movement sensor corresponds to. A pattern corresponding to the determined specific signal is displayed on the display unit, and the transmitting unit receives a signal transmitted by the transmitting unit and a communication terminal device that transmits a signal corresponding to the specific signal to the outside. And a communication system comprising an external device for restoring and displaying the signal corresponding to the signal.