JP2003130634A - Method and device for measuring subsided shape of cushion - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and a device for reproducibly measuring transformation ratio of a cushion pressurized by a human body while conquering any conventional shortage. SOLUTION: The device has a sensor wherein a plurality of joint pieces are flexibly connected each other, those pieces on one end are fixed to the reference position while those on the other end are to be free ends. For determining a subsided shape of the cushion through the accumulation of bent angles from a sensor portion on the reference position to a sensor portion on the other free end, it detects any bent angle formed between each of the contiguous joint pieces to measure the subsided shape by adding a compensating rate, in order to reduce any cumulative error of the bent angle between each of the joint pieces.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a futon, bed,
The present invention relates to a cushion body such as a mat, a pad, a pillow, a chair, a sofa, a car seat, and a child seat, and a method and a device for measuring a sinking shape of the material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is no good method for directly measuring the depression state when sleeping or sitting on a cushion such as a futon, bed, mat, pillow, chair, sofa, car seat, child seat, etc. A method for measuring the amount of deformation by making a hole in the cushion body between the cushion body and inserting a sliding gauge from the back surface until it contacts the body, or placing a deformable material between the cushion and the bedding when lying down, There is a method of measuring the back surface shape obtained by hardening the material with gypsum.

[0003] These methods have the drawback that the apparatus requires a large amount of time and takes too much time for measurement. Further, as a drawback, the method of making holes in the cushion body changes the characteristics of the cushion body and damages the product such as bedding and chair. In addition, a method of taking a compression curve in advance and estimating the amount of sinking from the body pressure when sleeping is proposed in Japanese Patent No. 3066491.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-136101 is known as a measuring device using an angle sensor. This application proposes an apparatus that measures the internal shape of the borehole by attaching an angle sensor. In the patent application,
The shape of the inside of the bore, which is the object to be measured, is not easily deformed, and a set of angle sensors is attached to the probe at the tip of the cable, and it is a device that sequentially measures while moving inside the bore.

The deformed shape (sink amount) of the boundary surface between the cushion body and the human body needs to be measured under pressure, and when the pressure is released, the shape of the cushion body is restored to its original shape. I will end up. Applicants have found that in order to find out that the elastic pillow fits on the head, JP-A-4-3840.
As the first issue, we have proposed a sensor for detecting the fit of pillows. The sensor is configured by connecting a plurality of angle sensors, catches the angle of each angle sensor as a potential change of the potentiometer, detects it as a displacement amount, and sequentially accumulates the displacement obtained from each angle sensor. To detect the fit of the pillow and head.

However, when measuring a short portion such as a pillow, it is possible to measure the amount of deformation with the device described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-38401, but when measuring a longer portion, the joint pieces to be connected are As the number increases, the number of accumulated angles also increases, and the error due to one angle measurement is accumulated, resulting in a deviation from the actual shape, which makes it impossible to measure properly.

Factors that cause deviation from the actual shape are
Inherent error of angle sensor (potentiometer),
A mechanical dimensional error of the shaft of the joint piece and the part connecting the joint piece may be considered. Due to the pressure applied for measurement, the connecting piece constantly bends, and even during the preparation for measurement, if the connecting piece becomes long, it will be rounded, bent and bent repeatedly, improving the accuracy of the machine. However, it is only expensive and less effective in terms of ease of use.

When the head is placed on the pillow and the fit with the pillow is measured, the distance from the head to the cervical spine is 5 cm for each joint piece.
As a result, even if a plurality of joint pieces are flexibly connected,
It can be measured with about 40 cm, and can be measured with about 10 to 15 joint pieces at most. Even when handling during measurement, it can be handled in a long stretched state, and errors are unlikely to occur.

[0009] When measuring the whole body of a person, such as measuring the sleeping posture with bedding, the length of the joint piece to be connected reaches 2 m. Even when measuring from a person's cervical spine to the buttocks, the measurement length must exceed 50 cm and be 1 m or more. The number of joint pieces to be connected reaches from 50 pieces to 100 pieces and 200 pieces, and the sinking amount is calculated by accumulating the heights obtained from the angles measured by one set of joint pieces one by one, as described above. Therefore, as the number of joint pieces increases, slight angle errors are sequentially accumulated, and a large displacement difference occurs at the end of the joint pieces.

In addition, even when measuring the seated state on a car seat or a sofa, the distance from the back to the buttocks needs to be 1 to 1.5 m. Even if the part is bendable, slight errors in handling are accumulated, the deviation from the actual shape becomes large, and the value changes for each measurement, and reproducibility cannot be obtained. Therefore, as in the case of measuring the amount of deformation of bedding and seat,
In the measurement that exceeds the number of pieces, 30, 50 pieces ... 200 pieces,
Simply connecting the joint pieces and lengthening them will result in different data for each measurement, and reproducible shape measurement cannot be performed.

Regarding the pressure measurement between the cushion body and the human body, various devices capable of measuring the pressure distribution with high accuracy are commercially available, and they are used for developing and selling bedding and chairs. However, the deformed shape (sink amount) of the interface between the cushion body and the body cannot be directly and accurately measured.

[0012]

The body shape of a person is different in height and weight, and it changes depending on the same skeleton and the way the meat is attached. Bedding and chairs that match the individual body shape. It is important to provide such devices, and there is a demand for a device that can easily measure. An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks and to propose a method and an apparatus for measuring the deformation amount of a cushion body pressed by a human body with good reproducibility.

[0013]

According to the present invention, a sensor in which a plurality of joint pieces are articulated flexibly so that one joint piece is fixed at a reference position and the other joint piece is a free end. When detecting the refraction angle generated between the adjacent joint pieces and accumulating the refraction angle from the sensor at the reference position to the sensor at the free end at the other end, to know the subduction shape, In order to reduce the error accumulation of the refraction angle between each joint piece, a correction coefficient is added to measure the subduction shape.

Specifically, a sensor is placed on the cushion body, and an object to be measured is placed on the sensor. An angle detection member of the joint piece of the sensor rotates according to the shape of the object to be measured, and detects the deviation angle of each joint piece. Similarly, if a load meter is attached to the joint piece, the load can also be detected.

The angle and load data detected by the sensor are sent to an interface unit connected by a lead wire. The interface unit is connected to the computer via the A / D conversion board, and the deflection angle and the load can be displayed as a deformed shape on the color display.

In this method, when the length of one joint piece is L, the displacement is expressed as (L / sin θ) by measuring the angle (θ) between the adjacent joint pieces. The angles of the joint pieces can be sequentially changed from the reference intercept to θ ₁ ,
By measuring θ ₂ , θ ₃ , θ ₄ , θ ₅ , θ ₆ , ..., The first subduction amount is L * 1 / sin θ ₁ , and the second subduction amount is L * (1 / sin θ ₁ + 1 / sin θ ₂ ), the third subduction amount is L * (1 / sin θ ₁ + 1 / sin θ ₂ +1
/ Sin θ ₃ ), ..., The n-th subduction amount is L * (1
/ Sin θ ₁ + 1 / sin θ ₂ + 1 / sin θ ₃ + 1 / s
can be measured as in θ ₄ + ... + 1 / sin θ _n ).

Accordingly, in the cushion body sinking shape measuring method and apparatus according to the first aspect, a plurality of joint pieces having a predetermined length are flexibly connected, and the joint pieces and the joint pieces adjacent to each other are bent. When measuring the sinking shape of the cushion body during pressurization by detecting the bending angle formed between them, all the joint pieces to be connected are set in a straight line in advance, and the state before the cushion body is deformed (b = zero). Value), fix one end piece (A) of the joint piece at a predetermined reference position (a), and make the other end joint piece (B) a movable free end. , Standard fixed height value (b)
The height value calculated from the bending angle of each joint piece is corrected while using the difference between the measured height value (c) obtained by pressurizing between A and B as shown in FIG. , A
The subduction deformation between B and B is measured. The cushion body sinking shape measuring method and apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the method and apparatus according to claim 1 are provided with a pressure detection sensor at any of a plurality of joint pieces, and the deformation pressure and the deformation of the cushion body. The amount was measured at the same time. Claim 3
In the method and apparatus for measuring the shape of depression of the cushion body described above, the cushion body is bedding such as a bed, a bed, a mat, a pillow, and a cushion accessory. In the cushion body sinking shape measuring method and apparatus according to the fourth aspect, the cushion body is an elastic body for sitting such as a chair, a seat, and a sofa.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An apparatus for carrying out the method of the present invention is shown in FIG.
Shown in. 1A is a block diagram of a computer circuit including a sensor, and FIG. 1B is a schematic side view of a measurement sensor portion. The "subtraction amount" is detected by the subduction amount measuring sensor 101 for detecting the degree of bending shown in B of FIG. The sensor 101 articulates a plurality of joint pieces 103 to a reference joint piece 102 serving as a base by allowing the joint pieces 103 to freely refract, and detects the degree of refraction between adjacent joint pieces 103 during refraction, that is, a refraction angle. A corner detection member (not shown) is provided. This sensor 10
1 is applied to the back muscle portion, and the amount of change (the amount of depression) is calculated from the angle changes of the joint pieces to be connected. In the device of the present invention, the length of one joint piece to be connected is the measurement pitch.
Since the angle sensor (not shown) for detecting each refraction, the pressure sensor 104 and the lead wire (not shown) are incorporated inside the joint piece 103, if the angle sensor is too short, the angle sensor and the pressure sensor cannot be incorporated, and it is too long. Since the measurement pitch becomes rough, a length of 2 to 10 cm is suitable, and preferably 3 to
6 cm long is good. In the device of the present invention, since the weight is applied to the joint pieces to be measured, the thickness and width of the joint pieces have appropriate dimensions. The thickness is 3 to 15 mm in order not to give a feeling of strangeness when weight is applied.
The thickness is preferably 5 to 10 mm. For width,
If it is too wide, the range for measuring body pressure will be wide, so 3 to 15
cm width, preferably 5-10 cm width. Joint piece 10
When the number of 3 is as large as 15 pieces, 30 pieces, ... 200 pieces, the weight is put on the connected device, so that the strength of the material is required, and the metal is preferable because it is more durable than the plastic. Also, when weight is added to the light side ground, the surface of the cushion body has a good slippage and the device is easy to move with a rice bran with a high weaving density, and it may be difficult to set it at the target measurement position. The contact surface may be roughened so that it does not slip easily, and a device such as rubber may be attached to the contact surface, or the device may be prevented from moving by a surface fastener or an adhesive tape to prevent slipping on the contact surface. Further, the data of the refraction angle and the pressure detected by the refraction angle detection member and the pressure detection sensor 104 are obtained by the interface unit, AD.
It is sent to the computer via the conversion board. The body pressure can be measured simultaneously by the pressure detection sensor 104 attached to the joint piece 103. Further, the body pressure of the back muscle portion may be calculated from a body pressure curve obtained by picking up the back muscle portion with a commercially available body pressure distribution measuring device (for example, an Ergocheck machine manufactured by ABR).

Now, assume that a futon is selected as the cushion body. 2A is a side view when a person is sleeping on a futon, and FIG. 2B is a plan view. Sensor 1 that connects multiple joint pieces from point A to point B between a person and a futon
01 intervenes. The futon is deformed by the load of the person, and the degree thereof is displayed while converting the angle measurement of the joint piece into the height displacement.

The surface of the futon is flat, and a sensor composed of a joint piece to be connected is placed thereon, and when a person lies between the points A and B on the joint piece, in the conventional method, Since it is the cumulative value of displacement (height) calculated from the angle of the joint piece, and the error is also sequentially accumulated, the height of point B, which is not deformed by pressure, is the surface height before pressure (zero position). Not necessarily the same. Rather, the measurement value at point B differs every time measurement is performed, and reproducible data is not obtained.

The present inventors have arrived at the present invention by devising how to obtain a stable curve with less influence of error. In other words, paying attention to the fact that the maximum error accumulated on the pressure piece appears at the point B, so that the display always shows the value at the point B, the point B is set to a fixed value (b) and the measured value is set. The difference from (b ') is used as a correction coefficient, and the angular displacement at each joint piece is corrected and measured to stabilize the curve display from point A to point B.

To this end, a circuit for correcting the detected displacement is provided in front of the computer, and as a measuring method, the positions of the joint pieces at the beginning and the end of the joint piece are not deformed at the time of measurement, or are deformed. I found that it can be solved by placing it in a position where there is less.

Various correction methods can be considered.
For example, if the value (b) of the pressure piece of the free terminal portion (point B) is set to indicate the zero position, even if there is an error in each pressure piece, at the end it will be zero (± May have a width of 1.0 cm). By plotting the values thus obtained in the method of connecting the pressure pieces, a curve that always returns to the zero position can be obtained.

In FIG. 3, 33 joint pieces are connected and without a correction circuit, when a person lays down on a futon (thickness 8 cm) in a supine posture, the head is moved to the buttocks along the center line of the back. It is the figure which measured the deformation state which reaches to two persons (Y and N). Separately
The maximum subsidence of the buttocks measured by inserting a sliding gauge from the back of the futon has a Y value of -6.0 cm,
The value of N was -4.0 cm. The Y measurement is a curve measured after the zero point calibration was performed by placing the joint piece in a straight state so as not to bend it and placing it on the futon on the height. The value at point B (b ') is 0.5 cm, which is close to the zero position level, and the maximum value of the buttocks is -3.7 cm, which is almost the same as the actual value (-4.0 cm) measured with a sliding gauge. is there.

After the measurement of Y, the measurement of N was continued, but an error occurred, and the value at point B was significantly deviated from the value before deformation, showing -7.7 cm, and the maximum value of the buttocks was the sliding gauge. In contrast to the actual measurement value (-6.0 cm) in Table 1, it was -11.1 cm, which exceeded the thickness of the futon.
In this way, the curve obtained without correction has a value that changes with each measurement, and a stable curve cannot be obtained, which is not practical. Therefore, when the subduction amount is corrected, the curve after N correction in FIG. 3 is obtained.

The value at point B ranges from -7.7 cm to -1.0 c.
It has been corrected to m, and the maximum amount of sinking in the buttocks is -5.9 cm due to the correction, and the value at the sliding gauge (-
(6.0 cm). Thus, the head, neck,
Stable and correct display of the sleeping posture curve extending to the abdomen, back, and buttocks, which is useful for developing pillows, bedding, etc.
Bedding that fits each person can be provided.

The correction calculation method was as follows. This is an example of the correction method, and the correction method is incorporated in the correction apparatus of FIG. Based on the assumption that point B (free end side of joint piece: joint piece number 1) is always at the reference fixed height value, the measured value (H1) of number 1 is H1 ≧ 1.0 cm or H1 ≦ 1.0 cm At that time, the difference between the measured value and the measured value is obtained as the correction unit (h). That is, if If: H1 ≧ 1.0 cm, then h = H1-1.0. If If: H1 ≦ 1.0 cm, then h = H1-(-1.0). Thus, the correction value is determined, and the height value (H ') after correction in each connecting piece is calculated as H' = H1-h.

The joint piece number 1 at the point B (the free end side of the joint piece) is sequentially assigned to the point A side as the number 2, 3, ...
After the measured value (H2) of H2 '= H2-h * 3
0/33, H3 '= H3-h * 30/33, H4' = H
24h * 29/33, ... Decrease the order amount, and point A (number 33) has no correction value. As shown in FIG. 3, the corrected value of N according to the present invention can be compared with the carefully measured value of Y and is in agreement with the measured value.

In the case of measuring the depression of the bedding, it is a deformation from the flat surface (reference) of the bedding, and by setting the beginning (A) and the end (B) of the joint piece to a constant value in advance, A By correcting the deformation value in the reference value from the point to the point B, it is possible to reduce the influence of the deformation error of the joint piece and obtain the sleeping posture curve.

As a correction method other than the above, the displacement at each joint piece is calculated by using the difference between the measured value (b ') obtained at the joint piece at the free end (point B) and the fixed value (b) as a correction coefficient. It can also be distributed and corrected according to the amount. There are various correction methods other than the above, and the present invention can be achieved by inputting the correction method into a computer.

FIG. 4 shows a measuring method when a person sits on the seat. It is also possible to put a body between points A and B and measure the amount of displacement of the seat, which is useful for analysis and development of cushion bodies such as chairs and seats.

[0032]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION A plurality of joint pieces having a predetermined length are flexibly connected to each other, and a bending angle formed between adjacent joint pieces is detected to detect a depressed shape of a cushion body when it is pressed. When measuring the number of connecting pieces, 15 pieces, 50 pieces
Even if the number is 100 or 100, the sleeping posture of the bedding and the sitting posture of the seat can be stably measured by correcting the error of the measurement value.

A pressure sensor for the joint piece can be attached to measure the pressure and the subduction curve simultaneously.
It is possible to measure the detailed shape of the abdomen, back, and buttocks, and it is possible to provide, analyze, and develop bedding, chairs, seats, etc. that fit each person.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computer circuit that controls the device of the present invention, and B is a schematic side view of a measurement sensor portion.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for carrying out the measuring method of the present invention in a state where a person is lying down in a futon, A is a side view, and B is a plan view.

FIG. 3 shows change curves before and after correction of a change curve of a subduction amount in a height direction from a neck muscle to a foot in a supine posture, in which a subduction measuring device is placed horizontally and measured according to a back muscle portion.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a measuring unit when a person sits on a seat.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 Subduction amount measurement sensor 102 Reference joint piece 103 joint piece 104 Pressure detection sensor

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Yoji Shimura             Nishikawa, 8-8 Tomizawa-cho, Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo             Sangyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoshihisa Harada             3-10-7 Kotobukicho, Fuchu-shi, Tokyo Techno             Within Arts Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 2F069 AA03 AA06 AA62 AA72 BB40                       DD06 DD19 DD27 EE04 EE20                       EE23 GG02 GG21 GG59 GG67                       GG72 HH04 HH30 MM11 NN08                       QQ05

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A sinking shape of a cushion body when pressure is applied by connecting a plurality of joint pieces having a predetermined length flexibly and detecting a bending angle formed between the joint pieces adjacent to each other. When measuring, the joint pieces to be connected are all put in a straight line state in advance and calibrated to the state before the deformation of the cushion body (b = zero value), and then one end piece (A) of the joint piece is predetermined. It is fixed at the reference position (a), and the other end joint piece (B) is used as a movable free end, and pressure is applied between A and B to show the reference fixed height value (b). The height value calculated from the bending angle of each joint piece is corrected using the difference between the measured height value (c) obtained as a result and the reference fixed height as a correction coefficient, and the subduction deformation between A and B is corrected. A method and apparatus for measuring the shape of depression of a cushion body, which is characterized by measuring. 2. The cushion body sinking shape measuring method and apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a pressure detecting sensor is provided on any of a plurality of joint pieces, and the deformation pressure and the deformation amount of the cushion body are measured at the same time. . 3. The cushion body is a bed, a bed,
The cushion shape measuring method and apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, which is a bedding such as a mat, a pillow, and a cushion accessory. 4. The cushion body is an elastic body for seating a chair, a seat, a sofa, or the like.
A method and apparatus for measuring the shape of depression of a cushion body as described above.