JP2003225276A - Bathing information system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a bathing information system which can be used conveniently for a general bathing person to improve or prevent a sleep disorder by bathing, by utilizing the relation between the fluctuation of a deep bodily temperature within a day and the quality of sleep. <P>SOLUTION: Bathing conditions (a bathing time, the quantity and temperature of hot water, the time of bathing, etc.), for raising the deep bodily temperature in the vicinity of the maximum temperature in the fluctuation thereof within a day, by an appropriate value, are indicated by an indicating means 101 provided in a bathroom 8 or at a place near it. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention improves sleep disorders,
Bath information system to prevent.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the progress of a stressed society and an aging society, an increasing number of people have sleep disorders such as being unable to sleep deeply, being awake during sleep, and being unable to sleep. For example, it has been reported that one out of every five Japanese adults has some sleep disorder symptoms. By the way, regarding the effect of bathing on sleep, generally, a half-body bath with lukewarm water before sleep,
It is said that it is better to take a bath for a long time, but at the 26th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Sleep Academic Lecture "Bo 2 hours before going to bed
"Influence of dy heating on slow-wave sleep", bathing and hot water shower (Bo) near the maximum temperature of diurnal fluctuation of core body temperature (located approximately two and a half hours before bed).
If the body temperature is raised moderately (specifically, about 0.5 to 1.0 ° C.) by means of dy heating), the length of slow wave sleep is extended, and the result is that the quality of sleep is improved. It has been reported.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the core body temperature fluctuates during the day such that the dawn is the lowest and the evening to the highest is the amplitude H of the fluctuation in relation to the quality of sleep (degree of deep sleep). (The larger the amplitude H is, the higher the deep sleep degree is), and the younger ones tend to be larger and the older ones tend to be smaller.
Then, as described above, the maximum temperature T of the diurnal fluctuation of the core body temperature
If you raise your body temperature by taking a bath near max,
Increases the amplitude of fluctuations in core body temperature (lowers the minimum temperature) and improves sleep quality. However, if the temperature rise is too large, the quality of sleep is adversely affected.

[0004]

However, in the past, even if a general bather tries to improve or prevent sleep disorders by taking a bath by taking advantage of the relationship between the diurnal fluctuation of the deep body temperature and the quality of sleep, the bath temperature of the deep body temperature may be reduced. It is difficult to determine how to set bathing conditions such as bathing time, bathing time, and bath temperature for bathing in order to raise the appropriate value in the vicinity of the maximum temperature during diurnal fluctuations. It was difficult to improve and prevent sleep disorders by utilizing the relationship with quality.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the invention is for general bathers to take advantage of the relationship between the diurnal fluctuation of core body temperature and the quality of sleep to prevent sleep disorders by bathing. It is to provide a bathing information system that can be conveniently used to improve and prevent.

[0006]

The first characteristic configuration of the bathing information system according to the present invention for achieving this object is as follows:
As described in claim 1, the presenting means for presenting the bathing condition for raising the appropriate value in the vicinity of the maximum temperature in the diurnal fluctuation of the deep body temperature is provided in the bathroom or a portion in the vicinity thereof.

In the second characteristic constitution, as described in claim 2, in addition to the first characteristic constitution, any one of a hot water amount and a hot water temperature at the time of bathing, a bathing time, and a bathing course is set. A bathing information setting means for setting is provided, and the presenting means is
Based on the setting information of the bathing information setting means, the bathing time is presented as the bathing condition when the amount and temperature of the bathing water are set, and the bathing time is set as the bathing condition when the bathing time is set. It is configured such that the amount of hot water and the temperature of hot water are presented, and when the bathing course is set, the combination of the amount of hot water at the time of bathing, the hot water temperature, and the bathing time is presented as the bathing condition.

In the third characteristic configuration, as described in claim 3, in addition to the first or second characteristic configuration, sleep time input means for inputting a scheduled bedtime or a scheduled wakeup time is provided. The presenting means is configured to present the bathing time as the bathing condition based on the input information of the sleep time inputting means.

In the fourth characteristic constitution, as described in claim 4, in addition to any one of the first to third characteristic constitution, attribute information input means for inputting attribute information of a bather is provided. The presenting means is configured to present the amount of hot water, the hot water temperature, the bathing time, and the bathing time as the bathing conditions based on the input information of the attribute information inputting means.

In the fifth characteristic configuration, as described in claim 5, in addition to any one of the first to fourth characteristic configurations, a diurnal variation measuring means for measuring diurnal variation of deep body temperature is provided. The presenting means is configured to present, as the bathing time, a time at or near the maximum temperature in the diurnal variation of the deep body temperature of the bather previously measured by the diurnal variation measuring means, as the bathing time. There is a point.

In the sixth characteristic structure, as described in claim 6, in addition to any one of the first to fifth characteristic structures, a deep body temperature measuring means for measuring a deep body temperature of a bather is provided. The presenting means, if the bather's deep body temperature measured by the deep body temperature measuring means exceeds a preset allowable upper limit temperature, or if the amount of increase in the bather's deep body temperature exceeds an appropriate value, The point is that it is configured to present information that prompts the user to take a bath.

In the seventh characteristic configuration, as described in claim 7, in addition to any one of the first to sixth characteristic configurations, a heart rate measuring means for measuring the heart rate of the bather is provided. The presenting means estimates the rise time of the bather's deep body temperature based on the rise time of the bather's heart rate measured by the heart rate measuring means, and based on the estimation of the rise time of the deep body temperature. It is configured to present the timing of tapping.

In the eighth characteristic constitution, as described in claim 8, in addition to any one of the first to seventh characteristic constitutions, a body fat percentage measuring means for measuring a body fat percentage of a bather is provided. It is provided that the presenting means is configured to present a bathing time as the bathing condition based on the measurement information of the body fat percentage measuring means.

The operation and effect will be described below.
According to the first characteristic configuration of the present invention, the bathing conditions for raising an appropriate value in the vicinity of the maximum temperature in the diurnal fluctuation of the deep body temperature are presented by the presenting means provided in the bathroom or in the vicinity thereof. That is, by bathing according to the bathing conditions presented by the presenting means,
An appropriate value can be increased near the maximum temperature in the diurnal fluctuation of the deep body temperature, and as a result, the amplitude of the fluctuation of the deep body temperature is increased, the length of slow wave sleep is extended, and the quality of sleep is improved. Therefore, it is possible to raise the quality of sleep by raising the appropriate value around the maximum temperature in the diurnal fluctuation of deep body temperature by only taking a bath according to the presented bathing conditions. A bathing information system is provided that can be conveniently used to improve or prevent sleep disorders by taking a bath, taking advantage of the relationship between diurnal variation and sleep quality.

According to the second characteristic configuration, the body temperature of the deep body is determined on the basis of the setting information of the bathing information setting means for setting any one of the amount and the temperature of the bathing water, the bathing time, and the bathing course. As a bathing condition for raising an appropriate value near the maximum temperature during diurnal fluctuation, the bathing time is presented when the bathing water and bath temperature are set, and the bathing amount when bathing time is set. When the bathing course is set, the combination of the amount of hot water at the time of bathing, the bath temperature and the bathing time is presented. That is, by bathing under the condition of the bathing time presented, it is possible to raise an appropriate value near the maximum temperature in the diurnal variation of the deep body temperature, in a state of being suitable for the set amount of hot water and the condition of the hot water temperature. By bathing under the conditions of the amount of hot water and the temperature of the hot water, it is possible to increase the appropriate value near the maximum temperature in the diurnal fluctuation of the core body temperature in a state that meets the conditions of the set bathing time. By bathing under the conditions of bathing time, it is possible to raise the appropriate value in the vicinity of the maximum temperature in the diurnal fluctuation of core body temperature. Therefore, the bathing time should be adjusted according to the amount and temperature of hot water set by the bather, or the amount and temperature of hot water should be adjusted according to the bathing time set by the bather, or By adjusting the bathing time to raise the appropriate value near the maximum temperature in the diurnal fluctuation of the core body temperature, it is possible to improve and prevent sleep disorders by bathing while allowing the bather to bathe in the desired bathing state. A bathing information system that can be conveniently used is provided.

According to the third characteristic configuration, based on the input information of the sleep time input means for inputting the scheduled bedtime or the scheduled wakeup time, an appropriate value for increasing the vicinity of the maximum temperature in the diurnal variation of the deep body temperature is set. The bathing time is presented as a bathing condition. That is, by taking a bath at the bathing time indicated and then going to bed at the entered scheduled bedtime, or by taking a bath at the bathing time presented and then going to bed and waking up at the entered scheduled waking time. An appropriate value can be increased near the maximum temperature in the diurnal fluctuation of body temperature. Therefore, the bathing time is adjusted according to the scheduled bedtime or the scheduled wakeup time input by the bather so as to raise the vicinity of the maximum temperature in the diurnal fluctuation of the core body temperature by an appropriate value, so that the sleeping time at the desired time or Provided is a bathing information system which can be conveniently used for improving and preventing sleep disorders by taking a bath while being able to wake up at a desired time.

According to the fourth characteristic configuration, a bathing condition for raising an appropriate value in the vicinity of the maximum temperature in the diurnal variation of the deep body temperature based on the input information of the attribute information input means for inputting the attribute information of the bather. The amount of hot water, hot water temperature, bathing time, and input time are presented as. That is, by bathing in accordance with the presented conditions of the amount of hot water, the hot water temperature, the bathing time, and the input time, it is possible to raise the appropriate value near the maximum temperature in the diurnal variation of the deep body temperature corresponding to the attributes of the bather. Therefore, if the bather's age, sex, weight, body type, body fat percentage, and other attributes are different, the diurnal variation in deep body temperature will be different, but the diurnal variation in deep body temperature corresponding to the bather's attribute will change the amount of hot water and hot water temperature. In order to improve and prevent sleep disorders by bathing while adjusting to bathing time and input time so as to raise the appropriate value near the maximum temperature in the diurnal fluctuation of core body temperature, in a state that matches the attributes of the bather. A bathing information system that can be conveniently used is provided.

According to the fifth characteristic configuration, as a bathing condition for raising a suitable value in the vicinity of the maximum temperature in the diurnal fluctuation of the deep body temperature, in the diurnal fluctuation of the deep body temperature of the bather previously measured by the diurnal fluctuation measuring means. The bathing time is presented at or near the time of maximum temperature. That is, if a bather takes a bath at the bathing time presented, the bather will bathe at or near the time of the maximum temperature in the diurnal fluctuation of the deep body temperature measured beforehand for the bather himself, and the diurnal fluctuation of the deep body temperature will occur. An appropriate value can be increased near the maximum temperature in. Therefore, the input time is adjusted according to the diurnal variation of the deep body temperature measured for the bather so that the maximum temperature around the diurnal variation of the deep body temperature is increased by an appropriate value, so that there is an individual difference in the diurnal variation of the deep body temperature. Even in some cases, a bathing information system is provided that can be conveniently used to improve or prevent sleep disorders by bathing, while appropriately responding to the diurnal fluctuations in core body temperature that are unique to bathers.

According to the sixth characteristic configuration, whether the bather's deep body temperature measured by the deep body temperature measuring means exceeds a preset allowable upper limit temperature, or the amount of increase in the bather's deep body temperature is When the value exceeds the appropriate value, the presenting means presents information for prompting hot water. That is, when the hot water is discharged when the amount of increase in the deep body temperature reaches the appropriate value, the bather is appropriately heated, but the amount of increase exceeds the appropriate value, or the deep body temperature of the bather exceeds the allowable upper limit temperature. If you take a bath while standing, the bather will get too much heat (Bodyhe
There is a risk that the quality of sleep will be deteriorated by giving a bathing, so that the bather is encouraged to take out hot water in order to avoid an excessive heating effect. Therefore, when bathing according to the bathing conditions for raising the maximum temperature in the diurnal fluctuation of the core body temperature by an appropriate value, avoiding excessive heating effect on the bather based on the measurement of the core body temperature of the bather. I am able to improve my sleep disorder by taking a bath,
A bathing information system is provided that can be more preferably used to prevent.

According to the seventh characteristic configuration, the presenting means estimates the rise time of the bather's deep body temperature based on the rise time of the bather's heart rate measured by the heart rate measuring means, The hot water outlet timing is presented based on the estimation of the rise time of the core body temperature. That is, since the increase in the heart rate of the bather and the increase in the core body temperature are correlated, the rise time of the core body temperature can be estimated from the increase time of the heart rate, and from the estimated rise time of the core body temperature, The bathing timing is presented to the bather so as not to give the bather an excessive heating effect (Body heating) to deteriorate the quality of sleep. Therefore, instead of measuring the core body temperature of the bather, the bather should be overheated based on the heart rate measurement while bathing according to the bathing conditions for raising the appropriate value near the maximum temperature in the diurnal fluctuation of core body temperature. There is provided a bathing information system which can be more suitably used for improving and preventing sleep disorders by taking a bath because it avoids giving a great heating effect. In particular, in the means for measuring the core body temperature of a bather, there is a disadvantage that the measuring part is attached to the body of the bather, but in the heart rate measuring means, for example, based on an electrocardiogram signal obtained by an electrode provided on the inner wall of the bathtub. The heart rate can be measured, and there is no disadvantage of wearing the measuring unit on the body of the bather.

[0021] According to the eighth characteristic configuration, the presenting means is used to measure the body fat percentage of the bather measured by the body fat percentage measuring means based on the measurement information of the body fat percentage of the bather, in the vicinity of the maximum temperature in the diurnal variation of the core body temperature Bathing time is presented as a bathing condition for increasing the appropriate value. That is, if the body fat percentage is large, it is difficult to warm up when bathing, so by bathing the bather under the conditions of the bathing time presented, the maximum temperature in diurnal fluctuation of the core body temperature is adjusted in a state that matches the body fat percentage of the bather. The appropriate value can be increased in the vicinity. Therefore, the bathing time is adjusted according to the body fat percentage of the bather so as to raise the appropriate value near the maximum temperature in the diurnal variation of the deep body temperature. A bathing information system is provided that can be conveniently used to improve or prevent sleep disorders.

[0022]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION [First Embodiment] A first embodiment of a bathing information system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the bathtub 5 passes through the hot water supply passage 6.
A water heater K for supplying hot water is provided with a hot water supply unit 1 including a gas combustion type burner and a controller 2 for controlling the operation of the hot water supply unit 1, and further the controller 2 has
A water level sensor 7 for detecting the water level in the bath tub 5 is connected, and the bath remote controller 3 and the kitchen remote controller 4 are communicably connected to each other to form an automatic hot water supply bath. The bath remote controller 3 is installed on the lateral wall of the bathroom 8.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the bath remote controller 3 is provided with a control section 30 communicatively connected to the controller 2, and a display section for displaying various information on the control section 30. 31, speaker 32, up-down type change key 33, individual selection button 34, operation switch 3
5, an automatic water filling switch 36, a non-volatile memory 37 for storing information, etc. are connected. Individual selection button 34 above
Is composed of three buttons A, B and C so that A, B and C can be identified as a plurality of individuals, respectively. Although not shown, the kitchen remote controller 4 has the same configuration as the bath remote controller 3.

In this automatic hot-water supply bath, the presenting means 101 for presenting bathing conditions (hereinafter referred to as proper bathing conditions) for raising the appropriate value in the vicinity of the maximum temperature in the diurnal fluctuation of the deep body temperature (see FIG. 4) is the bathroom. 9 is provided. Specifically, the appropriate value is a value of 0.5 ° C. to 1.0 ° C., and the presenting means 10 using the bath remote controller 3 is used.
1 is configured. Hereinafter, the proper bathing condition will be described as an example.

(1) In the first example, there is provided bathing information setting means 102 for setting any of the amount and temperature of bathing water, bathing time, and bathing course, and the presenting means 101 is Based on the setting information of the bathing information setting means 102, the bathing time is presented as the proper bathing condition when the amount of hot water and the bathing temperature at the time of bathing are set, and the bathing time is set as the proper bathing condition when the bathing time is set. It is configured such that the amount of hot water and the temperature of hot water at the time of bathing are presented, and when the bathing course is set, the combination of the amount of hot water at the time of bathing and the temperature and time of bathing is presented as the appropriate bathing condition.

Specifically, the bathing information setting means 102
Is composed of the change key 33 of the bath remote controller 3,
While operating this change key 33, the display unit 31
Check and set each value of bathing information (any of hot water volume and temperature, bathing time, and bathing course). Also, FIG.
As shown in (a), (b) and (c) respectively, in the non-volatile memory 37 of the bath remote controller 3, the bath time data when the hot water amount and the hot water temperature are parameters, and the hot water amount when the hot bath time is a parameter. And hot water temperature data, and hot water amount, hot water temperature, and bathing time data for each course are stored in a table format.

Incidentally, in the bath time data table of FIG. 5 (a), the larger the amount of hot water and the higher the hot water temperature, the greater the heating effect (body heating). The higher the value, the shorter the bathing time. Then, the bathing time data corresponding to the set hot water amount and hot water temperature is read out from the non-volatile memory 37, and is displayed as a character display such as "bathing time 30 minutes" or "remaining bathing time 15 minutes". When it is displayed on the section 31 or when the presented bathing time elapses, the speaker 32 sounds a voice prompting tapping,
Notify bathers. In addition, in the data table of the amount of hot water and the temperature of hot water in FIG. 5B, the longer the bathing time, the smaller the amount of hot water and the lower the temperature of the hot water are set so that the proper bathing condition is maintained even when the hot water is long. is doing. Furthermore, FIG.
In the data table of hot water amount, hot water temperature, and bathing time by course in (c), the hot water temperature is high, the hot water amount is large (whole body bath), and the bathing time is short. ,
"Standard bathing course", which is located in the middle of both courses, "Slow bathing course" C3 with a small amount of hot water (half-body bath) and a long bathing time, and the standard values of hot water temperature, hot water volume and bathing time.
Three course settings of C2 are illustrated.

(2) In the second example, a sleep time input means 103 for inputting a scheduled bedtime or a scheduled wakeup time is provided, and the presenting means 101 is used for the sleep time input means 10.
Based on the input information 3 (scheduled bedtime or scheduled wakeup time), the bathing time is presented as the appropriate bathing condition. Specifically, the sleep time input means 103 is composed of the change key 33 of the bath remote controller 3, and while operating the change key 33, the display unit 31 confirms and inputs the scheduled bedtime or the scheduled wakeup time. To do. Then, the bathing time corresponding to the scheduled bedtime or the scheduled wakeup time is displayed on the display unit 31 in a character display such as "bathing time 9:00 pm".

When the scheduled bedtime is input, the process shown in FIG.
As shown in (a), the bathing time is two and a half hours before the scheduled bedtime. However, if you take a bath at a time far away from the maximum temperature in the diurnal fluctuation of core body temperature, the effect of improving sleep by heating (Body heating) is small, so the bathing time is presented in the range from 7 pm to 11 pm When the bathing time is out of this range, no presentation or re-entry is displayed. When the scheduled wake-up time is input, as shown in FIG. 6B, the standard sleeping time (7 hours) before the scheduled wake-up time is the bedtime, and two and a half hours before this bedtime is the bathing time. Become. In this case as well, in consideration of the sleep improving effect, the bathing time is from 7:00 pm
If it is presented in the range of 11 o'clock and the bathing time deviates from this range, no presentation or re-entry is displayed.

(3) In the third example, attribute information input means 104 for inputting the bather's attribute information is provided, and the presenting means 101 uses the input information of the attribute information input means 104 (the bather's attribute information). ), The amount of hot water, the temperature of the hot water, the bathing time, and the bathing time are presented as the appropriate bathing conditions. Specifically, the attribute information input means 104 uses the individual selection button 34 of the bath remote controller 3.
When a predetermined button among the three buttons A, B, C of the individual selection button 34 is pressed, the attribute information of the specified individual is read out from the non-volatile memory 37 and the bather's It is input as attribute information. As the bather's attribute information, each information of age, sex, weight, body type (thick body type, slender body type, etc.) and body fat percentage is stored in the non-volatile memory 37.

Furthermore, each data of the amount of hot water, hot water temperature, bath time and bath time when the information (age, sex, weight, body type, body fat percentage) of the bather is used as a parameter in the non-volatile memory 37. Are stored in a table format, and from each of these data tables, the amount of hot water, the temperature of the hot water, the time of bathing, and the time of bathing corresponding to the entered attribute information of the bather are read, and, for example, "200 liters of hot water, hot water temperature 41
C., bathing time 20 minutes, bathing time 9:00 pm "or the like is displayed on the display unit 31. Alternatively, as another display, within a range of hot water amount, hot water temperature and bathing time corresponding to the bather's attribute information, "a quick bathing course with a high bathing temperature, a whole body bath and a short bathing time", " The menu may be displayed such that the bath temperature is low, the bath is half-body bath, and the bathing time is long.

Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment of the bathing information system according to the present invention will be described. In the second embodiment, a diurnal variation measuring means 105 for measuring diurnal variation of deep body temperature is provided, and bathing conditions (proper bathing) for raising an appropriate value near the maximum temperature in diurnal variation of deep body temperature (see FIG. 4). The presenting means 101 that presents a condition) refers to a time at which the maximum temperature is reached or a time near the maximum temperature in the diurnal fluctuation of the deep body temperature of the bather, which is previously measured by the diurnal fluctuation measuring means 105, as the appropriate bathing condition. It is configured to be presented as a time of day. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, a portable body temperature measuring device 20 to be worn on the ear of the human body and a display device 22 installed on the wall of the bathroom 8 are provided. Variation measuring means 10
5 is constituted by the body temperature measuring device 20, and the presenting means 1
01 is constituted by the display 22.

The body temperature measuring device 20 has a function of measuring the body temperature in a state of being in contact with the ear and recording the measured temperature value at every predetermined time. In order to record the diurnal fluctuation of the core body temperature, measurement is performed at least every 30 minutes for one day, and after recording the diurnal fluctuation data of the core body temperature, the thermometer 20 is displayed on the display 22 via the detachable signal cable 21. After connection, the body temperature recording data is input to the display 22. Then, on the display screen of the display 22, information on the bathing time corresponding to the time of the maximum temperature in the diurnal variation data of the deep body temperature is displayed in characters such as "bathing time 9:00 pm".

The body temperature measuring device 20 is not of the type worn on the ear, but may be a sublingual body temperature measuring device or a body temperature measuring device for measuring the body temperature of the armpit.

[Third Embodiment] Next, a third embodiment of the bathing information system according to the present invention will be described. In the third embodiment, a deep body temperature measuring means 106 for measuring the deep body temperature of the bather is provided, and the presenting means 101 presets the deep body temperature of the bather measured by the deep body temperature measuring means 106. When the allowable upper limit temperature is exceeded, or when the amount of increase in the core body temperature of the bather exceeds an appropriate value, information for prompting hot water is presented.

Specifically, the body temperature measuring device 20 and the display 22 similar to those in the second embodiment are provided, and the deep body temperature measuring means 106 is constituted by the body temperature measuring device 20, and the presenting means 101 is the above-mentioned. As shown in FIG. 10, the body temperature measuring device 20 incorporates a transmitter 20A, and the indicator 22 incorporates a receiver 22A. A bather takes a bath while wearing the body temperature measuring device 20 on his ear. When the amount of increase in the deep body temperature of the bather exceeds an appropriate value, the first alarm signal is transmitted from the transmitting unit 20A of the body temperature measuring device 20 to the receiving unit 22A of the display 22, and the deep body temperature of the bather is the upper limit. When the temperature is exceeded, a second alarm signal is transmitted from the transmitter 20A to the receiver 22A, and upon receipt of each alarm signal, the display 22 displays information prompting hot water on the display screen. For example, the allowable upper limit temperature is set to 38.5 ° C., and the appropriate amount of increase is set to 1.0 ° C., for example. As the information prompting the user to leave the bath, characters such as "Let's get out of the bath soon" are displayed for the first alarm, and characters such as "Let's get out of the bath immediately" are displayed for the second alarm. It At the same time, the bather is warned by the operating sound of a buzzer (not shown) built in the display 22.

[Fourth Embodiment] Next, a fourth embodiment of the bathing information system according to the present invention will be described. In the fourth embodiment, heart rate measuring means 107 for measuring the heart rate of the bather is provided, and the presenting means 101 measures the rise time of the heart rate of the bather measured by the heart rate measuring means 107. Based on this, the bathing person's deep body temperature rise time is estimated, and the bathing timing is presented based on the estimation of the deep body temperature rise time.

Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, a bathtub electrocardiograph 15 for obtaining an electrocardiographic signal of a bather.
And a display 13 installed on the wall of the bathroom. And this display 13 has a built-in control unit,
The heart rate measuring means 107 and the presenting means 101 are the display 1
3 is used. That is, bathtub electrocardiograph 1
The electrocardiogram signal obtained in 5 is input to the display device 13, and the heart rate of the bather is measured in the display device 13 based on the electrocardiogram signal. The bathtub electrocardiograph 15 includes a plurality of electrocardiogram electrodes 10 installed on the inner wall of the bathtub 5, an electrocardiogram signal generator 11 for generating and processing an electrocardiogram signal from electric signals appearing on the plurality of electrocardiogram electrodes 10, and an electrocardiogram. The signal processing means 12 performs predetermined signal processing on the electrocardiogram signal generated by the signal generation means 11.

The plurality of electrocardiographic electrodes 10 are four electrodes 10a.
-10d, and the electrodes 10a to 10d are separately installed at predetermined positions on the inner wall surface of the bath 5 to be immersed in hot water. Specifically, the first electrode 10a is located near the outside of the base of the bather's right arm, the second electrode 10b is located near the outside of the base of the bather's left arm, and the third electrode 10c is located at the base of the bather's left foot. The fourth electrode 10d is installed at a position close to the outside and at a position close to the outside of the right foot base of the bather. Then, the surface potential of each corresponding portion of the bather is induced in each of the electrodes 10a to 10d by the conductive path formed through the hot and cold water in the bath.

The electrocardiogram signal generating means 11 basically has
A plurality of differential amplifiers are provided which combine the electric signals induced in the electrodes 10a to 10d and obtain a difference signal between the combined signals. The signal processing means 12 responds to the electrocardiogram signal generated by the electrocardiogram signal generating means 11 by a low-frequency baseline fluctuation component generated due to movement of hot water in the bathtub 5 or movement of the body of the bather. Is removed, and the electrocardiogram signal after removal of the baseline oscillation is output as the output signal of the bathtub electrocardiograph 15. The heart rate measuring means 107 calculates P wave, Q wave, R wave, S wave, from the electrocardiogram signal of the bathtub electrocardiograph 15.
A specific signal wave is extracted from the characteristic signal components such as the T wave and the QRS complex, and electrocardiographic information contained in the specific signal wave is further extracted. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 13, the R wave is extracted, the time phase of its occurrence is detected, and the heart rate and its time fluctuation are measured from the interval of occurrence. In addition, for the purpose of measuring the heart rate, it is not necessary to provide the four electrodes 10a to 10d, and at least a pair of electrodes may be provided at positions sandwiching the human body.

The change in the heart rate will be explained. As shown in FIG. 14, when the parasympathetic nerve becomes dominant as the bathing operation continues, the heart rate decreases, but after that, the core of the body warms. , Heart rate increases. That is, there is a correlation between an increase in core body temperature and an increase in heart rate. Therefore, since it is possible to estimate (predict) the rise time (rise curve t) of the deep body temperature from the rise time of the heart rate (rise curve P), the rise value ΔT of the deep body temperature is, for example, the allowable rise value (1 The time d (minutes) until reaching 0 ° C.) is obtained, and the tapping timing is presented based on the time d (minutes). As the information on the timing of the hot water, a character such as "Let's get out of the bath in 3 minutes" is displayed on the display screen of the display unit 13.

[Fifth Embodiment] Next, a fifth embodiment of the bathing information system according to the present invention will be described. In the fifth embodiment, a body fat percentage measuring means 108 for measuring a body fat percentage of a bather is provided, and the presenting means 101 sets the bathing condition as the bathing condition based on the measurement information of the body fat percentage measuring means 108. , Is configured to present the bathing time.

Specifically, the above-described automatic hot water supply bath configuration (see FIG. 1) is provided, and as shown in FIG. 15, the control unit 30 of the bath remote controller 3 is used to measure the body fat percentage. Means 108 are configured. Hereinafter, the measurement of the body fat percentage by the body fat percentage measuring means 108 will be described. First, the volume excluding the bather's head is measured based on the rise in the water level in the bathtub 5 accompanying the bather's bathing. As shown in FIG. 16, if the water level when the bath is filled with water so as to bathe in the whole body bath is s1 and the water level raised to the shoulder is s2, the difference in water level (s2-s1) The volume obtained by multiplying the average cross-sectional area of is measured as the volume excluding the head.

Then, the body fat percentage is obtained based on the height and weight data of the bather (this data is input in advance) and the volume data excluding the bather's head. Less than,
The calculation procedure will be described. (1) Obtain the head volume of the bather. Specifically, the head circumference, head width, neck circumference, and face length are obtained from the age using a database regarding the size of Japanese people, and the head volume is estimated from these data based on the following formula. .

[0045]

[Equation 1] Male head volume = 0.184 × head circumference + 0.08
7 x head width + 0.095 x neck circumference-11.113 (cm ³ ) Female head volume = 0.157 x head circumference -0.051 x head width + 0.033 x face length -4.837 (cm ³ )

(2) Obtain the average amount of air remaining in the body during normal breathing. Specifically, the human body measurement database is used to estimate the air amount from the vital capacity, age, and height. The value of vital capacity is estimated from age, height, weight, etc. using a human body measurement database. (3) Obtain body specific gravity.

[0047]

## EQU00002 ## Body specific gravity = weight / [the biological data measuring means 10
1, the volume excluding the head obtained from the rise in water level when bathing up to the shoulder + head volume estimated by (1) -air volume estimated by (2)]

(4) Obtain the body fat percentage. Broz below
The ek estimation formula is used.

[0049]

## EQU00003 ## Body fat percentage = [(body specific gravity obtained by 4.570 / (3))-4.142] × 100

Generally, the higher the body fat percentage, the more difficult it is to warm up when bathing. Therefore, a bather with a high body fat percentage presents a long bath time, and a bather with a low body fat percentage presents a short bath time. Then, the correspondence data between the body fat percentage and the bathing time is stored in the nonvolatile memory 37 of the bath remote controller 3 in a table format. Then, the data of the bathing time corresponding to the measured body fat percentage of the bather is read out from the nonvolatile memory 37, and, for example, “Bathing time 2
Display part 3 of the bath remote controller 3 with a character display such as "0 minutes"
It is displayed in 1.

Another Embodiment Another embodiment will be described below. Although the presenting means 101 is provided in the bathroom 8 in the above embodiment, it may be provided near the bathroom 8, for example, at the entrance of the bathroom 8 or the dressing room.

In the above first and fifth embodiments, the presenting means 101 is constructed by using the bath remote controller 3 installed in the automatic hot water supply bath.
As in the fourth embodiment, it may be configured with a dedicated display device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an automatic hot water supply bath including a bathing information system according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the bath remote controller according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the bath remote controller according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing diurnal variation in core body temperature.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a data table of appropriate bathing conditions for various setting information.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a procedure for obtaining a bathing time from a scheduled bedtime or a scheduled wakeup time.

FIG. 7 is a control block diagram of the bathing information system according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a portable body temperature measuring device according to the second embodiment and a mounting state thereof.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing the bathing information system according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing the bathing information system according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a control block diagram of the bathing information system according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a bathtub according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a waveform diagram of an electrocardiogram signal.

FIG. 14 is a time chart showing the correlation between heart rate and core body temperature.

FIG. 15 is a control block diagram showing a main part of a bathing information system according to a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a side view showing a bathing state according to the fifth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

8 bathrooms 101 means of presentation 102 Bathing information setting means 103 Sleep time input means 104 Attribute information input means 105 Daily fluctuation measurement method 106 Deep Body Temperature Measuring Means 107 Heart rate measuring means 108 means for measuring body fat percentage

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Toshikazu Takemori             4-1-2 Hirano-cho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Prefecture               Within Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shinichi Kawamura             4-1-2 Hirano-cho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Prefecture               Within Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 4C017 AA02 AA16 AB10                 4C094 AA01 BB01 CC17 FF02 FF09                       FF15 FF17 FF20 GG03 GG12

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A bathing information system in which a presenting means for presenting bathing conditions for raising an appropriate value in the vicinity of the maximum temperature in the diurnal variation of deep body temperature is provided in a bathroom or a portion in the vicinity thereof. 2. The amount and temperature of hot water at the time of bathing, bathing time, and
A bathing information setting means for setting any one of the bathing courses is provided, and the presenting means performs the bathing when the hot water amount and the hot water temperature at the time of bathing are set based on the setting information of the bathing information setting means. The bathing time is presented as a condition, and when the bathing time is set, the bathing water amount and the bathing temperature are presented as the bathing conditions, and when the bathing course is set, the bathing amount and the bathing water are set as the bathing conditions. The bathing information system according to claim 1, wherein the bathing information system is configured to present a combination of temperature and bathing time. 3. A sleep time input means for inputting a scheduled bedtime or a scheduled wakeup time is provided, and the presenting means presents a bathing time as the bathing condition based on the input information of the sleep time inputting means. The bathing information system according to claim 1 or 2, which is configured as follows. 4. An attribute information input means for inputting attribute information of a bather is provided, and the presenting means, based on the input information of the attribute information input means, sets the bathing condition as hot water amount, hot water temperature, and bathing time. And a structure for presenting a bathing time.
Bathing information system according to any one of 3. 5. A diurnal variation measuring means for measuring diurnal variation of deep body temperature is provided, and the presenting means uses the diurnal variation of deep body temperature of a bather previously measured by the diurnal variation measuring means as the bathing condition. The time when the temperature reaches the maximum temperature or a time in the vicinity thereof is presented as a bathing time.
Bathing information system according to any one of 4. 6. A deep body temperature measuring means for measuring a deep body temperature of a bather is provided, and the presenting means has a deep body temperature of the bather measured by the deep body temperature measuring means exceeds a preset allowable upper limit temperature. Alternatively, the bathing information system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, which is configured to present information for prompting hot water when the amount of increase in deep body temperature of the bather exceeds an appropriate value. 7. A heart rate measuring means for measuring the heart rate of the bather is provided, and the presenting means is based on the rise time of the heart rate of the bather measured by the heart rate measuring means. The bathing information system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the bathing information system is configured to estimate the rising time of the deep body temperature and present the bathing timing based on the estimation of the rising time of the deep body temperature. 8. A body fat percentage measuring means for measuring a body fat percentage of a bather is provided, and the presenting means presents a bathing time as the bathing condition based on the measurement information of the body fat percentage measuring means. The bathing information system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, which is configured to perform.