JP2003248058A - Personal alarm dosemeter - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a personal alarm dosemeter that automatically changes the sound volume of alarm sound according to a noise level in a surrounding environment, and can issue an alarm to a working personnel with appropriate sound volume. <P>SOLUTION: The personal alarm dosemeter allows a working personnel to safely and reliably recognize an alarm sound, by adding an alarm sound volume-adjusting means (a microphone 6, an amplifier 5, an A/D converter 4, a sound-volume controller 10, and the like) that automatically adjusts the sound volume of the alarm sound issued from an alarm section 11 according to a noise level in a surrounding environment, although a conventional personal alarm dosemeter has the problems of the working personnel being confused, when the alarm sound is issued in a quiet working place, and the alarm sound cannot be distinguished easily, in an environment having much noise, such as a generating station and a turbine building. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention measures the radiation dose to which a radiation worker is exposed during work, and issues an alarm when the measured dose exceeds a set dose. It relates to a personal alarm dosimeter (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as a dosimeter). 2. Description of the Related Art A personal alarm dosimeter measures the amount of radiation to which a radiation worker is exposed during work, and can measure and display the amount of exposure during the work in real time. A warning is issued when the dose exceeds a preset dose, and is used to prevent radiation workers from being overexposed. This personal alarm dosimeter is always carried by radiation workers when working in radiation controlled areas,
It is often used by storing it in the pocket of work clothes. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a personal alarm dosimeter conventionally used. A radiation detection unit 1 that detects radiation and outputs an electric signal; a measurement circuit unit 2 that measures an output signal of the detection unit 1; and a display unit that will be described later in addition to performing arithmetic processing on an output signal of the measurement circuit unit 2. Central processing unit 3 for controlling peripheral circuit units such as 7 and alarm unit 11
(Hereinafter abbreviated as CPU), a display unit 7 for displaying the result of the arithmetic processing, and an alarm unit 11 for issuing an alarm sound when the measured dose exceeds a set value or every time an arbitrary dose is integrated.
And a memory 8 for storing various set values and measured values;
And a power supply section 14 for supplying electricity to various circuit sections. When the radiation dose measured by the measuring circuit section 2 exceeds the set dose set in the memory 8, the alarm section 11 causes the alarm device driving circuit 13 to drive the alarm necessary for alarm by a control signal supplied from the CPU 3. Electric power is generated, and the alarm 12 is driven to emit an alarm sound. In conventional dosimeters, the tone was changed depending on the type of alarm, and switching to intermittent alarm was performed after continuous alarm for a certain period of time to reduce battery consumption. Is not considered, and emits an alarm sound of the same volume. [0005] As described above, the personal alarm dosimeter according to the prior art always emits an alarm sound of the same volume. For example, when an alarm sound is emitted in a quiet work place, However, in a noisy environment such as a power plant or a turbine building, there are inconveniences such as a difficulty in discriminating a warning sound, and a possibility that a worker may mistakenly recognize a warning. The present invention improves the above-mentioned points, and automatically changes the volume of an alarm sound in accordance with the noise level of the surrounding environment of a work place, and can issue an alarm to an operator at an appropriate volume. It aims to provide an alarm dosimeter. [0007] In order to solve such a problem, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a radiation detecting section (radiation detecting section 1) for detecting radiation and outputting an electric signal, A measurement circuit section (measurement circuit section 2) for measuring an output signal of the section;
A central processing unit (CPU 3) is provided for arithmetically processing the output signal of the measurement circuit unit and controlling a peripheral circuit unit including an alarm unit (alarm 12 and drive circuit 13). In the personal alarm dosimeter which emits an alarm sound every time the dose is integrated, an alarm volume adjusting means (microphone 6, amplifier 5) for automatically adjusting the volume of the alarm sound emitted from the alarm unit according to the noise level of the surrounding environment. ,
A / D converter 4, volume controller 10, etc.) are provided. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a personal alarm dosimeter according to an embodiment of the present invention. For the sake of simplicity, the same components as those of the conventional example in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted. The personal alarm dosimeter according to the present invention is different from the conventional dosimeter in that a microphone 6, an amplifier 5, and an A / D converter 4 are provided.
Means for measuring noise, comprising:
There is a feature in the point that it is added. That is, in this personal alarm dosimeter, the noise around the work place is collected by the microphone 6, amplified by the amplifier 5, and then converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 4. It is supplied to the CPU 3 as a measurement signal corresponding to the noise level of the environment. The CPU 3 compares the measured value signal with a reference value (indicating the noise level in a normal state) stored in the memory 8 in advance, and takes a difference between the measured value signal and a volume increase / decrease command signal according to the difference, that is, the measured value signal. If the measured value exceeds the reference value, a volume increase command signal is sent to the volume controller 10, and if the measured value signal is lower than the reference value, a volume decrease command signal is sent to the volume controller 10. In addition,
The reference value may have a predetermined allowable range (upper limit value, lower limit value). The volume controller 10 adjusts the alarm volume generated by the alarm 12 based on the volume increase / decrease command signal. That is, the drive power generated by the alarm drive circuit 13 at the subsequent stage is controlled by the above-mentioned volume increase / decrease command signal, whereby the alarm volume emitted by the alarm 12 is set to an appropriate level according to the noise level of the work place. It will be automatically adjusted. As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the noise in the surrounding environment of the work place is measured, and the alarm volume when an alarm dose is exceeded or the like is adjusted according to the ambient noise level. Since the adjustment is made automatically, there is an advantage that the operator can more appropriately recognize the alarm sound regardless of the environmental conditions (quiet or noisy) of the work place.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a personal alarm dosimeter according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional personal alarm dosimeter. [Description of Signs] 1 ... Radiation detection unit, 2 ... Measurement circuit unit, 3 ... CPU,
4 ... A / D converter, 5 ... Amplifier, 6 ... Microphone, 7 ... Display unit, 8 ... Memory, 9 ... Setting unit, 10 ...
..Volume controller, 11 ... alarm unit.

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. A radiation detecting section for detecting radiation and outputting an electric signal, a measuring circuit section for measuring an output signal of the detecting section, and an arithmetic processing for an output signal of the measuring circuit section. The noise level of the surrounding environment is provided by a personal alarm dosimeter equipped with a central processing unit that controls the peripheral circuit section including the alarm section, and that emits an alarm sound when the measured dose exceeds a set value or whenever an arbitrary dose is added. A personal alarm dosimeter provided with an alarm volume adjusting means for automatically adjusting the volume of the alarm sound emitted from the alarm unit in accordance with the condition.