JP2005115474A - Automatic information system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system for detecting the abnormal posture of a person existing in a room and automatically informing of the detected result. <P>SOLUTION: The automatic information system for detecting the abnormal posture of the person existing in the room and automatically informing of the detected result comprises a plurality of pairs of light emitting elements and light receiving elements arranged so that a plurality of sensor beams cross in the space of the room, a posture determination data file in which sensor beam blocking patterns are previously stored corresponding to abnormal postures in the room, a means for recognizing the sensor beam blocking patterns on the basis of output signals from the light receiving elements, a means for determining whether the person in the room is in an abnormal posture or not by comparing a plurality of recognized sensor beam blocking patterns with the posture determination data file, and an automatic information means for transmitting accident occurrence data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a system that detects the occurrence and automatically reports when an elderly person falls in a room such as a toilet.

In the past, when an accident such as an elderly person or a handicapped person falling due to a seizure or poor physical condition in a room such as a toilet or bathroom, the family may not be aware of it, leading to serious consequences. . In Patent Document 1, there is a system in which a radio wave is transmitted to a parent device by pressing a push button switch provided in a child device of a household parent-child phone in an emergency, and the parent device that has received the radio wave automatically transmits a predetermined telephone number. It is disclosed.
JP-A-11-265493

  However, when a seizure or poor physical condition occurs, it is often impossible to press the emergency switch on its own because it loses consciousness or the body does not move freely. Therefore, a means for automatically detecting such an emergency situation and automatically notifying a predetermined contact is required.

  In view of the above situation, the present invention is a system that detects that a human body in a room such as a toilet is in an abnormal posture such as a fallen state and automatically notifies an appropriate contact person. The purpose is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following configuration.
(1) The invention according to claim 1 is an automatic notification system that detects an abnormal posture of a human body in a room and reports the occurrence of an accident. A plurality of sensors installed so that a plurality of sensor beams cross the space in the room. Based on a pair of light-emitting elements and light-receiving elements, an attitude determination data file preliminarily stored in association with an abnormal attitude in the room, and a plurality of the plurality of sensor beam blocking patterns, and the plurality of light-receiving elements based on output signals of the plurality of light-receiving elements A first judging unit for judging whether or not the posture is an abnormal posture by comparing the recognition means for recognizing the blocking pattern of the plurality of sensor beams and the posture judgment data file with the recognized blocking patterns of the plurality of sensor beams. Means, and automatic notification means for transmitting accident occurrence data when it is determined that the posture is abnormal.

(2) In the invention according to claim 2, in the automatic notification system according to claim 1, the posture determination data file further stores in advance each of the abnormal postures in association with the duration thereof, When it is determined by the determining means that the posture is abnormal, it is determined whether or not the abnormal posture continues beyond the associated duration by referring to the posture determination data file. It further has a judgment means.

  In the invention according to claim 1, by combining a plurality of sensor beams in a room, a combination pattern is obtained depending on whether each of the plurality of sensor beams is blocked or transmitted depending on the posture of the human body (this is described in this specification). This is referred to as “blocking pattern” in the document). Therefore, it is possible to determine whether the posture of the human body is normal or abnormal by recognizing the block patterns of the plurality of sensor beams. If it is determined that the posture is abnormal, the occurrence of the accident is automatically notified, and a response such as immediate rescue can be taken.

  In the invention according to claim 2, the duration time from the time when it is determined to be an abnormal posture is measured, and after confirming that the posture has continued for a certain time or more, it is determined that an accident has occurred, and automatic notification is made. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent an automatic notification by mistake when such a posture is accidentally taken, and to increase the certainty of determining the occurrence of an accident.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the automatic notification system of the present invention, a plurality of sensor beams cross around a space in a room such as a toilet, a bathroom, and a living room. FIG. 1A is a side perspective view illustrating a state in which a light emitting element and a light receiving element for a plurality of sensor beams are installed in a toilet as an example, and FIG. 1B is a top perspective view. The plurality of sensor beams are indicated by a thick solid line with arrows and a broken line with arrows.

  In this example, the sensor light beam is infrared light, and infrared light is generated by the three light emitting elements 11a, 11b, and 11c, and is received by the three light receiving elements 12a, 12b, and 12c. The three pairs of light emitting / receiving elements are appropriately arranged so as to cover a space where a human body may exist in the toilet. For example, the optical path connecting the light emitting element 11a and the light receiving element 12a is installed so as to hit the position of the shoulder when a person sits on the toilet. The optical path connecting the light emitting element 11b and the light receiving element 12b is also installed so as to hit the waist position. Further, the optical path connecting the light emitting element 11c and the light receiving element 12c is also set so as to hit the position of the calf. The number of light emitting / light receiving element pairs and the installation position are appropriately selected depending on the room or the physique of the target person as necessary.

  In the example shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the light emitting elements 11a, 11b, and 11c are mounted on the surface of the side wall 22 at different heights (upper, middle, and lower positions, respectively), and the light receiving elements 12a, 12b, and 12c are It is attached to the end of the side wall 23 at different heights (upper, middle and lower positions, respectively). Basically, the mounting angles are set so that the light emitting element 11a and the light receiving element 12a, the light emitting element 11b and the light receiving element 12b, and the light emitting element 11c and the light receiving element 12c are paired. Moreover, you may replace the installation position of the light emitting element and light receiving element which make a pair.

  By installing as described above, infrared light (thick solid line) emitted from the light emitting element 11a is received at the maximum intensity by the light receiving element 12a, but can also be received by the other light receiving elements 12b and 12c (dashed line). ). The same applies to the other light emitting elements 11b and 11c. That is, the light receiving elements 12a to 12c can detect the infrared light emitted from all the light emitting elements, but the infrared light received from any of the light emitting elements 11a to 11c by analyzing the output signals of the light receiving elements 12a to 12c. Can be identified by frequency or the like. In the present invention, recognition is performed mainly using the blocking / transmission state of the sensor beam between the paired light emitting element and the light receiving element, but the sensor beam between the light emitting element and the light receiving element that are not paired is blocked. The recognition accuracy can be improved by also using the transmission state.

  2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating an example of the posture recognition operation of the human body in the automatic notification system of the present invention. The upper diagram in FIG. 2A is a perspective view showing a state in which a human is normally sitting on a toilet seat in the toilet. The table on the lower side of FIG. 2A shows the sensor beam blocking / transmission state between each light emitting element and each light receiving element, that is, the blocking pattern, and the determination of normal / abnormal posture. For example, when sitting normally, all the sensor beams from the light emitting element 11a at the upper position are blocked. Further, only the sensor light beam from the light emitting element 11b at the middle position is transmitted through the light beam toward the light receiving element 12a at the upper position, and the sensor light beam toward the light receiving elements 12b and 12c at the middle position and the lower position is blocked. Further, only the sensor light beam from the lower light emitting element 11c is transmitted to the upper light receiving element 12a, and the sensor light beams directed to the middle and lower light receiving elements 12b and 12c are blocked. If such a blocking pattern is recognized, it is determined to be “normal” and no notification is transmitted.

  On the other hand, in the upper diagram of FIG. 2B, a person is sitting on the toilet seat but is leaning forward. At this time, a blocking pattern as shown in the lower table of FIG. 2B is obtained. The difference from FIG. 2A is that the sensor light beam is transmitted from the upper light emitting element 11a to the upper light receiving element 12a, and from the middle and lower light emitting elements 11b and 11c to the upper light receiving element 12a. This is the point where the sensor light beam going is blocked. When such a blocking pattern is recognized, it is determined as “abnormal”, and when this abnormal state continues for 10 seconds, for example, a notification is automatically transmitted.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically and schematically showing an example of the overall configuration of the automatic notification system of the present invention. The light emitting elements 11a, 11b, and 11c and the light receiving elements 12a, 12b, and 12c are appropriately installed in the room as described above. The infrared IR optical path (solid line) between the paired light emitting element and the light receiving element is mainly used, but the infrared IR optical path (broken line) between the other light emitting element and the light receiving element is used together to improve accuracy. May be. An infrared light emitting diode can be used as the infrared light emitting element, and an infrared phototransistor can be used as the infrared light receiving element.

  Each light receiving element 12 a, 12 b, 12 c is connected to the receiving unit 33 of the sensor signal totaling device 30, and an output signal (sensor signal) of each light receiving element is input to the receiving unit 33. The receiving unit 33 has an interface function, and performs signal processing such as conversion of an analog output signal of the light receiving element into a digital signal and amplification thereof.

  In a preferred example of the sensor signal totalizing device 30, the control unit 31 includes a CPU 31a and a memory 31b, and the CPU 31a executes the program read into the memory 31b to control the operation of the automatic notification system. Data processing 31c accompanying the operation of the automatic notification system includes, for example, sensor signal input processing, posture determination processing, duration determination processing, notification transmission processing, and the like. Details of these processes will be described later. The program is introduced in advance into the storage unit 32 having a nonvolatile storage element.

  The storage unit 32 stores in advance an attitude determination data file 32a for use in attitude determination processing in the automatic notification system. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of the contents stored in the posture determination data file 32. In each table of FIGS. 4A to 4D, each sensor light beam between the light emitting element installed at each of the upper, middle, and lower positions and the light receiving element installed at each of the upper, middle, and lower positions. A block pattern composed of a combination of block / transmission states is associated with the posture of the human body in the room (normal or abnormal).

  For example, the blocking pattern “transmission, transmission, transmission” in FIG. 4A indicates that all the sensor beams are not blocked, that is, there is no person in the toilet. This state is associated with “normal”. Further, the blocking pattern “blocking, blocking, blocking” in (b) indicates that all the sensor beams are blocked, that is, there is a person in the toilet and sitting normally. This state is also associated with “normal”. On the other hand, the blocking pattern “transmission, blocking, blocking” in (c) shows a state in which a person is bent forward because the sensor beam at the upper position is transmitted. This state is associated with “abnormal”. Furthermore, the duration is set to “10 seconds”. That is, an automatic notification is sent only when this state continues for 10 seconds. Further, the blocking pattern “transmitting, transmitting, blocking” in (d) indicates a state in which a person falls on the floor because the sensor light beams at the upper position and the middle position are transmitted. This state is also associated with “abnormal”. The duration is set to “5 seconds”. The reason why the duration is set short is that it is considered that the state is more imminent than the state (c). Note that the association and setting of the blocking pattern, posture, and duration shown in FIG. 4 are examples, and are determined as appropriate according to the usage status.

  Returning to FIG. 3, the receiving unit 33 may be controlled so that the sensor signal is sampled at regular intervals, for example, and the sampling cycle is, for example, several tens to several hundreds ms. Posture determination processing is performed for each sampling.

  The sensor signal totaling device 30 further includes a transmission unit 34, which is a communication unit that transmits accident occurrence data to the automatic notification device 40 by an appropriate communication method. Examples of communication methods include serial transmission, parallel transmission, and wireless.

  In addition, the sensor signal totaling apparatus 30 may include a power supply unit 35 that supplies power to each light emitting / receiving element. Each light emitting / receiving element may be driven by an internal power source such as a battery.

  The automatic notification device 40 is connected to the public telephone line N. The automatic notification device 40 may be a device in which the function of the present invention is added to a normal telephone. The automatic notification device 40 also includes a control unit (not shown), and the dialer 41 is activated by the control. When the control unit receives the accident occurrence data from the sensor signal totaling device 30, the control unit refers to the telephone number 42a stored in advance in the storage unit 42 including a storage element, and performs automatic notification by calling the telephone number. To do. By calling this pre-stored telephone number, it is connected to an appropriate receiving device 50 of the notification receiving organization, and a message stored in the storage unit 42 in advance, for example, “It has fallen in the toilet” is automatically voiced. introduce. Alternatively, the text including the address and name may be transmitted by facsimile. The report reception organization is simply a generic name, and specifically includes a family telephone number, a fire department telephone number, and the like.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing flow of the automatic notification system of the present invention.
Step S1: Start light emission from each light emitting element.
Step S2: Start of light reception by each light receiving element. As another example, steps S1 and S2 include, for example, providing another sensor for detecting opening / closing of a toilet door to detect that a person has entered the toilet, thereby turning on the system of the present invention. You may start by doing. Thus, if this system is operated only when a person enters a room such as a toilet, power can be saved. Similarly, at the end, it is detected that a person has left the room and the system is turned off or in a standby state.

Step S3: The output signals of each of the plurality of light receiving elements are sampled, and first, it is detected whether or not there is even one blocked sensor beam. If all the sensor beams are transmitted, it is determined that there is no person in the room, and the process returns to step S2 to perform the next sampling. If at least one sensor beam is blocked, the blocking / transmitting state of each of the plurality of sensor beams is detected and the blocking pattern is recognized from the combination. After recognition, proceed to the next step.

Step S4: Based on the recognized block pattern, referring to the posture determination data file and comparing it with the stored block pattern, the block pattern is associated with an abnormal posture or is associated with a normal posture. Judgment is made. If it is associated with the normal posture, it is determined as “normal”, and the process returns to step S2 to perform the next sampling. If it is associated with an abnormal posture, it is determined as “abnormal” and the process proceeds to the next step.

Step S5: The elapsed time from the determination of the abnormal posture is measured, and it is determined whether or not the duration time stored in the posture determination data file has elapsed for the blocking pattern. For example, when the timer is activated from the time when it is first determined as “abnormal”, the output signal of the light receiving element is sampled, steps S3 and S4 are repeated, and the same abnormal posture continues until the stored duration elapses. Proceeds to the next step after resetting the timer. On the other hand, if the posture changes before the stored duration elapses, the timer is reset again, and the process returns to step S2 to perform normal sampling.

Step S6: When an abnormal posture continues for a predetermined duration, it is determined that an “accident has occurred” and an automatic notification is transmitted. Specifically, the accident occurrence data is transmitted to the automatic notification device. Based on this, the automatic notification device calls the telephone number stored in the storage unit. If it is possible to connect to the report receiving organization, the message stored in the storage unit is transmitted.

It is side surface perspective drawing which shows the state which installed the light emitting element and light receiving element of the some sensor beam in the toilet as an example. FIG. 1A is also a top perspective view thereof. It is a figure which shows an example of the posture recognition operation | movement of a human body in the automatic notification system of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the posture recognition operation | movement of a human body in the automatic notification system of this invention. It is the figure which showed roughly and an example of the whole structure of an automatic notification system. It is a figure which shows typically an example of the memory content of an attitude | position judgment data file. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the processing flow of the automatic notification system of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

11a to 11c Light emitting element 12a to 12c Light receiving element 20 Room 21 to 24 Side wall 25 Floor 26 Door 27 Window 28 Toilet seat 30 Sensor signal aggregating device 31 Control unit 32 Storage unit 33 Receiving unit 34 Transmitting unit 35 Power supply unit 40 Automatic reporting device 41 Dialer 42 Storage Unit 50 Report Receiving Organization Receiving Device

Claims (2)

In the automatic notification system that detects the abnormal posture of the human body in the room and reports the occurrence of an accident,
A plurality of pairs of light-emitting elements and light-receiving elements installed so that a plurality of sensor beams cross the interior space of the room;
A posture determination data file pre-stored in association with the abnormal posture in the room with the plurality of sensor light blocking patterns;
Recognition means for recognizing a block pattern of the plurality of sensor beams based on output signals of the plurality of light receiving elements;
First determination means for determining whether or not the posture is an abnormal posture by comparing the recognized pattern of the plurality of sensor light beams and the posture determination data file;
An automatic notification system comprising: automatic notification means for transmitting accident occurrence data when it is determined that the posture is abnormal. The posture determination data file further stores in advance each of the abnormal postures in association with its duration,
When it is determined that the posture is abnormal by the first determining means, it is determined whether or not the abnormal posture is continued beyond the associated duration by referring to the posture determination data file. An automatic notification system further comprising a second determination means.

Images