JP2005195431A - Wrist watch type pedometer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wrist watch type pedometer which detects the number of steps discriminating between intentional walking and unintentional walking. <P>SOLUTION: A rotatable pendulum detector 13 which detects the number of steps and walking condition discriminating means 14 which automatically discriminates between unintentional walking and intentional walking are incorporated into an inner case 17. The walking condition discriminating means 14 comprises a magnet 51 provided in the pendulum detector 13, a reed switch 52 incorporated into the inner case 17 corresponding to the magnet 51, and a pair of stoppers 53A, 53B which restrict the rotation angle of the pendulum detector 13 to a fixed angle. The magnet 51 is provided in the lower part of the pendulum detector 13. The reed switch 52 is provided in a position displaced by nearly 5 degrees from the three o'clock position toward the twelve o'clock position on a dial of an analog watch in the inner case 17. The pair of stoppers 53A, 53B are provided in a position displaced nearly degrees from the three o'clock position toward the six o'clock position and a position displaced by nearly 20 degrees from the nine o'clock position toward the twelve position. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a wristwatch-type pedometer capable of measuring the number of steps during unconscious walking and during conscious walking.

  In order to maintain brain health, maintain and improve memory and concentration, and prevent dementia and aging, it is important to stimulate and activate brain cells on a daily basis.

  As a method for activating the brain, exercise, food, massage, hobbies and the like can be generally mentioned. In the case of exercise, walking (walking) is the most suitable among various exercises. The reason is that if it is a person who can walk, it can be easily performed anywhere regardless of age and gender and according to the physical strength of the person who exercises without requiring an exercise tool.

  The effects of walking include relaxing the brain (effect of beta-endorphin), relieving stress (effect of ACTH and corticosteroids), activating brain cells (effect of stimulating brainstem reticulum), etc. It is known to be effective. That is, walking increases beta-endorphin (hormone made of amino acids with chemical formulas similar to morphine) in the blood, and this beta-endorphin enters the bloodstream and normally enters the brain. Causes the brain to awaken. As a result, they become mentally uplifted and feel a sense of jealousy and euphoria, relaxing the brain. Moreover, when anti-gravity muscle groups (muscle groups that maintain posture against the acceleration of gravity of the earth) are stimulated by walking, the brainstem network is stimulated to activate the brain. Furthermore, when blood in the brain increases by walking, the secretion of ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) made in the brain increases. ACTH relieves physical stress because it stimulates the adrenal cortex to secrete adrenocortical hormones. Thus, since it is recognized that there are various effects in walking, it can be said that it is the most suitable exercise especially for a person with a small amount of exercise.

  The forms of walking are roughly classified into “unconscious walking” and “conscious walking”. “Unconscious walking” is a way of walking with the hands and feet out alternately and naturally. “Conscious walking” is a way of walking while conscious of walking itself or conscious of where you want to train your body, instead of walking with your hands and feet alternating. For example, walking fast with large thighs while being conscious of the muscles of the legs, walking with emphasis on the abdomen and back while being conscious of the abdominal muscles and back muscles, walking with the left hand and left hand and right hand and right foot together (Namba walking) Or, it is a way of walking that is fixed to a specific part of the body without shaking the hand, and is a way of walking other than unconscious walking. In particular, “conscious walking” is a method of walking with the consciousness concentrated on walking, and therefore it is said that stimulation to brain cells is greater than unconscious walking and is more effective by activating the brain. Therefore, when walking, it is preferable to incorporate a lot of conscious walking.

However, all of the conventional pedometers measure the walking during unconscious walking (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 6), and there is no device that separately measures unconscious walking and conscious walking.
JP 59-109987 A JP 59-202016 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2-50615 JP 2001-133284 A JP 2002-24434 A JP 2000-056372 A

Therefore, the present inventor researched how to distinguish and measure the number of steps during unconscious walking and a specific conscious walking with one pedometer, and created various prototypes and conducted experiments. As a result, the pedometer according to the present invention is completed. In the experiment, a watch-type pedometer was targeted, and measurable conscious walking was specified as the following three types.
(1) A state where both arms are bent forward and approximately 45 ° downward (2) A state where both arms are bent approximately 90 ° (arm posture during jogging)
(3) A state where both arms are bent upward by approximately 130 ° and the hand is fixed to the chest (the posture in which the backpack belt is held at the chest)
However, as long as the bending angle of the arm is between the bending angle of the arm in the walking state of (1) and the bending angle of the arm in the walking state of (3), the consciousness in the present invention. Since it is included in the category of walking, it can be measured.

  As the wristwatch-type pedometer, a pedometer equipped with a pendulum detector that mechanically vibrates the pendulum by gravitational acceleration to measure the number of steps was used. In producing the pedometer, it is necessary to incorporate a walking state identification means for detecting or identifying unconscious walking and conscious walking. Therefore, as a result of various studies on means for identifying the walking state, it has been found that it is most preferable to use a non-contact type detection means composed of a magnet and a reed switch and limit the rotation angle of the pendulum detector with a stopper. It was. In addition, it has been found that it is important to appropriately determine the installation positions of the stopper, the magnet and the reed switch in order to reliably detect the unconscious walking and the conscious walking described in (1) to (3) above.

  The present invention has been made on the basis of the above-described conventional problems and examination results, and the object of the present invention is to automatically identify and detect the number of steps during unconscious walking and during specific conscious walking. It is to provide a new wristwatch type pedometer.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a case attached to a pedestrian's arm, a pendulum type detector that is rotatably housed in the case and detects the number of vibrations of the pendulum as the number of steps, and the pendulum type A detection signal detected by the pendulum detector, comprising walking state identification means for discriminating unconscious walking and conscious walking by rotation of the detector, and a display device having at least first and second display units; The unconscious walking and the conscious walking are identified by the signal from the walking state identifying means, the number of steps is calculated, and the total number of steps of the unconscious walking and the conscious walking or the number of steps during the unconscious walking is displayed on the first display means. The second display unit displays the number of steps during conscious walking or the ratio of the number of steps during conscious walking to the total number of steps.

  In the present invention, the walking state identification means includes a magnet provided in the pendulum detector, a reed switch incorporated in the case corresponding to the magnet, and a rotation angle of the pendulum detector is constant. It is comprised with a pair of stopper restrict | limited to an angle.

  Further, according to the present invention, a magnet is provided in the lower part of the pendulum type detector, and the reed switch is disposed at a position displaced by approximately 5 ° in the 12 o'clock direction from the 3 o'clock position of the dial in the analog timepiece. This stopper is provided at a position displaced approximately 30 ° in the 6 o'clock direction from the 3 o'clock position and a position displaced approximately 20 ° in the 12 o'clock direction from the 9 o'clock position.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, the reed switch is provided so as to be movable and adjustable in the rotation direction of the pendulum detector.

  In the present invention, since the walking state identifying means is provided, it is possible to identify whether it is unconscious walking or specific conscious walking. Further, the first display unit displays the total number of unconscious walking and conscious walking or the number of steps during unconscious walking, and the second display unit displays the number of steps during conscious walking or the ratio of the conscious walking to the total number of steps. Therefore, it is possible to know the ratio of conscious walking to unconscious walking.

  In the present invention, the walking state identification means includes a magnet, a reed switch, and a pair of stoppers that limit the rotation angle of the pendulum detector to a fixed angle, and the reed switch is turned on or off depending on the walking state. By doing so, it is possible to automatically identify unconscious walking and conscious walking without contact.

  In the present invention, the magnet is provided at the lower part of the pendulum detector, and the reed switch is disposed at a position displaced by approximately 5 ° from the 3 o'clock position of the dial in the analog timepiece in the case in the 12 o'clock direction. Are provided at a position displaced approximately 30 ° in the 6 o'clock direction from the 3 o'clock position and a position displaced approximately 20 ° in the 12 o'clock direction from the 9 o'clock position. (1) State where both arms are bent forward and 45 ° downward (hand is fixed to thigh or put in pocket), (2) State where both arms are bent approximately 90 ° (arm when jogging) Pose) and (3) It is possible to reliably detect conscious walking in a state where both arms are bent upward by approximately 130 ° and the hand is fixed to the chest (the posture in which the backpack belt is held at the chest). . Further, if the arm angle is within the above-described three conscious walking angle ranges, the reed switch is turned off, so any angle can be automatically detected as conscious walking.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, since the reed switch is provided so as to be movable and adjustable in the rotation direction of the pendulum detector, the timing at which the reed switch is turned on and off by the approach and separation of the magnet can be adjusted.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of a wrist watch type pedometer according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2A and 2B show a state in which an arm is lowered directly and a pendulum type detector inside the case in this state. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is a plan view of the contact portion of the pendulum detector. It is. 6 (a) and 6 (b) are diagrams showing a state in which both arms are bent forward and approximately 45 ° downward, and the state of the pendulum detector and the walking state identification means inside the case in this state; FIGS. 8A and 8B are diagrams showing a state in which both arms are bent by approximately 90 ° (arm posture during jogging), and a state of a pendulum detector and a walking state identification means inside the case in this state, FIG. (a) and (b) are a state in which both arms are bent upward by approximately 130 ° and a hand is fixed to the chest (a posture in which the belt of the backpack is gripped by the chest), and a pendulum detector inside the case in this state It is a figure which shows the state of a walking state identification means. 9 is a block diagram showing an electric circuit of the pedometer, FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the pedometer, and FIG. 11 is a diagram showing detection signals of the walking state identification means and the pendulum detector.

  In FIG. 1, the wristwatch type pedometer denoted as a whole by reference numeral 1 is designed on the assumption that the wristwatch is attached to an arm (usually the left arm) in the same manner as a general wristwatch. For this reason, the case 2 with a band whose external shape is substantially the same shape as the body (case) of the wristwatch is provided.

  The case 2 has a circular opening 3 formed in the front center, and the opening 3 is airtightly closed by a transparent glass 4. The glass 4 is welded to the front opening 3 of the case 2 from the inside of the case by ultrasonic welding. A pair of attachment portions 6A and 6B are integrally projected at the upper and lower portions of the outer peripheral surface of the case 2, that is, at the 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock positions of the dial of the analog timepiece. A band 7A with metal fittings and a band 7B with holes are respectively attached to 6B. Further, two operation buttons 9 and 10 are provided on the right side of the outer peripheral surface of the case 2. On the other hand, inside the case 2 are a liquid crystal display (hereinafter referred to as LCD) 12, a pendulum detector 13 (FIG. 2) that measures the number of steps during walking, and a walking that identifies and detects unconscious walking and conscious walking. The state identification means 14, the printed wiring board 15 (FIG. 3), the lithium battery 16 (FIG. 3), etc. are incorporated.

  The operation button 9 is a button for sequentially switching the clock / calendar mode-conscious walking mode-average display mode-memory mode and displaying the contents on the display unit of the LCD 12 each time it is pressed. The clock / calendar mode is a mode for displaying time and date. The conscious walking mode is a mode for measuring and displaying the number of steps during conscious walking. In the average display mode, the conscious walking rate (%) for the past 7 days and the average value of the conscious walking steps are calculated and displayed on the LCD 12 from the measured total number of steps for the past 7 days and the total number of conscious walking steps. The memory mode is a mode for storing measurement data for 7 days.

  The operation buttons 10 are buttons for setting and changing the time, and turning the power on and off.

  The LCD 12 has first to third display portions 12A to 12C. The first display unit 12A is a display unit that selectively switches and displays the date, the total number of steps walked in one day, or the total number of steps walked in seven days. The second display unit 12B is a display unit that selectively switches and displays the time or the conscious walking rate (%). The third display unit 12C is a display unit that selectively switches and displays the year, the number of conscious steps taken, or the total number of steps taken for 7 days. The total number of steps taken in one day is the number of steps obtained by adding the number of steps during unconscious walking and the number of steps during conscious walking. The conscious walking rate is the ratio of the number of steps during conscious walking to the total number of steps.

  2 and 3, the case 2 includes an inner case 17, and the pendulum detector 13 is incorporated in the inner case 17.

  The inner case 17 is formed in a shallow cylindrical shape whose front side is opened by a synthetic resin, and the front opening is covered with a metal cover plate 18. The LCD 12 is disposed on the surface of the cover plate 18 via the printed wiring board 15. On the other hand, on the back side of the inner case 17, the lithium battery 16 is disposed and a recess 20 for accommodating the current-carrying contact piece 19 is formed.

  The current-carrying contact piece 19 is made of a thin and thin metal plate having elasticity, and one end extends to the surface side of the cover plate 18 through the inside of the inner case 17 and is electrically connected to the printed wiring board 15. ing. On the other hand, two portions on the other end side of the current-carrying contact piece 19 are fixed to the bottom surface of the recess 20 by stators 21A and 21B, respectively, and the center between the stators 21A and 21B can rotate the pendulum detector 13 freely. The shaft 25 is pivotally supported by the rear end surface of the shaft 25. Each end 25a, 25b of the shaft 25 is made of a metal piece, and is rotatably supported by bearing holes provided in the inner case 17 and the cover plate 18.

  The pendulum detector 13 includes a rotating body 26 pivotally supported by the shaft 25, an acceleration sensor 27 incorporated in the rotating body 26, a weight 28, and the like.

  The rotating body 26 includes a shallow cup-shaped case main body 30 that is formed of a synthetic resin and has a back surface that is open, a cover 31 that covers the front opening of the case main body 30, and the like.

  The acceleration sensor 27 includes a pendulum 33 that is swingably incorporated in the rotating body 26, a return spring 34 that imparts an upward return behavior to the pendulum 33, and a contact that detects vibration of the pendulum 33. The unit 35 (FIGS. 4 and 5) is configured.

  The pendulum 33 includes an elongated metal arm portion 33A, a bearing portion 33B provided at a base end portion of the arm portion 33A, and a weight portion 33C provided at a distal end portion of the arm portion 33A. 33B is pivotally supported by a pendulum shaft 36 so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction. The pendulum shaft 36 is rotatably supported by bearing holes provided in the case main body 30 and the cover 31.

  The weight 33C of the pendulum 33 is formed of a non-magnetic material such as brass. One end of the return spring 34 is locked to a spring locking portion 37 provided on the upper portion, and a contact made of conductive rubber in the center of the lower surface. 38 is provided corresponding to the contact portion 35.

  The return spring 34 is formed of a thin wire spring formed of a spring wire or the like, and the other end is engaged with an engagement portion 39a of a spring engagement member 39 provided in the case main body 30, whereby the pendulum is 33 is urged upward against gravity, and the weight 33C is normally brought into pressure contact with an upper limit stopper 40 protruding in the case body 30.

  In FIG. 5, the contact portion 35 includes a plus side contact piece 42 and a minus side contact piece 43 formed on the surface of the printed circuit board 41. These contact pieces 42 and 43 are formed of copper foil or the like, and the surface thereof is gold-plated. Further, the plus side contact piece 42 and the minus side contact piece 43 are formed in comb-like shapes, respectively, so that they have elongated contact pieces 42a to 42c and 43a to 43d having the same pitch, respectively. It is electrically connected to the arithmetic processing circuit through the shaft 25, a pair of contact pieces 47A and 47B described later, the energization contact piece 19 and the like. Further, the contact pieces 42a to 42c of the plus side contact piece 42 and the contact pieces 43a to 43d of the minus side contact piece 43 are formed so as to be shifted by a half pitch so as to engage with each other in a non-contact state. Therefore, the contact piece 42a is inserted between the contact pieces 43a and 43b, the contact piece 42b is inserted between the contact pieces 43b and 43c, and the contact piece 42c is inserted between the contact pieces 43c and 43d. Is formed. The width of each contact piece 42a-42c, 43a-43d and the space | interval of adjacent contact pieces are about 0.2 mm. The length X of the portion of the contact pieces 42a to 42c and the contact pieces 43a to 43d that mesh with each other in the longitudinal direction is about 2 mm. The printed circuit board 41 on which the contact portion 35 including the plus side contact piece 42 and the minus side contact piece 43 is formed is positioned in the case body 30 below the weight portion 33C of the pendulum 33. It has been incorporated.

  The contact 38 contacts the contact portion 35 when the pendulum 33 vibrates downward. As a result, the contact pieces 42a to 42c and the contact pieces 43a to 43d of the plus side contact piece 42 and the minus side contact piece 43 are At least a pair of contact pieces, for example, contact pieces 42a and 43a and contact pairs 42b and 43b in FIG. 5 are brought into contact with each other so that both contact pieces 42 and 43 are electrically connected. In this case, if the length of the contact surface of the contactor 38 is increased, the number of contact points between the plus side contact piece 42 and the minus side contact piece 43 increases, so that the reliability of the step count measurement can be improved. In other words, if the number of contact points increases, even if some of the contact points cause contact failure due to adhesion of metal oxide or dust, it is possible to measure if the remaining contact points are normal. Can be used for a long period of time, improving the reliability of measurement.

  In FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the weight 28 for imparting a return habit to the rotating body 26 has a weight of about twice the weight of the weight portion 33C of the pendulum 33, and the center of gravity is the pendulum detector 13. These are assembled on a vertical line passing through the center of rotation of the main body 30 and below the inside of the case body 30, and are fixed by two set screws 45. The lower surface of the weight 28 is formed in a convex curved surface that forms the same surface as the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 26 as shown in FIG. If the weight 28 is incorporated in the lower part of the case main body 30 in this way, when the pendulum detector 13 is inclined with respect to the vertical line or turned upside down, the weight of the pendulum detector 13 is measured by the action of the weight 28. It is possible to automatically return to a possible posture. In this case, the automatic posture return mechanism of the pendulum detector 13 may have a structure in which the position of the center of gravity of the pendulum detector 13 is shifted downward from the rotation center instead of using the weight 28.

  The spring locking member 39 that locks the other end of the return spring 34 is incorporated in the case main body 30 so as to be movable in the left-right direction in FIG. 2, and the return spring 34 is mounted on the right end side. A spring locking portion 39a that locks the other end is provided, and a rack 39b that meshes with the pinion 48 is formed on the left end side. The pinion 48 is rotatably provided on the case body 30 and forms a movement adjusting mechanism 49 for the spring locking member 39 together with the rack 39b. Note that the spring force adjustment of the return spring 34 by the movement adjustment mechanism 49 is performed using an appropriate tool before the lid body 31 is attached to the front surface of the case body 30.

  The shaft 25 is composed of a shaft main body 25A (FIG. 4) formed of an insulating material such as a synthetic resin, and metal end portions 25a and 25b integrally provided at each end of the shaft main body 25A. Has been. Each end 25a, 25b is formed in a pin shape with phosphor bronze or the like, and the surface thereof is plated with Ni. The contact piece 47A is connected to the front end 25a, and the contact 25A is connected to the rear end 25b. The piece 47B is also connected.

  The lower end portions of the pair of contact pieces 47A and 47B are elastically pressed against the plus side contact piece 42 and the minus side contact piece 43 of the contact portion 35 and are electrically connected.

  2 and 3, the walking state identification means 14 includes a magnet 51 provided on the case body 30 side and a reed switch 52 provided on the inner case 17 side corresponding to the magnet 51. The inner case 17 is provided with a pair of stoppers 53A and 53B that limit the rotation of the pendulum detector 13. The magnet 51 is formed in a plate shape that is curved in an arc shape, and is magnetized so that the front and back surfaces are N and S poles, and is fixed to the center of the bottom surface of the weight 28 with the center in the longitudinal direction being aligned. ing. The central angle γ of the magnet 51 is approximately 60 °.

  The reed switch 52 is housed in a housing hole 55 formed in the inner case 17 so as to be movable and adjustable in the circumferential direction of the inner case 17, and both ends protrude to the front and back sides of the inner case 17, respectively. Are electrically connected via a contact piece (not shown). As shown in FIG. 2, the storage hole 55 is a through-hole that opens in the front and back surfaces of the inner case 17 and is formed as an arc-shaped elongated hole that is long in the circumferential direction of the inner case 17. The storage hole 55 is formed at a position where the center in the longitudinal direction is displaced by an angle α (= 5 °) in the 12 o'clock direction from the 3 o'clock position of the dial in the analog timepiece. The reed switch 52 is usually incorporated so as to be positioned at the center in the longitudinal direction of the storage hole 55. Accordingly, the reed switch 52 is displaced from the 3 o'clock position by approximately 5 ° in the 12 o'clock direction. The movement adjustment of the reed switch 52 is performed at the time of performance inspection of the walking state identification unit 14.

  The pair of stoppers 53 </ b> A and 53 </ b> B is formed of a cylindrical pin, and is provided so as to be located inside the inner case 17 and on the rotation locus of the magnet 51. Specifically, one stopper 53A protrudes from the 3 o'clock position at an angle β (= 30 °) in the 6 o'clock direction, and 3 o'clock points directly below, as shown in FIG. In this state, the left side surface 51a of the magnet 51 is in contact with the magnet 51 to prevent further clockwise rotation. The other stopper 53B is projected at a position displaced by θ (= 20 °) in the 12 o'clock direction from the 9 o'clock position. As shown in FIG. When the right side surface 51b is in contact, it prevents further rotation in the counterclockwise direction. Therefore, the maximum rotation angle ε (FIG. 2) of the pendulum detector 13 is approximately 130 ° (since the central angle γ of the magnet 51 is 60 °).

In FIG. 9, the electric circuit unit 70 of the pedometer 1 includes a microcomputer 71. The microcomputer 71 includes a detector control unit 72, a signal processing unit 73, a calculation unit 74, a RAM 75, a ROM 76, a timer 77, etc., and includes operation buttons 9, 10, LCD 12, pendulum detector 13, walking state identification means 14, A power supply 16 and an external memory (E ² PROM) 78 are connected to each other. When such a microcomputer 71 receives a signal from the pendulum detector 13 or the walking state identification means 14, the microcomputer 71 accesses the RAM 75 in accordance with a program stored in the ROM 76 and performs processing operations. Is output to the LCD 12 and displayed on the display units 12A to 12C.

Next, steps of unconscious walking and conscious walking with the pedometer 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
At the time of measurement, basic conditions are set in advance with the operation button 10 (step 100). Then, the pedometer 1 is attached to the user's left wrist and measurement is started (step 101).

  As shown in FIG. 2A, when the user stands up with his left hand lowered vertically, the 3 o'clock position of the watch dial is directly below, the 9 o'clock position is directly above, and the 6 o'clock position is forward. , The position at 12 o'clock is directed to the rear ((b) in the figure). In this state, the magnet 51 is positioned above the reed switch 52 with the left side surface 51a in contact with the stopper 53A. For this reason, the reed switch 52 is held in an ON state when a pair of contacts 52 a and 52 b (FIG. 3) sealed in the glass tube come into contact with each other by the magnetic force of the magnet 51, and the signal is sent to the computer 71. Has been. When the reed switch 52 is in the ON state, the computer 71 identifies that it is unconscious walking by the signal (step 102).

  The pendulum detector 13 is held in an initial state in which the number of steps can be measured by the pendulum 33 being pushed upward against the gravity by the return spring 34 and pressed against the stopper 40, and the weight 28 is positioned below. (Step 102).

[Unconscious walking]
In this initial state, when the user unconsciously walks by swinging both arms back and forth at a fixed angle with the base of the arm as a fulcrum, the pendulum detector 13 rotates integrally with the arm, and the pendulum 33 vibrates up and down. That is, when the arm is swung back and forth, the pendulum detector 13 also reciprocally rotates integrally with the outer case 2. However, when the arm rotates forward by a maximum angle and stops, the pendulum 33 tries to continue to rotate due to the moment of inertia, and thus the pivot 38 is lowered and the contact 38 contacts the contact portion 35. Further, depending on how the arm is swung, the magnet 51 alternately abuts against the stoppers 53A and 53B as the pendulum detector 13 rotates. In this case, when the magnet 51 alternately hits against the stoppers 53A and 53B, an impact is generated in the pendulum detector 13, so that the pendulum 33 is operated by this impact acceleration. Further, depending on how to walk, the vertical movement of the body is large, and when the shoe touches the ground, the impact is transmitted to the arm through the body, so the pendulum 33 also operates with the impact acceleration at this time (step 103). That is, the pendulum 33 is operated by the impact acceleration generated when the shoe touches the ground, the impact acceleration generated by swinging the arm, or both of these impact accelerations. In this case, since the timing at which the pendulum 33 is operated by the impact acceleration generated when the shoe touches the ground and the impact acceleration generated by the swing of the arm is usually substantially the same, there is no problem in step count measurement. Further, even if two signals are generated with the timing shifted, there is no problem because the arithmetic processing circuit processes as one signal if the shift between the two detection signals is within a predetermined time.

  As the pendulum 33 rotates downward, the contact 38 comes into contact with the contact portion 35, and the plus side contact piece 42 and the minus side contact piece 43 are electrically connected. When these contact pieces 42 and 43 are electrically connected via the contact 38, a pulse-like signal is input to the arithmetic processing circuit on the printed wiring board 15, and the signal is input to the number of vibrations of the pendulum 33, in other words, the number of steps. It is measured as “1” (step 104, step 105) and displayed on the first display unit 12A of the LCD 12 (step 106).

  During unconscious walking, when the pendulum detector 13 is repeatedly reciprocated by the inertial force caused by the swing of the arm, the magnet 51 rotates integrally with the pendulum detector 13 and moves forward or backward from the reed switch 52. Or move to. Therefore, the reed switch 52 is periodically switched between ON and OFF states, and the signal is sent to the arithmetic processing circuit. The arithmetic processing circuit determines that it is unconscious walking because the signal of the reed switch 52 is a pulse signal that switches periodically. If the pendulum detector 13 does not operate in conjunction with the walking state identification means 14 that is randomly rotated by the movement of the arm when not walking, the arithmetic processing circuit determines that the state is not walking and ignores it. .

[Conscious walking]
FIG. 6A shows a state in which both arms are inclined consciously about 45 ° downward and fixed on the front side of the waist (or in a pocket) when conscious walking is performed. At this time, the 3 o'clock position is forward and approximately 45 ° diagonally downward, the 9 o'clock position is backward and approximately 45 ° diagonally upward, the 6 o'clock position is forward and approximately 45 ° diagonally upward, and the 12 o'clock position is It is directed rearward and obliquely downward at approximately 45 ° (FIG. 5B). The magnet 51 is located behind the reed switch 52. For this reason, the reed switch 52 is held in the OFF state in which the contacts 52a and 52b are separated from each other, and the signal is sent to the computer 71 (step 107). When the reed switch 52 is in the OFF state, the computer 71 identifies the conscious walking as the signal (step 108). The pendulum type detector 13 is held in a state where the weight 28 is positioned vertically downward and the number of steps can be measured.

  In this state, when the left and right feet are alternately put forward and the conscious walking is performed, the left and right arms are not swung back and forth, so the pendulum detector 13 hardly rotates and remains stopped. At this time, only the impact acceleration when the shoe touches the ground or kicks the ground is transmitted to the arm through the body, and the pendulum 33 is swung. Therefore, also at this time, the pendulum 33 rotates downward, so that the contact 38 comes into contact with the contact portion 35 and electrically connects the plus side contact piece 42 and the minus side contact piece 43. When these contact pieces 42 and 43 are electrically conducted through the contact 38, a pulse signal is input to the arithmetic processing circuit on the printed wiring board 15, and the signal is transmitted to the number of vibrations of the pendulum 33, in other words, consciousness. The number of steps “1” at the time of walking is measured (step 105), and the number of steps “1” for conscious walking is displayed on the third display unit 12C of the LCD 12. Further, the number of steps of conscious walking is added to the already displayed number of steps during unconscious walking and displayed on the first display unit 12A. Further, the second display unit 12B displays the ratio of the number of conscious walkings displayed on the third display unit 12C to the total number of unconscious walkings and conscious walkings displayed on the first display unit 12A ( Step 106).

  FIG. 7A shows a state when the conscious walking is performed with both arms bent by approximately 90 ° (jogging style). When the arm is bent by approximately 90 °, the arm has an “elbow” style. In this state, the 3 o'clock position of the watch is directed forward, the 9 o'clock position is backward, the 6 o'clock position is directly above, and the 12 o'clock position is directly below. The magnet 51 is located behind the reed switch 52 (FIG. 5B). For this reason, the reed switch 52 is held in the OFF state, and the fact that it is in the OFF state is sent to the computer 71. Also at this time, the computer 71 identifies the conscious walking because the reed switch 52 is held in the OFF state. The pendulum detector 13 is held in a state where the pendulum 33 is positioned vertically downward and the number of steps can be measured.

  When conscious walking in this state, the pendulum detector 13 hardly rotates because the arm is not swung back and forth. However, when the body moves up and down by walking and the left and right feet alternately touch the ground, the pendulum 33 is operated by the impact acceleration at that time and the contact 38 is brought into contact with the contact portion 35, and the signal is an arithmetic processing circuit. Sent to. The arithmetic processing circuit performs arithmetic processing on the detection signal from the pendulum detector 13 and displays the number of steps integrated with the number of steps already displayed on the first display unit 12A. In addition, the number of steps already displayed on the third display unit 12C is integrated and displayed. Furthermore, the ratio of the total number of steps (total number of steps of conscious walking) displayed on the third display unit 12C to the total number of steps (total number of steps of conscious walking and unconscious walking) displayed on the first display unit 12A Are displayed on the display unit 12B.

  FIG. 8 (a) shows a state in which conscious walking is performed with both arms tilted 45 ° obliquely upward and the hand is fixed to the chest. At this time, the 3 o'clock position is forward and approximately 45 ° obliquely upward, the 9 o'clock position is backward and approximately 45 ° obliquely downward, the 6 o'clock position is backward and approximately 45 ° obliquely upward, and 12:00 The position is directed forward and obliquely downward at approximately 45 ° (FIG. 5B). The magnet 51 is located behind the reed switch 52, and the right side is in contact with the stopper 53B. For this reason, the reed switch 52 is held in the OFF state, and the computer 71 is conscious walking because the reed switch 52 is held in the OFF state by sending the computer 71 that it is in the OFF state. Identify. The pendulum detector 13 is held in a state where the pendulum 33 is positioned vertically downward and the number of steps can be measured.

  If conscious walking is performed in this state, the pendulum detector 13 hardly rotates in this case. However, when the body moves up and down by walking and the left and right feet alternately touch the ground, the pendulum 33 is operated by the impact acceleration at that time and the contact 38 is brought into contact with the contact portion 35, and the signal is an arithmetic processing circuit. Sent to. The arithmetic processing circuit performs arithmetic processing on the detection signal from the pendulum detector 13 and displays the number of steps integrated with the number of steps already displayed on the first display unit 12A. In addition, the number of steps already displayed on the third display unit 12C is integrated and displayed. Furthermore, the ratio of the total number of steps (total number of steps of conscious walking) displayed on the third display unit 12C to the total number of steps (total number of steps of conscious walking and unconscious walking) displayed on the first display unit 12A Are displayed on the display unit 12B.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing detection signals of the walking state identification means and the pendulum detector.
The arithmetic processing circuit inverts the signal from the walking state identification means 13 to convert it to the ON signals A ₁ , A ₂ , A ₃ in the case of the OFF signal, and OFF signals B ₁ , B in the case of the ON signal. It converted to _2, B _3.

The pendulum detector 13 is operated every time the pendulum 33 operates regardless of unconscious walking or conscious walking, the contact 38 comes into contact with the contact portion 35, and the plus side contact piece 42 and the minus side contact piece 43 are electrically connected. The signals C ₁ and C ₂ are sent to the arithmetic processing circuit.

  Thus, according to the pedometer 1 according to the present invention, since the walking state identifying means 14 is provided, it is possible to automatically identify whether the walking form is unconscious walking or conscious walking, and the LCD 12 The total number of steps obtained by adding the steps of unconscious walking and conscious walking, the total number of steps during conscious walking, and the ratio of the total number of steps of conscious walking to the total number of steps adding the number of steps of unconscious walking and conscious walking can be displayed. Therefore, it is not necessary to switch modes between unconscious walking and conscious walking with the operation buttons, and handling is easy.

In addition, the measurement data measured by the pedometer 1 is stored in an external memory (E ² PROM) 78 for 7 days, and is managed every day or every week, so that the life cycle of the user can be improved. You can also manage your health goals. In order to view daily walking data, the operation button 9 may be operated to sequentially display the walking data on the LCD 12.

  In the above-described embodiment, the LCD 12 displays the ratio of the total number of steps during conscious walking to the total number of steps obtained by adding the total number of steps during walking, the number of steps during conscious walking, and the number of steps of unconscious walking and conscious walking. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the total number of steps during unconscious walking may be further displayed.

It is a front view which shows one Embodiment of the wristwatch type pedometer which concerns on this invention. (A), (b) is a figure which shows the state of the state which lowered | hung the arm just below, and the pendulum type detector inside a case in this state, and a walk state identification means. It is the III-III sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is the IV-IV sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a top view of the contact part of a pendulum type detector. (A), (b) is a figure which shows the state of the pendulum type detector inside a case and the walking state identification means in the state which bent both arms ahead and about 45 degrees downward in this state. (A), (b) is the figure which shows the state of both arms bent about 90 degrees (arm posture at the time of jogging), and the state of the pendulum detector inside the case and the walking state identification means in this state. (A), (b) is a state where both arms are bent upward by approximately 130 ° and the hand is fixed to the chest (the posture in which the belt of the backpack is gripped by the chest), and the pendulum type detection inside the case in this state It is a figure which shows the state of a vessel and a walk state identification means. It is a block diagram which shows the electric circuit of a pedometer. It is a flowchart of a pedometer. It is a figure which shows the detection signal of a walking state identification means and a pendulum type detector.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Pedometer, 2 ... Case, 9, 10 ... Operation button, 12 ... LCD, 12A ... 1st display part, 12B ... 2nd display part, 12C ... 3rd display part, 13 ... Pendulum type detector , 14 ... walking state identification means, 17 ... inner case, 26 ... rotating body, 28 ... weight, 33 ... pendulum, 51 ... magnet, 52 ... reed switch, 53A, 53B ... stopper.

Claims (4)

A case worn on the arm of a pedestrian,
A pendulum detector that is housed rotatably in the case and detects the number of vibrations of the pendulum as a step number;
Walking state identification means for identifying unconscious walking and conscious walking by rotation of the pendulum detector;
A display device having at least first and second display units,
The unconscious walking and the conscious walking are discriminated by the detection signal detected by the pendulum detector and the signal from the walking state identifying means, the number of steps is calculated, and the unconscious walking and the conscious walking are displayed on the first display means. The total number of steps or the number of steps during unconscious walking is displayed, and the number of steps during conscious walking or the ratio of the number of steps during conscious walking to the total number of steps is displayed on the second display unit.   The walking state identification means includes a pair of magnets provided in a pendulum detector, a reed switch incorporated in the case corresponding to the magnet, and a pair of limiting the rotation angle of the pendulum detector to a certain angle. The wristwatch type pedometer according to claim 1, wherein the wristwatch type pedometer is configured by a stopper.   A magnet is provided at the bottom of the pendulum detector, a reed switch is disposed at a position displaced approximately 5 ° in the 12 o'clock direction from the 3 o'clock position of the dial in the analog timepiece in the case, and the pair of stoppers is at the 3 o'clock position. The wristwatch type pedometer according to claim 2, wherein the wristwatch type pedometer is provided at a position displaced by approximately 30 ° from the position of 6 o'clock in the direction of 6 o'clock and at a position displaced by approximately 20 ° from the position of 9 o'clock by 12 o'clock. 4. The wristwatch type pedometer according to claim 2, wherein the reed switch is provided so as to be movable and adjustable in the rotation direction of the pendulum detector.

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