JP2006017394A - Oxygen enricher - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an oxygen enricher of high usability capable of obtaining the optimum oxygen-enriched air by detecting the environment or condition in which a driver of a vehicle feels fatigue. <P>SOLUTION: An oxygen enricher body 1 comprising an oxygen enriching means generating the oxygen-enriched air, is mounted on the vehicle, and the oxygen enricher body 1 is operated on the basis of the information from a fatigue detecting means 10 detecting the environment or condition where the driver of the vehicle feels fatigue to change a generation state of the oxygen-enriched air. The environment or condition in which the driver of the vehicle feels fatigue is detected, that is, a degree of stress and sleepiness is detected, thus the optimum oxygen-enriched air can be obtained in accordance with discomfort, the discomfort such as stress and sleepiness can be reduced, and a comfortable vehicle space can be obtained. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an oxygen enricher that provides oxygen enriched air to a vehicle operator.

  Conventionally, as this kind of oxygen enricher, there is one intended for use in a residence or a vehicle (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

FIG. 3 shows a conventional oxygen enricher described in Patent Document 1. As shown in the figure, the oxygen enricher 21 includes an oxygen enrichment module 22 for generating oxygen enriched air, a path 23 for supplying indoor or outdoor air to the oxygen enrichment module 22, and a path 23. An air feeding means (compressor) 24 provided, a path 25 for supplying oxygen-enriched air obtained by the oxygen-enriched module 22 into the room, and nitrogen-enriched air obtained by the oxygen-enriched module 22 outside the room A discharge path 26 and an oxygen sensor 28 for detecting the oxygen concentration in the vehicle 27 are provided. The compressor 24 is on / off controlled by comparing the oxygen concentration detected by the oxygen sensor 28 with a set value.
JP 59-212632 A

  However, the conventional oxygen enricher only controls on / off of the compressor 24 in order to stabilize the oxygen concentration at a predetermined value. It was not able to cope with the environment or condition that felt fatigue, and it was difficult to say that it was an easy-to-use oxygen enricher.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and it is highly usable oxygen that can detect an environment or a state in which a vehicle operator feels fatigue and can obtain an optimal oxygen-enriched air. The purpose is to provide an enrichment machine.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, an oxygen enricher of the present invention has an oxygen enricher body provided with oxygen enrichment means for generating oxygen enriched air disposed in a vehicle, and the oxygen enricher body. Is operated in accordance with the information of the fatigue detection means for detecting that the vehicle operator is in an environment or state in which fatigue is felt, and the generation state of oxygen-enriched air is changed.

  As a result, it is detected that the vehicle operator is in an environment or state in which fatigue is felt, that is, the degree of stress, drowsiness, etc. is detected, and optimal oxygen-enriched air is obtained according to these unpleasant symptoms Therefore, it is possible to provide a highly usable oxygen enricher that can reduce discomfort such as stress and drowsiness and obtain a comfortable vehicle space.

  The oxygen enricher of the present invention can obtain the optimum oxygen enriched air according to the discomfort symptoms of the vehicle operator, and can provide an oxygen enricher with high usability.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, an oxygen-enriched machine main body provided with an oxygen-enriching means for generating oxygen-enriched air is disposed on a vehicle, and the oxygen-enriched machine main body is placed in an environment in which a vehicle operator feels fatigue or By operating according to the information of the fatigue detection means that detects that the vehicle is in a state and changing the generation state of the oxygen-enriched air, an environment in which the operator of the vehicle feels fatigue or Detects the state of the condition, that is, the degree of stress, sleepiness, etc., and can obtain the optimal oxygen-enriched air according to these unpleasant symptoms, reducing the unpleasant symptoms such as stress and sleepiness In addition, a highly usable oxygen enricher that provides a comfortable vehicle space can be provided.

  According to a second aspect of the invention, in particular, in the first aspect of the invention, the information of the fatigue detection means is obtained based on the driving time information of the vehicle. Since air is provided, an effect of reducing fatigue during driving operation can be obtained.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in particular, in the first aspect, the information of the fatigue detection means is obtained based on the driving speed information of the vehicle. Because it provides oxygen-enriched air, it can reduce fatigue caused by stress such as traffic jams.

  According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in particular, in the first aspect of the invention, the information of the fatigue detection means is obtained based on the operation angle information of the steering wheel of the vehicle. Since air is supplied, it is effective in reducing fatigue during monotonous driving.

  According to a fifth aspect of the invention, in particular, in the first aspect of the invention, the information on the fatigue detection means is obtained based on the body temperature information of the driver of the vehicle. Since oxygen-enriched air is supplied by detection, the driver's sleepiness can be prevented.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in particular, in the first aspect, the information of the fatigue detection means is obtained based on the information on the blood oxygen concentration of the driver, so that before fatigue is induced due to lack of oxygen. Since the oxygen-enriched air is supplied to the vehicle, the operator can recover from fatigue and regain his / her concentration and can operate safely.

  According to a seventh aspect of the invention, in particular, in the first aspect of the invention, the information on the fatigue detecting means is obtained based on the information on the sweating amount of the driving operator, so that the tension state due to the driving operation is detected and the oxygen-rich state is detected. Since the conditioned air is supplied, it is possible to relieve the driver's tension and to relax.

  According to an eighth aspect of the invention, in particular, in the first aspect of the invention, the fatigue detection means information is obtained based on the information on the eye movements of the driver, thereby detecting fatigue and drowsiness due to monotonous driving operation. Since oxygen-enriched air is supplied, the driver's fatigue and drowsiness can be eliminated.

  According to a ninth aspect of the invention, in particular, in the first aspect of the invention, the information of the fatigue detection means is obtained based on information on the brain wave of the driver, so that the body and mental state of the driver can be determined from the brain wave information. Since the oxygen-enriched air is supplied upon detection, the driving operator can operate in a stable state.

  According to a tenth aspect of the invention, in particular, in the first aspect of the invention, the fatigue detecting means obtains fatigue from the head behavior of the driver by obtaining the information on the head behavior of the driver. Since it can be detected and oxygen-enriched air can be supplied, the driver's fatigue can be reduced.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment)
Hereinafter, an oxygen enricher according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In FIG. 1, the oxygen enricher main body 1 is equipped with oxygen enrichment means for generating oxygen enriched air therein, and includes an intake section 2 for taking in ambient air, and an oxygen enricher. A discharge section 3 is provided through which oxygen-enriched air with an increased oxygen concentration is discharged inside the main body 1. The discharge unit 3 is connected to a tube 5 that guides oxygen-enriched air to the vicinity of the driver who is the driver. The other end of the tube 5 is connected to a headset 6 that is attached to the vicinity of the head when the operator sucks oxygen-enriched air, and a part of the headset 6 is supplied with oxygen-enriched air. A discharge port 7 is provided to discharge the liquid.

  In FIG. 2, the oxygen enricher main body 1 detects that the operation switch 8 (can also be used as a vehicle operation switch), the control means 9, and the environment or state in which the vehicle operator feels fatigue. A fatigue detection means 10, a power supply unit 11, and an air conveyance means 12 are provided. Based on the information of the fatigue detection means 10, the control means 9 sends the power of the power supply unit 11 to the air conveyance means 12, and the oxygen enricher The main body 1 is operated.

  And although not shown in figure, the oxygen enricher main body 1 is installed by the side of the seat seat in a vehicle, for example, and is connected with the DC voltage jack of a cigarette lighter as the power supply part 11, for example. Further, the oxygen enricher main body 1 contains an air pump as the air transfer means 12 and an oxygen enrichment film for separating oxygen and nitrogen as the oxygen enrichment means, so that the air transfer means 12 is operated. For example, air with an increased oxygen concentration (oxygen-enriched air) is discharged from the discharge unit 3 and is discharged from the discharge port 7 to the vicinity of the driver's mouth through the tube 5.

  Here, the vehicle may be a car, a train, an aircraft, a ship, or the like. Based on the information of the fatigue detection means 10, the driver who is the driver is enriched with oxygen. It is designed to supply air.

  Next, the principle of obtaining oxygen-enriched air will be described.

  An oxygen-enriched film as an oxygen-enriching means is composed of a flat film of an organic polymer and uses the difference in the speed of molecules passing through the film. It passes oxygen better than nitrogen in the air. Oxygen-enriched air with a high oxygen concentration is obtained. In normal air, the oxygen concentration is about 21% (about 79% nitrogen). The oxygen concentration and air volume of the oxygen-enriched air produced vary depending on the form and size of the oxygen-enriched film, but in this embodiment, the oxygen concentration of the oxygen-enriched air after passing through the oxygen-enriched film is It is about 30% (nitrogen is about 70%).

  The operation of the oxygen enricher configured as described above will be described.

  Here, the information of the fatigue detection means 10 in the present embodiment is obtained based on the driving time information of the vehicle. As an example, the timer measures the time during which the driving is continued after the driving operator starts the engine.

  When the driving operator gets into the vehicle, first, the headset 6 is attached to the head and the driving switch 8 is pressed. Then, the control unit 9 starts measuring the time from the start of operation by the fatigue detection means 10. When the driving operator continues driving and the information from the timer which is the fatigue detecting means 10 exceeds a predetermined value and the state continues for a predetermined time or longer, the control unit 9 operates the air conveying means 12. In general, in the case of an automobile, it is considered that it is better for the driving operator to take a rest after continuing driving for 2 hours. Therefore, for example, a predetermined value as timer information is 2 hours. When more than 10 minutes have passed from the predetermined value, the control unit 9 starts the operation of the air pump as the air conveying means 12, and oxygen-enriched air begins to be discharged from the discharge port 7 at the mouth of the operator, The driver can breathe high concentrations of oxygen, the driver's body metabolism increases, and the head begins to feel frustrated, and the driver's fatigue is reduced. It will not become. After the supply of oxygen-enriched air for a certain period of time, the controller 9 once stops the operation of the air conveying means 12 and stops the supply of oxygen-enriched air. Thereafter, when the operation is further continued for 2 hours, the control unit 9 operates the air conveying means 12 again to supply high concentration oxygen to the driving operator.

  In this way, by detecting fatigue due to long-time driving operation, that is, by generating high-concentration oxygen in the vehicle based on driving duration information, driving operation despite long-time driving operation The inside fatigue is reduced, and the driver is less likely to get tired, so that the effect of relaxing and continuing driving can be obtained.

  Here, some other examples of the fatigue detection means 10 will be described.

  The information of the fatigue detection means 10 may be obtained based on vehicle driving speed information. In other words, a speedometer that measures the speed when the vehicle travels is installed on the dashboard, and by detecting that the speedometer value is less than a certain speed and that a certain period of time has passed with the timer information described above, traffic congestion You can detect the traffic situation. When the traffic congestion has passed for more than 1 hour, the level of arousal of the driver's brain falls, causing fatigue and sleepiness. In order to avoid such a state of the driver, for example, if the value of the speedometer is 20 km or less and continues for 30 minutes, the control unit 9 supplies oxygen-enriched air, and the same as described above with oxygen. The effect is obtained, and fatigue due to stress such as traffic jams can be reduced.

  The information of the fatigue detection means 10 may be obtained based on the operation angle information of the vehicle steering wheel. That is, a sensor that detects an operation angle of a vehicle handle, for example, a strain sensor is used. In the case of an automobile, the fact that the turning operation of the steering wheel is interrupted for a certain period of time or more is a driving on a monotonous highway, which indicates a state in which sleepiness is likely to be induced from an unstimulated state for the driver. Also, since there is no movement of the driver's body, blood circulation is delayed and the shoulders and waist become tired. Therefore, by detecting the case where the steering wheel has not been rotated for a certain period of time or longer with a strain sensor, oxygen-enriched air is supplied before the driver's drowsiness or fatigue occurs to eliminate drowsiness and blood circulation. Is promoted and is effective in reducing fatigue in monotonous driving.

  Moreover, the information of the fatigue detection means 10 may be obtained based on the body temperature information of the vehicle operator. That is, a temperature detection sensor mounted on the handle or a radiation thermometer installed in front of the driver is used. By these, the temperature of the palm and upper body of the driver is detected. If the detected body temperature rise rate or body temperature itself is detected to be above a certain value, the driver may be induced to drowsiness, so the supply of oxygen-enriched air is maximized. Thus, drowsiness induction of the driver can be prevented. Also, drowsiness can be less likely to be induced by changing the supply amount of oxygen-enriched air.

  Moreover, the information of the fatigue detection means 10 may be obtained based on information on the blood oxygen concentration of the driver. That is, the handle is equipped with an infrared sensor to detect the oxygen saturation of the arterial blood of the finger holding the handle. In this way, the driver's blood oxygen concentration can be used to detect the driver's oxygen shortage in advance, and by supplying oxygen-enriched air before fatigue due to oxygen shortage is induced, The person recovers from fatigue and regains concentration and can operate safely.

  Moreover, the information of the fatigue detection means 10 may be obtained based on the information on the sweating amount of the driver. That is, a metal chip is attached to the handle to detect the electrolyte in the sweat of the hand holding the handle. The driver's sweating amount can be detected from the electrolyte value, and the driver's tension state can be detected from the sweating amount. Therefore, when this value exceeds a certain value, oxygen-enriched air is supplied, and the driver can be relaxed while relaxing the tension state.

  Moreover, the information of the fatigue detection means 10 may be obtained based on information on the eye movement of the driver. That is, the infrared LED is arranged at a position where the movement of the eyeball of the driver is captured. The eyeball movement is periodically captured by the infrared LED, and it is detected that the eyeball movement has been stopped for a certain period of time or longer, and before the driver's monotonous driving causes fatigue or sleepiness, oxygen enrichment occurs. By supplying conditioned air, fatigue and drowsiness of the driver can be eliminated.

  Moreover, the information of the fatigue detection means 10 may be obtained based on information on the brain wave of the driver. That is, an electrode is provided in the vicinity of the driver, for example, on the head of the seat, and the brain wave is detected by mounting the electrode on the driver's scalp. It is said that if the EEG detection signal is 7 to 8 Hz, the driver induces sleepiness, 15 to 23 Hz is frustrated, and 9 to 11 Hz is stable. By supplying oxygen-enriched air so that the detection signal is in a stable state of 9 to 11 Hz based on the relationship between the driver and the operator's state, the driver can always operate in a mentally stable and good state. It becomes possible.

  Moreover, the information of the fatigue detection means 10 may be obtained based on information on the head behavior of the driver. That is, the movement of the head of the driver is detected using a contact sensor or a pressure sensor built in the seat. When there is no movement of the driver's head, a monotonous driving state is predicted, and by detecting this, oxygen-enriched air is supplied before the fatigue and drowsiness associated with monotonous driving are induced. This reduces the operator's fatigue and eliminates drowsiness.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, it is detected that the vehicle operator is in an environment or state in which fatigue is felt, that is, the degree of stress state, sleepiness, etc. is detected, and these discomfort symptoms are determined. Therefore, it is possible to provide an oxygen-enriching machine with high usability that can obtain optimal oxygen-enriched air, reduce unpleasant symptoms such as stress and sleepiness, and provide a comfortable vehicle space.

  A plurality of examples of the information of the fatigue detection means 10 are shown, and some of them are touched, but the oxygen enricher main body 1 may be operated based on appropriate combination information of these information. Further, the change in the generation state of oxygen-enriched air may be on / off of oxygen-enriched air, increase / decrease in oxygen-enriched air, change in supply interval, or the like.

  As described above, the oxygen enricher according to the present invention can obtain the optimum oxygen enriched air according to the discomfort symptoms of the vehicle operator, and can provide a highly usable oxygen enricher. It can be applied not only to automobiles but also to all uses such as trains, airplanes and ships.

External perspective view of oxygen enricher in an embodiment of the present invention Block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the oxygen enricher Configuration of conventional oxygen enricher

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Oxygen enricher main body 9 Control part 10 Fatigue detection means 11 Power supply part 12 Air conveyance means

Claims (10)

An oxygen-enriched machine main body equipped with oxygen-enriching means that generates oxygen-enriched air is placed on the vehicle, and the oxygen-enriched machine main body is detected to be in an environment or state in which the vehicle operator feels fatigue. The oxygen enricher is operated according to the information of the fatigue detecting means to change the generation state of the oxygen enriched air. The oxygen enricher according to claim 1, wherein the information of the fatigue detection means is obtained based on vehicle operation time information. The oxygen enricher according to claim 1, wherein the information of the fatigue detection means is obtained based on vehicle driving speed information. The oxygen enricher according to claim 1, wherein the information of the fatigue detection means is obtained based on operation angle information of a steering wheel of a vehicle. The oxygen enricher according to claim 1, wherein the information on the fatigue detection means is obtained based on body temperature information of a vehicle operator. The oxygen enricher according to claim 1, wherein the information of the fatigue detection means is obtained based on information on blood oxygen concentration of the driver. The oxygen enricher according to claim 1, wherein the information on the fatigue detection means is obtained based on information on the sweating amount of the driver. The oxygen enricher according to claim 1, wherein the information on the fatigue detection means is obtained based on information on the eye movement of the driver. The oxygen enricher according to claim 1, wherein the information of the fatigue detection means is obtained based on information on a brain wave of the driver. The oxygen enricher according to claim 1, wherein the information of the fatigue detection means is obtained based on information on the head behavior of the driver.

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