JP2006250912A - Diaper soil detector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a diaper soil detector capable of detecting soil indirectly from an outside of a diaper, without contacting directly with the soil in an inside of the diaper, by irradiation of an ultrasonic wave. <P>SOLUTION: This diaper soil detector comprises a transmission part for transmitting the ultrasonic wave toward the diaper, a reception part for receiving a reflected wave reflected by the soil in the inside of the diaper with transmission through the diaper of the transmitted ultrasonic wave, and a detecting part for detecting the soil in the inside of the diaper by analyzing an acoustic impedance in the inside of the diaper, based on the reflected wave received by the reception part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a diaper dirt detector using ultrasonic waves, and more particularly to a diaper dirt detector that detects dirt in a diaper without bringing the detector into contact with the diaper.

  Diapers worn by the elderly need to be changed frequently after urination and defecation, and a prompt response in terms of hygiene and health is necessary. A rapid response to such diaper replacement is an important part of nursing care for the elderly. It is supposed to be.

Therefore, a dirt measuring instrument and a dirt alarm device have been developed so that the nurse can automatically know when to change such diapers, and diapers using these techniques have also been developed. For example, as a typical technique, there is a method of applying the resonance frequency principle and detecting wetting due to urination or the like with a detection sensor installed inside the diaper.
(For example, see Patent Document 1.)
JP 2001-325865 A

  However, any system that detects urination and defecation inside a diaper has a sensor that detects urination and defecation directly or indirectly inside the diaper, and the signal output level from the sensor that changes with the detection of urination and defecation By detecting urination, urination and defecation are detected, and the time for changing diapers is notified to the nurse.

  That is, the conventional technology for detecting dirt inside a diaper is a technology in which a detection sensor is arranged directly inside the diaper or inside the diaper itself. Therefore, it is necessary to install a detection sensor when wearing the diaper, or to use a special diaper fitted with a detection sensor in advance, which causes a disadvantage that the nurse is complicated and an economic disadvantage is caused by an expensive diaper. It was.

  In addition, when an elderly person wears a diaper, trousers, skirts, and other clothing are worn on the diaper from an ethical point of view. There was a nursing problem that could not be grasped.

  In view of such a current situation, the present inventor has found that the dirt in the diaper can be accurately obtained even when the diaper wearer wears clothes without causing the economic disadvantage due to the complexity of the nurse and the expensive diaper. The present invention has been achieved by developing a diaper dirt detector capable of detecting diaper.

  Therefore, the present invention according to claim 1 includes a transmitter that transmits ultrasonic waves toward the diaper, a receiver that receives reflected waves reflected by dirt inside the diaper along with transmission of the transmitted ultrasonic diaper, and a receiver. By analyzing the acoustic impedance inside the diaper on the basis of the reflected wave received in this way, a diaper dirt detector comprising a detector for detecting dirt inside the diaper is provided.

  The present invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that when the acoustic impedance is analyzed based on the reflected wave in the detection unit, the degree of contamination is detected together with the presence or absence of contamination inside the diaper. It is intended to provide a diaper dirt detector.

  The present invention according to claim 3 displays the presence / absence or degree of dirt inside the diaper obtained by analyzing the acoustic impedance based on the reflected wave in the detection unit by a display unit provided at a predetermined position of the detector body. The diaper dirt detector according to claim 1 or 2 is provided.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the transmitting unit is incident on and transmitted through the diaper, while the ultrasonic wave reflected at the boundary having a difference in acoustic impedance is received by the receiving unit and reflected. Analyzing the wave and detecting dirt inside the diaper based on the difference in the reflected wave based on the change in the acoustic impedance inside the diaper, and transmitting an ultrasonic wave indirectly at a certain distance toward the diaper Therefore, it is possible to detect the situation inside the diaper even while wearing the diaper, and there is no need to install a dirt detection sensor inside the diaper itself or inside the diaper, so use a general-purpose diaper. Even so, it is possible to detect dirt easily and easily, and there is an effect that the diaper replacement work can be performed accurately without losing the diaper replacement time.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the amplitude of the reflected ultrasonic wave and the time from when the ultrasonic wave is transmitted until the reflected wave is received can be analyzed and detected to the extent of the dirt. By detecting the occurrence and degree, there is an effect that the diaper replacement time can be accurately known.

  According to the invention of claim 3, since the occurrence or degree of dirt inside the diaper can be displayed on the display unit, there is an effect that the diaper replacement time can be easily known visually.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention includes a transmitting unit that transmits ultrasonic waves toward a diaper, a receiving unit that receives reflected waves reflected by dirt inside the diaper along with transmission of the transmitting ultrasonic diaper, and a receiving unit According to the present invention, there is provided a diaper dirt detector characterized by detecting the dirt inside the diaper by analyzing the acoustic impedance inside the diaper on the basis of the reflected wave received at.

  In addition, when analyzing the acoustic impedance inside the diaper and inside the garment based on the reflected wave from the detection target in the detection unit, the detection unit also detects the degree of dirt as well as the presence or absence of dirt inside the diaper.

  Further, the presence or absence of dirt inside the diaper obtained by analyzing the acoustic impedance based on the reflected wave from the detection target in the detection unit is displayed by a display unit provided at a predetermined location of the detector body. The diaper dirt detector according to claim 1 or 2 is provided.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a diaper dirt detector A of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, symbol a indicates a detector main body, and the detector main body a contains an ultrasonic transducer 2 that transmits ultrasonic waves in a box-type case 1. Includes a pulse transmission unit 3 for transmitting the ultrasonic wave from the ultrasonic transducer 2 forward and the inside of the diaper to be detected while receiving the ultrasonic wave (reflected wave) reflected inside the diaper. A pulse receiving unit 4 is provided.

  In the present embodiment, the detector main body a is constituted by a box-shaped case, but this is only an example of the detector main body a, and the shape thereof can be arbitrarily changed.

  The pulse receiving unit 4 is connected to a dirt detecting unit 5 that detects and analyzes a change in acoustic impedance inside the diaper based on the received reflected wave, and the dirt detecting unit 5 includes a microcomputer 7 ( (See FIG. 2).

  The microcomputer 7 includes a memory that stores the frequency and amplitude of the reflected wave and the clothing, diaper, filth, and human body that are the reflection target of the reflected wave.

  The dirt detection unit 5 analyzes each of a plurality of types of reflected waves that are transmitted through clothing, diapers, dirt, and the human body and reflected at a boundary having a difference in acoustic impedance, and stores the analysis result and the memory in the memory. Comparing and calculating data, and measuring the time from transmitting an ultrasonic wave to receiving a reflected wave, the presence or absence of filth and the amount of filth are detected.

  And the detection result is displayed in the state which can be visually recognized on the display part 12 provided in the predetermined location of the box-type case 1.

  The display unit 12 provided in the box-type case 1 is configured to display the type of urination and defecation and the respective amounts, and analyzes the reflected ultrasonic pulse to indicate the acoustic impedance inside the diaper. By detecting the change, the type and degree of dirt inside the diaper can be determined.

  Reference numeral 17 in FIG. 1 denotes a laser beam irradiating unit for tracing ultrasonic waves, and is for recognizing which part of the detection target is detected by the laser beam emitted from the laser beam irradiating unit.

  Reference numeral 18 denotes a pulse controller for adjusting the ultrasonic frequency. The pulse controller 18 is constituted by the microcomputer 7.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the diaper dirt detector A will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the inside of the diaper dirt detector A shown in FIG.

  When detecting dirt inside the diaper, first, the diaper dirt detector A transmits ultrasonic waves toward the diaper that is a detection target.

  At this time, the ultrasonic transducer 2 inside the diaper dirt detector A vibrates based on the control of the microcomputer 7 to generate an ultrasonic wave having a predetermined frequency (40 KHz in this case), and the ultrasonic wave is transmitted from the pulse transmission unit 3. To do.

  The transmitted ultrasonic waves are reflected at a boundary where there is a difference in acoustic impedance inside the diaper and received by the pulse receiver 4, then amplified by the amplifier 10, and then input to the microcomputer 7 for analysis.

  Specifically, the state inside the diaper is detected based on the time from transmission to reception of the ultrasonic wave and the amplitude of the reflected wave.

  That is, the distance from the diaper dirt detector A to the dirt inside the diaper, the size of the dirt, the degree of dirt, and the like can be detected based on the time from transmission to reception of the ultrasonic waves.

  In addition, since the acoustic impedance differs depending on the type of urine and filth, the reflected wave reflected by the object with different acoustic impedance will be different depending on the object reflected, and the amplitude of each reflected wave, The type of dirt is detected by comparing the reference amplitude for each dirt type stored in the memory 11 in advance.

  The detected result is displayed on the display unit 12 constituted by LEDs.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the display unit 12 is divided into two types, a “pee field” 13 and a “wet field” 14, and rank scales 13 ′ 14 ′ are displayed for each type of dirt to indicate the rank of dirt. It is made visible. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 15 denotes a power switch button, and 16 denotes a clear button of the display unit 12.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, although the display part 12 is comprised by LED, it can replace with this and can also comprise the display part 12 by a liquid crystal display device.

  Such ultrasonic reflection technology makes reflected low-frequency ultrasonic waves (echoes) reflected from the outer surface and the inside of the target object by causing various low-frequency ultrasonic waves such as 40 KHz band, 80 KHz band, and 200 KHz band to enter and propagate to the target object. It is a technology that detects the internal situation by receiving and analyzing the change of acoustic impedance in the reflection target, and can detect the state of urination and defecation inside the diaper by using ultrasonic waves without installing a sensor inside the diaper. It is what I did.

  In such a diaper dirt detector A, ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic transducer 2 are directly applied from the pulse transmission unit 3 in the box-type case 1 or indirectly while maintaining a certain distance space on the surface of the diaper or clothing. It transmits to the surface and propagates ultrasonic waves from the diaper or clothes to the inside of the diaper.

  At this time, in the case of detecting the inside of the diaper while maintaining a certain distance space from the diaper, the distance between the diaper dirt detector A and the diaper which is a detection target and the angle at which the ultrasonic wave is transmitted are set to a predetermined optimum. It is necessary to keep the distance and the optimum angle.

  For this reason, this optimum distance is stored in the memory 11 in the microcomputer 7 in advance, and when the diaper dirt detector A is brought close to the diaper, a sound output device is provided for notifying the sound when the optimum distance is reached. Thus, detection at the optimum distance can be performed.

  The optimum angle can be detected by adjusting the irradiation angle of the laser beam emitted from the laser beam irradiation unit 17 described above.

  Further, it is desirable to select an optimum frequency of the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the pulse transmission unit 3 according to the irradiation angle of the ultrasonic wave to the diaper, that is, the incident angle to the diaper, the incident site, and the like.

  Therefore, in this diaper dirt detector A, the wave frequency of the ultrasonic wave transmitted by the pulse controller 18 can be adjusted according to the posture of the diaper wearer, for example, the standing state, the wheelchair riding state, the lying state, etc. .

  Fig. 4 shows changes in the amplitude of the reflected wave received when a 40-kHz ultrasonic pulse is irradiated from a position 17.5 cm away from the object with a paper diaper worn on the hip model and artificial stool attached to the paper diaper. It is a graph which shows.

  The discrimination from this graph is that the waveform of the reflected wave is different between α when there is only a disposable diaper without pseudo stool and β when the stool is attached, and the pseudo wave exists when the amplitude of the reflected wave is smaller. It will be.

  The difference in the amplitude of the reflected wave received in this way and the time difference between the transmission of the ultrasonic wave and the reception of the reflected wave, that is, the presence or amount of dirt inside the diaper due to the difference in the change in acoustic impedance inside the diaper. Is detected and displayed on the display unit.

  The distance between the diaper dirt detector A and the paper diaper described above and the frequency of ultrasonic waves used for detection are merely examples, depending on the type of clothes worn by the diaper wearer and the posture of the diaper wearer. Can be changed as appropriate.

Explanatory drawing of the diaper dirt detector which concerns on this invention. The functional block diagram which shows the inside of the detector which concerns on this invention. Explanatory drawing of the display part in the detector which concerns on this invention. Explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between the reflected wave received with the detector which concerns on this invention, and the dirt inside a diaper.

Explanation of symbols

A Diaper dirt detector 1 Case 2 Ultrasonic transducer 3 Pulse transmission unit 4 Pulse reception unit 5 Frequency detection unit 6 Display unit 7 Microcomputer 10 Amplifier 11 Memory 12 Display unit

Claims (3)

  A transmitter that transmits ultrasonic waves toward the diaper, a receiver that receives reflected waves reflected by dirt inside the diaper along with transmission of the transmitted ultrasonic diapers, and a diaper inside based on the reflected waves received by the receiver A diaper dirt detector comprising a detector for detecting dirt inside a diaper by analyzing acoustic impedance.   2. The diaper dirt detector according to claim 1, wherein when detecting the acoustic impedance based on the reflected wave in the detection unit, the degree of dirt is detected together with the presence or absence of dirt inside the diaper.   The presence or absence or degree of dirt inside the diaper obtained by analyzing the acoustic impedance based on the reflected wave in the detection unit is displayed by a display unit provided at a predetermined position of the detector main body. The diaper dirt detector according to Item 2.

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