JP2007029336A - Lighting system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately detect sleep latent time from the occurrence of the intention to sleep of a sleeping person to the initiation of sleep, to control melatonin secretion suppression reducing lighting and to improve sleep in a lighting system. <P>SOLUTION: A control part 2 detects the measurement start time of the sleep latent time on the basis of the operation timing information of a lighting switch 6 or an alarm clock 7 operated by the intention to sleep of the sleeping person, stores the measurement start time of the sleep latent time in a memory 12, and controls a lighting device 3 so as to reduce the melatonin secretion suppression of the sleeping person from the prescribed time before the measurement start time of the sleep latent time. In such a manner, the measurement start time of the sleep latent time is accurately detected and lighting control for accelerating melatonin secretion is made possible. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a lighting system for improving sleep of a sleeping person.

  For the purpose of determining the sleep state of a person, evaluating sleep, etc., techniques for determining the state of a sleeping person from entering the bed to getting up have been developed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 5-245148, 5-337103, and 5-95934). JP-A-5-95935, JP-A-5-111474, JP-A-6-98863, JP-A-2000-316832, etc.).

  In addition, it is known that the sleep promoting hormone “melatonin” secreted from the brain at night is suppressed by light (see Non-Patent Document 1), and an illumination device for reducing the secretion suppression has been developed. . There is also known an apparatus for controlling the illuminance of the sleep lamp to be lowered with time by a time measuring means (see Patent Document 1).

  In the above-described technology for determining the state of a sleeping person from getting up to waking up, a large body movement first detected on the bed is generated by detecting the amount of body movement on the bed with a piezoelectric element sensor or the like. It is determined to be “sleeping” at the time of “entering the bed” at the time, and then when the amount of activity on the bed falls below a certain amount.

  The information on the sleeper's status during sleep at bedtime can be applied to the following two technologies. One is application to the control of the above-mentioned melatonin secretion suppression reduction lighting. Since melatonin starts to be secreted from a relatively late night time, it is necessary to switch from conventional general lighting to melatonin secretion-inhibiting reduced lighting at a certain time of the night. Specifically, it has been shown that melatonin secretion becomes prominent about 2 hours before bedtime or 14 hours after wake-up time (see Non-Patent Document 2). However, it is not convenient for the user to manually switch in consideration of his / her bedtime. Therefore, it is required to provide an optimal lighting environment by detecting the user's sleep / wake-up time and automatically switching the above-mentioned lighting without the user being aware of the switching.

The other is application to sleep evaluation. It can be said that whether sleep is smooth or not is one element that represents the health level of sleep. By quantifying the “smoothness of sleep”, the user can use it as a measure of the health level of sleep. As a quantification method, it is easy to measure the time required to fall asleep (generally referred to as “sleep latency”), and the time at which the user is conscious of going to sleep is included in the measurement. Information and time information about actually falling asleep are required. In order to obtain the former time information, the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-245148 etc. detects the timing of entering the floor, but in real life, reading or watching TV after entering the floor. Since there are many cases, there is a problem in setting the timing of entering the bed to the timing when the user is conscious of going to sleep, and the sleep latency calculated thereby is not accurate.
JP 2002-200171 A Lewy AJ, Wehr TA, Goodwin FK, Newsome DA and Markey SP (1980) Light Suppressed Melatonin Secretion in Humans.Science 210 (12): 1267-1269 Burgess HJ, Savic N, Sletten T, Roach G, Gilbert SS, Dawson D, The relationship between the dim light melatonin onset and sleep on a regular schedule in young healthy adults. Behav Sleep Med. 2003; 1 (2); 14

  In order to enable the two applications described above, it is necessary to provide a means for easily and more accurately detecting the timing when the user is conscious of going to sleep. Therefore, in the present invention, attention is focused on performing operations such as setting the wake-up time in the alarm clock and adjusting the lighting state of the lighting device (for example, turning off or dimming) immediately before the sleeper tries to sleep. In other words, the timing of performing these actions approximates the timing when the above-mentioned user is conscious of going to sleep, and it is extremely accurate if it is detected as the measurement start time of sleep latency and the sleep latency is measured. A good sleep latency. In addition, the timing for switching to the above-described melatonin secretion-reducing illumination is also based on the timing of the operation such as setting the wake-up time in the alarm clock and adjusting the lighting state of the lighting device (for example, turning off or dimming). If it is two hours ago, more accurate control is possible.

  As described above, the present invention can accurately detect the sleep latency by detecting the timing at which the user adjusts the lighting state or operates the wake-up time as the measurement start timing of the sleep latency at the time of going to bed. An object of the present invention is to provide an illumination system that can control the secretion suppression reduction illumination and can objectively evaluate sleep and improve sleep.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a sleep latency detection unit that detects a measurement start time of a sleep latency from a sleep intention occurrence to sleep onset based on operation timing information of a device operated according to the sleep intention of the sleeper. And a storage unit that stores a measurement start time of the sleep latency detected by the sleep latency detection unit, and a melatonin of the sleeping person from a predetermined time before the measurement start time of the sleep latency stored in the storage unit It is an illumination system provided with the illuminating device control part which performs the illumination control which reduces secretion amount suppression.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the illumination system of the first aspect further includes a sleep detection unit that detects that the sleeper has fallen asleep. From the detection results of the sleep detection unit and the sleep latency detection unit, An evaluation means for performing sleep evaluation is provided.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the lighting system according to the first or second aspect, the device operated by the sleeper's intention to sleep is a switch for operating the lighting device or an alarm clock.

  According to the invention of claim 1, based on the measurement start time of the detected sleep latency, it is possible to automatically switch from general lighting to melatonin secretion suppression reduced lighting according to the sleeper's life rhythm, Users are freed from cumbersome manual switching.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, accurate sleep latency measurement and sleep evaluation can be performed with a simple configuration, which can be used for user health management.

  According to the invention of claim 3, it is possible to detect the measurement start time of the sleep latency at a low cost with a simple configuration.

Hereinafter, illumination systems according to various embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an illumination system according to the first embodiment. The illumination system 1 includes a control unit 2 that performs illumination control, an illumination device 3 that is controlled by the control unit 2 to switch between general illumination and melatonin secretion suppression reduction illumination, and lighting / dimming of the illumination device 3. The lighting switch 6 commanded by operation, an alarm clock 7 and a display unit 8 are provided. Moreover, the control part 2 is provided with the control program 11 of the melatonin secretion suppression reduction illumination, and the alarm clock operation time memory 12 (memory | storage part) of the previous day.

  The lighting switch 6 and the alarm clock 7 are devices that are operated according to the sleep intention of the sleeper. The light switch 6 turns on the lighting device 3 immediately before the sleeper tries to sleep (when the sleep intention occurs). By adjusting (turning off, dimming, etc.) or setting the alarm time of the alarm clock 7, the control unit 2 stores the time in the memory 12 as the user's bedtime, and the melatonin from the general illumination on the following day The time for switching to the secretion suppression reducing illumination is set, for example, about 2 hours before that time. Here, in addition to the function as the lighting device control unit, the control unit 2 is a time when the sleeper is conscious of going to sleep from the operation time (operation timing information) of the lighting switch 6 and the alarm clock 7 by the sleeper, that is, In addition, it has a function as a sleep latency detection unit that detects the measurement start time of the sleep latency from sleep occurrence to sleep onset.

  2 and 3 show a time chart and a flowchart of the operation in the illumination system according to the first embodiment. Here, it is assumed that a general life rhythm is assumed. As shown in FIG. 2, the user's entry time t1, the operation of the alarm clock 7, or the turn-off / dimming operation time t2 of the lighting switch 6 are shown in time series. When the sleep (sleep) time t3 is set, the time t2 is the measurement start time of the sleep latency, and the melatonin secretion starts to increase from about time t0 about 2 hours before that time. The control unit 2 switches the illumination device 2 from normal illumination to melatonin secretion suppression reduced illumination. The hormone melatonin is said to promote sleep, and it is thought that the amount of melatonin secretion affects the quality of sleep. Therefore, the lighting control promotes melatonin secretion.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 2 checks whether the current time is the lighting time for melatonin secretion suppression reduction (# 1), and if NO, checks whether the alarm clock 7 or the lighting switch 6 is operated ( # 2) If this is YES, the operation time (t2) is stored in the memory 12 (# 3), and the melatonin secretion suppression reduced illumination is set (# 4). When # 1 is YES, the operation is # 4. Since the operation time (t2) is stored in the memory 12, such illumination control can be performed before the measurement start time of the sleep latency. In the lighting system 1 of the present embodiment, by such an operation, the melatonin secretion suppression reduction from the general lighting before the same period based on the measurement start time of the sleep latency detected according to the life rhythm of the sleeping person. It is possible to automatically switch to lighting, freeing the user from cumbersome manual switching. In the first embodiment, the alarm clock operation time of the previous day is stored in memory. However, the contents of the memory are the average value of the operation time over the previous week or the wake-up time zone as in the three shift work. Anything that takes into account the sleeper's lifestyle can be set so that the work schedule is taken into account when the shift occurs.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 4 shows a configuration of an illumination system according to the second embodiment. This lighting system 1 is a body movement amount detection sensor comprising a piezoelectric element sensor 4 or an infrared sensor 5 disposed on a sleeping bed, which detects a user's body movement amount as a sleep detection unit that detects that a sleeper has fallen asleep. It has. The sleep detection unit is set to fall asleep when the amount of body movement decreases to a certain amount. The infrared sensor 5 may be integrated with the lighting device 3 or may be individual. The sleep detection unit may be determined to have fallen asleep by detecting brain waves, heartbeats, blood pressure data, and the like.

  The control unit 2 includes a program 13 (sleep latency detection unit) that calculates a sleep latency from the time when the willingness to sleep until sleep onset occurs, and also has a function of performing sleep evaluation of the sleeper from this sleep latency (sleep). Evaluation means). In addition, the control unit 2 detects a time when the user is conscious of going to sleep (at the time of going to sleep) from the operation time of the lighting switch 6 or the alarm clock 7, and further, the piezoelectric element sensor 4 or the infrared sensor 5 The decrease in body movement due to the above is detected, the sleep latency is calculated from the detection results, the result is presented to the user on the display unit 8, and the lighting device 3 is controlled. Although not shown, the illumination system of the second embodiment has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, but only the operation unique to the second embodiment will be described below.

  5 and 6 show a time chart and a flowchart of the operation in the illumination system according to the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, the lighting switch 6 adjusts the lighting state of the lighting device 3 (lights off, dimming, etc.) immediately after the user enters the bed t1 and immediately before going to sleep, or the alarm clock 7 wakes up. Time setting is performed (t2). The control unit 2 stores the time as the bedtime of the user, and then makes a determination based on a decrease in body movement detected by the sleep detection unit including the piezoelectric element sensor 4 or the infrared sensor 5, brain wave, heart rate, blood pressure data, and the like. The sleep latency is calculated by comparing the sleeping time (sleeping time: t3) and the sleeping time (t2). If this sleep latency is displayed on the display unit 8, the user can grasp whether his / her sleep state is good or bad and can be used for daily health management.

  Moreover, what is necessary is just to adjust illumination according to a sleep state. If a lot of melatonin is secreted at night, sleep is smooth, so from the above calculation result of sleep latency, it is estimated that melatonin secretion is insufficient when it takes a relatively long time to sleep. This can be done by making the switching time to the above-mentioned melatonin secretion suppression reduced illumination faster, etc., so as to make the secretion amount easy to increase.

  As shown in FIG. 6, when the alarm clock 7 or the illumination switch 6 is operated (YES in # 11), the control unit 2 detects the amount of body movement (# 12), and the amount of body movement becomes less than a certain value. If the sleep latency is calculated (# 14), the sleep is evaluated from the sleep latency, the sleep evaluation is displayed (# 15), and the lighting device is set to be dimmed The lighting device is dimmed (# 16). In FIG. 6, it is naturally possible to set a loop that returns from the end to the start. In the illumination system 1 of the present embodiment, such an operation enables accurate sleep latency detection with a simple configuration as compared to sleep latency detection based only on body movement amount detection. Sleep evaluation of a sleeping person is attained, and it can be used for a user's health management.

  The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. The illumination switch 6 and the alarm clock 7 may be combined.

The block diagram of the illumination system which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. The time chart of the operation | movement in the lighting system. The flowchart of the operation | movement in the illumination system. The block diagram of the illumination system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The time chart of the operation | movement in the lighting system. The flowchart of the operation | movement in the illumination system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Lighting system 2 Control part (Lighting device control part, sleep latency detection part, sleep evaluation means)
3 Lighting device 4 Piezoelectric element sensor (body movement detection sensor)
5 Infrared sensor (body movement detection sensor)
6 Light switch (equipment operated according to the sleep intention of the sleeper)
7 Alarm clock (equipment operated according to sleep intention of sleeper)
8 Display Unit 11 Melatonin Secretion Reduction Lighting Control Program 12 Operation Time Memory (Storage Unit)
13 Program for calculating the sleep latency from sleep intent to sleep onset (sleep latency detector)

Claims (3)

A sleep latency detection unit that detects a measurement start time of a sleep latency from a sleeping intention occurrence to sleep onset based on operation timing information of a device operated by the sleeping intention of the sleeping person;
A storage unit for storing the measurement start time of the sleep latency detected by the sleep latency detection unit;
An illumination system comprising: an illumination device control unit that performs illumination control that reduces suppression of a melatonin secretion amount of a sleeping person from a predetermined time before the measurement start time of sleep latency stored in the storage unit. It further includes a sleep detection unit that detects that the sleeper has fallen asleep,
The illumination system according to claim 1, further comprising an evaluation unit that performs sleep evaluation of a sleeper from detection results of the sleep detection unit and the sleep latency detection unit.   The lighting system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the device operated by the sleeper's intention to go to bed is a switch for operating a lighting device or an alarm clock.

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