JP2007240420A - Portable measuring instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To indicator-display various kinds of information, even on a limited display area. <P>SOLUTION: A dive computer 10 is provided with a display part 100 for displaying the various kinds of information, the display part is divided into two of upper and lower sides, an upper side area is allocated to an information display area 200 for displaying a time or the like, and a lower side area is allocated to an indicator display area 300. The indicator display area 300 is provided with a plurality of segment parts 301 corresponding to a common indicator indicating a level of measuring information and a using condition of a memory. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable measuring apparatus that displays an indicator of a plurality of types of information.

Conventionally, a dive computer that measures pressure and blood oxygen concentration and stores it in a memory is known. This type of portable measuring device is provided with a segment indicator. The segment indicator is provided with a segment corresponding to an indicator for each measured information and a segment corresponding to an indicator indicating the remaining amount of memory. There exists what displayed the information as an indicator (for example, patent documents 1).
JP 2005-263116 A

  However, conventional portable measuring instruments have a limited display area in order to ensure portability. If multiple types of indicators are provided, there is a problem that the information displayed in addition to the indicators and indicators becomes small. is there.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a portable measuring device capable of displaying a plurality of types of information with an indicator even when the display area is limited.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a display unit that displays various types of information in a portable measurement device that measures information and stores the measurement information in a memory. A common indicator indicating the usage status of the memory is configured to be displayed. According to the present invention, since the display unit is configured to be able to display a common indicator indicating the level of measurement information and the usage status of the memory, the other display area can be widely secured and the display area can be secured by sharing the indicator. Even if there is a restriction, a plurality of types of information can be displayed as an indicator.

  The said structure WHEREIN: It is preferable to display the level of the said measurement information, and the usage condition of the said memory by a time division by the said indicator. According to this configuration, the level of the measurement information and the memory usage status are displayed by the indicator in a time-sharing manner. Therefore, compared with the case where a plurality of types of information are simultaneously displayed in an indicator within a limited display area, The indicator assigned to the type of information can be increased, and the visibility of the indicator is improved.

  In the above configuration, it is preferable that the indicator also serves as an indicator indicating a communication status when communicating with an external device. According to this configuration, the indicator can be commonly used as an indicator that indicates the level of measurement information, an indicator that indicates the usage status of the memory, and an indicator that indicates the communication status. A plurality of pieces of information can be displayed with high visibility without sacrificing the accuracy.

Moreover, the said structure WHEREIN: It is preferable that the said indicator is provided with the some indicator element arrange | positioned in the line form. According to this configuration, it is possible to notify the level of measurement information and the usage status of the memory in an intuitively easy-to-understand bar graph display.
In the above configuration, it is preferable that communication indicator elements corresponding to the portable measuring device and the external device are provided on both sides of the indicator, and these communication indicator elements are displayed when communicating with the external device. . According to this configuration, the communication status can be notified by an intuitively easy-to-understand indicator display.
Moreover, it is preferable that the said display part is a segment display. If the segment display is used, the power consumption can be reduced and the battery life of the portable measuring device can be increased as compared with the case of using a dot matrix panel display.

  In the present invention, since the display unit is configured to be able to display a common indicator indicating the level of measurement information and the usage status of the memory, a plurality of types of information can be displayed as an indicator even if the display area is limited. it can.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a view showing a dive computer as one aspect of a portable measuring device according to the present embodiment together with a usage aspect, and FIG. 2 is a front view of the dive computer.
The dive computer 10 calculates and displays the diver's depth and diving time during diving and measures the oxygen saturation level correlated with the amount of dissolved oxygen in the diving so as not to cause oxygen poisoning or oxygen deficiency. In order to display a warning and measure the amount of inert gas (mainly nitrogen gas) accumulated in the body, the nitrogen accumulated in the body in the state of rising from the water after diving is discharged from this measurement result It is configured to display the time until completion.
As shown in FIG. 1, the dive computer 10 is formed in a wristwatch shape, and includes a dive computer main body 11, a wristband 12 that is wound around a user (diver) arm and fixes the dive computer main body 11, A biosensor unit 15 connected to the connector portion 13 of the dive computer main body 11 via a cable 14 for detecting oxygen saturation and pulse as biometric information, and a sensor fixing band 16 for fixing the biosensor unit 15 It has.

The dive computer main body 11 includes a case and electric parts such as the display unit 100 arranged in a watertight structure in the case, and a transparent cover is provided on the front surface, and display information on the display unit is transmitted through the transparent cover. It is configured to be visible from the outside.
The dive computer main body 11 includes a push button type operation unit 102 for selecting / switching various operation modes, and electrodes 103A and 103B constituting the diving operation monitoring switch 103. The diving operation monitoring switch 103 determines that water has entered when the resistance value between the electrodes 103A and 103B becomes small due to the conductive state between the electrodes 103A and 103B caused by seawater or the like.
Further, the connector unit 13 is configured to be connectable to a cable connected to the biosensor unit 15 as described above, and is configured to be connectable to a cable connected to an external device (communication destination) such as a personal computer or a printer. Has been.

Next, the electrical configuration of the dive computer 1 will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the dive computer 1. The dive computer 1 is roughly divided into an operation unit 5, a diving operation monitoring switch 103, a display unit 100, a time measuring unit 68, a pressure measuring unit 61, a control unit 50 for controlling the entire dive computer 10, and a report. A sound device 37 and a vibration generator 38 are provided, and are driven by the power of the built-in battery 120.
The display unit 100 is applied with a liquid crystal display device, and includes a liquid crystal display panel 101 and a liquid crystal driver 21 for driving the liquid crystal display panel 101.
The timer unit 68 is a means for measuring time and diving time. The oscillation circuit 31 outputs a clock signal having a predetermined frequency, the frequency dividing circuit 32 that divides the clock signal, and the output of the frequency dividing circuit 32. It has a time counter 33 and the like for performing time measurement processing in units of one second based on the signal.

The pressure measuring unit 61 is a means for measuring water pressure and atmospheric pressure, and includes a pressure sensor 34, an amplification circuit 35 that amplifies the output signal of the pressure sensor 34, and an A / D that performs analog / digital conversion on the output signal of the amplification circuit 35. A conversion circuit 36 and the like are included.
The sound reporting device 37 is a device that reports an alarm sound under the control of the control unit 50, and the vibration generating device 38 is a device that vibrates the dive computer 1 under the control of the control unit 50. These sound reporting device 37 and vibration generating device 38 function as notification means for notifying a user of a warning or the like. The built-in battery 120 is a secondary battery such as a lithium rechargeable battery, a nickel metal hydride battery, or a nickel cadmium battery.

The biometric sensor unit 15 is fixed near the base of the user's finger, and measures biometric information (oxygen saturation and pulse wave) by irradiating light to the blood vessel. And is output to the A / D conversion circuit 36.
As shown in FIG. 4, the biosensor unit 15 has a unit body 15D including a sensor frame 15A, a back cover 15B that closes the lower surface of the sensor frame 15A, and a glass plate 15C that closes the upper surface.

  The unit body 15D includes a circuit board 15E, two LEDs 15F1 and 15F2 mounted on the circuit board 15E, and a photodetector 15G as a photoelectric sensor. More specifically, the LEDs 15F1 and 15F2 use LEDs that emit light of different wavelengths (for example, red light (wavelength 660 nm), infrared light (wavelength 940 nm), etc.), and the photo detector 15G is not shown in the figure. However, a transmission filter that transmits only light in the wavelength region of the LED 15F1 and a transmission filter that transmits only light in the wavelength region of the LED 15F2 are provided so as to divide the light receiving surface. With this configuration, it is possible to measure the amount of light received by each of the LEDs 15F1 and 15F2 after being absorbed into a living tissue such as a blood vessel by one photo detector 15G. When measuring biological information, the LEDs 15F1 and 15F2 alternately emit light in a time-division manner, and the amount of reflected light detected by the light emission of the LED 15F1 or LED 15F2 is acquired as a biological detection signal. In addition, you may comprise so that the photodetector 15G may acquire not the amount of reflected light but the amount of light of each LED15F1, 15F2 after passing a finger | toe, ie, the transmitted light amount.

  A cable 14 is connected to the circuit board 15E, and a biological detection signal that is a detection signal by the photodetector 15G is output to the dive computer main body 11 via the cable 14. In addition, power is supplied to the circuit board 15 </ b> E from the battery 120 built in the dive computer main body 11 through the cable 14.

  The control unit 50 functions as a control unit that controls the entire dive computer 1 and performs various arithmetic processes such as an oxygen saturation calculation process and a pulse rate calculation process based on a biological detection signal from the biological sensor unit 15. It functions as a display control means for controlling the means and the display unit 100. The control unit 50 stores a CPU 51, a control circuit 52 that controls the operation of the liquid crystal driver 21 and the time counter 33 under the control of the CPU 51, a control program read and executed by the CPU 51, various data, and measurement information. And the like. In the control unit 50, when the CPU 51 executes various programs, the operation of the operation unit 102 is detected and the operation mode is switched, and processing corresponding to each operation mode is executed.

In addition, the control unit 50 calculates a frequency component of the biological detection signal by performing an FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) process on the biological detection signal input via the A / D conversion circuit 36, and each LED 15F1, Biological spectrum signals Fsa and Fsb, which are absorption spectra of 15F2 light, are respectively acquired.
The biological spectrum signals Fsa and Fsb include information indicating the oxygen saturation level and pulse rate in the blood as biological information. More specifically, when light is emitted from the LEDs 15F1 and 15F2 toward the finger, the light reaches the blood vessel, and a part of the blood is absorbed by hemoglobin (oxygenated hemoglobin, reduced hemoglobin), and the rest is reflected. In this case, hemoglobin has an optical property that, when oxidized, red light absorption decreases and infrared light absorption increases, and when reduced, red light absorption increases and infrared light absorption decreases. The oxygen saturation SPO ₂ in the blood can be obtained from the ratio of the absorbance of red light and infrared light indicated by the biological spectrum signals Fsa and Fsb, respectively. Also, when the blood volume is high, the absorption of light by hemoglobin increases, and when the blood volume is low, the absorption of light by hemoglobin decreases. Therefore, the frequency of the maximum spectral component of the biological spectrum signals Fsa and Fsb reduces the pulse rate. Will be shown. Note that the specific method for calculating the oxygen saturation SPO ₂ and the pulse rate is the same as the conventional method, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the display unit 100 will be described in detail. A segment type is applied to the liquid crystal display device of the display unit 100. As shown in FIG. 2, the display region of the display unit 100 is divided into two parts, and the upper region is biological information (oxygen saturation SPO _2). And the pulse rate) and time are assigned to the information display area 200, and the lower area is assigned to the indicator display area 300.
The information display area 200 includes a segment portion (“SPO2”) 201 indicating oxygen saturation (“SPO2”), a segment portion 202 indicating pulse rate (“PULSE”), and a segment indicating a 5-digit number and a colon. A unit 203 is provided, and these segment units 201 to 203 are configured to be able to display numerical values (oxygen saturation value, pulse rate, time, etc.) and characters. In the display state of FIG. 2, in order to make the explanation easy to understand, the black-painted segment indicates the displayed segment, and the white segment indicates the non-displayed segment. Is 98, and the value of the pulse rate is 77.

  The indicator display area 300 is provided with a plurality of bar-shaped segment portions (indicator elements) 301 indicating a bar-shaped image in a horizontal row, and the length of the bar-shaped image can be changed by increasing or decreasing the number of the bar-shaped segment portions 301 displayed. Is configured to be displayable. Further, on both sides of this rod-shaped image, there are an image segment portion (communication indicator element) 302 schematically showing the dive computer 1 and an image segment portion (communication indicator element) 303 schematically showing an external device. Is provided.

  In the dive computer 10, when the control unit 50 switches the operation mode according to the operation of the operation unit 102 by the user and when the dive operation monitoring switch 103 detects that the dive is in progress, the dive operation mode (dive mode) ) Automatically. Here, in the dive mode, the diving time, water depth, oxygen saturation, and pulse rate are measured and displayed, and the information is recorded in the memory 53 as a log file. In this case, a log file is created for each dive. The operation mode when not diving includes a time mode for displaying the current time, a log mode for displaying the contents of the stored log file, a profile mode for displaying the water depth and diving time in the log file, and There are communication modes for performing data communication with external devices (such as personal computers and printers), and the transition to the communication mode is performed by operating a communication button (not shown).

Next, display control of the display unit 100 will be described.
When measuring information (oxygen saturation and pulse rate) is measured and displayed, as shown in FIG. 5, the control unit 50 selectively selects the segment units 201 to 203 in the information display area 200 of the display unit 100. In addition to displaying the values of oxygen saturation, pulse rate, etc., the indicator display area 300 changes the number of segments visible from the outside in the bar-shaped segment portion 301 in accordance with the intensity of the pulse amplitude. The length of the bar-shaped image composed of the segments to be visually recognized is changed.
As a result, each time there is one pulsation (every time the heart beats once), the display of the rod-shaped image becomes smaller and then becomes smaller, and the size of the pulse is repeated about 50 to 100 times per minute, and the pulsation status is indicated by the indicator display. Can be notified.
In this case, the indicator display allows the user to intuitively recognize the pulse situation. This indicator display may be applied to the case where the measurement information (oxygen saturation and pulse rate) stored in the memory 53 is displayed or to the oxygen saturation indicator display.

At the start of measurement of measurement information (oxygen saturation and pulse rate), as shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 50 selects a segment part 203 indicating a 5-digit number and a colon in the information display area 200. The usage state of the memory 53 (“F” indicating the log file and “8” indicating the number of stored log files) is displayed, and the indicator display area 300 displays the usage amount of the memory 53. Accordingly, the length of the bar-shaped image displayed by the plurality of bar-shaped segment portions 301 is changed, and the usage status of the memory 53 is notified by an indicator display.
On the other hand, when the memory 53 is full, as shown in FIG. 7, the information display area 200 displays character information (“FUL”) indicating that the memory 53 is full by the segment unit 203. In the indicator display area 300, all the plurality of bar-shaped segment portions 301 are displayed to display the maximum bar-shaped image, and the indicator display notifies that the memory 53 is full and data cannot be stored. Thus, the indicator display allows the user to intuitively recognize the usage status of the memory 53.

When performing data communication with an external device, as shown in FIG. 8, the information display area 200 includes character information indicating an external output destination by the control unit 50 using a segment unit 203 indicating a 5-digit number and a colon. (“Prn” for a printer, “Lin” for a personal computer) is displayed. In this case, in the indicator display area 300, the control unit 50 displays an image segment unit 302 showing the dive computer 1 and an image segment unit 303 schematically showing an external device, and a plurality of rod-like segment units 301 are displayed. The data is sequentially and cyclically driven from left to right, and the data flow is notified by an indicator display.
On the other hand, in the communication mode, when an error has occurred due to factors such as no external device being connected or communication failure, the control unit 50 displays the current status in the information display area 200 as shown in FIG. (“Err” indicating an error) is displayed, and a bar-shaped image whose middle is not displayed by the plurality of bar-shaped segment portions 301 is displayed in the indicator display area 300 to notify that communication is impossible. This indicator display allows the user to intuitively recognize the communication status.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the display unit 100 is configured to be able to display a common indicator that indicates the level of measurement information and the usage status of the memory 53. A large display area can be secured. Thereby, even in the dive computer 1 in which the display area is restricted, the segment portions 201 to 203 and 301 to 303 can be designed to be large, and various information can be obtained without sacrificing the size of the display elements. Can be displayed with high visibility. Therefore, for example, even when information display similar to that of a conventional dive computer is performed, the display area can be reduced while ensuring visibility, and the dive computer can be further miniaturized.

Moreover, since the indicator also serves as an indicator that indicates the communication status when communicating with an external device, the indicator is used as an indicator that indicates the level of measurement information, an indicator that indicates the usage status of the memory 53, and an indicator that indicates the communication status. It is possible to share them, and it is not necessary to provide each indicator separately, and a plurality of information can be displayed with good visibility without sacrificing the size of the display element.
In addition, since the level of measurement information, the usage status of the memory 53, and the communication status are displayed in a time-sharing manner using a common indicator, it is compared with the case where a plurality of types of information are simultaneously displayed on an indicator within a limited display area. Thus, the indicator assigned to one type of information can be increased, and the visibility of the indicator is improved.

Further, since the indicator is composed of the bar-shaped segment portions 301 arranged in a row, the level of measurement information and the usage status of the memory 53 can be notified in an intuitively easy-to-understand bar graph display.
In addition, since the image segment portions (communication indicator elements) 302 and 303 indicating the dive computer 1 and the external device are arranged in the empty spaces on both sides of the rod-shaped segment portions 301, the communication status is indicated by these segment portions 301 to 303. Notification can be made with an intuitively easy-to-understand indicator display.
Further, in this configuration, since a segment display is adopted for the display unit 100, less power is consumed and battery life can be extended compared to the case of using a dot matrix panel display. In addition, component costs and control program development costs can be reduced.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in the above embodiment, when an error occurs during the communication mode, a case where a bar-shaped image whose middle is hidden is displayed by the plurality of bar-shaped segment portions 301 has been described. However, as shown in FIG. The segment portion 304 may be provided, and the segment portion 304 may be further displayed when the above error occurs. Further, the segment portions 301 to 304 are not limited to those described above, and other shapes may be applied.
In the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a watch-type dive computer has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. A dive computer that can be suspended from a neck with a strap instead of a band or a handheld that fits in a breast pocket. The present invention can be applied to various dive computers such as a type of dive computer.
Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the dive computer was illustrated as an aspect of a portable measuring device, it is not restricted to this. For example, it can be widely applied to a pulse meter, a wristwatch-type PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), and a portable measuring device other than a wristwatch-type.

It is a figure which shows the dive computer as one aspect | mode of the portable measuring device which concerns on this embodiment. It is a front view of a dive computer. It is a block diagram of a dive computer. It is a figure which shows the structure of a biometric sensor unit. It is a figure for demonstrating an indicator display. It is a figure for demonstrating an indicator display. It is a figure for demonstrating an indicator display. It is a figure for demonstrating an indicator display. It is a figure for demonstrating an indicator display. It is a figure for demonstrating the indicator display which concerns on a modification.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Dive computer (portable measuring device), 11 ... Dive computer main body, 14 ... Cable, 15 ... Biosensor unit, 39 ... Warning part, 50 ... Control part, 61 ... Pressure measuring part, 68 ... Time measuring part, 100 ... Display unit 102 ... Operation unit 103 ... Diving operation monitoring switch, 120 ... Battery, 200 ... Information display area, 201 to 203, 304 ... Segment part, 300 ... Indicator display area, 301 ... Bar-shaped segment part (indicator element), 302, 303... Image segment part (communication indicator element).

Claims (6)

In a portable measuring device that measures information and stores the measurement information in a memory,
A portable measuring device comprising a display unit for displaying various types of information, wherein the display unit is configured to display a common indicator indicating the level of the measurement information and the usage status of the memory.   The portable measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the indicator displays a level of the measurement information and a usage status of the memory in a time-sharing manner.   The portable measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the indicator also serves as an indicator that indicates a communication status when communicating with an external device.   The portable measuring device according to claim 3, wherein the indicator includes a plurality of indicator elements arranged in a line.   5. A communication indicator element corresponding to the portable measuring device and an external device is provided on both sides of the indicator, and these communication indicator elements are displayed when communicating with the external device. The portable measuring device described in 1. The portable measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit is a segment display.

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