JP2009139181A - Sensor for sensing aspiration - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an aspiration sensor for surely and rapidly sensing an aspiration action even when a small amount of air is sucked by the aspiration action. <P>SOLUTION: The aspiration sensor includes: an outgoing channel through which the inside air is sucked, and a valve channel (28) through which the inside air is sucked out, both performing their operations along with the aspiration action of a user; a valve port (36) formed on the way of the valve channel (28); a flap-like valve element (40) which is disposed on the downstream side of the valve port (36) and opens the valve port (36) at a timing of the aspiration action; and optical transceivers (46, 54) for detecting an opening operation of the flap-like valve element (40). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a suction detection sensor that directly senses a flow of suction air generated by a human suction operation.

For example, this type of suction detection sensor is incorporated in an aerosol inhaler in which a user sucks a liquid substance such as a medicine or a luxury product in the form of an aerosol (FIG. 1, reference numeral 52 of Patent Document 1).
The aerosol inhaler of Patent Document 1 detects a suction operation by a user by a suction detection sensor, and energizes and heats the heater at this detection timing to rapidly heat the liquid material. The heating here generates an aerosol obtained by atomizing the liquid substance, and this aerosol rides on the flow of suction air resulting from the suction operation of the user and is sucked into the mouth of the user together with the flow of suction air.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-89551

  As the above-described suction detection sensor, a pressure sensor or a flow rate sensor is used as disclosed in Patent Document 1. In any of these sensors, if the flow passage cross-sectional area of the suction air passing through the sensor is reduced and the pressure difference before and after that is increased or the flow velocity of the suction air is not increased, its S / N, that is, accurate detection is performed. However, for this purpose, the resistance of the flow path for the suction air, that is, the ventilation resistance becomes large, and the user feels uncomfortable during the suction operation. End up.

On the other hand, if the pressure receiving area of the sensor is increased or an amplifier is used in order to improve the S / N ratio, the size of the sensor is increased.
Further, if dirt such as water vapor in the suction air adheres to the pressure sensor or the flow rate sensor, these sensors are likely to malfunction.
The present invention has been made based on the above-described circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to achieve suction air without increasing the flow resistance of the suction air even if the amount of suction air is small, such as a human suction operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide a suction detection sensor that can quickly and accurately detect the occurrence of the above.

  In order to achieve the above object, the suction sensor of the present invention has a flow channel for generating a flow of detection air in conjunction with the flow of the suction air when suction air flows in the flow channel to be monitored. A valve passage connected to the valve passage, a valve port formed in the middle of the valve passage, and a flap-shaped valve element provided downstream of the valve port in the flow direction of the detection air, the flow of the detection air A flap-shaped valve element that is positioned in the closed position where the valve port is closed when there is no flow, and is in the open position where the valve port is opened by receiving the flow of the detected air flow from the closed position when the flow of detected air occurs; A light transmitter / receiver capable of blocking light transmission / reception when the flap-shaped valve element is in the closed position, while light is allowed to be transmitted / received when the flap-shaped valve element is in the open position. , Flap valve element And an optical transceiver for detecting the opening and closing (claim 1).

According to the above-described suction sensor, air in the flow path to be monitored is sucked, and when the suction air flows in the flow path with this suction, the flap-shaped valve element is positioned from the closed position to the open position. The optical handset is allowed to send and receive light, and the light handset senses the opening action of the flap-shaped valve element, that is, the suction of the flow path.
Specifically, the light transmitter / receiver can include a light emitting element and a light receiving element disposed on the opposite side of the light emitting element with the flap-shaped valve element interposed therebetween (Claim 2). Preferably, the light emitting diode emits green light having a wavelength close to visible light, and the light receiving element is a photo IC. The light transmitter / receiver is not limited to the transmissive type including the light emitting element and the light receiving element, but may be a reflective type.

Further, the suction detection sensor can further include a valve presser that regulates the maximum opening degree of the flap-shaped valve element (Claim 4). This valve presser accurately defines the open position of the flap-shaped valve element, and transmits and receives light. The light transmission / reception path for the detector is reliably opened, and interference between the flap-shaped valve element and the valve passage is prevented.
Further, the light transmission / reception path can extend through the valve opening (claim 5).

  The suction detection sensor according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is configured so that the closed position and the open position of the flap-shaped valve element correspond to the presence or absence of air suction, and the opening and closing of the flap-shaped valve element is optically detected by the optical handset. Therefore, even if the amount of air sucked is small, the flap-type valve element can be opened widely, so that the suction sensor can accurately and quickly detect air suction without causing a large flow path resistance, and the size can be increased. Therefore, even if dirt such as water vapor in the air adheres to the optical transmitter / receiver, the malfunction of the suction sensor does not occur.

FIG. 1 shows an aerosol inhaler equipped with an aspiration sensor according to one embodiment.
The aerosol inhaler includes a casing 2, and the casing 2 includes, for example, an outside air inlet 4 that is open on a front end surface thereof, and a mouthpiece 6 that protrudes from the rear surface of the casing 2. A delivery flow path 8 from the outside air inlet 4 to the mouthpiece 6 is secured in the casing 2, and a supply position 10 is defined in the middle of the delivery flow path 8. Further, an annular ceramic heater 12 is disposed downstream of the supply position 10, and this ceramic heater 12 forms a part of the delivery flow path 8.

On the other hand, a liquid passage 14 is branched from the supply position 10, and the liquid passage 14 is connected to a liquid supply device 16. The liquid supply device 16 has a solution chamber (not shown) in which the raw material solution is stored therein. For example, when the manual switch is turned on, the liquid supply device 16 supplies the raw material solution from the solution chamber to the delivery channel 8 by a certain amount. Position 10 can be supplied.
Specifically, the raw material solution is a liquid medicine or a luxury product. When the raw material solution is a luxury product, the raw material solution can contain a tobacco component. The liquid supply device 16 can be realized by a syringe pump having a solution chamber as a pump chamber and a drive motor for driving the syringe pump. The raw material solution supplied to the delivery flow path 8 is delivered at a supply position 10. The flow path 8 is closed.

  When air in the delivery channel 8 is sucked by the user through the mouthpiece 6 with the raw material solution supplied to the supply position 10, the raw material solution at the supply position 10 is sucked into the mouthpiece 6, that is, a ceramic heater. 12 is transferred. At this time, if the ceramic heater 12 is heated to a predetermined heating temperature required for aerosolizing the raw material solution, the raw material solution transferred into the ceramic heater 12 is immediately heated and atomized to form an aerosol. Is sucked into the user's mouth through the mouthpiece 6 together with the suction air.

The above-described temperature rise of the ceramic heater 12 is preferably controlled using a user's suction operation as a trigger. For this reason, the aerosol inhaler of the present embodiment includes a suction sensor 18. This will be described below.
The suction sensor 18 is mounted, for example, in the front end of the casing 2, and is interposed between the outside air inlet 4 and the supply position 10 in the above-described delivery flow path 8.

More specifically, the suction detection sensor 18 includes a valve body 20, and the valve body 20 includes a front portion 22, a rear portion 24, and a packing 26 sandwiched therebetween. The valve body 20 has a valve passage 28 formed therein, and the valve passage 28 has one end 30 communicating with the outside air inlet 4 of the casing 2 and the other end 32 connected to the delivery flow path 8.
As is apparent from FIG. 1, a connecting pipe 34 that facilitates connection between the valve passage 28 and the delivery flow path 8 is integrally projected from the rear end surface of the rear portion 24. Thus, the other end of the valve passage 28 is formed.

  A valve port 36 is formed in the middle of the valve passage 28. The valve port 36 is positioned in the front portion 22, and its axis is offset with respect to the axis of the connection pipe 34. A valve chamber 38 is formed between the valve port 36 and the rear portion 24. The valve chamber 38 is adjacent to the downstream side of the valve port 36, and an elastically deformable flap-shaped valve element 40 is disposed therein. The flap-shaped valve element 40 is fixed to the front portion 22 via a mounting screw 42, and when in the state shown in FIG. 1, the valve port 36 is closed from the valve chamber 38 side.

  On the other hand, a mounting port 44 facing the inside of the valve chamber 38 is formed on the rear end surface of the rear portion 24, and the light emitting element 46 is disposed in the mounting port 44. The light emitting element 46 is formed of a light emitting diode and is mounted on a printed wiring board 48. The printed wiring board 48 is in contact with the rear end surface of the rear portion 24 via a seal ring 50 surrounding the light emitting element 46 and is fixed to the rear portion 24 via a mounting plate 52.

  Further, the one end 30 of the valve passage 28 described above has a larger diameter than the valve port 36, and the light receiving element 54 is disposed therein. The light receiving element 54 is formed of a photodiode and is mounted on a printed wiring board 56. The printed wiring board 56 partially closes the one end 30 in a state of facing the valve opening 36, and the opening left at the one end 30 is also offset from the valve opening 36.

  As is clear from FIG. 1, the light emitting element 46 and the light receiving element 54 are allowed to transmit and receive light to each other through the valve port 36. However, when the flap-shaped valve element 40 is in the closed position as shown in FIG. The light transmission / reception path connecting 46 and the light receiving element 54 is blocked by the flap-shaped valve element 40. The printed wiring boards 48 and 56 described above are electrically connected to a control board (not shown), and power is supplied to the light emitting element 46 through the control board, while the control board can receive an output signal from the light receiving element. it can.

In the state shown in FIG. 1, when the air in the delivery flow path 8 is sucked through the mouthpiece 6, the air in the downstream portion of the valve-shaped valve element 40 in the valve passage 28 as shown in FIG. 2. Sucked out to the mouthpiece 6 side, the pressure in the downstream portion is in a negative pressure state lower than atmospheric pressure.
Therefore, a pressure difference is generated between the one end 30 sandwiching the valve port 36 and the valve chamber 38, and as shown by a white arrow A in FIG. As a result, an air flow flowing into the valve chamber 38 is generated, and the air flow causes elastic deformation of the flap-shaped valve element 40 to separate the flap-shaped valve element 40 from the valve port 36, thereby open.

  As a result, the light emitted from the light-emitting element 46 is received by the light-receiving element 54 through the valve port 36 without being blocked by the flap-shaped valve element 40 as shown by the arrow B in FIG. The element 54 supplies a signal indicating the movement of the flap-shaped valve element 40 from the closed position to the open position, that is, a sensing signal indicating the user's suction operation to the control board via the printed wiring board 56.

Therefore, when the control board receives the supply of the sensing signal, the temperature of the ceramic heater 12 is raised to the predetermined heating temperature, so that the raw material solution transferred to the ceramic heater 12 together with the suction air immediately becomes an aerosol, The aerosol is sucked into the user's mouth along with the sucked air.
Thereafter, when the suction operation is stopped, the pressure in the outside air inlet 4 (one end 30) and the valve chamber 38 is returned to the atmospheric pressure, and the flap-shaped valve element 40 is closed from the open position to the closed position by its restoring force. Then, the valve port 36 is closed. Therefore, at this time, the light transmission / reception path connecting the light emitting element 46 and the light receiving element 54 is blocked, and the light receiving element 54 supplies a signal indicating the suction stop to the control board via the printed wiring board 56.

  As described above, according to the suction sensor 18, the opening and closing of the flap-shaped valve element 40 corresponds to the presence or absence of the user's suction operation, and the valve port 36 is secured large even if the amount of suction air is small, Since it is easy to reliably and greatly open the flap-shaped valve element 40, an opening / closing operation of the flap-shaped valve element 40, that is, a user's suction operation is performed by an optical transmitter / receiver composed of a light emitting element 46 and a light receiving element 54. It can be sensed accurately and has excellent responsiveness.

  Further, since the opening degree of the valve port 36 can be ensured to be large, the suction sensor 18 does not have a large flow path resistance. Even if dirt such as water vapor in the inflowing air adheres, the malfunction of the suction sensor 18, that is, the optical transmitter / receiver due to such dirt is less than that of the pressure sensor and flow sensor described above.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made.
FIG. 3 shows a suction sensor 18 of a modified example. In FIG. 3, components having the same functions as those of the suction sensor of the embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. The description thereof will be omitted, and only points different from the embodiment will be described below.
In the case of the modification, the valve chamber 38 has an inclined inner surface inclined with respect to the axis of the connection pipe 34, and the valve passage 28 is formed in the front portion 22 of the valve body 20, and is formed on the inclined inner surface of the valve chamber 38. While opening as the valve port 36, the front end 22 has an outside air hole 58 that opens as one end 30.

As is apparent from FIG. 3, the flap-shaped valve element 40 in the closed position is in a bent state, and extends from a base end extending along a vertical plane perpendicular to the axis of the connection pipe 34. And the valve port 36 is closed at the tip.
The proximal end portion of the flap-shaped valve element 40 is attached to the front portion 22 via an attachment pin 60. More specifically, the base end portion of the flap-shaped valve element 40 is fixed to the front portion 22 while being sandwiched between the sleeve 62 and the valve presser 64, and the sleeve 62 and the valve presser 64 are respectively attached to the mounting pins 60. It has been.

The surface of the valve retainer 64 on the side of the flap-shaped valve element 40 is formed as a circular arc surface convex toward the flap-shaped valve element 40, and this circular arc surface determines the maximum opening of the flap-shaped valve element 40, that is, its open position. To do.
Further, unlike the case of the above-described embodiment, the light emitting element 46 and the light receiving element 54 are disposed on the same axis, and the front portion 22 extends from the light receiving element 54 and continues to the valve port 36. 66 is formed. Also in this case, the light transmission / reception path between the light emitting element 46 and the light receiving element 54 passes through the valve port 36.

Here, the light emitting element 46 emits green light close to the wavelength of visible light toward the light receiving element 54, while the light receiving element 54 is preferably composed of a photo IC (illuminance IC).
In the suction detection sensor 18 of the modified example described above, since the open position of the flap-shaped valve element 40 is restricted by the valve presser 64, the flap-shaped valve element 40 has the light emitting element 46 and the light receiving element 54 during the suction operation. The light transmission / reception path between the flap valve element 40 and the other elements in the valve chamber 38 can be reliably prevented. As a result, opening and closing of the flap-shaped valve element 40 is guaranteed.

Further, the combination of the green light emitting element 46 and the light receiving element 54 made of a photo IC greatly contributes to the improvement of the S / N ratio when sensing the suction operation, that is, detecting the opening / closing of the flap-shaped valve element 40.
Further, in the case of the above-described embodiment and modification, the light transmission / reception path passes through the valve port 36, but it is also possible to secure the transmission / reception path by avoiding the valve port 36.

On the other hand, in the case of the above-described embodiment and modification, as shown in FIG. 4A, the suction sensor 18 is inserted in the delivery flow path 8 that connects the outside air inlet 4 and the mouthpiece 6. Not limited to this, it is also possible to arrange the suction detection sensor 18 as shown in FIGS. 4B and 4C.
Specifically, in the case of FIG. 4B, the suction sensor 18 is inserted in the branch flow path 8a, and this branch flow path 8a is branched from the delivery flow path 8 upstream from the supply position 10. The outer opening of the supply casing 2 is opened through a second outside air inlet 4b. In this case, a restriction 68 is provided in the delivery flow path 8 upstream of the branch position of the branch flow path 8 a as necessary, and this restriction 68 has the same flow resistance as that of the suction sensor 18.

Therefore, when the air in the delivery flow path 8 is sucked by the user through the mouthpiece 6, the flow of the delivery is also sent from the second outside air inlet 4b through the suction detection sensor 18 in the branch flow path 8a in conjunction with this suction. The flow of air flowing into the path 8 is generated, and this flow of air, that is, the suction operation of the user can be detected by the suction sensor 18.
In the case of FIG. 4C, the suction detection sensor 18 is inserted in the bypass flow path 8b with respect to the delivery flow path 8 instead of the branch flow path 8b. Is located upstream, and the diaphragm 68 is disposed in parallel with the suction sensor 18. Also in this case, since the air flow is also generated in the bypass flow path 8b during the user's suction operation, the suction sensor 18 can detect the user's suction operation.

In the case of FIGS. 4B and 4C, compared with the case of FIG. 4A, the backflow of the aerosol to the suction detection sensor 18 can be avoided after the user's suction operation, and the suction detection sensor 18 is contaminated by the aerosol. Can be reduced.
Finally, it goes without saying that the suction detection sensor of the present invention is not limited to the above-described aerosol inhaler but can also be applied to detecting a suction operation by a person or the like.

It is the schematic which showed the aerosol inhaler with a suction sensor of one Example. It is a figure which shows the state which the suction sensor of FIG. 1 act | operated. It is sectional drawing which showed the suction detection sensor of the modification. It is a figure for demonstrating arrangement | positioning of a suction sensor, (a) shows arrangement | positioning in the case of one Example and a modification, (b), (c) shows arrangement | positioning in another case, respectively.

Explanation of symbols

6 Mouthpiece 8 Delivery channel (channel)
8a Branch flow path 8b Bypass flow path 18 Suction sensor 28 Valve passage 36 Valve port 38 Valve chamber 40 Flap-shaped valve element 46 Light emitting element (light transmitter / receiver)
54 Light receiving element (light transmitter / receiver)
58 Outside air hole 64 Valve holder

Claims (5)

A valve passage connected to the flow path so as to generate a flow of detection air in conjunction with the flow of the suction air when suction air flows in the flow path to be monitored;
A valve port formed in the middle of the valve passage;
A flap-shaped valve element provided downstream of the valve port as viewed in the flow direction of the detection air, wherein the valve port is closed when there is no flow of the detection air, and the flow of the detection air is A flap-like valve element that is positioned in an open position to receive the flow of the detected air flow from the closed position to open the valve port when it occurs;
An optical transmitter / receiver capable of transmitting and receiving light, wherein when the flap-shaped valve element is in the closed position, the flap-shaped valve element blocks the light transmission / reception, while the flap-shaped valve element is in the open position. And a light transmitter / receiver for detecting the opening and closing of the flap-shaped valve element.   The suction sensor according to claim 1, wherein the light transmitter / receiver includes a light emitting element and a light receiving element disposed on the opposite side of the light emitting element with the flap-shaped valve element interposed therebetween.   The suction sensor according to claim 2, wherein the light emitting element is a light emitting diode that emits green light having a wavelength close to visible light, and the light receiving element is a photo IC.   The suction detection sensor according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a valve presser for restricting a maximum opening degree of the flap-shaped valve element.   The suction detection sensor according to claim 2, wherein the light transmission / reception path extends through the valve opening.

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