JP2010035860A - Sleep support system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sleep support system for preventing a sleep-fogged state of an occupant after waking. <P>SOLUTION: In the sleep support system, a biological information acquisition part acquires at least one kind of biological information among the electrocardiogram, pulse, eye potential, brain wave, respiration and body movement of the occupant other than a driver (S100-S110), and a control part determines whether the acquired depth of sleep is deeper than a prescribed value or not. If it is determined that the depth of sleep is deeper than the prescribed value, a stimulation part is actuated to apply stimulation for shallowing the depth of sleep to the occupant, applying at least one of the vibration, light, sound, temperature, oxygen concentration, and air-conditioned airflow to the occupant. If it is determined that the depth of sleep is shallower than the prescribed value, the stimulation part is not actuated (S115-S155). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sleep support system for obtaining comfort when an occupant other than a driver riding in a vehicle wakes up from sleep.

Conventionally, there has been a technique for controlling sleep of passengers other than automobile drivers. In this technique, a human electro-oculogram is detected, a NON-REM sleep state is determined based on a low-frequency component of the detected electro-oculogram signal, and a REM sleep state is determined based on a high-frequency component of the electro-oculogram signal. Then, the sleep of the occupant is controlled by generating a stimulus that promotes sleep based on the determination result of NON-REM sleep or by generating a stimulus that promotes awakening based on the determination result of the REM sleep state ( For example, see Patent Document 1).
JP-A-9-635

However, since the method described in Patent Document 1 is intended to cause the occupant to sleep deeply, the occupant may sleep too deeply. In such a case, there is a fear that the consciousness after waking up becomes unclear, so-called “sleeping state”.
The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a sleep support system that prevents a sleeping state after an occupant wakes up.

  The sleep support system according to claim 1, which is made to solve such a problem (1: In this section, in order to facilitate understanding of the invention, “the best mode for carrying out the invention” is necessary as necessary. The reference numerals used in the columns are attached, but it is not meant to limit the scope of claims by this reference.) Is a biological information acquisition means (10), sleep depth detection means (20), stimulation means (30 ) And control means (20).

  The biological information acquisition means (10) acquires the occupant's biological information, and the sleep depth detection means (20) detects the occupant's sleep depth acquired by the biological information acquisition means (10). Further, the stimulation means (30) gives the occupant a stimulus for disturbing sleep, and the control means (20) has the occupant sleep depth detected by the sleep depth detection means (20) from a predetermined value. When it is determined whether or not the sleep depth is deeper and it is determined that the sleep depth is deeper than a predetermined value, the stimulation means (30) is activated to give the occupant a stimulus for reducing the sleep depth, and sleep If it is determined that the depth is shallower than the predetermined value, the stimulation means (30) is not operated.

  In such a sleep support system (1), when the sleep depth of the occupant becomes deeper than a predetermined value, stimulation is applied to the occupant by the stimulation means (30). That is, by appropriately setting a predetermined value indicating the sleep depth, the sleep depth of the occupant can be prevented from becoming too deep. Therefore, according to the sleep support system (1), the sleep of the occupant is not excessively deepened, so that it is possible to prevent the occupant from becoming unconscious after waking up, so-called “sleeping state”. .

Here, “stimulation to reduce sleep depth” refers to stimuli that interfere with sleep, such as vibration, light, sound, temperature, changes in the oxygen concentration in the passenger compartment, and changes in the air volume of air conditioning. Say.
By the way, as the ecological information acquired by the ecological information acquisition means, as described in claim 2, at least one of an occupant's electrocardiogram, pulse, electrooculogram, electroencephalogram, respiration, facial expression, open / closed state of eyes, or body movement It is good to get one.

If it does in this way, since living body information can be acquired using conventional technology and a device, a sleep support system (1) can be constructed easily.
Further, as a stimulus for preventing sleep given to the occupant by the stimulating means (30), as described in claim 2, at least one of vibration, light, sound, temperature, oxygen concentration, and airflow of air conditioning It is good to give.

For example, “vibration” is given by vibrating the seat or backrest, changing the position of the front and back of the seat and the angle of the backrest, and “light” is the illuminance of light hitting the passenger by a light source installed indoors. The sound is turned on and off, the volume is changed, and the output music is changed. It is given by changing or outputting an alarm sound by a warning device in addition to the audio device.

  Furthermore, “temperature” is given by changing the temperature of the air conditioning in the passenger compartment, “oxygen concentration” is given by changing the oxygen concentration of the air in the passenger compartment with an oxygen supply device, and “air flow of the air conditioning” is Give by changing the amount of air blown air conditioning.

  If it does in this way, a suitable stimulus can be given to a crew member by combining various stimuli individually or in combination.

Embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings. The embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiment, and can take various forms as long as they belong to the technical scope of the present invention.
[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a sleep support system 1 to which the present invention is applied. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the sleep support system 1 includes a biological information acquisition unit 10, a stimulation unit 30, and a control unit 20.

  The biometric information acquisition unit 10 acquires biometric information of an occupant other than the driver. As shown in FIG. 1, an electrocardiogram acquisition device 11 that acquires an electrocardiogram of the occupant as biometric information, acquires the occupant's pulse. Pulse acquisition device 12, electrooculogram acquisition device 13 that acquires the electrooculogram of the occupant, electroencephalograph 14 that acquires the electroencephalogram of the occupant, respiration acquisition device 15 that acquires the breathing of the occupant, and acquisition of the facial expression of the occupant and the open / closed state of the eyes The vehicle interior camera 16 and the body motion acquisition device 17 are provided, and at least one of the biological information is acquired by these devices.

  The body movement acquisition device 17 in the biological information acquisition unit 10 acquires the body movement of the occupant, and detects the movement of the arm with an acceleration sensor attached to the occupant's arm, or by a pressure sensor disposed inside the seat. , Detecting the movement of the seated occupant.

  The stimulating unit 30 gives the occupant a stimulus for disturbing sleep, and as shown in FIG. 1, the seat vibration device 31 and the seat moving device 32 that give vibration to the occupant, and light to the occupant. A sunshade device 34 that blocks outside light, an audio device 35 that controls sound, an indoor air conditioner 36 that controls the temperature and air volume in the passenger compartment, and a seat air conditioner 37 that controls the temperature of each seat. And an oxygen supply device 38 for controlling the oxygen concentration in the passenger compartment.

  The seat vibration device 31 includes a motor and a vibrator (not shown) embedded in a backrest portion of the seat, and according to a command from the control unit 20, the vibrator is actuated by the motor to vibrate the backrest, thereby preventing the occupant from sleeping. Give a stimulus.

  The seat moving device 32 includes a mechanism for moving a seat position composed of a motor and a ball screw (not shown) back and forth, and a reclining mechanism that is composed of a motor and a gear (not shown) and changes the angle of the seat back portion. Yes.

  Further, the seat moving device 32 receives a control signal from the control unit 20, and gives a stimulus that prevents the occupant from sleeping by moving the seat position back and forth or changing the reclining angle.

  The illuminating device 33 includes a light source and a dimmer (not shown) that are mounted so as to illuminate the vehicle interior, and receives a control signal from the control unit 20 to turn on / off the light source or change the illuminance. Gives light stimulation to prevent occupants from sleeping.

  The sunshade device 34 is a device that adjusts the illuminance in the room by changing the external light incident on the vehicle interior. The sunshade device 34 moves the windshield installed inside the side window up and down, changes the opening of the sunroof, By controlling the color intensity of the window, the illuminance of outside light is changed, and a light stimulus that impedes occupant sleep is given.

  The audio device 35 is a device that sends radio broadcasts and music into the passenger compartment, receives a control signal from the control unit 20, changes the volume, changes the music piece, and changes the selected broadcast station. Then, an acoustic stimulus that impedes occupant sleep is given.

  The indoor air conditioner 36 is a device that controls the temperature and humidity of the vehicle interior by blowing air of a set temperature and humidity into the vehicle interior, and receives the control signal from the control unit 20 to control the temperature, humidity and By changing the amount of air blown out, a temperature stimulus that impedes occupant sleep is given.

  The seat air conditioner 37 is a device for blowing out air of a set temperature and humidity from the seat surface and back of the seat toward the occupant and obtaining comfort that suits the individual preference of the occupant. By receiving the control signal and changing the temperature, humidity and blowing amount of the air to be blown out, a temperature stimulus that impedes occupant sleep is given.

  The oxygen supply device 38 is a device that changes the oxygen concentration in the vehicle interior by changing the amount of oxygen supplied to the vehicle interior, and receives a control signal from the control unit 20 to reduce the oxygen supply amount to the vehicle interior. By changing, it gives a stimulus that prevents the passengers from sleeping.

  The control unit 20 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an I / O, and the like (not shown), and detects the sleep depth of the occupant acquired by the biological information acquisition unit 10. Then, it is determined whether or not the sleep depth of the detected occupant has become deeper than a predetermined value by a stimulus process described later, and when it is determined that the sleep depth is deeper than the predetermined value, the sleep depth is given to the occupant. The stimulating unit 30 is operated to give a stimulus for shallowing, and when it is determined that the sleep depth is shallower than a predetermined value, the stimulating unit 30 is not operated.

(Stimulation treatment)
Next, the stimulation process in the control unit 20 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the contents of the stimulation process.

  The stimulation process starts when the control unit 20 is turned on and ends when the power is turned off. In the stimulation process, first, as shown in FIG. 2, the biological information acquisition unit 10 is selected in S100. That is, the devices 11 to 17 of the biometric information acquisition unit 10 are sequentially selected according to a predetermined priority order. In this embodiment, the electrocardiogram acquisition device 11 having the highest priority order to the body motion acquisition device 17 having the lowest priority order are sequentially selected in the order of the number of the code.

  In subsequent S105, biological information is acquired from the apparatus of the biological information acquisition unit 10 selected in S100. For example, if the electrocardiogram acquisition device 11 is selected in S100, the occupant's electrocardiogram is acquired as the biological information.

  In subsequent S110, the sleep depth is detected. The sleep depth is detected by a known method according to the biological information acquired in S105. For example, if an electrocardiogram is acquired as biometric information, the sleep depth is detected by the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-291710.

  In continuing S115, it is determined whether the sleep depth detected in S110 is more than a predetermined threshold value. If the sleep depth is greater than or equal to the threshold (S115: Yes), the process proceeds to S120. If the sleep depth is smaller than the threshold (S115: No), the process returns to S100, and the biometric information acquisition unit 10 Of these, a different device is selected and the process continues.

In S120, one of the devices 32 to 38 of the stimulation unit 30 is selected according to a predetermined priority order and conditions.
Specifically, the priority is given to the seat vibration device 31 or the sheet moving device 32 that gives vibration stimulation, the next is the lighting device 33 or the sunshade device 34 that gives light stimulation, and the next is the audio device 35. The indoor air conditioner 36 or the seat air conditioner 37 that gives the temperature stimulus, and the oxygen supply device 38 that gives the oxygen concentration stimulus has the lowest priority.

  Also, the seat vibration device 31 and the seat moving device 32 are set with higher priority in the seat vibration device 31, and the illumination device 33 and the sunshade device 34 select the illumination device 33 at night, and the daytime In this case, the sunshade device 34 is selected. Furthermore, the indoor air conditioner 36 and the seat air conditioner 37 are set with higher priority in the room air conditioner 36.

  In continuing S125, it is determined whether the apparatus of the stimulation part 30 selected in S120 is starting. If the apparatus has not been activated (S125: No), the process proceeds to S130. If the apparatus has been activated (S125: Yes), the process proceeds to S135.

In S130, the device selected in S120 is activated, and in S135, the stimulation intensity of the device selected in S120 is increased.
In subsequent S140, biometric information is acquired from the device of the biometric information acquiring unit 10 selected in S100, as in S105, and in S145, the sleep depth is detected by a well-known method, similar to S110.

  In subsequent S150, it is determined whether the sleep depth detected in S145 is smaller than a predetermined threshold (the same threshold as the threshold in S115). If it is determined that the sleep depth is smaller than the threshold (S150: Yes), the process proceeds to S155, and if it is determined that the sleep depth is greater than or equal to the threshold (S150: No), the process proceeds to S140. Returned.

In S155, after the apparatus of the stimulation unit 30 selected in S120 is stopped, the process is returned to S100, and the main stimulation process is repeated.
(Characteristics of sleep support system 1)
In the sleep support system 1 as described above, when the sleep depth of the occupant becomes deeper than a predetermined value, stimulation is applied to the occupant by the stimulation unit 30. That is, by appropriately setting a predetermined threshold value indicating the sleep depth, the sleep depth of the occupant can be prevented from becoming too deep. Therefore, since the passenger's sleep does not become too deep, it is possible to prevent a so-called “sleep state” in which the consciousness is not clear after the passenger wakes up.

  The sleep support system 1 acquires an electrocardiogram, a pulse, an electro-oculogram, an electroencephalogram, a respiration, and a body motion as biometric information, but any of them can be acquired using conventional techniques and devices. Can build a system.

Furthermore, at least one of vibration, light, sound, temperature, oxygen concentration, and air volume of air conditioning is given as a stimulus for preventing sleep given to the occupant by the stimulating unit 30. If it does in this way, a suitable stimulus can be given to a crew member by combining various stimuli individually or in combination. In addition, since any of them can be given using conventional techniques and apparatuses, a system can be easily constructed.
[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the content of the stimulation process in the second embodiment.

  Since the stimulus processing in the sleep support system 1 of the second embodiment is a part of the processing content of the stimulus processing in the sleep support system 1 of the first embodiment, the same step number is assigned to the same processing. A description thereof will be omitted.

  In the stimulation process of the second embodiment, S100 to S125 are executed similarly to the stimulation process of the first embodiment, and then S130 or S135 is executed. Then, after S130 or S135 is executed, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed.

  If it is determined that the predetermined time has not elapsed (S200: No), S200 is repeated until the predetermined time elapses, and a standby state is entered. On the other hand, when it is determined that the predetermined time has elapsed (S200: Yes), the process proceeds to S155, and after the device of the stimulation unit 30 selected in S120 is stopped, the process returns to S100, and the main stimulation. The process is repeated.

Thus, in 1st Embodiment, after the apparatus of the stimulation part 30 is started, biometric information is acquired again, it is determined whether sleep depth is smaller than a threshold value, and the apparatus of the stimulation part 30 is stopped. In the stimulation process according to the second embodiment, the apparatus of the stimulation unit 30 is stopped when a predetermined time has elapsed after the apparatus of the stimulation unit 30 is activated.
[Other Embodiments]
As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to this embodiment, A various aspect can be taken.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the electrocardiogram acquisition device 11 having the highest priority order to the body motion acquisition device 17 having the lowest priority order are sequentially selected as the biological information acquisition unit 10 in order of the number of the codes. The order may be different. Similarly, the priority order of the devices selected in the stimulation unit 30 may be different from that in the above embodiment.

  In the above embodiment, the movement of the person's arm or body is acquired using the body movement acquisition device 17, but the movement of the occupant's arm or body is performed by image processing the image acquired by the vehicle interior camera 16. You may make it acquire (body motion).

1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a sleep support system 1. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the stimulation process in 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the stimulation process in 2nd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Sleep support system, 10 ... Biometric information acquisition part, 11 ... Electrocardiogram acquisition apparatus, 12 ... Pulse acquisition apparatus, 13 ... Electrooculogram acquisition apparatus, 14 ... Electroencephalograph, 15 ... Respiration acquisition apparatus, 16 ... In-vehicle camera, 17 ... body motion acquisition device, 20 ... control unit, 30 ... stimulation unit, 31 ... seat vibration device, 32 ... seat movement device, 33 ... lighting device, 34 ... sunshade device, 35 ... audio device, 36 ... indoor air conditioner, 37 ... seat air conditioner, 38 ... oxygen supply device.

Claims (3)

Biometric information acquisition means for acquiring biometric information of an occupant other than the driver;
Sleep depth detection means for detecting the sleep depth of the occupant acquired by the biological information acquisition means;
Stimulating means for giving a stimulus to the occupant to prevent sleep;
It is determined whether or not the sleep depth of the occupant detected by the sleep depth detection means is deeper than a predetermined value, and when it is determined that the sleep depth is deeper than the predetermined value, the occupant sleeps. A control means for operating the stimulation means to give a stimulus for reducing the depth and not operating the stimulation means when it is determined that the sleep depth is shallower than the predetermined value;
A sleep support system characterized by comprising: The sleep support system according to claim 1,
The biological information acquisition means includes
A sleep support system characterized by acquiring at least one of the occupant's electrocardiogram, pulse, electrooculogram, electroencephalogram, respiration, facial expression, eye open / closed state, or body movement as biological information. In the sleep support system according to claim 1 or 2,
The stimulation means includes
The sleep support system is characterized in that at least one of vibration, light, sound, temperature, oxygen concentration, and air volume of air conditioning is given to the passenger.

Images