JP2019115787A - Skin contact device - Google Patents

Abstract

To suitably detect a pressure applied on a contact surface brought into contact with a skin.SOLUTION: A skin contact device includes a case, a contact surface to make contact with a skin, a detecting part for detecting a pressure applied to the contact surface, and biasing means for biasing against the pressure applied to the contact surface. The contact surface is configured to move in a manner to be pushed into the case by the force thereto. The detecting part detects the pressure on the contact surface when the contact surface moves in a manner to be pushed into the case.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a skin cooling device and a skin cooling method for cooling skin, for example, to relieve pain when making an injection, and to the technical field of computer programs and recording media.

  As this type of device, one that cools the skin by contacting a cooling body is known. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a device that cools the skin by pressing a pressure body cooled by a Peltier element directly against the skin. In this device, the temperature of the skin can be detected by the skin temperature sensor provided on the pressing body.

JP, 2010-284330, A

  In the device described in Patent Document 1, the cooling of the pressing body is started by the switch operation by the user. For this reason, cooling may not be started at an appropriate timing, and as a result, power loss may occur. In addition, since the user holds the device in hand and presses the pressing body against the skin, the contact state may be unstable, and a situation may occur in which the skin cooling or temperature detection can not be accurately performed. Furthermore, since the skin temperature sensor is provided at the center of the pressing body, there is a technical problem that the cooling efficiency is lowered.

  The problems to be solved by the present invention are as mentioned above. An object of the present invention is to provide a skin cooling apparatus and a skin cooling method which can preferably cool the skin, and a computer program and a recording medium.

  The skin contact device for solving the above problems includes a case, a contact surface for contacting the skin, a detection unit for detecting a pressure applied to the contact surface, and a bias for the pressure applied to the contact surface. Biasing means, and the contact surface is configured to move so as to be pushed toward the case by an applied pressure, and the detection unit is configured to move the contact surface toward the case By moving so as to be pushed in, the pressure on the contact surface is detected.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is sectional drawing which shows the whole structure of the skin cooling device which concerns on 1st Example. It is an expanded sectional view showing composition of a cooling unit of a skin cooling device concerning a 1st example. It is an expanded sectional view showing contact operation of a cooling unit of a skin cooling device concerning a 1st example. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement of the skin cooling device which concerns on 1st Example. It is a perspective view which shows the whole structure of the skin cooling device which concerns on 2nd Example.

<1>
The skin cooling apparatus according to the present embodiment comprises the cooling means for cooling the skin, the pressure detection means for detecting the pressure to the cooling means, and the cooling means based on the pressure information detected by the pressure detection means. And control means for controlling.

  According to the skin cooling device of the present embodiment, the skin can be cooled by pressing the cooling means. The cooling means includes, for example, a cooling surface in contact with the skin, a refrigerant such as a Peltier element, a heat sink, and a cooling fan. According to such a cooling means, it is possible to alleviate the pain caused by, for example, injection by temporarily cooling the skin.

  In the skin cooling device of the present embodiment, in particular, the pressure detection unit can detect the pressure on the cooling unit. The pressure detection means may be configured as, for example, a pressure sensor, or may be configured to include a switch that is mechanically turned on at a pressure equal to or higher than a predetermined value. The pressure means may not be able to detect the pressure applied to the cooling means with extremely high accuracy, and may be, for example, one that can determine whether the pressure is equal to or higher than a threshold.

  When the pressure detection means detects pressure information, the control means controls the cooling means based on the pressure information. Specifically, the control means determines that the cooling means is pressed against the skin when the pressure on the cooling means is relatively high. In such a case, the control means controls the cooling means to start cooling. On the other hand, when the pressure to the cooling means is relatively low, the control means determines that the cooling means is not pressed against the skin. In such a case, the control means controls the cooling means to stop the cooling.

  As described above, if the cooling means is controlled based on the pressure information, the cooling by the cooling means can be started at the timing when the cooling means is pressed against the skin. That is, cooling can be started at an appropriate timing. Thus, power loss due to unnecessary cooling can be avoided. In order to accurately determine the contact state based on the pressure information, for example, a threshold value for the pressure may be set by simulation in advance.

  As described above, according to the skin cooling device according to the present embodiment, since the cooling is controlled based on the pressure information, the skin can be suitably cooled.

<2>
In one aspect of the skin cooling device according to the present embodiment, the skin cooling device further includes a temperature detection unit that detects the temperature of the cooling unit, and the control unit adds to the pressure information and the temperature information detected by the temperature detection unit. Based on the control of the cooling means.

  According to this aspect, for example, the temperature detection unit configured as a temperature sensor detects the temperature of the cooling unit. And control of the cooling means by a control means is performed based on the temperature information detected by the temperature detection means in addition to the pressure information detected by the pressure detection means.

  For example, the control means controls the temperature of the cooling means to be a constant temperature. Specifically, the control means controls to start the cooling when the temperature of the cooling means is higher than the desired temperature, and to stop the cooling when the temperature is lower than the desired temperature. Alternatively, the control means may control the cooling means by determining the contact state with the skin based on the temperature information. Specifically, when the cooling means is at a temperature close to the skin, the control means determines that the cooling means is in a state of being pressed against the skin, and performs control so as to start the cooling. On the other hand, when the cooling means is at a temperature close to room temperature, the control means determines that the cooling means is not pressed against the skin and performs control to stop the cooling.

  As described above, if the cooling means is controlled based on temperature information, more appropriate control becomes possible as compared with the case where control is performed based only on pressure information. Therefore, it is possible to cool the skin more suitably.

<3>
In the aspect provided with the temperature detection means mentioned above, the said temperature detection means may detect the temperature of the said cooling means, when the pressure to the said cooling means becomes more than a predetermined | prescribed threshold value.

  According to this structure, the temperature of the cooling means is detected only when the pressure to the cooling means exceeds the predetermined threshold value. Here, the “predetermined threshold value” is a threshold value for determining whether or not the cooling means is in a state of being pressed against the skin. Therefore, according to this aspect, it is possible to prevent the temperature from being detected despite the fact that the cooling means is not pressed against the skin, and the cooling means to be improperly controlled.

<4>
In another aspect of the skin cooling device according to the present embodiment, the cooling means includes a Peltier element.

  According to this aspect, cooling can be realized with a relatively simple configuration using the Peltier element. In addition, since the Peltier device consumes a relatively large amount of power, the above-described effect of avoiding the power loss can be more significantly exhibited.

<5>
In a mode in which the cooling means described above includes a Peltier element, the cooling means may cool the skin by bringing one surface of the Peltier element into contact.

  In this case, since the skin can be directly cooled by the Peltier element, the cooling efficiency can be enhanced.

<6>
In another aspect of the skin cooling device according to the present embodiment, the cooling means is configured to be movable by the pressure from the skin, and the pressure detection means is configured to move the cooling means according to the amount of movement of the cooling means. To detect the pressure on the

  According to this aspect, since the pressure can be detected mechanically according to the amount of movement of the cooling means, the manufacturing cost can be reduced compared to, for example, the case where a pressure sensor is used.

<7>
In the aspect in which the cooling means described above is configured to be movable, the apparatus may further include biasing means for biasing the cooling means toward the skin side.

  According to this structure, since the cooling means is biased toward the skin side, the contact state with the skin can be stabilized. Specifically, the cooling means can be pressed against the skin with uniform force. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the insufficient pressing effect from obtaining the sufficient cooling effect or the occurrence of the variation in the cooling effect.

<8>
The skin cooling method according to the present embodiment is a skin cooling method for cooling the skin by a cooling unit, and is based on a pressure detection step of detecting a pressure on the cooling unit and pressure information detected in the pressure detection step. And a control step of controlling the cooling means.

  According to the skin cooling method of the present embodiment, as in the skin cooling device of the present embodiment described above, since the cooling is controlled based on the pressure information, it is possible to preferably cool the skin.

  In addition, also in the skin cooling method of this embodiment, the aspect similar to the various aspects of the skin cooling device of this embodiment mentioned above can be taken.

<9>
The computer program according to the present embodiment is a computer program for cooling the skin by a cooling unit, and is based on a pressure detection step of detecting a pressure on the cooling unit and pressure information detected in the pressure detection step. And causing the computer to execute a control step of controlling the cooling means.

  According to the computer program of the present embodiment, similar to the skin cooling device and the skin cooling method of the present embodiment described above, the cooling is controlled based on the pressure information, so that the skin can be suitably cooled. .

  Also in the computer program of the present embodiment, the same aspects as the various aspects of the skin cooling device of the present embodiment described above can be adopted.

<9>
The recording medium according to the present embodiment is recorded with the above-described computer program (including various aspects thereof).

  According to the recording medium of the present embodiment, it is possible to cause the computer to execute the computer program of the present embodiment described above and to preferably cool the skin.

  The skin cooling apparatus and the skin cooling method according to the present embodiment, and the operation and other advantages of the computer program and the recording medium will be described in more detail in the following examples.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a skin cooling device and a skin cooling method, and a computer program and a recording medium will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment
A skin cooling apparatus according to a first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

<Overall configuration>
First, the entire configuration of the skin cooling apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the entire configuration of the skin cooling apparatus according to the first embodiment.

  In FIG. 1, the skin cooling device 100 according to the first embodiment is configured as a handy type device. The skin cooling device 100 mainly includes a battery 130, a substrate 140, a heat sink 150, a cooling fan 160, a duct 170, and a cooling unit 200 in the upper case 110 and the lower case 120.

  The battery 130 is a power supply that supplies power for operating the skin cooling device 100, and is connected to the substrate 140 via the power cable 141.

  The substrate 140 is a substrate provided with a plurality of electronic circuits, and controls each part of the skin cooling device 100. The substrate 140 is connected to the Peltier device of the cooling unit 200 via the Peltier device cable 142. Further, the substrate 140 is connected to the switch of the cooling unit 200 and the temperature sensor via the SW / temperature sensor cable 143. The substrate 140 is further connected to a cooling fan 160 via a cooling fan cable 144. The substrate 140 functions as one specific example of the “control means”.

  The heat sink 150 is disposed in contact with the heat dissipation surface of the cooling unit 200 (that is, the surface opposite to the cooling surface in contact with the skin), and functions as promoting heat dissipation of the cooling unit 150.

  The cooling fan 160 is configured to be able to blow the cooling air to the heat sink 150 via the duct 170. The upper case 110 is provided with an intake port 111 for supplying the cooling air to the cooling fan 160 and an exhaust port 112 for discharging the cooling air having passed through the heat sink 150 to the outside.

  The cooling unit 200 is a part that comes in contact with the skin to realize cooling. The specific configuration of the cooling unit 200 will be described in detail below.

<Configuration of Cooling Unit>
Next, the configuration of the cooling unit 200 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing the configuration of the cooling unit of the skin cooling apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing the contact operation of the cooling unit of the skin cooling apparatus according to the first embodiment.

  In FIG. 2, the cooling unit 200 includes a cooling body 210, a Peltier element 220, a temperature sensor 230, a spring 240, a spring fixing unit 250, and a switch 260.

  The cooling body 210 is a member that performs cooling in contact with the skin, and is configured to include a material with high thermal conductivity such as aluminum. In addition, since the cooling body 210 is in direct contact with the skin, it is preferable that the cooling body 210 includes a highly biologically stable material.

  Peltier element 220 is provided in contact with the surface opposite to the contact surface (that is, the surface in contact with the skin) of cooling body 210, and functions as a coolant for cooling cooling body 210. The refrigerant is not limited to the Peltier element 220, and other cooling means (for example, water cooling etc.) can be used. The Peltier device 220, together with the cooling body 210, functions as one specific example of the "cooling means".

  The temperature sensor 230 is provided on the cooling body 210, and is configured to be able to detect the temperature of the cooling body 210. The temperature sensor 230 not only detects the temperature of the cooling body 210, but also functions as a sensor that determines whether the skin is in contact with the cooling body 210 using the temperature change of the cooling body 210. The temperature sensor 230 is one specific example of the “temperature detection unit”.

  The spring 240 is disposed between the cooling body 210 and a spring fixing member 250 fixed to the lower case 120, and biases the cooling body 210 to the skin side (that is, the downward direction in the drawing). The cooling body 210 is configured to be movable with respect to the lower case 120 (in other words, the housing) using the biasing force of the spring 240. Specifically, when the cooling body 210 contacts the skin, the load from the skin moves the cooling body 210 so as to be pushed into the lower case 120. The spring 240 is a specific example of the "biasing means", and has a function of stabilizing the contact state between the cooling body 210 and the skin and preventing the occurrence of variation in cooling.

  In FIG. 3, when the cooling body 210 contacts the skin, the cooling body 210 moves so as to be pushed in the load direction (ie, the upper direction in the figure). At this time, the Peltier element 220 fixed to the cooling body 210, the heat sink 150, the cooling fan 160, and the duct 170 move integrally with the cooling body 210.

  When the cooling body 210 is pushed, the convex portion 215 of the cooling body 210 comes into contact with the switch 260 as can be seen from the figure. In this manner, the switch 260 is configured to be turned on when the cooling body 210 contacts the skin and a certain amount of load is applied. According to such a switch 260, whether or not the skin is in contact with the cooling body 210 can be determined by the on / off thereof. The switch 260 is an example of the “pressure detection unit”.

  Instead of the switch 260, a pressure sensor can be used. That is, skin contact may be determined based on the value of pressure detected by the pressure sensor. In the case of using a pressure sensor, the cooling body 210 may not be configured to be movable, for example, may be mechanically fixed. In this case, the same effect can be expected by arranging the pressure sensor in a portion where pressure is applied structurally by the reaction force that the cooling body 210 receives from the skin. In the case where the cooling body 210 is not movable, a waterproof structure for preventing water immersion from the gap between the cooling body 210 and the lower case 120 can be provided.

<Description of operation>
Next, the operation of the skin cooling device 100 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the operation of the skin cooling apparatus according to the first embodiment.

  In FIG. 4, in the skin cooling device 100 according to the first embodiment, when the cooling body 210 is pushed in and the switch 260 is turned on (step S101: YES), temperature detection by the temperature sensor 230 is performed (step S101). S102). That is, when pressure similar to that in the state where the skin is in contact is applied to the cooling body 210, temperature detection is performed.

  The detected temperature of the cooling body 210 is compared with a threshold value for determining skin contact (step S103). The threshold value here may be set as a value corresponding to the temperature of the cooling body 210 when in contact with the skin. In addition, in the case where temperature change of the cooling body 210 is monitored, it may be set as a value corresponding to the temperature rise width after the skin comes in contact.

  If it is determined that the detected temperature is higher than the threshold (step S103: YES), the Peltier device 220 and the cooling fan 160 are driven, and the cooling of the cooling body 210 is started (step S104). On the other hand, when it is determined that the detected temperature is less than or equal to the threshold (step S103: NO), the cooling is not started. That is, in the present embodiment, even if the pressure is applied to the cooling body 210, the cooling is not started unless the temperature of the cooling body 210 becomes higher than the threshold.

  According to the control described above, it is possible to prevent the cooling from being performed when pressure is applied to the cooling body 210 by something other than the skin (in other words, when the pressure is applied but it should not be cooled). More specifically, for example, when the skin cooling device 100 is left on a table or the like, the pressure received from the table surface may cause erroneous determination that the skin is in contact and cooling may be started. It can prevent. As a result, power consumption due to unnecessary cooling can be avoided.

  After the start of cooling, when the temperature falls below a predetermined temperature (for example, 12 ° C.) (step S105: YES), the cooling is stopped (step S106). Note that, after the cooling is stopped, the cooling may be started again when the temperature exceeds the second predetermined temperature (for example, 15 ° C.). In this way, the temperature of the cooling body 210 can be maintained in a certain range. In addition, cooling may be performed without monitoring the temperature of the cooling body 210. Specifically, the cooling may be automatically stopped when a predetermined time has elapsed after the start of the cooling. As described above, even if the temperature of the cooling body 210 is not monitored, suitable cooling can be performed by setting the predetermined time as an appropriate period (that is, a period in which the cooling body 210 is cooled to a desired temperature). It is possible to realize.

  As described above, according to the skin cooling device 100 according to the first embodiment, contact of skin can be appropriately determined by using pressure information and temperature information, and suitable cooling can be realized.

Second Embodiment
Next, a skin cooling apparatus according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the entire configuration of the skin cooling apparatus according to the second embodiment. In the following, description of portions overlapping with the first embodiment already described will be omitted as appropriate.

  In FIG. 5, a skin cooling apparatus 100b according to the second embodiment is configured as a stationary apparatus. The skin cooling device 100b is configured to include a support portion 310 supporting the device, and a bending portion 320 configured to allow passage of a part of the body such as an arm. The cooling unit 200 b is attached to the bending unit 320. In addition, 200b which concerns on 2nd Example is also the structure similar to the cooling part 200 which concerns on 1st Example, and cooling of skin is suitably made possible using pressure information and temperature information.

  In the stationary apparatus, for example, it is conceivable to realize contact between the cooling unit 200 and the skin by driving so as to automatically sandwich the human body. In such a case, if the contact determination can not be accurately performed, the device may not operate properly and unexpected situations may occur. Specifically, for example, when trying to determine skin contact only by the temperature rise of the cooling body 210, a time delay occurs due to the influence of propagation and temperature distribution until heat is transmitted to the temperature sensor, and the device overruns. There is a risk of

  On the other hand, in the skin cooling device 100b according to the present embodiment, contact with the skin is accurately determined using pressure information and temperature information. For this reason, the position control accuracy of the device is enhanced, and an appropriate contact between the cooling unit 200b and the skin can be realized.

  As described above, the skin cooling device 100b according to the second embodiment can realize suitable cooling similarly to the first embodiment.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately modified without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as can be read from the claims and the specification as a whole, and a skin cooling device accompanied with such modifications. Also, a method for cooling the skin, and a computer program and a recording medium are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 skin cooling apparatus 110 upper case 111 air intake 112 exhaust 120 lower case 130 battery 140 board 141 battery cable 142 Peltier device cable 143 SW / temperature sensor cable 144 cooling fan cable 150 heat sink 160 cooling fan 170 duct 200 cooling part 210 cooling body 215 convex portion 220 peltier element 230 temperature sensor 240 spring 250 spring fixing member 260 switch 310 support portion 320 curved portion

Claims (4)

With the case,
A contact surface for contacting the skin,
A detection unit that detects a pressure applied to the contact surface;
Biasing means for biasing against pressure applied to the contact surface;
Equipped with
The contact surface is configured to move to be pushed towards the case by the pressure applied;
The skin contact device, wherein the detection unit detects a pressure on the contact surface by moving so that the contact surface is pushed toward the case. The contact surface is provided at a position projecting from the case of a moving member disposed so as to be enclosed by a part of the case,
The skin contact device according to claim 1, wherein an edge portion of the case surrounding the moving member and an outer peripheral portion of the moving member opposed to the edge portion are formed to have a radius.   The skin contact device according to claim 2, wherein the detection unit detects a pressure on the contact surface by moving the moving member so as to be pushed toward the case.   The detection unit may further detect that the contact surface is pressed against the skin when a pressure equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold value is applied to the contact surface. A skin contact device according to any one of the preceding claims.