JP2967473B2 - Head measuring instrument - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a head measuring instrument for easily knowing a numerical value related to a positional relationship between a neck and an occiput in a natural upright posture or a sitting posture, which is a basis for selecting a pillow.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Pillows as bedding have been used since ancient times, but users also have a habit of going to bed, and each pillow has its own preference in terms of height, hardness or softness, and each user's body shape, In particular, it has not always been easy to obtain a pillow shaped to match the shape of the head and upper body. In recent years, pillows have been manufactured in which the height of the pillow is changed by adjusting the amount of the stuffing in and out so as to meet the user's preference. However, the amount of filling to be taken in and out is not determined based on the measured value in the actual sleeping state, and the present situation is that it does not always take a preferable sleeping posture.

[0003] Medically, it is said that a state of supine lying in a natural upright posture is the most preferable sleeping posture. In order to take this posture, it is necessary to use a pillow that can keep the positional relationship with the shoulder in a shape along the curve from the neck to the back of the head, but there is no conventional method to easily measure this positional relationship with the curve Was.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, the present invention quantifies the positional relationship between the neck and the occiput in a natural upright posture or a sitting posture, and provides a pillow suitable for an individual who is one of the conditions for good sleep. It is an object of the present invention to provide a measuring device for selecting a target.

[0005]

A vertical board fixed to a wall or a portion corresponding to a back plate of a chair for defining a back position of a human body in an upright posture or a sitting posture, and a horizontal board above the vertical board. And a measuring body provided slidably in the vertical direction and having a measuring point at a tip end protruding toward the subject, and a horizontal distance and a vertical distance from a reference point to the measuring point on the vertical substrate are displayed. And display means for displaying. In addition, a head posture defining member provided with a marking line defining the posture of the human head is provided.

[0006]

1 and 2 show a basic embodiment of a head measuring instrument according to the present invention. In the figure, head measuring instrument 1
Is provided via a vertical board 3 fixed to a portion corresponding to a back plate of the chair 2, a vertical position adjusting mechanism 4 with respect to the vertical board 3, and a sliding mechanism 5 in horizontal and vertical directions. It is mainly composed of a measuring body 6, a measured value display means 7 for the horizontal distance x and the vertical distance y, and a head posture defining member 8.

The vertical substrate 3 defines the position of the back of the subject 9 sitting on the chair 2, and is specifically in the form of a plate in contact with the scapula of the subject 9. That is,
The surface of the vertical substrate 3 is defined as a reference plane x0 in the horizontal direction (x direction), and the reference plane y0 or the reference point O in the vertical direction (y direction).
In the illustrated example, the position where the scapula of the subject 9 abuts on the vertical substrate 3 is defined as a reference plane y0 and a reference point O in the vertical direction (y direction).

Since the vertical substrate 3 supports the scapula as described above, the vertical substrate 3 may be divided into right and left parts, or may be U-shaped or the like. It is also possible to provide a cushioning material on the surface to reduce the contact feeling,
In the measurement state, it is preferable that the top of the scapula of the subject 9 abuts on the vertical substrate 3 itself so that the position is fixed.

The vertical position adjustment mechanism 4 is provided with a support member 41 extending from the back of the chair 2, a support hole 42 formed in the support member 41 in a vertical direction, and fitted in the support hole 42.
It is composed of a support column 43 supported so as to be slidable in the vertical direction and not to pivot. A locking pin 45 penetrating through the support member 41 into one of the plurality of locking holes 44 arranged at appropriate intervals in the vertical direction of the support column 43.
Is fixed, the support column 43 is fixed, and the locking pin 45
Is changed, the vertical position of the column 43, the sliding mechanism 5 provided on the column 43, and the measuring body 6 can be adjusted according to the height of the subject 9 to be measured.
Since the vertical sliding mechanism is also provided in the sliding mechanism 5 itself, the vertical position adjusting mechanism 4 is omitted, and
3 may be directly fixed to the chair 2.

A horizontal and vertical sliding mechanism 5 is fixed to a block 46 provided on the top of the column 43, and is supported slidably in the horizontal direction (x direction) by the horizontal guide bar 51. A sliding member 52 is provided, and a slide bar 53 is slidably supported in the vertical direction (y direction) by the sliding member 52. The measuring body 6 is provided at the lower end of the slide bar 53. I have.

When the measurement point 6 follows the measurement point P from the neck to the head of the human body, the measurement object 6 is located at the lower end of the slide bar 53 on the subject 9 side so that the slide bar 53 does not interfere with the human body. The vertical substrate 3 is provided so as to protrude in the supporting direction (x direction), and its tip is a measurement point P.

Since the tip of the measuring body 6 is a portion that comes into contact with the human body, it is preferable to avoid a sharp shape, and to form a spherical shape, a cylindrical surface, or the like, or to use a roller that rolls on the human body. If the radii of curvature are excessively large, an error occurs in the measurement at the inclined part of the neck or the head, so that the radius of curvature needs to be reduced to some extent.

The measured value display means 7 provides a reference plane x0, that is, a horizontal distance x from the surface of the vertical substrate 3 to the measurement point P at the tip of the measuring body 6, and the scapula of the subject 9 against the vertical substrate 3. Measurement point P from reference plane y0 including the contact position (reference point O)
It measures the vertical distance y up to and displays it. As the measured value display means 7, as shown in FIG. 2, a horizontal guide bar 51 is provided with a scale 71 for measuring a horizontal distance x, and a slide bar 53 is provided with a scale 73 for measuring a vertical distance y. There is a method of directly reading the scales of the scales 71 and 73 on the display unit 72.

The displacement (x) of the sliding member 52 and the displacement (y) of the slide bar 53 moved along the horizontal guide bar 51 are measured by a differential transformer, a linear encoder, or the like, or Each of the displacements may be converted into a rotation angle via a friction roller, a belt, a wire, or the like, measured by a rotary encoder, and the measured value may be digitally displayed on the display unit 72. Further, the measured values may be output to an external device such as a personal computer or a printer to perform data processing, or may be printed out in a numerical format, a graph format, or the like. When these measuring means are used, a sensor (pressure-sensitive switch) for detecting the contact pressure is provided at the measurement point P, and the measured value is output or displayed when the sensor detects the contact pressure. You can also.

The head posture defining member 8 is formed of a transparent plate-like member, is disposed perpendicularly to the side of the head of the subject 9 who is seated on the chair 2, and has a base end portion bent at 90 °. 81 is fixed to the column 43 at the edge. The head posture defining member 8 is provided with a mark line 82 for regulating the posture of the head of the subject 9 so that the ear-eye plane is horizontal. It is preferable that a plurality of the mark lines 82 are provided at appropriate intervals as shown in FIG. Further, the head posture defining member 8 is connected by a hinge at the base end portion 81 and the bent portion 83, and the head posture defining member 8 is positioned beside the subject 9 only when the head posture is defined. The measurement work can be easily performed by retracting other than the above.

Next, the head measuring instrument 1 constructed as described above
Will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, the subject 9 takes a natural sitting posture such that the back surface is in close contact with the vertical substrate 3.
In this state, the measurer confirms whether or not the eye of the subject 9 and the ear hole overlap with the marked line 82 of the head posture defining member 8, that is, whether or not the ear-horizontal position is at a horizontal position. When it is recognized, the subject 9 is urged to correct the posture. At this time,
If the position of the subject 9 and the measuring body 6 and the sliding mechanism 5 are far apart, the positions are adjusted by the vertical position adjusting mechanism 4.

In this manner, the measuring object 6 is placed on the subject 9 in a state where the subject 9 takes a natural sitting posture with the ears and eyes horizontal.
And the vertical distance y and the vertical distance y from the reference point O to the measurement point P by the measured value display means 7
Is measured.

Based on the measured values of the horizontal distance x and the vertical distance y obtained as described above, the height and positional relationship of the human neck and occipital region with the back of the human body in a natural sitting posture as the reference plane (x0) are used. The curve shape from the neck to the back of the head can be digitized, and a pillow having a shape suitable for each individual can be selected based on such objective numerical values. Furthermore,
To make selection of pillows easier by patterning a large number of data obtained by measurement according to the positional relationship between the neck and occiput and the curved shape, and preparing pillows of shapes or materials suitable for each pattern. Can be.

In the illustrated example, the case where the reference plane y0 in the vertical direction is the scapula position is shown, but the reference plane in the vertical direction is:
The position of the marked line 82 that is the ear-horizontal plane may be used. Also,
The subject 9 sits on the chair 2 from the side and takes a sitting posture in which the tip of the shoulder or the upper arm abuts on the vertical substrate 3,
The positional relationship from the shoulder tip to the neck and the temporal region and the curved shape can be quantified, and the pillow selection criteria for lying down can be obtained.

Next, FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the head measuring instrument of the present invention. In the figure, the head measuring device 20
1 is a vertical substrate 203 and a horizontal guide bar 25
1, sliding member 252, slide bar 253, measuring body 20
6 is fixed to the wall surface 204 of the base 202. Thus, the user can sit on an existing chair such as a stool, or measure the head in an upright posture without using a chair by increasing the mounting position of the base 202.

FIG. 4 shows still another embodiment of the head measuring instrument of the present invention. In the figure, a head measuring device 301 is provided with a vertical guide bar 353 also serving as a vertical position adjusting mechanism on a chair 302 provided with a vertical substrate 303, and a sliding member 352 can slide on the vertical guide bar 353. Further, the sliding member 352 is provided with a slide bar 351 also serving as a measuring body so as to be slidable in the horizontal direction. As described above, there are a plurality of embodiments of the head measuring instrument according to the present invention, depending on the installation mode and the mode of the sliding mechanism.

[0023]

As described above, the head measuring instrument according to the present invention comprises a vertical board fixed to a wall or a portion corresponding to a back plate of a chair in order to define the position of the back of the human body in an upright posture or a sitting posture. A measuring object having a measuring point at a tip end protruding toward the subject, provided above the substrate and slidably in the horizontal and vertical directions, and a reference point on the vertical substrate to a measuring point. Display means for displaying the horizontal distance and vertical distance of the subject, so that the positional relationship and curve shape from the neck to the back of the head in a natural upright posture or sitting posture can be measured and digitized by a simple operation, and the sleep condition It is possible to easily obtain an objective criterion for selecting a pillow suitable for an individual.

Further, since the head measuring device is provided with a head posture defining member provided with a mark for defining the posture of the human head, an appropriate head posture can be specified in a horizontal state. Measurement can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of a head measuring instrument of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part showing an embodiment of the head measuring instrument of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing another embodiment of the head measuring instrument of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing still another embodiment of the head measuring instrument of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,201,301 Head measuring instrument 2,302 Chair 3,203,303 Vertical board 4 Vertical position adjusting mechanism 5 Sliding mechanism 6,206 Measuring body 7 Measured value display means 8 Head posture defining member 9 Subject 51 , 251 Horizontal guide bar 52, 252 Sliding member 53, 253, 353 Slide bar 82 Marked line

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) A61B 5/107

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A vertical substrate fixed to a wall or a portion corresponding to a back plate of a chair for defining a back position of a human body in an upright posture or a sitting posture, and in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction above the vertical substrate. A measuring body that is provided slidably, and has a measuring point at a tip end protruding toward the subject,
Display means for displaying a horizontal distance and a vertical distance from a reference point to a measurement point on the vertical substrate. 2. The head measuring device according to claim 1, further comprising a head posture defining member provided with a reference line defining a posture of the human head.