JP3156702U - thermometer - Google Patents

Abstract

A thermometer that is sufficiently protected against dust and muddy water and that can be easily installed and removed. In a thermometer comprising a thermocouple and a thermometer main body that calculates a temperature by analyzing a signal output from the thermocouple, a case that accommodates the thermometer main body, A protective tube 3 that is fixed and accommodates the thermocouple 4 is provided at the tip thereof, and a lead wire 6 that connects the thermocouple 4 and the thermometer body 5 passes through the protective tube 3. The protective tube 3 has a distal end formed of a rigid tube 11 that cannot be bent, and a proximal end of the protective tube 3 formed of a flexible tube 12 that can be bent. [Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a thermometer, particularly a thermometer used outdoors.

  In the agricultural field, a thermometer that measures the temperature of the soil in the field is required. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a steam soil disinfection system that disinfects soil by heating it with steam. In this system, a large number of temperature sensors are disposed in the ground (see FIG. 1). 2).

  Needless to say, temperature sensors used in such systems need to be protected from dust and muddy water. Further, the temperature sensor needs to be connected to a system control device via a signal line.

  In Patent Document 2, an electronic board having a temperature detection circuit and the like is accommodated in a waterproof case, and a cable extending from the waterproof temperature-sensitive sleeve is drawn into the waterproof case so that the temperature-sensitive sleeve and the temperature detection circuit are provided. A digital thermometer with a stub is disclosed.

JP 2005-110646 A JP 2007-285766 A

  However, when the digital thermometer of Patent Document 2 is used in the steam soil disinfection system of Patent Document 1, the field to be disinfected is dug up prior to disinfection, and the temperature-sensitive sleeve and cable are buried in the soil. It was necessary to dig up. In other words, there was a problem that it took a lot of effort to install and remove.

  The present invention has been made under such a background, and an object thereof is to provide a thermometer that is sufficiently protected against dust and muddy water and that can be easily installed and removed.

  In order to solve the above problems, a thermometer according to the present invention accommodates the main body in a thermometer including a temperature detection element and a main body that calculates a temperature by analyzing a signal output from the temperature detection element. A case and a protective tube which is fixed to the case and accommodates the temperature detecting element at the tip thereof are provided.

  The temperature detection element and the main body may be connected by a lead wire, and the lead wire may pass through the protective tube.

  At least a part of the protective tube may be formed of a flexible tube that can be bent.

  Further, the distal end portion of the protective tube may be constituted by a rigid tube that cannot be bent, and the proximal end portion of the protective tube may be constituted by a flexible tube that can be bent.

  According to the present invention, since the main body of the thermometer is housed in the case and the temperature detecting element is housed in the protective tube, both the main body and the temperature detecting element are protected from dust and muddy water. Therefore, it can be used outdoors. In addition, since the lead wire connecting the main body portion and the temperature detection element is passed through the protective tube, the thermometer installation is completed simply by piercing the tip of the protective tube into the measurement object. Moreover, removal of a thermometer is completed only by pulling out the front-end | tip of a protective tube from a measuring object. Therefore, the thermometer can be easily installed and removed. Further, if a part of the protective tube is formed of a flexible tube, the posture and orientation of the case can be freely changed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a block diagram of the thermometer which shows an example of embodiment of this invention, (a) is the external view of the whole thermometer, (b) is a plane sectional view of a case, (c) shows the cross-sectional view of a case, respectively. ing. It is a notional block diagram of a thermometer main body. It is a figure which shows the usage condition of a thermometer.

  Hereinafter, a specific embodiment of the present invention will be described using the thermometer 1 shown in FIG. 1 as an example.

  As shown in FIG. 1 (a), the thermometer 1 includes a case 2 and a protective tube 3, a thermocouple 4 is provided at the tip of the protective tube 3, and a thermometer body 5 is provided inside the case 2. A lead wire 6 extending from the thermocouple 4 enters the case 2 through the protective tube 3 and is connected to the thermometer body 5.

  The case 2 is a plastic sealed container, and as shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C, the thermometer main body 5 is housed therein to protect it from dust and muddy water. The case 2 includes a main body 7 and a lid body 8, and the lid body 8 is connected to the main body 7 by a hinge 9 so as to be freely opened and closed. Further, the lid 8 is locked to the main body 7 by the fastener 10 and keeps the state in which the main body 7 is closed. 1B is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the case 2, and FIG. 1C is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the case 2 taken along A-A 'in FIG. 1A.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1A, the protective tube 3 is a metal tube whose front end is closed and whose base end (case 2 side) is open, and a thermocouple 4 is placed inside the front end. Contained and protected from dust and muddy water. About half of the distal end side of the protective tube 3 is composed of a rigid tube 11, and the proximal end side is composed of a flexible tube 12, both of which are connected via a connection portion 13. In addition, the length of the protective tube 3 in this embodiment is about 1 m.

  The rigid tube 11 is an arm force of the user of the thermometer 1 or an external force applied during use of the thermometer 1 (for example, a reaction force that the protective tube 3 receives from the ground when the protective tube 3 is pierced into the ground as described later. ) Is a metal tube having a diameter of about 5 mm and having a rigidity that hardly deforms. The term “rigid body” as used herein refers to an object having greater rigidity than the flexible tube 12, and refers to a rigid body that is assumed in solid mechanics, that is, an object in which distortion caused by an external force is always zero. Absent.

  The flexible tube 12 is a metal tube having a diameter of about 7 mm, and can be easily bent by arm force. However, as will be described later, a rigidity that does not bend due to gravity applied to the case 2 (and the thermometer body 5) is required.

  A base 14 is attached to the base end of the protective tube 3 (flexible tube 12), and the tip of the base 14 is inserted into the case 2. Further, inside the case 2, a nut 15 is screwed onto the tip of the base 14 (see FIG. 1B). That is, the protective tube 3 (flexible tube 12) is fastened to the case 2 by the base 14 and the nut 15.

  Further, a solid seal (gasket, O-ring, etc.) (not shown) is sandwiched between the nut 15 and the case 2 to prevent intrusion of dust and water from the joint portion between the protective tube 3 and the case 2. Alternatively, instead of a solid seal, a liquid seal may be applied to the coupling portion.

  The thermocouple 4 is a temperature detection element in which an electromotive force changes with a change in temperature. That is, the thermocouple 4 is an element that converts a change in temperature into a change in electromotive force.

  The thermometer body 5 is a device that calculates the temperature by analyzing the signal output from the thermocouple 4, that is, the magnitude of the current flowing through the lead wire 6. Can be displayed (see FIG. 1B). Since the case 2 includes the transparent window 2a, the value displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 16 can be visually recognized from the outside of the case 2.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the thermometer main body 5 includes an analysis unit 17, a memory 18, and an output interface (I / F) 19 in addition to the liquid crystal display panel 16.

  The analysis unit 17 is an electronic circuit that calculates a temperature by analyzing a signal (= current flowing through the lead wire 6) output from the thermocouple 4, and is configured by writing a program describing an analysis procedure in a so-called one-chip computer. . The temperature value calculated by the analysis unit 17 is displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 16. The temperature value calculated by the analysis unit 17 is sequentially stored in the memory 18 in accordance with a predetermined schedule (schedule defined by the program). That is, the memory 18 stores and accumulates the temperature detected by the thermocouple 4 in time series. The temperature value stored in the memory 18 is output to an external device (not shown) through the output interface 19. The electric power for driving the thermometer body 5 is supplied from a battery (not shown) built in the thermometer body 5.

  Now, the thermometer 1 is used, for example, as shown in FIG. 3A, protruding from the ground 20, that is, by inserting the protective tube 3 into the soil 21. As described above, since the thermocouple 4 is protected by the protective tube 3, the risk of damaging the thermocouple 4 at this time is very small. Moreover, the function of the thermocouple 4 is not impaired by the soil 21 or muddy water. Moreover, since the thermometer body 5 is protected by the case 2, even if the thermometer 1 is installed outdoors, the function of the thermometer body 5 is not impaired by dust or rain.

  Moreover, the thermometer 1 can be installed and removed simply by piercing the protective tube 3 into the ground 20 or pulling it out. That is, the thermometer 1 is very easy to install and remove.

  Moreover, as shown in FIG.3 (b), the flexible tube 12 can be bent and the attitude | position of the case 2 can be changed freely. For example, the posture of the case 2 can be changed so that the liquid crystal display panel 16 of the thermometer body 5 faces in a direction convenient for the observer (that is, it is easy to read numerical values). Further, since the flexible tube 12 has an appropriate hardness, even if the force is applied to the flexible tube 12 and then bent, the bent state can be maintained even if the force is removed. That is, the flexible tube 12 does not bend with the weight of the case 2 (and the thermometer body 5).

  Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 3C, when the protective tube 3 is horizontally inserted into the tub 22 and the temperature inside the tub 22 is measured, the liquid crystal display plate 16 can be obtained by bending the flexible tube 12 at a right angle. Since the character strings displayed in are arranged horizontally, it is easy to read numerical values.

  The embodiment described above is an exemplification, and the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. It goes without saying that the present invention can be freely modified, applied, or improved within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims for utility model registration.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the case 2 is a plastic container, but the material of the case 2 is not limited to plastic. Various materials can be arbitrarily selected. Metal may be selected as the material for case 2, or a composite material made of metal and plastic or various fibers may be selected as the material for case 2.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, the cover body 8 is connected to the main body 7 through the hinge 9 so that opening and closing is possible, and the case 2 configured to hold the cover body 8 in the closed state using the fastener 10 is illustrated. However, the shapes and types of the hinge 9 and the fastener 10 are not limited to the illustrated ones, and the lid 8 may be coupled to the main body 7 by means other than the hinge 9 and the fastener 10. For example, the lid 8 may be detachably coupled to the main body 7 using screws, bolts and nuts. Alternatively, the lid body 8 may be fitted to the main body 7 and the lid body 8 may be held on the main body 7 by the elastic force of the lid body 8 or the main body 7.

  Moreover, although the example which uses the protective tube 3 which uses a metal as a raw material was shown in the said embodiment, the raw material of the protective tube 3 is not limited to a metal. Various materials can be arbitrarily selected. For example, plastic may be selected as the material of the protective tube 3, or a composite material made of metal and plastic or various fibers may be selected.

  Further, the flexible tube 12 constituting a part of the protective tube 3 is “can be bent freely with arm force”, and if it can be “held in a bent state”, its shape and structure are It is not limited. For example, a bellows tube, corrugated tube having a continuous waveform in the longitudinal section, or a tube having various shapes / structures such as a spiral tube formed by spirally winding a long strip-shaped material, a spiral tube can be selected. .

  In the above embodiment, an example in which about half of the front end side of the protective tube 3 is the rigid tube 11 and the remaining is the flexible tube 12, the ratio of the length of the rigid tube 11 and the flexible tube 12 is as follows. What is necessary is just to choose an optimal value according to a use. The entire length of the protective tube 3 may be the rigid tube 11, or the entire length of the protective tube 3 may be the flexible tube 12. Moreover, the length of the protective tube 3 may be selected as an optimum value according to the application.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the thermocouple 4 was shown as a specific example of a temperature detection element, the temperature detection element which comprises this invention is not limited to the thermocouple 4. FIG. Various temperature detection elements can be arbitrarily selected. For example, elements such as various thermistors and platinum thin films whose electrical resistance changes depending on the temperature may be selected as the temperature detection element. Alternatively, a capacitor whose capacitance changes with temperature, that is, a capacitor whose dielectric is a temperature-sensitive body whose dielectric constant changes with temperature may be selected as the temperature detection element.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the example which equips the thermometer main body 5 with the liquid crystal display panel 16, the analysis part 17, the memory 18, and the output interface 19 was shown, the thermometer which concerns on this invention is equipped with all these components. It is not limited to. It is sufficient for the thermometer body 5 to include at least the analysis unit 17, and the liquid crystal display panel 16, the memory 18, and the output interface 19 are not essential components of the thermometer body 5.

  For example, if the temperature data is output to an external device (not shown) and displayed on the display device of the external device, the liquid crystal display panel 16 can be omitted.

  Alternatively, if the temperature data is stored in the storage device of the external device, the memory 18 can be omitted.

  Further, if the thermometer 1 is used in a completely stand-alone state, the output interface 19 is unnecessary.

  Conversely, the thermometer 1 may be provided with the output interface 19, and the temperature data detected by the thermometer 1 may be output to the external device via the output interface 19 in real time.

  Further, the output interface 19 may be provided with a transmitter so that the temperature data detected by the thermometer 1 is wirelessly output to an external device.

  Moreover, although the example which uses the thermometer 1 in the agricultural field | area, ie, the example used for measurement of underground temperature, was shown in the said embodiment, the use of the thermometer 1 is not limited to such an example. For example, it can be applied to various fields and measurement objects such as measurement of water temperature in a culture pond, measurement of the temperature in a brewing tank, or temperature measurement of a cooking oven.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Thermometer 2 Case 2a Transparent window 3 Protective tube 4 Thermocouple 5 Thermometer main body 6 Lead wire 7 Main body 8 Lid body 9 Hinge 10 Fastener 11 Rigid tube 12 Flexible tube 13 Connection part 14 Base 15 Nut 16 Liquid crystal display board 17 Analysis unit 18 Memory 19 Output interface 20 Ground 21 Soil 22

Claims (4)

In a thermometer comprising a temperature detection element and a main body that calculates a temperature by analyzing a signal output from the temperature detection element,
A case for housing the main body,
A thermometer comprising a protective tube fixed to the case and containing the temperature detecting element at a tip thereof. The temperature detection element and the main body are connected by a lead wire,
The thermometer according to claim 1, wherein the lead wire passes through the protective tube. The thermometer according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the protective tube is formed of a flexible tube that can be bent. The distal end of the protective tube is composed of a rigid tube that cannot be bent,
The thermometer according to claim 3, wherein a base end portion of the protective tube is configured by a flexible tube that can be bent.

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