JP3460370B2 - Urine sampling device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

[Object of the Invention]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sampling device for sampling urine excreted from an individual sitting on a toilet seat in a toilet equipped with a standard toilet bowl.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There has been proposed a device capable of supporting the individual's health check by sampling and analyzing urine using a toilet in a house, office or the like.

For example, in FIG. 4 of JP-A-62-187253 (Inax Co., Ltd.), a swing arm supporting a waste collection container is swung along the bowl surface of a toilet bowl to remove urine and other wastes. Disclosed is a sampling device adapted to collect. A recess which acts as an inspection area is formed in the rear portion of the bowl, and after sampling, the excrement collection container is moved to this area for excrement analysis. After use, the waste collection container is cleaned in this rear area.

Since this apparatus requires a special toilet bowl having an inspection area formed on the rear side, it is inconvenient that a standard toilet bowl cannot be used. For this reason, in order to be able to sample and analyze urine in a home, office, or other toilet, the existing conventional toilet bowl must first be removed and then a special toilet bowl dedicated to urine analysis must be installed. As a result, the construction costs a lot of money and labor, and also causes the disposal of the existing equipment. In addition, since such a special purpose toilet bowl has to be specially molded separately from the standardized toilet bowl, it is difficult to manufacture it in a mass production method, and it is too expensive to spread to general households and offices. is there.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-85133 (Totohki Co., Ltd.),
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 60-117115 (Toshiba Corporation), Sankaihei 1-136573
No. (Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd.), a swivel arm is rotatably attached to the toilet seat, a urine sensor is arranged at the free end of this arm, and urine excreted in the bowl is brought into contact with the sensor for analysis. Urine analyzers have been proposed.

These devices have the advantage that they can be used in combination with standard toilet bowls. However, contacting the raw urine directly with the sensor involves some problems. That is, unlike blood in which pH, chloride ion concentration, and oxygen concentration are highly adjusted by various physiological organs, in urine as excrement, pH, chloride ion concentration, and oxygen concentration are significantly different for each specimen. Since it fluctuates, it is difficult to perform a highly accurate analysis of the target urine component unless it is diluted with a buffer solution. In addition, by directly contacting the raw urine without diluting it, the sensor deteriorates early and the life of the sensor is shortened. Further, it is difficult to place a plurality of sensors at the tip of the arm, which makes it difficult to perform urine analysis on multiple items.

In Ukaikaihei No. 5-30764 (NOK Co., Ltd.), a swivel arm carrying a urine collection container is attached below the side part of the toilet seat, and urine excreted from a user seated on the toilet seat is collected. A health examination device has been proposed which has come to be analyzed. The urine sampled by the urine collection container is sucked by a manual syringe or an automatic collection syringe, mixed with a liquid reagent, and then sent to a measurement unit including an absorptiometer for urine analysis. Even in this device, since urine is collected in the air by the urine collection container that moves in the bowl space, there is an advantage that a standard toilet bowl can be used to sample urine without the need for a special toilet bowl. It Furthermore, since the urine sample is diluted with the liquid reagent and then analyzed, highly accurate analysis can be performed.

[0008]

Although it is suggested in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-30764 that the turning arm can be turned electrically, there is no disclosure about the specific structure and arrangement of the electric drive unit. . Mounting the swivel arm on the backside of the side of the toilet seat may involve considerable constraints to prevent the swivel arm and its electric drive from interfering with the rim of the toilet bowl. If the electric drive unit is downsized to the extent that it does not interfere with the rim, the rotational power of the arm will be insufficient and the urine collection container cannot be moved quickly. Further, if the driving unit is downsized, the structure becomes delicate and durability becomes a problem.

An object of the present invention is to provide a urine sampling device capable of sampling urine in a toilet equipped with a standard toilet bowl, and to realize a robust drive unit structure excellent in drive / positioning performance of a urine collection container. is there.

[0010]

[Constitution of the invention]

[Summary of Means and Actions for Solving the Problems] Generally, the toilet seat of a toilet is formed so that the front part is thin and the rear part is thicker. The present invention focuses on this point,
An electric drive unit is placed at the rear of the thick toilet seat, and the rotary shaft of the movable arm that carries the urine collection container is placed near the center of the side of the toilet seat, and both are connected via a power transmission mechanism such as a belt transmission mechanism. It is characterized by being connected.

As described above, since the electric drive unit is arranged at a large thickness in the rear portion of the toilet seat, the allowable size of the drive unit is large in the limited space between the seating surface of the toilet seat and the upper surface of the rim of the toilet bowl. Become. Therefore, it is possible to employ a drive unit that is as large as possible, robust, and reliable with sufficient torque.

Further, in many improved toilets, in order to prevent the toilet seat from slamming, the toilet seat is pivotally supported by a pivotal motion control mechanism so that the toilet seat is gradually closed. In this case, by providing the electric drive unit at the rear of the toilet seat, the rotational moment of the toilet seat centering on the hinge of the toilet seat becomes small, so the load on the pivotal motion control mechanism should be reduced and its function should be secured. You can

Although a rotary solenoid or the like can be used as the electric drive unit, it is preferable to use a motor such as a stepping motor that can easily position the urine collection container with high accuracy.

In order to comfortably use the toilet in cold weather, a heater wire for heating is often embedded inside the toilet seat. Therefore, in a preferred embodiment, the toilet seat is provided with a recess that opens downward, and at least a part of the drive portion is accommodated in this recess of the toilet seat. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the heater wire for heating inside the toilet seat from being damaged by moisture. Further, the strength of the toilet seat can be ensured while the drive portion is arranged by utilizing the thick portion of the toilet seat.

When a belt is used as the power transmission mechanism, it is preferable to remove the slack of the belt by providing a belt tensioning means such as a tensioner. With this configuration, the play and idle movement of the transmission mechanism are reduced, and thus the urine collection container can be accurately positioned. In the preferred embodiment, the drive is provided with a slip clutch mechanism. Then, the movable arm can be turned by hand, and maintenance of the urine sampling device can be facilitated.

[0016]

1 shows a urine analysis unit equipped with a urine sampling device of the present invention attached to a toilet bowl, and FIG. 2 shows a disassembled housing of the urine analysis unit shown in FIG. Referring to these drawings, the toilet 10 has a toilet bowl 12, to which a urine analysis unit 14 equipped with the urine sampling device of the present invention is attached. The toilet bowl 12 has a bowl portion 16 and a wash water supply portion 18. In the illustrated embodiment, the cleaning water supply unit is composed of a cistern mounting portion 18, and a cistern 20 is mounted on the mounting portion 18.

The urine analysis unit 14 has a housing 22 fixed to the toilet bowl 12, as will be described later, and a toilet seat 24 is rotatably attached to the housing 22. The urine sampling device 26 of the present invention is incorporated in the toilet seat 24. A toilet lid 28 is attached to the housing 22 so as to be openable and closable. A control unit 30 for controlling the components of the urine analysis unit 14 including the urine sampling device 26 and outputting the analysis result can be installed on the sidewall of the toilet.

The housing 22 of the urine analysis unit 14 is
For example, as shown in FIG. 2, it can be composed of a housing substrate 32, an upper casing 34, and left and right lower casings 36 and 38. These parts of the housing 22 can be manufactured by resin injection molding,
The housing 22 is formed by fastening them together with screws or the like.

As shown in FIG. 2, the toilet bowl 12 is provided with a pair of toilet seat mounting holes 40 between the bowl portion 16 and the flush water supply portion 18, and these toilet seat mounting holes 40 are used. A housing 22 is attached. Therefore, the base plate 32 of the housing 22 is mounted with two T bolts 42 on the lower surface of the base plate 32 by T groove fitting as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 63-6291, and these T bolts are mounted in the toilet seat mounting holes 40. And the corresponding nut 44 is fastened to fix it to the upper surface 46 of the toilet bowl 12 between the bowl portion 16 and the cistern mounting portion 18.

The toilet seat 24 and the toilet lid 28 are attached to the mounting portion 3 of the upper casing 34 of the housing 22 in a known manner via a pivotal motion control mechanism as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 5-19341.
5 is pivotally supported so that when the toilet seat 24 and the toilet lid 28 are closed, they are pivotally rotated.

As can be seen from FIG. 2, the base plate 32 has a central part extending transversely to the toilet bowl 12 and lateral parts extending forward from both ends of the central part, and the upper casing 34 also has a base part. It has a shape corresponding to 32. Therefore, the base plate 32, the upper casing 34, and the left and right lower casings 36 and 38 cooperate with each other to form a housing central portion 22C, a left side portion 22L, and a right side portion 2.
2R (FIG. 1) is formed.

As shown in FIG. 2, a measuring unit 48 for analyzing a urine sample sampled by the urine sampling device 26 is provided on the left side portion 22L of the housing.
An electric syringe pump 50 for transporting a urine sample or carrier liquid to the measuring unit 48, and a carrier liquid tank 52.
The calibration liquid tank 54 can be accommodated. As the measurement unit 48, a polarographic type or absorptiometer type flow cell can be used. A finger sphygmomanometer unit 56 may be arranged on the left side portion 22L of the housing, and the blood pressure may be measured by engaging with the left second finger of the subject. In the illustrated embodiment, the housing central portion 22C is provided with a conventional bidet device 60 having a cleaning nozzle 58, a conventional warm air drying device 62, and a conventional deodorizing device 64 including an ozonizer. Therefore, when the toilet 10 including the urine analysis unit 14 is used for a normal purpose, it provides respective functions. However, these additional features are not essential and can be omitted. Right part 2 of the housing
The power supply device 66 of the unit 14 and the operation panel 68 of the bidet device can be housed in the 2R.

Next, referring to FIGS. 3 to 9, the toilet seat 2
The urine sampling device 26 incorporated in the No. 4 will be described. Referring to FIG. 3, the urine sampling device 26 includes a frame or case 70, which is appropriately attached to the lower surface of the toilet seat 24 with screws or the like. The frame 70 is curved substantially along the contour of the toilet seat so that when the frame 70 is attached to the toilet seat, the frame 70 is generally hidden under the toilet seat. A curved swing arm 72 is rotatably supported on the frame 70, and is swingable by an electric drive mechanism 74.

As can be seen from FIG. 4, the upper end of the swing arm 72 is attached to a spindle 76, and the spindle is pivotally supported on the frame 70 by a pair of bearings 78 and 80. The spindle 76 is driven by a stepping motor 82 via a belt transmission mechanism. Therefore, the driven pulley 84 is provided on the spindle 76, and the toothed belt 86 is engaged with the driven pulley 84.

As best seen in FIG. 3, the motor 82 is located far rearward from the spindle 76 of the swing arm 72. As shown in FIG. 5, the toilet seat 2
The lower surface of 4 has a recess 88 formed therein so as to accommodate the motor 82 and the upper portion of the belt 86. In this way, since the motor 82 is stored by utilizing the recess 88 of the toilet seat 24, the frame 70 can be made thin, and thus the limit between the upper surface 92 of the rim 90 of the toilet bowl 12 and the lower surface of the toilet seat 24 can be achieved. Frame 7 in the vertically spaced space
It is possible to place 0. Further, since the motor 82 is arranged at the rear side and the recess 88 is arranged at a large thickness of the rear portion of the toilet seat 24 correspondingly, the recess 8 is formed.
The size of 8 can be enlarged, and it becomes possible to use a larger motor which is more robust and has a large torque.

As shown in FIG. 6, the output shaft of the motor 82 is connected to a spindle 94 via a slip clutch 93, and this spindle is mounted on a bearing block 96 fixed to the frame 70 and a pair of bearings 98 and 100. It is rotatably supported via. A drive pulley 102 is provided on the spindle 94, and a belt 86 is engaged with the drive pulley 102. Therefore, when the motor 82 is rotated, the swing arm 72 is rotationally driven.

As shown in FIG. 3, the frame 70 is provided with a slider 104 which is spring-biased upward.
The lower run of the belt 86 is engaged to remove the sag of the belt 86. Preferably, this slider 10
A tension pulley (not shown) capable of idling is rotatably supported on the belt 4, and is engaged with the lower run of the belt 86. Motor 82
The chamber containing the belt transmission mechanism is sealed and waterproofed by a packing 106 sandwiched between the frame 70 and the lower surface of the toilet seat 24. As shown in FIG. 6, the toilet seat 24 can be formed in a hollow shape by high-frequency welding the upper half body 24A and the lower half body 24B, and the heater wire 107 for heating the toilet seat is conventionally wired inside the toilet seat. can do.

A urine collection container 110 is provided at the lower end 108 of the swing arm 72. As you can see from Figure 8,
The urine collection container 110 has a shallow ship bottom shape having a substantially rectangular inlet opening 112 having a long axis extending transversely with respect to the toilet bowl 12, and a urine reservoir 114 is formed at the bottom thereof. The urine collection container 110 is provided with an L-shaped urine collection tube 116 that opens toward the bottom of the urine reservoir 114. In order to detect the accumulation of urine in the urine reservoir 114, a pair of covered upper electrode 118 and lower electrode 120 are projected into the urine reservoir.

The L-shaped urine collecting tube 116 has a swing arm 72.
It is connected to a flexible urine transport tube 134 that extends the hollow interior of the. The transfer tube 134 is the spindle 76.
As shown in FIG. 4, the hollow 7 of the spindle 7 is extended.
It is guided to the rear through the window 136 of No. 6 and connected to the syringe pump 50. Similarly, the urine detection electrodes 118 and 120 are also connected to the lead wires 138 and 140, which extend inside the hollow of the swing arm and the spindle 76, respectively. These leads are connected to the control circuit of the urine analysis unit 14.

In the illustrated embodiment, the urine collection container 110 is
Upright annular side wall 124, bottom wall 126, and bottom wall 126
It has a front wall 128 sloping rearward toward and a right wall 130 sloping leftward toward a bottom wall 126. As can be seen from FIG. 7, the inlet opening 112 of the urine collection container 110 has a radial surface 72A passing through the rotation axis of the swing arm 72.
Is almost perpendicular to. The inlet opening 112 of the urine collection container 110 is covered with a metal net 132 made of stainless steel or the like to prevent foreign matter from entering the urine collection container 110.

As can be seen from FIGS. 3 and 9, a storage case which forms a channel-shaped storage / washing chamber 142 opening downward toward the bowl 16 for storing the urine collection container 110 and the swing arm 72 when not in use. 14
4 is provided. This storage case 144 is a frame 70
Can be integrally formed with. This storage case 144
Is the rim 9 from the side to the front of the rim 90 of the toilet bowl 12.
It is curved and extends along the contour of 0, and is arranged inside the rim 90.

As shown in FIG. 3, a jet nozzle 146 is directed to the storage and cleaning chamber 142, and pressure water is jetted to the urine collection container 110 stored at the position shown by the solid line in FIG. The urine collection container 110 and the swing arm 72 are cleaned. The injection nozzle 146 can be fixed to a mounting block 148 attached to the frame 70, and the injection nozzle 146 can be supplied with pressurized water from a hose 150 connected to a water pipe via a solenoid valve (not shown). it can. Channel-shaped storage case 14
4 is reduced in size toward the rear, forming a drain gutter 152.

When not in use, the urine collection container 110 is stored in the storage / cleaning chamber 142 as shown by the solid line in FIG. 9, and in this state the toilet seat 24 can be rotated together with the urine sampling device 26. In the use position, the toilet seat 24 has the upper surface of the rim 90 of the toilet bowl with cushioned legs 154 (two of which are shown in FIG. 5, the other two not shown being located on the lower surface of the frame 70). 9
Supported by 2.

In sampling and analyzing urine, when the subject sits on the toilet seat 24 and presses the start switch 30A provided in the control unit 30, the motor 82 rotates and the swing arm 72 rotates. In general, there is a difference between men and women in the urination direction, and the urinary column tends to fall relatively forward in the case of men and backward in the case of women. Therefore, when the user is a male, the swing arm is rotated in advance so that the urine collection container 110 is positioned in the vicinity of the position A shown by the phantom line in FIG. 9, and the position is changed in accordance with the user's command. Fine-tuned. Urine collection container 1 if the user is a woman
Numeral 10 is positioned substantially horizontally near the position B indicated by the phantom line, and can be moved to the extreme position C in response to a command from the user.

The user can urinate toward the urine collection container 110 when the urine collection container 110 is brought to an appropriate position. The urine will hit the urine collection container 110 as indicated by arrows 156 or 158 in FIG. Urine droplets dropped on the inclined front wall 128 of the urine collection container are in the rear urine pool 1
Flow toward 14 and accumulate in the urine reservoir as indicated by the hatched area in FIG. When it is detected by the signals from the electrodes 118 and 120 that urine has accumulated in the urine reservoir 114 up to the level of the upper electrode 118, the syringe pump 50 is activated to operate the L-shaped urine collecting tube 116 and the carrier tube 1.
Urine is sucked through 34 and conveyed to the measuring unit 48 together with the carrier liquid in the carrier liquid tank 52, and the urine sample is subjected to quantitative analysis.

The measuring unit 48 comprises, for example, a polarographic flow cell provided with a glucose oxidase-immobilized membrane, and outputs a signal according to the glucose content in urine to the control unit 30. The control unit 30 calculates the glucose concentration based on the signal from the measurement unit 48, displays it on the display unit 30B, and outputs it to the printer 30C in response to the subject's command.

When the urine collection is completed, the swing arm 72 is rotated to return the urine collection container 110 to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. Next, by activating the solenoid valve, cleaning water is sprayed from the nozzle 146. The sprayed cleaning water forms a spray or a mist, and advances along the channel-shaped storage cleaning chamber 142, and the urine collection container 1
The outside of 10 is washed and the surface of the swing arm 72 is washed. A part of the spray is reflected forward by the inner wall of the washing chamber 142, passes through the wire mesh 132 of the urine collection container 110 which is in a vertical posture now, and enters the inside of the urine collection container to wash the inside of the urine collection container. The used wash water falls into the bowl 16. When you flip up the toilet seat,
Residual drops of wash water are guided by the drain gutter 152 to the rear of the frame 70 and fall to the rear of the bowl.

In order to effectively prevent foreign matter from entering,
It is preferable that the mesh of the wire net 132 be as fine as possible. However, the finer the mesh, the more difficult it is to pass the spray of wash water. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, if a part 124A of the side wall of the urine collection container 110 is tilted forward, the wash water that has entered the urine collection container will be allowed to enter the urine collection tube 116 and the electrode 11 by the side wall part 124A.
The limited amount of flush water that has entered the inside of the urine collection container can be maximized as it is guided to flow towards 8 and 120 and effectively cleans them. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, if the notch 160 is provided in the peripheral wall 124 of the urine collection container 110 facing the nozzle 146, the cleaning of the inside of the urine collection container can be further promoted.

Although specific embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these, and various design changes can be made. For example, the drive source of the swing arm is not limited to the motor. Further, instead of the belt transmission mechanism, a Bowden cable, a flexible shaft or a chain transmission mechanism may be used. Furthermore, the shapes of the swing arm and the urine collection container can be appropriately changed.

[0040]

According to the present invention, the electric drive portion of the swing arm is arranged by utilizing the thick portion of the rear portion of the toilet seat, so that the allowable dimension of the drive portion is increased. Therefore, it is possible to employ a larger drive unit that has sufficient torque and has a margin, and the urine collection container can be moved quickly and positioned accurately. In addition, since the size of the drive unit can be increased, a durable structure with excellent durability and reliability can be obtained.

Further, since the electric drive portion is provided at the rear portion of the toilet seat, the rotational moment around the hinge of the toilet seat is reduced. Therefore, in the case of the toilet seat having the pivotal motion control mechanism, the load thereof is reduced and the pivoting motion is reduced. The operation of the motion control mechanism can be ensured.

When a recess having a downward opening is provided in the toilet seat and a part of the drive unit is accommodated by using this recess, the strength of the toilet seat can be secured and deterioration of the heater wire for heating can be prevented. .

In an embodiment in which a belt is used for the transmission mechanism and the slack of the belt is removed by a tensioner,
It is possible to accurately position the urine collection container by reducing play and idle motion of the transmission mechanism. In the embodiment in which the drive unit is provided with the slip clutch mechanism, the movable arm can be rotated by hand, which facilitates maintenance of the urine sampling device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a urine analysis unit equipped with a urine sampling device of the present invention attached to a toilet bowl.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a housing of the urine analysis unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the urine sampling device shown in FIG. 1, in which the storage and cleaning chamber is shown with a part cut away.

4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the seat upside down.

6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VI-VI of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the swing arm shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of the urine collection container shown in FIG. 3, with a part cut away.

9 is a sectional view taken along line IX-IX in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

24: Toilet seat 26: Urine sampling device 70: Frame of urine sampling device 72: Swing arm 74: Swing arm drive unit 76: Swing arm rotation axis 82: Motor 86: Transmission belt 88: Toilet seat dent 93: Slip clutch 104: Belt tensioning means 110: Urine collection container

Front page continuation (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01N 33/493 E03D 9/00 G01N 1/10 G01N 33/48

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A movable arm having a rotary shaft and rotatably supported on a side portion of a toilet seat, a urine collection container carried at a free end of the movable arm, and a urine collection container having a rest position and a urine collection position. In a device for sampling urine excreted from an individual seated on a toilet seat in a toilet equipped with a standard toilet bowl, the drive source comprising: A urine sampling device, wherein the movable arm is arranged on a toilet seat behind the rotation axis, and the rotation of the drive source is transmitted to the rotation axis of the movable arm via a transmission mechanism. 2. The toilet seat includes a recess opening downward,
The urine sampling device according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the drive source is housed in the recess of the toilet seat. 3. The urine sampling device according to claim 1, wherein the transmission mechanism is a belt transmission mechanism. 4. The urine sampling device according to claim 3, wherein the belt transmission mechanism includes belt tensioning means for removing slack of the belt. 5. The urine sampling device according to claim 1, wherein the drive source and the rotary shaft are connected via a slip clutch mechanism.