JP3572060B2 - Mouth muscle force measurement load sensor - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a muzzle strength measuring load sensors, and in particular seeks to provide a load sensor for easy to handle muzzle muscle strength.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The present applicant has previously developed an orbital muscular strength measuring apparatus based on a research group such as a doctor and has already been patented (Patent Document 1) . According to the research of the research group, there are actual examples such as recovery of dementia due to aging and activation of brain function which was stunted by training of orbicular muscle strength. Instruments have also been developed and research on the orbicularis muscle has continued.
FIG. 7 shows a configuration of the orbital muscular strength measuring device proposed earlier. The orbital muscular strength measuring device proposed above is constituted by a load sensor 10 and a measuring device main body 20, and the load sensor 10 and the measuring device main body 20 can be connected by a cable 30.
[0003]
The load sensor 10 includes a ring-shaped rigid body 11 and strain sensors A, B, C, and D attached to the outer and inner circumferences of the rigid body 11. The ring-shaped rigid body 11 can be made of, for example, a stainless steel cylinder. The length of the cylinder in the axial direction is set to, for example, about 5 to 10 mm and the outer diameter is set to about 15 mmφ, so that the cylinder is formed into a shape (size) that can be inserted into the gap 4 of the lip cover 1 shown in FIG.
The conventional lip cover 1 is integrally formed of a resin material such as plastic, and a pair of lip covers 1A and 1B having a U-shaped groove 3 are connected by a connecting member 2, and a gap 4 is formed in the connected state. . The ring-shaped rigid body 11 shown in FIG. 7 is sandwiched in the gap portion 4, and the upper lip and the lower lip of the subject are engaged with both the U-shaped grooves 3 of the lip covers 1A and 1B, and the lip covers 1A and 1B are interposed. To apply the orbital muscle force W to the load sensor 10.
[0004]
As the strain sensors A, B, C and D, for example, strain sensors called strain gauges can be used. Strain sensors A, B, C, and D are attached to the outer peripheral surface and the inner peripheral surface of the rigid body 11 on the ring at positions aligned in the radial direction.
Strain sensors A, B, C, inserting the rigid 11 to lips cover 1 as Kuchiwa strength W is applied in a direction Cartesian and direction connecting the position bonded to D. Note that the lip cover 1 and the load sensor 10 are handled separately, and the lip cover 1 is set to the opening 4 of the load sensor 10 only at the time of measurement.
[0005]
Strain sensors A, B, C, and muzzle strength W (compressive load) is given by the position of direction Cartesian connecting fixing position bonded and D, the strain sensors attached to the outer peripheral surface of the rigid 11, in this example The resistance values of A and B change in the increasing direction, and the strain sensors C and D attached to the inner peripheral surface change in the direction of decreasing the resistance values.
The strain sensors A, B, C, and D are connected to a bridge circuit as shown in FIG. 9, and the bridge circuit is in an equilibrium state when no load is applied. When the load is applied, the resistance values of the strain sensors A and B increase, and the resistance values of the strain sensors C and D change in the decreasing direction. Therefore, the strain sensor A is provided between the output terminals J1 and J2 of the bridge circuit. , B, C, D are generated in accordance with the change in resistance.
[0006]
Since this voltage VD is generated in proportion to the orbicular muscle strength W, this voltage VD is amplified by an amplifier 21 shown in FIG. 23 can be instructed to indicate a value corresponding to the orbital muscle strength W. By calibrating the orbicular muscle strength W given to the rigid body 11 and the display value of the display 23 in advance, it is possible to directly read the orbicular muscle strength in units of N (Newton) from the indicated value of the display 23.
[0007]
[Patent Document 1]
Patent No. 3497111 Specification
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the mouth muscle strength measuring device proposed earlier, a ring-shaped rigid body 11 is sandwiched between the openings 4 of the lip covers 1A and 1B, and in this state, the orbital muscle strength W is applied to the rigid body 11. The mouth must be wide open to a size corresponding to the diameter. In addition, there is a possibility that an accident may occur in which the rigid body 11 comes off the lip cover 1 while the orbital muscular force W is being applied, and there is a disadvantage in terms of stability.
The purpose of the invention is intended to provide a muzzle muscle force measuring load sensor structure capable of stably measuring the muzzle strength without largely opened mouth.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, an annular strain generating member partially provided with a notch, a pair of sensing beams protruding outward from the annular shape from each end of the notched portion of the strain generating member, The present invention proposes a load sensor for measuring orbital muscular strength, comprising: a strain sensor attached to a generating member and converting a strain generated in the strain generating member into an electric signal.
Effect According to the load sensor for measuring the orbital muscular strength according to the present invention, the load sensor can be configured without taking a large opposing gap between the sensing beams, so that the mouth can be opened without opening the upper lip and the lower lip widely. Ring muscle strength can be measured.
[0010]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 shows an example of the appearance of a load sensor for measuring orbital muscle strength according to the present invention. In the drawing, reference numeral 100 denotes a load sensor for measuring orbital muscle strength according to the present invention. The external structure of the load sensor 100 for measuring orbital muscle strength according to the present invention includes a case 101 and sensing beams 102A and 102B protruding from the case 101. The distortion generating member 103 on the ring shown in FIG. In this example, the distortion generating member 103 forms a round hole in a square metal plate, and thin portions are formed at four locations by forming the round hole. A notch is formed in one of the thin portions, and sensing beams 102A and 102B are mounted on the end face of the notch. Each of the sensing beams 102A and 102B is formed of a rectangular metal plate, one end of which is mounted on a cutout surface of the strain generating member 103, and the other end of which is projected outside a ring formed by the strain generating member 103. The sensing beams 102A and 103B and the strain generating member 103 may be integrally formed of the same material.
[0011]
The strain detection sensors A, B, C, and D are attached to the thin portions 180 ° facing the cutout portions of the strain generation member 103. The strain detection sensors A, B, C, and D can use strain gauges. The strain gauges are electrically bridged as shown in FIG. In this example, in which A and D are connected to opposite sides of the bridge BR, for example, when A and D are attached to the outside of the ring formed by the strain generating member 103, B and C connected to the other opposite sides generate strain generation. It is attached to the inner surface of the ring formed by the member 103.
As described above, by selecting the positions where the strain detection sensors A, B, C, and D are attached, when the muzzle muscular force W is applied to the sensing beams 102A and 102B in the same manner as described with reference to FIG. A tension is applied to A and D, and the resistance value changes in a direction to increase. Further, a compressive force is applied to the strain detection sensors B and C, and the resistance value changes in a direction to decrease. Due to this change in the resistance value, the bridge BR enters an unbalanced state, and the degree of the unbalance is input to the amplifier 21 as an output voltage of the bridge BR. The degree of imbalance is amplified by the amplifier 21, the amplified output is peak-held by the peak hold circuit 22, the peak hold value is displayed on the display 23, and the maximum value of the orbicular muscle strength W is displayed on the display 23. You.
[0012]
When one measurement is completed, the reset switch 24 is turned on, the peak voltage stored in the peak hold circuit 22 is reset, and the display 23 is returned to the initial state. Note that reference numeral 25 shown in FIG. 2 denotes a power supply for applying a voltage for distortion detection to the bridge BR.
From the above, the configuration and operation of the load sensor 100 for measuring orbital muscle strength according to the present invention will be understood.
The present invention further proposes a lip cover which is used by being attached to the load sensor 100 for measuring orbital muscle strength shown in FIG. 3 to 5 show one embodiment. Reference numeral 200 shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 indicates a lip cover according to the present invention. A lip cover 200 according to the present invention includes a pair of sensing beams 102A and 102B provided on a load sensor 100 for measuring orbital muscle strength outside the bottom surface of the U-shaped groove 201 of the lip cover having a U-shaped groove 201 that engages with the lips. And the lip cover 200 is attached to each of the sensing beams 102A and 102B, and an engagement portion 202 is provided to cover each of the sensing beams 102A and 102B in the attached state.
[0013]
That is, the engaging portion 202 is formed of a cylindrical body having an axis in a direction perpendicular to the extending direction of the U-shaped groove 201, and one opening of the cylindrical body is closed to form a closed surface 202B. The sensing beams 102A and 102B of the load sensor for measuring orbital muscular strength 100 according to the present invention are inserted into the opening surface 202A, and the lip cover 200 for measuring orbital muscular strength is attached to the sensing beams 102A and 102B. FIG. 6 shows the mounted state. The protrusion 203 (see FIG. 3) formed on the upper part of the opening surface 202A is provided between the lip cover 200 and the case 101 of the load sensor 100 for measuring the strength of the orbital ring when the lip cover 200 is attached to the sensing beams 102A and 102B. It is provided to form a predetermined gap G (see FIG. 6). Also, as shown in FIG.
04, the ridges 204 are engaged with the grooves 104 (see FIG. 1) formed in the sensing beams 102A and 102B, so that the lip cover 200 can be properly aligned and mounted on the sensing beams 102A and 102B. I have to.
[0014]
【The invention's effect】
The above-described is protruded sensing beam 102A and 102B from each end face according to the muzzle strength measuring load sensor 100 is formed on the strain generating member 103 of the notched portion of the present invention, in the sensing beam 102A and 102B, these sensing beam Since the structure is such that the orbital muscle strength W is applied through the lip cover 200 engaged with the lip covers 102A and 102B , first, the dimension T (see FIG. 1) in the thickness direction of the sensing beams 102A and 102B is first determined by the conventional rigid body 11. Can be smaller than the diameter of Further, the lips of the subject are expanded to this dimension T by adding a thick portion extending to the bottom surface of the U-shaped groove 201 of the lip cover 200 engaged with the sensing beams 102A and 102B and the hollow portion of the engagement portion 202. However, since the thick portion is only subjected to a compressive force, no strength is required. For this reason, the thickness of the thick portion can be formed thinner than the thickness of the sensing beams 102A and 102B. Therefore, even if the thickness of the lip cover 200 is added to the dimension T, the increase is slight, and the total dimension in the thickness direction can be smaller than the diameter of the conventional rigid body 11. As a result, the subject does not need to apply the orbicular muscular strength to the sensing beams 102A and 102B with the mouth wide open during the measurement, and the subject can easily measure the orbicular muscular strength.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining an overview structure of a orifice muscle measurement load sensor of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining a structure of a load sensor for measuring orbital muscular strength and an example of an apparatus for measuring orbital muscular strength according to the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a lip cover for measuring orbital muscle strength used in the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view for explaining details of an engaging portion 202 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4;
Figure 6 is a side view for explaining a state where the muzzle strength measurement lip cover attached to the load sensor for muzzle muscle strength of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram for explaining a conventional technique.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional lip cover for measuring orbital muscle strength.
FIG. 9 is a connection diagram for explaining the operation of the strain sensor.
[Explanation of symbols]
Reference Signs List 100 Mouth muscle strength measurement load sensor 101 Case 102A, 102B Sensing beam 103 Strain generation member A, B, C, D Strain detection sensor 200 Mouth muscle strength measurement lip cover 201 U-shaped groove 202 Engagement portion 202A Opening surface 202B Closed surface

Claims (1)

A. An annular strain generating member partially provided with a notch,
B. A pair of sensing beams protruding outwardly of the ring from each of the ends of the notch portion of the strain generating member,
C. A strain sensor attached to the strain generating member, for converting a strain generated in the strain generating member into an electric signal;
A load sensor for measuring orbital muscle strength, comprising:

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