JP5992291B2 - Biological information detection device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a biological information detection apparatus that detects biological information such as a human body, and more particularly to a biological information detection apparatus that is suitable for detecting biological information of a human body seated on a seat.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known an apparatus that detects minute vibrations generated by a human body such as a human heartbeat (pulse) and respiration as biological information, as well as detection of human existence. Provides a pressure sensor for biological information and a pressure detection device for biological information that can accurately detect load fluctuations caused by a human body supported by an elastic support and vibrations generated by the human body. The purpose (described in paragraph [0006] of Patent Document 1) is “disposed on an elastic support that supports the human body, and detects an external force caused by one or both of the load fluctuation caused by the human body and the vibration generated by the human body. The pressure sensor for living body information includes a sensitive part that is sensitive to the external force, and the sensitive part is made of a piezoelectric material and is flexible by partially varying the thickness. And configured to have "what anisotropy has been proposed (described in the paragraph [0007]).

  Further, the following Patent Document 2 states that “a body motion detection unit that is installed in a seat and detects a body motion of a seated person and a body motion signal obtained from the body motion detection unit is processed first. Signal processing means, at least one biological signal detection means for detecting a biological signal of the occupant, second signal processing means for processing a biological signal obtained from the biological signal detection means, and calculation means And display means ”(described in paragraph [0005] of Patent Document 2).

JP 2007-139666 A Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-204167

  The device described in Patent Document 1 is characterized by the configuration of the biological information pressure sensor, and the arrangement of the mounting target on the seat is disclosed, but the relationship with the elastic member constituting the seat is disclosed. Is not specifically mentioned. For this reason, when a local force is applied to the sensor, an unspecified displacement may occur, and it is necessary to take another countermeasure. In particular, in order to detect biological information such as a person's heartbeat (pulse) and respiration, it is important to appropriately dispose the biological detection sensor in relation to the configuration of the elastic member that supports the biological body. On the other hand, in Patent Document 2, the body movement detection means is arranged on the seat surface of the seat, and the biological signal detection means is arranged on the backrest portion, and both detection signals are processed and displayed. No particular mention is made of the relationship between the detection means and the configuration of the elastic member that supports the living body. Therefore, the deformation direction of the elastic member when the living body is supported is not fixed, and there is a possibility that the displacement in the defined direction does not occur in the detection means.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a biological information detection apparatus that can appropriately detect biological information by appropriately arranging a biological detection sensor in relation to the configuration of an elastic member that supports the biological body.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a biological information in which a long biological detection sensor is disposed on an elastic member that supports a biological body, and the biological information is detected by pressing the biological body against the biological detection sensor. In the detection device, the elastic member is formed on a back surface side of a portion that supports an intermediate portion of the living body detection sensor, and continuously formed along a longitudinal direction of the living body detection sensor in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction. The flexibility of the part which has a notch and supports the intermediate part of the said biological detection sensor is made larger than the flexibility of the part which supports the both ends of the said biological detection sensor. In the case where the living body is pressed against the living body detection sensor, it does not necessarily mean that the living body is in direct contact with the living body detection sensor, but is indirectly detected through the epidermis or the intermediate elastic member. A configuration for pressing the sensor is also included.

  Further, the elastic member is configured by a seat base material of a seat back and / or a seat cushion constituting the seat, and the living body detection sensor is arranged so that a longitudinal direction of the living body detection sensor is a width direction of the seat. Good. For example, the sheet base material may be made of soft polyurethane.

Since this invention is comprised as mentioned above, there exist the following effects. That is, in the biological information detection apparatus of the present invention, the elastic member is continuously oriented along the longitudinal direction of the biological detection sensor on the back side of the portion supporting the intermediate portion of the biological detection sensor, and in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction. A plurality of notches formed on the living body detection sensor, and the flexibility of the portion supporting the intermediate portion of the living body detection sensor is configured to be greater than the flexibility of the portions supporting both ends of the living body detection sensor, When a long living body detection sensor is appropriately disposed on the elastic member, the displacement of the elastic member and thus the displacement of the living body detection sensor is defined in a predetermined longitudinal direction, so that the living body detection sensor is not subjected to special processing. Biometric information can be detected reliably. Therefore, for example, it is suitable as a biological information detection device that is mounted on a vehicle seat and can reliably detect biological information such as the heartbeat and breathing of an occupant. In particular, the material constituting the elastic member may be a single type, and a simple and inexpensive biological information detection apparatus can be provided.

  In the above biological information detection device, the elastic member is used as a seat base material of a seat back and / or a seat cushion constituting the seat, and the biological detection sensor is arranged so that the longitudinal direction of the biological detection sensor is the width direction of the seat. If it is set as a structure, it applies to a vehicle seat, for example, and it can detect living body information, such as a crew member's heartbeat and respiration, reliably. In particular, soft polyurethane is used as the sheet base material, so that the flexibility of the portion supporting the intermediate part of the living body detection sensor is greater than the flexibility of the parts supporting both ends of the living body detection sensor. For example, if the soft polyurethane in the part supporting the intermediate part of the living body detection sensor is formed so as to be more flexible than the soft polyurethane in the part supporting both ends of the living body detection sensor, it can be easily applied to the vehicle seat. Can do.

It is a perspective view of a sheet provided with a living body information detecting device concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the one aspect | mode of the biological information detection apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the detection condition of the biometric information by the biometric information detection apparatus of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the other aspect of the biological information detection apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the one aspect | mode of the biological information detection apparatus which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows another aspect of the biological information detection apparatus which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the one aspect | mode of the biometric information detection apparatus which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the other aspect of the biological information detection apparatus which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the further another aspect of the biometric information detection apparatus which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows another aspect of the biological information detection apparatus which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of the sheet | seat provided with the biological information detection apparatus which concerns on another embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of the sheet | seat provided with the biological information detection apparatus which concerns on another embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows another arrangement | positioning form of the biological information detection apparatus of this invention.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, FIGS. 1 to 3 relate to an embodiment of the biological information detecting apparatus of the present invention, and are incorporated into a seat back SB and / or a seat cushion SC of a vehicle seat SA, for example. In this embodiment, as the elastic member 1 that supports the occupant as a living body, two types of foam base materials 1a and 1b made of polyurethane foam are used for the seat back SB, and three long living body detection sensors 2 are parallel to this. And is used for detection of occupant's biological information.

  The sheet base material 1 a is used for a portion that supports the intermediate portion 2 a of the living body detection sensor 2, and the sheet base material 1 b is used for a portion that supports both end portions 2 b and 2 b of the biological detection sensor 2. The polyurethane that is the material of the sheet base material 1a is softer than the polyurethane that is the material of the sheet base material 1b, and the flexibility of the sheet base material 1a is larger than the flexibility of the sheet base material 1b. In the present embodiment, the sheet base material 1a is individually provided for each range (indicated by a broken line in FIG. 1) including a portion that supports each of the intermediate portions 2a of the three living body detection sensors 2. You may comprise as shown in FIG. 11 thru | or FIG. 13 (these are mentioned later). Further, the number of living body detection sensors 2 is not limited to three, and one or a plurality of living body detection sensors 2 may be provided depending on the application, and one or a plurality of living body detection sensors 2 may be arranged on the seat cushion SC. It is good also as setting up.

  The living body detection sensor 2 of the present embodiment is a long (rectangular view) piezoelectric film sensor that outputs a voltage signal proportional to mechanical compression, tensile stress, or strain. As shown in FIG. Is arranged in the left-right direction around the spine when an occupant (not shown) is seated, and is attached to the sheet base materials 1a and 1b. Therefore, when the occupant is seated on the seat SA, the back is pressed against the intermediate portion 2a of the living body detection sensor 2. A signal processing unit 2x is connected to one end 2b of the living body detection sensor 2, and the signal processing unit 2x is connected to a control device (not shown). Since these specific configurations are the same as before, description thereof will be omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the elastic member 1 is formed by arranging sheet base materials 1b and 1b on both sides of a sheet base material 1a and joining them, and an intermediate portion 2a of the living body detection sensor 2 is a sheet. Supported by the base material 1a, both end portions 2b and 2b are supported by the sheet base materials 1b and 1b, respectively. In the living body detection sensor 2 of the present embodiment, a lower piezoelectric body 2d and an upper piezoelectric body 2u in FIG. 1 are stacked via an intermediate electrode 2m, and respective electrodes (not shown) are disposed outside the piezoelectric bodies 2d and 2u. Are formed in one layer. And although illustration is abbreviate | omitted, an epidermis is mounted | worn so that the elastic member 1 and the biological detection sensor 2 may be covered, and also a thin intermediate | middle elastic member may be mounted | worn between these.

  Thus, when the occupant PA (indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3) is seated on the seat cushion SC shown in FIG. 1 and the seat back SB is pressed, the seat base material 1a is more easily bent than the seat base material 1b. Therefore, it is bent together with the living body detection sensor 2 as shown in FIG. 3, and the displacement of the living body detection sensor 2 is defined in the longitudinal direction of the living body detection sensor 2 as shown by a bidirectional arrow in FIG. Therefore, with the breathing of the occupant PA, longitudinal pressure fluctuations (vibrations) occur in the piezoelectric bodies 2u and 2d of the intermediate portion 2a of the living body detection sensor 2, and each voltage signal generated by the piezoelectric effect is sent to the signal processing unit 2x. Is output.

  Further, as another embodiment of the elastic member 1, as shown in FIG. 4, the sheet base material 1a is formed with recesses 1c, 1c in parallel, and the sheet base material 1b is fitted into these recesses 1c, 1c, respectively. Also in this configuration, as in the embodiment of FIG. 2, the intermediate portion 2a of the living body detection sensor 2 is supported by the sheet base material 1a, and both end portions 2b and 2b are supported by the sheet base materials 1b and 1b, respectively. As in the embodiment of FIG. 2, the displacement of the living body detection sensor 2 is defined in the longitudinal direction, so that a longitudinal pressure fluctuation (vibration) occurs in the living body detection sensor 2 with the breathing of the occupant PA.

  FIGS. 5 to 10 relate to another embodiment of the present invention. As the elastic member 1, a foam base material made of polyurethane foam having a gap on the back surface side of the portion supporting the intermediate portion 2a of the living body detection sensor 2 is shown. It is used.

  5 and 6, recesses 1e and 1f are formed on the back side of a range including a portion supporting the intermediate portion 2a of the living body detection sensor 2. The recess 1e in FIG. 5 has a rectangular cross-section gap, and the recess 1f in FIG. 6 has a curved (arch-shaped) cross-section gap.

  7 to 10, a plurality of notches are formed on the back surface side of the portion that supports the intermediate portion 2a of the living body detection sensor 2 along the longitudinal direction of the living body detection sensor 2 in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. (1g, 1h, 1j, 1k) are formed. The notches 1g in FIG. 7 each have a rectangular cross-section gap, the notches 1h in FIG. 8 each have a trapezoidal cross-section gap, the notches 1j in FIG. 9 each have a triangular cross-section gap, and the notches 1k in FIG. Each have a linear gap (slit).

  Thus, in any of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 5 to 10, when the occupant PA is seated on the seat cushion SC shown in FIG. 1 and the seat back SB is pressed against, as in the embodiment of FIG. The recesses 1e and 1f and the notches (1g, 1h, 1j, and 1k) are more likely to bend than both ends, and therefore bend together with the living body detection sensor 2, and the displacement of the living body detection sensor 2 is defined in the longitudinal direction. Accordingly, with the breathing of the occupant PA, pressure fluctuations (vibrations) occur in the piezoelectric bodies 2u and 2d of the intermediate portion 2a of the living body detection sensor 2, and respective voltage signals generated by the piezoelectric effect are output to the signal processing unit 2x. .

  FIGS. 11 and 12 show another aspect related to the arrangement of the living body detection sensor 2, and FIG. 11 includes a range including all of the portions that support the intermediate portion 2a of the three living body detection sensors 2 (FIG. 11). The sheet base material 1a is provided on a broken line). In FIG. 12, the seat back SB is divided into three parts in the width direction of the vehicle, and a seat base material 1a that supports the intermediate part 2a of the three living body detection sensors 2 is provided at the center of the seat back SB. The sheet base material 1b is provided on both sides. Further, as shown in FIG. 13, a configuration in which the intermediate portion 2a of the living body detection sensor 2 is supported by the sheet base material 1a and both end portions 2b and 2b are supported by the sheet base materials 1b and 1b (the configuration shown in FIG. 2). ) As a unit, this unit may be configured to fit into a recess 1y formed in another sheet base material 1x.

  In each of the above aspects, when the living body detection sensor 2 is disposed on the seat cushion SC, it may be disposed in a direction perpendicular to the thigh (not shown) of the occupant. The living body detection sensor 2 is not limited to the piezoelectric film sensor, and other pressure detection elements, strain detection elements, vibration detection elements, and the like may be used. The biological information detection apparatus described above can be applied not only to the vehicle seat SA but also to various chairs and the like, and can also be applied to beds and the like.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Elastic member 1a Seat base material 1b Seat base material 1x Seat base material 2 Living body detection sensor SA Seat SB Seat back SC Seat cushion

Claims (3)

In a living body information detection apparatus in which a long living body detection sensor is disposed on an elastic member that supports a living body, and the living body is pressed against the living body detection sensor to detect living body information of the living body, the elastic member includes the living body detection On the back side of the portion that supports the middle portion of the sensor, the middle portion of the living body detection sensor has a plurality of notches formed in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction continuously along the longitudinal direction of the living body detection sensor. A living body information detecting device characterized in that the flexibility of the portion supporting the living body is greater than the flexibility of the portions supporting both ends of the living body detection sensor. The elastic member is a seat base material of a seat back and / or a seat cushion constituting the seat, and the living body detection sensor is arranged so that a longitudinal direction of the living body detection sensor is a width direction of the seat. The biological information detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein The living body information detecting apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the sheet base material is a flexible polyurethane.

Images