JP7335130B2 - Dust exposure level measuring device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a dust exposure level measuring device.

At work sites where dust exists, workers are usually required to wear a dust mask (see, for example, Patent Document 1) to prevent inhaling a large amount of dust.

JP 2008-194092 A

In recent years, various studies have been conducted on the effects of dust on health, and it has been reported that dust has various adverse effects on the human body. Therefore, the need to protect workers from dust is increasing more and more.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide new means for effectively protecting workers from dust.

The present invention
A dust mask (hereinafter also simply referred to as "mask");
a mask air suction part that sucks and collects the air in the dust mask worn by the worker;
a dust sensor for the air inside the mask into which the sampled air inside the dust mask is introduced;
measuring devices for measuring worker dust exposure levels in the work environment, including
Regarding.

According to the above measuring device, the air inside the dust mask worn by the worker who is working in the working environment is sampled, and the dust level in the air can be measured by the dust sensor. As a result, it is possible to measure the dust exposure level of the worker working in the working environment in real time. For example, even if a worker wears a dust mask while working in a work environment, if the dust mask shifts during work and dust enters the mask through the gap between the dust mask and the worker's face. , resulting in higher levels of dust exposure for workers. On the other hand, if it is possible to measure the dust exposure level of workers during work in real time, based on this measurement result, for example, the work supervisor can determine whether the worker's dust mask wearing condition is appropriate during work. It is possible to grasp that there was a period of time, and to use it for subsequent guidance to workers. As a result, the worker can continue to work while wearing the dust mask in an appropriate state after the instruction. According to the above measuring device, for example, in this way, it is possible to effectively protect the operator from dust.

In one aspect, the measuring device includes an outside-mask air suction unit for sucking and sampling air in the work environment outside the dust mask, and an outside-mask air suction unit for introducing the sampled air in the work environment outside the dust mask. and a dust sensor.

In one aspect, the measuring device includes an in-mask air recording unit that records the dust level of the in-mask air measured by the in-mask air dust sensor, and an in-mask air dust level measured by the out-of-mask air dust sensor. There may also be an extra-mask air recorder for recording the dust level of the air in the work environment.

In one aspect, the measuring device uses the following formula 1:
It can further have an analysis unit that calculates the leak rate by.

By using the measuring device of the present invention, it is possible to effectively protect workers during work from dust.

It is a front view of a worker wearing an example of the measuring device of the present invention. It is a rear view of a worker wearing an example of the measuring device of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the internal structure of the suction measurement unit for air in the mask shown in FIG. 2;

The measuring device of the present invention is a measuring device for measuring the dust exposure level of a worker in a work environment, and includes a dust mask and the air inside the mask that is collected by sucking the air in the dust mask worn by the worker. It includes an aspirator and a mask air dust sensor into which sampled air in the dust mask is introduced.

Below, the measuring device of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiments shown in the drawings are examples, and the present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a worker wearing an example of the measuring device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a rear view of the worker. In the figure, a worker 1 is wearing a dust mask 2 . The dust mask 2 has an intake section 21 . The intake part 21 has a dust filter (not shown) inside, and when the air of the work environment is sucked into the dust mask 2 by the worker 1 breathing, the dust in the air sucked by the dust filter is removed. At least a portion can be removed. In addition, the dust mask 2 has an exhaust portion (not shown), and air including exhaled air of the worker 1 can be discharged from the inside of the dust mask to the outside through the exhaust portion. As for the dust mask 2, a known technique relating to a replaceable dust mask with a replaceable dust filter can be applied, except that the ventilation pipe 11 is connected as described later.

Worker 1 wears Vest 5. As shown in FIG. 2, on the back side of the vest 5, the suction measurement unit 3 for air inside the mask and the suction measurement unit 4 for air outside the mask are placed in pockets 51 and 52, respectively. However, as described above, the measuring device of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, and may be a device that measures only the dust level of the air inside the mask, and the working environment outside the mask. It is not essential to have arrangements for measuring air dust levels.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the internal structure of the suction measurement unit 3 for air inside the mask. The mask air suction measurement unit 3 includes a mask air dust sensor 31 , a mask air suction unit 32 , and a mask air recording unit 33 . Although not shown, the mask-outside air suction measurement unit 4 has a similar configuration, and includes a mask-outside air dust sensor, an outside-mask air suction unit, and an outside-mask air recording unit.

One end of the vent pipe 11 is connected to the mask air suction measurement unit 3 , and the other end is connected to the dust mask 2 . With this configuration, the air in the dust mask 2 worn by the worker 1 who is working in the working environment can be sucked by the mask air suction part 32 and introduced into the mask air dust sensor 31 . can. The ventilation pipe connection portion 22 of the dust mask 2 has a check valve (not shown). As a result, backflow of air can be prevented, so that the air inside the dust mask 2 worn by the worker can be sampled at a high recovery rate and introduced into the dust sensor 31 for air inside the mask.

One end of the vent pipe 12 is connected to the suction measurement unit 4 for air outside the mask. A ventilation port 13 is provided at the other end of the ventilation pipe 12, and the air in the working environment (dust-proof Out-of-mask air) can be introduced into the out-of-mask air dust sensor via vent 13 and vent tube 12 .

As the vent pipes 11 and 12, for example, flexible tubes such as rubber tubes can be used. Such tubes are commercially available, for example. The vent 13 may have a configuration in which a plurality of fine vents are provided, or may be a simple opening.

As the mask air dust sensor 31, a known dust sensor capable of measuring the dust level of sampled air can be used. For example, a commercially available light scattering particle detection sensor can be used as the dust sensor for the air inside the mask. A known air pump such as a micro-blower can be used as the in-mask air suction unit 32 . The above points also apply to the outside-mask air dust sensor and the outside-mask air suction unit. The dust level obtained as a measurement result includes dust mass, dust concentration (that is, dust mass per unit volume), and the like.

As shown in FIG. 3 , the in-mask air suction measurement unit 3 has an in-mask air recording section 33 . A known recording medium such as an SD card can be used as the mask air recording section 33 . The mask air recording unit 33 can receive and record the measurement results measured by the mask air dust sensor 31 via a wired or wireless communication line. This point also applies to the mask-outside air recording section and the mask-outside air dust sensor. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the in-mask air suction measurement unit 3 and the outside-mask air suction measurement unit 4 are separate units. However, the present invention is not limited to this aspect, and the in-mask air dust sensor, the in-mask air suction unit, the outside-mask air dust sensor, and the outside-mask air suction unit may be housed in a single unit. . In this case, the in-mask air recording section and the out-of-mask air recording section may be separate recording sections (eg, two separate recording media), or a single recording section (eg, one recording medium). may be Hereinafter, the in-mask air recording portion and the outside-mask air recording portion are also simply referred to as “recording portions”.

For example, the measurement results recorded in the mask air recording unit 33 include the dust mass and dust concentration of the mask air measured by the mask air dust sensor 31 . Examples of the measurement results recorded in the mask-outside air recording unit include the dust mass and dust concentration of the air in the work environment outside the mask measured by the mask-outside air dust sensor.

The higher the ratio of the dust concentration in the air inside the mask to the dust concentration in the air outside the mask, the more dust is flowing into the mask worn by the worker during work from the work environment. can be done. As an index of this inflow level, for example, the following formula 1:
A leak rate calculated by: can be used. In one aspect, the measurement device can have an analysis unit, and the analysis unit analyzes the dust concentration of the air inside the mask recorded in the recording unit for air inside the mask and the dust concentration outside the mask recorded in the recording unit for air outside the mask. The above leakage rate can be calculated from the dust concentration of the air in the working environment. In one aspect, the analysis unit can calculate the leak rate while the worker is wearing the measuring device and working (so-called real-time calculation). In another aspect, the analysis unit may read data recorded in the recording unit after the worker finishes working in the working environment, and calculate the leakage rate. In the latter aspect, the analysis unit does not necessarily need to be connected to the measurement device as part of the measurement device during work, and the analysis unit may be connected to the measurement device after the worker finishes work. good. A known device having a calculation function such as a personal computer, a mobile computer, or a mobile terminal can be used as the analysis unit.

In another aspect, the dust level of the air inside the mask measured by the dust sensor for air inside the mask can be used to evaluate the dust exposure level of the worker during work as follows.
Known dust sensors include a type sensor that measures dust particles regardless of particle size (hereinafter referred to as an "all-size detection sensor") and a type sensor that detects dust particles with a particle size equal to or larger than a threshold value. (hereinafter referred to as "size-selective sensor"). Since the size-selective sensor selectively detects dust particles with a particle size equal to or larger than the threshold, the dust level measured by the size-selective sensor differs from the dust level of various particle sizes that actually exist in the air to be measured. They may not match exactly. Assuming such a case, we conducted a preliminary experiment and measured the dust level of the same target air using a size-selective sensor and an all-size detection sensor, respectively. An approximate straight line is created by a known fitting process such as multiplication, and the dust level measured by the size selection type sensor is compared with the dust level measured by the all size detection type sensor for the same air as an equation of this approximate straight line (an equation of a linear function). A conversion formula can be obtained to convert to a dust level estimated to be In one aspect, a size-selective sensor is used as the dust sensor for the air inside the mask, and the dust level of the air inside the mask (for example, dust mass, dust concentration, etc.) obtained by this sensor is converted by the above conversion formula. The dust level can be used as an index to assess the level of dust exposure of workers during work. The analysis unit can also be an analysis unit that performs the conversion. In another aspect, the dust concentration after conversion by the above conversion formula is used as the dust concentration of the air inside the mask and the dust concentration of the air in the work environment outside the mask for calculating the leak rate by Equation 1. can also

The various air suction units, the various dust sensors, and the various recording units described above can continue to operate continuously or intermittently. This allows the worker's exposure level to dust during work to be measured over time and recorded over time.

According to the measuring device of the present invention described above, it is possible to sample the air inside the dust mask worn by the worker who is working in the working environment, and measure the dust level of the air with the dust sensor. This makes it possible, for example, to effectively protect the operator from dust, as detailed above.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is useful for protecting workers working in the presence of dust.

Claims (4)

dust mask and
a mask air suction part that sucks and collects the air in the dust mask worn by the worker;
a dust sensor for the air inside the mask into which the sampled air inside the dust mask is introduced;
including
The dust sensor for air in the mask is a size selective sensor that detects dust particles having a particle size equal to or larger than a threshold,
The dust level of the air inside the mask measured by the dust sensor for air inside the mask is converted into a dust level that is estimated to be measured by an all-size detection sensor that measures dust particles in the air inside the mask regardless of particle size. an analysis unit that performs conversion to
A measuring device for measuring worker dust exposure levels in a work environment, further comprising: an outside-mask air suction unit for sucking and collecting air in the work environment outside the dust mask;
a dust sensor for air outside the mask, into which the sampled air of the work environment outside the dust mask is introduced;
2. The metrology device of claim 1, further comprising: A mask air recording unit for recording the dust level of the air inside the mask measured by the dust sensor for air inside the mask, and a dust level of the air in the working environment outside the mask measured by the dust sensor for air outside the mask. a recording unit for air outside the mask to be recorded,
3. The measuring device according to claim 2, further comprising: The dust sensor for air outside the mask is a size-selective sensor that detects dust particles having a particle size equal to or larger than a threshold,
The analysis unit is
The dust level of the air outside the mask measured by the dust sensor for air outside the mask is converted to a dust level that is estimated to be measured by an all-size detection sensor that measures dust particles in the air outside the mask regardless of particle size. and
The analysis unit uses the following formula 1:

The measuring device according to claim 3, wherein the leakage rate is calculated by