JPH05115461A - Doze detecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the device which does not make a feeling of nuisance, causes scarcely lack of concentration of attention, and can be used without being known to others by constituting it so that a dimensional variation of the body of an animal caused by breathing is detected, and a signal is generated when a variance of its period is within a certain specific value. CONSTITUTION:To both ends of curved and slender bar-like materials 5, 6, pads 7, 8 for reducing force caused by elastic bending are attached. They exert a function of a weight, as well. In a coupling material 9 for coupling the barlike materials 5, 6, a sensor element 12 of a strain gate, etc., is placed, and it is connected to a measuring instrument 10 with a lead wire. When a man breathes, bending is applied to the coupling member 9, a distortion amount of the sensor element 12 is varied and it is led to the measuring instrument 10. By this signal, a period and a variance of breath are measured in advance, and from a variation of a variance time of the period, a doze is decided. In such a way, this device does not stand in the way even in an ordinary work, sleepiness can be detected without being known by others, and such a defect as lacking concentrating force is not generated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a doze detector and a signal output device thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 shows Nihon Keizai Shimbun No. 37848, Heisei 3
It is a perspective view which shows the conventional system announced on the 17th page of the morning edition of March 4, 2012. In the figure, (1) is an electrode provided on the ring part, (2) is an electrode provided on the outside of the wrist of the wristwatch part, (3)
Is a main body containing the potential difference measuring unit potential difference determining unit buzzer unit between (1) and (2), and (4) is an electric wire for guiding the potential of the ring portion to the main body (3).

Next, the operation will be described. In the potential difference measuring unit of this device, the potential difference between the inner part of the finger and the outer part of the arm is measured by a special electrode provided on the ring part of the hand and the wristwatch part. The potential difference at this part is closely related to the state of consciousness, and if the consciousness decreases, the potential difference also decreases. With this device, changes in the potential difference are examined to quickly detect the signs that consciousness is going down, and a notification buzzer sounds before the consciousness goes down.

The potential difference determination unit distinguishes between a potential drop that occurs even when a person is surprised, and a potential difference that is caused by a decrease in consciousness due to drowsiness. Further, instead of a buzzer, radio waves or far infrared rays are emitted to automatically adjust the blowout temperature and air volume of an air conditioner installed in the interior of an automobile to arouse concentration with cold air. Thus, it is considered to prevent a drowsy driving accident.

[0005]

Since the conventional drowsiness detector and the output device for its countermeasure are constructed as described above, the electrodes must be attached to the inside of the finger, which is an obstacle when loading and unloading luggage. Therefore, there is a drawback that it is difficult for the driver to use the truck because it causes a lot of damage to the other party in a rear-end collision. Also, because small items are attached directly to the human body such as fingers and wristwatch parts, there is a drawback that it is annoying, awkwardness that other people know that it is attached, when using in the office There was a drawback that work mistakes increased.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. It is a system in which it is not directly attached to the human body. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device that can be used without being known to others.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

[Means of the First Invention] The doze detecting device according to the present invention detects a dimensional change of the body due to human respiration, obtains the cycle of the respiration, and, in principle, when the variation of the cycle is less than a certain value. It is determined to fall asleep.

[Means of the Second Invention] The detector is of the Jijirobe type, and is a sensor for detecting changes in the thickness of the chest by connecting one end of each of two curved and rigid rod-shaped members with a bonding material. The one added in the vicinity of the connecting member.

[Means of third invention] Alternatively, in order to detect a dimensional change of the body due to respiration, a change in the circumferential length of the chest or the like is detected.

[0010]

[Advantageous Effects of the First Invention] At a music concert in a quiet venue, regular sleeping sounds are heard, so that it is possible to know the presence of a person who is asleep. Since there is a relation between lowering of consciousness and constant breathing cycle, the doze detection device of the present invention considers that the device is used even in a place where ambient noise is considerably large, and detects a dimensional change of the body based on breathing by a sensor, and Calculate the period from the signal waveform. Further, the regularity is determined by measuring the degree of variation in the cycle value.

[0011]

[Advantageous Effects of the Second Invention] As a dimensional change of the body due to respiration, a method of detecting a dimensional change of the thickness of the chest or a dimensional change of the width of the chest is adopted. In Yajirobei with the distributed baggage on the shoulder, the position of the two packages is lowered one by one, and a detector such as a strain gauge or a semiconductor pressure sensor is placed on the face of Yajirobei. The output waveforms of these sensors change as the distance between individual luggage parts changes.

[0012]

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the output waveform changes with breathing even if a change in the size of the body associated with breathing is detected as a change in the circumferential length of the chest or abdomen or neck.

[0013]

Embodiment 1 An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[Structure of Embodiment 1] In FIG. 1, (5) and (6) are curved and slender rod-shaped members which are difficult to bend, and (7) and (8) are local forces caused by elastic bending of the rod-shaped members on the body. It is a pad to prevent it from becoming large,
It also serves as a weight in the vertical direction. (9) is a connecting member for connecting the above two rod-shaped members, and (10) is a measuring unit which is put in a chest pocket such as a shirt. Although not shown in the figure, a plurality of lead wires are wired between the measuring unit and the sensor.

The detailed structure around the coupling member (9) shown in FIG. 1 will be described below. This detailed view is shown in FIG. (9) is a coupling member made of spring steel or the like, (11a), (11b),
(11c) is a fixed part such as an eyelet for fixing the rod-shaped material and the coupling member, and (12) is a sensor element such as a strain gauge, and a plurality of lead wires are wired between the sensor element and the measuring instrument. In this case the bar (5) or (6) shown
The wiring is inserted into the hollow part of the structure.

In the doze detecting device constructed as described above, the distance between the pad (7) and the pad (8) before attaching the detecting device is 1 to 3 cm compared to the corresponding chest thickness. Adjust small. Next, the detection device is put on underwear, a shirt or the like. Therefore, after mounting the detector, the two pads come into contact with the body in a state close to the body.

[Operation of Embodiment 1] On the other hand, since the chest thickness periodically changes due to breathing, the distance between the two weights changes and a bending action is applied to the thin leaf spring of the connecting member. The strain amount of the bonded strain gauge changes,
Guided to the measurement section. The operation of this part is similar to the operation of the mechanical strain gauge for mechanical measurement.

Next, the operation of the period measurement and its variation measurement will be described. The output of the strain gauge section is output as an analog waveform of changes in chest thickness associated with respiration. That is, this waveform is a waveform close to a sine wave of about 3 seconds.
The operation of measuring the period of this waveform and the variation of the period is the same as the operation of a commercially available universal counter.

Next, the operation of determining whether or not to fall asleep will be described. The variation of the cycle is also output as a digital amount. In this case, the variation time of the cycle when the consciousness is lowered by dozing becomes a specific value of several percent or less of the respiratory cycle time. As a result, it is determined that the subject is asleep. The specific value may be a degree of fatigue, a posture difference, a gender difference, or an age difference, and the method in which the user of the drowsiness detection device selects and sets the specific value is the best. Next, regarding the operation after the drowsiness determination, here is a method of notifying by a buzzer.

[0020]

[Modification 1 of Embodiment 1] In Embodiment 1 above, the case where the coupling member (9) is made of a leaf spring or the like is shown. However, two rod-shaped members (5) and (6) and pads (7) and ( 8) As an integral material, the rod-shaped material has a cross-sectional shape that is hard to bend, and the same effect can be obtained even if the same material has a plate-shaped cross-sectional shape that is easily bent only at the central portion corresponding to the coupling member.

[0021]

[Modification 2 of Embodiment 1] In the above-described Embodiment 1 and Modification 1 of Embodiment 1, an example of a leaf spring is shown as the coupling member.
A sensor (14) having mounting terminals (13) on two surfaces, such as a pressure sensor, is used instead of the coupling member as shown in Fig. 3, and two rod-shaped members (5) and (6) are directly attached to the sensor. Also, since the dimensional change of the body is converted into the change of the pressure or the like, the same effect can be obtained.

[0022]

[Embodiment 2] FIG. 1 shows a method in which a dimensional change of the body due to respiration is detected as a change in the thickness of the chest or a width of the chest. However, a dimensional change of the body due to respiration is detected as a change in the circumference of the chest. Even if it does, the same operation can be achieved. As shown in FIG. 4, a band (15) made of a material that is difficult to stretch around the chest is provided, and both ends of the band are connected at both ends of a series body of the coil spring (16) and the differential transformer core (17). It is a thing. A similar movement can be achieved by detecting a change in the size of the body associated with breathing as a change in the circumference of the chest.

In this case, in order to prevent the band from dropping downward, a clip is attached to a shirt or underwear at one or three places on the circumference. Note that (18) is a buckle for adjusting the length of the band.

[0024]

[Modification of Embodiment 2] When a dimensional change of the body due to breathing is measured as a change in the circumferential length of the chest or the like, even if a sensor that converts the change in the circumferential length into a change in capacitance is used, Similar operation can be achieved.

[Structure of this modification] FIG. 5 shows an example of this. That is, a shielded wire of a plurality of parallel wires or twisted wires is used, and the first wire (19) of this wire is at one end of this wire and the second wire (2) of this wire at the other end.
0) and connect each to both ends of the coil spring (16). The change in the electrostatic capacitance between the two twisted wires is taken out by a condenser microphone amplifier (21) or the like. The third wire (22) of the electric wire is used between the first wire and the first wire to give an electric charge before shipping by taking advantage of the insulation resistance characteristic therebetween.

[Operation of this modification] When the circumferential length of the body is increased by breathing, the tension is increased, and the insulator thicker and softer than the usual twisted wire is largely compressed and deformed. As a result, a change in displacement between the first line and the second line becomes a change in capacitance, which can be taken out as a change in voltage due to the action with the charge.
The coil spring (16) provides tension when measuring the circumferential length around the chest or the neck, and improves the adhesion of the special wire to the body and the reproducibility of the measurement characteristics. Let

[0027]

[Third Embodiment] As for the treatment after the determination of drowsiness, a method of operating a countermeasure device such as turning off the power source of electric light by emitting far-infrared rays or radio waves can be realized when continuing to fall asleep. It is also possible to realize a method in which after a preset time of minutes, the buzzer sounds and the student resumes studying in a refreshed mood with a little sleep.

[0028]

[Modification of Embodiment 3] On the other hand, in the case of preventing drowsiness, an earphone method, an electric shock applying method, or the like can be considered.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, as the doze detecting device, the dimensional change of the body due to human respiration is detected, the cycle of the respiration is determined, and the variation of the cycle is less than a certain value. It was decided to fall asleep and could be worn under a shirt so that it would not interfere with normal work.

In order to detect a change in the body associated with breathing, a method of detecting a change in chest thickness associated with breathing or a method of detecting a change in circumferential length of the neck chest associated with breathing is used. Since it can be worn underneath, it can detect drowsiness without being noticed by other people, can be dealt with without being noticed by other people in the office or in the car, and is easy for young people to accept, and the drawback of lack of concentration due to wearing does not occur.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a drowsiness detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention when worn.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view around a coupling member according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a view showing another embodiment, and is a perspective view of a system in which the bonding material itself serves as a sensor.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a method of detecting a dimensional change of the body due to breathing as a change in the circumferential length of the chest.

FIG. 5 is a principle diagram of a sensor that converts a change in length such as a circumference length into a change in electrostatic capacity and further extracts it as a change in voltage.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a conventional drowsiness detection device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 bar-shaped material 6 bar-shaped material 7 pad 8 pad 9 coupling member 10 measuring part 11 eyelet 12 sensor element 15 band 16 coil spring 17 differential transformer core 18 band buckle 19 first wire of twisted wire 20 second of twisted wire Wire 21 Amplifier for condenser microphone 22 Third wire of twisted wire

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. At least the following (a), (b) and (c):
(D) A doze detection device. (A) A sensor that detects dimensional changes in the body of the animal due to respiration, and (b) a circuit that measures the cycle of sensor output,
(C) A circuit that measures variations in the period, and (D) a circuit that emits a signal when the variations are less than or equal to a specific value. 2. At least the following (e) (f) (g)
The drowsiness detection device according to claim 1, which uses a Yajirobe-type detector composed of (h). (E) Two curved long and slender rod-shaped materials that are difficult to bend,
(V) a bonding material for fixing one end of each of the two rod-shaped materials, and (g) a sensor in which the bonding material and the sensor are integrated or a sensor added on the bonding material, (h) A pad provided on the end of the two rod-shaped members opposite to the connecting member. 3. A special electric wire such as a twisted electric wire, which can convert a change in length such as a circumferential length into a change in capacitance due to deformation of an insulator, is used as a sensor for detecting a dimensional change of a body due to breathing. The doze detection device according to claim 1, wherein the device is a doze detection device.