JPH0525500B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a support pressure control method in a body support device that supports the body of a patient or the like in a support pressure adjustable manner.

(Prior art) Body support devices for preventing bedsores that are likely to occur in patients who have been bedridden for a long period of time include devices that integrate a large number of protruding support portions into groups and raise and lower them alternately, and devices that move the support surface with a drive means. A body supporting surface is constructed by arranging a large number of elastic supports that can be freely lowered by vertically and horizontally, and a pressure sensor for measuring support pressure is provided corresponding to each support, and the pressure sensor measures the pressure. The support pressure adjustable body is provided with a control means for selectively operating the driving means corresponding to the support body exhibiting a support pressure higher than the set pressure by updating the operating conditions at each set time based on the support pressure set. Support devices have been proposed in the past. For example, regarding the latter, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-300761.

Conventional devices like this prevent bedsores by preventing areas of the patient's body with high support pressure from remaining in place for long periods of time and reducing pressure on the patient's capillaries. be.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) In the former device, the arrangement of each group of a large number of protruding supports is fixed, resulting in a monotonous body support surface, so the support pressure is adjusted to suit each supine state. distribution is difficult to obtain.

In addition, in the latter device, it is practically impossible to densely arrange a large number of small-diameter supports;
A support using a coil spring with a relatively large diameter, for example, about 6 cm in diameter, is
They are arranged vertically and horizontally at intervals of about 10 cm, and although the supporting area corresponding to each individual support is relatively wide, in conventional equipment, Since the supporting surface of the support whose support pressure is higher than the set pressure is simply lowered in the next step, there may be cases where adjacent supports in the vertical or horizontal direction are lowered at the same time. Therefore, as described above, if adjacent supports descend at the same time, a wide range of supports descends, creating a depressed state and deteriorating the usability.

The present invention aims to solve such problems.

(Means for Solving the Problems) Means for solving the above-mentioned problems will be explained with reference to drawings corresponding to embodiments.The support pressure control method in the support pressure adjustable body support device of the present invention is as follows. A large number of elastic supports 4 whose support surfaces can be lowered by a drive means are arranged vertically and horizontally to form a body support surface, and a pressure sensor 15 measures the support pressure corresponding to each elastic support 4. In addition to providing
A comparison means for comparing the support pressure measured by the pressure sensor 15 with a set pressure, and a selection means for selecting the drive means to be lowered next time based on the comparison result, and the drive means is selected at each set time. In the support pressure adjustable body support device provided with a control means 16 for updating the operating conditions, the control means 16 scans the pressure sensor 15 and determines the support pressure higher than the set pressure by the comparison means when updating the operating conditions. At the same time, with respect to the extracted supports, the selection means determines whether or not the scanned supports adjacent to each other in the vertical and horizontal directions are selected. The operating conditions are updated so that the driving means that has been set will be moved downward next time.

In the above method, the elastic support body 4 is constituted by a coil spring made of a shape memory alloy which constitutes a heating means, or by a first coil spring 6 attached between the upper and lower support members, and the upper and lower support members 5. It can be configured by a second coil spring 7 made of a shape memory alloy attached between them, and the second coil spring 7 is provided with a heating means. These heating means can be configured to energize the shape memory alloy coil spring itself.

Further, the body support surface constituted by the plurality of elastic supports 4 described above can be configured to correspond to a part of the body, or can be configured to correspond to the entire body.

(Function) In the above configuration, a part or all of the body of the patient etc. is supported by a large number of elastic supports 4 arranged vertically and horizontally.
The load is distributed and supported by the body support surface. In this state of support,
The control means 16 measures the support pressure corresponding to each support body 4 using the pressure sensor 15, and updates the operating conditions at every set time based on the measured pressure.

First, when updating the operating conditions, the control means 16 scans the measured support pressure of each support 4, and uses the comparison means to extract a support 4 exhibiting a support pressure higher than a preset pressure. . It is preferable that the supporting pressure of these extracted supports 4 is lowered by lowering the driving means next time.

However, in addition to the above-mentioned extraction, the control means 16 uses the selection means to determine for each of the extracted supports 4 whether or not the scanned supports 4 adjacent in the vertical and horizontal directions have been selected, and only if there is no selection, In the selected state, the operating conditions are updated so that the driving means will be moved downward next time.

Therefore, vertically or horizontally adjacent supports 4 do not descend at the same time, and it is possible to prevent the supports 4 from falling due to simultaneous descending.

Furthermore, when the support 4 descends, its support pressure decreases, so it will not be extracted at the next update. Therefore, this time, the support 4 that was previously extracted but not selected will be selected. Therefore, the motion of the support body 4 can be averaged.

(Example) Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 schematically shows the main parts of an embodiment of the support pressure adjustable body support device of the present invention, and this body support device has a structure similar in part to a normal spring mattress. That is, numeral 1 is a large number of coil springs for supporting the load of the body,
These coil springs 1 are integrated by a frame line 2, a connecting spring 3, etc., and constitute a body support surface.

In place of the coil spring 1, an elastic support body 4 whose support surface is configured to be freely lowered by a drive means is disposed at a portion of the body support surface where acne is likely to occur. These elastic supports 4 are indicated by thick lines in the figure, and in the illustrated example, 32 elastic supports 4 are arranged vertically and horizontally.

These elastic supports 4 have, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, a first coil spring 6 similar to the above-mentioned coil spring is attached between the upper and lower support members 5, and a first coil spring 6 is attached between the upper and lower support members 5. A second coil spring 7 made of a shape-memory alloy is attached as a driving means, and the second coil spring 7 is energized to be heated by self-heating and cooled by natural heat radiation or forced heat radiation by a fan or the like. Further, the second coil spring 7 is configured to be shortened when heated due to its shape memory effect. In the illustrated configuration, the support member 5 includes a support plate 8 that supports the first coil spring 6, an electrode plate 9 that supports the second coil spring 7, and an insulator interposed between these plates. Board 1
0, and a heat insulating plate 11 on the outside of the support plate 8.

These second coil springs 7 are integrated with the first coil spring 6 and a frame line and a connecting spring (not shown) to form a spring unit, and this unit is attached to a support member 1 such as a net-like body.
2. A cushion material 13 and the like is interposed and covered with an outer cover 14 to form a pine mattress. Incidentally, the body support device applied to the present invention does not need to be configured in the form of a mattress as described above, but can also be configured to be integrally fixed on the floor of a bed, etc., and the elastic support 4 can also be configured with an air cylinder or the like. You can also do that. Further, when a shape memory alloy is used, the support body 4 itself can be entirely composed of the shape memory alloy.

A pressure sensor 15 for measuring the support pressure is interposed between the support member 12 and the cushion material 13 at a location corresponding to each of the supports 4, that is, on the support 4 in the embodiment. As the pressure sensor 15, a pressure-sensitive sensor provided with an air chamber, a pressure-sensitive rubber sensor, a capacitance-type pressure sensor 15 disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-226030, or the like can be used.

FIG. 2 shows the main parts of the body support device shown in FIG. 1, in which reference numeral 16 is an overall control means, and 17 is a drive control means for controlling the drive means of the support body 4.
As described above, when a coil spring made of a shape memory alloy is used as a drive means, the drive control means 1
Reference numeral 7 is configured as a current supply means for supplying current to a heating means for heating the shape memory alloy coil spring. That is, in the illustrated embodiment in which the second coil spring 7 itself made of a shape memory alloy is heated by self-heating by passing a current through it, the drive control means 17 controls the second coil spring 7 of each support 4. It is configured as a current supply means for supplying current to.

The control means 16 generally controls the pressure sensor 1.
The operating conditions are updated every set time based on the support pressure measured in step 5, and the driving means corresponding to the support 4 exhibiting a support pressure higher than the set pressure is selectively operated.

Specifically, when updating the operating conditions, the control means 16 scans the pressure sensor 15 to measure each support pressure, and uses the comparison means to sequentially extract supports 4 having a support pressure higher than the set pressure. With respect to the extracted supports 4, the selection means determines whether or not the scanned supports 4 adjacent in the vertical and horizontal directions are selected, and if they are not selected, the selected supports are set and the driving means is operated next time. The operating conditions are updated accordingly. Code 18, 19
vertical scanning means for scanning the pressure sensors 15 arranged vertically and horizontally corresponding to each of the supports 4;
This is horizontal scanning means. Note that in FIG. 2, some connection lines between the drive control means 17 and the drive means of each support body 4 are omitted for convenience, but the drive control means 17 connects the drive means of each support body 4 individually. This enables control.

In the above configuration, part or all of the body of the patient etc. is supported by a large number of elastic supports 4 arranged vertically and horizontally.
The load is distributed and supported by the body support surface constructed by the above structure. In such a supporting state, the control means 16 scans the pressure sensor 15 at every set time to measure the supporting pressure of each support 4, and compares each measured value with a preset value. The comparison is made by the means, and supports 4 having a value equal to or greater than the set value are extracted. Next, the control means 16 determines whether a scanned support 4 adjacent to the extracted support 4 is selected by the selection means or not, and operates the driving means next time only if no support is selected. ie, one that supplies current to the second coil spring 7.

A current is supplied from the drive control means 17 to the second coil spring 7 of the support body 4 selected in this way in the next control operation, and the second coil spring 7 generates heat due to this current. It contracts due to the shape memory effect, causing the first coil spring 6 to contract via the support member, thus lowering the support surface of the support body 4. When the support surface is lowered in this way, the weight of the body is transferred to the support surface of the other support body 4,
The support pressure of this support 4, that is, the pressure of the body part supported by this support 4 is relieved. In addition, since the supporting pressure of the supporting body 4 whose supporting surface has been lowered due to the previous operation is naturally low, the above-mentioned extraction has not been performed, and therefore, in the current operation, the driving current is not supplied. Therefore, since the second coil spring 7 is cooled by natural heat radiation or forced heat radiation by a cooling fan, the first coil spring 6 expands itself while expanding the second coil spring 7, and therefore the support body 4 support surface rises.

The support 4 that lowers the support surface as described above is
The selection is made on the condition that the supports 4 that are adjacent to each other in the vertical or horizontal direction have not been selected from among those extracted as having a pressure equal to or higher than the set pressure. Since they do not descend at the same time, it is possible to prevent depression due to simultaneous descent.

Furthermore, as mentioned above, the supporting pressure of the supporting body 4 decreases when the supporting surface descends, so it will not be extracted at the next update. Therefore, this time, the supporting body 4 that was previously extracted but not selected will be As a result, the movement of the support body 4 is equalized, and parts of the body with high support pressure are not fixed, but are moved appropriately, so that the support body 4 can be moved for a long time, e.g. It is possible to prevent acne, which is caused by a high pressure condition lasting for about 3 hours.

The operation of the control means 16 described above will be explained with reference to FIG. 7, which shows an example of a specific control flow.

First, when the control is started in step S1, the control means 16 detects the measured value, that is, the support pressure, from the first pressure sensor 15 in the preset scanning order in steps S2 and S3.

Next, in step S4, this measured value is compared with a preset pressure value, that is, a threshold value of support pressure, and if the measured value is greater than the set value, the process moves to steps S5 to S8 for selection operations. . If the measured value is not greater than the set value, the process moves to step S9 and scanning proceeds to the next pressure sensor 15. Therefore, this step S4 constitutes the comparison means, and steps S5 to
S8 constitutes the selection means.

In step S5, it is determined whether the scanned and vertically adjacent support 4 has been selected, and if it has not been selected, the process proceeds to the next step S6.
, the scanned and laterally adjacent supports 4
is selected, and if the support 4 in this direction is also not selected, step
In S7, the support 4 is selected as the one to be driven by the driving means next. If it is determined in either of the above steps S and S6 that there is an adjacent support 4 that has been selected, a non-selection process is performed in step S8. Note that the support 4 can be selected by setting or canceling a flag in the storage means corresponding to the support 4. Furthermore, if there is no vertically or horizontally adjacent support 4 in front of the scan of the support 4, these steps S5 and S6 can be skipped in advance.

After the processing of steps S7 and S8, or if it is determined in step S4 that the support pressure is below the threshold value, the process moves to step S9, and scanning proceeds to the next pressure sensor 15. Then step
In S10, it is determined whether or not the predetermined scan of the pressure sensor 15 has been completed. If it has not been completed, the process returns to step S3 and the above-described process is repeated until the predetermined scan is completed.

When the predetermined scanning is completed, the process moves from step S10 to step S11, and the drive control means 17 operates the drive means corresponding to the support 4 selected in step S7. Then, time measurement is started in step S12 to perform operation switching at preset time intervals, for example, every 3 to 4 minutes, and when the set time has elapsed, step S2 is started.
Returning to step 1, the pressure sensor 15 is scanned again in the preset scanning order and the above-described processing is performed to update the operating conditions and perform control.

Next, an example of the above control operation will be explained with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. First, at a certain point in time, as shown in Figure 5a, the support pressures of the supports d, e, f, h, i, k, m, n, and p reach the threshold value (hatched in the figure). Suppose it exceeds. Control means 16
When scanning is performed in a set order, for example, in the alphabetical order attached to the upper side of the supports 4 in the figure, all of these supports are extracted in step S4. However, the control means 16 performs steps S5 and S6.
As a result of the judgment, only the supports d, f, h, n, and p shown in the hatching in FIG. A descent is made.

When the set time has elapsed and it is time to update the next operating condition, the previously selected supports d, f,
Since the supporting pressures of h, n, and p are decreasing, the supports 4 whose supporting pressures exceed the threshold at this point are, for example, supports a and b with hatching in FIG. 6a. , c, e, i, k, m, o, s. Then, the control means 16 selects the supports a, b, c, e, i, k, m, o, and s shown by hatching in FIG. The means is activated and the support pressure is lowered by lowering the support surface. As shown in FIG. 6b, it can be seen that the supports e, i, k, and m, which were extracted but not selected by the support pressure above the threshold value last time, are selected this time.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, the present invention constitutes a body support surface by arranging a large number of elastic supports, each of which has a support surface that can be freely lowered by a driving means, vertically and horizontally, and has a support surface that corresponds to each elastic support. A pressure sensor for measuring the support pressure is provided, a comparison means for comparing the support pressure measured by the pressure sensor with a set pressure, and a drive means for the next downward operation is selected based on the comparison result by this comparison means. In a support pressure adjustable body support device provided with a control means that updates the operating conditions of the drive means at every set time by the operation of the selection means, adjacent supports in the vertical or horizontal direction are not lowered at the same time. Therefore, it is possible to prevent depression due to simultaneous lowering and the deterioration of the feeling of use, and it is also possible to average out the movement of the support body, so that parts of the body with high support pressure are fixed. Since it does not become oxidized and spreads appropriately, it has the effect of preventing acne, which is caused by prolonged high pressure conditions.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

All figures show embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing the main structure of an embodiment of a support pressure adjustable body support device to which the method of the present invention is applied; Fig. 2 is a system explanatory diagram showing the main part configuration of a support pressure adjustable type body support device to which the method of the present invention is applied, and Fig. 3 is a main part of a support pressure adjustable type body support device to which the method of the present invention is applied. FIGS. 4a and 4b are schematic explanatory views showing an example of the operation according to the method of the present invention, FIGS. 5a and 5b, and FIGS.
b is an explanatory plan view showing an example of the operation according to the method of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of control according to the method of the present invention. Code, 1... Coil spring, 2... Frame line, 3...
Connection spring, 4... Support body, 5... Support member, 6...
...first coil spring, 7...second coil spring,
8... Support plate, 9... Electrode plate, 10... Insulating plate,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11... Heat insulation board, 12... Support member, 13... Cushion material, 14... Outer covering, 15... Pressure sensor, 16... Control means, 17... Drive control means,
18... Vertical scanning means, 19... Horizontal scanning means.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A body support surface is constructed by arranging a large number of elastic supports whose support surfaces are movable downward by a driving means vertically and horizontally, and the support pressure is measured corresponding to each of the supports. A pressure sensor is provided, and a comparison means for comparing the support pressure measured by the pressure sensor with a set pressure, and a selection means for selecting a driving means to perform a lowering operation next time based on the comparison result. In a support pressure adjustable body support device provided with a control means for updating the operating conditions of the drive means every time, the control means updates the operating conditions by:
The pressure sensor is scanned, and the comparison means sequentially extracts supports having a support pressure higher than the set pressure, and the selected supports are selected from among the scanned supports adjacent to each other vertically and horizontally. Determine whether or not there is a selection, and if there is no selection, select the
1. A support pressure control method in a support pressure adjustable body support device, comprising updating operating conditions so that the selected drive means is moved downward next time. 2. A support pressure control method in a support pressure adjustable body support device, characterized in that the elastic support according to claim 1 is constituted by a shape memory alloy coil spring which constitutes the heating means. 3. A support pressure control method in a support pressure adjustable body support device, wherein the heating means according to claim 2 is configured to energize the shape memory alloy coil spring itself. 4. The elastic support according to claim 1 is constituted by a first coil spring attached between the upper and lower support members, and a second coil spring made of a shape memory alloy attached between the upper and lower support members, and 1. A support pressure control method in a support pressure adjustable body support device, characterized in that a heating means is configured in two coil springs. 5. A support pressure control method in a support pressure adjustable body support device, wherein the heating means according to claim 4 is configured to energize the second coil spring itself made of a shape memory alloy coil. 6. A support pressure control method in a support pressure adjustable body support device, characterized in that the body support surface constituted by the plurality of elastic supports according to claim 1 is configured to correspond to a part of the body. 7. A support pressure control method in a support pressure adjustable body support device, characterized in that the body support surface constituted by a large number of elastic supports according to claim 1 is configured to correspond to the entire body.