JPH0693883B2 - Pulse meter - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a pulse meter suitable for measuring a pulse rate during exercise.

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when performing exercise using an exercise equipment such as a beauty bicycle, a pulse rate monitor is used for the purpose of managing the health condition during exercise.

This pulse rate monitor is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-28404 (A61B5).
/ 02), a pulse sensor attached to the user's ear and a pulse meter main body that displays the pulse rate by processing the pulse signal from the sensor are mostly connected by a cord. .

However, in this kind of pulse meter, since the sensor and the main body are connected by a cord, the cord easily shakes during exercise, and this shaking is transmitted to the sensor, which makes the pulse count unstable, There is a disadvantage that the accurate measurement of the pulse rate cannot be performed, and moreover, there is a drawback that the cord is apt to be caught during the exercise and the exercise is disturbed.

Therefore, conventionally, while the sensor unit includes a pulse detection circuit and a transmission unit that wirelessly transmits the detected pulse signal, a wireless pulse that includes a reception unit that receives the transmitted pulse signal inside the main body Total is considered.

In this case, a radio wave or a magnetic field is used as the transmission medium, but the magnetic field type has a more stable wireless flight distance between the transmitter and receiver than the radio wave type, and the transmission signal from the transmitter is also used. Has the advantage that it does not affect more than a certain distance.

Therefore, in the magnetic field type, for example, even if many people use this kind of pulse meter while exercising in the same building such as a training center, there is little interference between the pulse meters.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

By the way, in the above-mentioned wireless pulse rate monitor, while the transmitter is mounted on the body, the receiver is arranged on or around the body. However, in order not to hinder the exercise of the user, the transmitter to be mounted on the body. It is necessary to miniaturize etc.

However, in the case of a magnetic field type pulse meter, if the transmitter is downsized, the antenna coil for transmission is also reduced, and the wireless flight distance becomes short.

The present invention has been made with the above points in mind,
It is intended to provide a means that can secure a practically sufficient wireless flight distance after miniaturizing the transmission unit.

[Means for solving problems]

Finally, the structure of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 corresponding to the embodiment.

A pulse meter according to the present invention comprises a transmitter (4) for wirelessly transmitting a pulse signal from a pulse sensor (5), an annular belt (1) for holding the transmitter (4) on the body, and the transmitter ( 4) a receiver (17) provided at a position distant from the transmitter (4) for receiving a signal from the transmitter (4), and a transmitter loop antenna (15) provided in the transmitter (4), A loop antenna (15) is attached along the belt (5).

[Action]

Therefore, according to the present invention, when a pulse is detected by the pulse sensor (5), a pulse signal corresponding to the pulse is output from the sensor (5), and the pulse signal is converted into a transmission signal by the transmitter (4). And sent.

At this time, since the transmission signal is wirelessly transmitted from the large loop antenna (15) along the belt (1), sufficient reception sensitivity can be obtained even if the receiving section (17) is located away from the vicinity of the user. The pulse signal is accurately received by the receiving section (17).

〔Example〕

Next, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings showing the embodiments thereof.

First, FIGS. 1 to 6 shown in the first embodiment will be described.

(1) is an annular transmission belt worn on the chest of the user, and as shown in FIG. 2, a holding part (1a) and a connecting part (1b) made of a material that does not easily expand and contract, It consists of a holding part (1a) made of highly stretchable material and an expanding part (1c) connecting the connecting parts (1b), and the holding part (1a) and the connecting part (1b) are made of brass hooks, respectively. A pair of conductive connecting members (2) and (2) 'are provided, and the belt (1) is formed by connecting the connecting portions (2) and (2)'.
Are connected to each other in an annular shape, and the expansion / contraction force of the expansion / contraction part (1c) provides a force sufficient to hold the transmitting part described below on the chest.

On the back surface of the holding portion (1a) of the belt (1), first and second electrodes (3a) for electrocardiographic signal detection made of conductive rubber,
(3b) is attached, and the first electrode (3a) is arranged as close as possible to the heart, and the second electrode (3b) is arranged as far as possible from the heart.

Reference numeral (4) is a transmitting portion attached to the surface of the holding portion (1a) of the belt (1), and the pulse detecting circuit (5), the transmitting circuit (6) and the transmitting antenna portion shown in FIG. (7) is stored.

Here, the electrodes (3a) and (3b) are connected to the pulse detection circuit (5).
Is connected to the heartbeat sensor, and a pulse sensor based on the cardiac potential detection method is configured by these, and the pulse signal (electrocardiographic signal) of the user is connected.
Is detected as a temporal change in the potential difference obtained from both electrodes (3a) and (3b), and is detected by the pulse detection circuit (5).

The cardiac potential detection method is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 57-29763 (A61B5).
/ 02) etc.

Further, the transmission circuit (6) has a structure shown in FIG. 4, and the oscillation signal of the oscillator (8) and the pulse detection circuit (5).
And the pulse signal from are input to the AND circuit (9), and the oscillation signal is output from the AND circuit (9) during the high level of the pulse signal.

The output terminal of the AND circuit (9) is connected to the base of the NPN switching transistor (11) via the current limiting resistor (10), and the positive power supply terminal of the DC power supply (12) is connected to the transmitting antenna coil (13). Connected to the collector of the transistor (11) and the emitter is grounded.

Therefore, every time the pulse signal becomes high level, the oscillation signal from the AND circuit (9) causes the transistor (11) to perform a switching operation, causing a current to flow from the power supply (12) to the antenna coil (13). The magnetic field corresponding to the pulse signal is emitted from (13).

Reference numeral (14) is a resonance capacitor connected in parallel to the antenna coil (13), and the antenna coil (13) and the capacitor (14) form a resonance circuit that resonates at the frequency of the oscillation signal. The magnetic field is emitted from 13) efficiently.

(15) is a loop antenna provided along the belt (1), and the loop antenna (15) in the stretchable portion (1c) of the belt (1) is formed in a wavy shape in the stretchable direction of the stretchable portion (1c), The stretchability of the stretchable portion (1c) is not hindered, the wearability of the belt (1) is maintained, and the disconnection of the loop antenna (15) is prevented. If the loop antenna (15) is composed of a conductive wire having elasticity, it is not necessary to form it in a wave shape.

The loop antenna (15) is cut at the connecting portion between the holding portion (1a) and the connecting portion (1b), and the cut ends are connected to the connecting tools (2) and (2) ', respectively. At the same time as the belt (1) is connected to the connecting tools (2) and (2) 'in an annular shape by the connection, the loop antenna (15) is connected in a loop shape, and the antenna becomes operable. For this reason, a dedicated connection terminal for connecting the loop antenna (15) in a loop is not required.

Reference numeral (16) is a coupling coil which is wound around the antenna coil (13) and magnetically coupled to form a transmitting antenna section (7) together with the coil (13), and the loop antenna (15) is provided at both ends of the coupling coil (16). Are connected.

Here, since the transmitting antenna coil (13) is housed in the case of the transmitting unit (4) as described above, it must be small, and the magnetic field emission from the coil (13) is also small. However, since the loop antenna (15) coupled to the antenna coil (13) is provided along the belt (1) worn on the chest, the loop antenna becomes a large loop antenna, and the wireless flight distance is increased several times.

Reference numeral (17) is a receiving section held on the head of the user by a receiving belt (18), and includes a receiving antenna section (18), a receiving circuit (19) and a pulse display circuit (20) shown in FIG. ) Consists of.

The receiving antenna section (18) comprises a receiving antenna coil (21) as shown in FIG. 6 and receives the magnetic field emitted from the loop antenna (15).

The receiving circuit (19) is constructed as shown in FIG.
The received signal obtained from the antenna coil (21) is amplified by the amplifier (22) and then detected by the diode (23),
Pulse display circuit that demodulates the pulse signal synchronized with the pulse (20)
Output to.

Reference numeral (24) is a resonance capacitor, and the antenna coil (21) and the capacitor (24) form a resonance circuit that resonates at the oscillation frequency of the oscillator (8). (twenty five),
(26) is a resistor for determining the amplification degree of the amplifier (22),
(27) and (28) are a resistor and a capacitor that form a detection circuit together with the diode (23).

Further, the pulse display circuit (20) is, for example, for generating a signal sound according to the obtained pulse signal or an alarm sound when a predetermined pulse upper limit value is reached. The sound is transmitted to the user by the earphone (29) connected to the display circuit (20).

In the above embodiment, the receiving loop antenna is provided along the receiving belt (18) and the receiving portion (1
By winding a coupling coil around the antenna coil (21) of 7) and connecting the coupling coil to the loop antenna, the receiving sensitivity of the receiving section (17) is increased.

Further, as indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 1, the receiving section (17) '
May be attached to the waist of the body by a belt (18) '. In this case, the display of the sound from the receiving section (17) 'is not limited to the earphone, but may be performed by the speaker provided in the receiving section (17)'.

Next, FIGS. 7 to 11 showing the second embodiment will be described.

What is shown in this example is a user's exercise mat (30).
In the case of exercising above, the difference from the first embodiment is that
The receiving unit is constituted by a receiving unit main body (31) and an external receiving antenna removably connected to the main body (31), and the external receiving antenna is integrated with the exercise mat (30). It is the point that was incorporated.

That is, FIG. 8 shows the appearance of the receiver main body (31), and the start key (33a), stop key (33b), pulse key (33c) and time key (33d) are provided on the front surface of the case (32). An operation key group consisting of, a display (34) for numerically displaying the pulse rate per minute, and a speaker (35) for outputting a signal sound or an alarm sound synchronized with the pulse are provided, and a case is provided. On the left side of (32), use the external antenna jack (3
6) is provided.

As shown in FIG. 9, in the receiver main body (31), as in the receiver of the first embodiment, the receiver antenna coil (21) serving as a receiver antenna, the receiver circuit (19), and the receiver A pulse display circuit for driving a display (34) and a speaker (35) is provided based on the pulse signal obtained from the receiving circuit (19), and an antenna is provided between the antenna coil (21) and the amplifier (22). The jack (36) is connected.

Further, FIG. 10 shows the appearance of the exercise mat (30), in which the receiving loop antenna (37) is arranged around the mat (30) whose surface is anti-slip, and A matching portion (38) is provided at the corner of the mat (30).

As shown in FIG. 11, the matching circuit (38) includes a receiving antenna coil (39), a resonance capacitor (40), and voltage dividing resistors (41) and (42) forming an attenuator. , Antenna coil for impedance matching (3
The loop antenna (37) is connected to the primary coil (39a) of 9), and the capacitor (40) and the resistors (41) and (42) are connected to the secondary coil (39b) of the antenna coil (39).
Are connected in parallel, and both ends of the resistor (42) are connected to the plug (44) via the cord (43).

Then, insert this plug (44) into the jack (3
When inserted in 6), the built-in antenna coil (21) of the main body (31) is disconnected, and the external antenna incorporated in the mat (30) is connected to the receiving circuit (19).

Therefore, when the pulse signal of the user moving on the mat (30) is wirelessly transmitted from the loop antenna (15) of the transmitter (4), this magnetic field is transmitted by the loop antenna (37) of the mat (30). The voltage is induced in the secondary coil (39b) of the antenna coil (39).

Here, a resonance circuit is constituted by the secondary coil (39b) and the capacitor (40), and only a signal of a required frequency, that is, a signal equal to the frequency of the oscillator (9) is taken out,
This is divided by the resistors (41) and (42), and the voltage across the resistor (42) is input to the receiving circuit (19) of the main body (31).

The resistance values of the voltage dividing resistors (41) and (42) are set according to the receiving sensitivity of the external receiving antenna, that is, the voltage level obtained from the antenna coil (39) so that the external receiving antenna has the optimum sensitivity. I have to.

This optimum sensitivity means the minimum sensitivity that can receive the transmission signal from the transmission unit (4), prevents interference between pulse meters and the effect of spatial noise due to too high sensitivity, and prevents malfunction. It does.

The start key (33a) of the key group is for starting the pulse measuring operation and the timing operation, and the stop key (33b) is for stopping these operations. The pulse key (33c) is used to display the pulse rate for one minute on the display (34), and the time key (33d) displays the elapsed time from the key operation of the start key (33a). It is intended to be displayed on (34).

In this way, if the receiving section is composed of the receiving section main body (31) and the external receiving antenna, and the loop antenna (37) of this external receiving antenna is incorporated around the exercise mat (30), the transmitting section ( From 4), the receivable area of the signal wirelessly transmitted is expanded, and the exercise area is expanded. Moreover, this receivable area (exercise area) can be seen at a glance.

Furthermore, if the exercise mat (30) is made large, the receiving loop antenna (37) also becomes large, so that the exercise area can be made even larger.

On the other hand, a large number of mats (30) of different sizes provided with the loop antenna (37) have different sensitivities as the respective external receiving antennas, but the mating parts (38) of the respective mats (30) are different. Since the attenuation amounts by the resistors (41) and (42) are set to the optimum values according to the respective reception sensitivities, the amplifier (in the receiving circuit (19) ( 22) It is not necessary to adjust the sensitivity by changing the amplification degree, and the pulse rate can always be measured with appropriate sensitivity.

Next, the drawings starting from FIG. 12 showing the third embodiment will be described.

This embodiment is applied to a foot-operated exercise device, a so-called beauty bicycle, and includes a receiver main body (31) attached to a handle pipe of a beauty bicycle (45) and a saddle (46).
External receiving antennas mounted on supporting pipes (47)
The receiving section is constituted by and.

As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the external receiving antenna (47) includes a receiving antenna coil (49) and the antenna coil (4) in a small storage box (48) of about 50 × 10 × 10 mm.
9) and a resonance capacitor (5
0) and the voltage dividing resistors (51) and (52) that form the attenuator are housed. Both ends of the resistor (52) are connected to the plug (54) through the cord (53). The plug (54) is inserted into the jack (36) of the main body (31).

Therefore, when the user who holds the transmitter (4) on the body by the belt (1) sits down on the saddle (46), the transmitting loop antenna (15) is provided along the belt (1).
A signal more synchronized with the pulse is transmitted wirelessly, and this signal is received by the external receiving antenna (47) below the saddle (46).

Since the external receiving antenna (47) is arranged at a position that matches the directivity of the transmitting loop antenna (15), the receiving sensitivity is stable and stable even when the user moves (tilts). The pulse can be determined.

In FIG. 12, reference numeral (55) is an earphone jack provided on the right side surface of the receiver main body (31) for listening to a signal sound or a warning sound corresponding to the pulse with an earphone. Is.

By the way, in the second and third embodiments, the receiving part is composed of the receiving part main body (31) and the external receiving antenna, but the main body (31) has the receiving antenna coil (21) built therein. Therefore, the transmitting unit (4) is provided only by the main body (31).
It is possible to receive the transmission signal from.

However, when the transmitter (4) and the main body (31) are located apart from each other, or when reception is difficult due to the directivity of the antenna coil (21) in the main body (31), or when the main body (31) When there is a noise source nearby, or when it is desired to widen the reception area, a stable reception state can be obtained by using an external reception antenna, which is extremely effective.

Moreover, this external receiving antenna has a built-in attenuator that sets the amount of attenuation according to the sensitivity of the antenna, so the main body (31) always has the optimum voltage level for detecting the pulse rate. Will be input, reducing the mixing of noise, and regardless of the type of external receiving antenna,
It will be possible to always maintain appropriate sensitivity.

In each of the above-described examples, the case where the pulse of the user is measured by the cardiac potential detection method has been shown, but the present invention is not limited to this, and JP-B-60-25204 (A61B5 / 02) and JP-B-59- As can be seen in Japanese Patent No. 37204 (A61B5 / 02), blood flow changes may be detected as light intensity changes to measure the pulse. For example, when an ear pulse sensor is used, A pulse signal is guided to a transmitter held by a belt on the user's head or chest or waist, and a magnetic field corresponding to the pulse is emitted from a transmission loop antenna provided along the belt. .

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the pulse rate meter of the present invention, the pulse signal obtained from the pulse sensor is wirelessly transmitted from the transmitting unit held in the body, and the pulse rate is received by the receiving unit provided in the body or its surroundings. Since there is no need to connect the pulse sensor and the pulse meter main body with a cord as in the conventional case, the movement of the user is not hindered and accurate pulse measurement can be realized.

Furthermore, since the transmission loop antenna is provided along the annular belt worn on the body, it is possible to secure a sufficient wireless flight distance even if the transmission unit is downsized,
The reception sensitivity is also good, and since there is no discomfort when the loop antenna is attached to the body, it does not hinder the user's movement, and the loop antenna can be attached and detached by attaching and detaching the belt. , The handling is also good.

[Brief description of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the pulse meter of the present invention, FIGS. 1 to 6 show the first embodiment, FIG. 1 shows a state of use, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a transmission belt, FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of the transmitting unit, FIG. 4 is a connection diagram of the transmitting circuit and the transmitting antenna unit of the transmitting unit, FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of the receiving unit, and FIG. 6 is a receiving antenna unit of the receiving unit. The wiring diagram of the receiving circuit, FIGS. 7 to 11 show the second embodiment, FIG. 7 shows the state of use, FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the receiving unit main body, and FIG. 9 is the receiving unit main body. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the exercise mat, FIG. 11 is a connection diagram of an external receiving antenna incorporated in the exercise mat, and FIG. 12 and subsequent figures show the third embodiment. Is a perspective view of a beauty bicycle, Figures 13 and 14
The drawings are a perspective view and a connection diagram of the external receiving antenna. (1) ... Transmission belt, (3a), (3b) ... Electrocardiographic signal detection first and second electrodes, (5) ... Pulse detection circuit, (4) ...
… Transmitter, (15) …… Loop antenna, (17), (1
7) ′ …… Reception unit, (30) …… Exercise mat, (31) ……
Receiver unit, (41), (42), (51), (52) ... voltage dividing resistor, (45) ... beauty bicycle, (47) ... external receiving antenna.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A transmitter for wirelessly transmitting a pulse signal from a pulse sensor, an annular belt for holding the transmitter on the body, and a signal provided from the transmitter provided at a position distant from the transmitter. The pulse rate monitor, comprising: a receiving section for transmitting the signal; and a transmitting loop antenna provided in the transmitting section, the loop antenna being attached along the belt. 2. A receiver according to claim 1, wherein the receiver is held on the body by a receiver belt, the receiver has a receiver loop antenna, and the loop antenna is attached along the receiver belt. The pulse rate monitor according to item. 3. The pulse according to claim 1, wherein a stretchable portion is formed on a part of the belt, and the loop antenna in the stretchable portion is formed in a wavy shape in the stretchable direction of the stretchable portion. Total. 4. The belt is composed of a long body having conductive connecting members at both ends, and both ends of a loop antenna are connected to the both connecting members, respectively, and the belt is formed by connecting the both connecting members. The invention according to claim 1, wherein the loop antennas are connected in a ring shape, and the loop antennas are connected in a loop shape.
The pulse rate monitor according to item 2 or item 2. 5. The pulse meter according to claim 1, wherein the receiving section is provided with a receiving loop antenna, and the loop antenna is attached around the exercise mat. 6. The receiving unit is composed of a receiving unit main body and an external receiving antenna removably connected to the main unit, and the external receiving antenna is provided with an attenuator having an attenuation amount set according to the sensitivity of the antenna. The pulse rate monitor according to claim 1. 7. The invention as set forth in claim 1, wherein the receiving section is composed of the receiving section main body and an external receiving antenna removably connected to the main body, and the external receiving antenna is arranged under the saddle of the foot-type exercise equipment. The pulse rate monitor according to the first section.