JPH11295250A - Sensor for diaper - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a sensor for diaper which does hot detect very small quantity of urination and can detect urination while discriminating from evacuation. SOLUTION: The sensor 20 for diaper comprises a conductive pattern of at least three strips arranged on an elongated basic material. A feces detecting part B is formed of the conductive pattern at one end of the basic material. A urine detecting part A is formed of the conductive pattern such that it is located at a position A (or A') on the basic material separated from the urinating part P of a user of diaper under a state where the feces detecting part B is located at the evacuating part Q of the user of diaper. A structure for isolating urine spreading from the urinating part from an evacuation detecting part may be provided at one end of the basic material.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a diaper sensor which is attached to the inside of a diaper and detects urination or defecation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In nursing homes and the like, diapers are used for cared persons such as dementia and highly disabled persons. The diaper change is preferably performed immediately each time incontinence (urination or defecation in the diaper) occurs. But,
In some cases, the cared person may not have the ability to complain of incontinence, or may refrain from complaining even though he / she has the ability. In practice, it is difficult to always change diapers in a timely manner.

In order to solve such a problem, conventionally, two parallel electrodes are arranged inside the diaper so as to extend from the urine discharge section of the diaper user to the defecation section, and a change in resistance between the two electrodes is detected. Thus, there is known an apparatus that detects incontinence.

[0004]

However, the conventional diaper sensor as described above has the following problems.

That is, the first problem is that a detection output is generated even when a small amount of urine is generated. A small amount of urine often leaks in elderly people and the like, and in such a case, it is not always necessary to change diapers immediately. However, the above-mentioned diaper sensor cannot distinguish between such a small amount of urination that does not require diaper replacement and the original urination that requires diaper replacement. It was necessary to check the state of the diaper by putting a hand in the gap.

[0006] The second problem is that it is not possible to distinguish between defecation and urination. Since the work performed by the caregiver is not the same for urination and defecation, the caregiver's position is to be able to recognize whether incontinence is urination or defecation when a sensor output is received. preferable. In order to distinguish between urination and defecation, it is conceivable to use the difference in resistance between the electrodes. However, this method has a problem that it is difficult to set the threshold value, and it is not always possible to make a reliable distinction. .

The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a diaper sensor which does not detect a minute amount of urination.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a diaper sensor capable of detecting urination and defecation separately.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a diaper sensor for detecting urination and defecation in a diaper, comprising an elongated substrate and at least three strips disposed on the substrate. The conductive pattern, at one end of the substrate, a stool detection unit formed by the conductive pattern, and with the stool detection unit positioned at the diaper user's defecation unit, from the urine discharge unit of the diaper user And a urine detecting portion formed by the conductive pattern so as to come to a position on the base material that is separated from the base material.

In this way, by setting the positional relationship between the stool detection unit and the urine detection unit so that the urine detection unit is located at a position distant from the diaper user's urine discharge unit, urine can be removed from a small amount of urine Generation of a detection signal can be prevented. In addition, since the urine detecting section and the stool detecting section are provided separately and independently, it is possible to detect both of them separately.

It is preferable that the distance from the urine discharging section of the diaper user to the urine detecting section is shorter than the distance from the urinating section to the feces detecting section. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent a situation in which urine due to urination is detected by the stool detection unit before the urine detection unit and an erroneous detection signal is generated.

[0012] At one end of the base material, an insulating structure may be provided to insulate urine diffused from the urination part from the defecation detection part. As a result, generation of an erroneous detection signal can be more reliably prevented.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a waist showing a use state of a diaper sensor according to the present invention. The sensor 20 is arranged inside the diaper cover (and the diaper) 10 with respect to the waist portion 15. One end of the sensor 20 has a detection circuit box 4
8 is connected. The detection circuit box 48 is detachably adhered to the outer surface of the diaper cover 10 by an adhesive means such as a hook-and-loop fastener.

As shown in FIG. 1, the sensor 20 extends from the defecation part Q of the cared person (diaper user) to the front of the diaper cover 10 via the urination part P. The sensor 20
It has detection units A and B for separately detecting urination and defecation. The stool detection part B is located so as to correspond to the defecation part Q of the care receiver. Based on this position, the interval between the urine detection unit A and the stool detection unit B is determined so that the urine detection unit A is located at a position apart from the urination unit P of the care receiver in the longitudinal direction of the sensor 20. . Instead of the urine detection unit A, a urine detection unit may be provided at an intermediate position A ′ between the urination unit P and the defecation unit Q.

As described above, since the urine detecting section A (A ') is separated from the urinating section by a predetermined distance, even if a small amount of urine leaks and diffuses, the moisture does not reach the detecting section A ( Of course, it does not reach the detection unit B). As a result, the detection output does not occur due to a small amount of urine leakage. When there is a bowel movement, a detection output is generated by the detection unit B dedicated to bowel movement detection. Since the output of the detection unit B is generated independently of the output of the detection unit A, defecation and urination are detected separately.

Detecting circuit box 4 in this embodiment
Reference numeral 8 has a transmission function and transmits a detection result to the management department.

FIG. 2D shows a configuration example of the diaper sensor 20 according to the present invention. In order to easily understand the configuration, the manufacturing process will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, as shown in FIG. 2A, an elongated base 21 made of paper, cotton, or a thin plastic sheet is prepared. This size is, for example, about 30 mm × 400 mm. When using paper, cotton, or the like, a water-repellent ink or paste such as silicone resin is applied thereon.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2B, a conductive pattern is printed thereon with a conductive ink or paste. As the conductive ink or paste, a mixture of powder of a conductive substance such as silver or copper is used. This conductive pattern is composed of first and second substantially parallel strips 22 and 24 extending in the longitudinal direction of the substrate 21 and a short third strip 23 located therebetween. The leading end portions of the first and third strips 22 and 24 are thick portions 2 close to each other.
7, 28, and this portion corresponds to the above-described stool detection unit B. In this example, the interval between the wide portions 27 and 28 is 4 m.
m. In the vicinity of the distal end 25 of the second strip 23, a projection 26 projecting from the middle of the third strip 24 is provided. The tip part 25 and the projection part 26 correspond to the urine detection part A described above. In this example, the distance between the distal end portion 25 and the projection portion 26 is about 20 mm.

The third strip 24 used as a common electrode can be eliminated by using the body of the diaper user as a conductive path.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2C, a terminal portion 31 at the end of the base material 21, a base portion 30 including the urine detecting portion A,
Then, a pattern 29 of water-repellent ink is printed in a reverse U-shape so as to expose the stool detection unit B and cover the other parts. Thereby, the portion of the base material 21 of the pattern 29 does not permeate the urine.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 2D, a soft and soft paper / cotton sheet 32 is adhered to both sides with the terminal portion 21 exposed. Thus, the diaper sensor 20 is completed. Instead, a bag-shaped sheet may be covered.

Although the manufacture of one sensor 20 has been described with reference to FIG. 2, in practice, a large base material 21 of about A3 size is prepared, and a plurality of sensors are manufactured at the same time. By separating into a plurality of pieces at the stage c) or (d), an efficient sensor can be manufactured.

Although the sensor 20 of the present embodiment is basically disposable, it can be manufactured at low cost by such a configuration.

FIG. 3 shows a configuration example of the detection circuit 40 used together with the diaper sensor 20. This detection circuit 40
It is housed in the detection circuit box 48 of FIG. The detection circuit 40 has transistors 41 and 43 and a transmission circuit 47, respectively.

The collector of the transistor 41 has a load resistance of 4
2 is connected to the strip 24 of the sensor 20, and the base is connected to the strip 23. Transistor 43
Is connected to the strip 24 of the sensor 20 via a load resistor 44, and the base is connected to the strip 22. Although the specific configuration of the electrical and mechanical connection between the strips 22, 23, and 24 and the detection circuit 40 is not specified here, it can be performed using a clip or the like. An FET may be used instead of the transistor.

With such a configuration, when the urine detecting section A is short-circuited (lower resistance) by urine, the transistor 41 is turned on and a urine detection signal 45 is generated. Similarly, the transistor 43 is turned on by the short circuit of the stool detection unit B, and the stool detection signal 46 is generated.

In the present embodiment, these signals 45 and 46 are input to a transmitting circuit 47, and the transmitting circuit 47
The generation of the urine detection signal and the stool detection signal is notified to the management section together with the identification number (ID) information of the care receiver.

In the configuration of the diaper sensor described above, the stool detection unit B is not covered with the Japanese paper / cotton sheet 32 (or is provided with an opening) so that the stool detection unit B can detect the stool well. You may.

With a large amount of urination, urine may permeate the diaper or reach the stool detection section B. In this case, a stool detection signal is output. However, since the stool detection unit B is closer to the urination unit P than the stool detection unit B, the urine detection signal is detected first. Therefore, when the stool detection signal is output following the urine detection signal, the management section can determine that urination has occurred. Conversely, when the stool detection signal is detected first, it can be determined that defecation has occurred. Such a determination is preferably made in a system (not shown) in the management department.

Therefore, in the above configuration,
In the case where defecation occurs after urination and before the diaper is replaced, it is detected only that urination has occurred.

FIG. 4 shows another example of the configuration of the stool detection unit B for coping with such a situation. FIG. 4A shows a plane view of the stool detection unit B, and FIG. 4B shows a side sectional view thereof.

In the state shown in FIG. 2C, a water-repellent insulating sheet 61 having a thickness of about 1 to 2 mm and having an opening 65 substantially at the center is adhered to the stool detection section B. Further, a bag-shaped nonwoven fabric 62 having an opening 65 is covered to improve the touch. In addition to the stool detection unit B, the Japanese paper / cotton sheet 32 may be covered.

In use, the sensor is installed so that the stool detection unit B is located at the position of the defecation part (anus) of the care receiver. At this time, the sensor may be bent vertically in the stool detection unit B as indicated by a broken line 51 so that the stool can easily enter the opening 45 directly and fit in the crack of the buttocks of the care receiver. .

With this configuration, it is possible to reduce the possibility that urine from the urination section reaches the stool detection section B. As a result, it is possible to reduce the possibility of the malfunction described above.

Although only the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the claims. For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the defecation / urination detection result is transmitted to the management unit has been described, but an alarm may be generated by sound or light without using such a transmission function.

Further, since the position of the urination unit differs between an adult and a child and between a woman and a man, a sensor having a urine detection unit set at an appropriate position may be separately prepared.

[0039]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a diaper sensor which does not detect a minute amount of urination. Also, a diaper sensor capable of detecting urination and defecation separately can be provided at low cost.

[0040]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a waist showing a use state of a diaper sensor according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a process chart showing a manufacturing process of a diaper sensor according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a circuit block diagram showing a configuration example of a detection circuit used together with the diaper sensor of the present invention.

4A is a plan view of a sensor portion showing another example of the configuration of the stool detection unit B, and FIG.
It is.

[Explanation of symbols]

10: diaper cover (and diaper), 15: waist, 2
0: diaper sensor, 21: base material, 22, 23, 24 ...
Strip, 25 ... end, 26 ... protrusion, 27, 28 ...
Thick part, 29: Water-repellent ink pattern, 30: Central part of base material, 32: Paper / cotton sheet, 48: Detection circuit box,
A, A 'urine detection section, B: stool detection section, P: urination section, Q: defecation section, 61: insulating sheet, 62: nonwoven fabric, 65: opening.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A diaper sensor for detecting urination and defecation in a diaper, comprising: an elongated substrate; a conductive pattern comprising at least three strips disposed on the substrate; A stool detection unit formed by the conductive pattern at one end of the diaper user, and a position on the base material away from the diaper user's urine discharge unit in a state where the stool detection unit is positioned at the diaper user's defecation unit. And a urine detecting portion formed by the conductive pattern. 2. The diaper sensor according to claim 1, wherein a distance from the urine discharging section of the diaper user to the urine detecting section is shorter than a distance from the urinating section to the stool detecting section. 3. The diaper sensor according to claim 1, wherein one end of said base material has an insulating structure for insulating urine diffused from a urine discharging section from said defecation detecting section.