JPH11347058A - Excrete detector and diaper with alarm - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a diaper with alarm whose diaper is easily wearable and disposable. SOLUTION: This diaper A with alarm comprises a band shape diaper 2 and a diaper cover 3 to surround the diaper 2 form outside to fix the diaper 3 on the lower half body of a wearer. A detection tag 1 with a resonance circuit is fixed to an excrete absorbing position. An excitation coil is fixed to the diaper cover 3 which is disposed at the position where the excitation coil can be electromagnetically coupled to the coil of the detection tag 1. An alarm device 4 is fixed on the diaper cover 3. The alarm device 4 and the excitation coil are electrically connected. A battery, a variable high frequency wave vibrator, an excrete condition detector to detect the excreting condition of excrete from a change of resonance frequency and resonance intensity, and an alarm to alarm based on the excreting condition of excrete are equipped.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an excrement detector and a diaper with an alarm, which can easily determine whether an elderly person or a baby in need of nursing is excreting excrement into the diaper. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the rapid aging of the population in recent years, the number of elderly people requiring care represented by urine and fecal incontinence tends to increase. For this reason, the nursing care load on urinary and fecal incontinence of such elderly people requiring nursing care is increasing more and more in accommodation facilities and homes. Many systems have been filed to reduce the burden on the caregiver by detecting the presence or absence of incontinence in the diaper and notifying the caregiver.

[0003] When a diaper wearer excretes urine or urine,
The conductive pieces on the diaper side are short-circuited, and the loop coil conducts,
The current flowing in the magnetic field generating coil changes. By detecting this change in current, incontinence of the elderly requiring care is detected (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-180800).

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an excrement detecting device and a diaper with an alarm, which make it easy for a diaper wearer to put on and take off the diaper and disposable. is there.

[0005]

The resonance circuit is fixed to the excrement absorbing position of the diaper.
The excitation coil is fixed to the diaper cover at a position where it can be electromagnetically coupled with the coil of the resonance circuit. The high frequency oscillator is electrically connected to the excitation coil.

When the oscillation frequency of the high-frequency oscillator is changed, the current flowing through the exciting coil changes abruptly at the resonance point of the resonant circuit because the exciting coil is electromagnetically coupled to the coil of the resonant circuit.

[0007] When the wearer (diaper wearer) excretes urine or stool and the diaper absorbs excretion, the resonance characteristics of the resonance circuit change. The change in the resonance characteristics of this resonance circuit
The current flowing through the exciting coil appears as a change in the frequency at which the current suddenly changes or a change in the intensity of the change amount. The excretion state detector determines the excretion state of the excrement based on the frequency change (resonance frequency change) at which the current flowing through the exciting coil rapidly increases and decreases, and the current change amount (resonance intensity change) at the place where the current rapidly changes. To detect.

Since the excitation coil and the coil of the resonance circuit are electromagnetically coupled in a non-contact state, when the parent or caregiver attaches or detaches the diaper of the wearer (diaper wearer), the coil and the excretion state are detected. There is no need to connect or disconnect the container. For this reason, the burden on parents and caregivers can be reduced. Since the resonance circuit is inexpensive, it can be disposable together with the diaper. For this reason, it is not necessary to remove the resonance circuit from the diaper contaminated with the excrement, and there is no time and effort.

[Claim 2] The diaper has a belt-like shape and is formed of a material having excellent water absorption, and surrounds the front excretory device, the rear excretory device, and the buttocks of the wearer (diaper wearer). . At the excrement absorbing position of the diaper, a resonance circuit whose resonance characteristics are changed by the excrement is fixed. The diaper cover is formed of a material having excellent water repellency, surrounds the diaper from the outside, and fixes the diaper to the wearer's lower body. Then, the notifying device is fixed at an appropriate position of the diaper cover, and the notifying device is electrically connected to the exciting coil fixed at a position where the coil of the resonance circuit can be electromagnetically coupled.

The notification device includes a battery, a high-frequency oscillator having a variable oscillation frequency, an excretion state detector for detecting the excretion state of the excrement from a change in the resonance frequency and a change in the resonance intensity, and a state of excretion of the excrement. An alarm that performs alarm based on the alarm is provided.

When the oscillation frequency of the high-frequency oscillator is changed, the current flowing through the exciting coil changes abruptly at the resonance point of the resonant circuit because the exciting coil is electromagnetically coupled to the coil of the resonant circuit. When the wearer (diaper wearer) excretes urine or stool and the diaper absorbs excrement, the resonance characteristics of the resonance circuit change. The change in the resonance characteristics of the resonance circuit appears as a change in the frequency at which the current flowing through the exciting coil rapidly changes or a change in the intensity of the change amount.

The excretion state detector changes the frequency at which the current flowing through the exciting coil rapidly increases and decreases (changes in the resonance frequency).
Alternatively, the excretion state of the excrement is detected from the amount of current change (change in resonance intensity) at the place where the change occurs rapidly. The annunciator gives an alert based on the detected excretion state of the excrement.

[0013] Since the coil of the resonance circuit is fixed to the diaper and is electromagnetically coupled to the exciting coil in a non-contact state, when a parent or caregiver attaches or detaches the diaper of the wearer (diaper wearer), There is no need to connect or disconnect the coil and the notification device. For this reason, the burden on parents and caregivers can be reduced. Since the resonance circuit is inexpensive, it can be disposable together with the diaper. For this reason, it is not necessary to remove the resonance circuit from the diaper contaminated with the excrement, and there is no time and effort.

In this configuration, the notification device and the exciting coil are disposed on the diaper cover side. For this reason, it is not necessary to take out the wire from the wearer to the outside (there is no danger of the wire being entangled or cut), and the freedom of the wearer (diaper wearer) 's behavior is not hindered. Further, since the alarm device and the exciting coil can be reused many times, the running cost can be reduced.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an excrement detecting device and a resonance circuit for a diaper with an alarm, wherein a coil, a capacitor, and a resistor whose resistance varies depending on the excrement are connected in parallel. Connected in parallel with a resistor whose resistance changes depending on the coil, connected in parallel with a coil and a capacitor whose capacity changes depending on the excrement, and connected in parallel with the coil, the resistor and a capacitor whose capacity changes depending on the excrement Or a coil, a capacitor, and a resistor, the resistance of which changes due to excrement, connected in series, or a coil, a resistor, and a capacitor, whose capacitance changes, depending on the excrement, connected in series. Can be used. It should be noted that a capacitor type in which the capacitance changes depending on the excrement provides higher detection accuracy than a resistance type in which the resistance value changes depending on the excrement.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A diaper A with an alarm according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The diaper A with the alarm includes a diaper 2 to which the detection tag 1 is fixed, a diaper cover 3, and an alarm device 4 fixed to the upper front side of the diaper cover 3.

The diaper 2 has a substantially T-shaped band shape, and includes a paper diaper main body 21 and four sets of engaging portions 2 for fixing the rear portion to the front portion.
Outer peripheral portion 22 made of cloth for preventing side leakage
Absorb excrement (urine and stool) absorbed by the elderly in need of care as the wearer. This diaper 2 surrounds the front excretory device of the elderly in need of care, whose wide front is the wearer,
The wide rear surrounds the rear excreta, and the center surrounds the buttocks (both not shown).

A detection tag 1 having a resonance circuit 11 whose resonance characteristics are changed by the excrement excreted by the elderly requiring care is fixed with an adhesive tape 10 on the inner side of the central portion where the rear excreta of the elderly requiring care is located. (See FIG. 2). An electric circuit diagram of the resonance circuit 11 in the present embodiment is as shown in FIG.
Tag-side coil 111, capacitor 112, resistor 11
3 are connected in parallel.

The specific structure of the detection tag 1 including the resonance circuit 11 will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4B, a conductor 13 is printed on the surface of a disk-shaped resin film 12 which is a dielectric, and the meandering portion 1 is formed.
31, a spiral part 132 and a crescent part 133 are formed. Then, as shown in FIG. 4C, a crescent-shaped portion 134 is printed on the back surface of the resin film 12 so as to face the crescent-shaped portion 133. Further, as shown in FIG. 4A, the excrement enters the meandering-shaped portion 131 by coating portions other than the meandering-shaped portion 131 with insulating resins 135 and 135.

The meandering portion 131 has a resistor 113, and the crescent-shaped portions 133 and 134 opposed to each other across the resin film 12 as a dielectric are the capacitor 112 and the spiral portion 13.
2 constitutes the tag side coil 111. The electric resistance between the terminals decreases according to the amount of the excrement attached to the meandering portion 131.

The diaper cover 3 has a substantially E-shaped band shape.
Made of vinyl chloride with excellent water repellency. The rear part of the diaper cover 3 is formed wider than the rear part of the diaper 2, and the center part is formed to have substantially the same size as the center part of the diaper 2,
The front part is formed wider than the front part of the diaper 2. The diaper cover 3 surrounds the diaper 2 from the outside, and is provided on the lower body of the elderly with dementia as a wearer by two sets of engaging portions 31 provided on the inner surfaces of the front portion and the rear portion. Is fixed.

The notification device 4 includes a battery, a high-frequency oscillator 41
, An excretion state detector, and a notifier for notifying. The notification device 4 is fixed to the upper front side of the diaper cover 3 by a clip.

The high-frequency oscillator 41 is an oscillation circuit that continuously varies the frequency from a lower frequency to an upper frequency within a predetermined time (an intermediate frequency is several hundred MHz). To the exciting coil 43. The conductive bands 42, 42 are provided in a resin film fixed to the inner surface of the diaper cover 3, and an excitation coil 43 is provided at the tip of the resin film. The excitation coil 43 is positioned so as to be electromagnetically coupled to the tag-side coil 111.

The excretion state detector monitors the current flowing between the high-frequency oscillator 41 and the exciting coil 43, and detects the excretion state of the excrement from the current decrease rate (resonance intensity decrease) at the resonance point of the resonance circuit 11. . The principle of detection is that when excrement adheres to the tag-side coil 111, the meandering portion 131
This is because the resistance value at both ends of the (tag-side coil 111) decreases, and the Q of the resonance circuit 11 decreases. When the excretion state of the excrement detected by the excretion state detector exceeds the threshold, the alarm sounds a buzzer to notify the caregiver.

Next, advantages of the diaper A with the alarm of the present embodiment will be described. [A] Since it is not necessary for the caregiver to remove the diaper of the elderly requiring care and check the state of excretion on a regular basis, the burden on the caregiver can be reduced and the caregiver can concentrate on other tasks.

[I] The detection tag 1 having the resonance circuit 11 is fixed to the inner surface of the diaper 2 with an adhesive tape 10 and electromagnetically coupled to the excitation coil 43 provided on the diaper cover 3 in a non-contact state. For this reason, when the caregiver wears the diaper A with the alarm on the elderly requiring care, who is the wearer, the diaper 2 to which the detection tag 1 is fixed only needs to be set on the diaper cover 3, and the caregiver also needs to attach and detach the diaper. In doing so, there is no need to connect or disconnect the notification device 4 and the sensor. Therefore, the load on the caregiver can be reduced.

(C) Since the material cost of the detection tag 1 is low (because only the resonance circuit is used), the detection tag 1 can be disposable together with the diaper 2. For this reason, there is no need to remove the resonance circuit 11 from the diaper 2 that has been contaminated with excrement, and there is no time and effort.

[E] Diaper A with an alarm device has a structure in which an alarm device 4 and an exciting coil 43 are disposed on the diaper cover 3 side. For this reason, it is not necessary to take out the wire from the elderly requiring care, which is the wearer (there is no danger of the wires being entangled or cut), and the freedom of action of the elderly requiring care (diaper wearer) is not hindered. In addition, the notification device 4 and the exciting coil 4
Since 3 can be reused many times, the running cost can be reduced.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The diaper with an alarm of this embodiment differs from the diaper with an alarm A in the following points. The electric circuit diagram of the resonance circuit 11 in the present embodiment is as shown in FIG.
Tag-side coil 111, capacitor 112, resistor 11
3 are connected in parallel.

A specific structure of the detection tag 1 including the resonance circuit 11 will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6B, a conductor 13 is printed on the surface of a disk-shaped resin film 12 which is a dielectric, and the meandering portion 1 is formed.
31, a spiral part 132 and a crescent part 133 are formed. Then, as shown in FIG. 6C, a crescent-shaped portion 134 is printed on the back surface of the resin film 12 so as to face the crescent-shaped 13 portion 3. This detection tag 1
Are coated with insulating resins 135 and 135, and a large number of small holes 136 reaching the surface of the resin film 12 are formed in the insulating resin 135 and the crescent-shaped portion 133 on the front side.
Are drilled.

The meandering portion 131 has a resistor 113, and the crescent-shaped portions 133 and 134 opposed to each other with the resin film 12 serving as a dielectric therebetween sandwich the capacitor 112 and the spiral portion 13.
2 constitutes the tag side coil 111. The small hole 136
Then, the capacitance of the capacitor 112 increases in accordance with the amount of excrement that has reached the surface of the resin film 12.

The excretion state detector monitors the current flowing between the high-frequency oscillator 41 and the exciting coil 43, and determines the excretion of the excrement based on the decrease rate of the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit 11 at the resonance point of the resonance circuit 11 (reduction of the resonance frequency). Detect excretion status. The detection principle is based on the fact that when excrement reaches the surface of the resin film 12 from the small hole 136, the capacitance of the capacitor 112 increases.

When the excretion state of the excrement detected by the excretion state detector exceeds a threshold value, the buzzer sounds to notify the caregiver. The diaper with the alarm of the present embodiment has effects similar to the above [A] to [E].

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The diaper with an alarm of this embodiment differs from the diaper with an alarm A in the following points. As shown in FIG. 7, the electric circuit diagram of the resonance circuit 11 in this embodiment is such that a tag-side coil 111, a capacitor 112, and a resistor 113 are connected in series.

The excretion state detector monitors the current flowing between the high-frequency oscillator 41 and the exciting coil 43, and detects the excretion state of the excrement from the current decreasing rate (resonance intensity decrease) at the resonance point of the resonance circuit 11. . The principle of detection is that when excrement adheres to the detection tag 1, the electric resistance value of the resistor 113 decreases and the Q of the resonance circuit 11 decreases. The diaper with the alarm of the present embodiment has effects similar to the above [A] to [E].

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The diaper with an alarm of this embodiment differs from the diaper with an alarm A in the following points. As shown in FIG. 8, the electric circuit diagram of the resonance circuit 11 in this embodiment is such that a tag-side coil 111, a capacitor 112, and a resistor 113 are connected in series.

The excretion state detector monitors the current flowing between the high-frequency oscillator 41 and the exciting coil 43 and determines the excretion of the excrement from the rate of decrease in the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit 11 at the resonance point of the resonance circuit 11 (reduction in the resonance frequency). Detect excretion status. The principle of detection is that when excrement adheres to the detection tag 1,
This is because the capacitance of the capacitor 112 increases and the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit 11 decreases. The diaper with the alarm of the present embodiment has effects similar to the above [A] to [E].

Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The diaper with an alarm of this embodiment differs from the diaper with an alarm A in the following points. As shown in FIG. 9, the electric circuit diagram of the resonance circuit 11 in this embodiment is one in which the tag-side coil 111 and the resistor 113 are connected in series, and the resonance frequency is determined by the stray capacitance.

The excretion state detector monitors the current flowing between the high-frequency oscillator 41 and the exciting coil 43, and detects the excretion state of the excrement from the current decrease rate (resonance intensity decrease) at the resonance point of the resonance circuit 11. . The principle of detection is that when excrement adheres to the detection tag 1, the electric resistance value of the resistor 113 decreases and the Q of the resonance circuit 11 decreases. The diaper with the alarm of the present embodiment has effects similar to the above [A] to [E].

Next, a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The diaper with an alarm of this embodiment differs from the diaper with an alarm A in the following points. The electric circuit diagram of the resonance circuit 11 in the present embodiment is such that the tag side coil 111 and the capacitor 112 are connected in parallel as shown in FIG.

The excretion state detector monitors the current flowing between the high-frequency oscillator 41 and the exciting coil 43 and determines the excretion of the excrement from the rate of decrease in the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit 11 at the resonance point of the resonance circuit 11 (reduction in the resonance frequency). Detect excretion status. The principle of detection is that when excrement adheres to the detection tag 1,
This is because the capacitance of the capacitor 112 increases and the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit 11 decreases. The diaper with the alarm of the present embodiment has effects similar to the above [A] to [E].

The present invention includes the following embodiments in addition to the above embodiments. a. The alarm may change the mode of notification (ringing time, ringing interval, ringing volume) according to the excretion state of the excrement detected by the excretion state detector. b. The annunciator may perform annunciation by light or radio waves in addition to sound.

C. The excretion state detector may detect the excretion state of the excrement based on a change in the resonance frequency, a change in the resonance intensity, or a change in both (see FIG. 11). d. The detection tag 1 may be embedded in the diaper 2.
The excitation coil 43 may be embedded in the diaper cover 3 or may be fixed to the outside.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a diaper with an alarm according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part of the diaper with an alarm.

FIG. 3 is an electric circuit diagram of a detection tag and a notification device used for the diaper with the alarm.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view (a), a top view (b), and a bottom view (c) of a detection tag used in the diaper with the alarm.

FIG. 5 is an electric circuit diagram of a detection tag and a notification device used in a diaper with an alarm according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view (a), a top view (b), and a bottom view (c) of a detection tag used in a diaper with an alarm according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an electric circuit diagram of a detection tag and a notification device used in a diaper with an alarm according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an electric circuit diagram of a detection tag and a notification device used in a diaper with an alarm according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an electric circuit diagram of a detection tag and a notification device used in a diaper with an alarm according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an electric circuit diagram of a detection tag and a notification device used in a diaper with an alarm according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a graph showing a change in resonance frequency and a change in resonance intensity due to the attachment of excrement.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A Diaper with an alarm 2 Diaper 3 Diaper cover 4 Alarm 11 Resonance circuit 41 High frequency oscillator 43 Exciting coil 111 Tag side coil (coil) 112 Capacitor 113 Resistance

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A resonance circuit fixed at a diaper excrement absorption position and whose resonance characteristics change according to the excrement; an excitation coil fixed to a diaper cover at a position where electromagnetic coupling with a coil of the resonance circuit is possible; An excrement detection device comprising: a high-frequency oscillator electrically connected to an exciting coil; 2. A band-shaped diaper which is formed of a material excellent in water absorbency and surrounds a front excretory device, a rear excretory device, and a butt of a wearer, and is formed of a material excellent in water repellency, A diaper cover that surrounds the diaper from the outside and is fixed to the lower body of the wearer; a resonance circuit whose resonance characteristics change due to excrement is fixed to the excrement absorption position of the diaper; An exciting coil is fixed to a diaper cover at a position where electromagnetic coupling is possible, and a notifying device is fixed to an appropriate position of the diaper cover, and the notifying device is electrically connected to the exciting coil. A variable frequency high-frequency oscillator, an excretion state detector that detects the excretion state of the excrement from a change in the resonance frequency or a change in the resonance intensity, and an alarm that performs notification based on the excretion state of the excrement. Alarm with diapers, characterized in that it has been set. 3. The resonance circuit includes a coil, a capacitor, and a resistor whose resistance value changes according to excrement connected in parallel, and a coil and a resistor whose resistance value changes according to excrement connected in parallel. , A coil, a capacitor in which the capacity changes due to excrement connected in parallel, a coil, a resistor, and a capacitor in which the capacity changes due to excrement connected in parallel, a coil, a capacitor,
It is any one of a series connection of a resistor whose resistance value changes according to excrement, or a series connection of a coil, a resistor and a capacitor whose capacity changes according to excrement. 1. The excrement detection device according to 1,
Or the diaper with an alarm of Claim 2.