JPS63105347A - Environment control apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to judge the sleeping condition without providing a detector on a person's body and to control the environmental condition by detecting the variation in the airstream within a bed or in the vicinity thereof. CONSTITUTION:A threshold value when whether the level of an air flow speed within a bed is caused by the movement of a person's body is judged is represented by V0. When the threshold value V0 is set at a reference signal generating part 2a and an air current speed Vi within the bed is detected by means by an air flow speed sensor 1a, if V0<=Vi, a signal is outputted from a comparison part 2b to a counting part 2d on a judgement that the body movement is generated. On the contrary, if V0>Vi, no signal is outputted on a judgement that no body movement is generated. At the counting part 2d, the number of times of outputting the signal from the comparison part 2b is counted and supplied to a sleeping condition judging part 2e. If the number of counting is large, it is judged the sleep is short, whereas if it is small, it is judged that the sleep is enough. From the result of the judgement, in an electric blanket, the temperature within the bed is controlled to an appropriate temperature by changing the set temperature thereof.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an environment control device that detects a sleeping state during sleep and comfortably controls a sleeping environment.

BACKGROUND ART Conventional environmental control equipment of this type is as shown in Fig. 4.
A detector 4 for detecting brain waves, pulses, body temperature, etc. of the human body that is attached to the arm or head of the human body, a signal processing unit 5 that processes the signals from the detector 4, and a signal processing unit 5 that processes the signals from the signal processing unit 5 and detects the environment. light·
It was composed of an environment control section θ that controls environmental conditions such as sound and temperature (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1012-1988).

With this configuration, when the detector 4 detects the brain waves, pulse, body temperature, etc. of the human body, the signal processing unit 6 outputs a control signal.
Based on the control signal, the environment control section 6 controls the environmental conditions such as light, sound, temperature, etc. of the environment.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the method of attaching the detector 4 to the human body as described above, it is uncomfortable to wear the detector 4, and if sleep is disturbed or body movement occurs during sleep, the output signal may be affected. There have been problems in that normal human body information cannot be detected due to rises or the detector 4 moving or falling off.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve such conventional problems and to determine a sleeping state and control an environmental state without attaching a detector for detecting human body information to the human body.

Means for Solving the Problems To achieve this object, the environmental control device of the present invention includes an airflow detection means for detecting airflow in or near the bed;
The apparatus is provided with a determining means for determining the sleep state based on the signal from the airflow detecting means, and a control means for controlling the environmental state based on the signal from the determining means.

Function: With the above configuration, the environment control device of the present invention has the function of detecting the airflow in or near the bed to determine the sleeping state, and controlling the environmental state based on the sleeping state at that time to provide a comfortable sleeping environment. has.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described using FIGS. 1 to 3. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an airflow detection means composed of a wind speed sensor 1a disposed in the bed and detects the airflow velocity in the bed, and 2 is a judgment means for determining the sleeping state based on the signal from the wind speed sensor 1a. Signals are input from a reference signal generation section 2a that generates a preset reference signal, a comparison section 2b that compares the signal from the wind speed sensor 1a and the signal from the reference signal generation section 2a, the timer 20, and the timer 2C. It is comprised of a counting section 2d that counts the number of times a signal is outputted from the comparing section 2b when a signal is output from the comparing section 2b, and a sleep state determining section 2e that determines the sleep state based on the signal from the counting section 2d. Reference numeral 3 denotes a control means for controlling the environmental condition in the bed based on the signal from the sleep state determination unit 2e, and here an electric blanket is used, but for example, an air conditioner, a fan heater, etc., can be used to control the environmental condition in the vicinity of the bed. It may also be used as a device to Here, the signal from the wind speed sensor 1a is output to the comparator 2b by wire or wirelessly. Also,
The wind speed sensor 1a may be installed near the bed, such as at the bedside, to detect the airflow velocity near the bed.

During sleep, if the room temperature or the temperature inside the bed is too high, the person will feel uncomfortable, resulting in shallow sleep and frequent body movements.When body movements occur, the airflow in or near the bed changes. Therefore, by detecting such changes in airflow in or near the bed, the sleep state can be indirectly determined. Therefore, if the threshold value for determining whether or not the airflow velocity level in the bed is due to body movement is vo, then in the above configuration, the reference signal generating section 2a uses the above threshold value {circle around (2)} as the reference signal in advance.
. By setting v
If ≦■1, it is assumed that a body movement has occurred and a signal is output to the counting section 2d, and if vo>vi, it is assumed that no body movement has occurred and no signal is output.

The counting section 2d counts the number of times the signal is output from the comparing section 2b during a certain period of time determined by the timer 20 and outputs it to the sleep state determining section 2e. If the number is large, it is determined that the sleep state is shallow, and if the power and runt number are small, the sleep state is deep. Based on the output signal of this determination result, the control means 3, ie, the electric blanket, changes the set temperature based on the sleep state according to the relationship shown in FIG. 3 to control the temperature in the bed to an appropriate temperature.

Due to the above action, the sleeping state can be indirectly determined by detecting airflow changes in the bed and the environmental state in the bed can be controlled, so a detector that detects human body information can be attached to the human body as in the past. It has the effect of providing a comfortable sleeping state without the discomfort of wearing it or the malfunction caused by the detector moving or falling off, which is the case with conventional methods.

In addition, when going to bed or waking up, the action of peeling off bedding causes a larger change in airflow than when moving the body, so by detecting this change in airflow, it is possible to detect when going to bed or waking up, and the detection signal can be used, for example. When going to bed, it is possible to control the environment so that it is easy to fall asleep, and when waking up, it is possible to raise the room temperature using an air conditioner or the like, or to stop energizing the heating device for sleeping.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the environmental control device of the present invention, the sleeping state is indirectly determined by detecting changes in airflow in or near the bed, and the environmental state is controlled. This method has the effect of providing a comfortable sleeping state without the discomfort of wearing a detector that detects human body information or the malfunction caused by the detector moving or falling off, which is the case with systems in which a detector is attached to the human body.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the environmental control device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between body movement and sleep state, and FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between sleep state and set temperature. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a conventional environment control device. 1... Airflow detection means, 2... Judgment means,
3...control means, 4...detector, 5.
...Signal processing unit, 6...Sleep environment control unit. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person 2nd
Zutōtsu Shitoshiki 3rd Figure Asa vk Minjungai Kai

Claims (1)

[Claims] an airflow detection means for detecting airflow in or near the bed; a judgment means for determining a sleeping state based on a signal from the airflow detection means; and controlling an environmental state in or near the bed based on the signal from the judgment means. environmental control equipment consisting of control means for