WO2010095384A1

WO2010095384A1 - Electronic thermometer and display control method

Info

Publication number: WO2010095384A1
Application number: PCT/JP2010/000676
Authority: WO
Inventors: 萩浩司; 相馬孝博
Original assignee: テルモ株式会社
Priority date: 2009-02-19
Filing date: 2010-02-04
Publication date: 2010-08-26
Also published as: TW201031900A

Abstract

Provided is an electronic thermometer which achieves display that is easier to see for users without loss of convenience when the body temperature is measured. Specifically provided is an electronic thermometer characterized by being provided with a light emitter (252) in which a plurality of LEDs (252A) are arranged, a shake detection unit (230) which detects that an electronic thermometer (100) has been shaken, and a display controller (244) for controlling the light emission of each of the LEDs (252A), wherein the display controller (244) is provided with a means for creating a light-emission dot pattern, and a means for calculating the light-emission duration per dot column of the LED (252A) on the basis of the shaking duration in a predetermined direction of the electronic thermometer (100), which is calculated on the basis of the result of the detection by the shake detection unit (230), and the number of dot columns necessary to represent the light-emission dot pattern, and controls the light emission of each of the LEDs (252A) on the basis of the created light-emission dot pattern and the calculated light-emission duration per dot column.

Description

Electronic thermometer and display control method

The present invention relates to an electronic thermometer that measures the body temperature of a subject.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an electronic thermometer has been provided with a display unit such as an LCD, and configured to display information such as measured body temperature of a subject to a user (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-24530). See the official gazette).

However, in recent years, the display unit tends to be limited in size as the electronic thermometer becomes lighter and smaller, and the display is not always easy for the user to see. In particular, when the surrounding environment is dark, it is difficult to read the displayed information.

On the other hand, it is possible to realize a display section that is easier for the user to see by increasing the dimensions or making the backlight of the LCD brighter. However, in this case, the external shape of the electronic thermometer becomes large, power consumption As a result, the convenience for the user is impaired.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to realize an easy-to-see display without impairing user convenience in an electronic thermometer.

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic thermometer according to the present invention has the following configuration. That is,
An electronic thermometer for measuring the temperature of a subject,
A light emitting means comprising a plurality of light emitting elements arranged;
Shake detection means for detecting that the electronic thermometer is shaken;
A light emission control means for controlling light emission of each light emitting element provided in the light emission means,
The light emission control means includes
Creating means for creating a luminescent dot pattern based on the measured body temperature information of the subject;
Based on the shake time in the predetermined direction of the electronic thermometer calculated based on the detection result by the shake detection means, and the number of dot rows of the light emitting elements in the predetermined direction necessary to express the light emitting dot pattern Calculating means for calculating a light emission time per dot row of the light emitting element,
When the shake detecting means detects that the electronic thermometer is shaken, the light emission of each light emitting element is based on the created light emitting dot pattern and the calculated light emission time per dot row. It is characterized by controlling.

According to the present invention, an electronic thermometer can realize a display that is easier to see without impairing user convenience.

Other features and advantages will become apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals are assigned to the same or similar components.

The accompanying drawings are included in the specification, constitute a part thereof, show an embodiment of the present invention, and are used to explain the principle of the present invention together with the description.
It is a figure which shows an example of an external appearance structure of the electronic thermometer 100 which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the system configuration | structure of the electronic thermometer 100 which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The figure which showed an example of the display content visually recognized by the user by light emission of the light emission part 252 when the electronic thermometer 100 is shaken reciprocally in the direction substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal direction while maintaining the posture of the electronic thermometer 100 It is. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the contents of signal processing in a signal processing unit 232; It is a figure which shows an example of the light emission dot pattern produced in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the body temperature measurement process of the electronic thermometer 100. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the visualization process in the display control part 244 for visualizing the measured body temperature in the light emission part 252. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the light emission dot pattern produced in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of the signal processing in the signal processing part 232 of the electronic thermometer which concerns on the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the light emission dot pattern produced in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the visualization process in the display control part 244 for visualizing the measured body temperature in the light emission part 252. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the light emission dot pattern produced in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the visualization process in the display control part 244 for visualizing the measured body temperature in the light emission part 252. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the light emission dot pattern produced in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the light emission dot pattern produced in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of an external appearance structure of the electronic thermometer 2700 which concerns on the 8th Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the system configuration | structure of the electronic thermometer 2700 which concerns on the 8th Embodiment of this invention. The figure which showed an example of the display content visually recognized by the user by light emission of the light emission part 252 when the electronic thermometer 2700 is shaken reciprocally in the direction substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal direction while maintaining the posture of the electronic thermometer 2700. It is. It is a figure which shows an example of the table used when selecting luminescent color according to the body temperature of the measured subject. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control part 244. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a flow of visualization processing in the display control unit 244 for visualizing measured body temperature in the light emitting unit 2852. It is a figure which shows an example of an external appearance structure of the electronic thermometer 3700 which concerns on the 9th Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the cross-sectional structure of the light emission part of the electronic thermometer 3700. FIG. It is a figure which shows the relationship between body temperature and luminescent color used when selecting luminescent color according to the body temperature of the measured subject. 12 is a flowchart showing a flow of visualization processing in the display control unit 244 for visualizing measured body temperature in the light emitting unit 2852. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control part 244. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control part 244. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a flow of visualization processing in the display control unit 244 for visualizing measured body temperature in the light emitting unit 2852.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings as necessary.

[First Embodiment]
<1. External structure of electronic thermometer>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an external configuration of an electronic thermometer 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes a display unit that displays information related to the body temperature of the subject, and is composed of, for example, an LCD or the like.

102 is a light emitting unit, and light emitting elements such as LEDs are arranged in a line in the longitudinal direction of the electronic thermometer 100. In the example of FIG. 1, the case where seven LEDs are arranged as the light emitting unit 102 is illustrated, but the number of LEDs included in the light emitting unit 102 is not limited to seven. In the example of FIG. 1, a case where LEDs are arranged in one row as the light emitting unit 102 is illustrated, but the number of LEDs arranged is not limited to one row, and may be a plurality of rows.

103 is an end cap, which is made of a metal such as stainless steel so that the body temperature of the subject can be easily conducted to a built-in temperature measurement unit (details will be described later).

104 is an ON / OFF switch that controls the power source of the electronic thermometer 100 when pressed when starting the measurement of the body temperature or after the end of the measurement of the body temperature.

<2. System configuration of electronic thermometer>
Next, the system configuration of the electronic thermometer will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a system configuration of the electronic thermometer 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The electronic thermometer 100 can be roughly divided into a power supply unit 210, a temperature measurement unit 220, a shake detection unit 230, a calculation control unit 240, an output unit 250, and a buzzer 260.

The power supply unit 210 incorporates a conventional disposable or rechargeable battery, and supplies power to each part of the electronic thermometer 100.

The temperature measuring unit 220 includes a CR oscillator composed of a thermistor for temperature measurement, a capacitor, a resistor, and a semiconductor, and outputs an oscillation signal whose oscillation frequency changes depending on the temperature. The output oscillation signal counts the oscillation signal per unit time in the counter 245 and generates the oscillation frequency of the CR oscillator as a digital quantity. The configuration of the temperature measurement unit 220 is an example and is not limited to this.

The arithmetic control unit 240 includes an EEPROM 241 that stores parameters necessary for body temperature measurement in advance, a RAM 242 that stores measured temperatures in time series, a ROM 243 that stores a predictive body temperature measurement program, etc., and an output unit. 250, a display control unit 244 for controlling 250, a counter 245 for counting oscillation signals output from the temperature measurement unit 220, an arithmetic processing unit 246 for performing calculations according to parameters stored in advance in the EEPROM 241 in accordance with a body temperature measurement program in the ROM 243, a counter 245 and a control circuit 247 for controlling the display control unit 244.

The shake detection unit 230 includes a motion sensor 231 and a signal processing unit 232. As the motion sensor 231, for example, an acceleration sensor or a tilt sensor is used.

The signal processing unit 232 receives the shake of the electronic thermometer 100 detected by the motion sensor 231 as a signal, and based on the signal, the light emission start timing of the light emitting unit 252 and the light emission time per dot row of each light emitting element Is output to the display control unit 244 (a signal indicating the change timing of the shake direction (details will be described later)).

The output unit 250 includes a display unit 251 that displays information related to body temperature using a conventional display method (LCD or the like), and a light emitting unit 252 that visualizes information related to body temperature using the afterimage effect of the user's eyes.

The display unit 251 is configured by an LCD or the like, and displays information related to body temperature output from the display control unit 244.

The light emitting unit 252 is a light emitting dot pattern created by the display control unit 244 so that when the electronic thermometer 100 is reciprocally shaken (reciprocated), the user can visually recognize information about the body temperature of the subject. Each light emitting element is caused to emit light at the calculated light emission time, light emission start timing, and light emission end timing (details will be described later). That is, the display control unit 244 has a display control function for controlling display on the display unit 251 and a light emission control function for controlling light emission of each light emitting element of the light emitting unit 252.

As a result, in a state where each light emitting element of the light emitting unit 252 emits light, the user shakes the electronic thermometer 100 in a reciprocating manner, so that the user visually recognizes information on the body temperature of the subject in the space due to the afterimage effect of the eyes. can do.

In addition, in the structure provided with the light emission part 102 like the electronic thermometer 100, the display part 251 is not necessarily provided, and the display part 251 may be omitted. In this manner, by omitting the display unit 251, the electronic thermometer 100 does not need to secure a housing space for mounting the display unit, and thus the outer dimensions can be further reduced.

The buzzer 260 informs the subject by ringing that the body temperature measurement has been completed.

<3. Display contents visually recognized by light emission of light emitting unit>
Next, display contents visually recognized by light emission of each light emitting element of the light emitting unit 252 of the electronic thermometer 100 will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 shows the light emission of each light-emitting element of the light-emitting unit 252 when the electronic thermometer 100 is shaken back and forth in a direction substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal direction (hereinafter referred to as a lateral direction) while maintaining the posture of the electronic thermometer 100. It is the figure which showed an example of the display content visually recognized by the user.

In the light emitting unit 252, while the electronic thermometer 100 is reciprocally shaken in the horizontal direction, during a shake in a predetermined direction (here, a shake from the left side to the right side of the paper, hereinafter referred to as a right shake), Each light emitting element is caused to emit light based on a light emitting dot pattern corresponding to information on the body temperature and a light emitting time per one dot row described later. Thereby, the user who sees the luminescence can visually recognize the information on the body temperature of the subject by the afterimage effect of the eyes.

In addition, the example of FIG. 3 shows a state where the display of “38.5 ° C.” appears to appear in the space within the shake range by shaking the electronic thermometer 100 in the horizontal direction.

As shown in FIG. 3, each LED 252 </ b> A constituting the light emitting unit 252 of the electronic thermometer 100 emits light at a corresponding light emission timing until the right shake of the electronic thermometer 100 ends. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the LED 252A does not emit light during the shake from the right side to the left side of the paper (hereinafter referred to as the left shake).

In this way, each LED 252A only emits light for an instant (emission time per dot row) at the corresponding light emission timing, but it emits light at each light emission timing due to the afterimage effect of the user's retina. Since the light remains as an afterimage, the user sees it as a continuous character. Hereinafter, details of processing in the signal processing unit 232 and the display control unit 244 when the electronic thermometer 100 is shaken back and forth in the horizontal direction will be described.

<4. Signal Processing in Signal Processing Unit>
First, the contents of signal processing in the signal processing unit 232 that outputs a signal for specifying the light emission start / light emission end timing in the light emission unit 252 and the light emission time of each element (signal indicating the change timing of the shake direction) will be described. .

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the contents of signal processing in the signal processing unit 232. 4A-1 is a diagram illustrating an output of the motion sensor 231 when the electronic thermometer 100 is reciprocated by the user when the motion sensor 231 is a tilt sensor. 4A-2 is a diagram showing an output of the motion sensor 231 when the electronic thermometer 100 is reciprocated by the user when the motion sensor 231 is an acceleration sensor.

As described above, the electronic thermometer 100 performs control so that each light-emitting element of the light-emitting unit 252 emits light only during the right-side swing among the reciprocal shakes in the horizontal direction. In order to cope with this, the signal processing unit 232 detects the timing at which the shake direction of the electronic thermometer 100 that has been shaken to the left is changed to the right shake (the change timing of the shake direction).

As shown by 4A-1 in FIG. 4, in the tilt sensor according to the present embodiment, when the shake direction of the electronic thermometer 100 that has been shaken to the left is changed to the right shake, this is detected and the ON signal is detected. It is configured to output.

For this reason, the signal processing unit 232 detects the ON signal output from the tilt sensor and outputs it to the display control unit 244 (see 4B in FIG. 4).

On the other hand, when the motion sensor 231 is an acceleration sensor, a sinusoidal signal is output in accordance with the reciprocal shake of the electronic thermometer 100, as indicated by 4A-2 in FIG.

Therefore, the signal processing unit 232 differentiates the signal output from the acceleration sensor, and detects the timing when the result of the differentiation processing becomes zero (that is, the timing when the slope of the signal output from the acceleration sensor becomes zero). To do.

Here, the timing at which the inclination of the signal output from the acceleration sensor becomes zero is the timing at which the shake direction of the electronic thermometer 100 that has been shaken to the left is changed to the right shake and the electronic thermometer 100 that has been shaken to the right. There are two types of timing, that is, the timing at which the direction of movement is changed to leftward.

Among these, the signal processing unit 232 extracts only the timing when the shake direction of the electronic thermometer 100 that has been shaken to the left is changed to the right shake and outputs it to the display control unit 244 (see 4B in FIG. 4).

The present invention is not limited to the use of the tilt sensor or the acceleration sensor as described above as the motion sensor 231. For example, the shake of the electronic thermometer 100 can be detected like an angular velocity sensor (gyroscope). Other sensors may be used.

<5. Light emitting dot pattern created in display control unit>
Next, the light emission dot pattern created in the display control part 244 is demonstrated. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a light emitting dot pattern created in the display control unit 244.

As shown in FIG. 5, the light emitting dot pattern is a display form in a virtual display area visualized by each light emitting element of the light emitting unit 252 and is swung in a predetermined direction with the number of light emitting elements arranged. It is defined by the number of dot rows, which is the number of times the light emitting element emits light during

In FIG. 5, black circles indicate no light and white circles indicate light. In the present embodiment, 5 dots (5 light emitting elements) in the horizontal direction and 7 dots (7 light emitting elements) in the vertical direction are used to represent one character (excluding “dot”). Also, it is assumed that there are blanks of light emitting elements for the number of two dot rows between characters in the horizontal direction.

For this reason, as information on body temperature, for example, in order to visualize 5 characters “38.5 ° C.” (“3”, “8”, “.”, “5” and “° C.”),
(Number of horizontal dot rows per character (= 5 dots)) × 4 characters + (number of horizontal dot rows of “dots” (= 1 dot)) × 1 character + (number of blank rows of dots (= 2) Dot)) x (5 characters + 1)
= 33 dot row number is required.

That is, the light emitting element outputs a light emitting dot pattern consisting of 33 dot rows from the start to the end of the electronic thermometer 100 swinging right. For this reason, the light emission time corresponding to the number of dot rows (that is, the light emission time t per dot row of each light-emitting element) is T as the shake time taken from the start of the electronic thermometer 100 to the end thereof. Then, T / 33.

Here, the shake time T required from the start to the end of the right shake of the electronic thermometer 100 is based on the detection result (the change timing of the shake direction) detected by the signal processing unit 232 based on the output of the motion sensor 231. Can be calculated based on this.

Specifically, it can be obtained by calculating ½ of the interval between the ON signal output from the signal processing unit 232 and the ON signal.

In the case where the motion sensor 231 is an acceleration sensor, the shake direction of the electronic thermometer 100 shaken in the left direction is changed to the shake direction in which the shake direction is changed to the shake in the right direction, and the electron shaken in the right direction. Since the interval between the change direction of the shake direction in which the shake direction of the thermometer 100 is changed to the shake in the left direction can be calculated, the calculation may be performed based on this.

Thus, the display control unit 244 operates as follows in order to visualize information related to body temperature.
Information on the body temperature to be visualized is input in the light emitting unit 252 and a light emitting dot pattern for expressing this is created.
Based on the shake time T calculated based on the output signal interval from the signal processing unit 232 and the number of dot rows of the light emitting elements in the horizontal direction necessary for expressing information related to body temperature, The light emission time t per dot row is calculated.
The output of the signal (shake direction change timing) from the signal processing unit 232 is used as the light emission start timing, and each light emitting element is set to the generated light emission dot pattern and the calculated light emission time t per dot row number. Based on the light emission.

<6. Details of the light emission control process from the start to the end of light emission>
Next, the content of the light emission control process in the display control unit 244 from the light emission start to the light emission end will be described.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the contents of the light emission control process from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control unit 244. In FIG. 6, 6A shows a state in which light emission is started at the change timing of the shake direction. 6B and 6C respectively show a state in which 1/3 of the shake time T has elapsed and a state in which 2/3 has elapsed. Furthermore, 6D shows a state in which the shake time T has elapsed and the light emission has ended.

As shown in FIG. 6, each light emitting element is controlled to emit light based on a dot row corresponding to an elapsed time from the light emission start timing in the light emitting dot pattern.

Similarly, FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the contents of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control unit 244. The difference from FIG. 6 is that, in the case of FIG. 7, the shake time T is smaller than the shake time T of FIG.

Note that the case where the shake time T is small is considered to be a case where the shake speed is the same and the shake width is small, and a case where the shake width is the same and the shake speed is large. The same. For this reason, FIG. 7 shows a case where the shake speed is the same and the shake width is small.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the shake time T is smaller than the shake time T of FIG. 6, the light emission time t becomes shorter than the light emission time of FIG. 6, and as a result, the size of the expressed character (in the horizontal direction) (Size) becomes smaller.

When the shake width is the same and the shake speed is large, the light emission time t is shorter than the light emission time of FIG. 6, but the distance moved during the short light emission time is increased by the increase of the shake speed. As a result, the size of the represented character (the size in the horizontal direction) is the same as in the case of FIG.

Similarly, FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the contents of the light emission control process from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control unit 244. The difference from FIG. 6 is that, in the case of FIG. 8, the shake time T is longer than the shake time T of FIG.

Note that the case where the shake time T is large may be the case where the shake speed is the same and the shake width is large, and the case where the shake width is the same and the shake speed is small. The same. For this reason, FIG. 8 shows a case where the shake speed is the same and the shake width is small.

As shown in FIG. 8, when the shake time T is longer than the shake time T of FIG. 6, the light emission time t becomes longer than the light emission time of FIG. 6, and as a result, the size of the expressed character (in the horizontal direction) (Size) becomes larger.

When the shake width is the same and the shake speed is low, the light emission time t is longer than the light emission time of FIG. 6, but the distance that can be moved during a long light emission time is also reduced because the shake speed is low. As a result, the size of the displayed character (the size in the horizontal direction) is the same as in the case of FIG.

As described above, each light emitting element calculates a light emitting dot pattern to be emitted at each timing by using the output of the signal from the signal processing unit 232 (a signal indicating the change timing of the shake direction) as the light emission start timing. By emitting light for the light emission time per dot row, the electronic thermometer 100 can visualize the characters “38.5 ° C.” until the right shake ends. That is, the character can be visualized in consideration of variation in each shake time when the user shakes.

<7. Electronic thermometer body temperature measurement procedure>
Next, the flow of the body temperature measurement process in the electronic thermometer 100 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of the body temperature measurement process of the electronic thermometer 100. In the electronic thermometer 100 of the present embodiment, the body temperature is measured using a predictive body temperature measuring method disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-24530.

When the ON / OFF switch 104 is pressed, the electronic thermometer 100 is turned on, and the process proceeds to step S901.

In step S901, the electronic thermometer 100 is initialized, and the temperature measurement unit 220 starts detecting the temperature value. For example, the temperature value is detected using the temperature measurement unit 220 every 0.5 seconds.

In step S902, for example, the time point when the temperature value at which the rise from the previous actual measurement value (that is, the actual measurement value before 0.5 seconds) becomes a predetermined value (for example, 1 degree) or more is measured is set as the reference point (t = 0), and storage of measured value data (time-series data) in the RAM 242 is started. That is, it is considered that the electronic thermometer 100 is attached to a predetermined measurement site of the subject by detecting a rapid temperature rise.

Steps S903 to S907 are processes for predicting body temperature using a well-known predictive body temperature measurement method, and details thereof are described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-24530. Then, I will explain briefly.

In step S903, it is determined whether or not a decrease in measured temperature is observed during measurement. If the predetermined temperature decrease is observed, the process proceeds to step S912. If the predetermined temperature decrease is not observed, the process proceeds to step S904.

In step S912, the measured data is corrected. If the correction process is normally performed, the process returns to step S902. On the other hand, if the correction process does not end normally, the process proceeds to step S913. In step S913, the buzzer 260 reporting an error is sounded, and the body temperature measurement process is terminated.

On the other hand, in step S904, using the data stored in step S902, a predicted value is derived sequentially (for example, at intervals of 0.5 seconds) using the predictive temperature measuring method described above.

In step S905, after a lapse of a predetermined time (for example, 16 seconds) from the reference point (t = 0), the temperature increase pattern is compared with several types of increase patterns stored in advance, and the most similar pattern is determined. Sort (grouping judgment).

In step S906, operations other than the group determined in step S905 are stopped, and the predicted value is continuously derived for a predetermined time in the determined group.

In step S907, when a predetermined time (for example, 30 seconds) has elapsed from the reference point (t = 0), the predicted value in a certain section (for example, t = 25 to 30 seconds) derived as a result of the process in step S906 is previously set. Checks whether the set prediction satisfaction condition is met. Specifically, it is checked whether or not it is within a predetermined range (for example, 0.1 degree).

If it is determined in step S907 that the prediction establishment condition is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S908. On the other hand, if the prediction establishment condition is not satisfied, the process proceeds to step S914.

In step S914, for example, a timer or the like is used to monitor whether or not a predetermined time (for example, 45 seconds) has elapsed from the start of measurement. If it has elapsed, prediction is forcibly established, and the process proceeds to step S908. That is, the prediction value derived at that time is regarded as the final prediction value as it is.

In step S908, the buzzer 260 that announces the prediction is sounded, and the process proceeds to step S909. In step S909, the derived predicted value of the body temperature is displayed on the display unit 251 of the output unit 250 as a measurement result.

In step S910, it is determined whether the electronic thermometer 100 is swung in the horizontal direction. If it is determined that it is reciprocated in the horizontal direction, the process proceeds to step S915. If it is determined that it is not reciprocated in the horizontal direction, the process proceeds to step S911.

In step S915, the display control unit 244 executes a visualization process (details of the flow of the visualization process will be described later) for visualizing the measured predicted body temperature value in the light emitting unit 252.

In step S911, it is determined whether an instruction to end the body temperature measurement has been received. The instruction to end the body temperature measurement may be determined based on, for example, whether or not the power ON / OFF switch 104 has been pressed, or the body temperature measurement is instructed when a certain time has elapsed from the display in step S909. It may be considered. Through the above steps, the body temperature measurement process is terminated and the power is turned off.

<8. Flow of visualization process>
Next, the flow of the visualization process in the display control unit 244 for visualizing the predicted value of the measured body temperature in the light emitting unit 252 will be described with reference to FIG.

If it is determined in step S910 in FIG. 9 that the electronic thermometer 100 is swung in the horizontal direction, the visualization process shown in FIG. 10 is started.

In step S1001, based on the output interval of the signal from the signal processing unit 232, the shake time T of the electronic thermometer 100 is calculated.

In step S1002, a light emitting dot pattern for expressing information related to the body temperature to be visualized in the light emitting unit 252 is created based on the calculated predicted body temperature value.

In step S1003, one dot is calculated based on the right shake time T calculated in step S1001 and the number of dot rows of light emitting elements in the right shake direction necessary to express the light emitting dot pattern created in step S1002. The light emission time t per column is calculated.

In step S1004, at the timing when the output of the signal from the signal processing unit 232 is received, the light emission of each light emitting element is controlled based on the created light emitting dot pattern and the calculated light emission time t per dot row. Start.

In step S1005, it is determined whether or not the output of the signal from the signal processing unit 232 is continued. If it is determined that the output is continued, the process returns to step S1001. On the other hand, when it is determined that there is no signal output from the signal processing unit 232, the visualization process is terminated.

As is clear from the above description, in the electronic thermometer 100 according to the present embodiment, the light emitting unit 252 including a plurality of light emitting elements arranged, the motion sensor 231 that detects the shake of the electronic thermometer 100, and the light emitting unit 252. And a display control unit 244 for controlling the light emission.

And when the electronic thermometer was shaken back and forth in the horizontal direction, it was configured so that the user could visually recognize the measured body temperature of the subject by appropriately controlling the light emission of the light emitting element.

As a result, it has become possible to realize a display that is easier for the user to see without sacrificing convenience when measuring the body temperature in the electronic thermometer. In particular, according to the electronic thermometer, the user can easily visually recognize even when the surrounding environment is dark.

[Second Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, the characters are visualized in consideration of the variation in each shake time when the user shakes the electronic thermometer 100. However, during the single shake (light emission start) Between the timing and the end timing of light emission), the shake speed of the electronic thermometer 100 is not varied and is configured to be constant. However, when the user shakes the electronic thermometer 100, the shake speed during one shake varies. Specifically, when the user reciprocates the electronic thermometer 100, the shake speed decreases before and after the change timing of the shake direction.

In this case, the information regarding the body temperature visually recognized by the user is that the character is shrunk in the horizontal direction before and after the change timing of the shake direction (that is, first and last in the character string), and the character is distorted as a whole. Become.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the light emission of each light-emitting element for visualizing information related to body temperature is controlled by using a time zone in which the change in shake speed is small, and the distortion of characters is eliminated.

<1. Light emitting dot pattern created in the display controller>
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a light emitting dot pattern created in the present embodiment.

The difference from FIG. 5 is that, in the case of FIG. 11, in addition to providing a space for light emitting elements corresponding to the number of 2 dot rows between characters in the horizontal direction, in addition to the first character in the character string, , There are provided blanks of light emitting elements corresponding to the number of 6 dot rows. Further, the light-emitting element space corresponding to the number of 6-dot columns is provided after the last character of the character string.

For this reason, for example, in order to visualize 5 characters (“3”, “8”, “.”, “5” and “° C.”) of “38.5 ° C.” ,
(Number of dots in the first blank row (= 6 dots)
+ (Number of dots in the last blank row (= 6 dots))
+ (Number of horizontal dot rows per character (= 5 dots)) × 4 characters + (number of horizontal dot rows of “dots” (= 1 dot)) × 1 character + (number of blank rows of dots (= 2 dots)) x (5 characters + 1)
= 45 dot rows are required.

That is, in the case of the present embodiment, the light emitting element outputs a light emitting dot pattern consisting of 45 dot rows from the start to the end of the electronic thermometer 100. For this reason, the light emission time corresponding to the number of dot rows (that is, the light emission time t per dot row of each light-emitting element) is T as the shake time taken from the start of the electronic thermometer 100 to the end thereof. Then, T / 45.

In this way, in consideration of the variation of the user's shake speed during one shake, by providing a blank at the beginning and end of the character string, characters indicating information on body temperature before and after the shake direction change timing The character string indicating the information on the body temperature is visualized only in the time zone in which the column is not visualized and the shake speed is relatively stable. As a result, it is possible to eliminate character distortion.

<2. Details of the light emission control process from the start to the end of light emission>
Next, the content of the light emission control process in the display control unit 244 from the light emission start to the light emission end in the present embodiment will be described.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the contents of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control unit 244. In FIG. 12, 12A shows a state in which light emission is started at the change timing of the shake direction. 12B and 12C respectively show a state in which 1/3 of the shake time T has elapsed and a state in which 2/3 has elapsed. Further, 12D shows a state in which the shake time T has elapsed and the light emission has ended.

As shown in FIG. 12, each light emitting element is controlled to emit light based on a dot row corresponding to an elapsed time from the light emission start timing in the light emitting dot pattern. Since the light-emitting dot pattern used in this embodiment includes blanks at the beginning and end of the character string, immediately after the change timing of the shake direction, each light-emitting element does not emit light, and is equal to the number of blank strings. After a lapse of time, the light emission for the first character is started. In addition, immediately before the change timing of the shake direction, each light emitting element does not emit light, and light emission for the last character ends by the number of blank columns.

As a result, it becomes possible to visualize information related to body temperature without being affected by a decrease in the shake speed before and after the change timing of the shake direction.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present embodiment, the character is distorted by using the time zone in which the change in the shaking speed is small to emit light for visualizing information related to body temperature. It became possible to eliminate.

[Third Embodiment]
In the second embodiment, in order to eliminate the distortion of characters, a blank row is inserted at the beginning and end of the light emitting dot pattern.

However, the present invention is not limited to this, and in eliminating the distortion of characters, the time from the change direction of the shake direction to the time when the first character is made visible and the time from the last character being visualized to the change timing of the shake direction. This time may be set as a fixed time or a predetermined time based on the shake time T.

That is, after a predetermined time (Ti) based on the fixed time (Th) or the shake time T has elapsed from the change timing of the shake direction, it becomes the light emission start timing and is based on the fixed time (Th) or the shake time T from the light emission end timing. You may comprise so that it may control so that it may become the change timing of a shake direction, after predetermined time (Ti) passes.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the contents of the light emission control process in the display control unit 244 from the light emission start to the light emission end in the present embodiment. In FIG. 13, 13A shows a state in which light emission is started after a predetermined time Ti based on the fixed time Th or the shake time T has elapsed from the change timing of the shake direction. 13B and 13C respectively show a state in which 1/3 of the shake time T has elapsed and a state in which 2/3 has elapsed. Further, 13D shows a state in which the shake time T has elapsed and the light emission has already ended.

In the case of the present embodiment, the light emission time t of each light emitting element is as follows:
t = (T−2 × Th) / 33 (Th is a constant, for example, Th = 50 ms)
Or
t = (T−2 × Ti) / 33 (Ti = α × T, for example, α = 0.25)
It becomes.

As is clear from the above description, in this embodiment, a fixed time Th or a predetermined time Ti based on the shake time T is set before and after the change direction of the shake direction, thereby using a time zone in which the change in shake speed is small. And it was set as the structure which performs light emission for visualizing the information regarding body temperature. As a result, it became possible to eliminate the distortion of characters.

[Fourth Embodiment]
In the first to third embodiments, the light emission of each light emitting element is controlled according to the shake time. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the light emission of each light emitting element is performed according to the shake width. You may comprise so that it may control. Specifically, when the electronic thermometer 100 is shaken, the position of the electronic thermometer 100 is detected, the light emission start position is defined, and the light emitting elements are controlled to emit light according to the distance from the light emission start position. It is good also as composition to do. Details of this embodiment will be described below.

<1. Signal Processing in Signal Processing Unit>
First, in the signal processing unit 232 that outputs a signal for defining a light emission start / light emission end position in the light emitting unit 252 (a signal indicating a change position in the shake direction) and a signal indicating a distance from the change position in the shake direction. The contents of the signal processing will be described.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining the contents of signal processing in the signal processing unit 232. 14A of FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an output of the motion sensor 231 when the electronic thermometer 100 is shaken reciprocally by the user when the motion sensor 231 is an acceleration sensor.

As described above, in the electronic thermometer 100, light emission of each light emitting element of the light emitting unit 252 is controlled during rightward swinging of the horizontal reciprocal vibration. For this reason, the signal processing unit 232 detects a position where the shake direction of the electronic thermometer 100 that has been shaken to the left is changed to a right shake (change position of the shake direction). Further, the distance from the change position of the shake direction during the right shake is calculated.

As shown in 14A of FIG. 14, a sinusoidal signal is output from the acceleration sensor in accordance with the reciprocal shake of the electronic thermometer 100.

For this reason, the signal processing unit 232 detects the timing at which the slope of the signal output from the acceleration sensor becomes zero (that is, the timing at which the shake speed becomes zero).

Here, the timing at which the inclination of the signal output from the acceleration sensor becomes zero is the timing at which the shake direction of the electronic thermometer 100 that has been shaken to the left is changed to the right shake and the electronic thermometer 100 that has been shaken to the right. There are two types of timing, that is, the timing at which the direction of movement is changed to leftward. The signal processing unit 232 extracts these two types of timings and outputs the signals (signals indicating the shake position change position) to the display control unit 244.

Further, the signal output from the acceleration sensor is 2 with the position of the electronic thermometer 100 (the change direction 1401 of the shake direction) at the timing when the shake direction of the electronic thermometer 100 that has been shaken to the right is changed to the right shake. By integrating the number of times, the reference position from the reference position up to the change position 1402 of the other shake direction (the position of the electronic thermometer 100 at the timing when the shake direction of the electronic thermometer 100 that has been shaken to the right is changed to the left shake) is obtained. Is calculated (see 14B in FIG. 14). A signal indicating the calculated distance from the reference position is output to the display control unit 244.

The present invention is not limited to the acceleration sensor as described above as the motion sensor 231, and other sensors may be used as long as the distance from the change direction of the shake direction can be detected. Good.

<2. Light emitting dot pattern created in the display controller>
Next, the light emission dot pattern created in the display control part 244 is demonstrated. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a light emitting dot pattern created in the display control unit 244.

As shown in FIG. 15, the light emitting dot pattern is a display in a virtual display area visualized by each light emitting element of the light emitting unit 252 and is swung in a predetermined direction with the number of light emitting elements arranged. It is defined by the number of dot rows, which is the number of times of light emission between the light emitting elements, and the distance from the change position 1401 of the shake direction of each dot row.

In FIG. 15, black circles are turned off, and white circles are turned on. In the present embodiment, 5 dots (5 light emitting elements) in the horizontal direction and 7 dots (7 light emitting elements) in the vertical direction are used to represent one character (excluding “dot”). Further, it is assumed that a space of light emitting elements corresponding to the number of 2 dot rows is provided between characters in the horizontal direction.

For this reason, as information on body temperature, for example, in order to express five characters “38.5 ° C.” (“3”, “8”, “.”, “5” and “° C.”),
(Number of horizontal dot rows per character (= 5 dots)) × 4 characters + (number of horizontal dot rows of “dots” (= 1 dot)) × 1 character + (number of blank rows of dots (= 2) Dot)) x (5 characters + 1)
= 33 dot row number is required.

That is, the light emitting element outputs a light emitting dot pattern consisting of 33 dot rows from the start to the end of the right shake of the electronic thermometer 100. At this time, the light emission position of each dot row is defined by distances x1, x2,..., X33 from the change position of the shake direction of each dot row.

Thus, the display control unit 244 in the present embodiment operates as follows in order to visualize information related to body temperature.
-The information regarding the body temperature which should be visualized in the light emission part 252 is received, and the light emission dot pattern for expressing this is produced.
-Specify the distance from the change position of the shake direction of each dot row in the light emitting dot pattern.
The control is started with the output of the signal indicating the change direction of the shake direction output from the signal processing unit 232 as the light emission start position, and the signal indicating the distance from the change position of the shake direction output from the signal processing unit 232 is Each light emitting element is caused to emit light according to the corresponding dot row when the distance from the change position of the shake direction of each prescribed dot row coincides.

Note that light emission based on a predetermined dot row is continued until the electronic thermometer 100 reaches a position where light emission based on the next dot row is performed.

<3. Details of the light emission control process from the start to the end of light emission>
Next, the content of the light emission control process in the display control unit 244 from the light emission start to the light emission end will be described.

FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining the contents of the light emission control process from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control unit 244. In FIG. 16, 16A shows a state in which light emission is started at the change position of the shake direction. 16B and 16C respectively show a state in which the distance x from the change position of the shake direction has reached x10 and a state in which it has reached x22. Further, 16D indicates a state where x33 has been reached and light emission has ended.

As shown in FIG. 16, each light emitting element is controlled to emit light based on a dot row corresponding to the distance from the change position of the shake direction.

Similarly, FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining the content of the light emission control process from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control unit 244. The difference from FIG. 16 is that, in the case of FIG. 17, the deflection width L is larger than the deflection width L of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 17, even when the shake width L is larger than the shake width of FIG. 16, each light emitting element emits light sequentially when the distance from the change direction of the shake direction reaches a predetermined distance. . For this reason, the size of the character to be visualized (the size in the horizontal direction) is constant regardless of the shake width and the shake speed. That is, it is possible to absorb variations in the swing width and the swing speed that occur when the user shakes the electronic thermometer.

As described above, the control is started with the output of the signal (shake direction change position) from the signal processing unit 232 as the light emission start position, and each time the distance from the specified shake direction change position is reached, the corresponding dot By sequentially causing each light emitting element to emit light according to the sequence, the characters “38.5 ° C.” can be visualized until the right shake is completed.

<4. Flow of visualization process>
Next, a processing flow in the display control unit 244 for visualizing the calculated predicted body temperature value in the light emitting unit 252 will be described with reference to FIG.

If it is determined in step S910 in FIG. 9 that the electronic thermometer 100 is shaken back and forth in the lateral direction, the processing shown in FIG. 18 is started.

In step S1801, a light emitting dot pattern for expressing information related to the body temperature value to be visualized in the light emitting unit 252 is created based on the measured predicted body temperature value.

In step S1802, the change position of the shake direction of the electronic thermometer 100 is identified based on the signal from the signal processing unit 232.

In step S1803, control is started based on the change position of the shake direction identified in step S1802. Specifically, the signal from the signal processing unit 232 (a signal indicating the distance from the shake direction change position) matches the distance defined for each dot row constituting the light emitting dot pattern created in step S1801. In this case, each light emitting element is caused to emit light according to a corresponding dot row.

In step S1804, it is determined whether or not the signal output from the signal processing unit 232 is continued. If it is determined that the output is continued, the process returns to step S1802. On the other hand, when it is determined that there is no signal output from the signal processing unit 232, the visualization process is terminated.

Then, when the electronic thermometer is swung back and forth in the horizontal direction, the user can determine the measured temperature value of the subject in space (that is, the conventional display unit) by appropriately controlling the light emission of the light emitting element. (In a larger area than the display area).

As a result, it has become possible to realize a display that is easier to see without sacrificing user convenience in the electronic thermometer. In particular, according to the electronic thermometer, even when the surrounding environment is dark, the user can easily view information related to body temperature.

[Fifth Embodiment]
In the fourth embodiment, the light emission of each light emitting element is controlled so that a character string of a predetermined size can be visually recognized at a predetermined position regardless of the fluctuation width, but the present invention is not limited to this. The character size and position may be changed according to the shake width.

<1. Light emitting dot pattern created in display control unit>
FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of a light emitting dot pattern created in the present embodiment.

The difference from FIG. 15 is that, in the case of FIG. 19, the character string is visualized over the entire shake width in that the distance from the change position of the shake direction of each dot row is changed according to the shake width. In addition, the distance from the change position of the shake direction of each dot row is defined.

19A in FIG. 19 shows a light-emitting dot pattern when the fluctuation width is smaller than that in FIG. 15 (L1 <L). In this case, the distance from the change position of the shake direction of each dot row is
x1 = (L1 / 33) × 0
x2 = (L1 / 33) × 1
x3 = (L1 / 33) × 2
...
x33 = (L1 / 33) × 32
It becomes.

On the other hand, 19B in FIG. 19 shows a light-emitting dot pattern when the deflection width is larger than that in FIG. 15 (L2> L). In this case, the distance from the change position of the shake direction of each dot row is
x1 = (L2 / 33) × 0
x2 = (L2 / 33) × 1
x3 = (L2 / 33) × 2
...
x33 = (L2 / 33) × 32
It becomes.

In this way, by defining the light emitting dot pattern according to the shake width, it becomes possible to visualize the character having a size corresponding to the shake width over the entire shake width.

FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining the content of the light emission control process from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control unit 244. In FIG. 20, 20A shows a state in which light emission is started at the change position of the shake direction. 20B and 20C show a state where the position has reached 1/3 of the runout width L1 and a state where the position has reached 2/3, respectively. Further, 20D shows a state in which light emission is completed after reaching the position of the swing width L1.

As shown in FIG. 20, each light emitting element is controlled to emit light according to a dot row corresponding to the distance from the change position of the shake direction.

Since the light-emitting dot pattern used in the present embodiment defines the distance from the change position of the shake direction of each dot row according to the shake width L1, the character to be expressed is compared with the case of FIG. The size (size in the horizontal direction) becomes smaller. Further, unlike the case of FIG. 17, the character strings to be expressed are arranged uniformly over the entire swing width L1.

Similarly, FIG. 21 is a diagram for explaining the content of the light emission control process from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control unit 244. In FIG. 21, 21A shows a state in which light emission is started at the change position of the shake direction. 21B and 21C show a state in which the position has reached 1/3 of the runout width L2 and a state in which the position has reached 2/3, respectively. Further, 21D shows a state where the light emission has been completed after reaching the position of the swing width L2.

As shown in FIG. 21, each light emitting element is controlled to emit light according to a dot row corresponding to the distance from the change position of the shake direction.

Since the light emitting dot pattern used in the present embodiment defines the distance from the change position of the shake direction of each dot row in accordance with the shake width L2, the character dot to be expressed is compared with the case of FIG. The size (the size in the horizontal direction) increases. In addition, unlike the case of FIG. 17, the character string to be expressed is arranged uniformly over the entire swing width L2.

<3. Flow of visualization process>
Next, the flow of visualization processing in this embodiment will be described using FIG. If it is determined in step S910 in FIG. 9 that the electronic thermometer 100 is swung back and forth in a direction (lateral direction) substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the thermometer when the front surface of the electronic thermometer is viewed, the processing shown in FIG. Is started.

In step S2201, based on a signal from the signal processing unit 232 (a signal indicating a change position in the shake direction), the shake width of the electronic thermometer 100 is calculated.

In step S2202, a light emitting dot pattern for expressing information related to the body temperature to be visualized in the light emitting unit 252 is created based on the calculated predicted body temperature value. At this time, the distance from the change position of the shake direction of each dot row is defined based on the shake width calculated in step S2201.

In step S2203, the change position of the shake direction of the electronic thermometer 100 is identified based on the signal from the signal processing unit 232.

In step S2204, control is started based on the change position of the shake direction identified in step S2203. Specifically, the signal from the signal processing unit 232 (a signal indicating the distance from the shake direction change position) matches the distance defined for each dot row constituting the light emitting dot pattern created in step S2202. In this case, each light emitting element is caused to emit light according to a corresponding dot row.

In step S2205, it is determined whether or not the output of the signal from the signal processing unit 232 is continued. If it is determined that the output is continued, the process returns to step S2201. On the other hand, when it is determined that there is no signal output from the signal processing unit 232, the visualization process is terminated.

As is clear from the above description, in the electronic thermometer 100 according to the present embodiment, it is possible to change the size and position of the character to be visualized according to the swing width.

[Sixth Embodiment]
In the fifth embodiment, the control is performed so that the character string is arranged over the entire swing width, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when the user shakes the electronic thermometer 100 in a reciprocating manner, the afterimage effect of the user's eyes is reduced because the shake speed decreases near the change position in the shake direction. Therefore, in order to perform a display that is easier to see, a configuration may be adopted in which light emission is not performed in the vicinity of the shake direction change position.

Hereinafter, an electronic thermometer configured to control light emission of each light emitting element using only a time zone with a high shake speed will be described.

<1. Light emitting dot pattern created in display control unit>
FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating an example of a light emitting dot pattern created in the present embodiment.

The difference from FIG. 15 is that, in the case of FIG. 23, in addition to providing a blank of light emitting elements corresponding to the number of 2-dot columns between characters in the horizontal direction, in addition to the first character of the character string, , There are provided blanks of light emitting elements corresponding to the number of 6 dot rows. Further, the light-emitting element space corresponding to the number of 6-dot columns is provided after the last character of the character string.

For this reason, as information relating to body temperature, for example, in order to express five characters “38.5 ° C.” (“3”, “8”, “.”, “5”, and “° C.”) The dot pattern
(Number of dots in the first blank row (= 6 dots)
+ (Number of dots in the last blank row (= 6 dots))
+ (Number of horizontal dot rows per character (= 5 dots)) × 4 characters + (number of horizontal dot rows of “dots” (= 1 dot)) × 1 character + (number of blank rows of dots (= 2 dots)) x (5 characters + 1)
= 45 dot rows.

That is, in the case of the present embodiment, the light emitting element outputs a light emitting dot pattern consisting of 45 dot rows from when the electronic thermometer 100 starts to swing right until the direction of shaking changes. For this reason, the distance from the change position of the shake direction of each dot row is
x1 = (L / 45) × 0
x2 = (L / 45) × 1
x3 = (L / 45) × 2
...
x45 = (L / 45) × 44
It becomes.

Thus, by providing a blank at the beginning and end of the character string, the character string indicating the information on the body temperature is not visualized in the vicinity of the position where the shake direction is changed, and only when the temperature is relatively high, The character string indicating the information on is visualized.

As a result, it is possible to realize a display that is easier to see.

FIG. 24 is a diagram for explaining the contents of the light emission control process from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control unit 244. In FIG. 24, 24A shows a state in which light emission is started at the change position of the shake direction. Further, 24B and 24C respectively show a state where the position has reached 1/3 of the swing width L and a state where the position has reached 2/3. Further, 24D shows a state in which light emission is completed after reaching the position of the swing width L.

As shown in FIG. 24, each light emitting element is controlled to emit light according to a dot row corresponding to the distance from the shake direction change position.

Since the light-emitting dot pattern used in the present embodiment includes blanks at the beginning and end of the character string, each light-emitting element does not emit light in the vicinity of the change position in the shake direction, and is at the position corresponding to the number of blank lines. After reaching, the first character will emit light. In addition, each light emitting element does not emit light in the vicinity of the other change direction of the shake direction, and the light emission of the last character ends at a position that is the number of blank lines before.

As a result, it becomes possible to visualize the information on the body temperature without being affected by the decrease in the shake speed in the vicinity of the change position of the shake direction.

As is clear from the above description, in the present embodiment, since the information related to the body temperature is visualized using only the time zone with a large shake speed, it is possible to realize a more easily visible display.

[Seventh Embodiment]
In the sixth embodiment, a blank row is inserted at the beginning and end of the light emitting dot pattern in order to realize a more easily visible display.

However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the distance from the change position of the shake direction until the first character is emitted and the distance from the emission of the last character to the change position of the shake direction are fixed. A predetermined distance based on the distance or runout width may be used.

In other words, a position that is a fixed distance (Lh) or a predetermined distance (Li) based on the swing width from the change direction of the swing direction becomes a light emission start position, and a predetermined distance based on the fixed distance (Lh) or the swing width from the light emission end position. You may comprise so that the position which left | separated distance (Li) of this may become the change position of a shake direction.

<1. Light emitting dot pattern created in display control unit>
FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating an example of a light emitting dot pattern created in the present embodiment.

The difference from FIG. 23 is that, in the case of FIG. 25, a predetermined distance Li based on the fixed distance Lh or the fluctuation width is used instead of providing a blank of light emitting elements for the number of 6 dot lines before the first character of the character string. Is in the point of providing. Furthermore, a predetermined distance Li based on a fixed distance Lh or a swing width is provided instead of providing a blank of light emitting elements for the number of 6 dot lines after the last character of the character string.

In the case of this embodiment, the distance from the change position of the shake direction of each dot row is
x1 = Lh + ((L-2 × Lh) / 33) × 0
x2 = Lh + ((L-2 × Lh) / 33) × 1
x3 = Lh + ((L-2 × Lh) / 33) × 2
...
x33 = Lh + (L-2 × Lh) / 33) × 32
(However, Lh is a constant, for example, Lh = 5 cm)
It becomes.

Or
x1 = Li + ((L-2 × Li) / 33) × 0
x2 = Li + ((L-2 × Li) / 33) × 1
x3 = Li + ((L-2 × Li) / 33) × 2
...
x33 = Li + (L-2 × Li) / 33) × 32
(Where Li = L × α, for example α = 0.25)
It becomes.

<2. Details of the light emission control process from the start to the end of light emission>
FIG. 26 is a diagram for explaining the contents of the light emission control process in the display control unit 244 from the light emission start to the light emission end in the present embodiment. In FIG. 26, 26A shows a state in which the light emission direction has not yet started at the change position of the shake direction. In addition, 26B and 26C have already passed through the position of the predetermined distance Li based on the fixed distance Lh or the swing width, and have reached the position of 1/3 of the swing width L and the state of having reached the position of 2/3 Respectively. Further, 26D shows a state in which the light emission has already ended after reaching the position of the swing width L.

As is clear from the above description, in the present embodiment, by setting the fixed distance Lh or the predetermined distance Li based on the swing width in the vicinity of the change position of the swing direction, only the time zone in which the swing speed is high is used. Thus, the information on the body temperature is visualized. As a result, it is possible to realize a display that is easier to see.

[Eighth Embodiment]
In the first to seventh embodiments, the light emission color of each light emitting element is not particularly mentioned, but the electronic thermometer according to the present invention is configured to change the light emission color of each light emitting element according to a predetermined condition, for example. It is good.

<1. External structure of electronic thermometer>
FIG. 27 is a diagram showing an example of an external configuration of an electronic thermometer 2700 according to the eighth embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 27, reference numeral 101 denotes a display unit that displays information related to the body temperature of the subject, and includes, for example, an LCD or the like.

2702 is a light emitting unit, and three rows of light emitting elements (light emitting element rows) such as LEDs arranged in the longitudinal direction of the electronic thermometer 2700 are arranged in the width direction of the electronic thermometer 2700. The light emitting element rows are configured to emit light of different emission colors. In the present embodiment, the first row (side closer to the display unit 101) is a light emitting element row that emits red light, the second row is a light emitting element row that emits green light, and the third row is blue. It is assumed that the light emitting element array emits light. However, the emission color of each light emitting element array is not limited to this, and other emission colors may be used.

In the example of FIG. 27, a case where seven light emitting elements are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the electronic thermometer 2700 as each light emitting element row is illustrated, but the number of light emitting elements arranged in the longitudinal direction of the electronic thermometer 2700 is illustrated. Is not limited to seven.

Further, in the example of FIG. 27, the case where three light emitting element arrays are arranged in the width direction of the electronic thermometer 2700 is illustrated, but the number of light emitting element arrays is not limited to three, and may be two or more. Any number of rows may be used.

103 is an end cap, which is made of a metal such as stainless steel so that the body temperature of the subject can be easily conducted to a built-in temperature measuring unit (details will be described later).

104 is an ON / OFF switch that controls the power source of the electronic thermometer 2700 by pressing when starting the measurement of the body temperature or after finishing the measurement of the body temperature.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a system configuration of the electronic thermometer 2700 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The electronic thermometer 2700 can be roughly divided into a power supply unit 210, a temperature measurement unit 220, a shake detection unit 230, a calculation control unit 240, an output unit 250, and a buzzer 260.

The power supply unit 210 incorporates a conventional disposable or rechargeable battery, and supplies power to each part of the electronic thermometer 2700.

The temperature measuring unit 220 includes a thermistor, a capacitor, a temperature measuring CR oscillation circuit, and the like, and outputs the temperature detected by the thermistor as an oscillation signal. The output oscillation signal is counted by the counter 245 and output as a digital quantity. The configuration of the temperature measurement unit 220 is an example and is not limited to this.

The arithmetic control unit 240 includes an EEPROM 241 that stores parameters necessary for body temperature measurement in advance, a RAM 242 that stores measured temperatures in time series, a ROM 243 that stores a predictive body temperature measurement program, etc., and an output unit. 250, a display control unit 244 for controlling 250, a counter 245 that counts the oscillation signal output from the temperature measurement unit 220, an arithmetic processing unit 246 that performs calculations according to parameters stored in advance in the EEPROM 241 in accordance with a body temperature measurement program in the ROM 243, A control circuit 247 for controlling the counter 245 and the display control unit 244 is provided.

The output unit 250 includes a display unit 251 that displays information related to body temperature using a conventional display method (LCD or the like), and a light emitting unit 2852 that visualizes information related to body temperature using the afterimage effect of the user's eyes.

Display unit 251 (corresponding to display unit 101 in FIG. 27) is configured by an LCD or the like, and displays information related to body temperature received from display control unit 244.

The light emitting unit 2852 (corresponding to the light emitting unit 2702 in FIG. 27) includes light emitting element arrays 2852A to 2852C composed of a plurality (seven in this embodiment) of light emitting elements. In this embodiment, the light emitting element array 2852A emits red light, the light emitting element array 2852B emits green light, and the light emitting element array 2852C emits blue light.

Each light-emitting element array has a light-emitting dot pattern created by the display control unit 244 so that the user can visually recognize information about the body temperature of the subject when the electronic thermometer 2700 is reciprocally shaken (reciprocated). Then, light is emitted based on the light emission time and the light emission start timing / light emission end timing calculated by the display control unit 244 (details will be described later).

In the electronic thermometer 2700 according to the present embodiment, the control target is switched to only one of the three light emitting element arrays 2852A to 2852C according to the measured body temperature, and light emission is performed by the switched light emitting element array. Shall be.

That is, the display control unit 244 has a display control function for controlling the display of the display unit 251, a switching function for switching light emission of one of the light emitting element columns of the light emitting unit 2852, and light emission of the switched light emitting element column. And a light emission control function for controlling the light emission.

In this way, when the user reciprocates the electronic thermometer 2700 in a state where any one of the light emitting element rows of the light emitting unit 252 emits light, the user can obtain information on the body temperature of the subject by the afterimage effect of the eyes. Can be visually recognized as red, green, or blue characters in space.

Note that in the case of a configuration including the light emitting unit 2702 like the electronic thermometer 2700, the display unit 2851 is not necessarily provided, and the display unit 251 may be omitted. In this manner, by omitting the display unit 251, the electronic thermometer 2700 does not need to maintain the width or size for arranging the display unit, and thus the outer dimensions can be further reduced.

<3. Display contents visually recognized by light emission of light emitting unit>
Next, display contents visually recognized by light emission of the light emitting element array of the light emitting unit 2852 of the electronic thermometer 2700 will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 29 shows a display visually recognized by the user by light emission of the light emitting element array of the light emitting unit 2852 when the electronic thermometer 2700 is reciprocally shaken in the horizontal direction while maintaining the posture of the electronic thermometer 2700. It is the figure which showed an example of the content.

In the light emitting unit 2852, during the swing of the electronic thermometer 2700 that is reciprocated in the lateral direction (herein, the swing from the left side to the right side of the paper, hereinafter referred to as the right swing), the subject. One of the light emitting element rows emits light based on the light emitting dot pattern corresponding to the information related to the body temperature and the light emission time per one dot row to be described later. Thereby, the user who sees the emitted light can visually recognize the information on the body temperature of the subject as red, green, or blue characters by the afterimage effect of the eyes.

In addition, the example of FIG. 29 shows a state where “38.5 ° C.” appears to appear in the space within the shake range by shaking the electronic thermometer 2700 in the horizontal direction.

As shown in FIG. 29, any one of the light emitting element arrays constituting the light emitting unit 2852 of the electronic thermometer 2700 emits light at the corresponding light emission timing until the right shake of the electronic thermometer 2700 is completed. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that none of the light emitting element arrays emits light during a shake from the right side to the left side of the paper (hereinafter referred to as a left shake).

As described above, the light emitting element arrays emit light for a moment (equivalent to the light emission time per dot line) at the corresponding light emission timing, but the light emitted at each light emission timing is caused by the afterimage effect of the user's eyes. Since it remains as an afterimage, it is visually recognized by the user as a continuous character. Hereinafter, details of processing in the signal processing unit 232 and the display control unit 244 when the electronic thermometer 2700 is shaken back and forth in the horizontal direction will be described.

<4. Relationship between measured body temperature and emission color>
Next, a method for selecting a luminescent color for visualization will be described. FIG. 30 is a table defining the relationship between measured body temperature and emission color. The table shown in FIG. 30 is stored in advance in the display control unit 244, and the display control unit 244 selects an emission color using the table based on the body temperature of the subject output from the arithmetic processing unit 246. To do.

In the example of FIG. 30, when the measured body temperature is less than 36.0 ° C., blue is selected as the emission color, and when it is 36.0 ° C. or more and less than 37.5 ° C., green is selected as the emission color. When the temperature is 37.5 ° C. or higher, red is selected as the emission color.

The display control unit 244 switches the control target so that the light emitting element array corresponding to the selected emission color emits light. In the case of the electronic thermometer 2700 according to the present embodiment, when the measured body temperature is less than 36.0 ° C., the light-emitting element array 2852C is switched to emit light, and when the temperature is 36.0 ° C. or more and less than 37.5 ° C. Is switched so that the light emitting element array 2852B emits light. When the temperature is 37.5 ° C. or higher, the light emitting element array 2852A is switched to emit light.

It should be noted that the table shown in FIG. 30 is an example, and the relationship between the measured body temperature and the emission color is not limited to the table shown in FIG.

<5. Details of the light emission control process from the start to the end of light emission>
Next, the content of the light emission control process in the display control unit 244 from the light emission start to the light emission end will be described.

FIG. 31 is a diagram for explaining the contents of the light emission control process from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control unit 244. In FIG. 31, 31A shows a state in which light emission is started at the change timing of the shake direction. 31B and 31C respectively show a state in which 1/3 of the shake time T has elapsed and a state in which 2/3 has elapsed. Further, 31D shows a state in which the shake time T has elapsed and the light emission has ended.

In the example of FIG. 31, since the measured body temperature is 38.5 ° C., the light emitting element array 2852A is switched to emit light. The light emitting element array 2852A is controlled to emit red light based on the dot array corresponding to the elapsed time from the light emission start timing in the light emitting dot pattern.

Similarly, FIG. 32 is a diagram for explaining the contents of the light emission control process from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control unit 244. The difference from FIG. 31 is that, in the case of FIG. 32, since the measured body temperature is 36.5 ° C., the light emitting element array 2852B is switched to emit light. The light emitting element array 2852B is controlled to emit green light based on the dot array corresponding to the elapsed time from the light emission start timing in the light emitting dot pattern.

Similarly, FIG. 33 is a diagram for explaining the contents of the light emission control process from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control unit 244. The difference from FIG. 31 is that, in the case of FIG. 33, the measured body temperature is 35.5 ° C., so that the light-emitting element array 2852C is switched to emit light. The light emitting element array 2852C is controlled to emit blue light based on the dot array corresponding to the elapsed time from the light emission start timing in the light emitting dot pattern.

On the other hand, FIG. 34 is a diagram for explaining the content of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control unit 244. The difference from FIG. 31 is that the shake time T is the shake time of FIG. It is at a point smaller than T.

Note that the case where the shake time T is small is considered to be a case where the shake speed is the same and the shake width is small, and a case where the shake width is the same and the shake speed is large. The same. For this reason, FIG. 34 shows a case where the shake speed is the same and the shake width is small.

As shown in FIG. 34, when the shake time T is smaller than the shake time T of FIG. 31, the light emission time t becomes shorter than the light emission time of FIG. 31, and as a result, the size of the expressed character (in the horizontal direction) (Size) becomes smaller. As described above, in the electronic thermometer 2700 according to the present embodiment, when the user shakes a small amount, information related to the body temperature can be visualized with a smaller character correspondingly.

When the shake width is the same and the shake speed is large, the light emission time t is shorter than the light emission time of FIG. 31, but the distance moved during the short light emission time is increased by the increase of the shake speed. As a result, the size of the character to be expressed (the size in the horizontal direction) is the same as in the case of FIG.

Similarly, FIG. 35 is a diagram for explaining the contents of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control unit 244. The difference from FIG. 31 is that, in the case of FIG. 35, the shake time T is longer than the shake time T of FIG.

Note that the case where the shake time T is large may be the case where the shake speed is the same and the shake width is large, and the case where the shake width is the same and the shake speed is small. The same. For this reason, FIG. 35 shows a case where the shake speed is the same and the shake width is large.

As shown in FIG. 35, when the shake time T is longer than the shake time T of FIG. 31, the light emission time t becomes longer than the light emission time of FIG. 31, and as a result, the size of the expressed character (in the horizontal direction) (Size) becomes larger. As described above, in the electronic thermometer 2700 according to the present embodiment, when the user shakes greatly, information related to the body temperature can be visualized with larger characters correspondingly.

When the shake width is the same and the shake speed is small, the light emission time t is longer than the light emission time of FIG. 31, but the distance that can be moved during the long light emission time is reduced by the smaller shake speed. As a result, the size of the displayed character (the size in the horizontal direction) is the same as in the case of FIG.

As described above, each light emitting element of the light emitting element array switched as a control target emits light at each timing with the output of the signal from the signal processing unit 232 (signal indicating the change timing of the shake direction) as the light emission start timing. By causing the light emitting dot pattern to emit light for the calculated emission time per dot row, the electronic thermometer 2700 changes, for example, a character “38.5 ° C.” to the body temperature until the right shake is completed. It can be visualized by the emission color selected accordingly. That is, the character can be visualized in consideration of the variation of each shake time when the user shakes, and the character visualized at that time can be made a color corresponding to the measured body temperature.

<6. Flow of visualization process>
Next, the flow of processing in the display control unit 244 for visualizing the calculated predicted body temperature value in the light emitting unit 2852 will be described with reference to FIG.

If it is determined in step S910 in FIG. 9 that the electronic thermometer 2700 is shaken back and forth in the lateral direction, the processing shown in FIG. 36 is started.

In step S3601, a light emission color corresponding to the calculated predicted body temperature value is selected with reference to the table shown in FIG.

In step S3602, the light emitting element array corresponding to the light emission color selected in step S3601 is switched as a control target.

In step S3603, based on the output interval of the signal from the signal processing unit 232, the shake time T of the right shake of the electronic thermometer 2700 is calculated.

In step S3604, a light emitting dot pattern for expressing information related to the body temperature to be visualized in the light emitting unit 2852 is created based on the calculated predicted body temperature value.

In step S3605, based on the right shake time T calculated in step S3603 and the number of dot rows of light emitting elements in the right shake direction necessary to express the light emitting dot pattern created in step S3604, 1 is obtained. The light emission time t per dot row is calculated.

In step S3606, for the light emitting element array switched in step S3602, at the timing of receiving the signal output from the signal processing unit 232, the generated light emitting dot pattern and the calculated light emission time t per dot array are calculated. Based on the above, control of light emission of each light emitting element is started.

In step S3607, it is determined whether or not the output of the signal from the signal processing unit 232 is continued. If it is determined that the output is continued, the process returns to step S3603. On the other hand, when it is determined that there is no signal output from the signal processing unit 232, the visualization process is terminated.

As is clear from the above description, in the electronic thermometer 2700 according to the present embodiment, a plurality of light emitting element arrays each including a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged, and light emission configured to emit light with different emission colors for each light emitting element array. Unit 2852, a motion sensor 231 that detects the shake of the electronic thermometer 2700, and switches to one of the light emitting element rows of the light emitting unit 2852 according to the measured body temperature, and the light emitting element that constitutes the switched light emitting element row A display control unit 244 that controls light emission is provided.

Then, when the electronic thermometer is swung back and forth in the horizontal direction, by appropriately controlling the light emission of the light-emitting element array to be controlled, the measured body temperature of the subject is displayed by the color corresponding to the body temperature. Is configured to be visible in space.

As a result, the electronic thermometer can realize a display that is easier to understand for the user without impairing the convenience of measuring the body temperature. In particular, according to the electronic thermometer, since the emission color changes according to the body temperature, the user can recognize at a glance whether or not the subject has heat and the like.

[Ninth Embodiment]
In the eighth embodiment, the light emitting element arrays 2852A to 2852C having different emission colors are arranged separately, and light is emitted by switching according to the measured body temperature, so that characters of a color corresponding to the measured body temperature are displayed. Although the configuration is made visible, the present invention is not limited to this.

A light emitting element group consisting of a plurality of light emitting elements having different emission colors may be arranged in a common opening (light emitting window), and a plurality of the light emitting element groups may be arranged to form a light emitting element group row. . In this case, light emitted from each light emitting element constituting the light emitting element group is mixed and emitted from each light emitting window. That is, by adjusting the light emission amount of each light emitting element constituting the light emitting element group, light of any color can be emitted from the light emitting window. Details of this embodiment will be described below.

<1. External structure of electronic thermometer>
FIG. 37 is a diagram illustrating an example of an external configuration of an electronic thermometer 3700 according to the ninth embodiment of the present invention. Since

reference numerals

101, 103, and 104 have already been described in the eighth embodiment, description thereof is omitted here.

In FIG. 37, reference numeral 3702 denotes a light emitting unit, and a plurality of light emitting windows, in which light emitted from a light emitting element group in which a plurality of light emitting elements such as LEDs are arranged, are mixed and emitted in the longitudinal direction of the electronic thermometer 3700. It is arranged. That is, a light emitting element group row in which a plurality of light emitting element groups each including a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged in the longitudinal direction is formed.

In the example of FIG. 37, a case where seven light emitting element groups are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the electronic thermometer 3700 as the light emitting unit 3702 is illustrated, but the light emitting element group arranged in the longitudinal direction of the electronic thermometer 3700 is illustrated. The number is not limited to seven.

<2. Sectional Configuration of Light Emitting Unit 1402>
Next, a cross-sectional configuration of the light emitting portion 3702 will be described with reference to FIG. 38 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. As shown in FIG. 38, a plurality of light emitting elements such as LEDs are arranged inside the light emitting window 3801 (3802A, 3802B, 3803C) to form a light emitting element group. Each light emitting element has a different emission color. In this embodiment, the light emitting element 3802A emits red light, the light emitting element 1502B emits green light, and the light emitting element 1502C emits blue light. To do.

However, the combination of light emission colors of the light emitting elements forming the light emitting element group is not limited to this, and light emitting elements that emit other light emission colors may be included.

Further, the number of light emitting elements forming the light emitting element group is not limited to three, and may be any number as long as it is two or more.

<3. System configuration of electronic thermometer>
Since the system configuration of the electronic thermometer 3700 is basically the same as the system configuration of the electronic thermometer 2700 described with reference to FIG. 28 in the eighth embodiment, the description thereof is omitted here.

Note that one of the plurality of light emitting elements constituting the light emitting element row 2852A in FIG. 28 corresponds to the light emitting element 3802A in FIG. 38, and one of the plurality of light emitting elements constituting the light emitting element row 2852B is shown in FIG. It corresponds to the light emitting element 3802B, and one of the plurality of light emitting elements constituting the light emitting element array 2852C corresponds to the light emitting element 3802C in FIG.

In the eighth embodiment, the display control unit 244 has a switching function of switching to any one of the three light emitting element arrays 2852A to 2852C according to the measured body temperature. It was.

On the other hand, in the case of the electronic thermometer 3700 according to the present embodiment, the display control unit 244 applies each of the light emitting element arrays 2852A to 2852C so that a color corresponding to the measured body temperature is emitted from the light emitting window. An adjustment function for adjusting the current value is provided.

In this way, the user shakes the electronic thermometer 3700 in a reciprocating manner while each light emitting element of the light emitting unit 3702 emits light with the adjusted current value, so that the user can perform Information on the body temperature can be visually recognized as characters of a color corresponding to the body temperature in the space.

<4. Relationship between measured body temperature and emission color>
Next, a method for selecting a luminescent color for visualization will be described. FIG. 39 is a diagram showing the relationship between the measured body temperature and the emission color. The table defining the relationship shown in FIG. 39 is stored in advance in the display control unit 244. The display control unit 244 emits light based on the relationship based on the body temperature of the subject output from the arithmetic processing unit 246. Select a color.

In the case of FIG. 39, when the measured body temperature is low, a strong blue color is selected as the luminescent color, and when the measured body temperature is normal (normal heat), a strong green color is selected as the luminescent color. If the measured body temperature is high, a strong red color is selected as the emission color.

As shown in FIG. 39, in the case of the present embodiment, the emission color continuously changes according to the change in the measured body temperature. That is, the emission color corresponding to the measured body temperature is defined as a gradation of three colors of blue → green → red.

The display control unit 244 adjusts the current value applied to each light emitting element constituting each light emitting element group so that the selected emission color is emitted from the light emitting window.

The relationship shown in FIG. 39 is an example, and the continuous relationship between the measured body temperature and the emission color is not limited to the relationship shown in FIG.

<5. Flow of visualization process>
Next, a processing flow in the display control unit 244 for visualizing the predicted value of the measured body temperature in the light emitting unit 2852 will be described with reference to FIG.

If it is determined in step S910 in FIG. 9 that the electronic thermometer 3700 is being swung back and forth in the lateral direction, the processing shown in FIG. 40 is started.

In step S4001, with reference to the relationship shown in FIG. 39, an emission color corresponding to the predicted value of the measured body temperature is selected.

In step S4002, a current value to be applied to each light emitting element constituting each light emitting element group is determined so that the light emission color selected in step S4001 is obtained.

Since the processing shown in steps S4003 to S4005 is the same as the processing shown in steps S3603 to S3605 of FIG. 36, description thereof is omitted here.

In step S4006, the current determined in step S4002 based on the generated light emission dot pattern and the calculated light emission time t per dot row at the timing when the signal output from the signal processing unit 232 is received. Control is started so that each light emitting element emits light according to the value.

The process shown in step S4007 is the same as the process shown in step S3607 of FIG.

As is clear from the above description, in the electronic thermometer 3700 according to the present embodiment, a plurality of light emitting element groups including a plurality of light emitting elements arranged so that emitted light is mixed and emitted from the light emitting window are arranged in a plurality. The light emitting element group row is provided, and the current value applied to each light emitting element included in each light emitting element group is adjusted according to the measured body temperature.

Then, when the electronic thermometer is swung back and forth in the lateral direction, the measured body temperature of the subject according to the body temperature is appropriately controlled by appropriately controlling the light emission of each light emitting element whose current value is adjusted. The configuration is such that the user can visually recognize the color characters in space.

As a result, it has become possible to realize a display that is easier for the user to see without sacrificing convenience when measuring the body temperature in the electronic thermometer. In particular, according to the electronic thermometer, since the emission color changes continuously according to the body temperature, the user can recognize at a glance whether or not the subject has fever.

[Tenth embodiment]
In the eighth embodiment, the light emission of each light emitting element is controlled according to the shake time. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and each of the light emitting elements according to the shake width as in the fifth embodiment. You may comprise so that light emission of a light emitting element may be controlled.

<1. Details of the light emission control process from the start to the end of light emission>
First, the contents of the light emission control process in the display control unit 244 from the light emission start to the light emission end in the present embodiment will be described.

FIG. 41 is a diagram for explaining the contents of the light emission control process from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control unit 244. In FIG. 41, 41A shows a state in which light emission is started at the change position of the shake direction. Further, 41B and 41C respectively show a state where the position has reached 1/3 of the swing width L and a state where the position has reached 2/3. Further, 41D shows a state in which light emission is completed after reaching the position of the swing width L.

41, since the measured body temperature is 38.5 ° C., the light emitting element array 2852A is switched to emit light. The light emitting element array 2852A is controlled to emit red light according to the dot array corresponding to the distance from the shake direction change position.

Similarly, FIG. 42 is a diagram for explaining the content of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control unit 244. The difference from FIG. 41 is that, in the case of FIG. 42, since the measured body temperature is 36.5 ° C., the light emitting element array 2852B is switched to emit light. The light emitting element row 2852B is controlled to emit light in green according to the dot row corresponding to the distance from the shake direction change position.

Similarly, FIG. 43 is a diagram for explaining the contents of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control unit 244. The difference from FIG. 41 is that, in the case of FIG. 43, since the measured body temperature is 35.5 ° C., the light emitting element array 2852C is switched to emit light. The light emitting element row 2852C is controlled to emit blue light according to the dot row corresponding to the distance from the shake direction change position.

On the other hand, FIG. 44 is a diagram for explaining the content of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control unit 244. Since the light emitting dot pattern used in this embodiment defines the distance from the change position of the shake direction of each dot row according to the shake width (L1), the case of FIG. 44 is compared with the case of FIG. Thus, the size of the represented character (the size in the horizontal direction) becomes smaller.

Similarly, FIG. 45 is a diagram for explaining the contents of the light emission control processing from the light emission start to the light emission end in the display control unit 244. The light emitting dot pattern used in the present embodiment defines the distance from the change position of the shake direction of each dot row in accordance with the shake width (L2), and therefore is expressed as compared with the case of FIG. The size of the character (the size in the horizontal direction) increases.

As described above, in the case of the present embodiment, the control is started with the output of the signal from the signal processing unit 232 (shake direction change position) as the light emission start position, and reaches the distance from the specified shake direction change position. Each of the light-emitting elements constituting any one of the light-emitting element rows is caused to emit light sequentially according to the corresponding dot row, so that it is possible to absorb fluctuations in swing width and shake speed that occur when the user shakes the electronic thermometer. it can. Further, as in the eighth embodiment, since light is emitted with a color corresponding to the measured body temperature, the user can recognize at a glance whether or not the subject has fever.

<2. Flow of visualization process>
Next, the flow of visualization processing in this embodiment will be described using FIG. If it is determined in step S910 in FIG. 9 that the electronic thermometer 3700 is swung back and forth in the lateral direction, the processing shown in FIG. 46 is started.

In step S4001, with reference to the table shown in FIG. 30, the luminescent color corresponding to the calculated predicted body temperature is selected.

In step S4002, the light emitting element array corresponding to the light emission color selected in step S4001 is switched as a control target.

In step S4603, based on a signal from the signal processing unit 232 (a signal indicating a change position of the shake direction), the shake width of the electronic thermometer 3700 is calculated.

In step S4604, a light emitting dot pattern for expressing information related to body temperature to be visualized in the light emitting unit 2852 is created based on the calculated predicted body temperature value. At this time, the distance from the change position of the shake direction of each dot row is defined based on the shake width calculated in step S4603.

In step S4605, the change position of the shake direction of the electronic thermometer 3700 is identified based on the signal from the signal processing unit 232.

In step S4606, control is started based on the change position of the shake direction identified in step S4605. Specifically, the signal from the signal processing unit 232 (a signal indicating the distance from the change position of the shake direction) matches the distance defined for each dot row constituting the light emitting dot pattern created in step S4604. In this case, each light emitting element constituting the light emitting element row switched in step S4002 is caused to emit light according to the corresponding dot row.

In step S4007, it is determined whether or not the output of the signal from the signal processing unit 232 is continued. If it is determined that the output is continued, the process returns to step S4603. On the other hand, when it is determined that there is no signal output from the signal processing unit 232, the visualization process is terminated.

As is clear from the above description, in the electronic thermometer according to the present embodiment, a plurality of light emitting element arrays each including a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged, and the light emitting unit 2852 having a different emission color for each light emitting element array, and the electronic thermometer 3700. A motion sensor 231 for detecting a shake of the light, and display control for controlling light emission of each light emitting element constituting the switched light emitting element array by switching to any one of the light emitting element arrays 2852 according to the measured body temperature And a portion 244.

When the electronic thermometer is swung back and forth in the horizontal direction, the measured temperature of the subject is appropriately controlled by appropriately controlling the light emission of the light emitting element array to be controlled. Thus, the user can see in space.

As a result, it has become possible to realize a display that is easier for the user to see without sacrificing convenience when measuring the body temperature in the electronic thermometer. In particular, according to the electronic thermometer, since the emission color changes according to the body temperature, the user can recognize at a glance whether or not the subject has fever.

[Eleventh embodiment]
In the first to tenth embodiments, the case where an LED is used as a light emitting element has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other light emitting elements such as an organic EL may be used.

In the first to tenth embodiments, the case where the predicted body temperature is used as the information about the body temperature of the subject visualized by the light emitting unit has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this and is actually measured. Body temperature may be used. Needless to say, the information to be visualized is not limited to the body temperature of the subject and may be other information.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, in order to make the scope of the present invention public, the following claims are attached.

The present application is Japanese Patent Application Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-037041 filed on February 19, 2009, Japanese Patent Application Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-037042 filed on February 19, 2009, and Japanese Patent Application filed on March 11, 2009. The priority is claimed on the basis of Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-058662, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Claims

An electronic thermometer for measuring the temperature of a subject,
A light emitting means comprising a plurality of light emitting elements arranged;
Shake detection means for detecting that the electronic thermometer is shaken;
A light emission control means for controlling light emission of each light emitting element provided in the light emission means,
The light emission control means includes
Creating means for creating a luminescent dot pattern based on the measured body temperature information of the subject;
Based on the shake time in the predetermined direction of the electronic thermometer calculated based on the detection result by the shake detection means, and the number of dot rows of the light emitting elements in the predetermined direction necessary to express the light emitting dot pattern Calculating means for calculating a light emission time per dot row of the light emitting element,
When the shake detecting means detects that the electronic thermometer is shaken, the light emission of each light emitting element is based on the created light emitting dot pattern and the calculated light emission time per dot row. An electronic thermometer characterized by controlling the temperature.
The shake detection means includes
2. The electronic thermometer according to claim 1, wherein a reciprocal shake in a direction substantially orthogonal to a longitudinal direction of the electronic thermometer is detected.
The shake detection means includes a tilt sensor,
The electronic thermometer according to claim 2, wherein the tilt sensor detects a change timing of a shake direction in a reciprocating shake of the electronic thermometer.
The shake detection means includes an acceleration sensor,
The electronic thermometer according to claim 2, wherein a change timing of a shake direction in a reciprocating shake of the electronic thermometer is detected based on a signal output from the acceleration sensor.
The calculating means includes
The predetermined direction required for the light emitting dot pattern representing the information related to the body temperature of the subject, the shake time of the electronic thermometer calculated based on the change timing of the shake direction detected by the shake detection means The electronic thermometer according to claim 1, wherein a light emission time per dot row of the light emitting element is calculated by dividing by the number of dot rows of the light emitting element.
The calculating means includes
A time obtained by subtracting a fixed time from a shake time in a predetermined direction of the electronic thermometer calculated based on a change timing of the shake direction detected by the shake detection means, or a time obtained by subtracting a predetermined time based on the shake time, The light emission time per dot row of the light emitting element is calculated by dividing by the number of dot rows of the light emitting element in the predetermined direction necessary for the light emitting dot pattern expressing information on the body temperature of the subject. The electronic thermometer according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
The light emission control means includes
6. The electronic thermometer according to claim 5, wherein the light emission of each light emitting element is started based on the change timing of the shake direction detected by the shake detection means.
The creation means creates a light-emitting dot pattern in which a blank dot row is arranged before the first character and after the last character in a character string indicating information on the body temperature. Electronic thermometer as described in 1.
The light emission control means includes
The light emission of the light emitting element is started after a predetermined time based on the fixed time or the shake time has elapsed with respect to the change timing of the shake direction detected by the shake detection unit. Item 7. The electronic thermometer according to Item 6.
Further comprising a selection means for selecting a light emission color of the light emitting element based on the measured information on the body temperature of the subject,
When the shake detection means detects that the electronic thermometer is shaken, the selected emission color is based on the created emission dot pattern and the calculated emission time per dot row. The electronic thermometer according to claim 1, wherein the light emission of each of the light emitting elements is controlled so as to emit light.
An electronic thermometer for measuring the temperature of a subject,
A light emitting means comprising a plurality of light emitting elements arranged;
While detecting that the electronic thermometer is shaken, a shake detection means for calculating a distance from the reference position, with a position where the shake speed becomes zero as a reference position;
A light emission control means for controlling light emission of each light emitting element provided in the light emission means,
The light emission control means includes
In order to express information on the measured body temperature of the subject, a light-emitting dot pattern composed of dot rows of the light-emitting elements in the deflection direction of the electronic thermometer, the dot rows from the reference position A creation means for creating a luminous dot pattern with a specified distance is provided,
When the distance calculated by the shake detection unit matches the distance from the reference position defined for each dot row constituting the light emitting dot pattern, each light emitting element emits light according to the corresponding dot row. An electronic thermometer characterized by being controlled.
The shake detection means includes
The electronic thermometer according to claim 11, wherein a reciprocal shake in a direction substantially orthogonal to a longitudinal direction of the electronic thermometer is detected.
The shake detection means includes an acceleration sensor,
The electronic thermometer according to claim 12, wherein a change position of the shake direction of the electronic thermometer and a distance from the change position of the shake direction are calculated based on a signal output from the acceleration sensor.
The creating means includes
The distance from the said reference position of each said dot row is prescribed | regulated based on the fluctuation width of the said electronic thermometer, and the number of the dot rows which comprise the said light emission dot pattern, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. Electronic thermometer.
The creating means includes
The distance obtained by subtracting a predetermined distance based on the distance obtained by subtracting a fixed distance from the amplitude of the electronic thermometer or the number of dot rows constituting the light emitting dot pattern The electronic thermometer according to claim 14, wherein a distance from the reference position of each dot row is defined based on.
The creation means creates a light emitting dot pattern in which a blank dot row is arranged before the first character and after the last character in the character string indicating the information on the body temperature. Electronic thermometer as described in 1.
Further comprising a selection means for selecting a light emission color of the light emitting element based on the measured information on the body temperature of the subject,
When the distance calculated by the shake detection means matches the distance from the reference position defined for each dot row constituting the light emitting dot pattern, each light emitting element is moved according to the corresponding dot row. The electronic thermometer according to claim 11, wherein the electronic thermometer is controlled to emit light according to the selected emission color.
The said selection means selects the luminescent color of the said light emitting element based on the comparison with the information with respect to the measured said body temperature of the said subject, and the predetermined reference | standard temperature. The electronic thermometer according to 17.
The light emitting means includes a plurality of light emitting element arrays, which are a plurality of light emitting elements arranged in parallel, and each light emitting element array is configured to emit light with different emission colors. The electronic thermometer according to claim 10 or 17.
The electronic device according to claim 19, wherein the light emission control unit controls light emission by switching to a light emitting device column corresponding to the selected light emission color among a plurality of light emitting device columns included in the light emitting unit. Thermometer.
The light emitting means is a light emitting element group composed of a plurality of light emitting elements having different emission colors, and a plurality of light emitting element groups arranged so that light emitted from the plurality of light emitting elements is mixed and emitted. The electronic thermometer according to claim 10 or 17, characterized by being arranged.
The light emission control unit is configured to apply a current applied to each of the plurality of light emitting elements such that the light emitted from the plurality of light emitting elements constituting the light emitting element group is mixed to obtain the selected light emission color. The electronic thermometer according to claim 21, wherein the value is adjusted.
A display control method in an electronic thermometer for measuring a body temperature of a subject, comprising: a light emitting means including a plurality of light emitting elements arranged; and a shake detecting means for detecting that the electronic thermometer is shaken,
A creation step of creating a luminescent dot pattern based on the measured body temperature related information;
Based on the shake time in the predetermined direction of the electronic thermometer calculated based on the detection result by the shake detection means, and the number of dot rows of the light emitting elements in the predetermined direction necessary to express the light emitting dot pattern Calculating a light emission time per dot row of the light emitting element;
When the shake detecting means detects that the electronic thermometer is shaken, the light emission of each light emitting element is based on the created light emitting dot pattern and the calculated light emission time per dot row. A control process for controlling the electronic thermometer display control method.
Light emitting means having a plurality of light emitting elements arranged, and a shake detecting means for detecting that the electronic thermometer is shaken and calculating a distance from the reference position with a position where the shake speed is zero as a reference position And a display control method in an electronic thermometer for measuring the body temperature of a subject,
In order to express information on the measured body temperature of the subject, a light-emitting dot pattern composed of dot rows of the light-emitting elements in the deflection direction of the electronic thermometer, the dot rows from the reference position A creation process for creating a luminous dot pattern with a defined distance;
When the distance calculated by the shake detection unit matches the distance from the reference position defined for each dot row constituting the light emitting dot pattern, each light emitting element emits light according to the corresponding dot row. A control process for controlling the electronic thermometer display control method.