JP7567320B2 - Measuring Equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a measuring device.

There is known technology that measures the distance between the water surface of the bathtub and the subject's head by emitting ultrasonic waves from a transmitter installed on the ceiling of the bathroom, and determines the submerged state of the subject in the bathtub based on the measurement results (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2013-34763 A

One of the reasons why a subject may sink in a bathtub is heat shock. Heat shock can occur, for example, when a subject suddenly stands up from the bathtub. In order to detect the speed at which a subject stands up, it has been proposed to detect changes in the depth of the water in the bathtub. However, it is difficult to accurately detect the speed at which the head rises because the volume change of the body parts that leave the water when the subject stands up is not uniform, and it takes time for the swaying of the water surface to stabilize. In addition, there is a demand for technology that can accurately detect the speed at which a subject's head rises when standing up, not only in the bathroom but also in other rooms.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above, and aims to provide a measuring device that can accurately measure the head rise speed when a subject in a room stands up.

The measuring device according to the present invention is provided on the ceiling of a room and includes a transmitter that transmits ultrasonic waves, a receiver that receives the ultrasonic waves reflected within the room, and a calculator that, if a subject is present within the room, calculates the head height position of the subject based on the reception result of the ultrasonic waves reflected by the subject's head, and calculates the rising speed of the head based on the calculation result.

The present invention makes it possible to accurately detect the head rising speed when a subject in a room stands up.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a measuring device according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of a control unit. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a measurement operation performed by the measurement device. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a measurement operation by the measurement device. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a measurement operation by the measurement device. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the measurement device according to this embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the measurement device according to this embodiment.

Below, an embodiment of a measuring device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. Furthermore, the components in the following embodiment include those that are easily replaceable by a person skilled in the art, or those that are substantially the same.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a measuring device 100 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 1, the measuring device 100 includes a transmitter 10, a receiver 20, a detector 30, and a controller 40. In this embodiment, the measuring device 100 is placed in, for example, a bathroom 50. The bathroom 50 includes a bathtub 51 and a ceiling 52. A terminal 53 capable of performing various operations, such as adjusting the water temperature in the bathtub 51, is attached to a wall of the bathroom 50. The terminal 53 has an alarm unit 53a, such as a speaker that outputs sound.

The transmitter 10 is provided on the ceiling 52 in the bathroom 50. The transmitter 10 transmits ultrasonic waves S into the bathroom 50. The transmitter 10 transmits ultrasonic waves S toward a subject P who is immersed in a bathtub 51, for example.

The receiving unit 20 is provided on the ceiling 52 in the bathroom 50 and receives ultrasonic waves S reflected within the bathroom 50. The receiving unit 20 receives ultrasonic waves S reflected by the head H of the subject P. The receiving unit 20 receives the ultrasonic waves S and generates a received signal.

The detection unit 30 detects whether or not the subject P is present in the bathroom 50. For example, a photographing device such as a camera that captures an image of the subject P is used as the detection unit 30. In this embodiment, a photographing device having a resolution that allows the subject P to be identified using the captured image of the subject P is used as the detection unit 30. Note that the detection unit 30 is not limited to the above configuration, and for example, a low-resolution photographing device or a measuring device such as an optical sensor may be used.

The control unit 40 controls the overall operation of the measurement device 100. The control unit 40 has a processing unit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a storage unit such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a ROM (Read Only Memory). FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the control unit 40. As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 40 has a transmission control unit 41, a signal acquisition unit 42, a calculation unit 43, a notification control unit 44, and a storage unit 45.

The transmission control unit 41 controls the operation of transmitting ultrasonic waves by the transmitting unit 10. The transmission control unit 41 can cause the transmitting unit 10 to transmit ultrasonic waves S, for example, about 10 times per second. The signal acquisition unit 42 acquires the reception signal of the ultrasonic waves S received by the receiving unit 20.

The calculation unit 43 determines whether or not the subject P is present in the bathroom 50 based on the detection result of the detection unit 30. If the subject P is present in the bathroom 50, it calculates the head height position of the subject P based on the reception result of the ultrasound reflected by the head H of the subject P. The calculation unit 43 calculates the ascent speed of the head H based on the calculated head height position. Specifically, it calculates the head height position each time the ultrasound S is transmitted, and calculates the ascent speed of the head H based on the change over time in the calculated head height position.

Based on the detection result of the detection unit 30, when a subject is present in the bathroom 50, the notification control unit 44 identifies the subject present in the bathroom 50 and obtains identification information. For example, if the detection unit 30 is a photographing device such as a camera, this identification information may be an image of the subject's face or the like captured. The identification information is not limited to the above and may be other types of information. The notification control unit 44 determines whether the rising speed calculated by the calculation unit 43 exceeds a threshold. The threshold of the rising speed is set based on at least one of the temperature and temperature distribution in the bathroom 50. In addition, the threshold of the rising speed can be changed based on at least one of the temperature and temperature distribution in the bathroom 50. The temperature distribution in the bathroom 50 may be, for example, the temperature distribution in one section in the vertical direction in the bathroom 50 from the ceiling part 52 to the height position of the upper edge of the bathtub 51, or the temperature distribution in the entire section in the vertical direction in the bathroom 50 from the ceiling part 52 to the floor part of the bathroom 50. If the notification control unit 44 determines that the rising speed exceeds the threshold, it stores the calculated rising speed and the identification information of the subject in the bathroom 50 in the memory unit 45.

The notification control unit 44 also determines whether or not a subject (hereinafter, referred to as a specific subject) whose rising speed exceeds a threshold is present in the bathroom 50 based on the detection result of the detection unit 30 and the rising speed and identification information stored in the memory unit 45. If it is determined that a specific subject is present in the bathroom 50, the notification control unit 44 notifies the specific subject of attention information via the notification unit 53a. In this embodiment, if it is determined that the rising speed of the head H of the subject P exceeds the threshold as described above, attention information is notified to the subject P the next time the subject P is present in the bathroom 50.

The warning information may be, for example, audio information that prompts the specific subject to reduce the speed at which they stand up from the bathtub 51. If the notification unit 53a includes a display device, the warning information may be information in the form of at least one of text and images. In other words, if the subject P stands up too quickly from the bathtub 51, there is a high possibility that the subject P will experience heat shock when standing up. In this embodiment, by notifying the subject P of the warning information, the subject P can be informed in advance that the subject P will be standing up too quickly from the bathtub 51, and the subject P can be made to take appropriate action, such as standing up slowly. Therefore, the occurrence of heat shock can be reduced.

The memory unit 45 stores various information. The memory unit 45 has storage such as a hard disk drive or a solid state drive. Note that an external storage medium such as a removable disk may be used as the memory unit 45. The memory unit 45 stores, for example, the rising speed exceeding a threshold value and the identification information of the subject P who has raised his/her head at that rising speed.

The memory unit 45 stores a temperature measurement program that causes the computer to execute the following processes: acquiring the reception signal generated by the receiving unit 20; if a subject P is present in the bathroom 50, calculating the head height position of the subject P based on the reception signal of the ultrasound S reflected by the head H of the subject P; and calculating the rising speed of the head H based on the calculation result.

Next, the operation of the measuring device 100 configured as described above will be described. The transmission control unit 41 causes the transmission unit 10 to transmit ultrasonic waves S based on a predetermined input. The transmission unit 10 transmits ultrasonic waves at a period of, for example, m times per second under the control of the transmission control unit 41.

Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of a measurement operation by the measuring device 100. Figure 3 shows a state in which a subject P is immersed in a bathtub 51. The emitted ultrasound waves S are reflected by the head H of the subject P and received by the receiving unit 20. The receiving unit 20 receives the ultrasound waves S and generates a received signal. The signal acquiring unit 42 acquires the received signal generated by the receiving unit 20.

The calculation unit 43 determines whether or not the subject P is present in the bathroom 50 based on the detection result of the detection unit 30. When the subject P is detected by the detection unit 30 as shown in FIG. 3, the calculation unit 43 determines that the subject P is present in the bathroom 50. When the calculation unit 43 determines that the subject P is present in the bathroom 50, it calculates the head height position H1 of the subject P based on the reception result of the ultrasonic wave reflected by the head H of the subject P. The calculation unit 43 calculates the head height position for each of the above-mentioned periods transmitted from the transmission unit 10, and stores the calculated head height position in the storage unit 45. The calculation unit 43 calculates the rising speed of the head H based on the calculated head height position. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the calculation unit 43 calculates that the rising speed is approximately 0 because the head height position of the subject is approximately constant at H1. The calculation unit 43 stores the calculated rising speed in the storage unit 45.

Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of a measurement operation by the measuring device 100. Figure 4 shows a state in which the subject P has stood up from the bathtub 51. The ultrasonic waves S emitted, for example, n times from the transmitter 10 at the above cycle are reflected by the head H of the subject P while the subject P is standing up, and are received by the receiver 20. The receiver 20 receives the ultrasonic waves S and generates a received signal. The signal acquirer 42 acquires the received signal generated by the receiver 20.

The calculation unit 43 calculates the head height position H2, H3, ..., Hn of the subject P for each of the above periods based on the reception results of the ultrasound reflected by the head H of the subject P. The calculation unit 43 stores the calculated head height position in the memory unit 45. The calculation unit 43 calculates the rising speed of the head H based on the calculated head height position. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the head height position of the subject changes from H1 to Hn. Therefore, the calculation unit 43 can calculate the rising speed based on the time (n/m) until the ultrasound S is transmitted n times and the amount of change in the head height position of the subject (Hn-H1). The calculation unit 43 stores the calculated rising speed in the memory unit 45.

In the example shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the notification control unit 44 identifies the subject present in the bathroom 50 based on the detection result of the detection unit 30, and acquires the identification information. The notification control unit 44 also determines whether the rising speed calculated by the calculation unit 43 exceeds a threshold value. If the notification control unit 44 determines that the rising speed exceeds the threshold value, it stores the calculated rising speed and the identification information of the subject in the bathroom 50 in the memory unit 45.

The notification control unit 44 determines whether or not a specific target person is present in the bathroom 50 based on the detection result of the detection unit 30 and the rising speed and identification information stored in the memory unit 45. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an attention-calling operation by the measurement device 100. As shown in FIG. 5, when it is determined that a specific target person P1 is present in the bathroom 50, the notification control unit 44 notifies the specific target person P1 of attention-calling information I via the notification unit 53a. By notifying the specific target person P1 of the attention-calling information, it is possible to inform the specific target person P1 in advance that the rising speed when rising from the bathtub 51 is relatively fast. Therefore, the specific target person P1 can take appropriate action, such as rising slowly. This can reduce the occurrence of heat shock.

Next, the flow of operation of the measuring device 100 according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the measurement operation of the measuring device 100 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, the transmission control unit 41 emits ultrasonic waves S from the transmission unit 10 (step S10). The ultrasonic waves S are reflected in the bathroom 50 and received by the receiving unit 20 (step S20). The receiving unit 20 generates a reception signal of the ultrasonic waves S and transmits the generated reception signal to the control unit 40. The signal acquisition unit 42 acquires the reception signal. The calculation unit 43 determines whether or not the subject P is present in the bathroom 50 (step S30). If the calculation unit 43 determines that the subject P is not present (No in step S30), it ends the processing. If the calculation unit 43 determines that the subject P is present (Yes in step S30), it calculates the height position of the subject P's head H based on the acquired reception signal (step S40), and calculates the rising speed of the head H based on the calculation result (step S50). The calculation unit 43 stores the calculated rising speed in the memory unit 45.

The notification control unit 44 determines whether the rising speed exceeds the threshold value (step S60). If the notification control unit 44 determines that the rising speed does not exceed the threshold value (No in step S60), it ends the process. If the notification control unit 44 determines that the rising speed exceeds the threshold value (Yes in step S60), it stores the identification information of the specific subject P1, who is the subject P whose rising speed exceeds the threshold value, and the rising speed in the memory unit 45 (step S70).

Figure 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the alert activation operation of the measurement device 100 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 7, the notification control unit 44 determines whether or not a specific target person P1 is present in the bathroom 50 (step S80). If the notification control unit 44 determines that a specific target person P1 is not present in the bathroom 50 (No in step S80), the process ends. The determination of No in step S80 includes a case where the identification information of the specific target person P1 is not stored because the rising speed does not exceed the threshold in the above measurement operation. If the notification control unit 44 determines that a specific target person P1 is present in the bathroom 50 (Yes in step S80), the notification control unit 44 causes the notification unit 53a of the terminal 53 to notify alert information (step S90) and ends the process.

As described above, the measuring device 100 according to this embodiment is provided on the ceiling 52 in the bathroom 50 and includes a transmitter 10 that transmits ultrasonic waves S, a receiver 20 that receives ultrasonic waves S reflected in the bathroom 50, and a calculator 43 that, when a subject P is present in the bathroom 50, calculates the head height position of the subject P based on the reception result of the ultrasonic waves S reflected by the head H of the subject P, and calculates the rising speed of the head H based on the calculation result.

With this configuration, the head height position of the subject P is calculated based on the reception result of the ultrasound S reflected by the head H of the subject P, and the ascent speed of the head H is calculated based on the calculation result. Therefore, compared to a configuration that detects changes in water depth, it is possible to more accurately detect the ascent speed of the head H when the subject P stands up in the bathroom 50.

The measuring device 100 according to this embodiment further includes a notification control unit 44, which is an identification unit that identifies a subject P present in the bathroom 50, a memory unit 45 that stores identification information of a subject P whose rising speed exceeds a threshold, and a notification unit 53a that issues warning information when a specific subject P1 whose rising speed exceeds a threshold is present in the bathroom 50 based on the identification result by the notification control unit 44 and the identification information stored in the memory unit 45. With this configuration, warning information can be reliably issued to a subject whose head rising speed exceeds the threshold.

In the measuring device 100 according to this embodiment, the threshold for the rate of increase can be changed based on at least one of the temperature and temperature distribution in the bathroom 50. With this configuration, the threshold is set according to at least one of the temperature and temperature distribution in the bathroom 50, so that the occurrence of heat shock can be more reliably reduced.

In the measuring device 100 according to this embodiment, a bathtub 51 is placed in the bathroom 50, and the calculation unit 43 calculates the rising speed based on the reception results of ultrasound S reflected by the head H of the subject P when the subject P stands up from a state submerged in the bathtub 51. With this configuration, the rising speed of the subject P when standing up from a state submerged in the bathtub 51 can be efficiently measured.

In the measuring device 100 according to this embodiment, the attention alert information is information that prompts the subject P to reduce the speed at which he or she stands up when standing up in the bathtub 51. With this configuration, the occurrence of heat shock can be reduced by notifying the specific subject P1 of the attention alert information.

The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and appropriate modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the measuring device 100 is disposed in the bathroom 50, but the present invention is not limited to this. The measuring device 100 may be disposed in a room other than the bathroom 50.

The measuring device 100 described in the above embodiment may also be used as a drowning determination device that, for example, when the detection unit 30 detects that the subject is immersed in the bathtub 51, transmits ultrasonic waves S from the transmitter 10 toward the subject's head and the water surface in the bathtub 51, receives the reflected waves with the receiver 20, and determines the distance between the subject's head and the water surface with the control unit 40, and determines whether the subject is drowning based on the determined result.

The measuring device 100 described in the above embodiment is configured to notify the subject P1 of warning information when the specific subject P1 is in the bathroom 50 from the next time onwards, but is not limited to this. For example, if it is detected that the rising speed of the subject P's head H exceeds a threshold, warning information may be notified to the subject P at that time.

In the above embodiment, the measurement device 100 identifies the subject P based on the detection result of the detection unit 30 and acquires the identification information of the subject P, but the present invention is not limited to this. The identification of the subject P and the acquisition of the identification information may be performed by a means other than the detection unit 30, for example, by inputting the identification information of the subject P to the control unit 40 via an input unit (not shown).

H...head, H1, H2, H3...position, I...attention information, P...target person, P1...specific target person, S...ultrasound, 10...transmitter, 20...receiver, 30...detector, 40...controller, 41...transmission controller, 42...signal acquisition unit, 43...calculator, 44...notification controller, 45...storage unit, 50...bathroom, 51...bathtub, 52...ceiling, 53...terminal, 53a...notification unit, 100...measuring device

Claims (4)

A transmitter that is provided on the ceiling of the room and transmits ultrasonic waves;
a receiving unit that receives the ultrasonic waves reflected in the room;
a calculation unit that calculates a head height position of the subject based on a reception result of the ultrasonic wave reflected by the head of the subject when the subject is present in the room, and calculates a rising speed of the head based on the calculation result ;
An identification unit that identifies the target person present in the room;
A storage unit that stores identification information of the subject whose increasing speed has exceeded a threshold value;
a notification unit that notifies attention-calling information when the subject whose rising speed has exceeded the threshold is present in the room, based on the identification result by the identification unit and the identification information stored in the storage unit; and
A measuring device comprising: The measurement device according to claim 1 , wherein the threshold value for the rate of increase is variable based on at least one of an air temperature and an air temperature distribution in the room. The room is a bathroom,
A bathtub is provided in the bathroom,
The measuring device according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the calculation unit calculates the rising speed based on a reception result of the ultrasonic waves reflected by a head of the subject when the subject stands up from a state immersed in the bathtub. The measuring device according to claim 3 , wherein the attention-calling information is information that prompts the subject to reduce a speed at which the subject stands up when standing up from the bathtub.

Images