JPH0214755B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a pedometer that uses a pendulum to detect the number of steps.

As a conventional pedometer detection device,
The one shown in Publication No. 75364 is provided. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, a magnet is attached to the tip of an arm whose base is rotatably supported, and the arm is supported by a spring. This method detects the number of vibrations of the arm supported by the spring 2 based on the number of operations of the reed switch 3, which is placed opposite the magnet 2. In such a conventional example, since the arm is simply supported by the spring N, the free vibration of the arm due to the spring N during walking is not attenuated, and even if it is attenuated, the effect is not There are only a few problems as follows. That is, the second
In the case of vertical vibration during walking as shown in Figure a, two or three outputs are output as detection signals as shown in Figure 2 b, even though it is actually one step due to the free vibration caused by the spring N. There were many cases where the signal was output and the number of steps detected was higher than the actual number of steps.

In addition, as another conventional example of a pedometer, there is
-There is one described in Publication No. 36786. this is,
This device adds viscous resistance to the pendulum to suppress free vibration of the pendulum to improve the accuracy of step count detection. In this case, since the spring that elastically supports the pendulum is encapsulated in a viscous material such as rubber to add viscous resistance, the properties of the viscous material are not stable as they are easily affected by temperature. There are problems in that the elastic properties tend to vary, the pendulum vibration properties are unstable, and the accuracy of step count detection varies. In particular, pedometers are used throughout the year, and in winter and summer, the actual number of steps taken and the results measured by the pedometer vary greatly, causing discomfort to the user and other problems due to the effects of temperature. It was hot.
Furthermore, in this conventional example, it is said that the viscous resistor may be a pendulum with fins attached to make use of the viscosity of the air, but when using the viscous resistance of the air, the resistance force is insufficient. There are problems in that it is unstable, has large variations, and cannot adjust the vibration suppressing force.

The present invention has been provided in view of the above-mentioned points, and is provided with vibration suppressing means for suppressing the free vibration of the pendulum for detecting the number of steps, and by using the vibration suppressing means as a resistance spring, temperature The purpose of the present invention is to provide a pedometer that is less susceptible to the influence of pendulums, stabilizes the frictional resistance against the pendulum, and detects the correct number of steps.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIGS. 3 to 5, reference numeral 1 denotes a step count sensor arranged inside the pedometer to detect the number of steps, and FIG. 3 shows an exploded perspective view thereof.
2 is a flat box-shaped housing with an open top surface, and a base plate 3 is provided on the top surface of a recess 4 formed in the housing 2.
will be covered. A positioning pin 10 for positioning the main plate 3 is provided on the upper end surface of the housing 2,
Two guide pins 11 for fixing are provided to protrude upward, and the base plate 3 is provided with insertion holes 12 and 13 into which the pins 10 and 11 are inserted and fitted, respectively. Reference numeral 5 denotes a flat pendulum disposed in the recess 4 of the housing 2. A pendulum shaft 8 is press-fitted into one end of the pendulum 5, and the pendulum shaft 8 is fixed to the pendulum 5. A holding portion 14 is formed at the other end of the pendulum 5 and is bent into a U-shape, and the magnet 6 is held and fixed to this holding portion 14 .

18 and 19 are pendulum shafts 8 press-fitted into the pendulum 5;
It is a boss that rotatably holds both ends of the base plate 3, and is integrally formed to protrude from the bottom surface of the recess 4 and the lower surface of the base plate 3. 7 is a wire spring for returning the pendulum 5, and both ends thereof have hook portions 7 formed in an arc shape.
a and 7b, and both hook parts 7 are attached to the shafts of pins 15 and 16 press-fitted into the upper end surfaces of the pendulum 5 and the housing 2.
a and 7b are hooked and locked. Therefore, the pendulum 5 is biased toward the opposite side as shown in FIG. 3 by the outward bias of the wire spring 7. Reference numeral 17 denotes a stopper in which a rubber tube is inserted into a boss protruding from the bottom surface of the recess 4, and has the function of suppressing the amplitude of the pendulum 5 and mitigating the impact in the event of a collision.
A reed switch 20 is disposed facing the magnet 6. The reed switch 20 is disposed in a recess 21 that is open at the top at the end of the housing 2, and is moved closer to the magnet 6 every time the pendulum 5 rotates (swings). The contacts open and close.

A resistance spring 9 constitutes a vibration suppressing means for suppressing the free vibration of the pendulum 5 caused by the wire spring 7, and is formed in a substantially swastika shape so as to have frictional resistance against the pendulum 5. The resistance spring 9 connects the bottom of the recess 4 and the pendulum 5
Three substantially L-shaped legs 23 protruding upward from a base having a fixing hole 22 in the center. The resistance spring 9 is inserted into the housing 2 through the fixing hole 22 as shown in FIG.
The upper surface of the leg piece 23 is in elastic contact with the lower surface of the pendulum 5. The step sensor 1 is installed vertically downward in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG.
Even in the case of the vertical vibration acceleration pattern shown in FIG. As shown in Figure b, the reed switch 20 outputs an output corresponding to each step.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the vibration suppressing means, in which a flat plate is bent into a substantially J-shape instead of the swastika-shaped resistance spring using frictional resistance shown in the previous embodiment. The base of the long piece 9b of the resistance spring 9 is press-fitted into a notch in the corner of the housing 2, and the short piece 9a on the tip side is pressed against the end face of the pendulum 5 on the shaft side. The rotation (free vibration) of the pendulum 5 is damped. Furthermore, the resistance force F of frictional resistance
is expressed as F=C ₁ . However, C ₁ is resistance spring 9
is a constant.

8 and 9 show a mechanism for adjusting the resistance force (pressure amount) of the substantially J-shaped resistance spring 9. FIG. A notch 35 is cut out at the corner of the housing 2, and the base of the long piece 9b of the resistance spring 9 is bent into a substantially V-shape, and this base is press-fitted into the notch 35 and fixed. Further, a screw hole 37 is bored in the side wall of the housing 2 at approximately the same horizontal position as the pendulum shaft 8 fixed to the pendulum 5, and an adjustment screw 36 is screwed into this screw hole 37. As the adjustment screw 36 is screwed forward,
The tip end surface contacts and presses the long piece 9b of the resistance spring 9, and the short piece 9a of the resistance spring 9 is pressed against the arcuate end of the pendulum 5. Therefore, by adjusting this adjustment screw 36, the amount of pressure applied to the pendulum 5 by the resistance spring 9 can be made variable.

10 and 11 show the pendulum 5 of the resistance spring 9.
This figure shows another adjustment mechanism for adjusting the resistance to. A recess 43 for fixing the resistance spring 9 is cut into the corner of the housing 2, and a square fixing base 38 having a cylindrical projection 39 on the upper surface is inserted into the recess 43 from above. . 44 is a fixed base 38
This is a stopper claw that regulates the movement of. A fixing piece 40 is integrally formed at right angles to the base of the long piece 9b of the resistance spring 9, and an insertion hole 41 is formed in the fixing piece 40.
is inserted into the protrusion 39 of the fixing base 38. Further, on the lower surface of the main plate 3, two presser ribs 42 are vertically provided in parallel, and are located on both sides of the base of the resistance spring 9 to position and fix the resistance spring 9. A screw hole 37 for screwing the adjustment screw 36 is formed in the corner of the housing 2 in the same direction as the longitudinal direction of the resistance spring 9. By rotating the adjustment screw 36, the fixed base 38 is moved toward the pendulum 5 at the tip end surface of the adjustment screw 36.
As the fixed base 38 moves, the resistance spring 9 also moves,
The position of the short piece 9a of the resistance spring 9 that presses against the end of the pendulum 5 changes. Therefore, by rotating the adjustment screw 36, the amount of pressure applied to the pendulum 5 can be varied by changing the position of the short piece 9a.

12 and 13 show the pendulum 5 of the resistance spring 9.
2 shows yet another adjustment mechanism for adjusting the resistance to. A clip 4 having elasticity that presses the long piece 9b of the resistance spring 9 to obtain the amount of deflection of the resistance spring 9.
9, and a protrusion 50 is provided on the upper end surface of the clip 49 to fit into the fixing hole 46 of the clip plate 45 which is operated from the outside. Clip plate 45
is provided on the upper surface of the base plate 3, and the base plate 3 is provided with an elongated slide groove 47 in the same direction as the longitudinal direction of the long piece 9b of the resistance spring 9. Slide groove 4
A wavy uneven portion 48 for positioning a clip 49 is formed on one inner surface of the clip 7 . Clip 4
Arms 51 are formed on both sides of the upper part of 9.
An arc-shaped engaging step portion 52 that engages with the uneven portion 48 is formed at the tip of the arm 51 . The long piece 9b of the resistance spring 9 is attached to the lower step 53 of the clip 49.
The outer surface of the pendulum is pressed toward the pendulum 5 side. resistance spring 9
is press-fitted into the notch 35 of the housing 2, similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. The amount of deflection of the resistance spring 9 can be adjusted by moving the clip plate 45 in the direction of the arrow in FIG.
to change the pressing position of the long piece 9b of the resistance spring 9,
Depending on this pressing position, the resistance force of the short piece 9a of the resistance spring 9 to the pendulum 5 changes.

FIG. 14 shows a perspective view of the entire pedometer X, which is composed of an operating section 54, a display section 55, and the like. The operation section 54 is configured as follows. That is, the setting knob 56 for setting the mode and the setting lever 57 for setting the stride length are rotatably arranged concentrically. Modes are clock W and stopwatch.
There are four: st, distance (d ₁ ), and distance (d ₂ ).
In clock mode, use Am,
There are push buttons 58 for changing the display between Pm and 24 hours (d), setting the time (h), setting the minutes (m), and setting the seconds (s). In addition, the stride length settings are 50, 60, 70, 80, 90,
11 types: 100, 120, 140, 160, 180, 200cm,
In _d1 mode, for example, the total walking distance for the day can be used, and in _d2 mode, for example, the distance from the station to your home can be used. Starting and stopping in stopwatch and distance mode
Settings are made using a start/stop button 59 located on the side of the setting knob 56.

Further, the display on the display section 55 can be reset using the reset button 60. The display section 55 is a liquid crystal display that displays digital information, and when the cover 61 is covered, the display section 55 is displayed through the opening 62.
Only number 5 is visible on the surface. Pedometer X
The mounting is done using the mounting clip 64 attached to the back of the case 63, with the display section 55 facing downward.
Attach it to your waist belt or chest pocket as shown in the figure. The step count sensor 1 is housed in the position shown in FIG. 14, and the pendulum 5 rotates up and down due to the vertical vibration of the human body to detect the number of steps.

As described above, the present invention provides a pendulum with a vibration suppressing means for suppressing free vibration of the pendulum, and this vibration suppressing means is a resistance spring, which is fixed to a housing and brought into elastic contact with the pendulum. Compared to the conventional method, in which the detection signal was output 2 to 3 times for each step taken by the human body, by damping the free vibration of the pendulum, the number of steps can be detected correctly. Instead of using a viscous material that is easily affected by temperature and has unstable characteristics, a resistance spring that is not easily affected by temperature and has relatively stable characteristics is used as a vibration suppressing means, which improves the vibration characteristics of the pendulum. is stable, and there is no variation in the accuracy of step count detection, so users can use it with confidence throughout the year, including winter and summer. Moreover, by using a resistance spring as a vibration suppressing means, and by fixing this resistance spring to the housing and making elastic contact with the pendulum, the frictional resistance force against the pendulum is stable. By replacing the spring with the resistance spring or by providing an adjustment device for adjusting the biasing force of the resistance spring, it is possible to adjust the vibration suppressing force on the pendulum.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a plan view of a conventional step count detection device;
3 is an exploded perspective view of a step count sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the same; FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of essential parts of the same; FIG. 7A and 7B are perspective views and main part plan views of other embodiments of the same resistance spring, and FIGS. 8A and 8B are views of the mechanism for adjusting the pressure amount of the same resistance spring. Side view, top view, Figure 9 is an exploded perspective view of the same as above, Figure 1
0A and 0B are a plan view and a front view of another embodiment of the same as the above, FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of the same as the above, FIG. FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of the same, FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the pedometer of the same, and FIG. 15 is a usage state diagram of the same. 5 is a pendulum, 6 is a magnet, and 20 is a reed switch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. It has a rotatable pendulum equipped with a magnet, and a reed switch placed opposite to the magnet. When the magnet approaches the reed switch, contacts are opened and closed, and the output of the reed switch measures the number of steps. In the pedometer configured to detect pedometers, the pendulum is provided with a vibration suppressing means for suppressing free vibration of the pendulum, and the vibration suppressing means is a resistance spring, and the resistance spring is fixed to the housing and is brought into elastic contact with the pendulum. A pedometer that features: