The present invention relates generally to automatic urine disposal apparatuses adapted to take care of urination in an automatic fashion and thereby to assist persons for whom it is difficult to control urination timing on their own will or to clean up after urination.
Among aged and/or sick persons, there are persons for whom it is difficult to control urination timing on their own will or to clean up after urination. To assist these persons suffering from such problem, for example, JP2007-44493A discloses an automatic urine disposal apparatus. Generally, such known automatic urine handling apparatus comprises a urine suction device having a urine retainer unit put on the user's body adapted so as to cover the wearer's urethral orifice and its peripheral region and vacuum suction means such as a suction pump provided separately of the urine receiver unit so that urine collected by the urine retainer unit may be guided into a urine reservoir under action of the vacuum suction means. Air within the hermetically-sealed urine reservoir may be sucked by the suction pump to generate a differential pressure between the urine retainer unit and the urine reservoir and thereby to guide urine within the urine retainer unit into the urine reservoir.
Such urine suction device of known art further comprises a urine sensor adapted to detect urination and to generate a detection signal on the basis of which the suction pump is actuated. The urine sensor includes, in turn, a pair of electrodes arranged in parallel to and spaced from each other. When urination occurs and these two electrodes are electrically connected to each other by the intermediary of urine, a urine detecting circuit constituted by these electrodes is turned on, actuating the suction pump. With the urine suction device put on the wearer's body, a pair of electrodes extends in a vertical direction and lower ends thereof lie in the vicinity of the wearer's anus.
The known urine suction devices as has been exemplarily described are provided on the lower end thereof with a defecation sensor. For example, if loose passage moving from the anus toward the urethral orifice clings the urination sensor, the normal operation of the urination sensor will be no more expected. To avoid such situation, the urine suction device disclosed in the JP2007-44493A is constructed so that the presence of feces can be detected by the defecation sensor provided at the lower end of the detecting electrodes before loose passage reaches the urination sensor and the care personnel can be informed of this, for example, in the form of an alarm lamp blinking. However, depending on various factors such as a flow pattern of loose passage and/or whether the urine suction device is put on the wearer's body properly or improperly, the defecation sensor may not be able to properly function to detect defecation and, in consequence, the urine suction device may not be able to normally function.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic urine disposal apparatus adapted to detect the presence of feces in a wide range.
According to the present invention, there is provided an automatic urine disposal apparatus comprising a urine suction device including a urine receiver unit adapted to be put on the wearer's body so as to face the wearer's urethral orifice and its peripheral skin and a detector unit attached to the urine receiver unit so as to be interposed between the skin and the urine receiver unit and a control unit including a vacuum suction means to which the urine suction device is detachably connected and adapted to put the interior of the urine receiver unit under a negative pressure, the detector unit having a urination detector to detect the presence of urine and a defecation detector to detect the presence of feces so that the vacuum suction means is actuated on the basis of a first detection signal from the urination detector to the urine into the urine receiver unit and the presence of the feces is detected on the basis of a second detection signal from the defecation detector.
The improvement according to the present invention is characterized as will be described below: The urination detector is adapted to output the first detection signal when the urination detector is wetted with the urine and comprises a pair of first electrodes spaced from each other and extending in one direction in parallel to each other. The defecation detector is adapted to output the second detection signal when the defecation detector is wetted with moisture contained in the feces and comprises a pair of second electrodes spaced from each other and extending the one direction in parallel to each other. The pair of first electrodes and the pair of second electrodes respectively have portions spaced from and in parallel to one another so that these portions are able to be wetted with the urine or moisture contained in the feces.
According to one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the pair of first electrodes and the pair of second electrodes are formed on one and same insulating a synthetic resin film.
According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the second electrodes having regions extending beyond full length of the first electrodes and the regions are wetted with moisture contained in the feces.
According to still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the vacuum suction means is actuated when the electrical resistance between the pair of first electrodes in the urination detector decreases to a first specified resistance value or lower and the user of the automatic urine disposal apparatus is informed of the presence of the feces when the electrical resistance between the pair of second electrodes in the defecation detector remains at a second specified resistance value or lower which is set to be higher than the first specified resistance value for a predetermined time period or longer.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the urination detector and the control unit cooperate to actuate the vacuum suction means for a predetermined time period and then stop this when the electrical resistance between the pair of first electrodes increases from a value lower than the first specified resistance value up to a value exceeding the first specified resistance value.
According to further another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the urination detector and the control unit cooperate to stop the vacuum suction means when the electrical resistance between the pair of first electrodes remains at the specified resistance value or lower for a time period longer than a predetermined time period.
According to further alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention, a value of the second specified resistance value or lower appearing between the second electrodes is a value between the second specified resistance value and the first specified resistance value.
In the automatic urine disposal apparatus according to the present invention, the first electrodes for urine detection as well as the second electrodes for feces detection respectively have regions spaced one from another and extending in one direction in parallel one to another. With this unique design, any amount of feces being moving into the regions of the urine suction device used to detect the presence of urine can be detected by the second electrodes and the user of the automatic urine disposal apparatus such as the helper can be informed of the presence of feces.
Details of the automatic urine disposal apparatus will be more fully understood from the description given hereunder with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The automatic urine disposal apparatus 100 is adapted to collect urine being excreted by the wearer in the urine suction device 102 in preparation to disposal thereof. The urine suction device 102 comprises a urine receiver unit 102a and a detector unit 150. The urine receiver unit 102a is adapted to be put on the wearer's body so as to cover the wearer's urethral orifice and its peripheral region to collect urine being excreted by the wearer. The detector unit 150 comprises a urination detector 102b and a defecation detector 102c adapted to detect the presence of feces on the urination detector 102b (See
The pump unit 108 principally includes a control circuit 108a adapted to process an electric signal transmitted from the detector unit 150 via the wiring 116 and a suction pump 108b adapted to be actuated under control by the circuit 108a. In the urine suction device 102, a urine retainer 112 of the urine receiver unit 102a is provided in a peripheral wall thereof with a urine outlet 114 to which the urine guide tube 106 is connected via the joint 104. A distal end of the wiring 116 extending from the pump unit 108 is provided with a clip 120 used for electrical connection of urination detecting electrodes 218a, 218b (See
The urine suction device 102 has a longitudinal direction P corresponding to the same direction of the wearer's body and a transverse direction Q extending orthogonally to the longitudinal direction P. The urine suction device 102 has a relatively large width in the vicinity of ends opposite in the longitudinal direction P and a relatively small width in a middle as viewed in the direction P. The urine suction device 102 has also the thickness direction R and as apparent from
The urine retainer 112 is provided in the form of a tray and made of a soft elastic material such as soft polyethylene or silicon rubber so as to be flexible in the longitudinal direction P as well as in the transverse direction Q but well resistant to any deformation due to a negative pressure exerted thereon during urine suction by the suction pump. The air-permeability retardant sheet 124 is bonded to a peripheral flange 152 of the urine retainer 112 along a joint region 112a. The depth direction of the urine retainer 112 corresponds to the thickness direction R.
The air-permeation retardant sheet 124 is significantly liquid-pervious but substantially or completely air-impermeable. As will be apparent from
Moisture content=(weight of sheet in a wet condition−weight of sheet in a dry condition)/(weight of sheet in dry condition) Formula (I)
The liquid-dispersible sheet 126 is formed of a liquid-pervious sheet such as a nonwoven fabric containing hydrophilic fibers such as rayon fibers and serves to disperse urine rapidly over the air-permeation retardant sheet 124 upon urination and thereby to make the air-permeation retardant sheet 124 over an area as large as possible in a wet condition. The air-permeation retardant sheet 124 in such wet condition ensures that a negative pressure is generated within the urine retainer 112 and, in consequence, urine suction into the urine retainer 112 is facilitated. Preferably, the liquid-dispersible sheet 126 is intermittently bonded to the air-permeation retardant sheet 124 to avoid a problem that the liquid-pervious properties of these two sheets might be deteriorated.
The cushion sheet 128 is formed of a liquid-pervious sheet such as a thermal bond nonwoven fabric having a basis weight of 20 to 30 g/m2 adapted to promote permeation of urine and thereby to prevent any amount of urine present in the liquid-dispersible sheet 126 and the air-permeation retardant sheet 124 from flowing back toward the electrode assembly 118. Furthermore, the sheet-like members such as the electrode assembly 118, the spacer 130 and the filter 132 may be previously overlapped upon the cushion sheet 128 to make it possible for the cushion sheet 128 to serve as a carrier member used to hold these sheet-like members at predetermined positions in the urine suction device 102 in the course of manufacturing the urine suction device 102. Preferably, the cushion sheet 128 is intermittently bonded to the liquid-dispersible sheet 126 in order not to deteriorate the liquid-pervious property of these two sheets 128, 126.
The electrode assembly 118 is obtained, for example, by printing the electrode pair of desired shape on a synthetic resin film with conductive ink and structural details thereof will be described later. The electrode assembly 118 may be bonded to the cushion sheet 128.
The spacer 130 is thicker than any other sheet-like members in the detector unit 150 and provided in the form of a mesh-textured liquid-pervious sheet. In the urine suction device 102, even after operation of suction, the skin-contact sheet 134 might remain in wet condition due to any amount of urine still staying thereon. In this case, the skin-contact sheet 134 might come in direct or indirect contact with the electrode assembly 118, for example, under the wearer's body weight and cause a false operation of the electrode assembly 118. The spacer 130 functions as means to keep the electrode assembly 118 and the filter 132 spaced from each other and thereby to prevent the false operation of the electrode assembly 118. More specifically, the spacer 130 is not responsible for urine suction but water repellent and has an air-permeability as well as a liquid-permeability higher than those of the air permeation retardant sheet 124. The spacer 130 maintains its thickness constant even under the wearer's body weight. Such spacer 130 can be formed by a mesh textured sheet having a thickness of 0.5 to 1 mm made of a soft synthetic resin such as vinyl acetate and is preferably bonded to the cushion sheet 128 in a manner that the liquid-permeability of these sheet materials might not be adversely affected.
The filter 132 is used to prevent any solid material contained in urine from accumulating on the electrode assembly 118 and becoming permanently conductive and, in view of this, the filter 132 is preferably formed by the sheet having air-permeability and liquid-permeability both higher than those of the air-permeation retardant sheet 124 and more preferably formed of a nonwoven fabric. The filter 132 may be bonded to spacer 130 in a manner that the liquid-permeability of these sheet materials might not be adversely affected.
The skin-contact sheet 134 overlies the filter 132 and is adapted to face and come in contact with the wearer's urethral orifice and peripheral region thereof when the urine suction device 102 is put on the wearer's body. Such skin-contact sheet 134 may be formed of a soft and liquid-pervious sheet material such as a thermal bond nonwoven fabric having a basis weight of 15 to 25 g/m2. Similarly to the cushion sheet 128, the skin-contact sheet 134 is instantaneously impregnated with urine at an initial stage of urination. The skin-contact sheet 134 is bonded to the filter 132 preferably in the intermittent fashion in order to prevent the liquid-permeability of these sheets 134, 132 from being adversely affected by this bonding treatment. The skin-contact sheet 134 may be hydrophilic or water-repellent.
The leak-barrier 136 is paired in right and left barriers as will be seen in
In the electrode assembly 118, the film member 260 is preferably formed by polyester film having a thickness of 50 to 100 μm. The urine detecting electrodes 218a, 218b may be obtained by printing them in desired shapes on the film member 260 with conductive ink or conductive coating material. The conductive ink or the conductive coating material may contain, for example, carbon black of 3 to 7% by weight, artificial graphite such as carbon graphite of 10 to 30% by weight and an appropriate quantity of silver pigment. Each of the urine detecting electrodes 218a, 218b is configured to have a width of 0.5 to 2.0 mm and a resistance value of 150 KQ or lower wherein each of the portions 175a, 175b may have an appropriate width to be easily exposed in the first non-coated regions 169a, 169b. The breaking detector circuit 250 may be obtained, for example, by printing them in desired shape on the film member 260 with ink containing carbon black in 3 to 7% by weight and artificial graphite in 5 to 10% by weight. It is essential for this circuit 250 to exhibit a resistance value substantially higher than a resistance value exhibited by the urine detecting electrodes 218a, 218b and preferably has a width of 0.3 to 1 mm and a resistance value of 2 to 10 MΩ. The feces detecting electrodes 143a, 143b also may be obtained by printing them on the film member 260 with the same ink or coating material as those used for the urine detecting electrodes 218a, 218b and sometimes by vacuum deposition of aluminum. Each of the feces detecting electrodes 143a, 143b also is configured to have a width of 0.5 to 2.0=wherein the portions 475a, 475b may have an appropriate width to be easily exposed in the second non-coated regions 269a, 269b. An electric resistance between the feces detecting electrodes 143a, 143b which are spaced from and parallel to each other is infinite.
When the electrode assembly 118 and the control unit 101 are electrically connected with each other via the clip 120, the urine detecting electrodes 218a, 218b as well as the feces detecting electrodes 143a, 143b are supplied with weak current from a power source 116a (See
If loose passage moves into the urine suction device 102 put on the wearer's body and the exposed portions 102e of the paired feces detecting electrode 143a, 143b are electrically connected with each other via moisture contained in such loose passage, the electrical resistance between these feces detecting electrodes 143a, 143b is reduced. Generally, such reduction of the electrical resistance due to the presence of feces is less remarkable than reduction of the electrical resistance due to the presence of urine. However, reduction of the electrical resistance due to the presence of feces also depends on various conditions of the urine suction device 102 and, in view of this, the illustrated embodiment of the pump unit 108 is designed so that the electrical resistance between the feces detecting electrodes 143a, 143b is reliably reduced down to 0.5 kΩ or lower in response to defecation and this electrical resistance higher than 0.4 kΩ lasting for a predetermined time period, e.g., 10 minutes is set as a critical resistance value, i.e., a threshold value on the basis of which an alarm is generated to remind exchange of the urine suction device 102.
In the detector unit 150, a pair of the urine detecting electrodes 218a, 218b, the film member 260 and the insulating coating material 170 cooperated together to form the urination detector 102b while a pair of feces detecting electrodes 143a, 143b, the film member 260 and the insulating coating material 170 cooperate together to form the defecation detector 102c. The urine detecting electrodes 218a, 218b as well as the feces detecting electrodes 143a, 143b are respectively spaced from each other and extend in parallel in the longitudinal direction P as will be seen in
A pair of the urine detecting electrodes 218a, 218b and a pair of the feces detecting electrodes 143a, 143b are formed on one and same surface of the film member 260 and a distance between these electrodes as viewed in the depth direction of the urine retainer 112 corresponding to the thickness direction R in
In the control unit 101, the urine detecting electrodes 218a, 218b are adapted to detect a specified resistance value of 0.4 kΩ and the feces detecting electrodes 143a, 143b are adapted to detect a specified resistance value higher than 0.4 kΩ. Consequentially, a malfunction would not occur in the automatic urine disposal apparatus 100 even when the feces detecting electrodes 143a, 143b are electrically connected with each other via the presence of urine and the urine detecting electrodes 218a, 218b are electrically connected with each other via the presence of feces.
In the pump unit 108, electrical resistance between the feces detecting electrodes 143a, 143b is measured by a second resistance meter 502 once per 0.5 sec. If the electrical resistance is measured to exceed the specified resistance value of 0.5 kΩ, it is determined that no feces is present in the urine suction device 102 and the resistance measurement is continued. If the electrical resistance decreases to a level lower than 0.5 kΩ and remains at such lower level for 10 minutes, it is determined that any amount of feces being moving into the urine suction device 102. On the basis of such determination, the alarm lamp is blinked to remind the care personnel to exchange the urine suction device 102. It is essential to set the electrical resistance as the threshold value for blinking of the alarm lamp 504 to be higher than the specified resistance value as the threshold value for actuation of the suction pump 108b.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2008-033653 | Feb 2008 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/JP2009/052292 | 1/12/2009 | WO | 00 | 11/29/2010 |