The present invention relates to a biological signal detection device used to detect biological signals used for estimating the conditions of a person.
Patent Document 1 discloses a biological signal detection mechanism including a back supporting cushioning member, a base cushioning member, and a sensing mechanism unit disposed between these. This biological signal detection mechanism is attached to a seat back of a seat structure such as a vehicle seat when used, and is used to detect biological signals from the upper body of a person. Arithmetic processing is performed on the detected biological signals, and as is described in Patent Documents 2 to 4, the resultants are used as basic data for the determination of a homeostasis function level, the specification of a hypnagogic symptom signal, the estimation of fatigue, and so on. The present inventors have recently further conducted studies aiming at not only using the biological signals for detecting dozing and fatigue during driving but also the application of the biological signals to health care such as blood pressure estimation and health condition estimation.
The biological signal detection mechanism of Patent Document 1 has the structure suitable for being attached to the seat back when used as described above, but in some cases, it cannot be said as being always suitable for obtaining biological signals from a person lying on a bed or obtaining biological signals from a part other than the back, for example, from the buttocks, in order to grasp his/her daily health condition, for instance. Further, if the biological signal detection mechanism gives a great feeling of something foreign when obtaining the biological signals from the person in such a lying posture or the like, it may impair comfortable sleeping or sitting.
The present invention was made in consideration of the above and has an object to provide a biological signal detection device that gives only a slight feeling of something foreign to a person, is suitable for detecting biological signals from a person in a lying posture or while placed under the buttocks, and is suitable for detecting biological signals for the purpose of, for example, daily health condition care.
To solve the aforesaid problem, a biological signal detection device of the present invention includes:
a base cushioning member including: a base-side net having a three-dimensional knitted fabric; and a sensor disposed on one surface or another surface of the base-side net; and
a body abutting-side cushioning member stacked on the base cushioning member and including a body abutting-side net which has a three-dimensional knitted fabric and is disposed on a side abutting on a body of a person, wherein the base cushioning member and the body abutting-side cushioning member are both substantially circular in plan view.
Preferably, a circumferential rim of the body abutting-side cushioning member is compressed and is covered with a band-shaped object.
Preferably, the body abutting-side cushioning member has a diameter equal to or more than the diameter of the base cushioning member.
Preferably, the body abutting-side cushioning member is stacked on the base cushioning member with a slip inhibitor therebetween.
Preferably, the body abutting-side cushioning member is stacked on the base cushioning member with a shaft member provided between center portions of the body abutting-side cushioning member and the base cushioning member.
Preferably, in the case where the sensor includes one sensor, the sensor is provided at the center portion of the base cushioning member.
Preferably, in the case where the sensor includes a plurality of sensors, the sensors are provided at equal intervals on the same circumference on the base cushioning member.
In the biological signal detection device of the present invention, the body abutting-side cushioning member including the three-dimensional knitted fabric is substantially circular in plan view. The base cushioning member is also substantially circular in plan view. If, for example, a person sits on a square one, it tends to undergo deformation such as turning-up or folding of its edges around the vicinity of the corners. Such deformation tends to distort detection data. Moreover, the folding and the like lead to an uncomfortable feeling. On the other hand, the substantially circular one less undergoes such folding and the like. Accordingly, a detection signal obtained from the sensor has only a small distortion and is higher in detection sensitivity than that obtained from the square one. Further, increasing rigidity by compressing the circumferential rim and further covering the circumferential rim with the band-shaped object makes the device fitted to the body and reduces a feeling of something foreign, and owing to the compression of the circumferential rim, surface rigidity of a portion in contact with the body increases. Therefore, the device can be used without impairing comfortable sleeping or comfortable sitting and thus is suitable for measuring biological signals for daily health care.
The present invention will be hereinafter described in more detail based on embodiments illustrated in the drawings.
The base cushioning member 10 is substantially circular in plan view, and as illustrated in
Similarly to the above, an elastomer film 14 substantially equal in diameter to the bead foam 12 is disposed on a front surface 11a of the base-side net 11 and is bonded to the bead foam 12. The two elastomer films 13, 14 thus sandwich the base-side net 11, the bead foam 12, and the sensor 30, and their circumferential rims are covered with a band-shaped object 15 made of a synthetic resin such as polypropylene.
As the sensor 30, a microphone is used, and preferably an electrostatic microphone is used. In this embodiment, the single sensor 30 is used. In the case where the single sensor 30 is disposed in the biological signal detection device 1, it is preferably provided at the center portion of the substantially circular base-side net 11 so that it can collect biological signals in whichever direction a person moves. The sensor 30 is disposed between the base-side net 11 and the elastomer film 13 with a holder 31 between the sensor 30 and the elastomer film 13. In the ring-shaped bead foam 12 and the elastomer film 13, incisions 12a, 13a are formed near their outer peripheries, and a cord 30a of the sensor 30 is drawn out through the incisions 12a, 13a.
The body abutting-side cushioning member 20 is substantially circular in plan view and includes a substantially circular body abutting-side net 21 having a three-dimensional knitted fabric. The body abutting-side net 21 may be formed of only one three-dimensional knitted fabric but may also be formed of a stack of a plurality of three-dimensional knitted fabrics or a stack of the three-dimensional knitted fabric and a two-dimensional fabric, synthetic leather, or the like. The circumferential rim of the body abutting-side net 21 is covered with a band-shaped object 22 made of a synthetic resin such as polypropylene. As illustrated in the sectional view in
The body abutting-side cushioning member 20 is stacked on the base cushioning member 10 with slip inhibitors 16 therebetween. The slip inhibitors 16 are formed of grid-shaped sheets made of vinyl chloride resin foam and are attached by lamination to the elastomer film 14 stacked on the front surface 11a of the base-side net 11. The body abutting-side net 21 may be formed of the three-dimensional knitted fabric and besides may be one in which a synthetic leather or the like is stacked thereon as described above, but since this embodiment is configured to reduce the displacement of the body abutting-side cushioning member 20 using the slip inhibitors 16, the body abutting-side net 21 is preferably formed of a stack of the three-dimensional knitted fabric and a synthetic leather, another plastic film, or the like stacked on a rear surface of the three-dimensional knitted fabric.
Instead of fixing the body abutting-side cushioning member 20 to the base cushioning member 10 by sewing, bonding, or the like to prevent their relative movement, the slip inhibitors 16 are simply interposed therebetween as described above to make the displacement of the body abutting-side cushioning member 20 difficult while allowing its slight movement. In the case where they are substantially integrated by sewing or the like, if the body abutting-side cushioning member 20 is moved to be deformed by body movement, the base cushioning member 10 also moves together. This causes the sensor 30 to greatly move together or to greatly change in its placement posture, which may affect detection sensitivity. On the other hand, in the case where the slip inhibitors 16 are used, the body abutting-side cushioning member 20 whose slight movement is allowed easily follows the body movement, but the base cushioning member 10 does not move greatly even though trying to move with the movement of the body abutting-side cushioning member 20, and more tends to keep its posture than in the case where they are firmly fixed by sewing or the like. On the other hand, without the slip inhibitors 16, the body movement or the like may cause the body abutting-side cushioning member 20 to easily separate from the base cushioning member 10. Therefore, it is preferable to stack the body abutting-side cushioning member 20 on the base cushioning member 10 while interposing therebetween the slip inhibitors 16 that allow a slight movement of the body abutting-side cushioning member 20 but make the body abutting-side cushioning member 20 difficult to deviate from the base cushioning member 10.
The body abutting-side cushioning member 20 preferably has a diameter equal to or more than the diameter of the base cushioning member 10. The body abutting-side net 21 having the three-dimensional knitted fabric and forming the body abutting-side cushioning member 20 has a function of alleviating a feeling of contact with a person owing to the deflection of connecting yarns and so on of the three-dimensional knitted fabric. Therefore, the body abutting-side cushioning member 20 preferably has the aforesaid size so that it is capable of covering the entire base cushioning member 10 as much as possible even if the displacement occurs.
The biological signal detection device 1 of this embodiment is placed on, for example, a chair or a bed with the base cushioning member 10 on the lower side. Therefore, a person seats or lays himself/herself on the body abutting-side cushioning member 20. Consequently, biological signals of the person are transmitted to the body abutting-side cushioning member 20 through the body surface. Having a predetermined cushioning property, the body abutting-side cushioning member 20 does not easily give an uncomfortable feeling because the weight of the person is dispersed therein. Further, since its circumferential rim is compressed and is covered with the band-shaped object 22 as described above, a level difference from the seat surface of the chair or the other part of the bed is small, and the person does not easily have a feeling of something foreign even if the body abutting-side cushioning member 20 is slightly displaced by the body movement.
Since the body abutting-side cushioning member 20 has the body abutting-side net 21 having the three-dimensional knitted fabric, biological signals transmitted as sound/vibration information are propagated to the ground knitted fabrics and the connecting yarns forming the three-dimensional knitted fabric and are transmitted into the base-side net 11 having the three-dimensional knitted fabric, which is sandwiched by the elastomer films 13, 14 of the base-side net 11 and has the periphery surrounded by the bead foam 12. The sound/vibration information is collected by the sensor 30, and as is described in the section of Background Art, is used as data for analyses by a smartphone, a laptop personal computer, or other information processing device that estimates sleepiness, fatigue, blood pressure, health condition, and so on. Therefore, the measurement is easily done using the biological signal detection device 1 of this embodiment not only in professional facilities such as hospitals but also in offices and homes, and it is possible to easily practice daily health care only by installing specialized software in a smartphone or the like.
According to this embodiment, the base cushioning member 10 and the body abutting-side cushioning member 20 are both substantially circular in plan view. Unlike rectangular or other polygonal ones, they scarcely undergo the turning-up or folding of their circumferential rims caused by the application of the body weight when, for example, a person seats himself/herself. Theretofore, detection signals of the sensor 30 have less distortion than in the case where they are rectangular or the like, leading to high detection accuracy of biological signals.
The three-dimensional knitted fabrics used in the base-side net 11 and the body abutting-side net 21 are each a knitted fabric with a three-dimensional structure having a pair of ground knitted fabrics disposed apart from each other and many connecting yarns reciprocating between the pair of ground knitted fabrics to connect them as is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-331603. One of the ground knitted fabrics is formed to have, for example, a flat knitted fabric structure (fine meshes) continuous both in a wale direction and a course direction using yarns of twisted monofilaments, and the other ground knitted fabric is formed to have, for example, a mesh structure having honeycomb (hexagonal) meshes using yarns of twisted staple fibers. The knitted fabric structures may of course be any, and their combination may also be any, for example, they may adopt a knitted fabric structure other than the fine mesh structure and the honeycomb structure, or they may both adopt the fine mesh structure. The connecting yarns are knitted between the two ground knitted fabrics so that one of the ground knitted fabrics and the other ground knitted fabric are kept at a predetermined interval. By adjusting the mesh density of the ground knitted fabrics, the thickness or material of ground yarns, the arrangement density of the connecting yarns, the thickness or material of the connecting yarns, and so on, it is possible to adjust the cushioning property when a person is supported and the transmissibility of the biological signals which are the sound/vibration information.
With the above-described structure, even if a body abutting-side cushioning member 20 is moved by body movement, any one of the sensors 30A, 30B, 30C is capable of detecting a biological signal. Further, if biological signals are obtained from the plurality of sensors 30A, 30B, 30C, high-sensitivity data out of these is used or a combination of the plurality of biological signals is used, which more widens a data analysis method. It should be noted that the number of the sensors is not limited to three and may be two, or four or more. In this case as well, they are preferably arranged at equal intervals on the same circumference as in this embodiment.
Since the shaft member 40 is provided between the base cushioning member 10 and the body abutting-side cushioning member 20, in the body abutting-side cushioning member 20, a circumferential sewing line 211 is formed by sewing a portion apart slightly outward from the center (portion corresponding to the vicinity of the outer edge of the aforesaid circular plate member 41) in the circumferential direction, to compress a body abutting-side net 21. Owing to the circumferential sewing line 211, the tension of the three-dimensional knitted fabric in a range surrounded by the circumferential sewing line 211 is higher than in a state without the circumferential sewing line 211 formed. This prevents the shaft member 40 from giving a feeling of something foreign.
Since the shaft member 40 is disposed at the center portion, a sensor 30D is disposed using a holder 31D at a position corresponding to a slightly more outer side than the circumferential sewing line 211 in plan view. In the case where only the single sensor is provided as in the above-described first embodiment, it is preferably provided at the center portion of the base cushioning member 10, but in the case where such a shaft member 40 is disposed, the sensor is provided in a range clear of the shaft member 40. In this case as well, by providing a plurality of sensors, preferably providing a plurality of sensors at equal intervals on the same circumference as in the above-described second embodiment, it is possible to increase detection accuracy. Further, in this embodiment, the sensor D is disposed between a base-side net 11 and an elastomer film 14 stacked on a front surface 11a of the base-side net 11. The other structure is substantially the same as that of the above-described first and second embodiments, and the same members will be denoted by the same reference signs.
According to this embodiment, the body abutting-side cushioning member 20 is not readily displaced relative to the base cushioning member 10 in a direction in which it slides in a plane direction. Accordingly, the position of the body abutting-side cushioning member 20 does not greatly deviate from the position of the base cushioning member 10. On the other hand, since the shaft member 40 is provided, the body abutting-side cushioning member 20 moves in the rotation direction around the shaft portion 42 when body movement occurs. Therefore, the followability to the body movement is not impaired and an uncomfortable feeling given to a user is reduced.
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Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2019-192371 | Oct 2019 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2020/039740 | 10/22/2020 | WO |