The present invention relates to an electronic thermometer with a temperature sensor.
Generally, the electronic thermometer is provided with an internally hollow casing with an opening portion at the tip, and a cap consisting of a material with a high thermal conductivity, wherein the cap closes the opening portion of the casing. Then, a temperature sensor connected by lead wire drawn out from the inside to the outside of the casing is applied against the inner wall surface of the cap. Using the electronic thermometer with the configuration, body temperature can be measured by pressing a part of the cap against the armpit for a certain time.
In such an electronic thermometer, the temperature sensor is required to be applied against an appropriate position on the inner wall surface of the cap in order to improve the measurement accuracy. An typical example of a method for installing the temperature sensor will be explained, referring to
In the example shown in
In an example shown in
In an example shown in
As described, there are caused various kinds of problems in any of the methods, and there has been still remained problems to be solved for a method for installing a temperature sensor. Especially, a flat-shaped cap has been known for easier inserting into the armpit in recent years. But, in order to improve the measurement accuracy in the case, it is required to fix the temperature sensor at a predetermined position (for example, in the vicinity of the center) so as not to cause variations in installation positions of the temperature sensor between commodities. Moreover, as the tip of the cap comparatively easily receive an impact, there is a fear, for example, that a temperature sensor is removed from the inner wall surface of the cap by the impact when the temperature sensor is fixed in the vicinity of the tip of the cap. Thereby, it is desirable to fix a temperature sensor at a position away from the tip of the cap. However, in the various kinds of methods, it has been difficult to fix a temperature sensor at a predetermined position with a high accuracy, and especially, it has been very difficult to fix a temperature sensor at a position away from the tip of the cap with a high accuracy.
Some of related technologies have been disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-111414
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-184324
Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-140772
The object of the present invention is to provide an electronic thermometer which is easily installed at an appropriate position, and is excellent in the measurement accuracy.
The present invention has adopted the following units in order to solve the problem.
That is, an electronic thermometer according to the present invention is included:
an internally hollow casing with an opening portion at the tip;
a temperature sensor connected by lead wire drawn out from the inside of the casing to an outside of a casing portion through the opening portion; and
a cap closing the opening portion, wherein
According to the present invention, the position of a temperature sensor to the cap can be determined only by fitting the cap into the casing because the positioning unit positioning the temperature sensor is provided at the tip of the casing. Accordingly, the temperature sensor can be easily installed at an appropriate position. Thereby, the assembly efficiency can be improved.
The positioning unit may be a lead wire holding portion holding the lead wire in a state in which the temperature sensor is pressed against the inner wall surface of the cap.
Thereby, the temperature sensor is installed at an appropriate position, and, at the same time, the measurement accuracy is improved because the lead wire is held by the lead wire holding portion, and the temperature sensor is pressed against the inner wall surface of the cap. Moreover, as a large amount of adhesives is not required according to such a holding method, the heat capacity becomes smaller to improve the response.
The temperature sensor may have a configuration in which the sensor is provided at a position at which the sensor does not contact the lead wire holding portion, and, at the same time, the temperature sensor is pressed against the inner wall surface of the cap by at least any one of the elasticity of the lead wire holding portion and that of the lead wire.
According to the configuration, heat hardly escapes from the temperature sensor to the lead wire holding portion, and temperature measurement can be performed with high accuracy and in a short time.
Moreover, the temperature sensor may be bonded to the inner wall surface of the cap by adhesive.
The contact state of the temperature sensor can be further stabilized by the configuration.
Preferably, the temperature sensor is supported by the lead wire holding portion and the inner wall surface of the cap.
According to the configuration, the contact of the temperature sensor can be stabilized without using adhesive and the like.
The lead wire holding portion may be configured to include an extending portion in which a part of the opening end edge of the opening portion is extended, and a space through which the lead wire passes is provided in the extending portion.
Here, there is provided a configuration in which the extending portion has: a protruding portion protruding in the longitudinal direction of the casing;
and a bending portion bending from the tip of the protruding portion, and the lead wire passes through a space between the opening end edge of the opening portion and the bending portion.
A groove preventing position deviation of the lead wire may be formed in the bending portion.
As position deviation of a lead wire is prevented according to the configuration, the accuracy of the installation position of the temperature sensor can be improved.
The bottom of the groove may be formed by an inclined surface which is inclined in the direction approaching the inner wall surface of the cap as approaching the tip of the protruding portion.
Thereby, an excessive load is prevented from being applied to the lead wire.
Preferably, the extending portion has:
a protruding portion protruding in the longitudinal direction of the casing; and
a through hole which is formed around the vicinity of the tip of the protruding portion, and has a size passing the lead wire, and not passing the temperature sensor, wherein
the lead wire passes through the through hole.
Preferably, the extending portion has:
a protruding portion protruding in the longitudinal direction of the casing; and
a V groove portion formed at the tip of the protruding portion, wherein the lead wire is inserted into the V groove portion.
Preferably, the positioning unit also is the temperature sensor holding portion holding the temperature sensor itself at the tip of the casing.
The temperature sensor may be supported by the temperature sensor holding portion and the inner wall surface of the cap.
The temperature sensor may be fixed to the temperature sensor holding portion by bonding.
Here, possible combinations of the configurations can be adopted.
According to the present invention, a temperature sensor can be easily installed at an appropriate position, and, also, the measurement accuracy is improved as explained above.
Hereafter, referring to drawings, best modes of carrying out the invention will be illustratively explained in detail, based on examples. However, the sizes, the materials, the shapes, the relative arrangement and the like of components, which is described in the Examples, do not limit the range of the present invention unless there is no specific description.
An electronic thermometer according to an Example 1 of the present invention will be explained, referring to
Especially, the configuration of the whole electronic thermometer and the like according to an Example 1 of the present invention will be explained, referring to
A display portion 11 on which a measured temperature and the like are displayed is provided on the casing 10. Moreover, there is provided in the casing 10 an electronic substrate and the like on which an electric circuit is formed, wherein a signal detected by a later-described temperature sensor (thermistor) is processed, and a temperature is displayed on the display portion 11 by the electric circuit. Here, the electronic substrate and the like are based on a known technology, and the explanation will be eliminated. The cap 30 consist of a material with a high thermal conductivity, such as SUS, and the temperature sensor is fixed on the inner wall surface, as will be described later.
Using the electronic thermometer with the configuration, a body temperature can be measured by pressing a part of the cap 30 against the armpit for a certain time.
The electronic thermometer according to the present example has a lead wire holding portion at the tip of casing 10, wherein the portion holds lead wire drawing out a temperature sensor to the outside of the casing 10. The-described lead wire holding portion will be explained, referring to, especially,
The-described opening portion is provided at the tip of the casing 10 as described above, and an annular groove 12 is formed in the vicinity of the opening portion for fixing the cap 30. Then, at the tip of the casing 10, there is provided an extending portion 13 obtained by extending a part of the opening end edge. The extending portion 13 functions as a lead wire holding portion holding lead wire.
In the present example, the extending portion 13 includes: a protruding portion 13a protruding in the longitudinal direction of the casing 10; and a bending portion 13b bending from the tip of the protruding portion 13a. Then, a groove 13c is formed in the bending portion 13b in order to prevent the position deviation of a lead wire. The bottom surface of the groove 13c is configured to include an inclined surface inclined in the direction approaching the inner wall surface of the cap 30 as it approaches the tip of the protruding portion 13a.
A way by which lead wire is held by the lead wire holding portion will be explained, referring to, especially,
As shown in
Then, the lead wire 22 is held in the extending portion 13 by putting the lead wire 22 into the space between bending portion 13b in the extending portion 13 and the opening end edge along the opening edge of the tip of the casing 10. At this time, the lead wire 22 is into a state in which the wire 22 is fit into the groove 13c formed in the bending portion 13b, and a state in which the wire 22 is bent toward the outside of the outside wall surface of the casing 10. However, there is not caused a state in which the lead wire 22 is forcibly bent because the bottom surface of the groove 13c includes the inclined surface as described above. That is, the lead wire 22 can be prevented from being cut because there can be controlled shearing force which acts on the lead wire 22 in the vertical direction. Desirably, the temperature sensor 21 is more reliably prevented from getting out from the space between the bending portion 13b and the opening end edge by a configuration in which the dimension of the space is set in such a way that the temperature sensor 21 cannot pass through the space.
Especially, a method for fixing a temperature sensor will be explained, referring to
According to the present example, in a state in which the temperature sensor 21 is pressed against the inner wall surface of the cap 30 at the desired position, positioning of the sensor 21 can be performed only by fitting the cap 30 into the casing 10 after the lead wire 22 is held in the extending portion 13 as described above. Here, the temperature sensor 21 is in a state in which the sensor 21 protrudes from the outside wall surface of the casing 10 toward the outside as described above. Thereby, the temperature sensor 21 can be prevented from being damaged by a configuration in which, in order to prevent the end portion of the cap 30 from hitting the temperature sensor 21, the cap 30 is fit into the casing 10 in such a way that the cap 30 is aligned with the center of the casing 10 from a state in which the center of the cap 30 is shifted to the side of the temperature sensor 21 (see arrows in
There is provided a convex portion 31 on the inner wall surface of the cap 30, and when the cap 30 is fitted into the tip of the casing 10, the convex portion 31 engages with the groove 12 provided in the vicinity of the tip of the casing 10 to fix the cap 30 at the tip of the casing 10. In a process at which the cap 30 is fitted into the tip of the casing 10, the temperature sensor 21 is positioned at a predetermined desired position after the temperature sensor 21 is slightly sled on the inner wall surface of the cap 30. Here, when external force is not applied on the temperature sensor 21 in a state in which the lead wire 22 is held in the extending portion 13, the temperature sensor 21, as described above, is put into a state in which the temperature sensor 21 protrudes from the outside wall surface of the casing 10 toward the outside. Thereby, the temperature sensor 21 is put into a state, in which the sensor 21 is pressed against the inner wall surface of the cap 30, by the elastic force of at least one of the lead wire 22 and the extending portion 13 (especially, the bending portion 13b) under a state in which the cap 30 is fitted into the tip of the casing 10. At this time, the temperature sensor 21 is at a position away from the extending portion 13, and there is inhibited heat transmission from the temperature sensor 21 to the extending portion 13.
Here, when the temperature sensor 21 cannot be fully fixed on the inner wall surface of the cap 30 only by the elastic force, it is desirable to surely fix the temperature sensor 21 by use of an adhesive. Even in the case, the temperature sensor 21 can be bonded at a desired position only by a configuration in which an adhesive is applied at, at least, one of the tip of the temperature sensor 21, or a desired position on the inner wall surface of the cap 30, and the cap 30 is fitted into the tip of the casing 10. Here, more secured fixing can be performed not only by bonding with an adhesive, but also by soldering or welding.
Based on an electronic thermometer according to the present example, the temperature sensor 21 can be simply installed at a desired appropriate position because the lead wire 22 is held by the extending portion 13 functioning as the lead wire holding portion and the temperature sensor 21 is pressed against the inner wall surface of the cap 30. Even when the cap 30 has a flat shape (see
Moreover, the present example is excellent in operation for installation of the temperature sensor 21 because the temperature sensor 21 can be positioned only by fixing the cap 30 to the tip of the casing 10 after holding the lead wire 22 in the extending portion 13. According to the present example, different from the case of various kinds of the conventional examples, it is not required to pay attention so as not to give some adverse effect on a connection portion of lead wire, and there is no malfunction based on a large amount of adhesive to be required. Moreover, when there is not used the installation method described in the present example, it is required to adopt a configuration in which lead wire is made longer, and a cap is fitted into a casing after installing the sensor in the cap, that is, the operation for the installation is inferior to that of the present example.
Moreover, as the present example has a configuration in which the temperature sensor 21 does not contact the extending portion 13, heat hardly escapes from the temperature sensor 21 to the extending portion 13, and temperature measurement can be performed with high accuracy and in a short time.
Moreover, when the temperature sensor 21 is bonded, using an adhesive, there can be obtained further stabilized contacted state of the temperature sensor 21 with the inner wall surface of the cap 30. Thereby, the measurement error can be further inhibited.
Accordingly, the position deviation of the lead wire 22 is more certainly prevented in the present example because the lead wire 22 is held in a state in which the wire 22 is fit into the groove 13c formed in the bending portion 13b of the extending portion 13. Then, there is inhibited to be caused a state in which the lead wire 22 is forcibly bent because the bottom of the groove 13c is configured to have an inclined surface. Accordingly, the lead wire 22 can be prevented from being damaged, for example, being cut.
In the case of the Example 1, a temperature sensor 21 is provided at a position at which the temperature sensor 21 does not come in contact with an extending portion 13 of a lead wire holding portion as shown in
On the other hand, the temperature sensor 21 is configured to be supported by the extending portion 16 as the lead wire holding portion and the inner wall surface of the cap 30 as shown in
However, heat is deprived from the temperature sensor 21 to the extending portion 16 through the contact portion X2 in the present example because the sensor 21 is in contact with the extending portion 16. Then, it is desirable to inhibit heat conduction by reducing a contact area as much as possible, wherein the contact area is reduced by using line contact or point contact at the contact portion X2, for example, by rounding the temperature sensor 21.
In the above-explained Examples 1 to 4, there have been explained a configuration in which a temperature sensor is positioned by a configuration in which a lead wire holding portion holding lead wire is provided at the tip of a casing, and the lead wire is held by the lead wire holding portion. However, the temperature sensor can be also positioned not only by the configuration, but also by adopting a configuration in which the temperature sensor itself is held at the tip of the casing without, or with holding the lead wire at the tip of the casing at the same time. Thereby, the temperature sensor can be positioned in a similar manner as those of the examples in a state in which the temperature sensor is pressed against the inner wall surface of the cap. Specifically, the temperature sensor is fixed by providing a structure in which the temperature sensor is fixed at the tip of the casing with an adhesive and the like, or the temperature sensor is fit into the tip of the casing. Here, in addition to the configurations described in the Examples 2 to 4, there can be provided another configuration in which the temperature sensor can be fixed with an adhesive and the like in an extending portion in the examples.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2005-309613 | Oct 2005 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/JP2006/320178 | 10/10/2006 | WO | 00 | 9/25/2009 |