JP7364164B2 - Urine detection device, urination detection system, and urination detection method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a urine detection device , a urine detection system, and a urine detection method that can detect the amount of urine in a diaper.

In recent years, as the number of elderly people requiring care has increased, the number of people wearing diapers has also increased. In nursing care facilities, changing diapers is a burden for both the caregiver and the person being cared for, so it is necessary to detect the amount of urine urinated to determine the appropriate time to change diapers, and to reduce the frequency of changing diapers as much as possible. ing.

Furthermore, in recent years, there has been an increase in the number of occasions when pet animals such as dogs and cats are made to wear diapers. This is due to the fact that the proportion of animals kept indoors is increasing, and as people live longer, their motor function declines as they get older and they are unable to reach the toilet, and people with dementia forget where the toilet is. This is because the number of cases of incontinence in these places is increasing. Changing diapers is a hassle for owners, and the more the number of diaper changes, the greater the financial burden.Therefore, it is necessary to detect the amount of urine urinated, understand the appropriate time to change diapers, and reduce the frequency of changing diapers as much as possible. It is being Furthermore, since the amount of urine urinated by a pet animal is an important indicator for understanding the state of health, there is a need to detect the amount of urine urinated from that point of view as well.

As described above, there is a need to appropriately detect the amount of urine urinated in diapers in both cases of humans and animals, and for example, the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1 has been proposed. . The invention of Patent Document 1 measures impedance changes during urination using a sensor element attached to an absorbent article (diaper). However, it is known that the measured values of such electrical characteristics change depending on the posture of the diaper wearer. Therefore, in the invention of Patent Document 1, a three-axis acceleration sensor is provided in the diaper, which determines the posture of the wearer of the diaper, and uses a urine volume calculation formula corresponding to the determined posture to calculate changes in impedance. The amount of urine absorbed is calculated based on the measured values, thereby reducing measurement errors due to changes in the wearer's posture.

JP2017-207317A

However, since the invention of Patent Document 1 measures multiple physical quantities such as impedance and triaxial acceleration, the configuration of the sensor for measurement and the data processing of the measured values are complicated, resulting in high costs. The problem was that it could be stored away.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a urination detection device that has a simple configuration, yet can detect the amount of urine urinated in a diaper, and can eliminate the influence of disturbances such as changes in the posture of the wearer of the diaper. , an object of the present invention is to provide a urination detection system and a urination detection method .

The urination detection device of the present invention is arranged on the outside of the urine absorption part of a diaper, and is a sheet in which an inner electrode, an inner intermediate insulator, a ground electrode, an outer intermediate insulator, and an outer electrode are laminated in order from the diaper side. The ground electrode is connected to the ground, and the inner electrode and the outer electrode are arranged on the inner peripheral side of the outer edge of the ground electrode. The measuring unit measures the capacitance of the inner electrode and the capacitance of the outer electrode , and a plurality of the inner electrodes are provided, and each inner electrode has a The inner electrodes are spaced apart from each other, and the measuring section measures mutual capacitance between the inner electrodes . Note that connecting to the ground means connecting to a point that serves as a reference potential, such as the casing of the measurement unit, the board, or the negative electrode of a battery.

Further, the urination detection system of the present invention includes the above-mentioned urination detection device and a terminal that communicates with the urination detection device, and the terminal includes a capacitance of the inner electrode measured by the measuring section and a terminal that communicates with the outer electrode. If the capacitance of the inner electrode decreases and the capacitance of the outer electrode does not change, it is determined that this is due to urination, and the capacitance of the outer electrode decreases. If the capacitance increases, it is determined that it is due to disturbance, and the amount of urine urinated is detected based on the amount of decrease in the capacitance of the inner electrode determined to be due to urination.

Further, in the urination detection method of the present invention, the capacitance of the inner electrode is determined based on the capacitance of the inner electrode and the capacitance of the outer electrode measured by the measurement unit of the urination detection device. If the capacitance of the outer electrode does not change when the capacitance decreases, it is determined that it is due to urination, and if the capacitance of the outer electrode increases, it is determined that it is due to disturbance, and the cause is determined to be due to urination. The method is characterized in that the amount of urine urinated is detected based on the amount of decrease in the capacitance of the inner electrode determined as follows.

According to the urination detection device of the present invention, the capacitance is measured at each of the inner electrode and the outer electrode, and by comparing these measured values, it is possible to determine the change in capacitance due to urination and the change due to disturbance. By determining changes in capacitance and eliminating the effects of external disturbances, it is possible to detect the amount of urine urinated in a diaper. The reason is as follows. The capacitances of the inner and outer electrodes are determined by urination on the inside (diaper side) of this urination detection device and external disturbances such as changes in the diaper wearer's posture on the outside, such as the floor surface or the body of another person. It is affected by the approach of something that can be considered to be grounded (hereinafter referred to as a grounded object). Based on the difference in the influence of urination and disturbance on the inner electrode and the outer electrode, the influence of disturbance can be eliminated, and the amount of urine urination can be detected from the amount of change in capacitance.

Furthermore, since the mutual capacitance is measured at the inner electrode, the amount of urine urinated in the diaper can be detected with particularly high accuracy. The reason is as follows. First, when urination occurs in the diaper, a portion of the electric lines of force between the electrodes at the inner electrode connects with the wearer's body via the urine absorption part of the diaper in which the urine was urinated, so the capacitance ( mutual capacitance) decreases. By deriving a linear correlation between the amount of water injected and the amount of decrease in capacitance through preliminary experiments, the actual amount of urine urinated can be detected with high accuracy from the measurement data according to the present invention.

Further, according to the urination detection system or the urination detection method of the present invention, the amount of urine can be accurately detected based on the capacitance of the inner electrode and the outer electrode measured by the urination detection device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the urination detection device of the present invention, in which (a) shows a top view, (b) a side view, and (c) a bottom view. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a sensor section of the urination detection device. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a diaper cover equipped with a urination detection device. It is an explanatory view showing a state where a dog is made to wear a diaper cover. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of electrodes for preliminary experiments. It is a graph showing the amount of change in capacitance due to diapers for each electrode width. It is a graph showing the amount of change in capacitance due to the diaper for each electrode interval. It is an explanatory view of the influence of urination on the capacitance of the inner electrode, (a) shows before urination, and (b) shows after urination. It is an explanatory view of the influence of urination on the capacitance of the outer electrode, (a) shows before urination, and (b) shows after urination. It is an explanatory view of the influence on the capacitance of an inner electrode by approach of a ground object, (a) shows before approach, (b) shows after approach. It is an explanatory view of the influence on the capacitance of an outside electrode by approach of a ground object, (a) shows before approach, (b) shows after approach. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an experiment to confirm the effectiveness of the urination detection device. This is a graph showing the results of a measurement experiment (when the floor surface is close to each other). This is a graph showing the results of a measurement experiment (when a human hand approaches). FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a urination detection method when urination and disturbance occur simultaneously.

Hereinafter, specific details of the urination detection device of the present invention will be explained. Although the present invention can be applied to both humans and animals such as dogs and cats, the case in which the invention is applied to male dogs will be exemplified here. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, this urination detection device 100 is integrated with a diaper cover 200 that covers a diaper N worn by a dog D. In addition, in the following, the front-back direction refers to the front-back direction of the dog's body when the diaper cover 200 is worn by the dog, and the right side in FIGS. 3 and 4 is the front side, and the left side is the rear side. Furthermore, the left-right direction refers to the left-right direction of the dog's body when the diaper cover 200 is worn by the dog. Further, the vertical direction is a direction perpendicular to the front-rear direction and the left-right direction, and when the diaper cover 200 is worn by a dog, the diaper N side (dog D side) is the upper side, and the opposite side is the lower side. .

The diaper cover 200 is made of cloth, and, as shown in FIG. 3, includes a cover portion 201 that extends in the front-rear direction and has a substantially arc-shaped front end and rear end that swell toward the outer circumferential side when viewed from above. It consists of four belt parts 202 extending in the left-right direction from the front and rear parts of the cover part 201, respectively. The left and right belt parts 202 are provided with corresponding hook-and-loop fasteners (not shown), and as shown in FIG. At this point, the left and right belt portions 202 are passed around the body and fixed to each other with hook-and-loop fasteners.

Next, the urination detection device 100 attached to the diaper cover 200 will be explained. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, this urination detection device 100 includes a sensor section 10 and a measurement section 20. The sensor section 10 is in the form of a sheet, and as shown in FIG. 3, the sensor section 10 is sewn and attached to the approximate center of the inner surface (the surface on the diaper N side) of the cover section 201 of the diaper cover 200. This sensor section 10 is arranged outside the urine absorption section of the diaper N when the diaper N is covered with the diaper cover 200. The measuring section 20 is a circuit board housed in a plastic case, and is detachably attached to the front end of the inner surface of the cover section 201 of the diaper cover 200 using a hook-and-loop fastener. Note that, as a method of attaching the measuring unit 20 to the diaper cover 200, in addition to using a hook-and-loop fastener, a pocket may be provided in the diaper cover 200 and the measurement unit 20 may be stored in the pocket. The sensor section 10 and the measurement section 20 are electrically connected by wiring 30.

Next, the sensor section 10 will be explained in more detail. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sensor section 10 includes, in order from the N side (upper side) of the diaper, an inner surface insulator 6, inner electrodes 1a and 1b, an inner intermediate insulator 2, a ground electrode 3, and an outer intermediate insulator. 4, an outer electrode 5 and an outer surface insulator 7 are laminated. The inner surface insulator 6, the inner intermediate insulator 2, the outer intermediate insulator 4, and the outer surface insulator 7 are made of a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) film. The ground electrode 3 is made of copper mesh. The inner electrodes 1a, 1b and the outer electrode 5 are made of copper tape. Each layer is then glued together to form a single sheet. Note that each insulator is transparent, and is shown transparent in FIGS. 1 and 2 as well. Furthermore, although each layer is actually extremely thin, it is shown thicker than the actual layer in FIG. 1(b). Further, in FIGS. 1A and 1C, the wiring 30 shown in one is omitted in the other.

In more detail, the inner surface insulator 6, the inner intermediate insulator 2, the outer intermediate insulator 4, and the outer surface insulator 7 are all rectangular of the same size, and are arranged between the above-mentioned electrodes and between the electrodes. This is to maintain insulation from other external objects.

More specifically, the ground electrode 3 has a rectangular shape that is one size smaller than each of the above-mentioned insulators, and is arranged so as to fit on the inner circumferential side of each insulator when viewed from above. The ground electrode 3 is connected to a ground terminal 23 of a measuring section 20, which will be described later, through a wiring 30.

More specifically, two inner electrodes 1a and 1b are provided, and the inner electrodes 1a and 1b are spaced apart from each other. Moreover, each inner electrode 1a, 1b has a base part 11a, 11b extending in the front-back direction, and the base parts 11a, 11b are located on the left and right and are parallel to each other. Further, each inner electrode 1a, 1b has a plurality of (three in this embodiment) comb teeth portions 12a, 12b extending from each base portion 11a, 11b toward the opposing base portions 11b, 11a. Between the base portions 11a and 11b, the comb teeth portions 12a of one inner electrode 1a and the comb teeth portions 12b of the other inner electrode 1b are arranged alternately. The two inner electrodes 1a and 1b are each connected to a mutual capacitance measuring terminal 21 of a measuring section 20, which will be described later, through wiring 30.

More specifically, only one outer electrode 5 is provided, and it is a long electrode extending in the front-rear direction, that is, in the direction in which the body of the dog D extends. The outer electrode 5 is connected to a self-capacitance measuring terminal 22 of a measuring section 20, which will be described later, through a wiring 30.

Next, the measuring section 20 will be explained in more detail. The measurement unit 20 includes a microcomputer (not shown) mounted on a circuit board. This microcontroller can measure capacitance using two methods: mutual capacitance method and self-capacitance method, and has a mutual capacitance measurement terminal 21 for measuring mutual capacitance and a self-capacitance measurement terminal for measuring self-capacitance. It has a terminal 22 and a ground terminal 23 connected to a point serving as a potential reference, such as the casing of the measuring section 20, a board, or the negative electrode of a battery. As mentioned above, since the inner electrodes 1a and 1b are connected to the mutual capacitance measuring terminal 21, the measuring section 20 measures the mutual capacitance between the inner electrodes 1a and 1b, and also the outer electrode 5 is connected to the self-capacitance measuring terminal 22, and the ground electrode 3 is connected to the ground terminal 23. capacity). Furthermore, this microcomputer has a wireless communication section (not shown) for transmitting measured capacitance data to an external terminal (personal computer, smartphone, tablet, etc.).

Regarding the size of the sensor unit 10 of this embodiment, the rectangular ground electrode 3 has a size of 150 mm in the front-to-back width and 135 mm in the left-to-right width in accordance with the size of the dog diaper N and the diaper cover 200. . Further, each insulator is made to be one size larger than this ground electrode 3. Furthermore, the lengths of the bases 11a, 11b of the inner electrodes 1a, 1b and the outer electrode 5, which extend back and forth, are set to 140 mm, which is slightly shorter than the front and back width of the ground electrode 3. Furthermore, the width of the base portions 11a, 11b of the inner electrodes 1a, 1b is 10 mm, the width of the comb tooth portions 12a, 12b is 15 mm, and the distance between one inner electrode 1a and the other inner electrode 1b is set at all locations. It is set as 10mm. Furthermore, the width of the outer electrode 5 is set to 10 mm. Note that the widths of the inner electrodes 1a, 1b and the outer electrode 5 and the distance between one inner electrode 1a and the other inner electrode 1b were determined based on the following preliminary experiments.

For the preliminary experiment, as shown in FIG. 5, an experimental electrode 300 in which two electrodes 301 are arranged in parallel on an insulator 302 is used. The length of the electrode 301 is 140 mm, the width of the electrode 301 is w, and the distance between both electrodes 301 is d. Experimental electrodes 300 were prepared with electrode spacing d constant at 5 mm and electrode widths w of 5, 10, and 15 mm, and electrode width w constant at 10 mm and electrode spacing d of 5, 10, and 15 mm. An experimental electrode 300 was prepared.

When such an experimental electrode 300 is placed on a desk and a dry diaper containing no water (hereinafter referred to as a dry diaper) is placed on top of it, and when a diaper that has absorbed water ( When wet diapers (hereinafter referred to as wet diapers) were stacked, the amount of change in capacitance between the electrodes 301 before and after the stacking was measured (measured five times each). For the measurement, the same measuring section 20 of the urination detection device 100 of the present invention was used.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing the amount of change in capacitance before and after placing a dry diaper and a wet diaper when the electrode widths are different. However, the numerical value shown as the amount of change is raw data output from the measurement unit 20, and does not represent the actual capacitance (this is the same in all graphs below). According to this, when a dry diaper was placed, the capacitance hardly changed before and after being placed, regardless of the electrode width. On the other hand, when a wet diaper was placed, the capacitance decreased regardless of the electrode width. This is because some of the lines of electric force between the electrodes 301 are coupled to the desk (grounding body) via the diaper that has absorbed water. The larger the electrode width, the greater the amount of change in capacitance before and after placement. The larger the amount of change in capacitance, the more accurately the amount of urine can be detected. Therefore, in this example, the electrode width was set to 10 mm or 15 mm. Note that if the electrode width is made larger than that, the sensor section 10 itself becomes larger, which is not preferable.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing the amount of change in capacitance before and after placing a dry diaper and a wet diaper when the electrode spacing is different. According to this, when a dry diaper was placed, the capacitance hardly changed before and after being placed, regardless of the electrode spacing. On the other hand, when a wet diaper was placed, the capacitance decreased at any electrode spacing, and when the electrode spacing was 10 mm, the amount of change in capacitance before and after placement was the largest. Therefore, in this example, the electrode spacing was set to 10 mm.

Next, we will discuss how the urination detection device 100 consisting of the sensor section 10 and measurement section 20 configured as described above detects the amount of urine urinated in the diaper while eliminating the influence of disturbance (approach of a grounded object). ,explain. To this end, we will show how the capacitances of the inner electrodes 1a, 1b and the outer electrode 5 change in the case of urination and the case of disturbance, respectively. As shown in FIG. 4, when a dog D wears a diaper cover 200 including a urination detection device 100, the sensor section 10 is placed outside the urine absorbing section of the diaper N.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of changes in capacitance of the inner electrodes 1a and 1b due to urination. Before urinating as shown in (a), the sensor section 10 and the body of the dog D are separated, and the lines of electric force F between the two inner electrodes 1a and 1b are coupled between the electrodes. After urination as shown in (b), the urine absorption part Na of the diaper N is filled with urine (moisture), and a part of the electric force lines F connected between the electrodes are transferred to the urine absorption part Na of the diaper N. It is connected to the body of dog D (which can be considered to be grounded) via Na. Then, since the lines of electric force F between the electrodes decrease, the capacitance (mutual capacitance) decreases. Note that the dielectric between the two electrodes is replaced with urine (water) from air, and the dielectric constant increases, but the amount of increase in capacitance due to this is due to the decrease in the lines of electric force F This is sufficiently small compared to the amount of decrease in capacity.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of changes in capacitance of the outer electrode 5 due to urination. At the outer electrode 5, the parasitic capacitance (the capacitance of the virtual capacitor C _i ) between the outer electrode 5 and the ground electrode 3 is measured. This hardly changes between before urination as shown in (a) and after urination as shown in (b).

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of changes in capacitance of inner electrodes 1a and 1b due to disturbance (approach of grounding body E). Before the grounding body E approaches as shown in (a), the lines of electric force F between the two inner electrodes 1a and 1b are coupled between the electrodes. Then, after the grounding body E approaches as shown in FIG. Then, since the lines of electric force F between the electrodes decrease, the capacitance (mutual capacitance) decreases.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of changes in the capacitance of the outer electrode 5 due to disturbance (approach of the grounding body E). Before the grounding body E approaches as shown in (a), only the parasitic capacitance (the capacitance of the virtual capacitor C _i1 ) between the outer electrode 5 and the ground electrode 3 is measured. Then, after the grounding body E approaches as shown in (b), the parasitic capacitance (capacitance of the virtual capacitor C _i2 ) between the outer electrode 5 and the grounding body E is newly connected in parallel. Therefore, capacitance (self-capacitance) increases.

According to the above, due to urination, the capacitance of the inner electrodes 1a and 1b decreases, and the capacitance of the outer electrode 5 does not change. Further, due to the disturbance, the capacitance of the inner electrodes 1a and 1b decreases, and the capacitance of the outer electrode 5 increases. In this way, the behavior of the change in capacitance of the inner electrodes 1a, 1b and the outer electrode 5 is clearly different when there is urination and when there is a disturbance, so the influence of the disturbance can be reliably eliminated. Ru. That is, if the capacitance of the outer electrode 5 does not change when the capacitance of the inner electrodes 1a, 1b decreases, it is determined that the decrease in capacitance of the inner electrodes 1a, 1b is due to urination. If the capacitance of the outer electrode 5 is increased, it can be determined that the decrease in the capacitance of the inner electrodes 1a and 1b is due to disturbance. In this way, the influence of disturbances is eliminated, and when it is determined that urination has occurred, the amount of urine urinated can be accurately detected based on the amount of decrease in the capacitance of the inner electrodes 1a and 1b.

Next, the results of an experiment to detect dog urination using the urination detection device of the present invention will be shown. The first experiment was conducted using a dog doll 400, as shown in FIG. The inside of the doll 400's torso and legs are filled with physiological saline to simulate a living body, a pipette tip (not shown) is used to form a penis, and a tube 401 is used to connect the pipette tip and funnel 402. By connecting it, I was able to pour water (simulated urine) from the funnel. Then, this doll 400 was made to wear a belly band type diaper N, and a diaper cover 200 equipped with the urination detection device 100 of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 was made to cover the diaper N. Then, 20 ml of water was poured from the funnel 402 five times at intervals. The amount of urine a healthy dog urinates per day is 20 to 45 ml/kg, and since this experiment assumes a small dog weighing approximately 3.5 kg, assuming that the number of urinations per day is 4. Since the amount of urine urinated at one time is 17.5 to 40 ml, based on this, the amount of water injected at one time was set to 20 ml. In addition, water injection was performed in a standing position (standing with front legs and hind legs), and the posture was changed every 5 minutes after water injection. Posture changes include standing, dog sitting (hind legs bent and buttocks on the floor), prone (front and hind legs bent and torso on the floor), and standing. The next water injection was performed 5 minutes after returning to the standing position. Note that each posture is illustrated in the upper part of FIG. 13. In this series of steps, the measuring section 20 measures the capacitance of the inner electrodes 1a, 1b and the outer electrode 5 of the sensor section 10, and transmits the measurement data transmitted from the wireless communication section of the measuring section 20 to the personal computer. It was received and recorded.

FIG. 13 is a graph showing the change in capacitance of the inner electrodes 1a, 1b and the outer electrode 5 over time as a result of the first experiment. At the top of the graph, the timing of water injection (triangle mark) and changes in posture are shown. According to the results, the capacitance (mutual capacitance) of the inner electrodes 1a and 1b exhibited the following behavior. In other words, it decreased due to water injection. Moreover, before water injection, there was almost no change even if the posture was changed. After water injection, there was almost no change when changing from the standing position to the dog sitting position, but it decreased when changing from the dog sitting position to the prone position, and increased when changing from the prone position to the standing position. However, the value was smaller than the value before the prone position. On the other hand, the capacitance (self-capacitance) of the outer electrode 5 exhibited the following behavior. That is, it did not change with water injection, increased only when the posture was changed to the prone position, and returned to the original value when the posture was changed from the prone position to the standing position. Therefore, when the capacitance of the inner electrodes 1a, 1b decreases, if the capacitance of the outer electrode 5 increases at the same time, it can be determined that this is due to a change in posture (approach of a grounded object) rather than urination. On the other hand, when the capacitance of the inner electrodes 1a, 1b decreases, if the capacitance of the outer electrode 5 does not change at the same time, it can be determined that the change is due to urination.

Next, the second experiment will be explained. The second experiment was also conducted using the same dog doll 400 as the first experiment, and the diaper N to be worn and the diaper cover 200 equipped with the urination detection device 100 of the present invention were also the same. In the second experiment, the doll remained in a standing position, and 20 ml of water was poured into the doll five times at 5-minute intervals. It was touched by a human hand from the outside. In this series of steps, the measuring section 20 measures the capacitance of the inner electrodes 1a, 1b and the outer electrode 5 of the sensor section 10, and transmits the measurement data transmitted from the wireless communication section of the measuring section 20 to the personal computer. It was received and recorded.

FIG. 14 is a graph showing the change in capacitance of the inner electrodes 1a, 1b and the outer electrode 5 over time as a result of the second experiment. At the top of the graph, the timing of water injection (triangle mark) and the timing of human touch are shown. According to the results, the capacitance (mutual capacitance) of the inner electrodes 1a and 1b exhibited the following behavior. In other words, it decreased due to water injection. Moreover, before water was poured, there was almost no change even when touched with the hand. After water was injected, it decreased when touched with the hand and increased when the hand was removed. However, the value was smaller than the value before touching it. On the other hand, the capacitance (self-capacitance) of the outer electrode 5 exhibited the following behavior. In other words, it did not change when water was injected, it increased only when touched with the hand, and returned to the original value when the hand was removed. Therefore, if the capacitance of the inner electrodes 1a and 1b decreases, and the capacitance of the outer electrode 5 increases at the same time, it is not due to urination but to human touch (approach of a grounded object). It can be determined that On the other hand, when the capacitance of the inner electrodes 1a, 1b decreases, if the capacitance of the outer electrode 5 does not change at the same time, it can be determined that the change is due to urination.

In this way, disturbances such as a change in posture and the approach of a floor surface or the like, or the touch of a person's hand, can be eliminated. That is, among the measurement data of changes in capacitance of the inner electrodes 1a and 1b, measurement data determined to be caused by disturbance may be excluded. Since the amount of water injected in these experiments is known, the present invention can be achieved by deriving a linear correlation between the amount of water injected and the amount of decrease in capacitance (raw data output from the measurement unit 20). The actual amount of urine urinated can be estimated from the data measured by the urination detection device. In addition, regarding the capacitance of the inner electrodes 1a and 1b, in the first experiment, when returning from the prone position to the standing position, it decreased compared to before the posture change, and in the second experiment, when the human hand When the object is released, it has decreased compared to before the touch, so the amount of decrease may be corrected.

In addition, in the first experiment, water was poured when the person was in a standing position, and in the second experiment, water was poured when the person was not touching the body, but in reality, water was poured when the person was in a prone position. They may also urinate while being touched by someone else's hands. In that case, as shown in FIG. 15, the capacitance of the inner electrodes 1a and 1b will be reduced due to disturbances such as posture changes and decreased due to urination, but the capacitance of the outer electrode 5 will simply increase. If the measurement data of the change in capacitance of the inner electrodes 1a and 1b when the inner electrodes 1a and 1b are removed is excluded, the decrease due to urination will also be excluded. Therefore, based on the change in the capacitance of the outer electrode 5, we measured the capacitance of the inner electrodes 1a and 1b before and after the disturbance (prone position or human touch). If there is a difference ΔC, it can be assumed that it is due to urination. Thereby, even if urination and disturbance occur at the same time, the amount of urine urinated can be detected while eliminating the influence of the disturbance.

According to the urination detection device 100 of the present invention configured as described above, since the mutual capacitance is measured at the inner electrodes 1a and 1b and the self-capacitance is measured at the outer electrode 5, as described above, the influence of disturbance is reliably detected. The amount of urine in the diaper N can be detected with particularly high accuracy. Further, the two inner electrodes 1a and 1b have base portions 11a and 11b and comb-teeth portions 12a and 12b, respectively, and the comb-teeth portion 12a of one inner electrode 1a and the comb-teeth portion 12b of the other inner electrode 1b are connected to each other. Since they are arranged alternately, the part where the two electrodes face each other has a shape that covers a wide area in the front, back, left and right, making it possible to detect urination in a wider range, resulting in high detection reliability. Furthermore, since the outer electrode 5 is elongated and extends in the direction in which dog D's body extends, it is possible to use the grounding body (floor surface), especially when dog D is lying on the floor (prone position). etc.), the area of the electrodes facing the body is increased, the influence of external disturbances is reliably eliminated, and the amount of urine urinated can be detected with high accuracy. Furthermore, since the ground electrode 3 is made of a copper mesh, its substantial area is small, and the parasitic capacitance (self-capacitance) between the outer electrode 5 and the ground electrode 3 is also small. As a result, when the grounding body E approaches and the parasitic capacitance between the grounding body E and the grounding body E is newly connected in parallel, the amount of increase in capacitance becomes relatively large. external disturbances) can be reliably detected.

In the above experiment, the data transmitted from the wireless communication section of the measurement section of the urination detection device was received by a personal computer, but it may also be received by other external terminals such as smartphones and tablets. good. Further, when data is received, the fact that urination has occurred may be notified by making a sound, displaying it on the screen, or changing the color of the illumination. Furthermore, the amount of urine urinated may be displayed on the screen in the form of a table or a graph. Furthermore, past data may be stored in a storage device so that it can be viewed freely. Furthermore, when the object is a human being, a terminal for receiving data may be provided on the bed where the diaper wearer sleeps.

Note that the above embodiment is for a male dog, but when a female dog is used, the shape of the diaper cover and the position of the sensor section will be different based on the difference in excretory organs. However, the measurement principles and effects are the same as above. Even when the subject is an animal other than a dog or a human, the same effect can be obtained based on the same measurement principle, although it may be modified as appropriate.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be modified as appropriate within the scope of the spirit of the invention. For example, the inner electrode is not limited to the comb-shaped one described above, but may be two linear electrodes arranged in parallel, as in the preliminary experiment electrode shown in FIG. Alternatively, only one inner electrode may be provided, and the measuring section may measure the self-capacitance of the inner electrode. Even in that case, the influence of disturbance can be eliminated based on the difference in the influence of urination and disturbance on the inner electrode and the outer electrode, and the amount of urine urinated can be detected from the amount of change in capacitance. Further, the outer electrode is not limited to extending in the front-rear direction, and the direction in which it extends may be changed based on an assumed change in posture or the manner of contact with another person so as to enable more accurate detection. For example, if the location where the grounding object approaches the sensor section is expected to change due to a change in the orientation of the diaper wearer's body, the outer electrode can be oriented so that it extends in that direction. Since the state in which the body faces the grounding body is maintained, the influence of external disturbances is reliably eliminated, and the amount of urine urinated can be detected with high accuracy. Furthermore, the sensor part is not limited to being integrated with the diaper cover, as long as it is placed outside the urine absorbing part of the diaper, and can be detachably attached to the diaper cover using a hook-and-loop fastener or the like. Alternatively, it may be sandwiched between the diaper and the diaper cover without being fixed to the diaper cover, or it may be detachably attached to the diaper instead of the diaper cover using adhesive tape or the like. Further, the materials of each component of the sensor section are not limited to those shown above. For example, the ground electrode is not limited to being made of copper mesh, but may be made of conductive cloth or carbon fiber.

1a, 1b inner electrode 11a, 11b base 12a, 12b comb tooth section 2 inner intermediate insulator 3 ground electrode 4 outer intermediate insulator 5 outer electrode 10 sensor section 20 measuring section

Claims (3)

A sheet-like sensor section, which is arranged outside the urine absorption section of the diaper, and has an inner electrode, an inner intermediate insulator, a ground electrode, an outer intermediate insulator, and an outer electrode laminated in order from the diaper side; comprising a measuring section connected to the
The ground electrode is connected to the ground,
The inner electrode and the outer electrode are arranged on the inner peripheral side of the outer edge of the ground electrode,
The measurement unit measures the capacitance of the inner electrode and the capacitance of the outer electrode ,
A urination detection device characterized in that a plurality of the inner electrodes are provided, the inner electrodes are spaced apart from each other, and the measuring section measures mutual capacitance between the inner electrodes. comprising the urination detection device according to claim 1 and a terminal that communicates with the urination detection device,
The terminal is
Obtaining measurement data of the capacitance of the inner electrode and the capacitance of the outer electrode measured by the measurement unit,
When the capacitance of the inner electrode decreases, if the capacitance of the outer electrode does not change, it is determined that it is due to urination, and if the capacitance of the outer electrode increases, it is determined that it is due to disturbance. It is judged that
A urination detection system, characterized in that the amount of urination is detected based on the amount of decrease in capacitance of the inner electrode determined to be due to urination. Based on the capacitance of the inner electrode and the capacitance of the outer electrode measured by the measurement unit of the urination detection device according to claim 1 ,
When the capacitance of the inner electrode decreases, if the capacitance of the outer electrode does not change, it is determined that it is due to urination, and if the capacitance of the outer electrode increases, it is determined that it is due to disturbance. It is judged that
A method for detecting urination, characterized in that the amount of urine urinated is detected based on the amount of decrease in capacitance of the inner electrode determined to be due to urination.

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