JPH03222941A - Sleeping judging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily judge sleeping in low cost without mounting a detection means on a human body by providing a body movement detection means detecting the body movement of a sleeping person in a non-contact state and an operation means performing operation on the basis of the signal from the timer operated by the signal from the body movement detection means. CONSTITUTION:A timer 5 is operated when body movement is detected by a body movement detection means 4 and newly starts clocking operation at each time when body movement is generated. When an operation means 6 judges that the time T clocked by the timer 5 reaches a predetermined certain value To or more, sleeping is judged. By this method, it is unnecessary to directly mount the detection means on a human body and signal processing does not become complicated and expensive and sleeping can be judged easily in low cost.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sleep onset determining device for determining whether a person has fallen asleep.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventionally, this type of sleep onset determination device detects brain waves and eye movements of a sleeping person and performs waveform processing on the detected signal to determine whether the person is asleep (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-253034) and the like. ,
(Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 150047/1983) detects false waves of a sleeping person and performs waveform processing on the detected signal to determine whether the person is asleep)
As shown in Figure 4, both of these are based on brain waves, eyeballs,
Detection means 1 for detecting biological signals such as pulse waves, and detection means 1
The apparatus consisted of a signal processing means 2 for processing signals from the apparatus, and a determining means 3 for determining sleep onset based on the output of the signal processing means 2.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, with the above configuration, brain waves and eyeball coordination,
Since the detection means 1 for detecting pulse waves, etc. is attached directly to the scalp or skin of the human body, there are problems such as discomfort due to wearing it and sleep disturbance. The problem was that the signal processing required was complicated and the cost was high.

The present invention solves such conventional problems and aims to easily and inexpensively determine whether a person is asleep without attaching the above-mentioned detection means to the human body.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the deep sleep determining device of the present invention includes a body movement detecting means for detecting the sleeper's movements in a non-contact manner, and is activated by a signal from the body movement detecting means. It is equipped with a timer and calculation means for performing calculations based on the signal from the timer.

Operation According to the above-described structure, the timer is activated when the operation is detected by the operation detection means, and sleep onset is determined by the calculation means based on the time measured by the timer.

Example Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the same embodiment.

In the figure, reference numeral 4 denotes a body movement detecting means, which is composed of a strain gauge or the like, and detects the movement of the sleeping person, and is arranged under a sheet, mattress, pillow, etc. so as not to come into contact with the sleeping person. 5 is a timer, and 6 is a calculation means.

The operation of the above configuration will be explained based on the flowchart of FIG. When the body movement detection means 4 detects the operation, the timer 5 is activated. The timer 5 is configured to start a new timing operation every time a body movement occurs. Then, when the time T measured by the timer 5 becomes equal to or more than a predetermined value To, it is determined by the calculation means 6 that the patient has fallen asleep. The authors conducted the following study regarding the value of To. That is, based on the knowledge that the operation stops when falling asleep, the relationship between TO and the accuracy rate of sleep onset determination was determined through sleep experiments. The results are shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, for example, when To is set to 15 minutes, sleep onset can be determined with an accuracy rate of about 85%, and sleep onset can be determined at a level sufficient for practical use.

Due to the above action, sleep onset is determined by non-contact detection of the sleeping person's movements, so unlike conventional methods, detection means that detect brain waves, eye movements, pulse waves, etc. are directly attached to the scalp or skin of the human body. There is no discomfort caused by the treatment, and sleep is not disturbed. In addition, there is no need for complicated and expensive signal processing such as brain waves, eye movements, pulse waves, etc., as in the past, and sleep onset can be determined easily and at low cost.

In the above embodiment, the operation was detected using a strain gauge, but a piezoelectric element or the like may be placed under a sheet, a mattress, a pillow, etc., or an infrared sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, etc. may be used. Effects can be obtained.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be shown below. This embodiment differs from the above embodiments in that the operation detection means 4 includes a sensor section 7 made of a strain gauge or the like, and a signal calculation section 8 that performs calculations based on signals from the sensor section 7. With this configuration, the signal calculation unit 8 detects the signal as an operation only when the signal from the sensor part 7 is within a certain range, and outputs the signal to the timer 5. Therefore, even if a shock different from normal operation is applied to the sensor part 7, such as when the user steps on the sensor part 7, it will not be detected as an operation, which has the effect of preventing malfunctions. .

The effect of this can be obtained.

(1) Since it is non-contact, there is no discomfort caused by attaching a detection means that detects brain waves, eye movements, pulse waves, etc. directly to the scalp or skin of the human body, and sleep is disturbed. There is nothing like that.

(2) Sleep onset can be determined easily and at low cost without the need for complicated signal processing and high cost as in the past.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a conventional sleep onset determination device. 4... Body movement detection means, 5... Timer 6... Calculation means.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Sleep onset comprising a body movement detection means for non-contact detection of body movements of a sleeper, a timer activated by a signal from the body movement detection means, and a calculation means for performing calculations based on the signal from the timer. Judgment device. (2) The sleep onset determination device according to claim 1, wherein the body movement detection means comprises a sensor section and a signal calculation section that performs calculations based on the signal from the sensor section.