Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01K—MEASURING TEMPERATURE; MEASURING QUANTITY OF HEAT; THERMALLY-SENSITIVE ELEMENTS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G01K13/00—Thermometers specially adapted for specific purposes
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01K—MEASURING TEMPERATURE; MEASURING QUANTITY OF HEAT; THERMALLY-SENSITIVE ELEMENTS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G01K2215/00—Details concerning sensor power supply

Definitions

• the present invention relates to the measurement of temperatures and more particularly relates to a body thermometer or bath, without battery and having a system of energy accumulation.
• An energy storage system can be a mechanical system that allows, by Faraday effect, to recharge an electric capacitor supply of a thermometer.
• a mechanical system uses the movement of a magnet passing through a winding which produces an induced current therein.
• the capacitor energy management circuit is connected to the winding circuit which feeds it, the capacitor then being able to store enough energy to supply the thermometer measurement and display circuit.
• the document JP 4-72529 describes a device for measuring the ambient temperature operating on the Faraday principle, therefore without external power source, and including in particular a magnet that moves in translation . inside a coil under the influence of temperature.
• the magnet is moved by a shape memory material during the rise in temperature, then it returns to its initial position, under the pressure of a spring, when the temperature drops.
• the energy produced during the displacement of the magnet is used to display the measured value on the screen of the device.
• Such a system finds its limits when it requires a rise in temperature ass.ez important to provide enough energy to the measuring device, especially since it does not include energy storage means. Therefore, such a device can not be used to measure a body temperature or close to the latter requiring good measurement accuracy for a small change in the measured temperature.
• JP 4-315931 another device for measuring the ambient temperature with automatic power supply system comprising him, a system for storing energy.
• These measures uses the oscillation of a feeder, produced when shaking the device, flyweight which rotates, via a gear train, a magnet in a coil. The rotation of the magnet inside the coil induces an electric current in its conductors, which current is supplied to a capacitor storage circuit supplying the electrical measuring and display circuit of the device.
• this device While being more precise than the previous one, this device has the drawbacks of using a rotational movement of a flyweight whose movement is very discreet and quickly becomes cushioned and which must, in addition, use a gear train to amplify the movement transmitted to the magnet.
• Such a solution is quite complex and the device quickly becomes bulky when it is desired to obtain a faster power supply.
• the object of the invention is to obviate the aforementioned problems and to propose an energy storage electronic thermometer which is reliable and accurate in operation, even for small variations in the measured temperature.
• Another object of the invention is to provide a compact energy storage thermometer, of simplified construction, able to quickly indicate the value of the measured temperature, as soon as it is started.
• Another object of the invention is a thermometer capable of measuring the body temperature of an individual or that of his bath, which is of economic and ecological achievement, while being easy to manufacture and clean.
• a body or bath electronic thermometer comprising a temperature probe disposed on an outer side of a housing and connected to measuring means and supply means belonging to the housing, the supply means comprising a system for supplying electric energy to the thermometer and a system for storing the energy produced, since said supply system comprises a cylindrical element for guiding a magnet that slides freely relative to a coil disposed concentrically to the cylindrical element, the ends of the cylindrical member forming resilient stops which repel the magnet when the thermometer is shaken by the user.
• Such an electronic thermometer comprises an electrical energy supply system comprising a particularly simple mechanical system making it possible, when the thermometer is slightly shaken, for a magnet to move freely with respect to a cylindrical element having a winding of wires forming a coil arranged concentrically with the axis of this cylindrical element, over at least a part of its length.
• the magnet thus generates, at each of its passages, a current induced in the coil, its kinetic energy being converted into electrical energy.
• elastic stops for example rubber pads, which are used to push the magnet when it reaches the end of its stroke. This allows the magnet to continue its movement, while reducing shocks to the case.
• the feeding system therefore comprises a magnet that slides freely when the thermometer is shaken by the user, elastic stops being provided to push the moving magnet.
• a power system thus provides an independent thermometer, free of any battery, battery or any connection to an external power supply system.
• the thermometer comprises a power management circuit comprising at least one electrical capacitor positioned in the loop of the induced current, which then makes it possible to store enough energy to supply its measurement circuit and, respectively, a display screen. without having to shake the thermometer with each use.
• such a battery-free electronic thermometer with energy storage can be manufactured more economically, without the need to provide access to replace the used battery or to extract it for recycling, the housing can thus be made permanently closed, thus providing an ecological and economical product.
• a cylindrical element around which is wound a conductive wire format a coil and having a tubular magnet moving outside the coil is preferred, this cylindrical element then forming a guide tube for a cylindrical magnet. sliding freely inside the coil.
• said housing is elongate and the temperature sensor and said cylindrical member are arranged in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the housing.
• the axis of sliding of the magnet of the feed system of the thermometer is in the axis of the housing and therefore that of use of the thermometer, which offers more ergonomics and, at the same time, a race significant displacement of the magnet.
• the probe may be arranged outside the housing or integrated therewith.
• said supply means are arranged in the lower part of the housing.
• the magnet is arranged so that, under the effect of gravity, it is placed in the lower part of the housing, the thermometer being in the vertical position. This provides better stability when placed in a support in upright position or when immersed in water.
• the temperature sensor is disposed at the lower end of the housing, in the vicinity of said thermometer supply means, and the thermometer comprises a display screen disposed at the top of the housing.
• thermometer in vertical position
• said housing is waterproof.
• thermometer is then completely waterproof, allowing it to be immersed to measure the temperature of the bath water or to be cleaned easily and safely, without fear of damaging its electrical components. .
• a housing can then be overmoulded, perfectly sealed and permanent, because it has no battery or battery.
• the weight of said magnet allows the immersion of the temperature probe in the water during the floating of the thermometer.
• the magnet alone allows, by its own weight, and without the thermometer has additional counterweight, to keep the probe immersed in water. This ensures a precise measurement of the water temperature, performed in depth, for a simplified and economical construction of the thermometer.
• said supply means are connected to timing means allowing the thermometer to shut off after a predetermined time interval.
• thermometer This saves accumulated energy and thus prevents the user from having to shake the thermometer with each use.
• an energy of approximately 15OmW is produced when the thermometer is shaken for 30 seconds, the energy consumed by the thermometer for measuring and displaying a measurement being around 5 ⁇ W, the rest being able to be stored by the storage or energy storage system of the thermometer of the invention as soon as the delay means control the standby of the thermometer.
• FIG. 1 shows schematically an electronic thermometer according to the invention, including highlighting its power supply means;
• FIG. 2 illustrates the circuit diagram of the electronic thermometer of the invention.
• FIG. 1 shows an electronic thermometer 1 of the invention, more particularly a bath thermometer, comprising a housing 3 of elongate shape with, at its lower end 4, a temperature probe 5 protruding with respect to the housing and, the opposite end, a display screen 12.
• the probe could be located further from the housing, but likely to come into contact with the medium whose temperature is to be measured.
• the temperature probe. 5 is electrically connected to measuring means 7 (see FIG. 2) which are connected to electrical power supply means 9 and to a display screen 12.
• the power supply means 9 comprise a power system 10 and a storage system 11 of electrical energy.
• the supply system 10 comprises a guide tube 14 of a magnet 15 slidingly moving inside the tube, the longitudinal axis of the tube being disposed in the longitudinal axis of the housing 3.
• the guide tube 14 is preferably cylindrical with an inside diameter slightly greater than the outside of the magnet 15 which has an equally cylindrical shape. Both ends of the guide tube 14 are closed by two elastic stops 17, 18 and also serve to fix the guide tube 14 inside the housing 3.
• the resilient stops 17, 18 are, for example, rubber buffers of comparable diameter to the outside of the guide tube 14.
• the guide tube 14 is preferably made of a magnetically permeable material, for example PS or P ABS. Outside the guide tube 14, and preferably in its middle part, is fixed a winding of electrically conductive wires forming a coil 16.
• the length of the winding of the coil 16 is about 1/3 of the length of the guide tube 14, the length of the magnet 15 being about 1/3 of the length of the tube also. This allows the magnet 15 to make complete trips and returns with respect to the coil 16, inside the guide tube 14, for a better efficiency of a supply system 10 thus achieved very compact.
• thermometer is intended to operate in a vertical position when immersed in the water of a bathtub.
• the supply system 10 is arranged in the lower part of the housing 3, in the vicinity of the temperature sensor 5. According to an advantageous aspect of the invention, the weight of the magnet
• the weight of the magnet 15 is about 40 g, the total weight of the electronic thermometer 1 being about 150 g. The magnet thus also plays the role of the mass of good positioning of the thermometer.
• the housing 3 is made so that it can be held by hand, and in a plastic material, for example ABS or PS, by an injection technique so as to encapsulate completely and in a watertight manner all the components of the electronic thermometer 1, more particularly intended to measure the temperature of the bath water.
• a plastic material for example ABS or PS
• the housing 3 may include an on / off button (not shown in the drawings) protected by a waterproof membrane.
• this button could be absent, the starting of the apparatus being done as soon as the movement of the magnet (as soon as there is a current detection in the circuit of the coil), the stop can be performed automatically by the microprocessor of the device, after a preset operating period.
• the user starts by shaking the thermometer by grasping the housing 3 by hand.
• This movement is printed on the magnet 15 which begins sliding inside the guide tube 14, in one of the direction of the arrows of Figure 1.
• the magnet 15 strikes one resilient stops 17,18 which pushes it in the opposite direction, in the direction of the opposite stop.
• an induced current is generated across the latter.
• the user can take a measurement, for example by immersing the thermometer in the bath water.
• FIG. 2 shows the electric diagram of the thermometer of the invention, in which it is observed that the current generated in the coil 16 passes via a diode 19 and is stored in a capacitor 20 (or even in several capacitors connected in parallel).
• This current generated by the supply system 10 provides the energy necessary for the operation of the measuring means 7 made, for example, in the form of a microprocessor.
• the microprocessor belonging to the measuring means 7 transforms the electrical signal received from the temperature sensor 5 into a value of the temperature which it transmits to the display screen 12 informing the user the value of the water temperature.
• thermometer operating on the same principle and having the same components as previously described can also be realized.
• thermometer may include means for storing the measured values, a time display, an operating indicator of the apparatus, etc.
• thermometer is designed to operate in a horizontal position, for example by floating on the surface of the water, with the axis of sliding of the magnet parallel to that of the surface of the the water at rest, the temperature probe then being arranged on the part of the housing coming into contact with water.
• thermometer could be powered when the magnet is moved relative to its guide tube by the movement of water from a bath or that of a pool.

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Measuring Temperature Or Quantity Of Heat (AREA)
• Devices For Medical Bathing And Washing (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=35522979

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

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Family Cites Families (5)

• 2005
  • 2005-05-30 FR FR0505454A patent/FR2886399B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2006
  • 2006-05-29 EP EP06755530A patent/EP1886109A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2006-05-29 WO PCT/FR2006/001211 patent/WO2006129001A2/fr not_active Ceased

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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