JPH0330098B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an electronic thermometer used, for example, as a thermometer, and particularly to an electronic thermometer having a temperature rise rate detecting means.

(B) Prior art In general, an electronic thermometer uses a temperature measuring unit that includes a temperature sensing element such as a thermistor to measure the temperature at each sample timing, updates and stores the highest value of the measured temperature, and
I am trying to display it. This electronic thermometer does not display the body temperature all of a sudden after the measurement starts, but the measured temperature rises exponentially from a certain initial temperature, and eventually converges to a certain temperature value, at which point it is approximately accurate. You can know your body temperature. One method for determining the point of convergence is to detect the rate of temperature increase and set the point of time when the rate of temperature increase reaches a predetermined value or less as the point of convergence.

Conventionally, in this type of electronic thermometer, to detect when the temperature rise rate has fallen below a predetermined value,
Temperatures measured at multiple sampling timings were stored in memory, and a calculation circuit calculated the difference between the current measured temperature and the temperature measured at several sample timings before, and judgments were made based on this calculated value.

(c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, the above-mentioned conventional technology requires a circuit that stores several measurements of temperature in order to detect the rate of increase, and an arithmetic circuit that calculates the difference between arbitrary data. When the scale becomes large and an attempt is made to convert it into an LSI without using a CPU, there is a problem in that the chip size becomes large, leading to an increase in costs.

An object of the present invention is to realize a circuit for detecting the rate of temperature rise using a relatively small-scale circuit, and to provide a low-cost electronic thermometer.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the electronic thermometer of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, includes a temperature measuring section 1 that measures the temperature at each sample timing; Measured temperature storage means 2 for storing the current measured temperature; display temperature storage means 3 for updating and storing the maximum value of the measured temperature as the displayed temperature; display 4 for displaying the displayed temperature; A comparison circuit 5 that compares the magnitude relationship, and a shift register 6 that stores the magnitude relationship output of the comparison circuit 5 bit-sequentially as 1-bit binary data at each sample timing.
and a counter 7 that counts the number of binary data stored in the shift register 6 and detects from this number that the temperature increase rate has reached a predetermined value.

(E) Effect In this electronic thermometer, when the temperature measuring section 1 measures the temperature at the sample timing, the current measured temperature is stored in the measured temperature storage means 2.
The currently measured temperature and the displayed temperature stored in the display temperature storage means 3 are compared in the comparison circuit 5, and if the currently measured temperature is greater than the displayed temperature, the measured temperature is displayed as the new displayed temperature. The temperature is stored in the temperature storage means 3 and displayed on the display 4. Further, if the currently measured temperature is higher than the displayed temperature, data indicating the higher temperature is stored in the shift register 6 as one bit of data, for example, data "1".

Thereafter, the temperature is measured in the same manner as above at each sample timing, the maximum temperature is updated and displayed on the display 4, and the shift register 6 is set as "1" if the measured temperature this time is large, and whether it is equal to the displayed temperature. ,
If it is smaller, "0" is stored bit-sequentially.

The more "1s" stored in the shift register 6 (the fewer "0s"), the higher the temperature, and conversely, the fewer "1s" (the more "0s"), the higher the temperature. This means that the temperature is approaching convergence. Therefore, the counter 7 counts the number of data "0" in the shift register 6, for example, and outputs a convergence signal when the number exceeds a predetermined value.

(f) Examples The present invention will be explained in more detail below using examples.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of an electronic thermometer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The electronic thermometer of this embodiment includes a temperature measuring section 11, a counter 12 for counting and storing measured temperature data from the temperature measuring section 11, a latch circuit 13 for updating and storing the maximum temperature value of the counter 12, and a latch circuit 13 for updating and storing the maximum temperature value of the counter 12.
a display 14 which receives and displays the temperature stored in the decoder/driver 18; a comparison circuit 15 which compares the measured temperature stored in the counter 12 with the temperature displayed by the latch circuit 13; Size relationship (“1” if measured temperature > displayed temperature)
a shift register 16 that stores data indicating 1 bit at a time, and an up/down register for outputting a convergence signal when the data "1" in this shift register 16 is within a predetermined value ("0" is greater than or equal to a predetermined value). It is composed of a counter section 17.

The oscillating unit 19 of the temperature measuring unit 11 includes a thermistor (temperature-sensitive resistor) 20, a reference resistor 21, and a changeover switch 2.
2, and a time constant circuit 24 consisting of a capacitor 23
and an oscillator 25.

The output of the oscillator 25 is applied to a counter 26, and the overflow output of this counter 26 is applied to a delay circuit 27 and a latch circuit 30.
It has also been added to Further, the output of the delay circuit 27 is applied to the oscillation section 19 to turn on the switch 22 to the thermistor 20 side.

The clock signal output from the clock oscillator 28 is counted by a counter 29.
The output of 9 is applied to a latch circuit 30 and a comparator circuit 31. The above clock oscillator 2
8. The counter 29 and the latch circuit 30 measure the time until the counter 26 overflows and temporarily hold this time.

The comparator circuit 31 compares the count value of the counter 29 and the output of the latch circuit 30, applies the matching output to the delay circuit 32, and the output of the delay circuit 32 is sent to the OR circuit 3.
3 to counters 26 and 29, and both counters are cleared. Further, the output of the delay circuit 32 causes the switch 22 of the oscillation section 19 to be turned on the reference resistor 21 side.

The output of counter 26 is applied to a decoder 34, the output of which is adapted to address ROM 35. The ROM 35 stores temperature difference data corresponding to the count value corresponding to the temperature of the counter 26, and the temperature difference data read from the ROM 35 is preset in the shift register 36. Further, the output of the shift register 36 is applied to one end of the input of the AND circuit 37, and the output pulse fx of the oscillator 25 when the thermistor 20 is connected is applied as a clock pulse of the shift register 36 and to the other end of the input of the AND circuit 37. ing. When "1" is obtained at the output (left end) of the shift register 36, the pulse signal fx from the oscillator 25 is delivered to the output end of the AND circuit 37 and input to the counter 12.

Therefore, the counter 12 is configured to count the temperature data measured by the temperature measuring section 11 at each sample timing.

The output of the counter 12 and the output of the latch circuit 13 are compared in the comparator circuit 15. If the count value of the counter 12 is larger than the data held in the latch circuit 13, the output of the counter 12 is sent to the latch circuit 13. The comparator circuit 15 latches and updates and stores the contents of
Input “1” signal and UP “0” signal
The signal is added to the up/down count section 17 as a signal.

The shift register 16 is shifted by 1 bit each time the output of the delay circuit 32 is input, and the data "0" output from the leftmost end is input to the up/down count section 17 as a DOWN signal. . The up/down count section 17 counts up and down using the "0" output of the comparator circuit 15 as an UP signal and the "0" output of the shift register 16 as a DOWN signal, and when the counted value exceeds a predetermined value, , it is designed to output a convergence signal.

Next, the operation of the electronic thermometer of the above embodiment will be explained.

First, considering the case where the switch 22 of the oscillator 19 is turned on to the reference resistor 21 side, the oscillator 19 operates according to the time constant determined by the resistance value R of the reference resistor 21 and the capacitance C of the capacitor 23. frequency fo
oscillates. A pulse signal of this frequency fo is output from the oscillator 25 and input to the counter 26. The counter 26 starts counting the pulse signals of that frequency fo. At the same time, the clock oscillator 28
A counter 29 starts counting the clock signals from . When the count value of the counter 26 reaches a predetermined value No, the count value of the counter 29 is latched in the latch circuit 30 due to the overflow output.

By the way, since the time until the counter 26 overflows is No/fo, the latch circuit 3
The count value of the counter 29, which is latched to 0, is No/fo/1/fc=No/fo·fc, where fc is the frequency of the clock oscillator 28.

Further, the overflow output of the counter 26 is applied to the oscillator 19 after a small time delay by the delay circuit 27, which turns the switch 22 on to the thermistor 20 side, and passes through the OR circuit 33 to the counter 2.
Clear 6,29.

The thermistor 20 is connected to the oscillator 25 of the oscillator 19, and this time it oscillates with a time constant determined by the resistance value Rx of the thermistor 20 and the capacitance C of the capacitor, and a pulse signal of frequency fx is output from the oscillator 25, and the counter 26. Thereafter, the counter 26 counts the pulse signals of the frequency fx. On the other hand, the clock signal of frequency fc is again inputted to the counter 29 from the clock oscillator 28, and counting is performed. When the count value of the counter 29 becomes equal to the count value held in the latch circuit 30, the comparator circuit 31 detects a match between the two and stops counting by the counter 26 at that point. If the count value of the counter 26 at this time is Nx, the time for the counter 26 to count up to Nx is Nx/fx
The count value fc/fx counted by the counter 29 is
Nx is the count value held in the latch circuit 30
Equal to fc/fo・No. Therefore, Nx/fx=No/fo holds true. Therefore, Nx=fx/fo・No=k ₁ /k ₂・R/Rx・No However, k ₁・k ₂ is a constant.

By the way, the resistance value Rx of the thermistor 20 can generally be expressed as Rx=RoexpB (1/T-1/To), where Ro: resistance value at absolute temperature To B: Boltzmann's constant T: absolute temperature Therefore, Nx=NoR/Ro・expB(1/To−1/T) holds true for the above Nx, and when this is rewritten in terms of T, it becomes T=1/1/T−1/B・lnNxRo/NoR. In this equation, once Nx is determined, the temperature T can be determined from Nx since everything else is constant.

The count value Nx of the counter 26 determines the output value of the decoder 34, and this output value specifies the address of the ROM 35.
Since the temperature difference data corresponding to the step of Nx is stored in advance, the temperature difference data is preset in the shift register 36.
When the signal "1" is present at the output of the counter 6, the AND circuit 37 inputs the pulse signal of the frequency fx from the oscillator 25 to the counter 12. Therefore, the counter 12 stores data corresponding to the temperature at that time, that is, the currently measured temperature.

The currently measured temperature of the counter 12 is the latch circuit 1.
Comparison circuit 15 compares the temperature displayed in step 3 with the current temperature, and if the current temperature is higher, the latch circuit 13 outputs
The contents of counter 12 are latched and become the new displayed temperature, which is applied via decoder/driver 18 to display 14 for display.

Note that when the current temperature stored in the counter 12 is higher than the displayed temperature, the comparison circuit 15 stores a decoder "1" in the shift register 16.
Conversely, if the current temperature is smaller or equal, data "0" is stored in the shift register 16.

As described above, temperature measurement for one sample timing is performed, but the output of the delay circuit 32 causes the switch 22 of the oscillation section 19 to switch to the reference resistor 21.
Then, the same operation as described above, that is, measurement at the second sample timing is started again. Similarly, the counter 12 stores the current measured temperature, that is, the second measured temperature, and if the temperature continues to rise, the latch circuit 13 relatches the current measured temperature in place of the previous displayed temperature, and a new The temperature is displayed on the display 14 as a display temperature. Also, since the measured temperature stored in the counter 12 is higher, the comparison circuit 15 also outputs data "1" and connects the shift register 16 and up/down.
Further, "1" is input to the down count section 17. In this way, at each sample timing,
The current temperature is stored in the counter 12, and the maximum temperature, that is, the displayed temperature, is stored in the latch circuit 13. As long as the temperature continues to rise, the contents of the latch circuit 13 are updated, and the comparison circuit 15 outputs data "1".
is output. Therefore, the contents of the shift register 16 continue to be data "1". While "1" continues, the up/down count section 17 does not count "0" and does not derive an output signal (convergence signal). However, when the measured temperature approaches convergence, there is no difference between the contents of the counter 12 and the latch circuit 13 at a certain sample timing, so the comparator circuit 15 outputs data "0" to the shift register 16 and up/down count section 17. Enter. The lower the temperature increase rate is, the more "0" is output from the comparator circuit 15 at each sample timing.
This will result in an increase in the number of When the count value of data "0" stored in the shift register 16 reaches a predetermined value (for example, 3), the up/down count section 17 transfers the convergence signal to the decoder/driver 1.
Output to 8. This convergence signal causes the display 14
For example, by blinking the light, the measurer can know that the measured temperature has approached the convergence value.

Note that in the above embodiment, the shift register 1
The bit length of 6 is determined by the sampling period of the measured temperature data and the time that defines the rate of increase. For example, if the sampling period is 1 second and the temperature increase rate to be determined is 0.02° C./5 seconds, the length of the shift register will be 5 seconds/1 second = 5 stages (bits). In the contents of this 5-stage shift register, when the number of data "1" is 2 or less (the number of "0" is 3 or more), it is determined that the temperature rise in each 5 seconds is 0.02℃ or less, and this A convergence judgment can be made using . However, in this case, the resolution of the measured temperature is
This means that the temperature is 0.01℃.

FIG. 3 shows the up/down count section 17.
FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing the circuit in more detail.

The up/down count section 17 includes the comparison circuit 1
5 output (input of shift register 16) is “0”
a flip-flop 171 which is set by the output of the shift register 16 and reset by the "1" output of the shift register 16; an up/down counter 172 which receives the set output of the flip-flop 171 as an up signal and the reset output as a down signal; It consists of an exclusive OR circuit 173 that receives the output of the register 16 as an input, and an AND circuit 174 that receives the output of the exclusive OR circuit 173 and a clock signal as input, reads the output, and inputs it to the up/down counter 172 as a clock signal. ing.

Now, the number of stages of the shift register 16 is set to 5 as in the above example, and the up/down counter 172 is set to 3.
Assuming that the convergence signal is output by counting (the number of "0"s is 3), first, assuming a case where the temperature rise is large, the measured temperature at each sample timing is large, so the output of the comparator circuit 15 is "1". Therefore, flip-flop 171 is not set,
The up/down counter 172 is not counted up and no convergence signal is derived.

When there is a sample timing where the temperature rise is slightly purified and the measured temperature and the displayed temperature become equal, the output of the comparator circuit 15 at that point is "0", and this "0" is input to the shift register 16 and the flip-flop 171 is set, and since the output of the shift register 16 is "1", the output of the exclusive OR circuit 173 becomes "1", and when the clock signal is input to the AND circuit 174, it is input directly to the up/down counter 172, The up/down counter 172 performs up counting based on the set output of the flip-flop 171.

When the rate of increase becomes very pure and approaches a convergence state,
The comparison circuit 15 continuously outputs "0", which causes the up/down counter 172 to count 3 or more, and outputs a convergence signal.

When the rate of increase is in an intermediate state, the output of the comparator circuit 15 repeatedly becomes "1" and then becomes "0", and the shift register 16 stores the "1" and "0" values.
“0” is input sequentially. When "1" is output from the shift register 16 and "0" is input from the comparator circuit 15 to the shift register 16, the flip-flop 171 is set and the up/down counter 172 counts up. When the output of the comparison circuit 15 is "1" and the output of the shift register 16 is "0", the up/down counter 17 counts down. Also,
When the outputs of the comparison circuit 15 and the shift register 16 are both “1”, the up/down counter 17
2, no counting operation is performed.

Eventually, when the temperature rise becomes so pure that three or more "0"s are stored in the shift register 16, the up/down counter 172 outputs a convergence signal.

Although temperature difference data is stored in the ROM 35 in the above embodiment, normal temperature data may be stored in the ROM.

(G) Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, only a comparator circuit, a shift register, and a counter are used to detect the rate of temperature increase. Although 80-bit data memory and subtraction circuits are required, it can be configured with only 5-bit shift registers and counters, making it possible to realize a small-scale circuit, and even when implementing LSI.
Because it can suppress the increase in chip size,
A cost-reduced electronic thermometer can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an electronic thermometer according to an embodiment of the invention, and Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the electronic thermometer according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram specifically showing an example of an up/down count section. 1: Temperature measuring section, 2: Measured temperature storage means, 3:
Display temperature storage means, 4: Display device, 5: Comparison circuit,
6: Shift register, 7: Counter.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A temperature measurement unit that measures the temperature at each sample timing, a measured temperature storage device that stores the current measured temperature, a display temperature storage device that updates and stores the highest value of the measured temperature as a display temperature, and a display temperature storage device that displays the display temperature. a display device to display, a comparison circuit that compares the magnitude relationship between the current temperature and the displayed temperature, and a comparison circuit that compares the magnitude relationship between the current temperature and the displayed temperature, and
A shift register that stores bit-sequential data as 1-bit binary data, and a counter that counts the number of binary data stored in this shift register and detects from this number that the temperature rise rate has reached a predetermined value. An electronic thermometer equipped with