JPH034869B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a wristwatch that can detect a skin potential level to determine an awake state.

[Prior art and its problems]

Conventionally, for example, to prevent drowsy driving, a posture detection device such as a mercury contact was attached to a hair band.
Some devices generate an alarm when your posture collapses. However, this method has the disadvantage that an alarm will sound if you try to pick something up or look down for some reason. In addition, since the hair band was worn, it felt uncomfortable and the hair was disarrayed.

〔the purpose〕

The present invention detects the skin potential level by installing electrodes on a part of the strap of the wristwatch and on the finger or palm of the hand, thereby making it possible to know the state of wakefulness reliably and without any discomfort when wearing the electrodes.Moreover, it has a simple configuration. The idea is to provide a wristwatch that can wake you up.

〔Example〕

First, I will explain the relationship between sleep and skin potential level (hereinafter referred to as SPL). In recent years, research on sleep has been actively promoted.
It has become clear that SPL responds sensitively to changes in arousal level, such as during sleep onset. In particular, as shown in Figure 1, the SPL on the palmar or palmar surface relative to the wrist is known to drop rapidly during the sleep onset period, remaining at a low level during sleep and reaching a high level upon awakening. .

The present invention detects the awake state from this SPL. In FIGS. 2 and 3, 1 is a skin potential level display section, 2 is a time display section, and 3 is a start switch for SPL measurement. 4 is the watch band,
It can be worn on the arm using hook-and-loop fasteners 5, 5. Reference numeral 6 denotes a first electrode, which is provided at a position in contact with the inside of the wrist. Reference numeral 7 denotes a jack into which a plug 9 provided at the tip of a lead wire of a second electrode 8, which is attached to the tip of the little finger as shown in FIG. 4, can be inserted when measuring SPL.

In FIG. 5, 10 is an amplifier, and electrodes 6, 8
This system detects the SPL of the palm of the little finger with the inside of the wrist as a reference. Reference numeral 11 denotes a display control circuit that samples the SPL every 10 seconds and displays the SPL for the past 10 minutes on the display unit 1. Reference numeral 12 denotes a comparator circuit that compares the reference voltage Vr and SPL and produces an output when SPL becomes less than or equal to the reference voltage Vr. 13 is an alarm device, and 14 is a resistor for adjusting the alarm volume.

Next, the operation will be explained. Normally, the watch is used as a wristwatch with the plug 9 in FIG. 4 pulled out and the electrode 8 removed.

When it is necessary to prevent falling asleep, such as when driving a car or studying, attach the electrode 8 to the tip of the little finger and touch it to the palm surface of the little finger, as shown in Figure 4, and connect the plug 9 to the jack 7. Insert it and press start switch 3. By pressing the start switch 3, power is supplied to the circuit of FIG. Since the electrode 6 in FIG. 3 is in contact with the inside of the wrist and the electrode 8 is in contact with the palm of the little finger, the amplifier 10 in FIG.
, the SPL of the finger/palm portion with the wrist as a reference is detected and supplied to the display control circuit 11 . This SPL is sampled every 10 seconds and displayed on the display unit 1. On the display section 1, the reference voltage Vr is displayed as the reference line l in FIG. Therefore, the user can objectively know his or her own arousal state. When SPL becomes equal to or lower than the reference voltage Vr, it is considered to be a sleep state, and an output is generated from the comparator circuit 12.

Note that since SPL varies from person to person, the reference voltage Vr can be set appropriately using the button 13.

14 is a booster circuit that generates a voltage for skin stimulation; 15
16 is a switching circuit, 17 is a gate circuit, 18 is an inverter, and 19 is a flip-flop circuit.

In the above configuration, a timing pulse of a constant period is generated from the switching circuit 16, and the amplifier 10 and the gate circuit 17 are alternately selected. amplifier 10
Each time SPL is selected, SPL is detected and compared with reference voltage Vr in comparator circuit 12. When SPL becomes less than the reference voltage, the flip-flop circuit 19 is set by the output of the comparison circuit 12, and the gate circuit 17 is opened. Therefore, the timing pulse turns on the switching circuit 15 when the amplifier 10 is inactive, and the output voltage of the booster circuit 14 is supplied to the electrodes 6 and 8 to stimulate the skin and prevent dozing off. .

Further, in the above example, the SPL of the palm of the little finger is detected, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the SPL of the palm of the other fingers or the palm of the hand may be detected.

〔effect〕

According to the present invention, by wearing a wristwatch, one electrode can be fixed to the inside of the wrist with a belt, and the skin potential level can be detected without discomfort when wearing the electrode, and the skin potential level is constant. When the voltage falls below the skin potential level, voltage is supplied to the electrode for detecting the skin potential level to give stimulation, so the electrode can be used for two purposes, eliminating the need for a new alarm device.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the awake state and the skin potential level, Fig. 2 is a front view showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 3 is a right side view of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the awake state and the skin potential level. Second
Front view showing the wristwatch shown in Figure 5 when worn.
The figure is a block diagram showing an example of a circuit configuration. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Display part, 4... Band, 6... First electrode, 8
...second electrode, 10...amplifier, 12...comparison circuit,
14...Boost circuit, 15...Switching circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A first electrode is provided on the part of the watch band that contacts the inside of the wrist, a second electrode is provided that contacts the finger palm or the finger palm, and the signals from the first electrode and the second electrode are used to A detection device for detecting the potential level is provided, and a circuit is provided for supplying a voltage to the first electrode and the second electrode to stimulate the skin when the output signal from the detection device falls below a certain level. A watch featuring.