JP2003088512A - Monitoring device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a small and simple monitoring device which not only reliably detects the state of an object to be monitored, but also is small. SOLUTION: A plurality of independent distance sensors 11 installed toward different positions in a monitoring target area 50 and measuring a distance to a monitoring target 2;
An arithmetic unit 22 for calculating a time change of each output of the first unit;
A detection processing device 2 that detects a shape change of the monitoring target 2 based on the calculated time change regarding one or a plurality of selected distance sensors 11 among the plurality of distance sensors 11.
3 as a monitoring device.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a monitoring device for monitoring an object to be monitored, and more particularly to a monitoring device for monitoring changes such as respiration of a sleeping person.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a monitoring device for monitoring changes in the breathing of a sleeping person, a device for monitoring the changes in the breathing of the sleeping person has been conventionally proposed based on the time transition of the pressure distribution detected by a load sensor or a pressure sensor. ing.

[0003]

However, according to the conventional device as described above, the monitoring device has high performance in order to acquire and detect a stable signal because the measured signal is very small. It required a complicated signal amplifier and some kind of signal processing, which made the system complicated and large-scale.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a monitoring device which is not only capable of reliably detecting the state of an object to be monitored but also is small and simple.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a monitoring device according to the invention according to claim 1 is directed to different positions in a monitored area 50 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, for example. A plurality of independent distance sensors 11 that are installed and measure the distance to the monitored object; a computing device 22 that computes the time change of the output of each of the plurality of distance sensors 11; From the above, the detection processing device that selects the distance sensor 11 having the largest time change in the past most recent constant time and detects the shape change of the monitored object 2 based on the time change corresponding to the selected distance sensor 11. 23, the detection processing device 23 detects the transitional change of the monitored object 2 and the distance sensor having the largest temporal change in the latest fixed time after the monitored object 2 is in a rest state. 1 is selected, based on the time change, configured to detect a shape change of the monitored object 2.

According to this structure, the plurality of distance sensors 11 are provided independently of each other, and the arithmetic unit 22 for calculating the time change of each output of the plurality of distance sensors 11 is provided.
For example, it is possible to obtain the time change of the distance to the monitored object. The shape of the monitored object 2 is selected from the plurality of distance sensors 11 by selecting the distance sensor 11 having the largest temporal change in the past past fixed time, and based on the temporal change corresponding to the selected distance sensor 11. When the change is detected and the transitional change of the monitored object 2 is detected, the distance sensor 11 having the largest temporal change in the latest fixed time after the monitored object 2 is in a rest state is selected, Since the shape change of the monitored object 2 is detected based on the change over time, for example, the breathing of the sleeping person can be detected. This allows
It is possible to provide a small-sized and simple monitoring device as well as surely detecting the state of the sleeping person.

In order to achieve the above object, the monitoring device according to the second aspect of the present invention is installed toward different positions in a monitoring target area 50 as shown in, for example, FIGS. A plurality of independent distance sensors 11 for measuring the distances up to two; a computing device 22 for computing a time change of the output of each of the plurality of distance sensors 11; and one or a plurality of the plurality of distance sensors 11. A detection processing device 23 for detecting a shape change of the monitored object 2 based on the calculated time change of the selected distance sensor 11; the detection processing device 23 selects all the plurality of distance sensors 11. The sum of the changes over time in the output of the selected distance sensor 11 is obtained, and the monitored object 2 is calculated based on the sum.
Is configured to detect a shape change of the.

With this configuration, since the plurality of distance sensors 11, the arithmetic unit 22 and the detection processing unit 23 are provided, one or a plurality of the selected distance sensors 11 among the plurality of distance sensors 11 are provided. A change in the shape of the monitored object 2 can be detected based on the calculated change over time with respect to. The detection processing device 23 includes a plurality of distance sensors 11
Is selected, the sum of the changes over time in the output of the selected distance sensor 11 is obtained, and the shape change of the monitored object 2 is detected based on the sum, so that, for example, high-speed processing is performed. It is possible. This makes it possible to provide a small and simple monitoring device as well as reliably detecting the state of the sleeping person.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the monitoring device according to the invention according to claim 3 is installed toward different positions in a monitoring target area 50 as shown in FIGS. A plurality of independent distance sensors 11 for measuring the distances up to two; a computing device 22 for computing a time change of the output of each of the plurality of distance sensors 11; and one or a plurality of the plurality of distance sensors 11. A detection processing device 23 for detecting a change in shape of the monitored object 2 based on the calculated time change of the selected distance sensor 11. The detection processing device 23 detects all outputs of the plurality of distance sensors 11. Calculate the frequency spectrum, the sharpness of the peak of the calculated frequency spectrum is a certain value or more,
Further, the distance sensor 11 having the highest sharpness is selected, and the shape change of the monitored object 2 is detected based on the time change of the selected distance sensor.

According to this structure, since the plurality of distance sensors 11, the arithmetic unit 22 and the detection processing unit 23 are provided, one or a plurality of the selected distance sensors 11 among the plurality of distance sensors 11 are provided. A change in the shape of the monitored object 2 can be detected based on the calculated change over time with respect to. The detection processing device 23 includes a plurality of distance sensors 11
The frequency spectrum of all outputs of the above is calculated, the sharpness of the peak of the calculated frequency spectrum is a certain value or more, and the distance sensor 11 having the highest sharpness is selected, and the time related to the selected distance sensor is selected. Since it is configured to detect the change in shape of the monitored object 2 based on the change, it is possible to reliably detect, for example, the breathing of the sleeping person. This not only reliably detects the state of the sleeping person,
It is possible to provide a monitoring device that is small and simple.

In order to achieve the above object, a monitoring device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is installed toward different positions in a monitoring target area 50 as shown in FIGS. A plurality of independent distance sensors 11 for measuring the distances up to two; a computing device 22 for computing a time change of the output of each of the plurality of distance sensors 11; and one or a plurality of the plurality of distance sensors 11. A detection processing device 23 for detecting a change in shape of the monitored object 2 based on the calculated time change of the selected distance sensor 11; the detection processing device 23 is configured such that the absolute value of the time change has a predetermined width. Calculating the frequency spectrum of the output of the distance sensor 11, and selecting the distance sensor 11 having the highest sharpness of the peak of the calculated frequency spectrum and having the highest sharpness; Based on the time variation related to the distance sensor 11 whose serial selected, configured to detect a shape change of the monitored object 2.

According to this structure, since the plurality of distance sensors 11, the arithmetic unit 22 and the detection processing unit 23 are provided, one or a plurality of the selected distance sensors 11 among the plurality of distance sensors 11 are provided. A change in the shape of the monitored object 2 can be detected based on the calculated change over time with respect to. The detection processing device 23 calculates the frequency spectrum of the output of the distance sensor 11 in which the absolute value of the time change has a predetermined width, and the sharpness of the peak of the calculated frequency spectrum is equal to or greater than a certain value, and the sharpness. The distance sensor 11 with the highest
Since it is configured to detect the shape change of the monitored object 2 based on the time change regarding 1, the breathing of the sleeping person can be reliably detected, for example. This makes it possible to provide a small and simple monitoring device as well as reliably detecting the state of the sleeping person.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a monitoring device according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is installed toward different positions in a monitoring target area 50 as shown in FIGS. A plurality of independent distance sensors 11 for measuring the distances up to two; a computing device 22 for computing a time change of the output of each of the plurality of distance sensors 11; and one or a plurality of the plurality of distance sensors 11. A detection processing device 23 for detecting a change in shape of the monitored object 2 based on the calculated time change of the selected distance sensor 11; the detection processing device 23 starts from the one having a larger absolute value of the time change. The frequency spectrum of the outputs of the plurality of distance sensors 11 is calculated, and the distance sensor 11 having the highest sharpness of the peak of the calculated frequency spectrum is selected. And, a distance sensor 1 wherein the selected
1 is configured to detect a change in shape of the monitored object 2 based on a change in time with respect to 1.

With this configuration, since the plurality of distance sensors 11, the arithmetic unit 22 and the detection processing unit 23 are provided, one or a plurality of the selected distance sensors 11 among the plurality of distance sensors 11 are provided. A change in the shape of the monitored object 2 can be detected based on the calculated change over time with respect to. The detection processing device 23 calculates the frequency spectrum of the outputs of the plurality of distance sensors 11 from the one with the larger absolute value of the time change, and the sharpness of the peak of the calculated frequency spectrum is a certain value or more, and Since the distance sensor 11 having the highest sharpness is selected and the shape change of the monitored object 2 is detected based on the time change of the selected distance sensor 11, the breathing of the sleeping person is surely performed. Can be detected. This makes it possible to provide a small and simple monitoring device as well as reliably detecting the state of the sleeping person.

In order to achieve the above object, a monitoring device according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is installed toward different positions in a monitored area 50 as shown in, for example, FIGS. A plurality of independent distance sensors 11 for measuring the distances up to two; a computing device 22 for computing a time change of the output of each of the plurality of distance sensors 11; and one or a plurality of the plurality of distance sensors 11. A detection processing device 23 for detecting a shape change of the monitored object 2 based on the calculated time change of the selected distance sensor 11; the detection processing device 23 detects a time change whose absolute value exceeds a certain value. It is configured to detect a change in shape of the monitored object 2 based on the selected average value of the change over time.

According to this structure, since the plurality of distance sensors 11, the arithmetic unit 22 and the detection processing unit 23 are provided, one or a plurality of the selected distance sensors 11 among the plurality of distance sensors 11 are provided. A change in the shape of the monitored object 2 can be detected based on the calculated change over time with respect to. The detection processing device 23 is configured to select a time change whose absolute value exceeds a certain value and detect a shape change of the monitored object 2 based on the average value of the selected time changes. The person's breath can be reliably detected.
This makes it possible to provide a small and simple monitoring device as well as reliably detecting the state of the sleeping person.

In order to achieve the above object, the monitoring device according to the invention according to claim 7 is installed toward different positions in a monitoring target area 50 as shown in, for example, FIGS. A plurality of independent distance sensors 11 for measuring the distances up to two; a computing device 22 for computing a time change of the output of each of the plurality of distance sensors 11; and one or a plurality of the plurality of distance sensors 11. A detection processing device 23 for detecting a shape change of the monitored object 2 based on the calculated time change of the selected distance sensor 11; the detection processing device 23 detects a time change whose absolute value exceeds a certain value. It is configured to detect the shape change of the monitored object 2 based on the selected average value of the absolute values of the selected time changes.

According to this structure, since the plurality of distance sensors 11, the arithmetic unit 22 and the detection processing unit 23 are provided, one or a plurality of the selected distance sensors 11 among the plurality of distance sensors 11 are provided. A change in the shape of the monitored object 2 can be detected based on the calculated change over time with respect to. Since the detection processing device 23 is configured to select a time change whose absolute value exceeds a certain value and detect a shape change of the monitored object 2 based on the average value of the absolute values of the selected time changes. For example, it is possible to reliably detect the breathing of a sleeping person. This makes it possible to provide a small and simple monitoring device as well as reliably detecting the state of the sleeping person.

In order to achieve the above object, the monitoring device according to the invention according to claim 8 is installed toward different positions in a monitoring target area 50 as shown in FIGS. A plurality of independent distance sensors 11 for measuring the distances to; a computing device 22 for computing a time change of the output of each of the plurality of distance sensors 11; and a selection of one or more of the plurality of distance sensors 11. A detection processing device 23 that detects a change in shape of the monitored object 2 based on the calculated time change of the selected distance sensor 11; the detection processing device 23 relates to the plurality of selected distance sensors 11. By comparing each phase of the time change with each other, by grouping those having the similar phase by the comparison, the total of the time change of each group is obtained, and between the groups close to the opposite phase And Sasan the sum of said each group, based on the value obtained from the difference calculated, configured to detect a shape change of the monitored object 2.

With this configuration, since the plurality of distance sensors 11, the arithmetic unit 22 and the detection processing unit 23 are provided, one or a plurality of the selected distance sensors 11 among the plurality of distance sensors 11 are provided. A change in the shape of the monitored object 2 can be detected based on the calculated change over time with respect to. The detection processing device 23 compares the phases of the time changes of the plurality of selected distance sensors 11 with each other, groups the phases that are close to each other by the comparison, and sums the time changes of the groups. Is calculated, the total sum of the respective groups is subtracted between the groups close to the antiphase, and the shape change of the monitored object 2 is detected based on the value obtained by the subtraction. Therefore, for example, the breathing of the sleeping person can be reliably detected. This makes it possible to provide a small and simple monitoring device as well as reliably detecting the state of the sleeping person.

[0021] Further, as described in claim 9, in the monitoring device 1 according to any one of claims 1 to 8, the detection processing device 23 includes a periodical change during the detected shape change. The state of the monitored object 2 may be determined based on either one or both of the cycle and the amplitude.

Further, as described in claim 10, claim 1
Through the monitoring device 1 according to any one of claims 9 to 13,
The detection processing device 23 may be configured to determine that the monitored object 2 is within the monitored area 50 when the detected periodic change during the shape change continues for a certain time or longer.

According to this structure, when the detected periodic change during the shape change continues for a predetermined time or more,
Since it is configured to determine that the monitored object 2 is within the monitored area 50, it is possible to detect, for example, the presence of a sleeping person in bed.

Further, in the above monitoring device 1, the detection processing device 23 does not detect a periodical change after detecting the transitional change in the detected shape change, and the transitional process is performed for a predetermined time or more. It may be configured to determine that the monitored object 2 has moved out of the monitored area 50 when both the change and the periodical change cannot be detected. With this configuration, for example, it is possible to determine whether the sleeping person has left the bed.

Further, as described in claim 11, claim 1
In the monitoring device 1 according to any one of claims 10 to 10, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, the distance sensor 30 includes a light irradiation unit 31 that irradiates the monitored object 2 with a light beam, and a light irradiation unit 31. An image forming optical system 37 for forming an image of a light irradiation pattern generated on the monitored object 2, and based on the image forming position of the image forming pattern light formed by the image forming optical system 37, It may be configured to obtain an output corresponding to the distance by trigonometry.

With this configuration, the distance sensor 30
Is a light irradiation means 31 for irradiating the monitored object 2 with a light beam,
An image forming optical system 37 for forming an image of a light irradiation pattern generated on the monitored object 2 by the light irradiating means 31, and image formation of the image forming pattern light imaged by the image forming optical system 37. Since the output corresponding to the distance is obtained by trigonometry based on the position, the monitoring device 1 can be inexpensive and simple.

Further, as described in claim 12, claim 1
In the monitoring device 1 according to any one of claims 10 to 10, for example, as shown in FIG. 10, the distance sensor 40 includes two or more image forming devices 41 that form an image of the monitored object 2 by individual optical axes. , 42 and the information of the image forming positions from the image forming devices 41, 42, the output corresponding to the distance may be obtained by trigonometry.

With this configuration, the distance sensor 40
Corresponds to the distance by trigonometry based on two or more image forming devices 41 and 42 for forming an image of the monitored object 2 by individual optical axes, and information on the image forming positions from the image forming devices 41 and 42. Since it is configured to obtain an output, the monitoring device 1 can be inexpensive and simple.

In order to achieve the above object, a monitoring device according to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention is installed toward a monitoring target area 50 as shown in, for example, FIGS. A distance sensor 11 for measuring a distance; a calculation device 22 for calculating a time change of the output of the distance sensor 11; and a detection processing device 23 for detecting a shape change of the monitored object 2 based on the calculated time change. Included: The detection processing device 23 is configured to determine that the monitored object 2 is within the monitored area 50 when the detected periodical change during the shape change continues for a certain time or longer.

With this configuration, the distance sensor 11
Since the calculation device 22 and the detection processing device 23 are provided, the time change of the output of the distance sensor 11 is calculated, and the shape change of the monitored object 2 is detected based on the calculated time change. You can The detection processing device 23 is configured to determine that the monitored object 2 is in the monitored area 50 when the detected periodic change during the shape change continues for a certain time or longer, and therefore, for example, sleep. Can detect the person's breathing and being in bed. It can also be simply constructed. This makes it possible to provide a small and simple monitoring device as well as reliably detecting the state of the sleeping person.

[0031]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, the same or corresponding members are designated by the same reference numerals or similar reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a monitoring device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a sleeping person 2 as an object to be monitored and periodically changing exists on the upper surface of the bed 6 (hereinafter referred to as the monitoring area 50) as an object to be monitored. Further, bedding 3 is further laid on the sleeping person 2, and a part of the sleeping person 2 and the bed 6
And part of it. That is, the monitoring device 1 monitors the upper surface of the bedding 3. Moreover, without using the bedding 3, the monitoring device 1
May monitor the body of the sleeping person 2 itself. Further, in the present embodiment, the shape change is a continuous change, and the continuous change is a concept including a periodic change and a transitional change. The shape change of the sleeping person 2 is, for example, the sleeping person 2
Are periodical changes and transitional changes. The periodic change of the sleeping person 2 is, for example, the breathing of the sleeping person 2. The transitional change of the sleeping person 2 is, for example, body movement or movement of the sleeping person 2. Further, the periodical change is, for example, a breathing cycle of a person (sleeping person), for example, a change of 5 to 60 cycles per minute. That is, in the present embodiment, the periodic change does not include a periodic change that greatly deviates from the breathing cycle. By the way, the respiratory rate of an adult is in the range of about 5 to 30 times per minute, but in the case of an infant, the respiratory rate tends to be higher.

Further, the monitoring device 1 is configured to judge the state of the sleeping person 2 based on the detected change in the shape of the sleeping person 2. The state of the sleeping person 2 is, for example, normal breathing, abnormal breathing and is dangerous, body movement such as rolling over, movement such as landing, attempting to leave the bed, etc. is there.

On the other hand, a monitoring area 50 is provided on the stand 4 in the figure.
A housing 10 including a plurality of distance sensors 11 that measure the distance to a sleeping person 2 inside is installed. In the housing 10, a plurality of distance sensors 11 are installed corresponding to a plurality of monitoring target points (hereinafter referred to as target points). In addition, in the present embodiment, the housing 10 (distance sensor 1
Although 1) is installed on the stand 4, if there is a wall or ceiling, the wall or ceiling may be used, and the installation location may be appropriately determined depending on the purpose and specifications of the monitoring device. Also stand 4
Are movable and facilitate the installation of the housing 10. It is preferable that the distance sensors 11 are arranged in two or more rows in the housing 10.

The target points will be described with reference to an arrangement example of the target points in the schematic plan view of FIG. 2 and with reference to FIG. 1 as appropriate. As shown in FIG. 2A, the plurality of target points corresponding to the plurality of distance sensors 11 are arranged so that the respective target points do not overlap the adjacent target points. In this case, for example, as shown in the figure, the plurality of target points are the target points 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56 (hereinafter simply referred to as the target point 5 when the target points are not distinguished) in the monitoring area 50. They are arranged in a grid pattern so that they do not overlap each other. It is preferable that the plurality of target points 5 are set in a range that covers the positions of the abdomen, chest, back, and shoulders of the sleeping person 2 on the bed 6 (below the bedding 3) that can be taken while sleeping. In the present embodiment, the number to be arranged is 3 rows and 2 columns (hereinafter referred to as 3 × 2).
However, it may be determined as appropriate depending on conditions such as the place to be monitored and the sleeping person 2, and may be 3 × 3 or 4 × 4, for example. When a plurality of target points 5 are arranged in this way, the distance sensor 11
Even when the irradiation type sensor that measures the distance by irradiating light or ultrasonic waves is used, it is not necessary to control the distance sensors 11 corresponding to the adjacent target points 5 so as not to irradiate simultaneously as described later, The monitoring device 1 can have a simpler configuration.

The target point 5 in the schematic plan view of FIG.
As shown in the arrangement example, adjacent target points 5 may overlap with each other. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the blind spots in the monitoring region 50, which is effective for more accurate monitoring. At this time, when the irradiation sensor that measures the distance by irradiating the distance sensor 11 with light or ultrasonic waves is used, the distance sensor 1 corresponding to the overlapping target points 5 is used.
For No. 1, it is necessary to control so that they do not irradiate at the same time so that they do not affect each other. This is a multiple distance sensor 1
This is because, for example, when the irradiation light is emitted from 1 at the same time, the irradiation light emitted from another distance sensor 11 is mixed with the irradiation light that should be originally received, and it becomes difficult to measure the distance of the target point 5.

When an infrared distance sensor 30 (see FIG. 5) described later is used as the distance sensor 11, the infrared distance sensor 30 is configured so that the wavelength of the light beam projected by each sensor is different as described below. In addition, when the transmission wavelength band corresponding to the light beam projected to the light receiving lens 37 described later is passed by means such as coating, even if the adjacent target points 5 overlap, There is no need to control the irradiation. Also, the distance sensor 1
In the case where the light source of the illuminating luminous flux is blinked at a constant frequency different for each distance sensor 30 and an electric bandpass filter described later for extracting only the signal of the frequency is provided. Even if the target points 5 adjacent to each other overlap, it is not necessary to control so that they are not irradiated at the same time.

Here, as shown in FIG. 2B, the control of the operation when the irradiation type sensor is used as the distance sensor 11 and the target points 5 corresponding to the plurality of distance sensors 11 overlap will be described. . This control is performed by the control unit 21 of the control device 20 described later. In the case of the irradiation type sensor, control is performed such that after measuring the distance of one distance sensor 11, the distance of the next distance sensor 11 is measured. That is, the plurality of distance sensors 11 are controlled so as not to measure the distance at the same time. Such an operation is repeated until the distances of all the provided distance sensors 11 are measured.
This series of operations is one cycle, and the time of one cycle is T.

Further, as described above, the distance sensors 1 are provided one by one.
By controlling so that the distances of the adjacent target points 5 are not measured at the same time (for example, every other target point 5 whose distance is measured at the same time) is used instead of measuring the distance by 1 The distance sensor 11 can simultaneously measure the distance. By doing so, the time T of one cycle can be significantly shortened.

An example of the configuration of the monitoring device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The monitoring device 1 is configured to include a housing 10 in which a plurality of distance sensors 11 are installed and a control device 20. The control device 20 is typically a personal computer or a microcomputer. The plurality of distance sensors 11 are connected to the control device 20, and are configured to output the distance information as the output of the distance sensor 11 to the control device 20. Here, the distance information is, for example, an output value from the distance sensor 11 before actually calculating the distance, but may be the distance itself to the object (sleeping person 2). Hereinafter, these are simply referred to as distances. Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described in terms of distance.
The distance may be acquired from each distance sensor 11 in time series. Further, although the distance sensor 11 and the control device 20 are shown as separate bodies in the drawing, they may be integrally configured.

Further, in the present embodiment, the distance sensor 11 has the target points 5 arranged in 3 × 2 as described in FIG.
3 × 2 are installed in the housing 10 so as to correspond to.

Further, typically, the distance sensor 11 is the housing 1
0 installed in parallel, but shown in the schematic diagram of FIG.
The housing 10 may be curved like 0 '. In this case, the distance sensor 11 is installed along this curve. By using such a case 10 ', a large monitoring area 50 can be easily secured even if the size is reduced. Further, even if the housing 10 'is small, it is possible to easily install the distance sensor 11 so that the adjacent target points 5 do not overlap each other, so that the device can be downsized.

Here, the distance sensor 11 will be further described. Examples of the distance sensor 11 used include an infrared irradiation type distance sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, an electromagnetic wave pulse distance sensor, and a passive optical distance sensor. Of these, the infrared irradiation type distance sensor, the ultrasonic sensor, and the electromagnetic wave pulse distance sensor are irradiation type sensors (active type distance sensors). Further, the distance sensor 11 used is, as described above,
For example, it is preferable to use a relatively simple and inexpensive one as used for an autofocus camera. By using such a distance sensor 11, the monitoring device 1 can be configured simply and inexpensively. An infrared distance sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, an electromagnetic wave pulse distance sensor, and a passive optical distance sensor as examples of the distance sensor 11 will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Referring to the block diagram of FIG. 5, an infrared irradiation type distance sensor 30 as an embodiment of the distance sensor 11 is shown.
The infrared distance sensor 30 will be described below. The infrared distance sensor 30 is a so-called active optical sensor. The infrared distance sensor 30 is an infrared light irradiation unit 31 as a light irradiation unit that irradiates the sleeping person 2 with a light flux.
The infrared light receiving unit 32b and the sensor control unit 33 that controls the entire infrared distance sensor 30 are included. Further, the sensor control unit 33 is provided in the control unit 21 of the control device 20 (see FIG.
(See reference).

The infrared light irradiation section 31 is provided with an infrared LED 34 and an irradiation lens 35, and the light flux of infrared light emitted from the infrared LED 34 passes through the irradiation lens 35 and is a thin parallel light beam. The sleeping person 2 is irradiated with light. Here, the parallel light flux only needs to be substantially parallel, and includes a light flux that is nearly parallel. The infrared light receiver 32 is the infrared light emitter 3
1. A light receiving lens 37 as an image forming optical system for forming an image of the light irradiation pattern generated on the sleeping person 2 by 1, and an image of the light irradiation pattern formed near the image forming position by the light receiving lens 37. One-dimensional position detecting element 36 (hereinafter referred to as PSD 36) as a light receiving means for receiving the imaging pattern light
That is) and.

Further, the infrared distance sensor 30 is a PSD.
As a position information output device configured to output the image forming position information of the image forming pattern corresponding to the distance to the sleeping person 2 based on the image forming position of the image forming pattern light formed on the image forming device 36. It has a position information output unit 39. The position information output unit 39 is provided in the sensor control unit 33. That is, based on the image forming position of the image forming pattern light formed by the light receiving lens 37, the image forming position information of the image forming pattern as an output corresponding to the distance is obtained by trigonometry. Here, the light flux is, for example, a light beam, and the light irradiation pattern by the light flux is a light beam spot. Then, the imaging pattern light is the PSD of the reflected light from the sleeping person 2 of the light beam spot generated on the sleeping person 2.
The light is incident on the light beam 36, and the image formation pattern is an image of a beam light spot formed on the sleeping person 2 formed by the light receiving lens 37. That is, here, the image formation pattern is a substantially circular image.

The light receiving lens 37 is provided with a coating that transmits only the light in the wavelength band of the irradiated light beam. Therefore, the position can be detected with little influence of ambient light. In the above description, the light flux is a thin parallel light flux, but it may be a substantially parallel light flux and may be a light flux diffused or converged to some extent. in this case,
The size of the pattern light on the PSD 36, which will be described later, is appropriate, as long as it does not interfere with the supplement of the position of the center of gravity.

Further, in the infrared distance sensor 30, the wavelength of the light beam projected by the infrared light irradiation section 31 may be different for each sensor. In this case, the transmission wavelength band of the coating applied to the light receiving lens 37 is also set to the transmission wavelength band corresponding to the projected light beam. As a result, even if the adjacent beam lights described with reference to FIG. 2B overlap, they are not affected by the beam lights of the adjacent sensor, and there is no need to perform control so that they do not irradiate at the same time. Can be simplified. Further, the infrared distance sensor 30 may be provided with an electrical bandpass filter that blinks the infrared LED 34 (light source) at a constant frequency and the infrared light receiving unit 32 extracts only a signal of that frequency. As a result, the influence of ambient light can be reduced. Further, by changing the modulation frequency for each sensor, even if the beam lights described with reference to FIG. 2B overlap, the influence of the beam light of the adjacent sensor is eliminated. As a result, even if the light beams overlap, it is not necessary to control them so that they do not irradiate at the same time, and the monitoring device can be simplified. Further, it is also preferable to perform synchronous detection in which the polarity of the amplifier of the infrared light receiving section 32 is switched in synchronization with the irradiation timing of the infrared LED 34.

The PSD 36 will be further described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6A is a schematic plan view.
(B) is a typical front sectional view. As shown in FIG. 6A, the PSD 36 has a light receiving area larger than that of the image forming pattern, and the necessary distance measuring range in the moving direction of the image forming pattern due to the distance change (left and right direction in the figure). Inside, the length is such that the image formation pattern does not protrude due to the movement of the image formation pattern.

As shown in FIG. 6B, the PSD 36
Is a P layer 36a on the surface of the flat silicon on which the imaging pattern light is received, and an N layer 3 on the surface opposite to the P layer 36a.
6b, and I located between the P layer 36a and the N layer 36b.
It is composed of layer 36c. The image formation pattern formed on the PSD 36 is converted into photoelectric and is converted into photocurrent by the P layer 3
Electrodes 36d attached to both ends of 6a are configured to be separately output.

The infrared distance sensor 30 outputs a photocurrent output signal output from both ends of the PSD 36 to the position information output unit 3.
Since the position of the center of gravity of the image forming pattern is output as the image forming position information of the image forming pattern by the calculation by 9, the distance to the sleeping person 2 can be measured as described later. Further, since the infrared distance sensor 30 uses infrared rays as the light beam to be emitted, it is not visible to humans and does not cause discomfort.

Sensor control unit 33 of infrared distance sensor 30
When the PSD 36 detects the position of the center of gravity of the image formation pattern, is modulated in order to distinguish it from ambient light. The modulation is, for example, an operation in which light emission (irradiation) of the beam light is periodically repeated. In this case, the light emission of the light beam may be stopped, for example, by stopping the light emission of the light source or by rotating the light shielding plate or the slit. Further, in addition to the above, the modulation may also change the output of the beam light depending on the intensity of the ambient light. Then, the sensor control unit 33 calculates an output value by subtracting the output value of the PSD 36 when the light beam is not applied from the output value of the PSD 36 when the light beam is applied. Further, in order to ensure reliability, the sensor control unit 33 performs the modulation operation a plurality of times and uses the average output value as a center-of-gravity supplementary signal (hereinafter referred to as a distance measurement signal) which is image formation position information of the image formation pattern. The sensor control unit 33 outputs the distance measurement signal value x, which is the value of the distance measurement signal, to the control device 20 as the distance.

As shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. 7, the distance value A to the sleeping person 2 of interest can be calculated by the following equation using trigonometry based on this distance measurement signal value x. A = f × w / (x−b) (1) f is the focal length of the lens when the light receiving lens 37 of the infrared light receiving section 32 is a single lens, and w is the infrared LED 3
4 and the PSD 36, in other words, the distance (baseline length) between the optical axes of the irradiation lens 35 and the light receiving lens 37, b
Indicates a bias value depending on the arrangement of the light receiving elements of the PSD 36. In addition, the focal length here is the focal length of a combination lens, which is generally used, when the combination lens is used. When calculating the distance value A as described above, the control unit 21 of the control device 20 controls the distance value A.
Should be calculated.

In the above, the infrared distance sensor 30 is
Although the case where the distance measurement signal value x is output as the distance has been described, the distance value A itself calculated by the above method may be output as the distance.

Although the distance measurement signal value x output from each infrared distance sensor 30 is modulated as described above, it is still affected by the ambient light, and fluctuates. In order to absorb this variation, the distance measurement signal values x acquired in time series are averaged to obtain data at that time. This data may be the average value of the distance value A calculated from the distance measurement signal value x, or the height H calculated from the distance value A described later.
The height H2 that is the average value of 1 or the depth L2 that is the average value of the depth L1 may be used. There are various ways of taking the average, but it is also possible to set a fixed time interval in advance and average the data between them, or to set the number to be averaged in advance and calculate the moving average value in time series. But it's okay. In the former case, the number of data is small, which is suitable for rough condition grasp. In the latter case, the number of data will be somewhat large, but detailed behavior can be followed.

As described above, the infrared distance sensor 30 has the P
Since the SD36 can be simply configured, it can be an inexpensive and simple monitoring device.

The ultrasonic sensor 70 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.
The ultrasonic sensor 70 includes an ultrasonic transmitter 71 as an ultrasonic oscillator, an ultrasonic receiver 72 as an ultrasonic receiver, and a sensor controller 73. Furthermore, the sensor control unit 73 is provided with a distance calculation unit 74 that calculates the distance to the sleeping person 2 based on the time difference between the transmission of the ultrasonic transmission unit 71 and the reception of the ultrasonic reception unit 72. In addition, the sensor control unit 7
3 may be provided in the control unit 21 of the control device 20. Further, although the ultrasonic transmitter 71 and the ultrasonic receiver 72 are separate bodies in the present embodiment, they may be integrated. Further, the distance to the sleeping person 2 calculated by the distance calculation unit 74 may be the time difference itself. This is because the distance to the sleeping person 2 is linearly calculated from the time difference.
This is because the change in time difference can be directly regarded as the change in distance.

The means for generating ultrasonic waves in the ultrasonic wave transmitter 71 holds a material having a piezoelectric effect such as piezoelectric ceramics with a metal plate or the like (vibrator), and applies a signal voltage to cause the vibrator to bend and vibrate. By doing so, ultrasonic waves are generated. The means for receiving by the ultrasonic wave receiving unit 72 is for obtaining electric output by vibrating the vibrator by the reflected ultrasonic wave. Therefore, in the case of the ultrasonic distance sensor, if the ultrasonic wave is intermittently generated, the signal wave reflected and returned is detected, and the time difference between the transmitting side and the receiving side can be detected, the speed of sound is increased. Since it is known, the distance to the sleeping person 2 can be measured. In this case, depending on the signal processing after detection, the closest reflection can be detected or the average distance of the irradiation area can be measured.

The electromagnetic wave pulse distance sensor 80 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. The electromagnetic wave pulse distance sensor 80 includes an electromagnetic wave transmitting / receiving unit 81 and a sensor control unit 82. The electromagnetic wave transmission / reception unit 81 is configured to include an antenna, and oscillates an electromagnetic wave pulse-modulated toward the sleeping person 2 and receives an electromagnetic wave reflected by the sleeping person 2. Further, the sensor control unit 82 is provided with a distance calculation unit 83 that calculates the distance to the sleeping person 2 based on the time difference between the electromagnetic wave oscillation and the reception. In addition, the sensor control unit 82 uses the control device 2
It may be provided in the zero control unit 21. Further, although the electromagnetic wave transmitting / receiving unit 81 is integrated in the present embodiment,
The electromagnetic wave pulse transmission unit and the electromagnetic wave reception unit may be separately configured. In addition, the distance to the sleeping person 2 may be the time difference itself as in the case of the ultrasonic sensor 70 described above. The electromagnetic wave is typically a microwave of about 10 GHz.

Since the electromagnetic wave pulse distance sensor 80 uses microwaves for electromagnetic waves, its directivity becomes stronger than that of ultrasonic waves, so that the target point 5 can be more pinpointed. Further, since the electromagnetic wave pulse distance sensor 80 measures the distance from the reflected electromagnetic wave that returns in the shortest time if there is reflection from the site irradiated to the object, like an infrared distance sensor, for example. , The erroneous distance measurement due to the lack of the image forming beam light on the PSD does not occur. Further, the electromagnetic wave pulse distance sensor 80 is not affected like the infrared distance sensor even if there is a strong contrast (for example, stripe pattern) in the irradiation area. further,
The electromagnetic wave pulse distance sensor 80 can be easily miniaturized. The infrared distance sensor 30, the ultrasonic sensor 70, and the electromagnetic wave pulse distance sensor 80 described above are irradiation sensors.

A passive type optical distance sensor 40 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. The passive optical distance sensor 40 is configured to include a first light receiving unit 41, a second light receiving unit 42, and a sensor control unit 43 as an imaging device that receives light from the sleeping person 2. The first light receiving unit 41 and the second light receiving unit 42 respectively include light receiving lenses 44a and 44b, a first line CCD 45 as a pair of image pickup devices, and a second line C.
The CD 46 is provided, and the light from the sleeping person 2 is imaged on the first line CCD 45 and the second line CCD 46 via the light receiving lenses 44a and 44b, respectively. Further, the light from the sleeping person 2 is typically reflected light from the sleeping person 2 of the irradiation light applied to the sleeping person 2. In this case, the irradiation light may be natural light or artificial light.

Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the passive optical distance sensor 40 irradiates the monitoring area 50 with illumination light having a specific intensity pattern by illumination pattern projection means (not shown). Good. In this case, since the illumination pattern has a plurality of correlation peak positions described later, a clear periodic structure is avoided. That is, it is preferable to use an aperiodic illumination pattern. The non-periodic illumination pattern may be a plurality of non-periodic bright spots as shown in FIG. 11A, for example. Further, the size of each bright spot may be changed. Further, as shown in FIG. 11B, a non-periodic single or plural slit light may be used. Further, the slit light may have different widths. In this case, it is preferable that the slit light be approximately perpendicular to the base line direction of the distance sensor 11 as illustrated. By doing so, the passive optical distance sensor 40 will be described later even when the contrast in the target point 5 is low or the target object in the target point 5 has a periodic structure (for example, a striped pattern). It is possible to prevent the correlation processing of (1) from becoming inaccurate, and accurate measurement is possible.

Further, the sensor control unit 43 is provided with a correlation output calculation unit 48 as a correlation output calculation device for calculating a correlation output value of each output value of the first line CCD 45 and the second line CCD 46. ing. Further, the sensor control unit 43 may be provided in the control unit 21 of the control device 20. Further, the sensor control unit 43 is provided with a difference image forming unit 47 as a difference image forming apparatus that forms a difference image of images obtained by shifting the time of each of the first line CCD 45 and the second line CCD 46. Good. Accordingly, the sensor control unit 43 can extract the image of the sleeping person 2 who is moving from the images acquired from the first line CCD 45 and the second line CCD 46. The two images for forming the difference image are acquired with a time shift, and the shift time is a time such that the movement amount of the sleeping person 2 does not become too large and can be regarded as substantially the same position, for example, 0. It may be about 1 second. Alternatively, the period is 1 to 10 (1/30 to 1/3) of the television period. When such a difference image is taken, the background is removed and an image of the sleeping person 2 who is moving can be extracted. The case of using the difference image will be described in more detail later.

Here, the correlation output value means the first line CC
The relative image forming position difference caused by the parallax between the D45 and the second line CCD 46, which is typically a value output in the number of pixels by the correlation processing. Sensor control unit 4
3 is based on this correlation output value, that is, the first line CCD 4
The distance is calculated by trigonometry from the parallax between 5 and the second line CCD 46. Correlation processing means the first line C
In this processing, either one of the images obtained from the CD 45 and the second line CCD 46 is shifted until the two images substantially match with each other, and the shifted amount, for example, the number of pixels is calculated. The determination of matching is made based on the strength of the entire signal. The point where the signal peaks is the coincidence point, that is, the correlation peak position. The correlation processing by the difference image formation is performed by the first line CC
The difference image obtained from each of the D45 and the second line CCD 46 is binarized with an appropriate value, and the edge portion thereof is extracted to extract a moving area portion. After that, the correlation process is performed only on the extraction region. That is, the distance of the sleeping person 2 can be obtained from the correlation output value. Further, by dividing the first line CCD 45 and the second line CCD 46 into a plurality of areas and performing the correlation processing for each corresponding area, it is possible to roughly distinguish a part having many backgrounds from an object.

The passive type optical distance sensor 40 is of a type used in an autofocus camera, and typically uses a pair of line CCDs to detect the sleeping person 2.
The bright and dark state (difference in contrast) of the surface of the is detected.
This is to identify which of the corresponding pixels in a pair of line CCDs by correlation processing and measure the distance by trigonometry. The line CCD generally used for the passive type optical distance sensor 40 has a narrow field angle of about 10 ° in full angle, and a relatively large number of sensors are required to cover the target point 5. Since it is not a sensor, there is no problem even if outputs from a plurality of sensors are operated simultaneously. Therefore, the processing can be performed at high speed. Further, as compared with the infrared distance sensor, since the relative position on the pair of line CCDs is compared, there is no influence due to the lack of the beam halfway, and the distance of the target point 5 is stably obtained. There is an advantage that can be done.

Here, the passive optical distance sensor 40
Then, the case of using the difference image for clarifying the distinction between the sleeping person 2 and the background at the target point 5 will be described in detail.

The image obtained by picking up the target point 5 is the first line CCD 45 and the second line CC as an electric image pickup signal.
It is acquired in time series from D46. First line CCD
For the images acquired from the second line CCD 45 and the second line CCD 46 at different times, the difference image forming unit 47 forms a difference image for each line CCD. Here, the reason why the difference image is formed from the images acquired at different times is to remove the background portion from the acquired image and extract the image of the sleeping person 2. As a result, only the moving sleeping person 2 is extracted. Further, the difference image is displayed for a short time, for example, 0.1.
It is formed from the image at the time point shifted by seconds. Since the shift of the image is slight, the position of the sleeping person 2 hardly changes, and it does not interfere with the measurement of the distance. However, the background is erased and the image of the sleeping person 2 can be extracted.

The difference image in which the sleeping person 2 is extracted is the sleeping person 2
Pixels having a relatively large degree of change from light to dark or dark to light due to the movement of can be regarded as the boundary of the sleeping person 2. Then, by performing correlation processing in the pixel area inside this boundary and measuring the distance of the sleeping person 2 by trigonometry, the distance of the sleeping person 2 can be measured accurately and stably.

A method of calculating the distance A to the target point 5 using the passive optical distance sensor 50 will be described with reference to FIG. Where w is a line CCD
The distance (base line length), f is the focal length of the line CCD when the light receiving lens is a single lens, and d is the parallax on the image plane of the line CCD. The focal length here is
When a commonly used combination lens is used, the focal length of the combination lens is used. Accordingly, the distance A to the target point 5 can be calculated by the following equation. A = w x f / d ... (2)

As described above, the distance sensor 1 of the monitoring device 1
As 1, the distance of the sleeping person 2 can be acquired by using any of the distance sensors described above. That is, the distance of the sleeping person 2 can be measured.

Returning to FIG. 3, the monitoring device 1 will be further described. The control device 20 includes a control unit 21 and controls the entire monitoring device 1. The plurality of distance sensors 11 are connected to and controlled by the control unit 21. A storage unit 24 is connected to the control unit 21 and can store data such as calculated information. In the storage unit 24, the distance sensor 1
A distance information storage unit 25 that stores the distances output from 1 in time series is provided. Further, the distance information storage unit 25 may store a reference distance that is a distance to the target point 5 when the sleeping person 2 is not present on the bed 6. The reference distance is stored in the same form as the distance output from the distance sensor 11. The distance stored in the distance information storage unit 25 here in time series may be the distance at the past time point of the monitoring time point, and may be, for example, the distance acquired one frame before.

Further, the storage unit 24 is provided with a breathing pattern storage unit 26 for storing the normal and abnormal breathing patterns of the sleeping person 2. The normal breathing pattern and the abnormal breathing pattern will be described later with reference to FIG.

The control unit 21 is also connected to an input device 27 for inputting information for operating the monitoring device 1 and an output device 28 for outputting the result processed by the monitoring device 1. The input device 27 is, for example, a touch panel, a keyboard or a mouse, and the output device 28 is, for example, a display or a printer. Although the input device 27 and the output device 28 are illustrated as being externally attached to the control device 20 in the present drawing, they may be built in. In addition, the input device 27
May be a switch that can start or cancel monitoring, and the output device 28 may be an LED as an operation indicator. By doing so, the monitoring device 1 can be simply configured.

The control section 21 is also provided with an interface 29 for communicating with the outside. The interface 29 is configured to be able to notify the outside when, for example, the detection processing unit 23 of the control unit 21 determines that the sleeping person 2 is in a dangerous state. The notification is based on, for example, the intensity of light including voice, characters, symbols, and room lighting, or vibration. The interface 29 is a general telephone line, ISDN line, PHS line,
Alternatively, it has a function of connecting to a communication line such as a mobile phone line. In addition, the control unit 21 may be provided with a voice output function, and may notify a third party by voice via an interface 29 that the sleeping person is in a dangerous state.

Further, the control unit 21 has an alarm device 90 which is configured to operate when an abnormality occurs in the monitoring device 1. The alarm device 90 is, for example, the detection processing unit 23.
Therefore, it may be configured to operate when the sleeping person 2 is determined to be in a dangerous state, that is, when the sleeping person 2 has an abnormality or when the monitoring device 1 has an abnormality such as a failure. By doing so, the abnormality occurring in the sleeping person 2 can be quickly dealt with, so that the reliability can be improved. The control device 20 may be configured to notify the occurrence of an abnormality to the outside via the interface 29 when the alarm device 90 is activated. Although the alarm device 90 is shown as an external device in this figure, it may be built-in.

Further, the control unit 21 is provided with a calculation unit 22 as a calculation device for calculating the time change of the distance output from the plurality of distance sensors 11. Multiple distance sensors 1
The distance output from 1 may be a moving average value or a period average value of distances acquired a certain number of times in the past or acquired within a certain past period. By doing so, random noise and sudden noise due to flicker of sunlight entering from a window can be reduced, and false determination of peak position and false determination of zero cross position (intersection where the sign is reversed) can be reduced. .

Further, to calculate the time change means to obtain the distance from the distance sensor 11 at a constant time interval,
This is to extract the shape change of the sleeping person 2 obtained by taking the difference between the distance acquired by the distance sensor 11 and the distance stored in the distance information storage unit 25 in time series.
This is to extract the breathing, body movement, and movement of the sleeping person 2, for example. As a result, the extracted breathing of the sleeping person 2 forms a waveform pattern. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a waveform pattern.

Further, in the control unit 21, a detection processing unit 23 as a detection processing device is provided. Detection processing unit 2
3 is configured to detect the shape change of the sleeping person 2 based on the time change calculated by the calculation unit 22.
That is, it is configured to detect the breathing, body movement, and movement of the sleeping person 2. In addition, the detection processing unit 23 includes one or more selected distance sensors 11 among the plurality of distance sensors 11.
The change in the shape of the sleeping person 2 may be detected based on the change over time.

Further, the detection processing section 23 is configured to judge the state of the sleeping person 2 based on either or both of the cycle and the amplitude of the detected periodic change during the shape change.

Further, the detection processing unit 23 is configured to detect the presence of the sleeping person 2 by comparing the distance to the target point 5 with the reference distance stored in the distance information storage unit 25. ing. Further, the detection processing unit 23 may select the distance sensor 11 having the largest difference between the distance to the target point 5 and the reference distance by this comparison. Then, the breathing, body movement, and movement of the sleeping person 2 may be detected based on the change over time regarding the selected distance sensor 11.

Further, the detection processing section 23 detects that the periodical change (breathing of the sleeping person 2) during the change in shape is detected for a certain period of time, and then the sleeping person 2 is within the monitoring area 50, that is, the sleeping person 2 It may be configured to determine whether the person is in bed. Further, the monitoring device 1 may start the determination of the dangerous state of the sleeping person 2 on the condition that the sleeping person 2 is in bed.
The fixed time is a time during which breathing can be stably detected, and is, for example, 30 to 120 seconds, and more preferably 30 to 90 seconds.

Further, the detection processing device 23 does not detect the periodic change after detecting the transitive change during the detected shape change, and detects both the transitive change and the periodic change for a predetermined time or more. When the state becomes impossible, it may be configured to determine that the monitored object 2 has gone out of the monitored area 50, that is, the sleeping person 2 has gone out of bed. The fixed time is, for example, about 1 to 3 minutes. For example, when the sleeping person 2 actually leaves the bed after detecting body movements and movements, the value of the time change gradually decreases. Therefore, if only the amount of change is observed, the range in which breathing is detected is detected. Then there is nothing to detect. For this reason, the decision to leave the bed is made when both the transitional change and the periodical change cannot be detected. But before this happens,
If breathing is detected, it means that the person is resting after detecting body movement or movement.Therefore, if there is no breathing, body movement, or movement after that, it is judged to be in a dangerous state. There must be.

Further, the detection processing device 23 may be configured to monitor the cycle of the periodic change based on the detected continuous shape change of the sleeping person 2. That is, the detection processing device 23
Is based on the detected breathing, body movement, and movement of the sleeping person 2,
It is configured to monitor the sleep cycle of the sleeping person 2. Further, the detection processing unit 23 is configured to detect the shape change of the sleeping person 2 based on either or both of the cycle and the amplitude of the cyclic change. Further, the detection processing device 23 may be configured to monitor the respiratory rate from the respiratory cycle. Here, monitoring the respiratory rate is also included in the concept of monitoring the cycle.

There are several methods for detecting the shape change of the sleeping person 2 by the detection processing unit 23, and typical examples will be shown below.

First, as a first method for detecting the shape change of the sleeping person 2, the distance sensor 11 having the largest time change in the past fixed time is selected from the plurality of distance sensors 11.
Is selected, and the shape change of the sleeping person 2 is detected based on the time change corresponding to the selected distance sensor 11. In this case, as a method of selecting the distance sensor 11, there is a method of selecting the distance sensor 11 having the largest time-variation variation during the past several breathing cycles of the sleeping person 2 (from several seconds to several tens of seconds). It is valid. This depends on the position of the target point 5 corresponding to each of the plurality of distance sensors 11 and the way in which the breathing, body movement, and movement of the sleeping person 2 reflected in the time change corresponding to each target point 5 are reflected. . Therefore, in order to detect a minute change such as respiration, the detection processing unit 23 is effective to select the distance sensor 11 corresponding to the time change that accurately reflects the change. .

The distance sensor 11 selected in this way may change due to the body movement of the sleeping person 2, for example, when he or she rolls over or moves, but in such a case, after the sleeping state, At a certain time, the distance sensor 11 having the largest variation with time is selected again, and the periodical change, that is, the respiration is detected. In this case, one cycle of the detected signal corresponds to one breath. Further, when the sleeping person 2 is moving, a change in time change much larger than that of breathing is detected, so that it can be seen that the sleeping person 2 is in a body motion state. This fixed time period is a time period suitable for selecting the distance sensor 11 having the largest variation in time change. In other words, the time period until the sleep state of the sleeping person 2 is reflected in the time change. Is. this is,
For example, if only the amplitude of the periodic change is evaluated, it is about several seconds (for example, 3 seconds) to about 20 seconds, more preferably about 10 to 15 seconds. If the respiratory rate is evaluated by performing frequency analysis, it takes about 30 to 90 seconds. In addition, the resting state is
It is a state in which transitional changes, that is, body movements and movements are no longer detected. As described in detail in the second embodiment, for example, a threshold value is set for the state in which the transitional change is no longer detected, and when the time change exceeds this threshold value, it is determined that there is a transitional change. Then, if it is below this threshold value, it is determined that the transitional change is not detected.

Further, a distance sensor whose time change is equal to or more than a certain value is selected, and the periodic change of each selected time change is detected, and the periodic change with the clearest periodicity (representing breathing) is detected. The presence or absence of respiration and the respiration rate may be evaluated from.

As a second method for detecting the change in shape of the sleeping person 2, the detection processing unit 23 selects all of the plurality of distance sensors 11 and detects the time change of the outputs of all the selected distance sensors 11. The total sum is obtained, and the shape change of the sleeping person 2 is detected based on the total sum. This method
Since the shape change of the sleeping person 2 is detected based on the total time change of the distances output from all the distance sensors 11, it is not necessarily the most sensitive, but the simplest method and the high-speed processing. Can be easily realized. Alternatively, the total change in distance over time may be the total difference between the distance output from the distance sensor 11 and the reference distance. in this case,
One cycle of the detected signal corresponds to one breath.

As a third method for detecting the shape change of the sleeping person 2, the detection processing section 23 selects a time change whose absolute value exceeds a certain value, and based on the average value of the selected time changes, The shape change of the sleeping person 2 is detected. Since this method detects the shape change of the sleeping person 2 based on the average value of the time change of the distance, the partial large movement of the sleeping person 2 is diluted as a whole and becomes a magnitude close to the movement of breathing,
It is possible to prevent the detection of the breathing of the sleeping person 2 from being affected. In this case, one cycle of the detected signal corresponds to one breath.

As a fourth method for detecting the shape change of the sleeping person 2, the detection processing section 23 selects a time change whose absolute value exceeds a certain value, and sets it as an average value of the absolute values of the selected time changes. Based on this, the change in the shape of the sleeping person 2 is detected. Since this method detects the shape change of the sleeping person 2 based on the average value of the absolute values of the time change of the distance, for example, a plurality of time changes of the distance whose absolute values exceed a certain value are selected,
Even if the selected plurality of distances change with time with positive and negative values, the respective additions are made without canceling each other, so that sensitivity is improved for small changes such as respiration. In this case, two cycles of the detected signal correspond to one breath.

As a fifth method for detecting the shape change of the sleeping person 2, the detection processing unit 23 compares the respective phases of the time changes of the plurality of selected distance sensors 11 with each other, and by this comparison, the phases are changed. Each close group is grouped and the sum of the time changes of each group is obtained. Then, the sum of each group is subtracted between the groups close to the opposite phase. The detection processing unit 23 detects a change in the shape of the sleeping person 2 based on the value obtained by this difference calculation. This method
As the sums are obtained by grouping the temporal changes having similar phases, the respirations of the sleeping person 2 can be extracted and amplified as a group, for example. Furthermore, since the sum of each group is subtracted between groups close to the opposite phase, and the shape change of the sleeping person 2 is detected based on the value obtained by the subtraction, for example, the portion that rises due to the breathing of the sleeping person 2 Even if there is a portion that drops, the respiratory pattern amplitude can be amplified by subtraction, and respiratory can be reliably detected. In this case, one cycle of the detected signal corresponds to one breath.

As a sixth method for detecting the change in shape of the sleeping person 2, the detection processing device 23 uses a plurality of distance sensors 11.
The frequency spectrums of all the outputs are calculated and the sharpness of the peak of the calculated frequency spectrum is a certain value or more, and the distance sensor 11 having the highest sharpness is selected. The change in the shape of the monitored object 2 may be detected based on the change over time.

The peak sharpness (peak sharpness) is, for example, the value obtained by dividing the height of the spectrum peak by the integral value of the spectrum height of all frequencies, or, in the case of a discrete value, the peak height, for example. , A value obtained by adding the higher height of the spectrum next to the peak and further dividing by the sum of the heights of the spectra of all frequencies can be used as an index. By evaluating that the sharpness of the peak is a certain value or more, it is possible to clearly select, for example, the distance sensor 11 that detects the breathing of the sleeping person 2.
Easy to detect breathing.

As a seventh method for detecting the shape change of the sleeping person 2, the detection processing device 23 calculates the frequency spectrum of the output of the distance sensor 11 in which the absolute value of the time change has a predetermined width, and The distance sensor 11 having the calculated sharpness of the peak of the frequency spectrum of a certain value or more and the highest sharpness is selected, and the selected distance sensor 1 is selected.
The shape change of the monitored object 2 may be detected on the basis of the time change with respect to 1. In this method, the absolute value of the change over time is set within a predetermined range in a region where the sleeping person 2 breaths, so that the sleeping person 2's breathing can be easily detected.

As an eighth method for detecting the shape change of the sleeping person 2, the detection processing device 23 calculates the frequency spectrum of the outputs of the plurality of distance sensors 11 from the one having the larger absolute value of the time change, The shape of the monitored object 2 is selected based on the time change of the selected distance sensor 11 in which the sharpness of the calculated peak of the frequency spectrum is a certain value or more and the sharpness is the highest. It may be configured to detect the change.

The detection processing unit 23 detects the shape change of the sleeping person 2 by using the above-described detection method. Monitoring device 1
Determines the state of the sleeping person 2 based on the detected shape change. For example, if the cycle of the breathing pattern is disturbed in a short time, or if the cycle of the breathing pattern changes rapidly, for example, spontaneous pneumothorax, lung diseases such as bronchial asthma, heart diseases such as congestive heart failure, Alternatively, it can be inferred that it is a cerebrovascular disease such as cerebral hemorrhage. If the breathing pattern continues to disappear, it can be inferred that the sleeping person 2 has stopped breathing. Then, in the case where the sleeper 2 frequently moves in the body instead of the breathing pattern in a short time, it can be inferred that the sleeper 2 suffers for some reason and is violent.

Further, the detection of the body movement or movement of the sleeping person 2 can be detected easily because it greatly fluctuates as compared with the case where only the respiration is detected from the time change. In this case, the detection processing unit 23 further determines whether the sleeping person 2 is moving on the spot such as turning over from the time change corresponding to the plurality of distance sensors 11 or moving such as getting up from the bed. You can also detect if you are doing. Further, even when the sleeping person 2 makes periodic small movements such as convulsions, the abnormality can be detected from the waveform pattern. Further, by storing the waveform pattern of the convulsive state in the storage unit 24, it is possible to detect that the sleeping person 2 is in the convulsive state.

An example of normal and abnormal breathing patterns will be described with reference to FIG. The normal breathing pattern stored in the breathing pattern storage unit 26 in the storage unit 24 is a periodic pattern as shown in FIG.
However, in the case of an adult, the normal range of the respiratory rate per minute is about 10 to 20 times. The abnormal breathing pattern stored in the breathing pattern storage unit 26 is, for example,
Chain-Stokes
Respiration, central hyperventilation, ataxic breathing, Kasmaul (Kus
It is a breathing pattern that is considered to occur when a physiological disorder such as a large breath of smul) occurs in the body.

In FIG. 14B, Cheyne-Stock is shown.
The breathing pattern of es breathing, the breathing pattern of central hyperventilation are shown in FIG. 14 (c), and the breathing pattern of ataxic breathing is shown in FIG. 14 (d). Further, FIG. 15 shows a disease name or a diseased part when the above-mentioned abnormal breathing pattern occurs.

The detection processing unit 23 determines which breathing pattern the sleeping person 2 belongs to by utilizing the fact that the breathing frequency, the number of appearances, and the depth of each breathing pattern are different. Judge the state of 2.

Further, when the detection processing section 23 determines that the sleep of the sleeping person 2 belongs to the breathing pattern which is considered to occur due to physiologically impaired Yui, the sleeping person 2 Detects abnormal breathing and is in a dangerous state. The state of the sleeping person 2 detected in this way is
It is output from the output device 28 by the control unit 21. Further, the output contents include the detected respiratory rate and movement frequency of the sleeping person 2, the name of the abnormal breathing pattern, the disease name that is considered to cause the breathing, the diseased organ, the diseased part, and the like.

In the above description, the number of the distance sensors 11 has been described, but the number of the distance sensors 11 may be one. In that case, the monitoring device 1 can be simplified and downsized. Further, the monitoring device 1 can perform high-speed processing because the number of outputs from the distance sensor 11 to be processed is reduced.

According to the first embodiment as described above,
The breathing of the sleeping person 2 can be reliably detected, and the sleeping person 2
The state of can be judged. Moreover, since image processing using a camera that is psychologically uncomfortable is not used, high-speed processing is possible with a simple device. Furthermore, when the elderly and the sick are in a crisis state, a quick emergency response can be provided.

[0104]

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of independent distance sensors that are installed at different positions in the monitored area and measure the distance to the monitored object,
A computing device that computes a time change of the output of each of the plurality of distance sensors, and the monitored object based on the computed time change of one or a plurality of selected distance sensors of the plurality of distance sensors. When the detection processing device for detecting the shape change is provided, it is possible to provide a monitoring device that is not only surely detecting the state of the monitoring target but also is small and simple.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an outline of a monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view illustrating an arrangement example (a) of target points and an arrangement example (b) in which target points overlap, which is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a monitoring device used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view illustrating a case where the distance sensor according to the embodiment of the present invention is installed with a curve.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an infrared distance sensor used in the embodiment of the present invention.

6 (a) is a schematic plan view and FIG. 6 (b) is a schematic front sectional view for explaining the PSD in the case of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method of calculating a distance to a monitoring target according to the embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an ultrasonic sensor used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an electromagnetic wave pulse distance sensor used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a passive optical distance sensor used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing an illumination pattern in the case of FIG.

12 is a pair of line CCDs in the case of FIG.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method of calculating the distance of a monitoring target from the parallax of FIG.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a respiratory waveform pattern used in the embodiment of the present invention.

14 is a schematic diagram showing waveform patterns of normal and abnormal breathing in the case of FIG.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a table of disease names or disease locations corresponding to abnormal respiratory waveform patterns in the case of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Monitoring device 2 sleepers 3 bedding 4 stand 5 target points 6 beds 10 housing 11 Distance sensor 20 Control device 21 Control unit 22 Operation part 23 Detection processing unit 24 Memory 25 Distance information storage 26 Breathing pattern storage 27 Input device 28 Output device 29 interfaces 30 infrared distance sensor 31 Infrared light irradiation unit 32 Infrared light receiver 40 Passive optical distance sensor 41 First light receiving section 42 Second light receiving section 47 Difference image forming unit 48 Correlation output calculator 50 monitoring areas 70 Ultrasonic sensor 80 Electromagnetic wave pulse distance sensor

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G01S 15/10 G01B 11/24 A (72) Inventor Kazuhiro Ajimura 28, 6-8, Rokubancho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Sumitomo Osaka Cement Incorporated (72) Inventor Kei Kato 6-6, Rokubancho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 28 Sumitomo Osaka Cement Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Toshiharu Takei 6-6, Rokubancho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 28 Sumitomo Osaka Cement Co., Ltd. ( 72) Inventor Masato Nakajima 3-14-1, Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa F-Term, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Keio University (Reference) 2F065 AA06 AA53 BB05 CC16 FF01 FF09 GG07 HH02 JJ02 JJ05 JJ16 2F069 AA66 BB40 GG04 GG07 GG08 GG08 GG08 GG08 GG09 4C038 SS08 ST04 SV01 SX20 VA04 VB33 VC01 VC14 5J070 AB01 AC02 AD05 AE09 AG03 AH14 AH25 AH34 AK22 AK32 AK39 5J083 AA02 AC17 AC29 AC32 AD04 AE08 AF01 BA01 BC11 BE14 BE17 BE19 BE41 CA01 CA11 EB02

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of independent distance sensors, which are installed at different positions in a monitored area and measure a distance to a monitored object; and a time change of output of each of the plurality of distance sensors. A computing device for computing; a distance sensor having the largest time change in the past past fixed time is selected from the plurality of distance sensors, and the monitoring is performed based on the time change corresponding to the selected distance sensor. A detection processing device for detecting a change in the shape of the target object; the detection processing device, when the transitional change of the monitoring target object is detected, a predetermined time after the monitoring target object is in a resting state. The distance sensor having the largest time change in is selected, and the shape change of the monitored object is detected based on the time change; 2. A plurality of independent distance sensors, which are installed at different positions in the monitored area and measure the distance to the monitored object; and a time change of output of each of the plurality of distance sensors. A computing device for computing; and a detection processing device for detecting a shape change of the monitored object based on the calculated time change of one or more selected distance sensors of the plurality of distance sensors; The detection processing device selects all of the plurality of distance sensors, and obtains the sum of the time changes of the outputs of the selected distance sensors,
A monitoring device configured to detect a shape change of the monitored object based on the sum. 3. A plurality of independent distance sensors, which are installed at different positions in the monitored area and measure the distance to the monitored object; and a time change of the output of each of the plurality of distance sensors. A computing device for computing; and a detection processing device for detecting a shape change of the monitored object based on the calculated time change of one or more selected distance sensors of the plurality of distance sensors; The detection processing device calculates the frequency spectrum of all outputs of the plurality of distance sensors, and the sharpness of the peak of the calculated frequency spectrum is a certain value or more, and selects the distance sensor with the highest sharpness. Then, the monitoring device is configured to detect a shape change of the monitored object based on a time change of the selected distance sensor. 4. A plurality of independent distance sensors, which are installed at different positions in a monitored area and measure the distance to the monitored object; and a time change of output of each of the plurality of distance sensors. A computing device for computing; and a detection processing device for detecting a shape change of the monitored object based on the calculated time change of one or more selected distance sensors of the plurality of distance sensors; The detection processing device calculates the frequency spectrum of the output of the distance sensor in which the absolute value of the time change has a predetermined width, the sharpness of the peak of the calculated frequency spectrum is a certain value or more, and the sharpness is Select the highest distance sensor and based on the time variation for the selected distance sensor,
A monitoring device configured to detect a change in shape of the monitored object. 5. A plurality of independent distance sensors, which are installed at different positions in the monitored area and measure the distance to the monitored object; and a time change of output of each of the plurality of distance sensors. A computing device for computing; and a detection processing device for detecting a shape change of the monitored object based on the calculated time change of one or more selected distance sensors of the plurality of distance sensors; The detection processing device calculates the frequency spectrum of the output of the plurality of distance sensors from the larger absolute value of the time change, the sharpness of the peak of the calculated frequency spectrum is a certain value or more, and the sharpness Is configured to select the highest distance sensor and to detect a shape change of the monitored object based on a time change for the selected distance sensor; 6. A plurality of independent distance sensors, which are installed at different positions in the monitored area and measure the distance to the monitored object; and a time change of output of each of the plurality of distance sensors. A computing device for computing; and a detection processing device for detecting a shape change of the monitored object based on the calculated time change of one or more selected distance sensors of the plurality of distance sensors; The detection processing device is configured to select a time change whose absolute value exceeds a certain value and detect a shape change of the monitored object based on an average value of the selected time changes. 7. A plurality of independent distance sensors, which are installed at different positions in a monitored area and measure a distance to a monitored object; and a time change of an output of each of the plurality of distance sensors. A computing device for computing; and a detection processing device for detecting a shape change of the monitored object based on the calculated time change of one or more selected distance sensors of the plurality of distance sensors; The detection processing device selects a time change whose absolute value exceeds a certain value, and based on the average value of the absolute values of the selected time changes,
A monitoring device configured to detect a change in shape of the monitored object. 8. A plurality of independent distance sensors, which are installed at different positions in the monitored area and measure the distance to the monitored object; and a time change of the output of each of the plurality of distance sensors. A computing device for computing; and a detection processing device for detecting a shape change of the monitored object based on the calculated time change of one or more selected distance sensors of the plurality of distance sensors; The detection processing device compares each phase of the time change for the plurality of selected distance sensors with each other, and groups the phases that are close to each other by the comparison, and sums the time changes of each group. Obtained, between the groups close to the antiphase, the sum of the respective groups is subtracted, based on the value obtained by the subtraction, to detect the shape change of the monitored object A monitoring device. 9. The detection processing device is configured to determine the state of the monitored object based on one or both of the cycle and the amplitude of the periodic change during the detected shape change; The monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 8. 10. The detection processing device is configured to determine that the monitored object is within the monitored area when the detected periodic change during the shape change continues for a predetermined time or more. The monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 9. 11. The distance sensor includes a light irradiating means for irradiating the monitored object with a light beam, and an imaging optics for forming an image of a light irradiation pattern generated on the monitored object by the light irradiating means. And a system for obtaining an output corresponding to the distance by trigonometry based on the image formation position of the image formation pattern light imaged by the image formation optical system; Item 10. The monitoring device according to any one of items 10. 12. The distance sensor uses the triangulation method based on two or more image forming devices that form an image of the monitored object with individual optical axes, and image forming position information from the image forming device. A monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 10 configured to obtain an output corresponding to the distance. 13. A distance sensor that is installed toward the monitored area and measures the distance to the monitored object; a calculation device that calculates the time change of the output of the distance sensor; A detection processing device that detects a change in shape of the monitored object based on the detection processing device; A monitoring device configured to determine that the device is within the monitored area.