JPH0522170B2 - - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic clinical thermometer having a switch part with excellent waterproofness and durability on the surface of a case.

Prior art and its problems An electronic thermometer includes, for example, a thermometer that converts body temperature information into an electrical signal, a measurement section that converts the electrical signal of the thermometer into a digital signal, and a calculation section that calculates the body temperature from this digital signal. It is composed of a display section that displays the body temperature determined by this calculation section, a battery that supplies power to each of these sections, and a case that houses each of the sections.

With the miniaturization of LSI and other electronic circuit elements, this type of electronic thermometer can be made considerably smaller due to circuit technology.

When such an electronic thermometer is used in a hospital or the like, it is essential to perform infection prevention treatments such as disinfection and cleaning of the outer surface of the thermometer in order to prevent mutual infection between patients via the electronic thermometer.

For this reason, the present applicant has proposed that waterproofness be imparted to electronic thermometers by various methods (Utility Application No. 184112/1983, Patent Application No. 35383/1983, Japanese Patent Application No. 169088/1983). No. ``Special Publication No. 3-44648'').

Incidentally, it is preferable that the electronic thermometer is provided with a movable switch for turning off the battery when not in use.

Conventionally, when installing a movable switch in the case of an electronic thermometer, the switch operating part and the switch mounting part had to be constructed from separate parts, and it was difficult to make the joint part liquid-tight, so it was difficult to make the joint part waterproof. There was no way I could do it.

Therefore, the switch operating part is made of soft resin,
It is conceivable to bond this and the switch mounting portion with an adhesive, but this has the disadvantage that complete waterproofness cannot be ensured and the durability of the bonded portion is poor after multiple uses.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic thermometer that is equipped with a mechanical switch that is operated from the outside of the case and is excellent in waterproofness and durability.

These objects are achieved by the invention described below.

That is, the present invention is an electronic thermometer in which an electronic circuit element and a battery are housed in a rod-shaped hard resin casing that has a narrow extension part at one end with a temperature-sensing part covered with a metal cap at one end. , the casing is liquid-tightly molded with a display window member molded from a transparent resin and a casing main body molded from an opaque resin; A potting material is filled between the metal cap and the switch mounting part provided in the housing, and a switch operating part made of a soft resin that covers the hole is integrally molded in two colors in a liquid-tight manner. This electronic thermometer is characterized by:

Specific Configuration of the Invention The specific configuration of the present invention will be described in detail below.

1, 2, 3, and 4 are a partial sectional view, a perspective view, and a sectional view of an electronic thermometer 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the electronic thermometer 1 has a cap 8 forming part of the housing 2 at its rear end. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, this cap 8 has a hole 81 through which a pressing portion 511 of the switch operating portion 51 of the switch 5 projects.

The material of this cap 8 is made of hard resin.
Usually, polyethers such as polyphenylene oxide; polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate and polybutylene terephthalate; polyacetals; acrylic resins such as polymethyl methacrylate; polystyrene resins such as ABS resin;
Polyolefins such as 2-methylpentene and polypropylene; formed from opaque resins such as polycarbonate or resins made opaque by coloring.

That is, in this embodiment, the hole 81 of the cap 8 constituting the box 2 is used as the hole of the switch mounting portion.

In this embodiment, the hole for the switch attachment part is provided on the rear end surface of the cap 8, but the hole for the switch attachment part may be provided on the side surface of the cap 8. A hole for a switch mounting portion may be provided in the housing 4.

In this way, the hole of the switch mounting part provided in the cap 8, for example, is the hole for the switch operating part 51.
This is for the pressing part 511 to protrude.

The hole 81 is made approximately equal to the planar shape of the pressing portion 511, which will be described later, and the size of the hole 81 is slightly larger than the size of the pressing portion.

On the other hand, the switch operating section 51 is integrally molded in a liquid-tight manner so as to cover the hole of the switch mounting section, and has a pressing section 511.

Various modes are possible for providing the pressing part 511 in the switch operating part 51, but a contact part 513 in which the switch operating part 51 is integrally molded to the peripheral edge of the hole of the switch mounting part in a liquid-tight manner is used. It is preferable to form it so as to have a deformed part 515 connected to this close contact part 513, and a pressing part 511 connected to this deformed part 515.

In this case, the pressing part 511 may have a thickness similar to that of the deforming part 515, but normally it is thicker than the deforming part 515 as shown in the figure, and the pressing part 511 preferably protrudes from the hole 81 of the switch mounting part. It is preferable that when the portion 511 is pressed, the deformable portion 515 is mainly deformed, and the contact 9 is opened and closed by the inward movement of the pressing portion 511 as the deformed portion deforms.

The thickness of the contact portion 513 is approximately 0.7 to 1.0 mm.
The thickness of the pressing part 511 is approximately 5 to 7 mm, the diameter of the hole 81 of the switch mounting part is approximately 4.5 to 5.5 mm, the diameter of the pressing part 511 is approximately 2.0 to 3.0 mm, and the pressing part 511 is pressed and released. It is preferable that the moving distance is about 0.5 to 1.5 mm.

The switch operation section 51 is entirely made of soft resin in order to enable the contact 9 to be opened and closed by pressing.

However, since the switch operating part 51 is preferably liquid-tightly molded with the switch mounting part by two-color molding as described later, the preferred material is
Examples include SBS elastomer, polyester elastomer, olefin elastomer, urethane elastomer, etc.

Note that the switch operating portion 51 may be pressed by a human finger or the like, as shown in FIG.
Alternatively, it may be performed when the thermometer is stored in the case.

Further, the opening/closing operation of the contact 9 may be closed when pressure is released, opened when pressed, or may be switched between opening and closing upon pressure, and these may be selected as appropriate depending on the type of contact 9. good.

Such a switch operating section 51 and the cap 8
The liquid-tight integration of the switch attachment portion with the hole 81, etc., is preferably performed by two-color molding.

Two-color molding is performed according to a conventional method, and the molding order, molding conditions, etc. can be changed in various ways.

As shown in FIG. 3, the electronic thermometer 1 has a housing 3 that forms a box 2. As shown in FIG.

The housing 3 includes a window member 4 and a housing body 30.

Then, the outer surface of the window member 4 is covered with an opaque resin housing body 30, leaving the display window 35.
It is set as casing 3.

Further, the front end side of the housing 3 of the box 2 is connected to a probe cap 11 that extends the housing body 30 to a narrow diameter in the longitudinal direction and protects the temperature sensing part, and the rear end is connected to the probe cap 11 through a battery holder 85. Connect with cap 8.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the electronic thermometer 1 houses a temperature measuring element 10 such as a thermistor that converts body temperature information into an electrical signal within the tip of the probe.

The temperature measuring body 10 is connected to electronic circuit elements such as a calculation display section 6 that is driven by a battery 7. The calculation/display unit 6 digitizes the signal from the temperature measuring body 10, calculates it, and displays it, and may use any known measurement circuit such as a direct display type or a predictive type.

These temperature measuring body 10, calculation display section 6, and battery 7 are as follows:
It is housed in the box 2 of the present invention.

A metal probe cap 11 made of stainless steel or the like is fitted onto the tip of the casing 2, and a potting material 12 is filled between the temperature sensing element 10, the probe cap 11, and the tip of the housing 3.

A battery holder 85 is installed at the rear end of the casing 3 forming the box 2, and the battery 7 is housed in the battery holder 85.

A contact 9 and a switch 5 are arranged at the rear of the battery 7. By operating this switch 5, the contacts 9 are brought into contact and separated, thereby opening and closing the circuit.

The battery holder 85 housing the battery 7 is structured to be bonded to the cap 8 and the rear end of the casing 3 with an adhesive. Further, by selecting a combination of resins, bonding methods such as ultrasonic welding are also possible.

In such a case, the housing 3 constituting the box 2,
Like the cap 8, the battery holder 85 is made of polyether such as polyphenylenoxide; polyester such as polyethylene terephthalate or polybutylene terephthalate; polyacetal; acrylic resin such as polymethyl methacrylate; polystyrene resin such as ABS resin; Polyolefins such as 2-methylpentene and polypropylene; formed from opaque or hard resins made opaque by coloring, such as polycarbonate.

The window member 4 may be a transparent resin such as polystyrene such as polystyrene; polyolefin such as poly-2-methylpentene or polypropylene; acrylic resin such as polymethyl methacrylate; cellulose ester such as cellulose acetate; polyester such as polyethylene terephthalate, etc. formed from.

In addition, the probe cap 11 is made of stainless steel,
Made of metal such as aluminum.

In such a case, the window member 4 and the opaque resin housing 3 may be integrated as long as the housing 3 is in liquid-tight contact with the display window 35 of the window member 4.

Therefore, their integration can be done in various ways.

However, since it is preferable to integrate the two by two-color molding, in this case, it is preferable to make the window member 4 into a cylindrical body because the range of liquid-tight contact will be widened, and this will improve the waterproofness of the window part. It will be extremely high.

Furthermore, the window member 4, which is preferably formed as a cylindrical body, has a display window 35 as shown in FIG.
It is preferable to form a stepped locking part on the periphery of the housing 3 to improve the connection with the opaque resin housing 3.

Specific Effects of the Invention The electronic thermometer of the present invention converts body temperature information into an electrical signal by the temperature measuring element provided at its tip, and converts this electrical signal into a digital signal by the measuring section. Further, the calculation unit performs calculations to determine the body temperature from this digital signal, and displays this on a display unit such as a liquid crystal.

Electric power is supplied to each of these parts by a battery.

On the other hand, this power is not constantly supplied, but is turned on and off by opening and closing contacts. In other words, the power is turned on only when the electronic thermometer is used.

This contact is opened and closed by driving the switch 5.

The switch is driven by pressing a pressing portion 511 located approximately at the center of the switch operating portion 51 with a finger or the like. Once pressed, the pressing portion 511 moves a sufficient distance to bring the contact 9 into contact and remains there until pressed again, preferably by a stopper mechanism. If you press it again, the stopper will release and return to its original position, and the contact 9 will separate.

A one-shot pulse signal can be sent to an electronic switch using a flip-flop, etc. by using a general-purpose button switch or by making contact when pressed.
It may be one that repeats ON-OFF operations.

Specific Effects of the Invention According to the electronic thermometer of the present invention, the casing is liquid-tightly formed by the display window member molded from transparent resin and the casing main body molded from opaque resin, and the temperature sensing portion A potting material is filled between the thermometer and the metal cap, and a switch operation part made of soft resin is integrally and liquid-tightly installed in the hole of the switch mounting part provided with the casing. Because it is colored molded, it has excellent waterproof properties.

Furthermore, unlike when bonding with an adhesive, the adhesive surface does not peel off, so it has excellent durability even after multiple uses.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the number of parts is reduced and the structure is simple, so reliability can be improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are partial sectional views showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the electronic thermometer of FIG. 3. Explanation of symbols, 1...Electronic thermometer, 2...Case,
3... Housing, 30... Housing body, 35... Display window, 4... Window member, 5... Switch, 51... Switch operating part, 511... Pressing part, 513... Close contact part, 515 ...Transformation section, 6...Calculation display section, 7
...Battery, 8...Cap, 81...Hole, 9...
... Contact, 10 ... Temperature measuring element, 11 ... Probe cap, 12 ... Potting material.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An electronic thermometer in which an electronic circuit element and a battery are housed in a rod-shaped hard resin casing that has a small-diameter extension part at one end with a temperature-sensing part covered with a metal cap. The casing is liquid-tightly formed of a display window member molded from a transparent resin and a casing body molded from an opaque resin, and the temperature sensing portion includes a temperature measuring device. A potting material is filled between the body and the metal cap, and a switch operation part made of a soft resin that covers the hole is liquid-tightly integrated into the hole of the switch mounting part provided in the housing in two colors. An electronic thermometer characterized by being molded.