ELECTRONIC SPHYGMOMANOMETER

• US 20110245696A1
• Filed: 06/16/2011
• Published: 10/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Omron Healthcare Company Limited (Omron Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Omron Healthcare Company Limited (Omron Corporation)
• Inventors: Tsuji, Akira, Yamashita, Shingo, Ariga, Hiroyasu
• Granted Patent: US 9,161,702 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/493
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0204 of power management
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0214 of power generation or supply
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0242 adapted to measure environmental factors, e.g. temperature, pollution
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02233 Occluders specially adapted therefor tourniquets A61B17/132
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/23 The load being a medical device, a medical implant, or a life supporting device
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0013 acting upon several batteries simultaneously or sequentially H02J7/1423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0025 Sequential battery discharge in systems with a plurality of batteries

Abstract

A power supply unit of an electronic sphygmomanometer includes a dry cell as a primary battery, a rechargeable battery as a secondary battery, and a power supply control circuit. A voltage detector detects a voltage (characteristic value) of the rechargeable battery, and a voltage detector detects the voltage of the dry cell. A switching control unit performs switching control of the dry cell and the rechargeable battery based on a detection result by the voltage detectors.

Claims

1. An electronic sphygmomanometer that measures a blood pressure of a person to be measured, comprising:

a cuff to be wrapped around a predetermined body site of the person to be measured;

a pressure sensor that detects a pressure inside the cuff;

a measurement control unit that controls a blood pressure measurement of the person to be measured based on a signal from the pressure sensor;

a power supply unit comprising a primary battery and a secondary battery;

a plurality of characteristic value detectors that detect a characteristic value of each of the primary battery and the secondary battery;

a plurality of pressurization units that pressurize the cuff using power supplied from the power supply unit; and

a switching control unit that selects a supply source of the power to operate the electronic sphygmomanometer by switching the primary battery and the secondary battery,

wherein the characteristic value is a value related to a residual quantity of each of the primary battery and the secondary battery, and

wherein the switching control unit;

compares the characteristic value detected by the plurality of characteristic value detectors and a first threshold upon startup of the electronic sphygmomanometer,

selects the primary battery or the secondary battery based on a comparison result,

compares the characteristic value detected by the plurality of characteristic value detectors and a second threshold larger than the first threshold before pressurization by the plurality of pressurization units after the startup, and

selects the primary battery or the secondary battery based on the comparison result.

2. The electronic sphygmomanometer according to claim 1, further comprising a solar battery that receives sunlight and converts the received light energy into electric energy,

wherein the secondary battery stores the electric energy generated by the solar battery.

3. The electronic sphygmomanometer according to claim 2, wherein the switching control unit makes a weather forecast based on the signal from the pressure sensor and selects the primary battery or the secondary battery based on a weather forecast result.

4. The electronic sphygmomanometer according to claim 3, wherein when the characteristic value of the secondary battery is larger than a first threshold upon startup of the electronic sphygmomanometer, when the switching control unit selects the secondary battery, and when the characteristic value of the secondary battery is equal to or smaller than the first threshold, the switching control unit selects the primary battery or the secondary battery in accordance with the weather forecast result.

5. The electronic sphygmomanometer according to claim 1,

wherein when the characteristic value of the primary battery, which is set to be used preferentially of the primary battery and the secondary battery, is larger than the first threshold upon startup of the electronic sphygmomanometer, the switching control unit selects the primary battery, and

wherein when the characteristic value of the primary battery is equal to or smaller than the first threshold, the switching control unit selects the secondary battery, which is the other battery of the primary battery and the secondary battery.

6. The electronic sphygmomanometer according to claim 5,

wherein when the primary battery is selected upon startup of the electronic sphygmomanometer, the switching control unit further switches from the primary battery to the secondary battery when the switching control unit determines that the characteristic value of the primary battery detected by the plurality of characteristic value detectors before pressurization by the plurality of pressurization units is equal to or smaller than the second threshold.

7. The electronic sphygmomanometer according to claim 6, wherein when the secondary battery is selected before pressurization, the switching control unit further switches from the secondary battery to the primary battery again when the switching control unit determines that the voltage of the primary battery during the pressurization by the plurality of pressurization units is larger than a third threshold that is smaller than the second threshold.

8. The electronic sphygmomanometer according to claim 1, wherein the switching control unit preferentially selects the battery specified by a user in advance of the primary battery and the secondary battery.

9. The electronic sphygmomanometer according to claim 1, further comprising a generation unit that generates an alarm sound in a specific timing specified by a user,

wherein when the specific timing comes, the switching control unit further switches the primary battery and the secondary battery based on the detection results by the plurality of characteristic value detectors.

10. The electronic sphygmomanometer according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic value represents any of a voltage value, a voltage level based on the voltage value, and a number of times of measurement calculated from the voltage value.

11. An electronic sphygmomanometer that measures a blood pressure of a person to be measured, comprising:

a cuff to be wrapped around a predetermined body site of the person to be measured;

a pressure sensor that detects a pressure inside the cuff;

a measurement control unit that controls a blood pressure measurement of the person to be measured based on a signal from the pressure sensor;

a solar battery that receives sunlight and converts the received light energy into electric energy;

a power supply unit comprising a primary battery and a secondary battery that stores the electric energy generated by the solar battery; and

a switching control unit that selects a supply source of power to operate the electronic sphygmomanometer by switching the primary battery and the secondary battery,

wherein the switching control unit makes a weather forecast based on the signal from the pressure sensor and selects the primary battery or the secondary battery in accordance with a result of the weather forecast.

12. The electronic sphygmomanometer according to claim 11, further comprising a plurality of characteristic value detectors that detect a characteristic value of each of the primary battery and the secondary battery,

wherein the characteristic value is a value related to a residual quantity of each of the primary battery and the secondary battery, and

wherein the switching control unit selects the secondary battery when the characteristic value of the secondary battery detected by the plurality of characteristic value detectors is larger than a first threshold upon startup of the electronic sphygmomanometer, and

wherein the switching control unit selects the primary battery or the secondary battery in accordance with the result of the weather forecast when the characteristic value of the secondary battery is equal to or smaller than the first threshold.