Apparatus and method for measuring temperature in electronic device

• US 10,371,577 B2
• Filed: 04/06/2016
• Issued: 08/06/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Jeon, Tae-Han, Kim, Hongsig, Jung, Hyungrock, Kim, Kyungseok, Park, Jungkeun, Park, Taegun, Cheong, Cheolho
• Primary Examiner(s): Seo, Justin
• Assistant Examiner(s): Royston, John M
• Application Number:
  US15/092,057
• Publication Number:
  US 20160299009A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,217 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 5/0025 Living bodies ear thermometers G01J5/0011; detecting, measuring or recording for diagnostic purposes A61B5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 5/025 Interfacing a pyrometer to an external device or network; User interface
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 5/026 Control of working procedures of a pyrometer, other than calibration; Bandwidth calculation; Gain control
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 5/0265 Handheld, portable ear thermometers G01J5/049
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 5/0275 Control or determination of height or distance or angle information for sensors or receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 5/07 Arrangements for adjusting the solid angle of collected radiation, e.g. adjusting or orienting field of view, tracking position or encoding angular position optical collimating elements G01J5/0806
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 5/0846 having multiple detectors for performing different types of detection, e.g. using radiometry and reflectometry channels
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 5/0896 using a light source, e.g. for illuminating a surface

Abstract

An apparatus and method for measuring a temperature in an electronic device. An amount of light of an optical signal reflected off of an object is measured, and a size of a temperature measurement expectation area on the object based is determined based on the measured amount of light. A temperature measurement guide message is output based on a result of comparing the determined size and a reference area.

Claims

1. A method for measuring a temperature in an electronic device including an infrared (IR) sensor and a temperature sensor, the method comprising:

emitting, by using the IR sensor, an IR light in response to receiving an input for measuring a temperature of an object;

receiving, by using the IR sensor, a light reflected from the object, the light being a reflected light of the IR light;

measuring an amount of the light reflected from the object;

determining a distance between the object and the IR sensor, based on the measured amount of the light;

determining a size of a region for measuring a temperature of the object based on the determined distance and a predetermined distance between the IR sensor and the temperature sensor;

determining whether the determined size of the region is different from a preset size; and

outputting a temperature measurement guide message, in response to determining that the determined size of the region is different from the preset size.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the preset size is determined based on a capacity of the temperature sensor.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to determining that the determined size of the region is the same as the preset size, initiating a measurement of the temperature for the region by using the temperature sensor.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein outputting the temperature measurement guide message comprises:

in response to determining that the determined size of the region is larger than the preset size, outputting a message requiring a user of the electronic device to reduce the distance between the IR sensor and the object.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein outputting the temperature measurement guide message comprises:

in response to determining that the determined size of the region is smaller than the preset size, outputting a message requiring a user of the electronic device to increase the distance between the IR sensor and the region.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

capturing an image representing the region by using a camera of the electronic device;

identifying whether another object exists on the region by analyzing the captured image, the other object being different from the object; and

in response to determining that the other object exists on the region, outputting a message for guiding a user of the electronic device to remove the other object on the region.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein outputting the temperature measurement guide message comprises:

outputting the temperature measurement guide message by generating, by using a motor of the electronic device, a vibration of which an intensity is varied based on a degree of difference between the determined size of the region and the preset size.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the distance between the IR sensor and the object comprises:

identifying a distance corresponding to the measured amount of the light based on a table stored in a memory of the electronic device indicating a correlation between each of a plurality of distances and each of a plurality of amounts of the light; and

determining the identified distance as the distance between the IR sensor and the object.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

capturing an image representing the region by using a camera of the electronic device;

identifying a color of the object based on the captured image; and

obtaining the distance between the object and the IR sensor based on the measure amount of the light and the identified color of the object.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein outputting the temperature measurement guide message further comprises:

outputting the temperature measurement guide message by transmitting the temperature measurement guide message to an external electronic device to which the electronic device is wirelessly connected.

11. An electronic device for measuring a temperature, the electronic device comprising:

a camera;

a memory;

an infrared (IR) sensor;

a temperature sensor; and

a processor configured to;

emit, by using the IR sensor, an IR light in response to receiving an input for measuring a temperature of an object;

receive, by using the IR sensor, a light reflected from the object, the light being a reflected light of the IR light;

measure an amount of the light reflected from the object;

determine a distance between the object and the IR sensor, based on the measured amount of the light;

determine a size of a region for measuring a temperature of the object based on the determined distance and a predetermined distance between the IR sensor and the temperature sensor;

determine whether the determined size of the region is different from a preset size; and

output a temperature measurement guide message, in response to determining that the determined size of the region is different from the preset size.

12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the preset size is determined based on a capacity of the temperature sensor.

13. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to initiate a measurement of the temperature for the region by using the temperature sensor in response to determining that the determined size of the region is the same as the preset size.

14. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to output a message requiring a user of the electronic device to reduce the distance between the IR sensor and the object, in response to determining that the determined size of the region is larger than the preset size.

15. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to output a message requiring a user of the electronic device to increase the distance between the IR sensor and the object, in response to determining that the determined size of the region is smaller than the preset size.

16. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to:

capture, by using the camera, an image representing the region; and

identify whether another object exists on the region by analyzing the captured image, the other object being different from the object; and

in response to determining that the other object exists on the region, output a message for guiding a user of the electronic device to remove the other object on the region.

17. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to output the temperature measurement guide message by generating, by using a motor of the electronic device, a vibration of which an intensity is varied based on a degree of difference between the determined size of the region and the preset size.

18. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

identify a distance corresponding to the measured amount of the light based on a table stored in a memory of the electronic device indicating a correlation between each of a plurality of distances and each of a plurality of amounts of the light; and

determine the identified distance as the distance between the IR sensor and the object.

19. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

identify a color of the object based on the captured image, and

obtain the distance between the object and the IR sensor based on the measure amount of the light and the identified color of the object.

20. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor is configured to output the temperature measurement guide message by transmitting the temperature measurement guide message to an external electronic device to which the electronic device is wirelessly connected.