Pressure sensor, pressure fluctuation detector and pulse detector using the pressure sensor
First Claim
1. A pressure sensing apparatus including:
- a flat surface;
at least three pressure measurement means for measuring pressures at different measurement positions on said flat surface, and for outputting output signals proportional to pressures measured at said measurement positions;
an elastic member having a convex shape for propagating pressure vibrations and for attenuating said pressure vibrations as they propagate across said elastic member;
an attachment means for attaching said elastic member to said flat surface so that a bottom surface of said elastic member covers said measurement positions; and
whereinsaid elastic member includes an exposed surface for engagement with a measurement surface whereby pressure vibrations on said measurement surface are measured by said at least three pressure measurement means in accordance with pressure vibrations propagated across and attenuated by said elastic member.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention has as its objective the presentation of a compact and simple pressure sensor having the ability to measure pulses, the pressure sensor 10 being composed of pressure sensing elements S1 -S4 and elastic rubber body 1. The measurement positions Q1 -Q4 of the pressure sensing elements S1 -S4 are on the bottom surface L of the convex-shaped elastic rubber body 1, at the same distance a from the origin of the x and y axes. If the elastic rubber body 1 is pressed in the vicinity of an artery, blood current changes in said artery, that is, vibrations from the artery occur on the exposed surface of the elastic rubber body 1, these vibrations propagate through the elastic rubber body 1 as elastic waves, and are measured as pressure waves by the pressure sensing elements S1 -S4. Their magnitudes decrease as the inverse square of the propagation distance of the elastic waves through the elastic rubber body 1, and the coordinates of the projection of the pressure wave generation point on the bottom surface L are calculated from the voltages V1 -V4 of the pressure sensing elements S1 -S4 and the distances from the pressure vibration generation point to the measurement positions Q1 -Q4. By determining these coordinates for each passage of a set time interval, the pulse front propagation speed and the artery position are able to be determined.
43 Citations
33 Claims
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1. A pressure sensing apparatus including:
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a flat surface; at least three pressure measurement means for measuring pressures at different measurement positions on said flat surface, and for outputting output signals proportional to pressures measured at said measurement positions; an elastic member having a convex shape for propagating pressure vibrations and for attenuating said pressure vibrations as they propagate across said elastic member; an attachment means for attaching said elastic member to said flat surface so that a bottom surface of said elastic member covers said measurement positions; and
whereinsaid elastic member includes an exposed surface for engagement with a measurement surface whereby pressure vibrations on said measurement surface are measured by said at least three pressure measurement means in accordance with pressure vibrations propagated across and attenuated by said elastic member. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification