JP2001249056A - Electronic clinical thermometer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic clinical thermometer of a flexible type which is simple in structure, superior in strength and low in cost and in which many kinds of different favorable characteristics of a plurality of resin materials are selectively exhibited at each position of a clinical thermometer case. SOLUTION: A rigid thermoplastic resin material of good adhesion to metals is used as a material for a leading end part in touch with a sensor cap wrapping a thermistor as a temperature sensor at a probe cylindrical part of the case of this electronic clinical thermometer. A thermoplastic elastomer material is used as a material for a cylindrical principal part which is a part where a lead wire of the thermistor passes. Both materials are integrally molded by the two color molding method. Resin materials of different characteristics are used as materials for at least a part and for the other part of the case of the electronic clinical thermometer. Both are integrally molded by the two color molding method.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a configuration of a probe portion of a case of an electronic thermometer. More specifically, the present invention relates to a configuration in which the characteristics of a plurality of different types of materials are exhibited in a single thermometer case.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, an electronic thermometer that has been widely used has a shape and a size similar to those of a mercury-type thermometer to some extent, except for a type that measures the temperature inside the body from an ear canal. Generally, a power supply detects a resistance change due to body temperature of a thermistor (thermosensitive resistance element) touched under the armpit or under the tongue, converts the resistance into a temperature value, and displays the temperature on a liquid crystal display unit. FIG. 2A is a plan view partially showing a cross-sectional structure of an example of such a conventional electronic thermometer, and FIG. 2B is a side view.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body of an electronic thermometer.
A power supply battery, a measurement circuit (not shown), a liquid crystal display device 1a, an operation switch 1b, and the like are built in a case made of a synthetic resin. In this conventional example, the thermometer case is almost entirely formed of a hard thermoplastic resin, and is called a rigid-type thermometer.

[0004] The left side of the main body 1 is a probe portion, which comprises a probe tube portion 2 and a metal sensor cap 3 at the tip. A thermistor 4 is provided inside the sensor cap 3 and a probe tube portion is provided. The unit 2 includes a lead wire 5 for connecting the thermistor 4 to an internal circuit of the main unit 1. The thermistor 4 is filled with an adhesive 6 and held in the sensor cap 3 for the purpose of protecting the thermistor and improving the thermal conductivity with the sensor cap.
This adhesive also normally serves to bond the sensor cap and the probe cylindrical portion.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of a probe portion which is a main portion of another conventional electronic thermometer. The thermometer of the second conventional example is called a flexible type, and a main body (not shown) is the same as that of the first conventional example, but the probe has a large flexibility and rubber elasticity plasticity. It is formed of a resin material (PVC, silicon, elastomer, etc.). When the probe section is made flexible, there are merits as a thermometer, such as improvement in a feeling of fitting at the time of temperature measurement, not feeling cold when touched, and safety at the time of temperature measurement in the mouth.

As the material of the sensor cap 3, metal is exclusively used in consideration of thermal characteristics. However, a highly flexible material usually used for a probe portion of a flexible type thermometer has poor adhesion to a metal material of a sensor cap. Therefore, in the structure shown in FIG. 3, the lead wire 5 of the thermistor 4 is passed through a thin tube 7 made of a thermoplastic resin material having good adhesion to metal (though it is thin, the flexibility is sufficiently large even with a hard material). The tube 7 is passed through the large flexible probe cylindrical portion 2 to protrude a little at the tip, and the sensor cap 3 and the sensor cap 3 are attached by the adhesive force between the portion and the adhesive 6 (using a material having adhesive force to metal). The connection with the cylindrical portion 2 was achieved. The surface of the tip portion of the cylindrical portion 2 is in contact with the adhesive 6 but is not completely bonded.

[0007]

As described above, in the prior art, a flexible-type thermometer is used for the tube 7.
It requires extra parts like, complicates the structure,
The bonding man-hour also increases. In addition, since it depends on the adhesive force with a thin tube, the strength is weak, which is not preferable.

An object of the present invention is to provide a flexible electronic thermometer which has a simple structure and excellent strength. Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic thermometer in which different preferable properties of a plurality of resin materials are selectively exerted at each location of a thermometer case.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic thermometer according to the present invention has the following features. (1) The tip of the tip of the probe portion of the probe of the case of the electronic thermometer, which is in contact with the sensor cap surrounding the thermistor as the temperature sensor, is made of a hard thermoplastic resin material having good adhesion to metal, and the lead wire of the thermistor The material of the cylindrical main portion, which is the portion through which the fluid passes, is a thermoplastic elastomer material, and both are integrally molded by a two-color molding method.

The electronic thermometer of the present invention may have the following features. (2) The material of at least a part of the case of the electronic thermometer and the other part are made of resin materials having different characteristics, and both are integrally molded by a two-color molding method.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view of a probe part of an electronic thermometer according to an embodiment of the present invention. Although this drawing shows only the vicinity of the tip of the probe section, other portions, for example, the main body section roughly conform to the configuration of the conventional example in FIG.

In this embodiment, the probe cylindrical portion 2 is composed of two parts. That is, the metal sensor cap 3
And a cylindrical main portion 2b that subsequently extends toward the main body. The material of the distal end portion 2a is selected from a hard thermoplastic resin material such as ABS, PP, PE, or PC, which is preferably made of a material having high flexibility, as the material of the tubular main portion 2b. For example, a thermoplastic elastomer material belonging to polyurethane or polyester is used. This refers to a polymer material which exhibits rubber elasticity at normal temperature but is plasticized and moldable at high temperature, and there are many types.

The probe cylindrical portion 2 is formed by a so-called two-color molding method (also called a composite molding method). One of the two materials is first supplied and molded into a molding die, and then the molded body is transferred into the cavity of another mold, and then the other material is filled in the rest of the cavity. In the process, at least the latter material is brought into contact with the surface of the former molded material in a molding die in a molten state, so that the two materials are firmly joined to give a predetermined outer shape as a whole. In this way, the tip of the cylindrical main portion is provided with good adhesiveness to the metal adhesive 6, and the necessary flexibility is provided to most of the probe portion. The bonding strength with the sensor cap is high because the bonding surface with the sensor cap can be the entire surface. Further, auxiliary parts such as a conventional tube are not required, and the structure is simplified.

Although an example of the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, it is needless to say that the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, the materials used are not limited to those illustrated. Further, in the example of FIG. 1, not only the cylindrical main part of the probe part but also the case of the main body part may be formed of a highly flexible material, and the main body part case is formed of a thermoplastic resin. A configuration based on a two-color molding method in which only a cylindrical main part in the middle of the tip part is made of a flexible resin material is also conceivable.

Instead of applying the two-color molding technique only by focusing on the probe part in order to adhere the metal sensor cap, the two-color molding technique (molding with three or more materials) is applied to an arbitrary part of the electronic thermometer case. There is also a possibility that the characteristics of a partially different resin material may be exerted and a function which has not been provided in the past may be provided by applying the same method.

[0016]

According to the present invention, when a rigid thermoplastic resin is used at the tip of the probe cylindrical portion and a thermoplastic elastomer is used at the main cylindrical portion, the number of parts is small with a simple structure and the strength is low. There is an effect that a flexible electronic thermometer that is expensive and has reduced manufacturing and assembly costs can be realized. Further, since the case of the electronic thermometer is partially formed using a different resin material, it is possible to realize an electronic thermometer in which different preferable characteristics of a plurality of resin materials are selectively exhibited at each location of the case.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of a probe unit of an electronic thermometer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2A and 2B show a conventional example of an electronic clinical thermometer, in which FIG. 2A is a plan view with a partial cross section, and FIG. 2B is a side view.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of a probe section of another conventional electronic thermometer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body part 1a Temperature display part 1b Operation button 2 Probe cylindrical part 2a Tip part 2b Cylindrical main part 3 Sensor cap 4 Thermistor 5 Lead wire 6 Adhesive 7 Tube

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A material of a tip portion in contact with a sensor cap enclosing a thermistor, which is a temperature sensor, in a cylindrical portion of a probe of a case of an electronic thermometer is a hard thermoplastic resin material having good adhesiveness to metal. An electronic thermometer characterized in that a material of a cylindrical main portion through which a lead wire passes is made of a thermoplastic elastomer material, and both are integrally formed by a two-color molding method. 2. A material of at least a part of the case of the electronic thermometer and another part is made of a resin material having different characteristics.
An electronic thermometer, wherein both are integrally formed by a two-color molding method.