JP2019005320A - Pedometer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pedometer capable of accurately measuring a walking speed and a walking distance by accurately grasping a stride length changing depending on a walking method, and dramatically improving an exercise effect and effectively improving a physical ability. To do. A calculation means 30 inputs foot acceleration detection means 31 that calculates foot acceleration data Kd based on body motion signal Sa, foot acceleration data Kd, and personal data St output by personal data input means. Then, the stride information calculating means 32 for calculating the stride data Hd and the stride height ratio data Hs which is the ratio of the height data to the stride data, and the walking pitch calculating means 33 for calculating the walking pitch data Hp based on the body motion signal. , The walking speed calculating means 34 that calculates the walking speed data Sp from the walking pitch data and the stride data output by the stride information calculating means, and walking in a plurality of stages according to the respective values of the stride height ratio data and the walking speed data. It is provided with a walking force evaluation means 35 that outputs force evaluation data Ar. [Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a pedometer, and more particularly to a pedometer that can increase the exercise effect more than ever.

  The use of pedometers in daily life to manage the number of steps taken and the calorie consumption by walking to help improve health has become widespread. In order to increase the effect of walking, it is desirable to continue walking every day and be aware of the goal of walking every day. From such a background, a technique for continuously walking and conscious of a target is disclosed.

  For example, the following Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which a walking distance is calculated from the number of steps measured with a pedometer and a preset step length, and the total distance of walking is displayed by accumulating the walking distance. .

  The prior art disclosed in Patent Document 1 calculates the walking distance from the daily number of steps, stores the map information of Tokaido, for example, in the pedometer, and displays the current point by daily walking. Increases motivation and encourages walking.

JP 2001-296139 A

In the prior art disclosed in Patent Document 1, it has not been considered at all that the stride changes depending on how to walk. Therefore, there is a problem that walking speed and walking distance are not accurately measured.
In addition, there is a problem that there is a lack of a specific and positive mechanism that enhances exercise effects and effectively improves physical ability.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and accurately measures the walking speed and walking distance by accurately capturing the stride that changes depending on the way of walking, and only overlaps the number of steps found in conventional pedometers. The goal is to realize a pedometer that can drastically improve the goal management technique and dramatically increase exercise effects and improve physical ability.

  In order to solve the above problems, the pedometer according to the present invention employs the following configuration.

  The pedometer according to the present invention includes walking data based on personal data input means, body motion signal detection means, body motion signal Sa output from the body motion signal detection means, and personal data St output from the personal data input means. In addition, in the pedometer comprising the calculating means for calculating the activity amount data, the storage means, and the notifying means, the calculating means calculates foot acceleration data Kd based on the body motion signal Sa. The step acceleration data Kd and the personal data St output from the personal data input means are input to calculate the stride length data Hd and the stride height / height ratio data Hs, which is the ratio of the stature data to the stride length data. Information calculating means, walking pitch calculating means for calculating walking pitch data Hp based on the body motion signal Sa, walking pitch data Hp and stride information calculating means Walking speed calculation means for calculating walking speed data Sp from the output stride length data Hd, and walking power evaluation data Ar of a plurality of stages according to each value of the stride height ratio data Hs and the walking speed data Sp. A walking power evaluation means for outputting is provided.

  The pedometer according to the present invention includes a personal data input means, a body motion signal detection means, a body motion signal Sa output from the body motion signal detection means, and personal data St output from the personal data input means. In a pedometer comprising computing means for calculating walking data and activity amount data, storage means, and notification means, the computing means calculates walking pitch data Hp based on the body motion signal Sa. A foot acceleration detecting means for calculating foot acceleration data Kd based on the body motion signal Sa, and a walking speed for calculating walking speed data Sp based on the foot acceleration data Kd calculated by the foot acceleration detecting means. The calculation means, the walking speed data Sp calculated by the walking speed calculation means, the walking pitch data Hp, and the individual data input means output by the individual data The stride information calculating means for calculating the stride length data Hd and the stride height / height ratio data Hs which is the ratio of the stature data to the stride length data Hd from the data St, and the respective values of the stride height / height ratio data Hs and the walking speed data Sp Correspondingly, walking power evaluation means for outputting a plurality of steps of walking power evaluation data Ar may be provided.

  According to the pedometer according to the present invention, it is possible to accurately capture the step length that changes from moment to moment depending on how to walk, so that the calculation of the walking speed and walking distance is accurate, and the step length and walking speed are comprehensively evaluated. Since the user can be notified, the user can objectively know his / her ability to walk, thereby dramatically improving the physical ability and improving the exercise effect, and also motivating to walk. Can be increased more than ever.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the pedometer which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing and the top view which show the structure of the pedometer which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a graph which shows the example of a waveform of the foot part acceleration signal in the pedometer which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a graph which shows the correlation of the foot | leg part acceleration signal and step length data in the pedometer which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the usage example of the pedometer which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the pedometer which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a graph which shows the correlation of the foot | leg part acceleration signal and walking speed data in the pedometer which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

According to the pedometer according to the present invention, it accurately captures the stride that changes depending on the way of walking, accurately measures the walking speed and walking distance, and fundamentally reviews the monotonous target management method that simply overlaps the conventional steps, Motivation to walk can be increased and physical ability can be improved effectively.
In addition, embodiment shown below shows an example of the pedometer for materializing the technical idea which concerns on this invention, Comprising: This invention is not limited to the following embodiment. In particular, the relative arrangement and the like of each component described in the embodiments is merely an illustrative example, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention unless otherwise specified. is there. In addition, the size, positional relationship, and the like of each member illustrated in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity of explanation. Furthermore, the same portions and the same components may be given the same reference numerals and redundant description may be omitted.

[First Embodiment]
Hereinafter, a specific configuration of the pedometer 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.
In the following description, “walking” includes “running” such as jogging.

[Description of configuration: FIG. 1]
First, the configuration of the pedometer 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a pedometer 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, a pedometer 1 includes a personal data input means 10 for outputting personal data St consisting of a user's preset height, weight, age, and gender, an X direction signal by detecting a user's body movement, Body motion signal detecting means 20 for outputting a body motion signal Sa composed of a Y direction signal and a Z direction signal, a computing means 30 for calculating walking data and activity amount data from the body motion signal Sa and personal data St, and notification means 40, storage means 50, and battery 3. For the sake of explanation, in FIG. 1, the information terminal 100 through which the pedometer 1 transmits and receives data and the communication magnetic field W are indicated by broken lines.

In this embodiment, the personal data input means 10 is composed of a contact point switch, and presets personal data including the height, weight, age and sex of the user of the pedometer 1.
The body motion signal detection means 20 is composed of a three-dimensional acceleration sensor formed by a MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) type technology, and includes body motion composed of an X-axis acceleration signal Sx, a Y-axis acceleration signal Sy, and a Z-axis acceleration signal Sz. The signal Sa is output.

  The calculation means 30 is constituted by a microprocessor, and controls the overall operation of the pedometer 1, while also detecting foot acceleration detection means 31, step information calculation means 32, walking pitch calculation means 33, walking speed calculation means 34, and walking power evaluation. The elements of means 35 are provided in software form. The storage means 50 is a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory and stores walking data, activity data, and date information.

  The notification means 40 is composed of a liquid crystal display and displays walking data or activity data. It also has a bar graph to convey various information to the user. In this embodiment, the battery 3 is a button-type primary battery, but may be a secondary battery.

[Description of structure: Fig. 2]
Next, the structure of the pedometer 1 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view of the central portion of the pedometer 1, and FIG. 2B is a plan view.
As shown in FIG. 2A, the pedometer 1 includes an electrical board 61 in a case body composed of an upper case 62 and a lower case 63, and a button battery 3 is provided on one surface of the electrical board 61 by a battery spring 3s. Are mounted elastically, and the other surface is mounted with a body motion signal detecting means 20 using a triaxial acceleration sensor and a computing means 30 using a microprocessor.

  The notification means 40 is mounted on the upper case 62 and is connected to the electrical board 61 by the connection C. Although not shown in FIG. 2A, the electrical board 61 is provided with storage means 50 using flash memory, and the upper case 62 is provided with personal data input means 10. The upper case 62 is provided with an antenna for communicating with the information terminal 100.

  As shown in FIG. 2 (b), the notification means 40 and the personal data input means 10 are mounted on the upper case 62 of the pedometer 1. The notification unit 40 includes a stride display area 41, a walking speed display area 42, and a bar graph display unit 43. In this embodiment, the display range of the stride length display area 41 is 30 cm to 180 cm, and the display range of the walking speed display area 42 is 2.0 km / h to 15.0 km / h (“h” indicates time). In addition, the bar graph display unit 43 displays a five-step walking level in a bar graph according to walking power evaluation data Ar described later.

  Next, the body motion signal Sa output from the body motion signal detection means 20 will be described in detail. The body motion signal Sa includes an X-axis acceleration signal Sx, a Y-axis acceleration signal Sy, and a Z-axis acceleration signal Sz. The X-direction acceleration signal Sx in FIG. 2A is detected as the X-axis acceleration signal Sx. , And the acceleration in the direction perpendicular to the electrical board 61 is detected as the Z-axis acceleration signal Sz. Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, acceleration in a direction perpendicular to both the X direction and the Z direction is detected as a Y-axis acceleration signal Sy.

[Description of various functions of the arithmetic means 30: FIGS. 1 to 4]
1-4, the functions of various elements of the foot acceleration detecting means 31, the stride information calculating means 32, the walking pitch calculating means 33, the walking speed calculating means 34, and the walking power evaluating means 35 in the calculating means 30 will be described in detail. Describe.
FIG. 3 is a graph showing a waveform example of a foot acceleration signal that is the acceleration of the foot when the foot moves back and forth during walking, and FIG. 4 is a graph showing the correlation between the foot acceleration signal and the stride data.

[Detection of foot acceleration data Kd and walking pitch data Hp]
A waveform example of the foot acceleration data Kd detected by the foot acceleration detecting means 31 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a time-series graph showing waveform examples of the X-axis acceleration signal Sx and the Z-axis acceleration signal Sz in the body motion signal Sa, the horizontal axis t is time, and the vertical axis M is the X-axis acceleration signal Sx and the Z-axis. The amplitude is expressed in arbitrary units of the acceleration signal Sz.

  When the user starts walking, the X-axis acceleration signal Sx generates + side peak points P2, P4, P6... Pn and −side peak points P1, P3, P5. This is because the acceleration when the foot is stepped forward and the acceleration when the foot is kicked backward occur alternately with different polarities.

  In addition, when the user walks, the Z-axis acceleration signal Sz is generated alternately with the acceleration when the foot is grounded and the acceleration when the foot is kicked back with different polarities. Sz generates + side peak points S2, S4, S6... Sj and −side peak points S1, S3, S5.

  In the present invention, the foot acceleration data Kd includes the negative peak points P1, P3, P5,... Pm from the positive peak points P2, P4, P6,. It is defined that the amplitudes are d1 to dn up to each, and the foot acceleration detection means 31 performs a moving average of the amplitudes d1 to dn and outputs the results as foot acceleration data Kd (arbitrary unit).

  Further, the walking pitch calculation means 33 calculates the number of positive side peak points S2, S4, S6... Sj of the Z-axis acceleration signal Sz within a predetermined time and negative side peak points S1, S3, S5. The number is added together and output as walking pitch data Hp (the unit is step / m or step / h, where “m” represents minutes).

[Calculation of stride length data Hd and stride height ratio data Hs]
The function of the stride information calculation means 32 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a graph showing the correlation between foot acceleration and step length, where the horizontal axis is foot acceleration data Kd (unit is an arbitrary unit) and the vertical axis is step length data Hd (unit is cm).

  The graph shown in FIG. 4 is created by measuring foot acceleration data Kd and stride length data Hd when a plurality of subjects are walking at various speeds, and plotting them on the graph. From this graph, a high correlation is recognized between the foot acceleration data Kd and the stride data Hd, and the stride data Hd can be calculated from the foot acceleration data Kd based on the equation Hd = aKd + b.

  The stride information calculation means 32 calculates and outputs stride data Hd from the foot acceleration data Kd based on the above formula of Hd = aKd + b. Further, the stride length information calculation means 32 uses the stature T (unit: cm) in the personal data St output from the personal data input means 10 and uses the stature height ratio data Hs (unit: Hs = Hd / T). Calculate and output an anonymous number.

[Calculation of walking speed data Sp]
The walking speed calculation means 34 calculates walking speed data Sp (unit: km / h) based on the formula Sp = Hd × Hp × φ from the stride length data Hd and the walking pitch data Hp. Note that φ is a coefficient for converting the walking speed data Sp into a speed per hour.

[Functional explanation of walking power evaluation means 35]
The walking power evaluation means 35 displays the walking power evaluation data Ar calculated from the stride height / height ratio data Hs and the walking speed data Sp as a bar graph 43 to inform the user. The walking power evaluation data Ar is “an index indicating the total walking power”. In detail, the stride reflects the muscle strength of the lower limbs, and the walking speed reflects the cardiopulmonary function. Therefore, if both the stride and the walking speed are evaluated, it can be an index for evaluating the total power of walking, that is, the walking power. .

  Specifically, the walking power evaluation means 35 determines and outputs the walking power evaluation data Ar from the walking speed data Sp and the stride height / height ratio data Hs based on the following evaluation criteria. That is, Sp level = 1 if the walking speed data Sp is less than 4 km / h, Sp level = 2 if the walking speed data Sp is 4 or more and less than 6 km / h, and Sp level = if the walking speed data Sp is 6 km / h or more. 3.

  As for the stride height / height ratio data Hs, if the stride height / height ratio data Hs is less than 0.4, the Hs level = 1, and if the stride height / height ratio data Hs is 0.4 or more and less than 0.5, the Hs level = 2, the stride height / height. If the ratio data Hs is 0.5 or more, the level is set as Hs level = 3.

  Further, the walking power evaluation data Ar is calculated based on the formula Ar = Sp level + Hs level, and the walking power evaluation data Ar taking into account the stride and the walking speed is output. The above calculation formula may be Ar = αSp + βHs (where α and β are arbitrary constants) or Ar = Sp × Hs.

  An example of a method for evaluating the walking power evaluation data Ar is that if it is less than 2, the effect of improving exercise ability and physical ability is small, and if it is 2 or more and less than 4, the effect of improving exercise effect or physical ability is moderate, 4 or more. If so, the effect of the exercise and the improvement of physical ability are great, but even if other arbitrary criteria are set, the gist of the present invention is not impaired.

  Although not particularly shown in the figure, the calculating means 30 has a function of calculating exercise calorie data based on walking pitch data Hp and walking speed data Sp and a function of calculating basal metabolic rate data of the user based on personal data St. It has.

[Description of Display Example of Notification Unit 40: FIG. 2 (b)]
A display example of the pedometer 1 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2B, in this embodiment, the stride display area 41 of the notifying means 40 displays the stride data Hd output by the stride information calculating means 32, and the walking speed display area 42 is displayed by the walking speed calculating means 34. The walking speed data Sp to be output is displayed, and the bar graph display unit 43 is configured to display the walking power evaluation data Ar from the walking power evaluation means 35, but other methods may be used.

[Explanation of usage example: Fig. 5]
An example of use of the pedometer 1 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5A shows a state in which the pedometer 1 is attached to the ankle of the lower limb Fr, FIG. 5B shows a state in which the pedometer 1 is attached to a shoelace, and FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows a mode that was attached to the heel part of shoes.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, when the lower limb Fr is kicked backward during walking, a foot acceleration signal is generated in the -X direction and an acceleration signal due to grounding is generated in the Y direction. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 5B or 5C, when the lower limb Fr is kicked forward, a foot acceleration signal is generated in the + X direction and an acceleration signal due to grounding is generated in the Z direction.

  In the present invention, when the foot acceleration data Kd is detected from the X-direction acceleration and the pedometer 1 is worn on the ankle, the walking pitch data Hp is detected from the Y-direction acceleration, and the pedometer 1 is connected to the shoelace or the shoe. When it is mounted on the heel part, detection of the walking pitch data Hp is detected from the Z-direction acceleration.

[Description of Operation: FIGS. 1 and 2 to 5]
The operation of the pedometer 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2 to 5 will be used in combination. The user sets the height (for example, 170 cm), weight, age, and sex in advance using the personal data input means 10 of the pedometer 1, and the pedometer 1 is attached to the shoelace as shown in FIG. 5 (b). Put on and start walking.

  When the user starts walking, the body motion signal Sa including the X-axis acceleration signal Sx, the Y-axis acceleration signal Sy, and the Z-axis acceleration signal Sz is output from the body motion signal detection means 20 at each step of the user, The acceleration detecting means 31 calculates a moving average value of d1, d2, d3... Dn of the X-axis acceleration signal Sx shown in FIG. As an example, the foot acceleration data Kd is output as Kd = 82 (arbitrary unit acceleration data). At the same time, the numbers per unit time of S1, S2, S3,... Sj of the Z-axis acceleration signal Sz are output as an example, Hp = 120 (step / m).

  The stride information calculation means 32 uses Kd = 82, rounds off the decimal part to four based on the formula of Hd = aKd + b (a = 0.5, b = 40.8 in the embodiment), and Hd = 82 cm.

  Further, the stride height ratio data Hs = 82 cm / 170 cm = 0.48 is calculated from the height and stride data Hd set to 170 cm of the user.

  The walking speed calculation means 34 inputs Hd = 82 cm and Hp = 120 (steps / minute) from the foot acceleration detection means 31, and Sp = 82 cm × 120 (steps / minute) = 9840 cm / minute = 5. It is calculated as 9 km / h.

  The walking power evaluation means 35 determines Hs level = 2 and Sp level = 2 from Hs = 0.48 and Sp = 5.9 km / h, and the walking power evaluation data Ar is Ar = 2 + 2 = 4. Output.

  The notification means 40 has a stride display area 41 with Hd = 82 cm, a walking speed display area 42 with Sp = 5.9 km / h, and a bar graph display section 43 with Ar = 4, that is, a bar graph representing the fourth stage. Is displayed. The user can know from his own stride length data Hd, walking speed data Sp, and walking power evaluation data Ar whether or not walking is appropriate for dramatically increasing the exercise effect and effectively improving the physical ability. .

[Second Embodiment]
Hereinafter, a specific configuration of the pedometer 1a according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

[Description of Configuration of Second Embodiment: FIGS. 6 and 7]
The configuration of the pedometer 1a will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the pedometer 1a according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a graph showing the correlation between acceleration signals and walking speed data in the pedometer 1a.
It is.

In FIG. 6, the calculation means 30 a of the pedometer 1 a in the second embodiment calculates the step information by replacing the walking speed calculation means 34 a in place of the walking speed calculation means 34 in the first embodiment and the step information calculation means 32. Each means 32a is provided.
The other elements in the second embodiment are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the walking speed calculation unit 34 a calculates the walking speed data Sp based on the foot acceleration data Kd output from the foot acceleration detection unit 31. This will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a graph in which foot acceleration data Kd and walking speed data Sp when a plurality of subjects are walking at various speeds are measured and plotted on a graph. From the graph, there is a high correlation between the foot acceleration data Kd and the walking speed data Sp. The walking speed data Sp is Sp = pKd + q (where Kd is a relative value in arbitrary units, and the unit of Sp is km / h, Further, in this embodiment, it can be calculated by the following equation: p = 0.09 and q = 0.67.

  Further, the stride length information calculating means 32a in the second embodiment includes the walking pitch data Hp from the walking pitch calculating means 33, the walking speed data Sp from the walking speed calculating means 34a, and the data T (units) in the personal data St. Step length data Hd is calculated from Hd = Sp / (Hp × φ). However, φ in the equation is a coefficient for calculating the stride in cm from the walking speed in km. Since the calculation formula of Hs and other elements are the same as in the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

[Effect of Second Embodiment: FIG. 7]
The effect of the pedometer 1a in the second embodiment is that, since the speed is generally a time integral value of acceleration, the calculation accuracy of the walking speed data Sp can be improved, and the characteristics of the pedometer 1a are improved overall. It is. Since other effects are the same as those of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  As described above, according to the pedometer according to the present invention, it is possible to accurately capture the stride that changes depending on how to walk, and the calculation of the walking speed and the walking distance becomes more accurate than before, and the stride and the walking speed. The user is able to objectively know his / her ability to walk, thereby improving his / her physical ability and improving his / her physical ability. Motivation for walking can be increased.

1, 1a: activity meter 3: battery 3s: battery spring 10: personal data input means 20: body motion signal detection means 30, 30a: calculation means 31: foot acceleration detection means 32: stride information calculation means 32a: stride information Calculation means 33: Walking pitch calculation means 34: Walking speed calculation means 34a: Walking speed calculation means 35: Walking power evaluation means 40: Notification means 41: Step length display area 42: Walking speed display area 43: Bar graph display section 50: Storage Means 61: Electrical board 62: Upper case 63: Lower case 100: Information terminal Sa: Body motion signal Sx: X-axis acceleration signal Sy: Y-axis acceleration signal Sz: Z-axis acceleration signal St: Personal data Kd: Foot acceleration data Hd: Stride length data Hs: Stride height ratio data Hp: Walking pitch data Sp: Walking speed data Ar: Walking power evaluation data W: Magnetic field Fr: Lower limb C: Connection

Claims (2)

Calculation for calculating walking data and activity data from personal data input means, body motion signal detection means, body motion signal Sa output from the body motion signal detection means, and personal data St output from the personal data input means In a pedometer comprising means, storage means, and notification means,
The arithmetic means inputs foot acceleration detection means for calculating foot acceleration data Kd based on the body motion signal Sa, and the foot acceleration data Kd and the personal data St output by the personal data input means. Step length information calculating means for calculating the step length data Hd and step length / height ratio data Hs, which is the ratio of the height data to the step data, and a walking pitch calculating means for calculating the walking pitch data Hp based on the body motion signal Sa, The walking speed calculation means for calculating the walking speed data Sp from the walking pitch data Hp and the stride length data Hd output by the stride length information calculation means, and the respective values of the stride height / height ratio data Hs and the walking speed data Sp. A pedometer comprising: walking power evaluation means for outputting a plurality of steps of walking power evaluation data Ar. Calculation for calculating walking data and activity data from personal data input means, body motion signal detection means, body motion signal Sa output from the body motion signal detection means, and personal data St output from the personal data input means In a pedometer comprising means, storage means, and notification means,
The calculation means includes walking pitch calculation means for calculating walking pitch data Hp based on the body motion signal Sa, foot acceleration detection means for calculating foot acceleration data Kd based on the body motion signal Sa, and the foot Walking speed calculation means for calculating walking speed data Sp based on the foot acceleration data Kd calculated by the acceleration detection means, walking speed data Sp calculated by the walking speed calculation means, the walking pitch data Hp, and the personal data Step length information calculating means for calculating step length / height ratio data Hs which is a ratio of the height data to the step length data Hd and the step length data Hd from the personal data St output by the input means, the step length / height ratio data Hs and the walking speed. Walking power evaluation means for outputting a plurality of steps of walking power evaluation data Ar according to each value of the data Sp; Pedometer and said that there were pictures.

Images