Device

Abstract

To provide a user-detection device capable of easily detecting, by itself, a vein and a temperature of a user's hand, regardless of height of the user.SOLUTION: A user-detection device 1 comprises: a housing 2; a vein sensor 3 provided in the housing 2 to detect a vein in a user's hand by photographing; and a temperature sensor 4 provided in the housing 2 to detect the temperature of the user's hand by using infrared rays. The vein sensor 3 and the temperature sensor 4 are exposed from a lower face 2d facing downward, of the housing 2.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a device for detecting a user. An apparatus comprising: Regarding. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a user detection device (palm vein identification device with a body temperature measurement function) that detects the temperature of a user while detecting the veins of the user's hand when the user holds out their hand. In the user detection device of Patent Document 1, the user detection device is attached to the wall of a building that extends vertically, and a vein imaging camera that detects the veins of the user's hand and an infrared temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the user's hand are oriented to the side (horizontally). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6778348 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the user detection device of Patent Document 1, the vein imaging camera and infrared temperature sensor face sideways. Therefore, depending on the user's height, detecting the veins and temperature of the user's hand can be cumbersome. For example, if the user is short, the user's hand may not be able to reach the vein imaging camera and infrared temperature sensor of the user detection device mounted on the wall. In this case, a separate platform must be prepared for the user to stand on, or another person (a taller person) must lift the user up, which is a hassle. Furthermore, for example, if the user is tall, they must bend down to hold their hand over the vein imaging camera and infrared temperature sensor of the user detection device mounted on the wall, which is a hassle.

[0005] In view of the above circumstances, the present invention provides a user detection device that can easily detect the veins and temperature of a user's hand, regardless of the user's height. An apparatus comprising: The purpose is to provide the following. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The present invention provides a handheld device comprising: a housing; a vein sensor provided in the housing for detecting the veins of a user's hand by photographing; and a temperature sensor provided in the housing for detecting the temperature of the user's hand by using infrared rays. include User detection devices a half mirror that transmits a portion of incident light and reflects another portion of the incident light, and a mirror display that includes a device-side display unit disposed on the rear side of the half mirror. The vein sensor and the temperature sensor are exposed on a downward surface of the housing. The information displayed on the device display unit is visible to the user facing the mirror display as light from the device display unit passes through the front side of the half mirror. The user detection device further includes a control unit that, when at least one of the vein sensor and the temperature sensor detects the user's hand, outputs information based on the detection result to the mirror display. The mirror display is operated using the information output from the user detection device. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to easily detect the veins and temperature of a user's hand using a user detection device, regardless of the height of the user. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a user detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention and an external device connected thereto are attached to a wall surface. [Figure 2] 1 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a user detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] 3 is a bottom view of the user detection device of FIG. 2. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the user detection device 1 according to this embodiment includes a housing 2, a vein sensor 3, and a temperature sensor 4. The user detection device 1 also includes a display unit 5 (device-side display unit 5) and a control unit 6.

[0010] The housing 2 has an internal storage space for storing the vein sensor 3, temperature sensor 4, display unit 5, control unit 6, etc. The housing 2 has a front surface 2a, a back surface 2b, an upper surface 2c, and a lower surface 2d. The front surface 2a of the housing 2 is the surface facing the user U1 (see FIG. 1) of the user detection device 1. The back surface 2b of the housing 2 is the surface facing opposite the front surface 2a. The upper surface 2c of the housing 2 is the surface facing upward, and the lower surface 2d of the housing 2 is the surface facing downward.

[0011] 1 to 3, the X-axis direction indicates the direction in which the front surface 2a and rear surface 2b of the housing 2 are aligned, and is sometimes referred to as the front-to-rear direction. The positive X-axis direction indicates the front surface 2a side of the housing 2 (the front side as seen from the user U1), and the negative X-axis direction indicates the rear surface 2b side of the housing 2 (the back side as seen from the user U1). The Z-axis direction indicates the direction in which the top surface 2c and bottom surface 2d of the housing 2 are aligned, and is sometimes referred to as the up-down direction. The positive Z-axis direction indicates the upper side of the housing 2, and the negative Z-axis direction indicates the lower side of the housing 2. The Y-axis direction is a direction perpendicular to the front-to-rear and up-down directions of the housing 2, and is sometimes referred to as the left-to-right direction. The positive Y-axis direction indicates the right side of the housing 2 as seen from the user U1, and the negative Y-axis direction indicates the left side of the housing 2 as seen from the user U1.

[0012] 1 to 3, the housing 2 of this embodiment has an external appearance of a rectangular parallelepiped (or rectangular prism) with sides extending in the front-to-rear, up-down, and left-to-right directions. In the illustrated example, the longitudinal direction of the housing 2 corresponds to the left-to-right direction. The front surface 2a and back surface 2b of the housing 2 are formed as rectangles that are long in the left-to-right direction and are perpendicular to the front-to-rear direction (X-axis direction). Furthermore, the top surface 2c and bottom surface 2d of the housing 2 are formed as rectangles that are long in the left-to-right direction and are perpendicular to the up-to-down direction (Z-axis direction).

[0013] The housing 2 is fixed to a vertically extending wall W1 of a building or the like. The housing 2 is fixed to the wall W1 with its back surface 2b facing the wall W1. The housing 2 may be fixed to the wall W1 by any method, such as by screwing. When the housing 2 is fixed to the wall W1, the front surface 2a of the housing 2 and the wall W1 face the user U1.

[0014] The vein sensor 3 shown in Figures 2 and 3 is a camera that detects the veins in the hand of user U1 by capturing an image using visible light. The vein sensor 3 of this embodiment detects the veins in the palm area UH1 of user U1 by capturing an image. The hand vein information detected by the vein sensor 3 is used to authenticate (identify) user U1. The temperature sensor 4 is an infrared sensor that detects the temperature of user U1's hand using infrared rays. The temperature sensor 4 of this embodiment detects the temperature of the palm area UH1 of user U1.

[0015] The vein sensor 3 and the temperature sensor 4 are exposed on the bottom surface 2d of the housing 2. Therefore, when the user U1 holds their hand over the bottom side of the housing 2, the vein sensor 3 can detect the veins of the user U1's hand, and the temperature sensor 4 can detect the temperature of the user U1's hand.

[0016] The vein sensor 3 and the temperature sensor 4 are arranged next to each other in the left-right direction. It is preferable that the distance between the vein sensor 3 and the temperature sensor 4 in the left-right direction is small. For example, it is preferable that the distance be equal to or less than the width dimension of the palm area UH1 in the left-right direction.

[0017] The vein sensor 3 and the temperature sensor 4 are arranged on the bottom surface 2d of the housing 2 at an end on the front surface 2a side (near side) of the housing 2 in the front-rear direction.

[0018] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the display unit 5 is exposed on the front surface 2a of the housing 2. The display unit 5 displays information to be provided to the user U1 facing the user detection device 1. In this embodiment, the display unit 5 displays the hand temperature of the user U1 detected by the temperature sensor 4. The display unit 5 may also display information about the user U1 authenticated based on the veins of the user U1's hand detected by the vein sensor 3, for example. Examples of the information about the user U1 include the name of the user U1 and health care information related to the hand temperature. Examples of the health care information include the body composition information of the user U1 (e.g., physical information such as weight and body fat percentage).

[0019] The control unit 6 shown in FIG. 2 is electrically connected to the vein sensor 3, the temperature sensor 4, and the display unit 5. The control unit 6 processes the data of the detection result of the vein sensor 3 (image of the palm area UH1) and the temperature data detected by the temperature sensor 4, and outputs these processing results. In this embodiment, the control unit 6 outputs the processing result of the temperature data to the display unit 5. When displaying information about the authenticated user U1 on the display unit 5, the control unit 6 may output information about the user U1 authenticated based on the veins of the user U1's hand to the display unit 5 as the processing result of the data of the detection result of the vein sensor 3.

[0020] In addition, in this embodiment, when the vein sensor 3 or the temperature sensor 4 detects the hand of the user U1, the control unit 6 outputs information based on the detection result (i.e., the above-mentioned "processing result") to the external device 100 (see Figure 1) described later.

[0021] 1 may be a device that operates based on information output from the user detection device 1 (particularly the control unit 6), or a device that exchanges various information with the user detection device 1 based on that information (a device that performs two-way communication with the user detection device 1). The external device 100 in this embodiment is the mirror display 100, but it may also be connected to external devices other than the mirror display 100 depending on the installation location.

[0022] The mirror display 100 includes a half mirror 101 and a display unit 102 (hereinafter referred to as the device-side display unit 102). The mirror display 100 also includes a processing unit (not shown). The half mirror 101 is ofThe mirror display 100 transmits light and reflects the other part of the incident light. The device display 102 is disposed on the rear side (negative X-axis direction side) of the half mirror 101. The device display 102 displays various visual information (such as characters and figures) by emitting light. The information displayed on the device display 102 is visible to a user U1 facing the mirror display 100 as the light from the device display 102 is transmitted to the front side of the half mirror 101.

[0023] In this embodiment, the device display unit 102 is disposed over almost the entire back surface of the half mirror 101. This allows information to be displayed on the device display unit 102 over almost the entire surface of the half mirror 101. Note that the device display unit 102 may be disposed over only a portion of the back surface of the half mirror 101.

[0024] The mirror display 100 is fixed to the wall surface W1 in the same manner as the user detection device 1. In Fig. 1, the mirror display 100 is adjacent to the upper side of the user detection device 1, but this is not limiting.

[0025] The device display unit 102 displays information to be provided to the user U1 facing the user detection device 1 and the mirror display 100. Like the display unit 5 (device display unit 5) described above, the device display unit 102 may display information such as the temperature of the user U1's hand detected by the temperature sensor 4, or information about the user U1 who has been authenticated based on the veins of the user U1's hand detected by the vein sensor 3. The device display unit 102 may also display information such as the time, weather, and news via a network such as the Internet.

[0026] The processing unit processes the information output from the user detection device 1. The information processed by the processing unit is output, for example, to the device display unit 102. This makes it possible to display information about the hand temperature of user U1 and information about user U1 on the device display unit 102.

[0027] Furthermore, the processing unit may operate the mirror display 100 by processing information output from the user detection device 1, for example. That is, the mirror display 100 may be operated based on the information output from the user detection device 1. For example, when the mirror display 100 is in sleep mode, the user U1 may hold their hand over the vein sensor 3 or the temperature sensor 4, and the control unit 6 may output operation information for canceling the sleep mode from the user detection device 1 to the mirror display 100 as information based on the detection results of the vein sensor 3 or the temperature sensor 4. Furthermore, for example, when the user U1 holds their hand over the vein sensor 3 or the temperature sensor 4, the information displayed on the device display unit 102 may be switched. The sleep mode described above is a mode for saving power consumption by, for example, stopping the display of information on the device display unit 102 when the mirror display 100 is not operated for a certain period of time.

[0028] Information exchange between the user detection device 1 (particularly the control unit 6) and the mirror display 100 (particularly the processing unit) may be performed by wired communication or wireless communication. In the case of wired communication, for example, a connection terminal 7 (see FIG. 2) of the user detection device 1 electrically connected to the control unit 6 may be connected to a connection terminal of the mirror display 100 electrically connected to the processing unit. In FIG. 2, the connection terminal 7 is provided so as to be exposed on the top surface 2c of the housing 2, but it may also be provided, for example, at the tip of a wire connected to the control unit 6 and extending outward from the top surface 2c of the housing 2.

[0029] The user detection device 1 and the mirror display 100 of this embodiment may be installed, for example, above a washbasin.

[0030] As described above, in the user detection device 1 of this embodiment, the vein sensor 3 and the temperature sensor 4 are exposed on the bottom surface 2d of the housing 2. Therefore, regardless of the height of the user U1 of the user detection device 1, the vein detection and temperature detection of the hand of the user U1 can be easily performed. For example, even if the housing 2 (particularly the bottom surface 2d) of the user detection device 1 is positioned relatively high, a short user U1 can place their hand below the vein sensor 3 and temperature sensor 4. Furthermore, because the housing 2 is positioned relatively high, a tall user U1 can place their hand below the vein sensor 3 and temperature sensor 4 without having to bend over. Therefore, regardless of the height of the user U1, the vein detection and temperature detection of the hand of the user U1 can be easily performed.

[0031] Furthermore, because the vein sensor 3 and the temperature sensor 4 are exposed on the underside 2d of the housing 2, when the user detection device 1 of this embodiment is installed above the sink, the vein sensor 3 and the temperature sensor 4 are positioned to face the upper side of the sink (particularly the sink faucet). This allows the user U1 to wash their hands at the sink and have the vein sensor 3 and the temperature sensor 4 detect the temperature and temperature of their hands with small movements.

[0032] Furthermore, in the user detection device 1 of this embodiment, the vein sensor 3 and the temperature sensor 4 are arranged next to each other in the left-right direction as seen from the user U1 facing the housing 2. Therefore, when the user U1 holds his / her hand from the front surface 2a side (near side) of the housing 2 to the underside 2d side of the housing 2, the vein sensor 3 can detect the hand veins and the temperature sensor 4 can detect the hand temperature simultaneously. In other words, it is possible to suppress or prevent the vein sensor 3 from detecting only the hand veins and the temperature sensor 4 from detecting only the hand temperature.

[0033] Furthermore, in the user detection device 1 of this embodiment, the vein sensor 3 and the temperature sensor 4 are disposed at the end of the front surface 2a (near side) of the housing 2 as viewed from the user U1 facing the housing 2. Therefore, even if the user U1 inserts his / her hand from the front surface 2a to the rear surface 2b (from the near side to the far side) of the housing 2 to the underside 2d of the housing 2 for a short distance, the vein sensor 3 can detect the hand veins, and the temperature sensor 4 can detect the hand temperature. In other words, hand vein detection and hand temperature detection can be easily performed. Furthermore, when the user U1 inserts his / her hand from the front surface 2a to the rear surface 2b of the housing 2 to the underside 2d of the housing 2, the palm area UH1 can be made to more reliably reach the underside of the vein sensor 3 and the temperature sensor 4. This makes it possible to more reliably detect the veins and temperature of the palm.

[0034] Furthermore, in the user detection device 1 of this embodiment, the control unit 6 outputs information based on the results of detection of the hand of user U1 by the vein sensor 3 and temperature sensor 4 to the mirror display 100 (external device). This makes it possible to output, for example, the results detected by the vein sensor 3 and temperature sensor 4 (hand vein information, hand temperature information) to the mirror display 100. In this case, for example, the mirror display 100 can authenticate user U1 based on the hand vein information. Furthermore, the mirror display 100 can display the hand temperature.

[0035] The mirror display 100 can also be operated using the above information output from the user detection device 1. For example, when the user U1 holds his / her hand over the vein sensor 3 or the temperature sensor 4, the control unit 6 may output operation information from the user detection device 1 to the mirror display 100 to cause the control unit 6 to cancel the sleep mode of the mirror display 100. By using the user detection device 1 to operate the mirror display 100, the user U1 can operate the mirror display 100 without touching it. This effect is also advantageous in that it can reduce or prevent fingerprints from being left on the half mirror 101 (especially the mirror surface).

[0036] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and can be modified as appropriate within the scope of the invention.

[0037] In the present invention, the housing 2 may have any external shape. For example, the front surface 2a and the back surface 2b of the housing 2 may be inclined relative to the front-rear direction (X-axis direction). Similarly, the top surface 2c and the bottom surface 2d of the housing 2 may be inclined relative to the up-down direction (Z-axis direction). [Explanation of symbols]

[0038] 1. User detection device 2. Case 2d bottom surface 3 Vein sensor 4 Temperature Sensors 6 Control Unit 100 Mirror display (external device) U1 user

Claims

1. a user detection device including a housing, a vein sensor provided in the housing for detecting the veins of a user's hand by photographing, and a temperature sensor provided in the housing for detecting the temperature of the user's hand by using infrared rays; a half mirror that transmits a portion of incident light and reflects another portion of the incident light, and a mirror display including a device-side display unit disposed on the rear side of the half mirror; Equipped with the vein sensor and the temperature sensor are exposed on a downward surface of the housing; The information displayed on the device-side display unit is visually recognized by the user facing the mirror display by transmitting light from the device-side display unit to the front side of the half mirror, the user detection device further includes a control unit that, when at least one of the vein sensor and the temperature sensor detects the user's hand, outputs information based on the detection result to the mirror display; The mirror display is a device that is operated using information output from the user detection device.

2. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the vein sensor and the temperature sensor are arranged side by side in the left-right direction as seen from the user facing the housing.

3. 3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the vein sensor and the temperature sensor are arranged at a front end of the housing as viewed from the user facing the housing.

Images