Hammering force presentation system and hammering tool

Abstract

The present invention presents a user of a hammering tool such as a hammer with a hammering force in a manner that allows the user to be able to easily and quantitatively identify the hammering force. This hammering force presentation system comprises a sensor 11 fixed to a medical hammer 1, a measurement device 12, a display unit 13, and a speaker unit 14. The measurement device 12: is wired to the sensor 11; measures, from an output of the sensor 11, a hammering force generated by hammering an object with the medical hammer 1; causes the display unit 13 connected by wire or wirelessly to emit light in a color corresponding to the measured hammering force; and causes the speaker unit 14 connected by wire or wirelessly to output a sound with a pitch (pitch of sound) corresponding to the measured hammering force.

Description

Knocking force prompting system and knocking tool

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for presenting a knocking force, which is the force applied by a knocking tool such as a hammer.

[0002] As a technique for presenting the knocking force, which is the force applied by a knocking tool such as a hammer, there is known a technique in which a tuning fork that vibrates with a knocking force within a predetermined range is fixed to the head or the handle of a medical hammer, and the knocking force of the medical hammer is presented by the vibration sound of the tuning fork (for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] Utility Model Registration No. 3167639

[0004] According to the technique of presenting the knocking force of a hammer by fixing the above-described tuning fork, there is a problem that only an approximate knocking force can be presented and it is difficult for the user to quantitatively grasp the knocking force. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to enable a user of a knocking tool such as a hammer to easily and quantitatively grasp the knocking force.

[0005] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a knocking force presenting system that presents a knocking force, which is the force applied by a knocking tool having a head for knocking an object and a handle connected to the head and gripped by a user to operate the head, with a sensor fixed to the knocking tool for detecting the knocking force of the knocking tool, a measuring device for measuring the knocking force generated when the object of the knocking tool is knocked from the output of the sensor, and a display unit capable of emitting multi-color light, and in the measuring device, the display unit is caused to emit light in different colors according to the measured knocking force.

[0006] Here, this knocking force presenting system may be configured such that in the measuring device, the set measuring range of the knocking force is divided into n partial ranges, n different colors are associated with the n (where n is an integer of 3 or more) divided partial ranges, and the display unit is caused to emit light in the color associated with the partial range to which the measured knocking force belongs.

[0007] Furthermore, in the above-described striking force presentation system, the display unit may be portable and can be installed and used at any location. Also, in the above-described striking force presentation system, the display unit may be fixed to the striking tool for use. Furthermore, in order to achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides a striking force presentation system that presents the striking force of a striking tool comprising a head for striking an object and a handle connected to the head, which is held by the user to operate the head, and provides a sensor fixed to the striking tool for detecting the striking force of the striking tool, a measuring device that measures the striking force generated when the striking tool strikes an object from the output of the sensor, and a speaker unit, wherein the measuring device outputs sounds of different pitches to the speaker unit according to the measured striking force.

[0008] With the aforementioned striking force display system, users can immediately and quantitatively grasp the striking force they have applied while performing work with a striking tool, based on the light color of the display unit and the pitch of the sound output by the speaker unit. Furthermore, because the striking force is presented using the light color and the pitch of the output sound, it is easier and more intuitive to grasp the striking force compared to when the striking force is presented numerically.

[0009] Furthermore, the present invention also provides a striking force presentation system that presents the striking force, which is the force applied when striking an object with a striking tool comprising a head for striking an object and a handle connected to the head for being held by a user to operate the head, and further includes a sensor fixed to the striking tool for detecting the striking force of the striking tool, a measuring device that measures the striking force generated when the striking tool strikes an object from the output of the sensor and calculates an integrated value of the measured striking force, and a display unit, wherein the measuring device displays the calculated integrated value using the display unit.

[0010] With such a striking force display system, the user can immediately grasp the cumulative value of the striking force performed while working with the striking tool, from the display unit's display. In this striking force display system, the striking tool is, for example, a medical hammer.

[0011] As described above, according to the present invention, the striking force can be easily and quantitatively understood by the user of a striking tool such as a hammer.

[0012] This figure shows the configuration of the striking force display system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. This figure shows the configuration of the measuring device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. This figure shows an example of the display of the display unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention. This figure shows an example of the use of the striking force display system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. This figure shows another example of the configuration of the striking force display system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. This figure shows the configuration of the striking force display system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. This figure shows the sensor unit according to the second embodiment of the present invention. This figure shows the attachment of the sensor unit according to the second embodiment of the present invention to the hammer. This figure shows the configuration of the measuring device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. This figure shows an example of the processing of the measuring device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. This figure shows the significance of the processing of the measuring device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. This figure shows another example of the configuration of the striking force display system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0013] The embodiments of the present invention will be described below, with an example of its application to a medical hammer. First, the first embodiment will be described. Figure 1a shows the configuration of the striking force indication system according to this first embodiment. As shown in the figure, the striking force indication system includes a sensor 11 fixed to the medical hammer 1, a measuring device 12, a display unit 13, and a speaker unit 14. The sensor 11 is a sensor that detects the physical quantity of the physical phenomenon that occurs in the medical hammer 1 when the medical hammer 1 strikes an object. As such a sensor 11, for example, an acceleration sensor fixed to a position on the head of the medical hammer 1 that is not the striking surface (the upper part of the head in the figure) can be used.

[0014] Furthermore, various types of sensors 11 can be used, such as a force sensor fixed to the striking surface of the head of the medical hammer 1 as shown in Figure 1b, or a strain sensor fixed to a position other than the striking surface of the head of the medical hammer 1 (the side of the head in the figure) as shown in Figure 1c.

[0015] The measuring device 12 is wired to the sensor 11 and measures the striking force generated when the medical hammer 1 strikes an object from the output of the sensor 11. It then illuminates a wired or wirelessly connected display unit 13 in a color corresponding to the measured striking force, or outputs a sound at a pitch (sound level) corresponding to the measured striking force from a wired or wirelessly connected speaker unit 14. However, the measuring device 12 and the sensor 11 may be connected wirelessly instead of by wire.

[0016] Figure 2 shows the configuration of such a measuring device 12. As shown in the figure, the measuring device 12 comprises a striking force detection unit 121, a display controller 122, a speaker controller 123, and a mode control unit 124. The striking force detection unit 121 detects the striking force, which is the force applied when the medical hammer 1 strikes an object, from the output of the sensor 11. The display controller 122, controlled by the mode control unit 124, illuminates the display unit 13 for a predetermined period (for example, 0.5 seconds) in a color corresponding to the striking force detected by the striking force detection unit 121. The speaker controller 123, controlled by the mode control unit 124, outputs a sound from the speaker unit 14 for a predetermined period (for example, 0.5 seconds) at a pitch (sound level) corresponding to the striking force detected by the striking force detection unit 121. As shown in Figure 3a, the display unit 13 is equipped with a multi-color light-emitting section 131 made of LEDs or the like, which emits light in a color according to the control of the display controller 122 of the measurement unit. The display controller 122 changes this light-emitting color according to the striking force detected by the striking force detection unit 121. The striking force detected by the striking force detection unit 121 and the light-emitting color are associated in advance by the mode control unit 124 as follows. That is, the mode control unit 124 receives the setting of the lower limit Min and upper limit Max of the striking force presentation range from the operator, and as shown in Figure 3b1, the mode control unit 124 associates the striking force with the light-emitting color such that as the striking force increases between the lower limit Min and the upper limit Max, the hue of the light-emitting color corresponding to the striking force gradually changes from blue, blue-green, green, yellow, and red.

[0017] Therefore, for example, as shown in Figure 3b2, if the lower limit Min of the set striking force display range is 80 dB and the upper limit Max is 150 dB, then as the striking force increases from 80 dB to 150 dB, the hue of the light-emitting color corresponding to the striking force gradually changes from blue, blue-green, green, yellow, and red. The light-emitting part 131 of the display unit 13 will emit light in the light-emitting color corresponding to the striking force detected by the striking force detection unit 121.

[0018] However, the number of colors corresponding to the striking force may be limited to multiple colors. For example, as shown in Figure 3c1, the striking force and the corresponding color may be associated such that as the striking force increases between the lower limit Min and the upper limit Max, the corresponding color changes from blue, blue-green, green, yellow, and red. In this case, for example, as shown in Figure 3c2, if the lower limit Min of the set range of presented striking force is 80 dB and the upper limit Max is 130 dB, then the striking force between 80 dB and 90 dB is associated with blue, the striking force between 90 dB and 100 dB is associated with blue-green, the striking force between 100 dB and 110 dB is associated with green, the striking force between 110 dB and 120 dB is associated with yellow, and the striking force between 120 dB and 130 dB is associated with red, and the light-emitting part 131 of the display unit 13 emits light in the color corresponding to the range that includes the striking force detected by the striking force detection unit 121.

[0019] Next, the speaker controller 123 changes the pitch (height of the sound) of the output sound according to the striking force detected by the striking force detection unit. The striking force detected by the striking force detection unit and the pitch of the output sound of the speaker controller 123 are pre-associated by the mode control unit 124 as follows: The mode control unit 124 receives the setting of the lower limit Min and upper limit Max of the striking force presentation range from the operator, and associates the striking force and the pitch of the output sound such that the pitch of the output sound changes to a higher pitch as the striking force increases between the lower limit Min and the upper limit Max.

[0020] More specifically, for example, the range between the lower limit Min and the upper limit Max of the presented striking force is divided into five parts, and each range is associated with Do, Re, Mi, Fa, and So, starting from the lower limit. In this case, if the set lower limit Min of the presented striking force range is 80 dB and the upper limit Max is 130 dB, then striking forces between 80 dB and 90 dB are associated with Do, striking forces between 90 dB and 100 dB are associated with Re, striking forces between 100 dB and 110 dB are associated with Mi, striking forces between 110 dB and 120 dB are associated with Fa, and striking forces between 120 dB and 130 dB are associated with So. The speaker unit 14 outputs a sound with a pitch corresponding to the range that includes the striking force detected by the striking force detection unit 121.

[0021] Here, an example of the use of such a striking force indication system is shown in Figure 4. As shown in the figure, the display unit 13 is positioned within the user's field of vision while performing work with the medical hammer 1. The speaker unit 14 is positioned so that the sound output from the speaker unit 14 reaches the user while they are working. However, the display unit 13 and the speaker unit 14 do not necessarily have to be used simultaneously; either one may be used. With such a striking force indication system, the user can immediately and quantitatively grasp the striking force of the strike performed while performing work with the medical hammer 1 from the light color of the display unit 13 and the pitch of the sound output from the speaker unit 14. Furthermore, since the striking force is presented by the light color and the pitch of the output sound, it is easier and more intuitive to grasp the striking force compared to when the striking force is presented as a numerical value.

[0022] By the way, in the first embodiment described above, the display unit 13 may be configured to be fixed to the medical hammer 1 in a form that can be detached and used, as shown in Figure 5. By doing so, the visibility of the display unit 13 for the user performing work with the medical hammer 1 is improved. The first embodiment of the present invention has been described above. The second embodiment of the present invention will now be described. Figure 6 shows the configuration of the striking force display system according to the second embodiment. As shown in the figure, the striking force display system according to the second embodiment includes a sensor unit 21, a measuring device 22, a display unit 23, and a speaker unit 24 fixed to the medical hammer 1. The sensor unit 21 includes an acceleration sensor 211 that detects the acceleration generated in the medical hammer 1 when the medical hammer 1 strikes an object. The measuring device 22 is wired to the acceleration sensor 211 of the sensor unit 21. The measuring device 22 measures the striking force generated when the medical hammer 1 strikes an object from the output of the acceleration sensor 211 of the sensor unit 21. Similar to the first embodiment, the wired or wirelessly connected display unit 23 lights up in a color corresponding to the measured striking force, or the wired or wirelessly connected speaker unit 24 outputs a sound at a pitch (sound level) corresponding to the measured striking force. However, the measuring device 22 and the acceleration sensor 211 may be connected wirelessly instead of by wire.

[0023] Figure 7 shows the sensor unit 21. Figure 7a shows the top surface of the sensor unit 21, Figure 7b shows the front surface of the sensor unit 21, and Figure 7c shows the right side surface of the sensor unit 21. Figure 7d shows a perspective view of the sensor unit 21. The rear surface of the sensor unit 21 is shown in the same way as the front surface, and the left side surface of the sensor unit 21 is shown in the same way as the right side surface.

[0024] As shown in the figure, the sensor unit 21 has a structure in which a right block 212 and a left block 213 are connected front to back by two connecting screws 214. Here, it is preferable that the material of the right block 212 and the left block 213 be the same as the material of the medical hammer 1. Also, as shown in the figure, acceleration sensors 211 are fixed to the front of the right block 212 and the rear of the left block 213 of the sensor unit 21. Furthermore, a tapered recess that is recessed to the right is provided on the left side of the right block 212, and a tapered recess that is recessed to the left is provided on the right side of the left block 213. Then, as shown in Figure 8b, the handle 1A of the medical hammer 1 shown in Figure 8a is sandwiched between the recesses of the right block 212 and the left block 213, and the right block 212 and the left block 213 are fastened with the connecting screws 214, thereby fixing the sensor unit 21 to the medical hammer 1 as shown in Figure 8c. Figure 8b shows the relationship between the handle 1A and the sensor unit 21, viewed in the axial direction of the handle 1A of the medical hammer 1.

[0025] The sensor unit 21 can be fixed to the medical unit and used such that its right and left sides are parallel to the normals of the striking surfaces on the head of the medical hammer 1. In this fixed state, one acceleration sensor 211 is located on the side of the first striking surface on the head of the medical hammer 1, and the other acceleration sensor 211 is located on the side of the second striking surface, which is the striking surface opposite to the first striking surface on the head of the medical hammer 1.

[0026] Here, the two acceleration sensors 211 are fixed to the right block 212 and the left block 213 so that they are symmetrical with respect to the axis of the handle of the medical hammer 1, with the sensor unit 21 fixed to the medical hammer 1. In this case, with the sensor unit 21 fixed to the medical hammer 1, the two acceleration sensors 211 detect acceleration in the same normal direction to the striking surface at the head of the medical hammer 1, as indicated by the arrows in Figure 8d. Figure 8d shows the medical hammer 1 as viewed from the opposite side of the head, along the axial direction of the handle.

[0027] In this way, by fixing the sensor unit 21 to the handle and detecting acceleration, it is possible to detect the attenuated acceleration generated at the head of the medical hammer 1 at a position away from the head, and even when the acceleration generated at the head is large, the acceleration can be detected appropriately. Next, the configuration of the measuring device 22 is shown in Figure 9. As shown in the figure, the measuring device 22 includes two pre-processing units 221 corresponding to each of the two acceleration sensors 211, an averaging unit 222, an acceleration level calculation unit 223, a display controller 224, a speaker controller 225, and a mode control unit 226. The two pre-processing units 221 perform filtering processing to remove unwanted frequency components from the output of the corresponding acceleration sensor 211. The two pre-processing units 221 also perform half-wave rectification processing on the filtered output of the acceleration sensor 211. That is, if the signal waveform of the filtered output of the acceleration sensor 211 is as shown in Figure 10a1, it is converted into a signal waveform in which only the positive components are extracted, as shown in Figure 10a2. By performing this half-wave rectification process, only the positive striking force, excluding the reaction force, can be extracted.

[0028] The execution of this half-wave rectification process is controlled by the mode control unit 226. The averaging unit 222 calculates the average of the outputs of the two pre-processing units 221. That is, if the first signal waveform, which is the output of the first pre-processing unit 221, is shown in Figure 10b1, and the second signal waveform, which is the output of the second pre-processing unit 221, is shown in Figure 10b2, the average of the first signal waveform and the second signal waveform is calculated as shown in Figure 10b3. By calculating the average in this way, whether P1 shown in Figure 11 is the impact point where the object collides, or P2 is the impact point where the object collides, the two acceleration sensors 211 are positioned symmetrically with respect to the axis of the handle of the medical hammer 1, so accelerations with similar absolute values ​​can be detected as an average value.

[0029] Furthermore, if the orientation of the acceleration detection axes of the two acceleration sensors 211 is set so that the directions of acceleration detected by the two acceleration sensors 211 are in opposite directions when the medical hammer 1 strikes, then in order to align the positive and negative signs of the signal waveforms, the sign of one of the first and second signal waveforms is reversed and the average is calculated.

[0030] Next, the acceleration level calculation unit 223 applies an LPF (Low Pass Filter) with a predetermined time constant to the signal waveform output by the averaging unit 222, after folding the negative portion to a positive value. That is, if the signal waveform output by the averaging unit 222 is as shown in Figure 10c1, then, as shown in Figure 10c2, the negative portion of the signal waveform in Figure 10c1 is folded to a positive value, and then an LPF is applied to obtain the signal waveform in Figure 10c3. Then, the acceleration level calculation unit 223 determines the peak value and RMS value of the signal waveform to which the LPF has been applied as the striking force, according to the control of the mode control unit 226. Here, since the range of the striking force to be measured and presented is wide, the striking force is determined as a decibel value using a predetermined 0 dB reference value.

[0031] Here, the striking force of the medical hammer 1 is proportional to the acceleration generated during striking, so the peak value and effective value obtained in this way represent the striking force of the medical hammer 1. The display controller 224 controls the illumination of the display unit 13 in accordance with the striking force calculated by the acceleration level calculation unit 223, similar to the first embodiment, and the speaker controller 225 controls the output sound of the speaker unit 14 in accordance with the striking force calculated by the acceleration level calculation unit 223, similar to the first embodiment.

[0032] The mode control unit 226 controls whether or not to perform half-wave rectification processing in the preprocessing unit 221 and the target (peak value or RMS value) to be determined as striking force in the acceleration level calculation unit 223, according to the operator's settings. The second embodiment of the present invention has been described above. Incidentally, in this second embodiment, the arrangement of the two acceleration sensors 211 in the sensor unit 21 may be such that, as shown in Figures 12a and 12b, with the sensor unit 21 fixed to the medical hammer 1, one acceleration sensor 211 is on one side of the head of the medical hammer 1 and the other acceleration sensor 211 is on the other side of the head of the medical hammer 1.

[0033] However, in this case as well, the two acceleration sensors 211 are fixed to the right block 212 and the left block 213 so that they are symmetrical with respect to the axis of the handle of the medical hammer 1, with the sensor unit 21 fixed to the medical hammer 1. In this case, with the sensor unit 21 fixed to the medical hammer 1, the two acceleration sensors 211 detect the acceleration in the same axial direction of the handle, as shown by the arrows in Figure 12c. Even in this way, the striking force of the medical hammer 1 can be detected, and the averaging process of the averaging unit 222 allows the same acceleration to be detected as an average value whether P1, as shown in Figure 12c, is the striking point that collides with the object, or whether P2 is the striking point that collides with the object.

[0034] Embodiments of the present invention have been described above. In the embodiments described above, the case in which the striking force is displayed has been shown, but in each of the embodiments described above, the integrated value of the striking force may also be displayed. That is, the integrated value of the striking force measured by the measuring device 12 / 22 may be obtained, and the obtained integrated value may be used instead of the striking force to control the light emission color of the display unit 13 / 23 or the pitch of the sound output from the speaker unit 14 / 24, as described above. Alternatively, the value of the obtained integrated value may be displayed numerically in the measuring device 12 / 22.

[0035] Furthermore, while the embodiment of the striking force presentation system according to the present invention has been described using the application to the medical hammer 1 as an example, this embodiment can be similarly applied as a system for presenting the striking force of any striking tool used to strike an object, such as a hammer other than the medical hammer 1.

[0036] 1...Medical hammer, 11...Sensor, 12...Measuring device, 13...Display unit, 14...Speaker unit, 21...Sensor unit, 22...Measuring device, 23...Display unit, 24...Speaker unit, 121...Striking force detection unit, 122...Display controller, 123...Speaker controller, 124...Mode control unit, 131...Light-emitting unit, 211...Accelerometer, 212...Right block, 213...Left block, 214...Connecting screw, 221...Pre-processing unit, 222...Averaging unit, 223...Accelerometer level calculation unit, 224...Display controller, 225...Speaker controller, 226...Mode control unit.

Claims

1. A striking force presentation system that presents the force of striking with a striking tool comprising a head for striking an object and a handle connected to the head and held by a user for operating the head, the system comprising: a sensor fixed to the striking tool for detecting the striking force of the striking tool; a measuring device that measures the striking force generated when the striking tool strikes an object from the output of the sensor; and a display unit capable of emitting multiple colors, wherein the measuring device causes the display unit to emit light in different colors according to the measured striking force.

2. A striking force presentation system according to claim 1, wherein the measuring device divides the set striking force measurement range into n (where n is an integer of 3 or more) sub-ranges, associates n different colors with the divided n sub-ranges, and causes the display unit to emit light with the color associated with the sub-range to which the measured striking force belongs.

3. A striking force indication system according to claim 1, wherein the display unit is portable and can be installed and used at any location.

4. A striking force indication system according to claim 1, characterized in that the display unit can be fixed to the striking tool for use.

5. A striking force presentation system for presenting the striking force of a striking tool comprising a head for striking an object and a handle connected to the head and held by a user for operating the head, the system comprising: a sensor fixed to the striking tool for detecting the striking force of the striking tool; a measuring device for measuring the striking force generated when the striking tool strikes an object from the output of the sensor; and a speaker unit, wherein the measuring device outputs sounds of different pitches to the speaker unit according to the measured striking force.

6. A striking force presentation system that presents the force of striking with a striking tool comprising a head for striking an object and a handle connected to the head and held by a user for operating the head, the system comprising: a sensor fixed to the striking tool for detecting the striking force of the striking tool; a measuring device that measures the striking force generated when the striking tool strikes an object from the output of the sensor and calculates an integrated value of the measured striking force; and a display unit, wherein the measuring device displays the calculated integrated value using the display unit.

7. A striking force indication system according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, wherein the striking tool is a medical hammer.

8. A striking tool comprising a head for striking an object and a handle connected to the head, which is held by the user to operate the head, characterized in that two sensors for detecting striking force are fixed so as to be symmetrical with respect to the axis of the handle.

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