Abstract:
A vibration wave output instrument and its use method are provided. The vibration wave output instrument has a base, a vibration device, a pressure device, and a position mechanism. The position mechanism brings both the vibration device and the pressure device to a target region. The pressure device pushes the vibration device to touch against the target region. The vibration device outputs vibration waves beneath the target region.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to Taiwan Application Serial Number 98134161, filed Oct. 8, 2009, which is herein incorporated by reference. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The disclosure relates to a signal output device, more particularly to a vibration wave output instrument and a method of using the same. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     When elderly people suffer from Osteoporosis or Osteoarthritis syndrome, ache that occurs from Osteoporosis or Osteoarthritis syndrome tortures the elderly people a lot. In order to get information of people&#39;s human bone mineral density, and to diagnose the condition of people&#39;s hip joint (e.g. slack or loose), one of the methods is to send some vibration waves into a human body from a signal output source of a vibration tool (vibrator) through a target region (e.g. limbs) of the human body. When the vibration waves move in the human body and hit the tested bones, some reflective waves will be generated from the tested bones to move outwards from the human body. Then, the reflective waves will be collected and analyzed to figure out the information of human bone mineral density and the health condition of the hip joint, so as to further evaluate the health condition of the tested bones and determine a proper medical treatment according to the collected information. 
     However, because the skin surfaces of the target region are irregularly unplaned, and the vibration tool is provided with a certain weight, an operator is hard to stably handle and position the vibration tool at the target region precisely if the vibration tool is provided without an effective and easy means for tightly fixing the vibration tool on the target region thereof. Therefore, a deviated reflective wave other than the actual one may be collected to further affect the test result. 
     SUMMARY 
     Therefore, an aspect of the present disclosure is to present a vibration wave output instrument. 
     The vibration wave output instrument includes a base, a vibration device, a pressing device and a position mechanism. The vibration device sends vibration waves to a target region. The pressing device drives the vibration device to keep pressing on the target region. The position mechanism is movably installed on the base, and carries both the pressing device and the vibration device to the target region. 
     Another aspect of the vibration wave output instrument provided in this disclosure includes a base, a movable carrier, a vibration device and a pneumatic cylinder unit. The movable carrier is slidably disposed on the base for moving along an X-axis, a Y-axis or a Z-axis. The vibration device sending vibration waves is fixed on the movable carrier, and moved in accordance with the movable carrier. The pneumatic cylinder unit is fixed on the movable carrier, arranged next to the vibration device, and moved in accordance with the movable carrier. The pneumatic cylinder unit is provided for extending a pneumatic telescopic shaft to keep pressing the vibration device. 
     The other aspect of the present disclosure is to present a method of using a vibration wave output instrument. The method includes a step of providing a mark on a target region, a step of moving a vibration device to aim at the mark, a step of extending a pneumatic telescopic shaft of a pneumatic cylinder unit by pressurization to push the vibration device, so that a vibration rod of the vibration device is provided to touch against the mark, and a step of outputting vibration waves to the mark by the vibration rod. 
     As mentioned above, the present disclosure contributes a stable and convenient manner to handle the vibration device, so that the vibration device could stably and precisely aim at a determined tested point of a human body. In addition, enabling the vibration device to keep pressing the skin surface of the human body in one aspect enhances the accuracy that the vibration device points at the tested point of the human body, and in another aspect shortens the distance that the vibration waves move from the skin surface to the interior of the human body so as to improve the precision of the test. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a three dimensional view of a vibration wave output instrument in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view along a line  2 - 2  in  FIG. 1  of the vibration wave output instrument. 
         FIG. 3  is one operational schematic view of the vibration wave output instrument in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is one operational schematic view of the vibration wave output instrument in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is another one operational schematic view of the vibration wave output instrument in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 6  is a flow chart illustrating a method of using a vibration wave output instrument in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however; that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawings. 
     Refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  in which  FIG. 1  is a three dimensional view of a vibration wave output instrument in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure, and  FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view along a line  2 - 2  in  FIG. 1  of the vibration wave output instrument. 
     A vibration wave output instrument  100  provided in the disclosure at least has a base  200 , a vibration device  300 , a pressing device  400  (also called as a pre-press unit, see  FIG. 2 ) and a position mechanism  500 . 
     The vibration device  300  has a vibration rod  310  provided at one end thereof. When the vibration rod  310  touches or presses against a target region  700 , the vibration rod  310  outputs vibration waves with a suitable frequency into the interior of the target region  700 . 
     The pressing device  400  is arranged next to the vibration device  300  in which the pressing device  400  is disposed on the other end of the vibration device  300  opposite to the vibration rod  310 . Thus, when the pressing device  400  presses the vibration device  300  to move out, the vibration rod  310  could keep touching, or even pressing tightly against the surface of the target region  700 . Therefore, it could make sure that the vibration rod  310  can press against the surface of the target region  700  and substantially send the vibration waves into the interior of the target region  700 . 
     The position mechanism  500 , which is a collective noun of some elements combined together, is movably installed on the base  200 , and coupled with the pressing device  400  and the vibration device  300 . Thus, the position mechanism  500  can carry both the pressing device  400  and the vibration device  300  to a determined position neighboring to the target region  700  by moving along an X-axis, a Y-axis or a Z-axis (see  FIG. 1 ). 
     Therefore, after the vibration waves are sent into the interior of the target region  700 , the vibration waves will be reflected from the interior of the target region  700  (i.e. responsive signals). Thus, an operator is able to measure and figure out the condition of the interior of the target region  700  according to the responsive signals. 
     In a specific embodiment, the target region  700 , for example, can be a limited area on a skin surface of a human body, and the interior of the target region  700 , for example, can be a human&#39;s skeleton. Thus, the information of human bone mineral density and the health condition of the hip joint can be measured and figured out according to the responsive signals. 
     One way to get the information of human bone mineral density is to calculate the human bone mineral density based on a resonant frequency of the measured responsive signals, so as to further estimate the quality of the human bone. One way to figure out the health condition of the hip joint is to transform the measured responsive signals, so as to further determine that whether these tested hip joints are loose or not. 
     The detailed components and their arrangements with regard to the base  200 , the vibration device  300 , the pressing device  400  and the positioning mechanism  500  will be described as follows. 
     Refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  again. The base  200  includes a foundation  210  and a stand  220 . The foundation  210  has a plurality of support feet  211  such as wheels or skid proof feet, for supporting the foundation  210  to stand stably. The stand  220  is vertically disposed on the foundation  210  for sustaining the vibration device  300 , the pressing device  400  and the positioning mechanism  500 . 
     Refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 3  in which  FIG. 3  is one operational schematic view of the vibration wave output instrument in  FIG. 1 . The position mechanism  500  includes a slidable supporting arm  510  and a movable carrier  520 . The slidable supporting arm  510  is substantially shown as an “L” shape in the figures, and has a first end  511  and a second end  513  which are opposite with each other. The slidable supporting arm  510  is vertically and slidably disposed on the stand  220  with the first end  511  thereof, and the movable carrier  520  is horizontally and slidably disposed on the second end  513  of the slidable supporting arm  510 . 
     Two opposite sides of the stand  220  have a first Z-axis rail  221 , respectively. Two opposite sides of the first end  511  of the slidable supporting arm  510  have a second Z-axis rail  512 , respectively. The first Z-axis rails  221  and the second Z-axis rails  512  are respectively corresponding and matching with each other. 
     Refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  again. The second end  513  of the slidable supporting arm  510  has an X-axis rail  514  and a Y-axis rail  515  which are perpendicular in direction, and are not located on a same plane with each other. Thus, the movable carrier  520  installed on the second end  513  of the slidable supporting arm  510  can be moved with the X-axis rail  514  together along the Y-axis rail  515 , or can be moved along the X-axis rail  514 . 
     Therefore, the slidable supporting arm  510  vertically slides along the first Z-axis rails  221  of the stand  220  because the first Z-axis rails  221  and the second Z-axis rails  512  respectively engage with each other. Also, the movable carrier  520  horizontally slides along the X-axis rail or the Y-axis rail on the second end  513  of the slidable supporting arm  510  because the movable carrier  520  engages with the X-axis rail  514  and the Y-axis rail  515 . 
     Refer to  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 , in which  FIG. 4  is one operational schematic view of the vibration wave output instrument in  FIG. 1 , and  FIG. 5  is another operational schematic view of the vibration wave output instrument in  FIG. 1 . 
     In this embodiment, the pressing device  400  of the disclosure can be exampled as a pneumatic cylinder unit  410 . The pneumatic cylinder unit  410  includes a cylinder body  411 , a pneumatic telescopic shaft  412 , and an inflatable unit  414 . The pneumatic telescopic shaft  412  is extendably disposed in the cylinder body  411  for extending outwards from an end of the cylinder body  411  or drawing back into the cylinder body  411 . The inflatable unit  414  is pneumatically communicated with the cylinder body  411  for pressurizing to the cylinder body  411  with air pressure. Hence, when the inflatable unit  414  pressurizes to the cylinder body  411  with air pressure, the pneumatic telescopic shaft  412  extends outwards from the end of the cylinder body  411  to keep pressing the neighboring vibration device  300  to move out. 
     Therefore, the vibration rod  310  can be ensured to touch or even press against the target region  700 , the vibration waves outputted from the vibration rod  310  can be ensured to substantially send into the interior of the target region  700 . Meanwhile, the vibration rod  310  will not be easy to separate from the surface of the target region  700  when the human body shakes incidentally. 
     Also, a barometer  413  can be optionally provided for the pneumatic cylinder unit  410  to show a pressure value representing the degree that the cylinder body  411  has already been pressurized, so that an operator can realize whether the air pressure for the cylinder body  411  is enough by reading the pressure value from the barometer  413 . The pressure value read from the barometer  413  also tells information of the force that the pneumatic telescopic shaft  412  has kept pressing the vibration device  300 . 
     It needs to be noted, the pressing device  400  of the disclosure will not be limited to the mentioned pneumatic cylinder unit  410  only, a pre-pressing element (e.g. spring or reed) which exerts a strength on the vibration device  300  and forces the vibration device  300  to move out should be another example of the pressing device  400  other than the mentioned pneumatic cylinder unit  410 . Also, the inflatable unit  414  shown in the figures for illustration is only one of the examples. Another one example to press the vibration device  300  can be exampled as a spring set driven by a computerized motor in a total electronic system. 
     Refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 4  again. The base  200  is also optionally equipped with an air tank  415 . The air tank  415  is pneumatically communicated with the cylinder body  411  and the inflatable unit  414  via connection tubes (the connection tubes are omitted in the figures) to be a buffering space for the cylinder body  411 . Thus, when the inflatable unit  414  pressurizes to the cylinder body  411  with air pressure, air would flow into the cylinder body  411  from the air tank  415  to extend the pneumatic telescopic shaft  412  for pressing the vibration device  300  (see  FIG. 4 ,  FIG. 5 ) until the air tank  415  is fully filled. Thus, it allows operators to precisely control the pneumatic telescopic shaft  412  to extend so as to protect the vibration device  300  or the target region  700  from being damaged if the pneumatic telescopic shaft  412  manipulated by the inflatable unit  414  extends too much. 
     In practice, the movable carrier  520 , for example, can be a container  530  (See  FIG. 2 ). The container  530  contains and fixes both the pressing device  400  and the vibration device  300  therein. The container  530  at least has an opening  531 , an inner wall  532 , a movable board  533  and an elastic element  534 . The opening  531  is located at the bottom of the container  530 , and normally faces towards the target region  700 . The inner wall  532  is in the container  530  for coupling with the pressing device  400  in still. 
     The movable board  533  is linearly and movably disposed in the container  530 , and arranged between the pneumatic cylinder unit  410  and the vibration device  300 . The movable board  533  has two opposite surfaces in which one of the surfaces thereof couples to the vibration device  300 , and the other surfaces faces the pneumatic telescopic shaft  412  in order to be pressed by the pneumatic telescopic shaft  412 . 
     The elastic element  534  (e.g. spring) has two opposite ends in which one of the opposite ends physically couples with the movable board  533 , and the other one of the opposite ends physically couples with a fixed element. In this specification, the so-called fixed element can be an element such as the inner wall  532  (see  FIG. 4 ) staying in a fixed condition while the movable board  533  is in a traveling condition. 
     Therefore, when the pneumatic cylinder unit  410  is pressurized to extend the pneumatic telescopic shaft  412 , the pneumatic telescopic shaft  412  keeps pressing the movable board  533 , and then driving the vibration device  300  to move towards the opening  531 , and also making the elastic element  534  deformed. Finally, the vibration rod  310  of the vibration device  300  is moved outwards from the opening  531 . (See  FIG. 5 ) On the other hand, when the pneumatic cylinder unit  410  is depressurized to draw the pneumatic telescopic shaft  412  back, the elastic element  534  restores to pull the movable board  533  and the vibration device  300  back for the next operation. (See  FIG. 2 ) 
     In the mentioned embodiment, a power-off device  600  can be further optionally provided on the vibration wave output instrument  100  in order to rapidly cutting off the power in an emergency situation. The power-off device  600  is electrically connected with the pressing device  400  and the vibration device  300 , and for example, can be installed on the slidable supporting arm  510  (as shown in the figures), the movable carrier  520  (not shown) or a couple of handling devices respectively grabbed by a tested person or the operators (not shown). 
     As the power-off device  600  is activated, power for the pressing device  400  and the vibration device  300  is instantly cut off. Therefore, the vibration device  300  stops outputting vibration waves, and the pressing device  400  stops pressing the vibration device  300 . For example, the pneumatic cylinder unit  410  immediately exhausts the air in the cylinder body  411  and draws the pneumatic telescopic shaft  412  back to the cylinder body  411 . 
     Thus, the power-off device  600  provided in this embodiment reduces a risk that jeopardizes the target region  700  if the pressing device  400  and the vibration device  300  are operated improperly. 
     Furthermore, the stand  220  in this embodiment also optionally includes a counterweight  230 , a pulley  240 , a connection unit  250  and a fixing pin  260 . The counterweight  230  is movably arranged in the stand  220 . The pulley  240  is pivotally disposed on the stand  220 . The connection unit  250  such as a rope or a chain is engaged with the pulley, and one end of the connection unit  250  couples with the slidable supporting arm  510  and the other end of the connection unit  250  couples with the counterweight  230 . 
     Therefore, since a strength that the slidable supporting arm  510  been weighed and a friction occurred between the first Z-axis rail  221  and the second Z-axis rail  512  are equal to a strength that the counterweight  230  been weighed, thus, when an operator pulls the slidable supporting arm  510  down to a height of a position, the slidable supporting arm can be fixed to the position because the strengths are balanced. Finally, the fixing pin plugs on both the stand  220  and the counterweight  230  for fixing the counterweight  230  and remaining the position of the slidable supporting arm  510 . 
     In contrary, when an operator lifts the slidable supporting arm  510  up to another height of a position, since the friction between the first Z-axis rail  221  and the second Z-axis rail  512  has been overcome by the operator, the counterweight  230  is heavy enough to provide strength to lift up the slidable supporting arm  510  by the connection unit  250 , so as to facilitate the operator to lift (See  FIG. 3 ). 
     Refer to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 6  in which  FIG. 6  is a flow chart illustrating a method of using a vibration wave output instrument in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. In the followings, the method of using the vibration wave output instrument  100  in accordance with the embodiment will be described below. To be noted, the working mode for those elements mentioned above in the specification above can be performed in a manual way or a machinery (i.e. automatic) way. 
     Step  610 : providing a mark on a skin surface of a body. 
     In this step, the target region  700  can be a part of skin surfaces on a human body (e.g. a leg), and the mark needs to be made on a predetermined tested position of the skin surface of the human body. 
     In a manual way, the mark can be marked by an operator, otherwise, in a machinery (i.e. automatic) way, the mark can be practiced as an optically readable mark. 
     Step  620 : moving the vibration device  300  to aim at the mark thereof (See  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 ). 
     In a manual way to process this step, the movable carrier  520  can be moved along an X-axis, a Y-axis or a Z-axis by operating the position mechanism  500  by the operator, thus, the vibration device  300  can be moved above the mark thereof and aiming at it. 
     However, in a machinery (i.e. automatic) way to process this step, the vibration device  300  can be brought to move onto and aim at the mark thereof by a coordinate guiding technology of the electronic system. 
     Step  630 : pressing the vibration device  300  once to touch against the mark thereof (See  FIG. 4 ). 
     In this step, when the movable carrier  520  is moved above the mark, even touches the skin surface of the target region  700 , the operator manually pressurizes the pneumatic cylinder unit  410  by the inflatable unit  414 , thus, the pneumatic cylinder unit  410  extends the pneumatic telescopic shaft  412 , and then the pneumatic telescopic shaft  412  presses the vibration device  300  to move out so that the vibration rod  310  of the vibration device  300  exactly points to and slightly pressing (i.e. touching) against the mark thereof. 
     On the other hand, when this step is processed in a machinery (i.e. automatic) way, the electronic system could pressurize the pneumatic cylinder unit  410 , and then stop doing so until the vibration rod  310  of the vibration device  300  has exactly pointed to and slightly pressed against the mark thereof. 
     Step  640 : determining whether the vibration device  300  has aimed at and touched against the mark thereof. 
     In this step, the operator may check whether the vibration device  300  has aimed at and touched against the mark by a manual and machinery way, if yes, process Step  650 , otherwise, back to Step  640 . 
     Step  650 : pressing the vibration device  300  again to press against the mark thereof (See  FIG. 5 ). 
     In this step, the operator manually pressurizes the pneumatic cylinder unit  410  again, thus, the pneumatic cylinder unit  410  increasingly extends the pneumatic telescopic shaft  412  to keep pressing the vibration device  300 , and the vibration rod  310  of the vibration device  300  will push the vibration device  300  progressively, so that the vibration rod  310  of the vibration device  300  is kept pressing against the mark thereof and a depression of the skin surface of the mark is therefore formed. 
     On the other hand, when this step is processed in a machinery (i.e. automatic) way, the electronic system could pressurize the pneumatic cylinder unit  410  again to output the air pressure to the pneumatic cylinder unit  410  step by step according to computing programs. In a specific embodiment, the inflatable unit  414  pressurizes the pneumatic cylinder unit  410  about 0.5 kg to 1 kg. 
     Step  660 : outputting vibration waves into the body via the skin surface thereof. (See  FIG. 5 ) 
     In this step, the vibration device  300  can be activated by a manual way or machinery (i.e. automatic) way, so that the vibration rod  310  outputs vibration waves with the suitable frequency into the human body via the skin surface of the target region  700 . 
     Step  670 : reading responsive signals reflected from the body. 
     In this step, the operator or the electronic system reads the responsive signals reflected from the body by an ultrasonic detector, so as the information of human bone mineral density and the health condition of the hip joint can be measured and figured out according to the responsive signals. 
     To sum up, the vibration wave output instrument and the method of using the same in the present disclosure contribute a stable and convenient manner to handle, so that the vibration device could stably and precisely aim at a determined tested point of a human body. 
     In addition, enabling the vibration device to keep pressing the skin surface of the human body in one aspect enhances the accuracy that the vibration device points at the tested point of the human body, and in another aspect shortens the distance that the vibration waves move from the skin surface to the interior of the human body so as to improve the precision of the test. 
     The reader&#39;s attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with his specification and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference. 
     All the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract, and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.