Patent Publication Number: US-2023132835-A1

Title: Electronic thermometer

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a National Phase Entry of International Application No. PCT/KR2021/004590, filed on Apr. 12, 2021, designating the United States, which is based upon and claims priority to Korean Patent Application 10-2020-0043898 filed on Apr. 10, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to an electronic thermometer. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Generally, a body temperature is measured using a thermometer. Such a thermometer accurately measures the body temperature only after a predetermined time elapses in a state in which the thermometer is attached to or in contact with a body, and the body temperature is measured once. 
     Accordingly, conventional thermometers have a limitation that it is impossible to continuously trace and monitor user&#39;s body temperatures. 
     The present invention is applied in consideration of the above limitation and directed to providing an electronic thermometer capable of periodically measuring a user&#39;s body temperature in a state in which the electronic thermometer is attached to a user&#39;s body, and then storing the measured results. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     One aspect of the present invention provides an electronic thermometer which is attached to a user&#39;s body to periodically measure a body temperature, the electronic thermometer including one or more temperature sensors mounted on one surface of a flexible circuit board, a memory part which stores information obtained through the temperature sensors, a communication part which transmits the information stored in the memory part to an outside, a control part which controls the temperature sensors, the memory part, and the communication part to be driven, a power supply part disposed on the one surface of the flexible circuit board to provide driving power, and a protection member which surrounds the flexible circuit board to prevent the temperature sensors, the memory part, the communication part, the control part, and the power supply part from being exposed to the outside. 
     The one or more temperature sensors may include a first temperature sensor for measuring a user&#39;s body temperature and a second temperature sensor for measuring an external temperature. 
     The communication part may include an antenna pattern pattern-formed on the flexible circuit board and a driver chip for driving the antenna pattern. 
     The electronic thermometer may further include a heat transfer member which may be electrically connected to the first temperature sensor through a via hole and mounted on a surface opposite to a surface of the flexible circuit board, on which the first temperature sensor is mounted, to be in direct contact with a user&#39;s skin. 
     The protection member may include an exposure hole formed to pass through the protection member in a region corresponding to the heat transfer member, and the heat transfer member may be exposed to the outside through the exposure hole. 
     The heat transfer member may be formed of a metal material. 
     The power supply part may be a printed battery disposed on the one surface of the flexible circuit board. 
     The protection member may be formed of a material having flexibility. 
     The electronic thermometer may further include one or more indicators. 
     The electronic thermometer may further include an adhesive member disposed on the one surface of the protection member. 
     The control part may measure a user&#39;s body temperature at regular time intervals through the temperature sensors and store measured information in the memory part. 
     According to the present invention, since an electronic thermometer can periodically measure and store a user&#39;s body temperature in a state in which the electronic thermometer is attached to a user&#39;s body, information of the user&#39;s body temperature can be traced and monitored. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a view illustrating an electronic thermometer according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG.  2    is a bottom view illustrating the electronic thermometer from which a release film is separated in  FIG.  1   . 
         FIG.  3    is a view illustrating an internal structure of the electronic thermometer shown in  FIG.  1   . 
         FIG.  4    is a cross-sectional view along line A-A of  FIG.  3   . 
         FIG.  5    is a view illustrating an internal structure of an electronic thermometer according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG.  6    is a block diagram illustrating the electronic thermometer according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG.  7    is a schematic view illustrating a body temperature tracing system using the electronic thermometer according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in order for those skilled in the art to easily perform the present invention. The present invention may be implemented in several different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. Parts irrelevant to descriptions are omitted in the drawings in order to clearly explain the present invention, and the same or similar parts are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout this specification. 
     An electronic thermometer  100  or  200  according to one embodiment of the present invention may be implemented in a patch type and attached to a user&#39;s body, may periodically measure a body temperature in a state of being attached to the user&#39;s body, and then store the measured result. 
     Through this, the electronic thermometer  100  or  200  according to one embodiment of the present invention may serve as a datalogger in which a user&#39;s body temperatures are stored after the user&#39;s body temperature is periodically measured. In this case, the user may be a target person of which information of a body temperature needs to be traced. 
     To this end, as illustrated in  FIGS.  1  to  5   , the electronic thermometer  100  or  200  according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a flexible circuit board  110 , one or more temperature sensors  121  and  122 , a memory part  130 , a communication part  140 , a control part  150 , a power supply part  160 , and a protection member  170 . 
     The flexible circuit board  110  may be a board on which various circuit elements are mounted or a circuit pattern for electrical connection is formed. As an example, the circuit element may be a chipset for performing a predetermined function, and the circuit pattern may be an antenna pattern or a line pattern for electrical connection. 
     The flexible circuit board  110  may be a known flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) having flexibility and formed of polyimide (PI), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), or the like. 
     The one or more temperature sensors  121  and  122  may be mounted on one surface of the flexible circuit board  110  and may detect information about a temperature. 
     As an example, the one or more temperature sensors  121  and  122  may include a first temperature sensor  121  for detecting a user&#39;s body temperature to measure the user&#39;s body temperature. The first temperature sensor  121  may be mounted on one surface of the flexible circuit board  110  and may measure the user&#39;s body temperature at regular time intervals. 
     Here, information about the user&#39;s body temperature measured by the first temperature sensor  121  may be stored in the memory unit  130 . 
     Through this, in a state in which the electronic thermometer  100  or  200  according to one embodiment of the present invention is attached to a user&#39;s skin, information about the body temperature periodically measured by the first temperature sensor  121  is periodically stored in the memory unit  130 , all changes in the user&#39;s body temperature over time may be recorded, a checker may check result values for the body temperatures stored in the memory part  130 , and thus a change in trend of the user&#39;s body temperature can be easily checked. 
     In this case, the first temperature sensor  121  may be a digital type temperature sensor. In addition, the first temperature sensor  121  may directly measure the user&#39;s body temperature, but may measure the user&#39;s body temperature based on heat transferred through a heat transfer member  123 . 
     To this end, the first temperature sensor  121  may be mounted on a first surface of the flexible circuit board  110 , and the heat transfer member  123  may be mounted on a second surface of the flexible circuit board  110  to be in direct contact with the user&#39;s skin. In this case, the first temperature sensor  121  and the heat transfer member  123  may be electrically connected to each other through a via hole  112  formed in the flexible circuit board  110 . 
     Here, the first surface and the second surface of the flexible circuit board  110  may be opposite to each other. As an example, the first surface may be an upper surface of the flexible circuit board  110 , and the second surface may be a lower surface of the flexible circuit board  110 . 
     In addition, as described above, the heat transfer member  123  may be mounted on the second surface of the flexible circuit board  110  and may be in direct contact with the user&#39;s skin. Accordingly, a body temperature transferred from the user&#39;s skin may be transferred to the temperature sensors  121  and  122  through the heat transfer member  123 . 
     As an example, the heat transfer member  123  may be formed of a metal material with high thermal conductivity. 
     In this case, the heat transfer member  123  may have a shape capable of always maintaining a state of being in contact with the user&#39;s skin when the electronic thermometer  100  or  200  according to one embodiment of the present invention is attached to the user&#39;s skin. To this end, the heat transfer member  123  may have a shape in which a central portion convexly protrudes in one direction. 
     As an example, the heat transfer member  123  may be formed in a hemispherical shape or dome shape. 
     Accordingly, when the electronic thermometer  100  or  200  according to one embodiment of the present invention is attached to the user&#39;s skin and even when an attached part is a curved body part, the central portion of the heat transfer member  123  may always maintain a state of being in contact with the user&#39;s skin. Accordingly, the heat transfer member  123  may easily transfer the heat transferred from the user&#39;s skin to the first temperature sensor  121 . 
     As illustrated in  FIGS.  2  and  4   , the heat transfer member  123  may be exposed to the outside through an exposure hole  172  formed in the protection member  170  which will be described below. Accordingly, when the electronic thermometer  100  or  200  according to one embodiment of the present invention is attached to the user&#39;s body, the heat transfer member  123  may be always in direct contact with the user&#39;s skin. 
     However, an installation position of the first temperature sensor  121  is not limited thereto, and the first temperature sensor  121  may also be installed at a position at which the user&#39;s body temperature may be directly measured. As an example, the first temperature sensor  121  may be mounted on the second surface of the flexible circuit board  110  and exposed to the outside through the exposure hole  172  formed in the protection member  170 . In this case, the heat transfer member  123  may be omitted. 
     In this case, the electronic thermometer  100  or  200  according to one embodiment of the present invention may measure an external temperature with the user&#39;s body temperature using the first temperature sensor  121 . 
     To this end, the electronic thermometer  100  or  200  according to one embodiment of the present invention may further include a second temperature sensor  122  for measuring the external temperature in addition to the first temperature sensor  121  for measuring the user&#39;s body temperature. 
     The second temperature sensor  122  may be mounted on one surface of the flexible circuit board  110  like the first temperature sensor  121  and may measure the external temperature at regular time intervals. In this case, an exposure hole (not shown) may be formed in the protection member  170  in a region corresponding to the second temperature sensor  122 , and the second temperature sensor  122  may also be exposed to the outside through the exposure hole. 
     Here, information about the external temperature measured by the second temperature sensor  122  may be stored in the memory part  130 , and a detecting period of the second temperature sensor  122  may be a period which is the same as a detecting period of the first temperature sensor  121 . 
     Through this, since the electronic thermometer  100  or  200  according to one embodiment of the present invention may measure temperature information about an external environment when the user&#39;s body temperature is measured in addition to information about the user&#39;s body temperature using the first temperature sensor  121 , accuracy of the measured body temperature can be further improved. 
     As illustrated in  FIG.  6   , an overall operation of the one or more temperature sensors  121  and  122  may be controlled by the control part  150 , the control part  150  may be driven using power provided by the power supply part  160 , and information obtained by the one or more temperature sensors  121  and  122  may be stored in the memory part  130 . 
     In this case, the one or more temperature sensors  121  and  122  may periodically detect a temperature at predetermined time intervals. As a non-restrictive example, the one or more temperature sensors  121  and  122  may measure a user&#39;s body temperature or an external temperature at every hour, and information about the measured temperature may be stored in the memory part  130 . 
     Through this, since the electronic thermometer  100  or  200  according to one embodiment of the present invention minimizes consumption of power provided by the power supply part  160  while periodically measuring and storing the user&#39;s body temperature or the external temperature, a replacement period or recharge period of a battery can be increased. 
     The communication part  140  may transmit temperature information stored in the memory part  130  to an external electronic device through a wireless manner. 
     Here, the external electronic device  10  may be an electronic device in which a wireless communication module corresponding to the communication part  140  is installed. As an example, the external electronic device  10  may be a portable terminal  20 , such as a smartphone, a repeater, a server, a cloud, or the like. 
     Accordingly, since the user or checker simply checks the temperature information stored in the memory part  130  using the external electronic device  10 , the user or checker can easily check a change in trend of the user&#39;s body temperature. As an example, the communication part  140  may be a near field communication (NFC) antenna module. In this case, when the portable terminal  20  in which an NFC antenna module is installed is tagged on the communication part  140 , the information stored in the memory part  130  may be transmitted to the portable terminal  20 . 
     To this end, the communication part  140  may include an antenna pattern  141  pattern-formed on at least one surface of the flexible circuit board  110  and a driver chip  142  mounted on one surface of the flexible circuit board  110  to drive the antenna pattern  141 . 
     Accordingly, the antenna pattern  141  may serve as a radiator configured to transmit information obtained through the one or more temperature sensors  121  and  122  to the outside through a wireless manner. 
     Through this, the temperature information measured by the one or more temperature sensors  121  and  122  may be transmitted to the external electronic device, for example, a portable terminal, through the antenna pattern  141 . Accordingly, the user can simply check data measured by temperature sensors  121  and  122  through the portable terminal during the NFC tagging. 
     In this case, the data transmitted to the portable terminal through the antenna pattern  141  during the NFC tagging may be displayed by an application stored in the portable terminal. In addition, the data transmitted to the portable terminal through the antenna pattern  141  may also be stored in the application itself. Accordingly, the user can check the change in trend of the body temperature through the data stored in the application. 
     In addition, as illustrated in  FIG.  7   , the data transmitted to the portable terminal may be transmitted to the external electronic device  10 , such as an additional server or cloud, using a network connected to the portable terminal  20  and then may be stored in the server or the external electronic device, and an instruction and an action according to a change in the body temperature may also be guided to the portable terminal  20  in conjunction with the server. 
     In this case, the driver chip  142  may be disposed inside the antenna pattern  141 , the first temperature sensor  121  may be disposed outside the antenna pattern  141 , and the driver chip  142  and the temperature sensors  121  and  122  may be electrically connected to each other through a lead part  143  formed on at least one surface of the flexible circuit board  110 . 
     Accordingly, the first temperature sensor  121  does not need to be exposed to the user&#39;s skin and may be mounted on the first surface of the flexible circuit board  110  which is the same as a surface on which the driver chip  142  is mounted. Accordingly, since the first temperature sensor  121  may be completely covered by the protection member  170  which will be described below, airtightness can be improved. 
     As another example, the communication part  140  may be a Bluetooth module. In this case, the communication part  140  may be paired with the portable terminal  20  and may transmit the temperature information measured by the temperature sensors  121  and  122  to the portable terminal  20 . That is, the temperature information measured by the temperature sensors  121  and  122  and stored in the memory part  130  may be transmitted to the external electronic device such as the portable terminal  20  through the Bluetooth module, and transmitted to and stored in an additional server or another electronic device  10  using a network connected to the external electronic device. 
     In addition, as illustrated in  FIG.  5   , the communication part  140  may also be formed in a form including all NFC antenna modules  141 ,  142 , and  143 , and the Bluetooth module  144 . 
     The control part  150  may control an overall operation of the electronic thermometer  100  or  200  according to one embodiment of the present invention by controlling the temperature sensors  121  and  122 , the memory part  130 , and the communication part  140 . The control part  150  may be driven using power provided by the power supply part  160 . 
     In addition, the memory part  130  may serve as a storage medium configured to store the temperature information obtained through the one or more temperature sensors  121  and  122  as described above. 
     As a specific example, the control part  150  may be a system semiconductor such as a micro controller unit (MCU), and the memory part  130  may be a memory semiconductor such as a non-volatile memory (NVM). 
     In addition, although the power supply part  160  may be a known coin battery or prismatic battery, the power supply part  160  may be a flexible plate battery so that a capacity increases while an overall weight and volume are reduced. As a specific example, the power supply part  160  may be a known paper battery or printed battery. 
     That is, in the electronic thermometer  100  or  200  according to one embodiment of the present invention, since the power supply part  160  is implemented as the flexible plate battery, a power capacity for driving can be sufficiently secured, the overall weight can be reduced, and a thin film type can be implemented. 
     Meanwhile, the electronic thermometer  100  or  200  according to one embodiment of the present invention may include the protection member  170  which surrounds the flexible circuit board  110  to prevent the one or more temperature sensors  121  and  122 , the memory part  130 , the communication part  140 , the control part  150 , and the power supply part  160  from being exposed to the outside. 
     In this case, the protection member  170  may include the exposure hole  172  formed in a region corresponding to the heat transfer member  123  as described above, and the heat transfer member  123  may be exposed to the outside through the exposure hole  172 . 
     Accordingly, the protection member  170  may be formed to completely surround portions excluding the heat transfer member  123 . 
     That is, since the protection member  170  is formed to completely cover the upper surface and the lower surface of the flexible circuit board  110 , the temperature sensors  121  and  122 , the memory part  130 , the communication part  140 , the control part  150 , the power supply part  160 , and the flexible circuit board  110  excluding the heat transfer member  123  can be prevented from being exposed to the outside. In this case, the protection member  170  may be formed of a material having flexibility. Through this, even when the electronic thermometer  100  or  200  according to one embodiment of the present invention is attached to a curved body portion, since the electronic thermometer  100  or  200  may be smoothly deformed and fitted onto the user&#39;s curved body, adhesion with the user&#39;s body can be improved. As an example, the protection member  170  may be a molding part formed of an insulating resin material such as silicone. However, the protection member  170  is not limited thereto and may have a sheet type formed of a fluorine polymer resin such as PET, polypropylene (PP), or polyethylene (PE), release paper, or the like, and any material having insulation and airtightness can be used without limitation. Meanwhile, the electronic thermometer  100  or  200  according to one embodiment of the present invention may include an adhesive member  180  disposed on one surface of the protection member  170 . 
     Since the adhesive member  180  has adhesiveness or viscosity, the adhesive member  180  can attach the electronic thermometer  100  or  200  to the user&#39;s body. Here, the adhesive member  180  may be disposed on a surface in which the exposure hole  172  for exposing the heat transfer member  123  to the outside is formed. 
     Accordingly, when the electronic thermometer  100  or  200  is attached to the user&#39;s skin through the adhesive member  180 , the heat transfer member  123  may be in direct contact with the user&#39;s skin. 
     As an example, the adhesive member  180  may be an adhesive layer in a gel type and may be formed of a material of which an adhesive force is restored when coming into contact with moisture. Accordingly, the adhesive member  180  can be repeatedly reused. 
     As another example, the adhesive member  180  may be a known double-sided tape. 
     However, the material of the adhesive member  180  is not limited thereto, and any known material capable of providing an adhesive force with the user&#39;s skin may be used without limitation. 
     In addition, a removable release film  182  may be further attached to an exposure surface of the adhesive member  180 . 
     Meanwhile, the electronic thermometer  100  or  200  according to one embodiment of the present invention may include at least one indicator  190 . 
     The indicator  190  may display a remaining amount of the battery of the power supply part  160  or an on/off driving state. 
     As an example, the indicator  190  may be at least one light-emitting diode (LED) mounted on one surface of the flexible circuit board  110 . 
     As described above, the electronic thermometer  100  or  200  according to one embodiment of the present invention may periodically measure a body temperature, store a measured result in the memory part  130 , and transmit the result stored in the memory part  130  to the external electronic device through the communication part  140  in a state of being attached to the user&#39;s body. Through this, since the electronic thermometer  100  or  200  according to one embodiment of the present invention may be attached to a target person whose body temperature needs to be managed and may periodically measure body temperature information, a change in the body temperature of the body temperature management target person can be effectively traced. 
     In addition, when a body temperature greater than or equal to a predetermined temperature or a sudden change in body temperature is detected while the body temperature is periodically recorded through the first temperature sensor  121 , the electronic thermometer  100  or  200  according to one embodiment of the present invention may transmit a warning signal to the external electronic device, such as the server, through the communication part  140 , and a global positioning system (GPS) module may also be installed in the electronic thermometer  100  or  200  to check a position of the target person to which the electronic thermometer  100  or  200  is attached. 
     While embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the spirit of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments proposed in this specification, and other embodiments may be easily suggested by adding, changing and removing components by those skilled in the art and will fall within the spiritual range of the present invention.