Patent Description:
Sleep plays a vital role in human health and many factors can affect the comfort level of sleep, such as temperature and humidity, bedding, and the material of pajamas tightly attached to our skin during sleep. With the increase of life pressure, the comfort level of sleep is increasingly drawing attentions of people, and more and more people are pursuing bed textiles with a high comfort level. In view of a complex sensory system of human beings, the test results of physical test methods for bed textiles at this stage do not truly reflect the real comfort level of the human body. For test method experiments involving the participation of a human body, sleep experiments should be performed under controllable temperature and humidity conditions, so that the other factors, other than textiles, that affect the comfort level are excluded. However, many sleep laboratory devices only control the temperature and humidity of the environment to study the sleep heat comfort level of textiles, but they cannot regulate the temperature and humidity of the micro-environment around the human body. However, the temperature and humidity of the micro-environment are the main factors directly affecting human sleep. On the other hand, some devices for the micro-environment are not suitable for the study on the heat and humidity comfort level of textiles. In addition, importantly, due to the structural problem of the human body, the blood flow and the skin temperature of different parts of the body of each person vary greatly, for example, the skin temperature of the limbs farther from the heart is very different from that of the trunk, and the comfort feeling of each part is also very different.

<CIT> describes an evaluating method for human comfort degree in indoor air-conditioning environment. There are <NUM> to <NUM> mutual isolated artificial climate chambers, whose evaluating parameters have at least one different value. Outside the artificial climate chambers there is a set of artificial climate transition region with constant parameters which are connected by self room gate and isolated with outer sides. When detecting the evaluation, the subject enters the artificial climate transition region firstly, feels and adapts the environment of the artificial climate transition region, enters the first artificial climate chamber, feels and adapts the climate comfort degree of the artificial climate chamber, and records the evaluation; the subject returns the artificial climate transition region, feels and adapts the environment of the artificial climate transition region newly, enters the second artificial climate chamber, feels and adapts the climate comfort degree of the artificial climate chamber, and records the evaluation; cycles like this until finish the comparing evaluation of all artificial climate chambers.

<CIT> describes a sleep element (<NUM>) like a heating blanket for improving the sleep of a person. The sleep element comprises a property determination unit (<NUM>, <NUM>) for determining a property of a person, a thermal energy unit (<NUM>) for transferring thermal energy to or away from the person, and a thermal energy control unit (<NUM>) for controlling the thermal energy unit depending on the determined property of the person.

<CIT> describes a method and apparatus for monitoring, controlling and adjusting sleeper's environmental conditions of the space above entire bed surface by partially sealing and insulating the space above the entire bed surface; monitoring, controlling and adjusting temperature, quality, oxygen level and moisture level of the air within the partially sealed and insulated space according combinational factors of the sleeper's preferences, the sleeper's physiological conditions, heat transfer rate between sleeper's body and ambient air, the internal conditions and external conditions of the partially sealed and insulated space. In particular, a system uses a three-dimensional structure to partially seal and insulate an adequate amount of space above entire bed surface; uses physiological state sensors, thermometers, thermostats, heating device, cooling device, humidistat (hygrostat), humidifier and dehumidifier, oxygen sensor, oxygen supply device, air filtration device to monitor, control and adjust the temperature, moisture level, oxygen level and quality of the air inside the partially sealed and insulated space.

<CIT> describes a health care bed. The health care bed comprises a power supply, a mattress (<NUM>), a detection circuit, an air exchange chamber (<NUM>), a control panel (<NUM>) and a control circuit. The mattress (<NUM>) is provided with air exchange holes (<NUM>). The detection circuit is embedded in an upper surface of the mattress (<NUM>). The mattress (<NUM>) is covered on an upper surface of the air exchange chamber (<NUM>). The control panel (<NUM>), the control circuit and the air exchange chamber (<NUM>) are connected orderly.

The detection circuit is connected to the control circuit. The power supply is connected to the control circuit, the detection circuit and the air exchange chamber (<NUM>). The health care bed utilizes the detection circuit to induct a temperature and humidity around a human body, and utilizes the control circuit to control an air-heater and a negative pressure blower fan to carry out automatic adjustment on a temperature of the surface of the health care bed so that a temperature around a human body is maintained in a range of <NUM> to <NUM> DEG C and humidity around the human body is maintained in a range of <NUM> to <NUM>%.

The technical problem to be solved by the present disclosure is to provide, with regard to the prior art in which only the temperature and humidity of an environment can be controlled, a micro-environment controllable temperature and humidity system and method for evaluating the sleep heat and humidity comfort level of textiles, which can realize the partitioned temperature and humidity control of a micro-environment of a subject, for studying the comfort level of the textiles located in different regions of the subject. The present invention relates to a system for evaluating heat and humidity comfort level of textiles proximal a subject during sleeping as defined in claim <NUM> and a micro-environment controllable temperature and humidity method for evaluating heat and humidity comfort level of textiles proximal a subject during sleeping as defined in claim <NUM>. The technical solution adopted by the present disclosure to solve the technical problem thereof is: providing a system for evaluating heat and humidity comfort level of textiles proximal a subject during sleeping, the system comprising:.

Preferably, the system may further comprise: a heat and humidity comfort level detection sensing apparatus (<NUM>) comprising a physiological index sensor (<NUM>) for collecting physiological data, and an acceleration sensor (<NUM>) for collecting data of the body position and the activity amount associated with a change of body position of a subject during sleep on the platform; and
one or more sleep temperature and humidity sensors (<NUM>) for collecting the micro-environment temperature and humidity of various parts of the subject during sleep.

The system further comprises a controllable temperature and humidity test chamber. Preferably, an air outlet and an air return inlet are respectively arranged at the top and bottom of the controllable temperature and humidity test chamber, and a diffuser plate is mounted below the air outlet; and
the bed-shaped partitioned platform may be arranged in the controllable temperature and humidity test chamber, and the air return inlet may be further arranged at the bottom of the bed-shaped partitioned platform.

Preferably, the system may further comprise a test chamber temperature and humidity control machine electrically connected to the central controller, air emitted from the test chamber temperature and humidity control machine may pass through the air outlet and then enter the controllable temperature and humidity test chamber through the diffuser plate.

Preferably, a test chamber temperature and humidity sensor may be further arranged at the air outlet, and the test chamber temperature and humidity sensor may be electrically connected to the central controller.

The one or more temperature and humidity control are respectively in communication with one or more ventilation pipelines, and air outlets of the one or more ventilation pipelines respectively correspond to and are in communication with one or more lower-layer air inlets arranged at the bottom of the bed-shaped partitioned platform, and the one or more lower-layer air inlets are respectively in communication with one or more section diffusers arranged thereabove; and
a heat dissipation polyester layer is arranged close to and above the one or more section diffusers, an upper-layer return air passage is arranged above the heat dissipation polyester layer, and the upper-layer return air passage is in communication with the controllable temperature and humidity test chamber.

Preferably, air inlets of the one or more ventilation pipelines may be respectively provided with one or more temperature sensors, and the one or more temperature sensors may be respectively electrically connected to the central controller.

Preferably, a connection opening may be arranged on a side wall of the controllable temperature and humidity test chamber, and data cables of the physiological index sensor and the acceleration sensor may be connected to an external computer through the connection opening; and
a ventilation window may be further arranged on the side wall of the controllable temperature and humidity test chamber, and a ventilation fan may be arranged in the ventilation window.

The present disclosure also provides a micro-environment controllable temperature and humidity method for evaluating heat and humidity comfort level of textiles proximal a subject during sleeping, the method comprising:.

Preferably, the analyzing data and evaluating the test textile may further comprise:.

The beneficial effects of the present disclosure line in that the micro-environment controllable temperature and humidity system can perform partitioned control on the temperature and humidity in a micro-environment during sleep, and is used for studying the influence of the temperature and humidity on the comfort level of different regions of a subject. The method of the present disclosure evaluates the sleep heat and humidity comfort level of textiles in three levels of physics, physiology and psychology, and performs subjective and objective test evaluations on the textiles, thereby making up for the defects in the existing methods that the sleep heat and humidity comfort level of textiles cannot be comprehensively evaluated.

The present disclosure will be further described below in conjunction with the drawings and embodiments, in which:.

For a better understanding of the technical features, objects, and advantages of the present disclosure, the detailed description of embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

<FIG> is a structural schematic top view of a preferred embodiment of a micro-environment controllable temperature and humidity system for evaluating heat and humidity comfort level of textiles according to the present disclosure. The micro-environment controllable temperature and humidity system comprises: a bed-shaped partitioned platform <NUM>, which comprises one or more non-temperature and humidity-controllable sections <NUM> and one or more temperature and humidity controllable sections <NUM>; one or more temperature and humidity control machines <NUM> being in communication with the one or more temperature and humidity controllable sections <NUM> respectively for supplying air with a pre-set temperature and humidity; and a central controller <NUM> electrically connected to the one or more temperature and humidity control machines <NUM>; a heat and humidity comfort level detection sensing apparatus (as shown in FIG. <NUM>) comprising a physiological index sensor (as shown in FIG. <NUM>) for collecting physiological data and an acceleration sensor (as shown in FIG. <NUM>) for collecting data of the body position and activity amount associated with a change of body position of a human body during sleep on the platform. The one or more temperature and humidity control machines <NUM> are respectively in communication with one or more temperature and humidity controllable sections <NUM> through one or more ventilation pipelines <NUM>. Fire-retardant and sound-absorbing materials are respectively provided in the one or more ventilation pipelines <NUM>.

Air inlets of the one or more ventilation pipelines <NUM> are respectively provided with one or more temperature sensors <NUM>, and the one or more temperature sensors <NUM> are respectively electrically connected to the central controller <NUM>. A connection opening <NUM> is arranged on a side wall of the controllable temperature and humidity test chamber <NUM>, and data cables of the physiological index sensor and the acceleration sensor are connected to an external computer through the connection opening <NUM>; and a ventilation window <NUM> is further arranged on the side wall of the controllable temperature and humidity test chamber <NUM>, and a ventilation fan <NUM> is arranged in the ventilation window <NUM>.

The micro-environment controllable temperature and humidity system further comprises one or more sleep temperature and humidity sensors (as shown in FIG. <NUM>) for collecting the micro-environment temperature and humidity of various parts of the human body during sleep.

<FIG> is a structural schematic side view of a preferred embodiment of a micro-environment controllable temperature and humidity system for evaluating heat and humidity comfort level of textiles according to the present disclosure. The micro-environment controllable temperature and humidity system further comprises a controllable temperature and humidity test chamber <NUM>, and an air outlet <NUM> and an air return inlet <NUM> are respectively arranged at the top and bottom of the controllable temperature and humidity test chamber <NUM>, and a diffuser plate <NUM> is mounted below the air outlet <NUM>.

The bed-shaped partitioned platform <NUM> is arranged in the controllable temperature and humidity test chamber <NUM>, and the air return inlet <NUM> is further arranged at the bottom of the bed-shaped partitioned platform <NUM>.

The micro-environment controllable temperature and humidity system further comprises a test chamber temperature and humidity control machine <NUM> electrically connected to the central controller <NUM>, and air emitted from the test chamber temperature and humidity control machine <NUM> passes through the air outlet <NUM> and then enters the controllable temperature and humidity test chamber <NUM> through the diffuser plate <NUM>. A test chamber temperature and humidity sensor <NUM> is further arranged at the air outlet <NUM>, and the test chamber temperature and humidity sensor <NUM> is electrically connected to the central controller <NUM>.

One or more temperature and humidity control machines <NUM> are respectively in communication with one or more ventilation pipelines <NUM>, and air outlets of the one or more ventilation pipelines <NUM> respectively correspond to and are in communication with one or more lower-layer air inlets <NUM> arranged at the bottom of the bed-shaped partitioned platform <NUM>, and the one or more lower-layer air inlets <NUM> are respectively in communication with one or more section diffusers <NUM> arranged thereabove; and
a heat dissipation polyester layer <NUM> is arranged close to and above the one or more section diffusers <NUM>. An upper-layer return air passage <NUM> is arranged above the heat dissipation polyester layer <NUM>, and the upper-layer return air passage <NUM> is in communication with the controllable temperature and humidity test chamber <NUM>.

In a preferred embodiment, the bed-shaped partitioned platform <NUM> is mounted in the center of the controllable temperature and humidity system test chamber <NUM>, and the diffuser plate <NUM> at the top of the controllable temperature and humidity system test chamber <NUM> is a uniformly hole-shaped diffuser plate that completely covers the entire test chamber. A heat-resistant and cold-resistant stainless steel plate is arranged inside the wall body of the test chamber; and a wall body thermal insulation layer thereof has a double-layer structure, comprising a thermal insulation layer and a heat insulation and sound insulation layer. The air outlet <NUM> of the test chamber is mounted above the uniformly hole-shaped diffuser plate, and an air guide plate can be adjusted and set during the experiment so as to control the air speed. Preferably, the speed of the air when reaching the bed-shaped micro-environment controllable test platform does not exceed <NUM>/s. The air return inlet <NUM> is mounted below the bed-shaped partitioned platform <NUM>, a lower end of the air return inlet <NUM> is <NUM> higher than the ground, and the noise in the test chamber should not exceed <NUM> dB.

In a preferred embodiment, one or more non-temperature and humidity-controllable sections <NUM> are a head section, and one or more temperature and humidity controllable sections <NUM> are three independent sections, namely a chest section, a crotch section, and a lower limb section. The head section has no temperature or humidity control, whereas the chest section, the crotch section and the lower limb section are all provided with a controllable micro-environmental temperature and humidity apparatus, and are divided into upper and lower layers of ventilation sections, and three section diffusers <NUM> and large-aperture heat dissipation polyester materials are correspondingly arranged in the middle.

The central controller <NUM> is further externally connected to a touch control panel, and can independently control the three independent temperature and humidity controllable sections of the bed-shaped platform and the temperature and humidity of the test chamber through the touch control panel, and can further measure and obtain the temperature and humidity of a local section according to a temperature and humidity sensor <NUM> and a test chamber temperature and humidity sensor <NUM>, and respectively and automatically perform the linear temperature and humidity compensation correction by using a temperature and humidity control machine <NUM> and a test chamber temperature and humidity control machine <NUM>.

<FIG> is a schematic flow diagram of a preferred embodiment of a micro-environment controllable temperature and humidity method for evaluating heat and humidity comfort level of textiles according to the present disclosure. The micro-environment controllable temperature and humidity method comprises the steps of:.

For the sub-steps in step S83, steps S81, S82 and S83 can be executed in an arbitrary order.

<NUM> is a schematic view of a sensor for collecting physical and physiological data disposed in a micro-environment controllable temperature and humidity method for evaluating heat and humidity comfort level of textiles according to the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. <NUM>, a plurality of physiological index sensors <NUM> are arranged on the hand, head and face of the subject, and electroencephalography, electrooculogram, electromyography and blood oxygen saturation can be obtained according to the physiological index sensors <NUM>. These pieces of information are used to analyze important sleep quality indexes, such as awake and sleep stage percentage, sleep latency, sleep efficiency (SE), wake after sleep onset (WASO), and arousal times. The sensor connection position and sleep stage evaluation preferably refer to "<NPL>.

The acceleration sensor <NUM> is placed on the center line of pajama trousers of the subject for collecting data of the body position and activity amount associated with a change of body position of the human body during sleep and using the data of activity amount to help analyze the sleep stage and the sleep quality.

In addition, importantly, it is required to ensure that the subject does not have sleep or the other physical and psychological diseases, and cannot have behaviours such as smoking, drinking, taking prescription drugs, sleeping during daytime, drinking caffeine drinks and dieting within <NUM> days of the experiment so as to prevent adverse or negative effects on the sleep experiment. Preferably, the subject may pre-sleep for a few nights in the test chamber prior to the experiment, so as to adapt to the environment of the test chamber and reduce the impact of an environmental change on sleep.

Textile samples: A is a gauze and pure cotton summer quilt, and B is a multi-layer gauze summer quilt. The test method is as follows:
replacing an original quilt on the bed-shaped test platform with the summer quilt, and placing three temperature and humidity sensors at each of an outer side and an inner side of a mattress above each test platform partition. One of the sensors is located in a middle line, and the other two are located at <NUM> from the middle line, inside and outside sensors are in one-to-one correspondence in position, and there are <NUM> sensors with the collection of temperature and humidity sensor data being set of a high precision. The temperature of the temperature and humidity test chamber is set to <NUM>, with the relative humidity being <NUM>%. , and the temperature of the bed-shaped test platform is set to <NUM>, with the relative humidity being <NUM>%. Such temperature and humidity are optimal human body sleep temperature and humidity conditions obtained based on some preliminary experiments of the system of the present disclosure. The test time is <NUM> minutes, and after balance, the data during last ten minutes is taken for analysis; and after the data analysis, the result appears that the moisture permeability of the multi-layer gauze summer quilt is superior to that of the gauze and pure cotton summer quilt, while the thermal insulation property of the gauze and pure cotton summer quilt is superior to that of the multi-layer gauze summer quilt, which is as shown in Table <NUM> below.

The test takes two nights and one sample is tested during one night. The pure cotton quilt cover to be tested is placed over the quilt of the corresponding size of the bed-shaped partitioned platform <NUM>, the temperature of the temperature and humidity test chamber is preset to <NUM>, with the relative humidity being <NUM>%, and the temperature of the bed-shaped test platform is preset to <NUM>, with the relative humidity being <NUM>%. Such temperature and humidity are optimal human body sleep temperature and humidity conditions obtained based on some preliminary experiments of the system of the present disclosure. Three groups of sleep temperature and humidity sensors <NUM> are placed respectively under a bed sheet at the location of chest, crotch and feet and inside the quilt; there are <NUM> temperature and humidity sensors in total, and arrange the physiological index sensor <NUM> and the acceleration sensor <NUM> on the experimental subject; and after the test chamber and the bed-shaped partitioned platform reach and are stabilized at a pre-set temperature and humidity, the experimental subject enters the test chamber. The experimental subject lies on the test platform and fills in a heat and humidity comfort level psychological evaluation questionnaire. After the sleep monitoring all night, the experimental subject gets up and fills in the heat and humidity comfort level psychological evaluation questionnaire and a sleep quality psychological evaluation questionnaire.

The data from the sleep temperature and humidity sensor <NUM> is analyzed, and the result thereof is as shown in Table <NUM> below.

The data from the physiological index sensor <NUM> is analyzed, and the result thereof is as shown in Table <NUM> below.

In addition, the data from the acceleration sensor <NUM> is analyzed, and the result thereof is as shown in Table <NUM> below.

The evaluation criteria for the heat and humidity comfort level psychological evaluation questionnaire is as shown below. <IMG>
The result of the heat and humidity comfort level psychological evaluation questionnaire is as shown in Table <NUM> below.

The result of the sleep quality psychological evaluation questionnaire is as shown in Table <NUM> below.

From the above-mentioned instances, it can be concluded that pure cotton quilt cover B can provide a better sleep comfort and is superior to pure cotton quilt cover A.

Textile samples: Warm cotton pajama trousers A and pure cotton pajama trousers B.

The test needs to take two nights and one sample is tested during one night. The experimental subject wears a pure cotton short sleeve shirt, and the trousers are a sample to be tested. The temperature of the temperature and humidity test chamber is preset to be <NUM>, with the relative humidity being <NUM>%, the temperature of a chest section of the bed-shaped partitioned platform is preset to be <NUM>, with the relative humidity being <NUM>%, and the temperatures of a crotch section and a lower limb section are preset to be <NUM>, with the relative humidity being <NUM>%. Three groups of sleep temperature and humidity sensors <NUM> are placed respectively at an outer side of pajamas at the location of crotch, knee and feet and inside the quilt, and the positions thereof are in one-to-one correspondence; and there are <NUM> sleep temperature and humidity sensors <NUM> in total. The physiological index sensor <NUM> and the acceleration sensor <NUM> are arranged on the body of the experimental subject. After the temperature and humidity test chamber <NUM> and the bed-shaped partitioned platform <NUM> reach and are stabilized at a pre-set temperature and humidity, the subject enters the test chamber. The subject lies on the test platform and fills in a heat and humidity comfort level psychological evaluation questionnaire. After the sleep monitoring all night, the subject gets up and fills in the heat and humidity comfort level psychological evaluation questionnaire and a sleep quality psychological evaluation questionnaire.

The evaluation criteria for the heat and humidity comfort level psychological evaluation questionnaire is as shown below:
<IMG>.

The result of the heat and humidity comfort level psychological evaluation questionnaire is as shown in Table <NUM> below.

Claim 1:
A system for evaluating heat and humidity comfort level of textiles proximal a subject during sleeping, comprising:
a bed-shaped partitioned platform (<NUM>) comprising one or more non-temperature and non-humidity-controllable sections (<NUM>) and one or more temperature and humidity controllable sections (<NUM>) which define a micro environment therein;
a controllable temperature and humidity test chamber (<NUM>);
one or more temperature and humidity control machines (<NUM>) in communication with the one or more temperature and humidity controllable sections (<NUM>) respectively for supplying air with pre-set temperature and humidity via one or more ventilation pipelines (<NUM>), characterized in that
air outlets of the one or more ventilation pipelines (<NUM>) respectively correspond to and are in communication with one or more lower-layer air inlets (<NUM>) arranged at the bottom of the bed-shaped partitioned platform (<NUM>),
and the one or more lower-layer air inlets (<NUM>) are respectively in communication with one or more section diffusers (<NUM>) arranged thereabove;
and a heat dissipation polyester layer (<NUM>) is arranged close to and above the one or more section diffusers (<NUM>), an upper-layer return air passage (<NUM>) is arranged above the heat dissipation polyester layer (<NUM>), and the upper-layer return air passage (<NUM>) is in communication with the controllable temperature and humidity test chamber (<NUM>); and
a central controller (<NUM>) electrically connected to the one or more temperature and humidity control machines (<NUM>).