Abstract
The present invention discloses a method for automatically calibrating
an electronic sphygmomanometer, which pumps air at a predetermined
air pressure to a testing electronic sphygmomanometer to simultaneously
pressurize a set of pressure sensors set for regular use and at least
one other set of pressure sensors being interconnected in the electronic
sphygmomanometer to detect whether or not the set of pressure sensors
used at regular time is normal. The detected change of pressure during
the detection is sent to a control module, and the control module
will compare the detected value of each pressure sensor. If the comparison
is matched, then it means that the set of pressure sensors used at
regular time is normal; if the comparison is mismatched, then the
pressure sensors are determined as abnormal and the air valve connected
to such pressure sensors is shut, such that when a user uses the electronic
sphygmomanometer for the next time, another set of pressure sensors
will be started. The present invention can achieve the purpose of
allowing users to calibrate the electronic sphygmomanometer on their
own without the need of sending the electronic sphygmomanometer to
the original manufacturer and further saving time and simplifying
the operation.
Claims
1. A method for automatically calibrating electronic sphygmomanometer,
comprising the steps of: turning on a power supply; setting a control
module coupled to a power module at an operating mode; said control
module controlling an air pump module to pressurize an electronic
sphygmomanometer to a predetermined pressure; opening a valve of an
using pressure sensor in said electronic sphygmomanometer and also
opening a valve of another unused pressure sensor at the same time,
such that said pressure sensors interconnected with each other being
capable of detecting a change of pressure and converting said change
of pressure into a numeric valve and sending said numeric value to
said control module; and said control module comparing the received
numeric values, and comparing an air pressure value of said using
pressure sensor with an air pressure value of said other pressure
sensor; if said comparison mismatches, said using pressure sensor
is determined as abnormal, and then shutting down said value connected
to said using pressure sensor; thereby, when a blood pressure is measured
at a next time, a user is capable of using another unused normal pressure
sensor for the measurement, not only maintaining a continuous use
of said electronic sphygmomanometer, but also allows users to calibrate
said electronic sphygmomanometer on their own.
2. The method for automatically calibrating electronic sphygmomanometer
of claim 1, wherein said control module receives a numeric value
and a set pressure value for comparison; if said numeric value of
said using pressure sensor matches said numeric value of said unused
pressure sensor, then said pressure sensor is determined as normal
and said calibration is ended.
3. An apparatus for automatically calibrating electronic sphygmomanometer,
comprising: a control module, for controlling the actions of said
electronic sphygmomanometer and having a processor; a power module,
being coupled to said control module for supplying electric power
required for the actions of said electronic sphygmomanometer, an
air pump module, being coupled with said control module for supplying
air pressure; at least one set of pressure sensors, being interconnected
with each other and coupled with said control module, and said pressure
sensors individually have a valve, and said pressure sensor is used
for detecting a change of blood pressure and converting said blood
pressure into a numeric value and sending said numeric value to
said control module; and a display module, being coupled with said
control module for displaying outputs.
4. The apparatus for automatically calibrating electronic sphygmomanometer
of claim 3, wherein said processor is a multitasking processor.
5. The apparatus for automatically calibrating electronic sphygmomanometer
of claim 3, wherein said pressure sensors have a quantity of two.
6. The apparatus for automatically calibrating electronic sphygmomanometer
of claim 3, wherein said pressure sensors have a quantity of three.
7. The apparatus for automatically calibrating electronic sphygmomanometer
of claim 3, wherein said display module is a display device.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a method for automatically
calibrating an electronic sphygmomanometer, more particularly to
a method for automatically calibrating an electronic sphygmomanometer
by installing an additional set of pressure sensors to the electronic
sphygmomanometer, so that users can compare the values of a set
of pressure sensors used at regular time and the values of at least
one set of pressure sensors through specified air pressure values
and settings to determine whether or not the pressure sensors used
at regular time are normal; if not, then shut down such pressure
sensors, so that users can continue measuring blood pressure for
the next time with the normal set of pressure sensors.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] In general, the pressure sensors (not shown in the figure)
of a traditional electronic sphygmomanometer will loose their precision
after being used for a period of time, and thus results in an inaccurate
measurement. General users are unable to calibrate the traditional
electronic sphygmomanometer on their own, but users have to send
the electronic sphygmomanometer back to the original manufacturer
for the calibration or the electronic sphygmomanometer is calibrated
by an experienced medical professional or a doctor with related
equipments. Please refer to FIG. 1 for a prior-art calibration method,
which prepares a mercury sphygmomanometer 100 first, and the mercury
sphygmomanometer is used as a standard calibrating instrument. With
a T-shape interconnected pipe 110, the testing electronic sphygmomanometer
300 is interconnected with the mercury sphygmomanometer 100, while
the interconnected pipe 110 is coupled to a manual water pump. Therefore,
an air cuff 200 of the calibrating electronic sphygmomanometer 300
is wrapped around the cylinder 400 of a simulated arm of the electronic
sphygmomanometer 300. When a power switch (not shown in the figure)
situated on the testing electronic sphygmomanometer 300 is pressed,
the testing electronic sphygmomanometer 300 is started to switch
the operating mode of the testing electronic sphygmomanometer 300
to a testing mode. The air cuff 200 of the testing electronic sphygmomanometer
300 is inflated by the manual air pump 500 and thus the cylinder
400 is pressurized. After the cylinder 400 is pressurized to a specific
level, the readings measured by the mercury sphygmomanometer 100
and the testing electronic sphygmomanometer 300 are compared. If
the readings match with each other, it is not necessary to calibrate
the testing electronic sphygmomanometer 300; if the readings mismatch
with each other, it is necessary to adjust the reading of the testing
electronic sphygmomanometer 300 to the same value of the reading
of the mercury sphygmomanometer 100. The aforementioned procedure
is repeated until the reading of the testing electronic sphygmomanometer
300 is equal to the reading of the mercury sphygmomanometer 300.
If the adjustment to the same value cannot be made, then it is necessary
to replace the pressure sensor or send the electronic sphygmomanometer
back to the original manufacturer for calibration. Such arrangement
not only wastes time, but also requires professional users to calibrate
the electronic sphygmomanometer, which is inconvenient in its use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] In view of the foregoing shortcomings of the prior art,
the inventor of the present invention focused on the problem to
conduct extensive researches and experiments and finally invented
the method for calibrating electronic sphygmomanometers in accordance
with the present invention.
[0006] Therefore, it is the primary objective of the present invention
to provide a method for calibrating electronic sphygmomanometers,
which installs at least one set of pressure sensors to the electronic
sphygmomanometer in addition to the set of pressure sensors which
is used in regular time and has been already installed in the electronic
sphygmomanometer. The set of pressure sensors used at regular time
is coupled to an air valve and interconnected with other sets of
pressure sensors, so that when the electronic sphygmomanometer is
calibrated automatically, the electronic sphygmomanometer controls
the control module by entering an external instruction and switches
the electronic sphygmomanometer to a testing mode and pressurizes
each pressure sensor of the electronic sphygmomanometer by the air
pressure set by the air pump, so that the same pressure will be
applied to each set of the interconnected pressure sensors in the
electronic sphygmomanometer and each value of the pressure sent
to the control module can be detected. The control module will use
the set of pressure sensors used at regular time to compare with
other set of pressure sensors; if the reading of the set of pressure
sensors used at regular time matches the reading of each of the
other sets of pressure sensors, then the set of pressure sensor
used at regular time is normal; if the reading of the set of pressure
sensors used at regular time mismatches the reading of each of the
other sets of pressure sensors, then the set of pressure sensor
used at regular time is abnormal, and the valve connected to the
set of pressure sensors used at regular time is turned off, so that
users can start using another set of pressure sensors for the use
of next time. Such arrangement not only maintains a continuous use
of the electronic sphygmomanometer and indicates if it is necessary
to send the electronic sphygmomanometer to the original manufacturer,
but also allows users to calibrate the electronic sphygmomanometer
on their own without sending the electronic sphygmomanometer back
to the original manufacturer, and thus achieves the purposes of
saving time and simplifying applications.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] The above objects, features and advantages of the present
invention will become apparent from the following detailed description
taken with the accompanying drawing.
[0008] FIG. 1 is an illustrative view of the method of automatically
calibrating an electronic sphygmomanometer according to a prior
art.
[0009] FIG. 2 is a flow chart of the method of automatically calibrating
an electronic sphygmomanometer according to the present invention.
[0010] FIG. 3 is an illustrative view of some parts of the electronic
sphygmomanometer according to the present invention.
[0011] FIG. 4 is a circuit block diagram of the electronic sphygmomanometer
according to the present invention.
[0012] FIG. 5 is a schematic circuit diagram of the electronic
sphygmomanometer according to the present invention.
[0013] FIG. 6 is an illustrative view of the electronic sphygmomanometer
according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0014] Please refer to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 for a method for automatically
calibrating an electronic sphygmomanometer according to the present
invention, which comprises the steps of:
[0015] (Step 100) turning on a power switch of an electronic sphygmomanometer,
such that a power module 10 connected to the power switch being
turned on (please refer to FIGS. 4 and 5), and the power module
10 supplying the electric power to the control module 20 connected
to the power module 10;
[0016] (Step 200) setting the control module 20 at the operating
mode;
[0017] (Step 300) entering a switching instruction for switching
the operating mode into a testing mode, so that the control mode
20 switches the mode to the automatic testing mode after receiving
the switching instruction;
[0018] when the control module 20 is at the testing mode, the air
valve of the air pump module 30 is opened first to release the air
existing in the air pipe 44 and the air remained in each of the
pressure sensors 40, 41, 42, and by then, the pressure sensors 40,
41, 42 are reset to zero and the air valve is shut;
[0019] (Step 400) the air pump module 30 pressurizing the electronic
sphygmomanometer to the set pressure , and the set pressure value
being sent to a display device 50 by the control module 20, and
in the meanwhile, the air valve 43 for setting the set of pressure
sensor 40 being used at regular time in the electronic sphygmomanometer
is opened and the air valve 43 for setting the other set of pressure
sensors 40, 41, 42 not used at regular time is opened as well, so
that the change of pressure detected from the interconnected pressure
sensors 40, 41, 42 are converted into numeric values and sent to
a processor 21 of the control module 20, and the processor 21 will
send the detected pressure value of each pressure sensor 40, 41,
42 to a display module 50;
[0020] (Step 500) comparing the set of pressure sensor 40 used
at regular time with other sets of pressure sensors 41, 42;
[0021] (Step 800) if the air pressure reading of the pressure sensor
40 set for being used at regular time matches with the air pressure
reading of other pressure sensors 41, 42, then the pressure sensor
40 set for being used at regular time is normal, and completing
the testing procedure;
[0022] (Step 600) if the air pressure reading of the pressure sensor
40 set for being used at regular time mismatches with the air pressure
reading of other pressure sensors 41, 42, the pressure sensor 40
set for being used at regular time is abnormal; and shutting the
air valve 41 connected to the pressure sensor 40 set for being used
at regular time;
[0023] (Step 900) starting another set of pressure sensors 41,
42 when users use the electronic sphygmomanometer for the next time.
The present invention can achieve the purpose of allowing users
to calibrate the electronic sphygmomanometer on their own without
the need of sending the electronic sphygmomanometer to the original
manufacturer and further saving time and simplifying the operation.
[0024] Please refer to FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 for the electronic sphygmomanometer
corresponding to the calibrating method according to the present
invention. The electronic sphygmomanometer comprises a control module
20 and the control module 20 comprises a processor 21, and this
embodiment adopts a multitasking processor (MCU) for controlling
the actions of the whole electronic sphygmomanometer, and the control
module 20 is coupled with a power module 10, an air pump module
30, at least one set of pressure sensors 40 and a display module
50; wherein the air pump module 30 is used for pressurize the pressure
sensors 40 and the number of pressure sensors 40 could be two of
them (as shown in FIG. 6) or three of them (as shown in FIG. 3),
and the pressure sensors 40 are interconnected with each other and
interconnected with the air pump module 30. Further, the display
module 50 is used for output the related testing values and this
embodiment adopts a liquid crystal module as the display module
50.
[0025] In summation of the above description, the electronic sphygmomanometer
calibrating tool according to present invention herein enhances
the performance than the conventional structure and further complies
with the patent application requirements and is submitted to the
Patent and Trademark Office for review and granting of the commensurate
patent rights.
[0026] While the invention has been described by way of examples
and in terms of preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that
the invention is not limited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended
to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures,
and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded
the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications
and similar arrangements and procedures. |