DEVICE FOR MEASURING THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF AN OBJECT

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device for measuring an object, comprising a winder of a measuring element arranged to form a loop about the said object, which has at least one wall and an exit opening arranged to allow the exit of at least one unwound portion of the said measuring element, which is defined between the said exit opening and a distal end of the said measuring element, which is provided with a connecting element that abuts against the said exit opening, and a connecting means being located at a distance d from the said exit opening, characterised in that the said connecting means is located on the said at least one wall, is adjacent to the said exit opening, is presented in the form of a protrusion which extends towards the said distal end, and is arranged to receive the said connecting element in a stationary manner.

Claims

1. Device for measuring the circumference of an object, in particular the circumference of a limb, comprising: a winder of a flexible measuring element designed to be affixed and form a loop around the said object, in particular around the said limb, when the said measuring element is in the measuring position, the said winder having at least one wall and an exit opening designed to allow the exit of at least one unwound portion of the said measuring element, the said at least one unwound portion of the said measuring element being defined between the said exit opening and a distal end of the said measuring element, the said distal end of the said measuring element being equipped with a connecting element that abuts against the said exit outlet, when the said measuring element is in the resting position connecting means of the said connecting element of the said distal end of the said measuring element, the said connecting means being located at a distance d from the said exit opening, the said distance d defined between the said exit opening and the said connecting means being less than or equal to 4 cm, preferably less than or equal to 3 cm, preferably less than or equal to 2 cm, more preferably less than or equal to 1 cm, and most preferably equal to zero, wherein the said connecting means is located on the said at least one wall of the said winder, is adjacent to the said exit opening, is in the form of a protuberance, which extends in the direction of the said distal end of the said measuring element, and is designed to fit, in a stationary manner, with the said connecting element, when the said measuring element is in the measuring position.

2. Measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the said loop formed around the said object, in particular around the said limb, is placed in a single plane passing through a median longitudinal axis defined along the length of the said measuring element.

3. Measuring device according to claim 1, wherein said winder is a spring winder equipped with a locking system and/or a rewinding system of the said measuring element.

4. Measuring device according to claim 1, further including at least one tension sensor housed in the said winder to detect that the said measuring element is tensed in order to be able to measure the tension, the said tension preferably being linked to a weight between 5 and 3000 g, preferably between 15 and 1500 g, even more preferably between 15 and 1000 g, advantageously between 15 and 500 g, more advantageously between 15 and 150 g and/or further comprising a motor housed in the said winder in order to apply a sufficient tension for a weight that falls within one of the aforementioned ranges.

5. Measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the said measuring element may or may not have graduations.

6. Measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the said exit opening of the said winder has a section similar to the section of the measuring element.

7. Measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the said measuring element is made of a flexible material such as flexible plastic or paper having sufficient tensile strength.

8. Measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the said connecting means is connected to a mobile element (E.sub.m) designed to permit movement of the said connecting means along the said distance d defined between the said exit opening and the said connecting means.

9. Measuring device according to claim 1, further including a window for reading the circumference of an object, in particular the circumference of a limb.

10. Measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the said measuring element has an attachment area designed to be connected via a slide to a second measuring element with a longitudinal direction and defining a slide designed to be affixed along the length of an object, in particular along the length of a limb, the said slide having a slide passage opening delimited by four walls, of which at least two are parallel to each other and form a guide wall for the said slide, in order to position the said measuring element in a plane perpendicular to the said longitudinal direction.

11. Measuring device according to claim 1, further including: an electronic measuring module able to determine a circumference measurement using the unwinding of the said flexible measuring element; and display means for displaying a circumference measurement determined by the said electronic module.

12. Measuring device according to claim 11, further including communication means for communicating a circumference measurement determined by the said electronic module to another electronic device.

13. Measuring device according to claim 12, further including control means for controlling a transmission of a circumference determined by the said electronic module via the communication means.

14. An assembly comprising: the measuring device according to claim 1; an apparatus capable of communicating with the said communication means of the said measuring device.

15. An assembly comprising: the measuring device of claim 10; and an apparatus capable of communicating with the said communication means of the said measuring device, wherein: the said apparatus comprises a memory comprising data that enables defining a position on said slide, in that the said apparatus is able to communicate with the said communication means of the said measuring device in order to transmit the said data for defining a position on the slider, and in that the said display means are able to display the said data to indicate one or more positions on the slide to a user.

Description

[0060] Other features, details and advantages of the invention will emerge from the description given below, without limitation and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0061] FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a first embodiment of a measuring device according to the invention.

[0062] FIG. 2 is a schematic representation corresponding to the first embodiment of a measuring device according to FIG. 1, where the measuring element forms a loop.

[0063] FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of another embodiment of a measuring device according to the invention.

[0064] FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of yet another embodiment of a measuring device according to the invention.

[0065] FIG. 5 illustrates a measuring device according to the invention, which is connected to an iterative device for measuring the circumference of an object/limb, for example an iterative measuring device according to document WO2014/191513.

[0066] In the figures, identical or similar elements bear the same references.

[0067] FIG. 1 illustrates a measuring device 1 for measuring the circumference of an object, in particular the circumference of a limb. The measuring device 1 comprises: [0068] a winder 2 (for example, a spring winder 2) designed to wind and unwind a measuring element 3 in the form of a tape made of a flexible material, the winder further having an exit opening 4 designed to allow the exit of at least one unwound portion P.sub.d of the measuring element 3, this unwound portion P.sub.d being defined between the exit opening 4 and the distal end E.sub.d of measuring element 3; and [0069] connecting means C of the distal end E.sub.d of the measuring element 3, these connecting means C being located at a distance d from the exit opening 4 of the winder 2. As illustrated, the winder 2 has a reading window 6 comprising a marker 7 where the circumference can be read.

[0070] FIG. 2 is a schematic representation corresponding to the first embodiment of a measuring device 1 according to FIG. 1, where the measuring element 3 forms a loop B. As illustrated, when the distal end E.sub.d of the measuring element 3 is connected using the connecting means C, the unwound portion P.sub.d of the measuring element 3 forms a loop B that, preferably, is placed in a single plane passing through a median longitudinal axis A.sub.LM defined along the measuring element 3. This connection is achieved by interlocking a connecting element 5 present at the distal end E.sub.d of the measuring element 3 in the connecting means C.

[0071] Moreover, as also illustrated, the winder 2 has a reading window 6 for reading the circumference of the object/limb measured, where the operator can determine the value (typically in centimetres and millimetres) of the measured circumference.

[0072] Advantageously, a measuring device 1 as illustrated in FIG. 1 and in FIG. 2 also comprises a locking system (not shown) and a rewinding system, for example one that uses a motor or a spring (not shown), of the measuring element 3. For example, these systems can be operated by a button located on winder 2.

[0073] FIG. 3 illustrates another measuring device 1 for measuring the circumference of an object, in particular the circumference of a limb. This measuring device 1 according to FIG. 3 includes the same elements as those shown in FIG. 1, but the connecting means C and the exit opening 4 of the winder 2 are further apart from one another at a distance d of less than or equal to 4 cm, preferably less than or equal to 3 cm, preferably less than or equal to 2 cm, more preferably less than or equal to 1 cm.

[0074] FIG. 4 illustrates yet another measuring device 1 for measuring of the circumference of an object, in particular the circumference of a limb. This measuring device 1 according to FIG. 3 comprises the same elements as those shown in FIG. 1, but the connecting means C is connected to a mobile element E.sub.m designed to permit the movement of the connecting means C (as indicated by the double arrow) at distance d defined between the said exit opening 4 and the said connecting means C, i.e. at a distance d of less than or equal to 4 cm, preferably less than or equal to 3 cm, preferably less than or equal to 2 cm, more preferably less than or equal to 1 cm.

[0075] FIG. 5 shows a measuring device 1 according to the invention, connected to an iterative device for measuring the circumference of an object/limb, such as the iterative measuring device according to document WO2014/191513.

EXAMPLE

[0076] In order to validate the measuring device according to the invention, several measurements were made at different parts of the bodies of two patients. As indicated in the table below, the following measuring devices were compared: [0077] measuring device according to the invention where the distance d defined between the exit opening and the said connecting means is 0.5 cm; [0078] measuring device of the prior art where the distance d defined between the exit opening and the said connecting means is equal to 5.5 cm; [0079] a conventional measure (tape measure) as a reference (control).

[0080] Measurements were taken at the index finger (above and to the side), at the wrist when the device is positioned just behind the head of the ulna (like a wristwatch), at the wrist when the device is offset by 90 with respect to the position just behind the head of the ulna, at the ankle when the device is positioned above the malleolus and at the ankle when the device is offset by 90 with respect to the previous position.

[0081] The results obtained during these measurements are presented in Table 1 below. In this Table, the measurements relating to the first individual are in normal font while the measurements of the second individual are shown in italics.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Wrist Finger (index) Ankle Offset On top Offset Offset Like a by of the by Above the by wristwatch 90 finger 90 malleolus 90 Tape 14.5 cm 14.5 cm 4.8 cm 4.8 cm 21.2 cm 21.3 cm measure: 17.2 cm 17 cm 5.5 cm 5.5 cm 22.3 cm 22.3 cm control Current 16.3 cm 17.2 cm 11 cm 11 cm 22.4 cm 21.3 cm device 18 cm 19.4 cm 11 cm 11 cm 23.3 cm 22.2 cm Device as 14.5 cm 14.5 cm 4.6 cm 4.6 cm 21.1 cm 21.1 cm per the 17 cm 17 cm 5.5 cm 5.5 cm 22.1 cm 22.2 cm invention

[0082] As can be seen, with a device according to the invention, for each individual and each limb considered, only a difference of 1 to 2 mm is observed compared to the measurements taken with the control (tape measure). This proves that a device according to the invention enables taking reliable measurements regardless of the positioning of the measuring device on the limb in question.

[0083] On the contrary, with a device of the prior art (current device), measurement differences of several centimetres (up to 6 cm in the case of measuring the circumference of an index finger) are observed with respect to the control. As can be seen, the smaller/thinner the limb, the more erroneous and biased the measurement is when using a measuring device according to the prior art, but not when using a device according to the invention, which is versatile and allows taking measurements that are not only reliable but also reproducible.

[0084] It is understood that this invention is in no way limited to the embodiments described above and that many modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims.