DEVICE FOR DETECTING MENTAL IMPAIRMENT

• Main Authors: TAKEUCHI Y,JA, NAKAMURA H,JA
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 14.05.1974
• Subjects: ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PLURAL DIVERSE PRIME-MOVERS INVEHICLES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PROPULSION UNITS OR OFTRANSMISSIONS IN VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH COOLING, AIR INTAKE, GASEXHAUST OR FUEL SUPPLY OF PROPULSION UNITS, IN VEHICLES; AUXILIARY DRIVES FOR VEHICLES; DIAGNOSIS; HUMAN NECESSITIES; HYGIENE; IDENTIFICATION; INSTRUMENTATION OR DASHBOARDS FOR VEHICLES; MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; SURGERY; TRANSPORTING; VEHICLES IN GENERAL

Herein disclosed is an apparatus adapted to determine a degree of fatigue or drunkness of an examinee, which apparatus includes circuits to produce a control voltage varying with time, convert the voltage into pulses having a repetition rate proportional to the control voltage, energize a light-emissive means to produce light at a frequency proportional to the pulse repetition rate, repeat these steps a desired number of times for obtaining voltages representative of critical flicker frequencies determined by the examinee from the flashes of the light-emissive means, produce information in voltage representative of an arithmetic means and an average deviation of the critical flicker frequencies determined, compare the voltages representing these pieces of information with prescribed reference voltages to see if the mean value of the critical flicker frequencies is larger than an acceptable level and the average deviation thereof about the mean value is smaller than an acceptable level. The apparatus may be incorporated in a power driven vehicle so that a power plant thereof is made inoperative if the examinee has been "diagnosed" as incompetent for operating the vehicle.