KR101648850B1 - Real-time leakage detection device for absorbent article, and real-time leakage detection method for absorbent article - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a real-time leakage detection apparatus and a real-time leakage detection method of an absorbent article which contain body fluids or excreta, and in particular, And a wireless transmitter for transmitting a body fluid or an excretion leaked by a wireless signal according to a signal sensed by the sensing unit, wherein the sensing unit senses body fluid or excretion flowing over the edge, And a real time leak detection method using the same.

Description

Technical Field [0001] The present invention relates to a real-time leak detection device and a real-time leak detection method for absorbent articles,

The present invention relates to a real-time leak detecting apparatus and a real-time leak detecting apparatus for absorbing body fluid or excrement, and more particularly, to a real-time leak detecting apparatus and a real- A sensing unit positioned at an edge of the absorbent article to sense body fluids or excretion flowing over the edge, and a wireless transmitter for transmitting a body fluid or excretion leaking by a signal sensed by the sensing unit as a wireless signal And a real time leak detection method using the same.

In general, absorbent articles such as diapers, incontinence articles, and feminine hygiene articles are articles that absorb body fluids or excretion discharged from the human body and are not leaked out.

The absorbent article comprises a porous liquid-permeable top sheet 11 directly contacting the human body as shown in Fig. 1, an absorbent member 11 located on the bottom surface of the top sheet for absorbing body fluids or excretion through the top sheet, And a liquid-impermeable back sheet 13 which is located on the bottom surface of the absorbent member 12 to prevent the absorbed body fluids or excreta from leaking to the outside.

When the absorbent article having the structure in which the top sheet 11, the absorbent member 12 and the back sheet 13 are laminated is used, body fluids or excreta are absorbed by the absorbent member stacked on the bottom sheet via the top sheet The back sheet is prevented from leaking to the outside.

However, since the absorbent article having the above-described structure is mainly worn on the underwear in a flat shape, when the amount of discharged water is large, body fluids or excreta may not be absorbed by the absorbent member and may flow to the outside beyond the edge.

In particular, since the body fluid or excrement may leak to the outside in case of going to bed or having a lot of physical activity, the wearer is required to check clothes or absorbent articles from time to time to check for leakage of body fluid or excrement, The discomfort in life was great.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention detects in real time whether a body fluid or excrement flows to the outside beyond the edge of the absorbent article, so that it is possible to know a proper replacement time of the absorbent article, And a real-time leak detection method and a real-time leak detection method of an absorbent article which can prevent the liquid from leaking into the liquid.

In order to attain the above object, the present invention provides an absorbent article (10) for receiving body fluids or excreta, characterized in that the absorbent article (10) for detecting in real time whether the body fluid or excreta flows over the edge of the absorbent article A sensing device comprising: a sensing part (100) positioned at an edge of the absorbent article and sensing bodily fluids or excretion flowing over the edge; And a wireless transmission unit (200) for transmitting a body fluid or an excretion leaking through a wireless signal according to a signal sensed by the sensing unit (100).

Here, the sensing unit 100 may include a conductive material whose resistance value is variable by contact with bodily fluids or excretions flowing over the edge of the absorbent article, and the conductive material may be continuously supplied along the edge of the absorbent article And a conductive material continuously disposed along the edge is connected to the wireless transmission unit 200. [

In addition, it is preferable that the conductive material is detachable from the radio transmission unit 200 so that the conductive material can be replaced every time the conductive material is used.

The conductive material may include a conductive wire 110 or a conductive fiber 120. The conductive wire 120 or the conductive wire 120 may be fixed to the edge of the absorbent article by an adhesive. In addition, the lead 110 may be implemented in various forms. In one embodiment, the lead 110 may be formed as a pair, and the pair of leads may be energized by contact with body fluids or excreta.

It is also possible that the conductor 110 or the conductive fibers 120 are disposed along the edge between the top sheet 11 and the absorbent member 12 constituting the absorbent article or along the edge of the top sheet 11 And a protection cover (not shown) may be provided on the lead 110 to prevent the lead 110 from contacting the skin when the lead 110 is disposed along the edge of the top sheet 11, 130 are preferably formed. In this case, the protective cover 130 may be an adhesive tape or a leakage preventing blade.

The conductive fibers 120 may be carbon fibers, metal fibers, conductive polymer fibers, or mixtures thereof.

Alternatively, the wireless transmitter 200 may be located at a portion of the absorbent article edge, preferably at a front portion of the absorbent article edge.

The wireless transmitter 200 includes a sensor unit 210 for collecting signals sensed by the sensing unit 100 and detecting leakage of body fluids or excretion; A transmitter 220 for converting information on the leakage of bodily fluids or excretions detected by the sensor unit 210 into a radio signal and transmitting the radio signal to the terminal 300; And a power supply 230 for supplying operating power to the respective units.

The wireless signal transmitted from the transmitter 220 may be transmitted to various terminals by various methods, but may be transmitted to a mobile phone by a Bluetooth method.

The power supply unit 230 may include at least one flexible battery such as a cable battery or a curved battery. The outer cover of the wireless transmission unit 200 may include a user's skin It is preferable that it is made of a flexible material which is formed to have a certain curvature so as to be able to come into close contact with the base material or can be bent.

In one embodiment, the sensing unit 100 or the wireless transmission unit 200 senses contact with blood and converts it into a wireless signal, but does not detect contact with moisture or perspiration or converts the wireless signal into a wireless signal .

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for detecting a body fluid or excrement, comprising the steps of: detecting whether a body fluid or excrement flows over an edge of an absorbent article; A detecting step of determining whether a body fluid or an excretion is leaked from the signal sensed in the sensing step; And a transmission step of transmitting a notification message to the terminal according to the determination result.

In this case, the sensing step may be performed by varying the resistance value of the conductive material located at the edge of the absorbent article due to contact with the body fluids or the esophagus, and the detecting step may be performed by varying the resistance value of the conductive material located at the edge of the absorbent article Can be achieved by comparing the degree with the preset value.

In addition, in comparing the degree of variation of the resistance value of the conductive material with the preset value, it is possible to detect the degree of variation due to contact with blood, but not to detect the degree of variation due to contact with moisture or perspiration, The notification message may be transmitted to the mobile phone terminal by the Bluetooth method.

The sensing device and the sensing method of the present invention can easily detect in real time whether a body fluid or excrement flows to the outside beyond the edge of the absorbent article through a terminal such as a mobile phone to replace the absorbent article at an appropriate time, And clothes can be prevented from being buried, so that the wearer can carry out daily life without having to check clothes and absorbent articles from time to time.

Figure 1 - Conceptual perspective view showing the construction of a typical absorbent article
2 is a block diagram showing the principle of operation of the real-time leak detection device of the present invention;
3-7 - Conceptual perspective view showing a real-time leak detection device according to various embodiments of the present invention
8 to 9 are conceptual perspective views showing a real-time leak detection apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention
10 is a block diagram showing the operation principle of the wireless transmission unit of the present invention;

Hereinafter, a real-time leakage detection apparatus and a real-time leakage detection method of the absorbent article of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings and preferred embodiments.

The conventional absorbent article has a structure in which the top sheet 11, the absorbent member 12, and the back sheet 13 are laminated as shown in Fig. Since the absorbent article having the above structure is mainly worn on the underwear in a flat shape, when the amount of discharged water is large, the body fluid or excrement can not be absorbed by the absorbent member, and the absorbent member may flow to the outside beyond the edge.

In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, after detecting leakage of body fluids or an embankment from the sensing part 100 of the absorbent article edge, the sensing result is transmitted from the wireless transmitter 200 to the terminal 300 as a wireless signal Thereby detecting the leakage of the body fluid or the object to be inspected in real time.

Specifically, the real-time leak detection apparatus of the present invention includes a sensing unit 100 positioned at an edge of an absorbent article and sensing bodily fluids or excretion flowing over the edge; And a radio transmitter 200 for transmitting a body fluid or excrement leaks to a radio signal according to a signal sensed by the sensing unit 100.

In this case, the sensing unit 100 may be a variety of means for sensing the body fluid or excrement such as a protein detection sensor, an antibody-antigen coagulation sensor, or the like. However, in one embodiment, A conductive material whose resistance value is variable by contact with body fluids or excreta can be used.

It is preferable that the conductive material is continuously disposed along the edge of the absorbent article so that the body fluid or the excretion can be leaked even if it leaks to any part of the absorbent article edge.

The conductive material continuously disposed along the edge may be connected to the wireless transmission unit 200 by various methods such as a separation type or an integral type. Preferably, the conductive material may be detachable from the wireless transmission unit 200, The conductive material may be replaced with the conductive material every time the absorbent article is exchanged, and the wireless transmitter 200 may be connected to the conductive material to be continuously used.

The conductive material may be a variety of materials that can vary in resistance by contact with body fluids or excretions. In one embodiment, the conductive material 120 may be a conductive material, Can be used. At this time, the conductor 110 or the conductive fiber 120 may be fixed to the edge of the absorbent article by various adhesive means such as an adhesive, a Velcro, and a hook.

The wire 110 may be implemented in various forms so that electrical changes may be sensed by contact. In one embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the pair of conductors may be electrically connected by contact with body fluids or excretions. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. As shown in FIG.

3, 5, and 8, the topsheet 11 and the absorbent member 12, which constitute the absorbent article, are disposed at the edges of the absorbent article, Or may be disposed along the edge of the upper portion of the topsheet 11 as shown in Figs.

A protective cover 130 is formed on the lead 110 to prevent the lead 110 from contacting the skin when the lead 110 is disposed along the edge of the top sheet 11 .

The protective cover 130 may be formed in various shapes and shapes, or may be implemented by a tape-type adhesive tape so as to cover only the portion of the lead 110, or may be implemented as a protective cover as shown in FIG. 5 . However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and can be embodied in various colors, shapes, and forms, such as an accessory.

The conductive fibers 120 may be made of a variety of conductive fibers such as carbon fibers, metal fibers, polymer fibers containing a conductive material, or a mixture thereof. The fibers may be manufactured in various forms, Can be made in the form of a conductive nonwoven web.

The metal fibers include copper fibers, aluminum fibers and the like, and the polymer fibers containing the conductive material include thermoplastic fibers impregnated or blended with a conductive material or thermoplastic fibers blended with a conductive material.

The carbon fibers also include fibers made entirely from carbon or fibers that contain a sufficient amount of carbon so that the fibers are electrically conductive. In one embodiment, the polyacrylonitrile polymer fibers are heated, oxidized, and carbonized .

Specifically, when the polyacrylonitrile fiber is heated in an oxygen atmosphere, the cyano moiety in the polymer forms a repeating cyclic unit of tetrahydropyridine. As the heating is continued, the polymer is oxidized to form an aromatic ring do. Subsequently, when the fibers are further heated in an oxygen-deficient atmosphere (about 1,300 to 1,800 ° C), adjacent polymer chains bond together to form a substantially pure carbon lamella bottom structure.

The conductive fibers of the present invention may be used in combination with other nonconductive fibers suitable for use in the manufacturing process, including any natural or synthetic cellulosic fibers, including cotton, abaca, And may include thermoplastic synthetic fibers such as rayon, polyolefin fibers, polyester fibers, polyvinyl alcohol fibers, and the like. By using thermoplastic fibers in combination with the conductive fibers, the conductive fibers can be thermally bonded to the adjacent structures.

The wireless transmitter 200 connected to the sensing unit 100 may be located outside the absorbent article as shown in FIGS. 3, 5 and 8. However, the sensing unit 100, It is preferable that the absorbent article is configured to be located at one portion of the absorbent article edge, and in this case, it is preferable that the absorbent article is located at a front portion rather than a side portion and a rear portion of the absorbent article which is the portion most liable to leak.

10, the wireless transmission unit 200 includes a sensor unit 210 for collecting signals sensed by the sensing unit 100 to detect leakage of bodily fluids or excretion, A transmitter 220 for converting information on the leakage of bodily fluids or excretions detected by the detector 220 into a radio signal and transmitting the radio signal to the terminal 300, and a power unit 230 for supplying operating power to the respective units .

The wireless signal transmitted from the transmitter 220 may be transmitted to various terminals by various methods. However, it is preferable that the wireless signal is transmitted to a mobile phone by a Bluetooth method so that leakage can be easily detected even in daily life.

In addition, a flexible battery such as a cable battery or a curd battery may be used in order to minimize a sense of unevenness when worn. However, the present invention is not limited thereto.

In addition, the outer cover of the wireless transmitter 200 may have various materials and shapes. However, the outer cover may be formed of a flexible material that has a predetermined curvature or can be bent, have.

In addition, since the absorbent article is in a position where sweat can easily be worn when worn, the sensing unit 100 or the radio transmitter 200 senses contact with body fluids or excretions and transmits a radio signal It is preferable to configure the transmission so as not to detect the contact with sweat or to convert and transmit the radio signal.

In one embodiment, when the absorbent article is a feminine hygiene article, the sensing unit 100 or the wireless transmission unit 200 senses the contact with the blood and converts it into a wireless signal, but does not detect contact with moisture or perspiration Or not to be converted into a radio signal.

Meanwhile, the real-time leakage detection method of the present invention includes a sensing step of sensing whether body fluids or excretion flow over an edge of an absorbent article, a sensing step of determining whether a body fluid or an excretion is leaked from a signal sensed in the sensing step, And a transmission step of transmitting a notification message to the terminal according to the determination result.

The sensing step may be performed through various sensing means such as a protein detection sensor and an antibody-antigen coagulation sensor. However, in one embodiment, the resistance value of the conductive material located at the edge of the absorbent article may be varied due to contact with body fluids or esophagus .

The detecting step may be performed by comparing a variable degree of the resistance value of the conductive material located at the edge of the absorbent article with a preset value. At this time, in comparing the degree of variation of the resistance value of the conductive material with the preset value, the degree of variation due to contact with body fluids such as blood or fecal matter is detected, but the degree of variation due to contact with water or sweat is not detected Thereby minimizing operational errors.

In addition, the transmission step may transmit the notification message to various terminals by various methods, but may be transmitted to the cellular phone terminal by the Bluetooth method.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described specific embodiments and descriptions, and various modifications can be made to those skilled in the art without departing from the gist of the present invention claimed in the claims. And such modifications are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

10: absorbent article 11: top sheet
12: absorbing member 13: back sheet
100: sensing part 110: conductor
120: conductive fiber 200: radio transmission unit
210: sensor unit 220:
230:

Claims (22)

1. An absorbent article (10) for receiving body fluids or excreta, the apparatus comprising: an absorbent article leakage sensing device for sensing, in real time, whether body fluids or excreta flow outward beyond an edge of the absorbent article, A sensing unit 100 for sensing body fluids or excretion flowing over the edge; And a wireless transmission unit 200 for transmitting the leakage of bodily fluids or excrement as a wireless signal according to a signal sensed by the sensing unit 100,
The sensing unit 100 includes a conductive material whose resistance value is variable by contact with bodily fluids or excretion flowing over the edge of the absorbent article and the conductive material is continuously disposed along the edge of the absorbent article, A conductive material continuously disposed along the edge is connected to the radio transmitter 200,
The sensing unit 100 or the wireless transmission unit 200 senses the body fluid or excrement by comparing the resistance of the conductive material located at the edge of the absorbent article with the predetermined value,
Detecting a contact with blood and converting it into a radio signal, wherein contact with moisture or sweat is not detected or converted into a radio signal. delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the conductive material is detachable from the radio transmission unit (200). The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the conductive material comprises a conductive wire (110) or conductive fibers (120). 5. The method of claim 4,
Characterized in that the conductor (110) or the conductive fibers (120) are fixed to the edge of the absorbent article by an adhesive means. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the lead wires (110) are formed as a pair, and the pair of conductors are energized by contact with bodily fluids or excreta. 5. The method of claim 4,
The conductive wire 120 or the conductive wire 120 is disposed along the edge between the top sheet 11 and the absorbent member 12 constituting the absorbent article or disposed along the edge of the top sheet 11 Wherein the absorbent article is a liquid. 8. The method of claim 7,
A protective cover 130 is formed on the lead 110 to prevent the lead 110 from contacting the skin when the lead 110 is disposed along the edge of the top sheet 11 Wherein the absorbent article is a liquid. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the protective cover (130) is a bonding tape or a wing for preventing leakage of the absorbent article. 5. The method of claim 4,
Characterized in that the conductive fibers (120) comprise carbon fibers, metal fibers, conductive polymer fibers or mixtures thereof. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the wireless transmitter (200) is located at a portion of the absorbent article edge. 12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein the wireless transmitter (200) is located at a front portion of the absorbent article edge. The method according to claim 1,
The radio transmitter 200,
A sensor unit 210 for collecting signals sensed by the sensing unit 100 and detecting leakage of body fluid or excretion;
A transmitter 220 for converting information on the leakage of bodily fluids or excretions detected by the sensor unit 210 into a radio signal and transmitting the radio signal to the terminal 300; And
A power supply unit 230 for supplying operation power of each part;
And a sensor for detecting the leakage of the absorbent article. 14. The method of claim 13,
Wherein the wireless signal transmitted from the transmitter (220) is transmitted by a Bluetooth method, and the terminal (300) receiving the wireless signal is a cellular phone. 14. The method of claim 13,
Wherein the power supply unit includes at least one flexible battery of a cable battery or a curved battery. 14. The method of claim 13,
Wherein the outer cover of the wireless transmission unit (200) is made of a flexible material capable of being bent or curved so as to have a certain curvature so as to be in close contact with the skin of the user. delete A sensing step of sensing whether body fluid or excrement flows over the edge of the absorbent article; A detecting step of determining whether a body fluid or an excretion is leaked from the signal sensed in the sensing step; And a transmission step of transmitting a notification message to the terminal according to the determination result,
Wherein the sensing step is performed by varying the resistance value of the conductive material continuously positioned at the edge of the absorbent article due to contact with body fluid or esophagus,
Wherein the detecting step is performed by comparing a variable degree of the resistance value of the conductive material located at the edge of the absorbent article with a preset value,
Characterized in that the degree of variation due to contact with blood is detected while the degree of variation due to contact with water or sweat is not detected in comparing the degree of variation of the resistance value of the conductive material with the predetermined value, Leak detection method. delete delete delete 19. The method of claim 18,
Wherein the notification message is transmitted to the mobile phone terminal by the Bluetooth method in the transmitting step.

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