CN111972727A

CN111972727A - Wearable article with sensing function

Info

Publication number: CN111972727A
Application number: CN201910437251.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 许家铭
Original assignee: Meichen Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Meichen Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2019-05-24
Filing date: 2019-05-24
Publication date: 2020-11-24

Abstract

A wearable article with a sensing function comprises a body, a plurality of conductive blocks and a sensing device. The body is provided with a pressed acting part, an uncompressed part and a first lead pattern, the uncompressed part is provided with a mounting block in advance, the first lead pattern comprises a plurality of positive leads and a plurality of negative leads to jointly form a plurality of sensing points distributed on the pressed acting part, each sensing point is formed by one of the positive leads and one of the negative leads approaching to each other and spaced at a certain distance, and one ends of the positive leads and the negative leads are distributed on the mounting block. The conductive blocks are respectively arranged on the sensing points to connect the positive lead and the negative lead of the corresponding sensing point, and when the conductive blocks are pressed, the positive lead and the negative lead of the corresponding sensing point are electrically conducted and generate impedance change along with different pressures. The sensing device is arranged on the mounting block and electrically connected with the first lead pattern.

Description

Wearable article with sensing function

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a wearable article with a sensing function, and more particularly, to a wearable article with a sensing function for pressure sensing.

Background

Currently, some wearable sensing devices are applied in the field of medical care, and the sensing device worn on the body of the user senses the motion or physiological signals of the user to obtain the health management information of the user.

The wearable sensing device needs different designs according to different use requirements, develops new structural design and application to improve the convenience and predictability of medical care, and is a direction needing continuous development

Disclosure of Invention

One of the objectives of the present invention is to provide a wearable article with a sensing function, which has an innovative structural design.

In some embodiments, the wearable article with sensing function is used for being worn by a living body, and the wearable article includes a body, a plurality of conductive blocks and a sensing device. The body is provided with a pressed part, an uncompressed part and a first lead pattern, the pressed part is an area which can generate pressure when the body is worn by an organism, the uncompressed part is an area which can not generate pressure when the body is worn by the organism and is preset with an installation block, the first lead pattern comprises a plurality of positive leads and a plurality of negative leads, the positive leads and the negative leads jointly form a plurality of sensing points which are distributed on the pressed part, each sensing point is formed by one positive lead and one negative lead which are close to each other and are spaced at a certain distance, and one end of the positive lead and one end of the negative lead are distributed on the installation block. The conductive blocks are respectively arranged on the sensing points to connect the positive lead and the negative lead of the corresponding sensing points, and when the conductive blocks are pressed, the positive lead and the negative lead of the corresponding sensing points are electrically conducted and generate impedance change along with different pressures. The sensing device is arranged on the mounting block and is electrically connected with the positive electrode lead and the negative electrode lead to receive the conduction information of the sensing point and transmit the conduction information of the sensing point to the receiving device.

In some embodiments, the sensing device includes a flexible circuit board and an electronic module, the flexible circuit board has a flexible board body and a second conductive pattern disposed on the flexible board body, the second conductive pattern includes a plurality of switching conductive wires, one end of each of the switching conductive wires is electrically connected to the positive conductive wire and the negative conductive wire of the first conductive pattern, and the other end of each of the switching conductive wires is electrically connected to the electronic module.

In some embodiments, the flexible circuit board forms a main body section and a reverse-folding section, the main body section is connected with the main body to electrically connect the second conductive pattern with the first conductive pattern, and the reverse-folding section is reversely folded from the main body section and is folded on the main body section to arrange the electronic module.

In some embodiments, each conductive block has a base layer and a conductive layer covering the base layer, and the conductive layer is in contact with the positive electrode lead and the negative electrode lead of the corresponding sensing point.

In some embodiments, the conductive layer includes a layer of high-k material overlying the base layer, and a layer of low-k material overlying the layer of high-k material, the low-k material having a lower conductivity than the high-k material.

In some embodiments, the high-conductivity material is a silver paste and the low-conductivity material is a conductive ink.

In some embodiments, an insulating layer is disposed between the conductive layer of each conductive block and the corresponding sensing point, and the insulating layer has a plurality of hollow areas to expose the conductive layer, where the positions of the hollow areas are corresponding to the positive and negative leads of the sensing point, so as to adjust the contact area between the conductive layer and the corresponding positive and negative leads through the hollow areas.

In some embodiments, the conductive layer is formed by printing on the surface of the base layer, and the insulating layer is formed by printing on the surface of the conductive layer.

In some implementations, the conductive block is made of a conductive rubber.

In some embodiments, the conductive block is a fabric comprising conductive yarns.

In some embodiments, the line widths of the positive conductive line and the negative conductive line at the corresponding sensing points are increased to increase the area.

In some embodiments, the first pattern of conductors is integrally formed with the body in a woven manner.

In some embodiments, the first pattern of conductors is woven primarily from silver fibers or stainless steel yarns.

In some embodiments, the body is a sock, the compression-applied portion is an area of the sock corresponding to a sole of a foot, and the non-compression portion is an area of the sock corresponding to a lower leg.

In some embodiments, the sensing points are distributed in a manner corresponding to the positions of the left, right and middle of the forefoot, the middle of the sole, and the heel, respectively.

In some embodiments, the wearable article further comprises a plurality of hot melt adhesive films, and the hot melt adhesive films respectively cover the conductive blocks and are in hot melt bonding with the body to fix the conductive blocks to the body.

The invention has at least the following effects: the plurality of sensing points are formed on the first lead pattern of the body and matched with the conductive block, so that the pressure borne by each sensing point can be sensed, the sensing points can be arranged in an area where the pressure is applied to the wearing article when the organism acts, the wearing article can be applied to monitoring the action state of the organism, and another development direction in the field of medical care can be provided.

Drawings

Other features and effects of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an embodiment of a wearable article with sensing functionality of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a right side schematic view illustrating the body of the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a left side schematic view illustrating the body of the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a schematic bottom side view illustrating the body of this embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view illustrating the structure of interest at the sensing point of this embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a schematic partial sectional view illustrating a modified aspect of the conductive block of the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view illustrating an insulating layer of the embodiment;

fig. 8 is a schematic view illustrating a variation of the hollow-out region of the insulating layer of the embodiment; and

fig. 9 is a schematic view illustrating the sensing device of this embodiment.

Detailed Description

Referring to fig. 1 to 4, the wearable article with sensing function of the present invention is used for wearing by an organism 5, and the wearable article includes a main body 1, a plurality of conductive blocks 2, a plurality of hot melt adhesive films 3, and a sensing device 4. In the present embodiment, the living body 5 is exemplified by the lower leg and the foot of a human body, but the living body 5 is not limited to the human body, and the main body 1 of the wearable article is exemplified by the sock, but the technical concept disclosed in the present embodiment can also be applied to other types of wearable articles, such as clothes, trousers, and a bracelet, but is not limited to the present embodiment.

The body 1 has a pressed portion 11, an uncompressed portion 12 and a first conductive pattern 13, the pressed portion 11 is an area that is pressed by the living body 5, and the uncompressed portion 12 is an area that is not pressed by the living body 5 and is provided with a mounting block 121. The first conductive trace 13 includes a plurality of positive conductive traces 131 and a plurality of negative conductive traces 132, the positive conductive traces 131 and the negative conductive traces 132 together form a plurality of sensing points 133 distributed on the pressed portion 11, each sensing point 133 is formed by one of the positive conductive traces 131 and one of the negative conductive traces 132 being close to each other and spaced apart by a certain distance, and one end of the positive conductive trace 131 and one end of the negative conductive trace 132 are distributed on the mounting block 121. Specifically, the pressure receiving portion 11 is a region corresponding to the sole of the foot, the non-pressure receiving portion 12 is a region corresponding to the lower leg of the foot, and the attachment block 121 is a region corresponding to the lateral upper ankle of the foot. The positive electrode lead 131 extends from the mounting block 121 (i.e., the area above the ankle corresponding to the outer side of the sock) through the area of the sock corresponding to the instep and then from the area of the sock corresponding to the inner side of the instep to the pressure-applied portion 11 (i.e., the area above the ankle corresponding to the outer side of the sock), the negative electrode lead 132 is formed by connecting a bus lead 132a to four shunt leads 132b, the bus lead 132a extends from the mounting block 121 (i.e., the area above the ankle corresponding to the outer side of the instep) through the sock corresponding to the area of the instep, and the shunt leads 132b extend from the bus lead 132a through the area outside the sock corresponding to the instep to the pressure-applied portion 11 (i.e., the area below the sole) so that five sensing points 133 are formed in the pressure-applied portion 11 and the positive electrode lead 131, the sensing points 133 respectively correspond to the left, right and middle of the front sole, and the position of the heel, and the line widths of the positive electrode lead 131 and the negative electrode lead 132 at the corresponding sensing point 133 are increased to increase the area. In the embodiment, the first conductive pattern 13 is integrally formed on the body 1 by weaving, and is mainly woven by silver fiber, which not only can conduct electricity but also has antibacterial function. Of course, the first conductive pattern 13 may be woven by other conductive yarns, such as stainless steel yarns. The positive electrode lead 131 and the negative electrode lead 132 can be interchanged to be a negative electrode and a positive electrode, and are not limited to this embodiment. In addition, the sock shown in the embodiment is exemplified by a sock worn on the right foot, and the first wire patterns 13 are arranged in a mirror symmetry manner with the sock worn on the right foot.

The conductive blocks 2 are respectively disposed at the sensing points 133 to connect the positive electrode lead 131 and the negative electrode lead 132 of the corresponding sensing point 133, and when being pressed, the positive electrode lead 131 and the negative electrode lead 132 of the corresponding sensing point 133 are electrically connected to each other, and generate impedance change with different pressures. Each conductive block 2 is a film and is attached to the outer surface of the body 1, when the sensing point 133 is pressed, the contact force between the conductive block 2 and the positive lead 131 and the negative lead 132 is increased, so that the conductive material in the conductive block 2 is in contact with the positive lead 131 and the negative lead 132, and the positive lead 131 and the negative lead 132 are conducted, and when the pressure applied at the sensing point 133 is larger, more conductive material in the conductive block 2 is conducted with the positive lead 131 and the negative lead 132 to reduce the impedance, so that the pressed condition at the sensing point 133 can be measured. In this embodiment, the sensing points 133 are distributed at different positions of the sole of the foot to obtain the gait information of the wearer when walking, and the information obtained from the sensing points 133 of the left and right feet can monitor whether the wearer is walking in balance or not to evaluate and predict the risk of falling. Referring to fig. 5, in the present embodiment, each conductive block 2 has a base layer 21 and a conductive layer 22 covering the base layer 21, the conductive layer 22 includes a layer of high-conductivity material 221 covering the base layer 21 and a layer of low-conductivity material 222 located on the surface layer and covering the high-conductivity material 221, and the conductivity of the low-conductivity material 222 is lower than that of the high-conductivity material 221. Each conductive block 2 is contacted by a low-conductivity material 222 with the positive lead 131 and the negative lead 132 of the corresponding sensing point 133. The base layer 21 may be a film made of a polymer material such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU), Polyurethane (PU), etc., the high-conductivity material 221 is silver paste, the low-conductivity material 222 is conductive ink, and carbon-based conductive ink is preferred. The conductive layer 22 is formed on the base layer 21 by printing, and the impedance of the low-k material 222 can be adjusted according to the application requirement. The low-k material 222 is used to protect the silver paste from being oxidized, and is used to prevent the sensing point 133 from being in a conducting state and failing to have a sensing function because the high-k material 221 directly contacts the positive conductive line 131 and the negative conductive line 132. In other words, since the low-k material 222 has a lower k value, the impedance is higher when the sensing point 133 is not pressed, so that the positive lead 131 and the negative lead 132 are in a non-conductive state, when the sensing point 133 is pressed, the high-k material 221 participates in the conduction to reduce the impedance, and the higher the pressure of the sensing point 133 is, the more the high-k material 221 participates in the conduction to reduce the impedance. In a modified implementation manner, referring to fig. 6 and 7, the conductive layer 22 of the conductive block 2 may also be formed by a single material, for example, by printing conductive ink on the base layer 21, an insulating layer 23 may be further disposed between the conductive layer 22 of each conductive block 2 and the corresponding sensing point 133, the insulating layer 23 has a plurality of hollow areas 231 to expose the conductive layer 22, the positions of the hollow areas 231 are corresponding to the positive lead 131 and the negative lead 132 of the sensing point 133, so as to adjust the contact areas between the conductive layer 22 and the corresponding positive lead 131 and the corresponding negative lead 132 through the hollow areas 231. That is, the shape, size and number of the hollow-out areas 231 can be changed and adjusted, for example, fig. 8 shows another layout mode of the hollow-out areas 231. By adjusting the thickness of the insulating layer 23 and the shape, size and number of the hollow-out regions 231, the contact area between the conductive layer 22 and the positive and

negative leads

131 and 132 when a user presses the conductive block 2 can be adjusted, and the contact area between the conductive layer 22 and the positive and

negative leads

131 and 132 can be reduced to reduce the conductive sensitivity, thereby increasing the active region of the sensing circuit to increase the information for analysis. The insulating layer 23 may be a part of the conductive block 2, for example, formed on the surface of the conductive layer 22 by printing, which is convenient in manufacturing, but the insulating layer 23 may be formed separately from the conductive block 2, and the insulating layer 23 is formed on the surface of the body 1 before the conductive block 2 is formed. In other variations, the conductive block 2 may be made of conductive rubber or fabric containing conductive yarn, and both the conductive rubber and the fabric containing conductive yarn may increase conductivity (decrease impedance) under pressure.

Referring to fig. 5, the hot melt adhesive films 3 respectively cover the conductive blocks 2 and are thermally fused with the body 1 to fix the conductive blocks 2 to the body 1. The hot melt adhesive film 3 can be designed into an anti-skid block with an anti-skid function besides being used for fixing the conductive block 2.

Referring to fig. 1, 2, 4 and 9, the sensing device 4 is disposed on the mounting block 121 and electrically connected to the positive lead 131 and the negative lead 132 to receive the conduction information of the sensing point 133 and transmit the conduction information of the sensing point 133 to a receiving device (not shown). Referring to fig. 9 in addition, in the present embodiment, the sensing device 4 includes a Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC) 41 and an electronic module 42, the flexible printed circuit 41 has a flexible board 411 and a second conductive pattern 412 disposed on the flexible board 411, the second conductive pattern 412 includes a plurality of adapting conductive lines 412a, one end of the adapting conductive lines 412a is electrically connected to the positive conductive line 131 and the negative conductive line 132 of the first conductive pattern 13 respectively, and the other end of the adapting conductive line 412a is electrically connected to the electronic module 42, and the flexible printed circuit 41 is used to connect the first conductive pattern 13 and the electronic module 42 in an adapting manner. The flexible circuit board 41 forms a main body segment 413 and a reverse-folding segment 414, the main body segment 413 is connected to the main body 1 to electrically connect the second conductive trace 412 and the first conductive trace 13, and the reverse-folding segment 414 is reversely folded from the main body segment 413 and is folded on the main body segment 413 to configure the electronic module 42. In the embodiment, the sensing device 4 is disposed on the outer surface of the body 1 (sock), the main section 413 of the flexible circuit board 41 is disposed toward the body 1 with the side having the second conductive trace 412, so that the second conductive trace 412 is electrically connected to the first conductive trace 13, and the reverse-folded section 414 is reversely folded from the main section 413 to dispose the electronic module 42 outward and reduce the bonding area between the flexible circuit board 41 and the body 1, so as to reduce the influence on the wearing comfort. The electronic module 42 includes electronic components such as a power source and a bluetooth transmission component to transmit the measured resistance of each sensing point 133 to a receiving device for subsequent analysis and interpretation. The flexible circuit board 41 can also be covered by a hot melt adhesive film (not shown) and fixed to the main body 1 by thermally fusing with the main body 1.

In summary, by forming a plurality of sensing points 133 on the first conductive trace 13 of the main body 1 and matching with the conductive bumps 2, the pressure applied to each sensing point 133 can be sensed, so that the sensing points 133 can be disposed in the region where the pressure is applied to the wearable article when the living body 5 acts, and the method can be applied to monitoring the action state of the living body 5, and can provide another development direction in the medical care field.

The above description is only an example of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention should not be limited thereby, and the invention is still within the scope of the present invention by simple equivalent changes and modifications made according to the claims and the contents of the specification.

Claims

1. A wearable article with a sensing function, for wearing by a living body, comprising: the wearable article comprises:

the body is provided with a pressed acting part, an uncompressed part and a first lead pattern, the pressed acting part is an area which can generate pressure action when the organism is worn, the uncompressed part is an area which cannot generate pressure action when the organism is worn and is preset with an installation block, the first lead pattern comprises a plurality of positive leads and a plurality of negative leads, the positive leads and the negative leads jointly form a plurality of sensing points which are distributed on the pressed acting part, each sensing point is formed by one positive lead and one negative lead which are close to each other and are spaced at a certain distance, and one end of the positive lead and one end of the negative lead are distributed on the installation block;

The conductive blocks are respectively arranged on the sensing points to connect the positive lead and the negative lead of the corresponding sensing point, and when the conductive blocks are pressed, the positive lead and the negative lead of the corresponding sensing point are electrically conducted and generate impedance change along with different pressures; and

the sensing device is arranged on the mounting block and is electrically connected with the positive electrode lead and the negative electrode lead so as to receive the conduction information of the sensing point and transmit the conduction information of the sensing point to the receiving device.

2. The wearable article with sensing function of claim 1, wherein: the sensing device comprises a flexible circuit board and an electronic module, wherein the flexible circuit board is provided with a flexible board body and a second lead pattern arranged on the flexible board body, the second lead pattern comprises a plurality of switching leads, one end of each switching lead is respectively and electrically connected with a positive lead and a negative lead of the corresponding first lead pattern, and the other end of each switching lead is electrically connected with the electronic module.

3. The wearable article with sensing function of claim 2, wherein: the flexible circuit board forms a main body section and a reverse folding section, the main body section is connected with the main body so as to enable the second lead pattern to be electrically connected with the first lead pattern, and the reverse folding section is reversely folded from the main body section and is arranged on the main body section in a folding mode so as to arrange the electronic module.

4. The wearable article with sensing function of claim 1, wherein: each conductive block is provided with a base layer and a conductive layer coated on the base layer, and the conductive layer is contacted with the positive lead and the negative lead of the corresponding sensing point.

5. The wearable article with sensing function of claim 4, wherein: the conducting layer comprises a layer of high-conductivity-coefficient material coated on the base layer and a layer of low-conductivity-coefficient material which is positioned on the surface layer and coated on the high-conductivity-coefficient material, and the conductivity coefficient of the low-conductivity-coefficient material is lower than that of the high-conductivity-coefficient material.

6. The wearable article with sensing function of claim 5, wherein: the high-conductivity material is silver paste, and the low-conductivity material is conductive ink.

7. The wearable article with sensing function of claim 4, wherein: an insulating layer is arranged between the conducting layer of each conducting block and the corresponding sensing point, the insulating layer is provided with a plurality of hollow areas to expose the conducting layer, the distribution positions of the hollow areas correspond to the positive lead and the negative lead of the sensing point, and the contact area between the conducting layer and the corresponding positive lead and the corresponding negative lead is adjusted through the hollow areas.

8. The wearable article with sensing function of claim 7, wherein: the conductive layer is formed on the surface of the base layer by printing, and the insulating layer is formed on the surface of the conductive layer by printing.

9. The wearable article with sensing function of claim 1, wherein: the conductive block is made of conductive rubber.

10. The wearable article with sensing function of claim 1, wherein: the conductive block is a fabric made of conductive yarn.

11. The wearable article with sensing function of claim 1, wherein: the line widths of the positive electrode lead and the negative electrode lead at the corresponding sensing points are increased to increase the area.

12. The wearable article with sensing function of claim 1, wherein: the first conductor pattern is integrally formed on the body in a weaving manner.

13. The wearable article with sensing function of claim 12, wherein: the first conductive pattern is mainly woven with silver fibers or stainless steel yarns.

14. The wearable article with sensing function of claim 1, wherein: the body is a sock, the compression acting part is an area of the sock corresponding to the sole of the foot, and the non-compression part is an area of the sock corresponding to the shank.

15. The wearable article with sensing functionality according to claim 14, wherein: the sensing points are distributed in a mode of respectively corresponding to the left, right and middle of the front sole, the middle of the sole and the position of the heel.

16. The wearable article with sensing function of claim 1, wherein: the wearable article further comprises a plurality of hot melt adhesive films, and the hot melt adhesive films respectively cover the conductive blocks and are in hot melt combination with the body so as to fix the conductive blocks on the body.