JP2003020538A - Electroconductive knitted fabric or woven fabric and sensor using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To widen use of an electroconductive knitted fabric or woven fabric by a few production processes at an inexpensive cost and a sensor using the same. SOLUTION: This electroconductive knitted fabric or woven fabric is characterized in that the electroconductive knitted fabric or woven fabric is an electroconductive knitted fabric 2 or woven fabric 3 comprising a blended yarn 1 obtained by mixing an electroconductive fiber with a nonconductive fiber and has a knitted fabric or woven fabric constitution having shrinkability.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a conductive knitted fabric or a woven fabric, and more particularly to a conductive knitted fabric or a woven fabric which can be expanded in use by having a shrinkability and a sensor using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, as a conductive knitted fabric or a woven fabric of this type, there is a conductive woven fabric which is mainly woven with a silver-plated conductive yarn. The conductive woven fabric has been used for curtains, clothes, etc. for the purpose of preventing the generation of static electricity.
However, the conductive woven fabric woven by conductive weave is
Since the shrinkability is small, its use is limited to the prevention of the generation of static electricity.

In addition, since the conductive knitted fabric or woven fabric needs to be silver-plated on the yarn itself, the number of manufacturing processes for knitting and weaving is increased, resulting in high cost and low cost. There is also a problem.

[0004]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has a small number of manufacturing steps, a low cost, and a conductive knitted fabric or a woven fabric which can be used for a wide range of applications. The purpose is to provide the used sensor.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 is a conductive knitted fabric obtained by knitting or weaving a blended yarn in which conductive fibers and non-conductive fibers are mixed or A woven fabric, wherein the conductive knitted fabric or woven fabric has a shrinkable knitted fabric or woven structure.

Since the conductive knitted fabric or woven fabric has a shrinkable knitted fabric or woven fabric as described above, its use can be expanded.

The invention according to a second aspect is characterized in that, in the conductive knitted fabric according to the first aspect, the knitted structure having the shrinkability is knitted by a plurality of mixed tubular knitting.

As described above, in the knitted structure having the shrinkability, since a plurality of mixed spun yarns are knitted by the tubular knitting, the shrinkability is improved and the use thereof is further expanded.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the conductive woven fabric according to the first aspect, the shrinkable woven fabric is woven by alternating weaving using at least the shrinkable blended yarn. To do.

As described above, since the woven fabric having the shrinkability is woven by alternate weaving using the blended yarn having at least the shrinkability, the shrinkability is improved and the use thereof is further expanded.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the conductive knitted fabric or the woven fabric according to any one of the first to third aspects can be deformed at the measurement point of the measurement object by following the measurement point of the measurement object. It is a sensor that is provided and detects deformation of an object to be measured by a change in electric resistance of the conductive knitted fabric or woven fabric.

As described above, the conductive knitted fabric or woven fabric having shrinkability is provided at the measurement point so as to be deformable so as to follow the deformation thereof, so that the deformation of the object to be measured is caused by the change in the electric resistance of the conductive knitted fabric or the woven fabric. Can be used as a sensor for detecting. Therefore, it is possible to detect a deformation of a measurement target having a complicated shape, and it is possible to provide an inexpensive sensor having a simple structure. Also,
It can be easily manufactured into an arbitrary shape by the conventional weaving technology.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the sensor according to the fourth aspect is provided in a predetermined measurement area of a measuring object, the output of the sensor is processed, and the variation state of the measurement area is detected. A characteristic sensor output processing device.

An output process is provided in which a sensor made of a conductive knitted fabric or a woven fabric having contractility as described above is provided in a predetermined measurement region of a measurement object, the output of the sensor is processed, and the variation state of the measurement region is detected. Since the device is used, a desired output can be obtained with a simple configuration.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a constitutional example of a conductive knitted fabric or a woven fabric according to the present invention, FIG. 1 (a) is a conductive knitted fabric by knitting, and FIG. 1 (b) is a diagram showing a conductive woven fabric by weaving. The electrically conductive knitted fabric 2 of FIG. 1 (a) is for knitting the mixed spun yarn 1 while forming loop-shaped stitches. The electrically conductive woven fabric 3 of FIG. 1 (b) is obtained by weaving the mixed yarn 1 alternately in the longitudinal and transverse directions. Here, the mixed spun yarn 1 is made by mixing electrically conductive short fibers (length 4 cm) made of stainless steel and the like and non-conductive short fibers made of polyester (length 4 cm), spun into cotton, and then spun. It is a mixed yarn.

The conductive knitted fabric 2 of FIG. 1 (a) has a high shrinkage because there is a margin in the loop-shaped portion of the blended yarn 1 when tension is applied, and the conductive fabric 3 of FIG. 1 (b) is Since the mixed yarn 1 has no room, the shrinkability is low. However, it is possible to give the conductive woven fabric 3 itself some shrinkage by making the mixed yarn 1 itself shrink.

Next, the change in the resistance value depending on the distance of the conductive knitted fabric or the woven fabric will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a method for measuring a change in resistance value depending on the distance of a conductive knitted fabric or a woven fabric according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the electrode terminal 101 of the tester 100 is fixed to one end of a test piece 4 of about 10 cm, and one electrode terminal 102 is fixed at intervals of 1 cm to measure a change in resistance value.

The test piece 4 used is a conductive knitted three-piece tubular knitted product obtained by knitting three mixed spun yarns 1 of stainless steel 30% and polyester 70% into one piece.
2 blended yarns 1 of 30% stainless steel and 70% polyester
Conductive knitted two-piece tubular knitted into a single piece, and knitted into a tubular shape. One alternating plain weave, in which a blended yarn 1 of 30% stainless steel and 70% polyester and 100% polyester yarn are alternately struck and plain woven. Conductive woven fabric, conductive woven fabric made of 100% polyester yarn with silver-plated conductive yarn and plain woven conductive fabric. In addition, the electrode terminal 10
Nos. 1 and 102 are fixed parallel to the weaving yarn when the test piece is a conductive woven fabric (,), and when the test piece is a conductive knitted fabric (,).
The fabric was fixed at the same position as the measurement point.

3 and 4 are diagrams showing the results of measurement under the above conditions. The conductive knitted fabric of the three-piece tubular knitting shown in FIGS. 3 (a-1) and (a-2) has a resistance value of about 33 to 51.
There is a change of up to 3 kΩ, and a proportional relationship can be seen. The conductive knitted double-layered tubular knitted fabric shown in FIGS. 3 (b-1) and 3 (b-2) has a change in resistance value of about 8 to 4667 kΩ, a large difference in displacement, and some proportional relationship. . The conductive woven fabric of the single alternating plain weave shown in FIGS. 4 (a-1) and (a-2) has a change in resistance value of about 1600 to 6000Ω, and some proportional relationship can be seen. Fig. 4 (b-
1), (b-2) conductive yarn plain weave conductive woven fabric,
Since the resistance value varies from about 17 to 26 Ω, the displacement difference is small and it is difficult to determine that the proportion is proportional in the range of the measurement distance of 10 cm.

From the above results, the conductive yarn plain weave conductive woven fabric has a small resistance value because electricity easily flows, and the resistance value changes little with distance, but the conductive knitted fabric using the mixed yarn 1 or Since a woven fabric has a large resistance value and a large change in the resistance value depending on the distance, a conductive knitted fabric or a woven fabric that is structurally and firmly knitted using the mixed yarn 1 can obtain the change in the resistance value depending on the distance. .

Next, the change in resistance value due to the tension of the conductive knitted fabric or woven fabric will be described. FIG. 5 is a view showing a method for measuring a change in resistance value due to tension of a conductive knitted fabric or a woven fabric according to the present invention, and FIG. 5 (a) shows a test piece 5 used for the method for measuring change in resistance value due to a tension, FIG. 3B is a diagram showing the measuring method. As shown in FIG. 5 (a), the test piece 5 is a tubular conductive knitted fabric or woven fabric having a length of 60 mm and a width of 50 mm in the case of a conductive woven fabric and a length of 50 mm and a width of 50 mm in the case of a conductive woven fabric. Is. The measurement method is shown in Fig. 5 (b).
As shown in FIG.
The second joint 1 is attached so that it is arranged in the center, the electrode terminals 101 and 102 are fixed to the upper ends of both ends of the test piece 5, and the index finger 201 is bent at an angle, that is, the tension applied to the upper part of the test piece 5. The change in resistance is measured.

The test piece 5 used was a conductive knitted fabric of three laminated tubular knitting, a conductive knitted fabric of two laminated tubular knitting, and one conductive alternate flat weave used for measuring the change in resistance value depending on the distance. Woven fabric, conductive yarn Plain woven conductive fabric.

FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 are diagrams showing the results of measurement under the above conditions. 6 shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b)
The conductive knitted tubular knitted fabric changes its resistance value to about 560 to 110 kΩ by bending the index finger 201,
It can be seen that the resistance value is greatly reduced by the tension. The conductive knitted double-layered tubular knitting shown in FIGS. 7 (a) and 7 (b) has a resistance value changed to about 780 to 170 kΩ by bending the index finger 201, and the resistance value is greatly reduced by the tension. Can be seen. FIG. 8 (a),
It can be seen that the resistance value of the single alternating plain weave conductive fabric shown in (b) changes to about 66 to 40 Ω by bending the index finger 201, and the resistance value slightly decreases due to tension. The resistance value of the conductive weave plain conductive fabric did not change when the index finger 201 was bent. (Not shown).

From the above results, in the conductive woven fabric of the conductive yarn plain weave, the deformation of the conductive yarn is small even if tension is applied and the resistance value does not change due to the tension. Knitted or woven fabrics are blended yarn 1 when tension is applied.
Since the deformation is large and the change in resistance value due to tension is large, a conductive knitted fabric or a woven fabric that is structurally and firmly knitted using the mixed yarn 1 can obtain a change in resistance value due to tension. In particular, since the conductive knitted fabric of (1) has a large change in resistance value due to tension, the conductive knitted fabric by knitting can further obtain the change of resistance value due to tension.

Here, the reason why the resistance value of the conductive knitted fabric or woven fabric using the blended yarn 1 decreases due to the tension will be described. Generally, the resistance value R is calculated by the following equation (1). Here, L is the length, S is the cross-sectional area, and ρ is the resistivity. R = ρ (L / S) (1)

Since the length and resistivity of the blended yarn 1 are considered to be substantially constant, the resistance value R is inversely proportional to the cross-sectional area S, assuming that L and ρ in the equation (1) hardly change. That is, the cross-sectional area of the blended yarn 1 changes due to the tension, so that the resistance value changes.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional change of a mixed yarn of a conductive knitted fabric or a woven fabric according to the present invention due to the tension. FIG. 9 (a) is a cross-sectional view of the mixed yarn before the tension is applied. b) is a cross-sectional view of the blended yarn after applying tension. Figure 9
As shown in (a), in the mixed yarn 1 in which tension is not applied, the conductive fibers 1a and the non-conductive fibers 1b are mixed together with a gap therebetween, and electricity is conductive. Fiber 1
Since it flows for every a, the cross-sectional area S is small and the resistance value R is large. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 9 (b), when a tension is applied, the mixed yarn 1 shrinks and the whole mixed yarn 1 converges, so that there is no gap between the conductive fiber 1a and the non-conductive fiber 1b, The cross-sectional area S becomes large and the resistance value R becomes small due to the contact between the conductive fibers 1a. Therefore, the conductive knitted fabric or the woven fabric using the mixed yarn 1 of, and the conductive fiber 1 of the mixed yarn 1 when tension is applied.
The resistance value changes because the cross-sectional area changes due to the contact between a.

Next, an example of use of the conductive knitted fabric or woven fabric according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 10: is a figure which shows the usage example using the electroconductive knitted fabric or textiles concerning this invention. 6 is a glove-shaped sensor made of a conductive knit or woven fabric, 7 is a detection device, and 8 is an output processing device such as a personal computer.

The glove-shaped sensor 6 is composed of a conductive knitted product of a plurality of combined tubular knitting in which a plurality of mixed spun yarns 1 are combined to form a single yarn. The + and-electrode terminals (not shown) are connected to arbitrary positions of the glove-shaped sensor 6, for example, positions corresponding to all joints of the fingers of the hand 200. The detection device 7 detects a change in the resistance value between the electrode terminals, converts the change into an electric signal, and outputs the electric signal to the output processing device 8. The output processing device 8 has a function of detecting the shape of the finger of the hand 200 from the output of the detection device 7 by a method to be described later, converting it into an electric signal or a character, and outputting the electric signal.

The output processing device 8 stores, for example, the output of the electrode terminal of the glove-shaped sensor 6 corresponding to a predetermined motion pattern of a plurality of fingers of the hand 200, and outputs the output of the detection device 7. The finger movement pattern that matches the stored finger movement pattern is selected, and the finger state of the hand 200 output from the detection device 7 is detected. Further, since the fingers of the hand 200 move in a predetermined direction around each joint, it is possible to detect the current state of the fingers of the hand 200 by calculating the output of the detection device 7 each time.
When the state of the operation of the finger is detected, the state of the finger is displayed on the display device 8a in the form of characters or figures, or is output as voice from a speaker or the like.

From the above, for example, when a handicapped person who has difficulty in inputting from the input unit 8b of the output processing device 8 can perform sign language, in addition to the glove-shaped sensor 6, a conductive knitted fabric or a woven fabric is provided on the elbows and shoulders. If a sensor consisting of is fitted and the pattern of the shape of the arm in sign language is stored on the table of the output processing device 8, the handicapped person can perform the sign language operation,
The output processing device 8 can be operated (characters and voices can be output). Although the conductive knitted fabric is the glove-shaped sensor 6 in the above-described use example, the present invention is not limited to this, and even when the hand 200 does not move, for example, the knee or the toe can be moved. If there is a part that can be formed, it is also possible to knit a sensor made of a conductive knitted fabric or a woven fabric in a shape that can follow the part. Further, if the output processing device 8 has a function of detecting a change in resistance value and converting it into an electric signal, the detection device 7 is not necessary.

In the above-mentioned usage example, the operation of the output processing device 8 by the sensor made of the conductive knitted fabric or the woven fabric has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the joint portion of the robot arm is used. It is also possible to control the robot arm by providing the above-mentioned sensor so that it can follow the operation of the robot arm and feeding back the output of the sensor to the control device. Also, an input device of a game machine, for example,
The above-mentioned sensor may be provided so as to follow each joint of the whole body, and a character in the game displayed on a television or the like may be operated.

[0033]

As described above, according to the invention described in each claim, the following excellent effects can be obtained.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the conductive knitted fabric or woven fabric has a shrinkable knitted fabric or woven fabric structure, so that its use can be expanded.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since the knitted structure having the shrinkability is knitted by knitting a plurality of mixed spun yarns, the shrinkability is improved and the use thereof is further expanded.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the woven fabric structure having the shrinkability is woven by the alternate weaving using the blended yarn having at least the shrinkability, the shrinkability is improved and the use thereof is further improved. Expanding.

According to the invention as set forth in claim 4, the conductive knitted fabric or the woven fabric having shrinkability is provided at the measurement point so as to be deformable so as to follow the deformation thereof. The sensor can detect the deformation of the measurement object due to the change. Therefore, it is possible to detect a deformation of a measurement target having a complicated shape, and it is possible to provide an inexpensive sensor having a simple structure. Further, it can be easily manufactured into an arbitrary shape by the conventional weaving technique.

According to the invention of claim 5, a sensor made of a conductive knitted fabric or a woven fabric having shrinkage property is provided in a predetermined measurement region of the object to be measured, the output of the sensor is processed, and the measurement region is measured. Since the output processing device detects the fluctuation state, a desired output can be obtained with a simple configuration.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a conductive knitted fabric or a woven fabric according to the present invention, FIG. 1 (a) is a conductive knitted fabric by knitting, and FIG. 1 (b) is a diagram showing a conductive woven fabric by weaving. .

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a method for measuring a change in resistance value with distance of a conductive knitted fabric or a woven fabric according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a relationship between a measurement distance and a resistance value.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a relationship between a measurement distance and a resistance value.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a method for measuring a change in resistance value due to tension of a conductive knitted fabric or a woven fabric according to the present invention, in which FIG.
The test piece used in the method for measuring the change in resistance value due to tension, and FIG. 7B is a diagram showing the measuring method.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a relationship between tension (bending angle) and resistance value.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a relationship between tension (bending angle) and resistance value.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a relationship between tension (bending angle) and resistance value.

FIG. 9 is a view showing a change in cross section due to tension of a mixed yarn of a conductive knitted fabric or a woven fabric according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of use of the conductive knitted fabric or woven fabric according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 mixed yarn 2 Conductive knit by knitting 3 Conductive woven fabric 4 test pieces 5 test pieces 6 Glove-shaped sensor 7 Detection device 8 Output processing device 100 tester 200 hands

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 2F063 AA25 BA30 BB02 DA02 DC08                       EA20 FA12 KA01                 4L002 AA00 AA07 AB01 AB05 AC02                       BA01 EA00 EA06 FA00 FA04                 4L048 AA04 AA20 AA52 AC11 AC13                       BC04 CA03 DA22 DA24

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A conductive knitted fabric or a woven fabric obtained by knitting or weaving a mixed spun yarn in which conductive fibers and non-conductive fibers are mixed, wherein the conductive knitted fabric or woven fabric has shrinkability. A conductive knitted fabric or a woven fabric having a constitution. 2. The conductive knitted fabric according to claim 1, wherein the shrinkable knitted fabric is knitted by knitting a plurality of the mixed yarns. 3. The conductive woven fabric according to claim 1, wherein the shrinkable woven fabric is woven by alternate weaving using at least the shrinkable blended yarn. 4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 at a measuring point of the measuring object.
A conductive knitted fabric or a woven fabric according to any one of the above items is provided so as to be deformable in accordance with a measurement point of the measurement target, and the deformation of the measurement target is detected by a change in the electric resistance of the conductive knitted fabric or the woven fabric. Characteristic sensor. 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein a predetermined measurement area of the measuring object is provided.
A sensor output processing device, comprising: the sensor according to claim 1, processing an output of the sensor, and detecting a change in the measurement region.