KR101560585B1 - Flexible and stretchable wearable device for mounting skin - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a flexible wearable device to be attached on skin. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the wearable device may include: first and second conductive units which are separately arranged, being in touch with the user′s skin directly, and applying electrical current to the user′s skin; and an elastic connection unit which connects the first and second conductive units respectively to form an electrical current between the first and second conductive units, wherein the elastic connection unit includes an elastomer which has prefixed elasticity.

Description

[0001] Description [0002] FLEXIBLE AND STRETCHABLE WEARABLE DEVICE FOR MOUNTING SKIN [0003]

The present invention relates to a wearable device, and more particularly to a wearable wearable device for skin attachment.

[0002] With the recent development of industrial technology, a wearable device has emerged, and such wearable devices generally appear to operate in conjunction with a smartphone or operate independently without a smartphone.

According to this tendency, the number of users using the wearable device has been explosively increased. The users like to improve the mobility or convenience, which is an advantage of the wearable device, and in proportion to the wearable device, I hope to use it more and more closely.

Accordingly, in order to comply with the demands of the users, there have been various studies on techniques for manufacturing the wearable device in a form that can be brought into close contact with the wearer's body or skin. However, the wearable device includes one or more components, It is very difficult to manufacture the wearable device so that the wearable device can be bent or twisted so that the wearable device can be completely brought into contact with the user's body or skin. It is a fact that I am suffering.

Therefore, there is a need to provide a wearable wearable device that can be fully attached to the wearer's body or skin.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a wearable device that can be completely attached to a user's body or skin to solve the above-described problems.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a wearable device that can be stretched or warped in three dimensions by including an elastic connection part in a serpentine shape so as to solve the above-mentioned problems.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a wearable device capable of solving the above problems by three-dimensionally adjusting an elastic connection part of a serpentine shape so as to be stretched or warped, And a device for adjusting the distance in various ways.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and a device for adjusting elasticity of a serpentine elastic connecting part in three dimensions so as to be stretched or bent so as to solve the above- The present invention also provides a device capable of flexibly coping with the above problem.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a stretchable wearable device for attaching a skin, comprising: a first conductive part which is directly contacted to a skin of a user and applies an electric current to the skin of the user, And an elastic connection portion connecting the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion so that a flow of current between the second conductive portion and the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion can be formed, May comprise an elastomer having a predetermined standard elastic modulus.

In the elastic wearable device for attaching the skin according to an embodiment of the present invention, the elastic connection part may have a serpentine shape.

The wearable wearable device for skin attachment according to an embodiment of the present invention may be one that can be used in combination with a device for Transcranial Current Stimulation (tCS).

In the stretchable wearable device for attaching skin according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion are electrode pads that apply electric current to the skin of the user to apply electric stimulation, The elastomer having a standard elastic modulus may include a polymer or a silicone.

In the elastic wearable device for attaching the skin according to an embodiment of the present invention, the elastic connection part formed in a serpentine shape can be three-dimensionally deformed including stretching, twisting, and changing the inside and outside angles.

In an elastic wearable device for attaching skin according to an embodiment of the present invention, the elastic connection portion formed in a serpentine shape may have a predetermined cross-sectional aspect ratio for the three-dimensional deformation have.

The elastic wearable device for skin attachment according to an embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that the elastic contact portion is formed in a shape corresponding to the degree of three dimensional deformation including the elongation, twist, The thickness of the elastic connecting portion, the angle of the curling, and the period of the curling may be determined.

In an elastic wearable device for skin attachment according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first conductive portion is an anode and the second conductive portion is a cathode, and the serpentine- It is possible to adjust the distance between the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion through the three-dimensional deformation.

In the stretchable wearable device for attaching the skin according to an embodiment of the present invention, the elastic connection part formed in a serpentine shape may be formed to have a three-dimensional shape corresponding to the skin strain stress of the user of the wearable device. It can be attached to the skin of the wearable device user after the deformation is made.

In the elastic wearable device for attaching the skin according to an embodiment of the present invention, the elastic connection part is formed by bonding an elastomer having a predetermined elastic modulus to a surface of a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) The FPCB may be formed in advance so that the constituent elements of the FPCB have a continuous wave pattern.

According to the present invention as described above, the following various effects are obtained.

First, there is an effect that a wearable device that can be fully adhered to a user's body or skin can be provided.

Secondly, by including an elastic connection portion formed of a serpentine shape, there is an effect that a wearable device that can be three-dimensionally stretched or warped can be provided.

Thirdly, it is possible to provide a device capable of variously adjusting the distance between one or more parts or configurations included in the wearable device by adjusting the elastic connection part of the serpentine shape in three dimensions so as to stretch or warp There is an effect.

Fourth, there is an effect that a device capable of flexibly responding to skin contraction stress, which may be different from user to user, by three-dimensionally adjusting the elastic connecting portion made of a serpentine shape so as to stretch or warp.

FIG. 1 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a wearable wearable device for skin attachment according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a device for a tactile electrical stimulation in which a wearable wearable device for skin attachment according to an embodiment of the present invention can be used.
3 is a cross-sectional view of a resilient connection portion in a wearable wearable device for skin attachment according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 4 (a), 4 (b) and 4 (c) are views for explaining three-dimensionally bent elastic connection portions of a wearable wearable device for attaching skin according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The advantages and features of the present invention and the manner of achieving them will become apparent with reference to the embodiments described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. To fully disclose the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the invention is only defined by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein may be used in a sense commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Also, commonly used predefined terms are not ideally or excessively interpreted unless explicitly defined otherwise.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of illustrating embodiments and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. In the present specification, the singular form includes plural forms unless otherwise specified in the specification. The terms " comprises "and / or" comprising "used in the specification do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other elements in addition to the stated element.

Also, the term "part" in the description means a unit for processing at least one function or operation, which may be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. Furthermore, the terms " a or an, "" one," and similar related terms, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise or clearly contradicted by context, As used herein.

Hereinafter, an electric stimulation apparatus according to embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a wearable wearable device for skin attachment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the elastic wearable device 100 for skin attachment according to an embodiment of the present invention may include one or more conductive parts 110a and 110b and an elastic connection part 120, The elastic wearable device 100 for attaching may further include a current providing module 130 for providing current to the conductive parts 110a and 110b and the elastic connection part 120. [

1, the at least one conductive part may include a first conductive part 110a and a second conductive part 110b. In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, The conductive portion may be formed of two or more conductive portions.

The conductive part refers to a component or an element through which electricity can flow. In the present invention, the first conductive part 110a and the second conductive part 110b are electrically connected to the user's skin And the first conductive part 110a and the second conductive part 110b may be directly contacted to the conductive part to apply the current flowing into the conductive part to the skin of the user as it is, And may be spaced apart from each other within the elastic connecting portion 120 of the elastic wearable device 100.

For example, the first conductive portion 110a may be adjacent to the left side of the user's skin when viewed from the user's skin, and the other second conductive portion 110b may be adjacent to the right side of the user's skin In the present invention, the first conductive portion 110a and the second conductive portion 110b may be implemented as electrode pads.

The elastic connection part 120 may be formed in the first conductive part 110a and the second conductive part 110b so as to form a current flow between the first conductive part 110a and the second conductive part 110b, Or may be connected to each other. To this end, the elastic connection portion may be formed on the surface or inside of the circuit wiring through which a current can flow.

At this time, the elastic connection part 120 is connected to a flexible printed circuit board (PCB) or a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) (Elastomer).

In addition, the elastic connecting part 120 formed according to the above method may have a serpentine shape as shown in FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Here, the serpentine shape of the elastic connection part 120 may be a wave form, and the waveform may be a waveform in which the same pattern is repeated, It may be a waveform in which the pattern is repeated.

That is, the elastic connection part, which can be embodied by a waveform of the same or different patterns repeatedly, can be continuously the same or different in every cycle of the sweeping, have.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the serpentine connecting part 120 shown in FIG. 1 is bent three-dimensionally based on the serpentine shape, that is, the elastic connecting part is stretched it is possible to perform three-dimensional deformation including stretching, twisting and in-plane and out-of-plane angles.

In addition, the wearable device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a resilient connection portion 120 having a serpentine shape as described above, so that the wearable device 100 may have more elastic elasticity, The detailed configuration and operation will be described in more detail below with reference to FIG. 3 to FIG.

Meanwhile, the current providing module 130 may continuously or temporarily supply a current to the first conductive portion 110a and the second conductive portion 110b.

The overall shape of the wearable wearable device 100 for skin attachment according to an embodiment of the present invention may be a serpentine shape as shown in FIG. 1, The present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment.

1, at least a part of the configuration of the first conductive portion 110a and the second conductive portion 110b may not be disposed on the elastic connection portion 120, 130 may be omitted or included in the first conductive portion 110a and / or the second conductive portion 110b.

That is, the elastic wearable device 100 for skin attachment shown in FIG. 1 may include more components than those shown in FIG. 1, or may include devices that include fewer components than those shown in FIG. ≪ / RTI >

Meanwhile, the elastic wearable device 100 for skin attachment according to an embodiment of the present invention may be used in combination with a device for transcranial current stimulation (tCS) shown in FIG.

The transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), the transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), the transcranial random-noise stimulation (tRNS) And the like, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

In addition, the elastic wearable device 100 for attaching the skin according to an embodiment of the present invention can be used not only in combination with the electric stimulation device described above but also in its own form.

2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a device for a tactile electrical stimulation in which a wearable wearable device for skin attachment according to an embodiment of the present invention can be used.

Referring to FIG. 2, an apparatus 1000 for a cranial electric stimulation, in which a wearable wearable device for skin attachment according to an embodiment of the present invention can be used, includes a body unit 100 and a replaceable patch unit 200, And the main body unit 100 and the replaceable patch unit 200 may be detachably mechanically and electrically coupled to each other.

The user can use the tactile electric stimulation apparatus 1000 by combining the main body unit 100 and the replaceable patch unit 200 when the tactile electric stimulation apparatus 1000 is to be used.

That is, the wearable wearable device for attaching the skin according to an embodiment of the present invention can be used in combination with the main body unit 100 as the replaceable patch unit 200 of the tactile electric stimulation apparatus 1000 .

Hereinafter, description will be made on the premise that the elastic wearable device for attaching the skin according to the embodiment of the present invention is the replaceable patch unit 200, and 210 of FIG. 2 corresponds to the elastic connection of FIG. 1 , And 220 in FIG. 2 may correspond to the first conductive portion 110a and the second conductive portion 110b in FIG.

Referring again to FIG. 2, when the replacement type patch unit 200 is used a predetermined number of times, the user can remove the replacement type replacement unit 200 from the main body unit 100 And then the unused replaceable patch unit 200 is newly coupled to the main body unit 100, so that the tactile electric stimulation apparatus 1000 can be used again.

Meanwhile, the main body unit 100 may further include a coupling part 130 mechanically and electrically coupled to the replaceable patch unit 200. The main body unit 100 may further include a current providing module for transferring a current to the replaceable patch unit 200. The current provided by the current providing module may be supplied through the elastic connecting part 120 And may be provided to the first conductive portion 100a and the second conductive portion 100b.

3 is a cross-sectional view of a resilient connection portion in a wearable wearable device for skin attachment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the elastic wearable device for skin attachment according to an embodiment of the present invention may include at least one conductive part and an elastic connection part as mentioned in FIG. 1, and the elastic connection part may include a flexible a flexible printed circuit board (PCB) or a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB), which is flexible and can be formed by bonding an elastomer having a predetermined standard elastic modulus.

More specifically, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the respective constituent elements of the FPCB (Flexible Printed Circuit Board) are serpentine like a continuous wave pattern or a continuous wave pattern, Structure. ≪ / RTI >

That is, according to an embodiment of the present invention, an elastomer having a predetermined modulus of elasticity (Low modulus) is bonded to the surface of the FPCB formed in a twisted structure as described above, An elastic connection portion formed in a meandering shape can be formed,

When an elastomer having a predetermined modulus of elasticity (Low modulus) is bonded to an FPCB previously formed so as to have a serpentine shape, the FPCB is completely bonded to the elastomer (Fully bonded serpentine ), So that a serpentine-shaped elastic connection portion in which the FPCB and the elastic polymer are combined according to an embodiment of the present invention can be formed.

On the other hand, the elastomer having the predetermined standard elastic modulus may include a polymer or silicone, but not limited thereto, and all other elastomers may be applied.

The modulus of elasticity refers to a modulus of elasticity that represents the ratio of stress to strain, and refers to a force that is stretched to some extent when the object is pulled and then returned to the original state. In general, an object with a low modulus of elasticity or a modulus of elasticity has a relatively weak tendency to return to its original shape relative to a material with a high modulus of elasticity or a high modulus of elasticity.

Meanwhile, in the present invention, a predetermined standard of the elastic modulus can be determined as an elastic modulus corresponding to the skin, and the three-dimensional deformation is applied to the wearable device including the elastic connecting part of the serpentine shape, The wearable device including the elastic connection part having the serpentine shape has elasticity corresponding to the skin and has characteristics similar to those of the skin, so that it is possible to cope with the flexibility of the skin when the skin is attached, .

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 3, the elastic connection part of the meandering shape in which the FPCB and the elastic polymer are combined according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include a deformation restricting structure.

The deformation restricting structure may be composed of nylon, wool, fibroin or the like having a relatively high modulus of elasticity in comparison with a predetermined modulus of elasticity corresponding to the skin elasticity modulus. Dimensional deformation of the wearable device including the elastic connecting portion made of the elastic connecting portion can be limited to a specific range, and the excessive strain of the wearable device can be prevented and the damage can be prevented.

FIGS. 4 (a), 4 (b) and 4 (c) are views for explaining three-dimensionally bent elastic connection portions of a wearable wearable device for attaching skin according to an embodiment of the present invention.

More specifically, the elastic connecting portion in the elastic wearable device for attaching the skin according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is produced according to the method mentioned in FIG. 3, is deformed three-dimensionally in a serpentine shape It is possible.

Here, the three-dimensional deformations are twisting of the elastic connection part as shown in FIG. 4 (a), the in-plane and out-of-plane change as shown in FIG. 4 (b) of plane as shown in Fig. 4A and stretching as shown in Fig. 4C.

In this case, the term " twist " refers to a deformation caused by the tilting of the elastic connecting portion. The tilting refers to a change in the inner / outer angle of the surface by moving the face constituting the elastic connecting portion to the inside or outside, And the stretching means a deformation that pulls the elastic connecting portion to increase the length of the elastic connecting portion.

In addition, the resilient connection portion in the elastic wearable device for attaching the skin may have a predetermined cross-sectional aspect ratio for the three-dimensional deformation.

The degree of twist of the elastic connecting part, the degree of change of the inside and outside angle of the face, or degree of elongation can be determined in accordance with the strain-stress of the user of the wearable device. More specifically, The deformed elastic connection portion may be attached to the skin of the user of the wearable device after the deformation of the elastic connection portion is applied so as to correspond to the wearable device.

When the three-dimensionally deformed elastic connection portion is attached to the skin of the user of the wearable device, the wearable device including the elastic connection portion of the serpentine shape has a modulus of elasticity corresponding to the skin Since it has similar characteristics to the skin, it can cope with the flexibility of the skin better when attached to the skin.

In this case, the term 'shrinkage stress' refers to a force of cohesion of a specific material after shrinkage of a specific material. As described above, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the shrinkage stress refers to the deformation of the elastic connection portion corresponding to the skin contraction stress of the user of the wearable device When the three-dimensionally deformed elastic connection portion is attached to the skin of the user of the wearable device, the elastic connection portion can have a shrinkage stress similar to that of the skin, and the degree of attachment to the skin is increased The skin mount-ability of the wearable device using the present invention can be maximized.

The thickness, degree of curling, and degree of curling of the elastic connecting part formed in a serpentine shape in the elastic wearable device for attaching the skin according to an embodiment of the present invention are determined by the twist of the elastic connecting part, Can be determined corresponding to the degree of change and stretching.

That is, in the case of an elastic connection portion requiring a relatively large degree of deformation, the thickness of the elastic connection portion can be made relatively thin, and in the case of an elastic connection portion requiring a relatively small degree of deformation, Can be implemented.

In addition, the extent of the curvature refers to the angle of each of the curved portions of the elastic connection portion having the curved shape, and the curvature refers to the period of the curvature of the curved elastic portion.

As described above, according to the present invention, the wearable device including the elastic connection part formed in a serpentine shape is formed by three-dimensionally bending the elastic connection part, so that the first conductive part and the second conductive part It may be possible to vary the distance between the two.

More specifically, assuming that the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion are respectively an anode and a cathode, in this case, although different anode and cathode positions are required for each user using the wearable device, The positions of the anode and the cathode can be individually adjusted according to the respective users by adjusting the elastic connecting part of the serpentine shape according to the embodiment of the present invention to be three-dimensionally deformed as described above, A wearable device including an elastic connection portion of a shape can be used as a wearable wearable device.

In this case, the anode means an electrode where an oxidation reaction to lose electrons occurs, and the cathode means an electrode where a reduction reaction to obtain electrons occurs.

The elastic wearable device for attaching the skin according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include a control unit. In this case, the control unit receives a control command from a user of the wearable device, and can control the flow of currents flowing in the elastic connection parts of the wearable device or the respective conductive parts.

In this case, the control unit may be implemented in various forms such as a processor, a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a central processing unit (CPU), a micro processing unit (MPU), and a microcontroller unit And the control unit may include firmware for performing the control operation described above.

Meanwhile, the method described in connection with the embodiment of the present invention described in FIGS. 1 to 4 can be implemented by a software module executed by a processor. The software module may reside in any form of computer readable recording medium known in the art, such as RAM (Random Access Memory), flash memory, memory, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, have.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, You will understand. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive.

The elastic wearable device for attaching the skin according to the present invention can be applied to various devices for adhering the skin.

100: Stretchable wearable device for skin attachment
110a: first conductive portion
110b: second conductive portion
120: elastic connection portion
130: current providing module

Claims (10)

In a wearable device for skin attachment,
A first conductive part and a second conductive part directly contacting the skin of the user and applying current to the skin of the user, the first conductive part and the second conductive part being spaced apart from each other; And
And an elastic connection portion connecting each of the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion so that a current flow can be formed between the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion,
Wherein the elastic connecting portion comprises an elastomer having a predetermined standard elastic modulus,
Wherein the resilient connection portion is capable of three-dimensional deformation including stretching, twisting, and in-plane and out-of-plane angles. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the elastic connecting portion is formed in a serpentine shape. The method according to claim 1,
Characterized in that the wearable device can be used in combination with a device for transcranial current stimulation (tCS). The method according to claim 1,
The first conductive portion and the second conductive portion are electrode pads that apply electric current to the skin of the user to apply electrical stimulation,
Characterized in that the elastomer having the elastic modulus of the predetermined reference comprises a polymer or silicone. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the elastic wearable device is a patch capable of attaching to the skin. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the serpentine-shaped elastic connection portion comprises a cross-sectional aspect ratio predetermined for the three-dimensional deformation. 3. The method of claim 2,
The thickness, the degree of the curvature and the degree of the curvature of the elastic connecting part in the serpentine shape corresponding to the degree of the three-dimensional deformation including the elongation, twist, Wherein a period of time during which the wearer is wearing is determined. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the first conductive portion is an anode and the second conductive portion is a cathode,
Wherein the elastic connecting portion having the serpentine shape is capable of adjusting a distance between the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion through the three-dimensional deformation. 3. The method of claim 2,
Characterized in that the serpentine connection part is attached to the skin of the user of the wearable device after the three-dimensional deformation is made to correspond to the skin-strain stress of the user of the wearable device. Wearable device. The method according to claim 1,
The elastic connection part is formed by bonding an elastomer having a predetermined elastic modulus to a surface of a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB)
Wherein the FPCB is formed in advance so that the respective constituent elements of the FPCB have a continuous wave pattern.

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