KR102492375B1 - Chair of sensing pressure - Google Patents

Abstract

A pressure sensing chair according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first electrode having a first conductive area formed in a first direction, a second electrode having a second conductive area formed in a second direction, and the first electrode and A sensing sheet including an intermediate layer disposed between the second electrodes, a first elastic body disposed on the sensing sheet and having a first elastic modulus, and a first elastic body disposed within the first elastic body and having a higher elastic modulus than the first elastic modulus. It includes a plurality of second elastic bodies having a modulus of elasticity of 2.

Description

CHAIR OF SENSING PRESSURE}

The present invention relates to a pressure-sensing chair, and more particularly, to a pressure-sensing chair in which a pressure sensor is embedded in a seat of the chair.

Recently, with the rapid development of electronic technology and information and communication technology, the field of health care (Health Care) is rapidly developing. That is, there is a demand for a health management system capable of measuring a person's body condition using biometric information, and in particular, a technology for acquiring biometric information using a chair commonly used in daily life is being developed.

However, a general chair for biometric information acquisition requires a plurality of independent sensors to measure a large area, and additional space is required to connect modules for driving each sensor. In addition, since the sensor is not flexible and stretchable, it is difficult to apply it to a chair having a convex surface.

A technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to provide a pressure sensing chair that senses pressure and position according to an applied weight.

A pressure sensing chair according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first electrode having a first conductive area formed in a first direction, a second electrode having a second conductive area formed in a second direction, and the first electrode and A sensing sheet including an intermediate layer disposed between the second electrodes, a first elastic body disposed on the sensing sheet and having a first elastic modulus, and a first elastic body disposed within the first elastic body and having a higher elastic modulus than the first elastic modulus. It includes a plurality of second elastic bodies having a modulus of elasticity of 2.

The plurality of second elastic bodies may extend from an upper portion of the first elastic body toward the sensing sheet.

The plurality of second elastic bodies may include a first head unit, a second head unit, and an extension unit connecting the first head unit and the second head unit.

The first head unit and the second head unit may be disposed to correspond to a sensing region where the first conduction region and the second conduction region intersect.

A width of the first head unit and a width of the second head unit may be greater than a width of the extension unit.

Each of the first conductive region and the second conductive region may be made of a conductive fiber.

The conductive fiber may be a metal wire or a fiber coated with a metal film on the surface.

The intermediate layer may include a fiber substrate and a conductive composite dispersed in the fiber substrate.

The sensor may further include a control unit connected to the sensing sheet and generating a control signal according to piezoresistance or capacitance between the first electrode and the second electrode.

A communication unit for transmitting a signal generated by the control unit may be further included.

The pressure sensing device according to an embodiment of the present invention can accurately detect pressure according to the applied weight and accurately detect pressure distribution. In addition, the pressure sensing device according to the embodiment of the present invention can be large-sized. In addition, the pressure sensing device according to the embodiment of the present invention has excellent durability and sensing performance.

1 is a side view of a pressure sensitive chair according to one embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram of a pressure sensing device built into a pressure sensing chair according to one embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a cross-sectional view of a seat board incorporating a sensor unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is an exploded view of a seat board incorporating a sensor unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is an enlarged view of a first electrode according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is an enlarged view of a second electrode according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a cross-sectional view of a sensing sheet and a cushion according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Since the present invention can make various changes and have various embodiments, specific embodiments are illustrated and described in the drawings. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, and should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Terms including ordinal numbers such as second and first may be used to describe various components, but the components are not limited by the terms. These terms are only used for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, a second element may be termed a first element, and similarly, a first element may be termed a second element, without departing from the scope of the present invention. The terms and/or include any combination of a plurality of related recited items or any of a plurality of related recited items.

It is understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected or connected to the other element, but other elements may exist in the middle. It should be. On the other hand, when an element is referred to as “directly connected” or “directly connected” to another element, it should be understood that no other element exists in the middle.

Terms used in this application are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this application, the terms "include" or "have" are intended to designate that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, but one or more other features It should be understood that the presence or addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof is not precluded.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs. Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the meaning in the context of the related art, and unless explicitly defined in the present application, they should not be interpreted in an ideal or excessively formal meaning. don't

Hereinafter, the embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the same or corresponding components regardless of reference numerals are given the same reference numerals, and overlapping descriptions thereof will be omitted.

1 is a side view of a pressure-sensing chair according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a pressure-sensing device built into the pressure-sensing chair according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 , the pressure sensing chair 100 includes a seat 110 , armrests 120 , a backrest 130 , and legs 140 . When a person is seated on the seat 110, the pressure sensing device 200 built into the pressure sensing chair 100 may detect whether or not a person is seated and measure a relative pressure distribution according to the seated position. The pressure sensing device 200 may detect a weight, a sitting posture, and the like according to the measured pressure distribution.

The pressure sensing device 200 may include a sensor unit 210 , a control unit 220 and a communication unit 230 . The sensor unit 210 may detect whether or not the user is seated on the seat 110 and the relative pressure distribution according to the seated position. The sensor unit 210 may be implemented to be embedded in the seat 110 . The control unit 220 is connected to the sensor unit 210 and processes a signal detected by the sensor unit 210 . For example, the control unit 220 may control on/off of the device using a result of processing a signal detected by the sensor unit 210 . As another example, the controller 220 may generate an alarm signal for posture correction using a result of processing a signal detected by the sensor unit 210 . Then, the communication unit 230 transmits the signal processed by the control unit 220 to an external device. The control unit 220 and the communication unit 230 may be built into the armrest 120, the backrest 130, the leg 140, and the like.

3 is a cross-sectional view of a seat board having a built-in sensor unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a seat board having a built-in sensor unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4 , the seat 110 includes a sensing sheet 300 and a cushion 310 disposed on the sensing sheet 300 . Here, the sensing sheet 300 may correspond to the sensor unit 210 of FIG. 2 .

The sensing sheet 300 includes a first electrode 302 , a second electrode 304 , and an intermediate layer 306 disposed between the first electrode 302 and the second electrode 304 . Although not shown, the sensing sheet 300 may be covered by a cover.

In this case, each of the first electrode 302 and the second electrode 304 may be made of a fabric containing a conductive fiber. The first electrode 302 includes a first conductive region 302-1 formed in a first direction, and the second electrode 304 includes a second conductive region formed in a second direction different from the first direction. (304-1).

Also, the intermediate layer 306 is elastic and may have greater resistance than the first electrode 302 and the second electrode 304 . At this time, the intermediate layer 306 may also include a fiber substrate.

In this way, when the first electrode 302 and the second electrode 304 are made of fabric and the intermediate layer 306 includes a fiber substrate, the sensing sheet 300 is flexible and has little risk of breakage, and has a bending radius. There is no restriction on , it is possible to implement a double-curved surface. Accordingly, it can be variously applied to household devices or wearable devices.

Also, when the first electrode 302 and the second electrode 304 include conductive regions formed in different directions, an overlapping point between the first conductive region 302-1 and the second conductive region 304-1. Since the coordinates can be recognized according to , the pressed position can be accurately sensed. Accordingly, a plurality of sensor nodes may be included in one sensing sheet 300, and large-area scanning is possible.

In addition, when the intermediate layer 306 is elastic, the thickness of the intermediate layer 306 is reduced at the pressing point. When the resistance of the intermediate layer 306 is greater than that of the first electrode 302 and the second electrode 304, for example, the resistance of the intermediate layer 306 is the resistance of the first electrode 302 and the second electrode 304. When the resistance is 10 times or more, preferably 100 times or more, and more preferably 1000 times or more, the intermediate layer 306 performs an insulating function in a normal state. However, when pressure is applied on the sensing sheet 300, the thickness of the intermediate layer 306 is reduced, and resistance or permittivity is changed. Accordingly, piezoresistance or capacitance can be easily and reliably sensed.

More specifically, referring to FIGS. 5 and 6 , the first conductive region 302 of the first electrode 302 and the second conductive region 304-1 of the second electrode 304 are each composed of conductive fibers, and , the first non-conductive region 302-2 of the first electrode 302 and the second non-conductive region 304-2 of the second electrode 304 may each be composed of a general fiber. Alternatively, the first conductive region 302-1 of the first electrode 302 and the second conductive region 304-1 of the second electrode 304 may be formed by crossing normal fibers and conductive fibers, respectively.

At this time, the conductive fiber included in the first conductive region 302-1 and the second conductive region 304-1 may be a metal wire, a normal fiber coated with a metal film on the surface, or a normal fiber in which metal particles are dispersed. there is.

In this case, the metal wire may be Cu, Ni, or a stainless alloy. The stainless alloy may be, for example, a martensitic stainless alloy, a ferritic stainless alloy, an austenitic stainless alloy, a two-phase stainless alloy, or a precipitation hardening stainless alloy. When the metal wire is a stainless alloy, corrosion resistance of the sensing sheet 300 may be improved.

When the conductive fibers included in the first electrode 302 and the second electrode 304 are ordinary fibers coated with a metal film on the surface, the metal film is a metal film coated on the surface of the regular fiber by a plating method or a deposition method. method can be formed. In this case, the metal particles may be Cu, Ni, or a stainless alloy, and the metal film may have a thickness of 1 μm to 50 μm. If the thickness of the metal film is less than 1 μm, the conductivity is low, which may cause loss in signal transmission, and if the thickness of the metal film exceeds 50 μm, the metal film may be easily separated from the surface of the fiber.

Meanwhile, the intermediate layer 306 includes a fiber substrate and a conductive composite. Here, the fiber substrate may mean a random fiber arrangement such as a foam, nonwoven fabric, nanoweb, as well as a fabric imbued with fibers. At this time, the fibers included in the fiber substrate may be synthetic fibers or natural fibers including one selected from the group consisting of polyurethane, nylon, polyethylene terephthalate, and polyester, and the thickness of the fiber substrate may be 1 mm or more. Accordingly, the intermediate layer 306 has micropores and has elasticity. When the thickness of the fiber substrate is less than 1 mm, it may be difficult to maintain the insulation function in a normal state, for example, in a state where no external force is applied, and when an external force is applied, the change in thickness is small, so the change in resistance or permittivity may be small. . Accordingly, pressure sensing efficiency may be lowered.

Meanwhile, the conductive composite included in the intermediate layer 306 may be coated on the surface of fibers constituting the fiber substrate or dispersed in the fiber substrate.

Accordingly, the intermediate layer 306 has an insulating property with a resistance of 1 kΩ or more in a normal state, but when a physical change occurs around the intermediate layer 306, for example, when an external force is applied on the intermediate layer 306, the intermediate layer The thickness of (306) is reduced by 0.001 to 0.5 times, the resistance is changed by 100 Ω or more, or the capacitance is changed by 10 pF or more. As such, when a physical change is applied to the sensing sheet 300, the piezoresistance or capacitance is changed.

To this end, the conductive composite may include a conductive polymer and conductive powder. The conductive composite may be included in 1 to 10 wt% of the fiber substrate. When the conductive composite is included in an amount exceeding 10wt% of the fiber substrate, fabric processing may be difficult due to deterioration of physical properties of the fiber itself. In this case, the conductive polymer may include polyaniline or polypyrrole. Also, the conductive powder may include one selected from the group consisting of Au, Ag, Cu, Ni, CNT (Carbon Nano Tube), graphene, and a ceramic filler. Here, the conductive powder may be included in 0.1wt% to 10wt% of the conductive composite. If the conductive powder is included in less than 0.1 wt% of the conductive composite, performance is difficult to implement due to low conductivity, and if it is included in more than 10 wt%, physical properties of the fiber such as tensile strength are lowered, so there is a limit to fabric implementation. When the conductive powder includes the ceramic filler, since the permittivity is high, a change in capacitance can be easily detected. Here, the ceramic filler may be, for example, micro carbon coil barium titanate having a diameter of 100 μm or less.

At this time, the diameter of the conductive powder may be 10 nm to 500 μm, and may be spherical, acicular, or plate-shaped. If the diameter of the conductive powder is less than 10 nm, it is difficult to disperse in the conductive polymer and the interfacial resistance between particles is high, so the resistance of the entire fiber is lowered. In addition, when the diameter of the conductive powder exceeds 500 μm, the surface of the fiber is not smooth, resulting in increased frictional force, which may cause damage to the fiber during fabric processing.

Meanwhile, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the sensing sheet 300 may be disposed below the cushion 310 . Accordingly, even if a user repeatedly sits down and gets up, the physical impact on the sensing sheet 300 is minimized, thereby reducing the risk of damage to the sensing sheet 300 and increasing durability.

However, when the sensing sheet 300 is disposed below the cushion 310 , sensing sensitivity of the sensing sheet 300 may be lowered. In order to solve this, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the cushion 310 is arranged in the first elastic body 312 having a first elastic modulus, and the first elastic body 312, the second higher than the first elastic modulus It may include a plurality of second elastic bodies 314 having an elastic modulus. In this case, the first elastic body 312 and the second elastic body 314 may include urethane, cotton, polyurethane, foam, rubber sponge, and the like. The modulus of elasticity of the second elastic body 314 may be 1.05 to 2 times the modulus of elasticity of the first elastic body 312 . When a user sits on the seat 120, the second elastic body 314 having a relatively high elastic modulus is less deformed than the first elastic body 312 having a low elastic modulus. Accordingly, the weight transfer performance of the second elastic body 314 is superior to that of the first elastic body 312 .

In particular, referring to FIG. 7 , the second elastic body 314 extends from the upper portion of the seat plate 120, that is, the first elastic body 312 toward the sensing sheet 300, and the first electrode 302 When the first conductive region 302-1 and the second conductive region 304-1 of the second electrode 304 are disposed corresponding to the intersection of the sensing region, the weight applied to the upper portion of the seat plate 120 is applied to the sensing sheet. Since it is directly transferred to the sensing area of 300, sensing performance can be improved.

Meanwhile, the second elastic body 314 connects the first head unit 314-1, the second head unit 314-2, and the first head unit 314-1 and the second head unit 314-2. and an extension unit 314-3 to At this time, the first head unit 314-1 is adjacent to the top of the seat plate 120, the second head unit 314-2 is adjacent to the sensing sheet 300, and the first head unit 314-1 and the second head unit 314-2 may be disposed corresponding to a sensing area where the first conductive area 302-1 and the second conductive area 304-1 intersect. In this case, the width W1 of the first head unit 314-1 and the second head unit 314-2 may be greater than the width W2 of the extension unit 314-3. Accordingly, the second elastic body 314 can stably touch the upper portion of the seat plate 120 and the sensing area of the sensing sheet 300 .

Also, the first head unit 314 - 1 and the second head unit 314 - 2 may protrude toward the top and bottom of the cushion 310 , respectively. For example, the first head unit 314-1 and the second head unit 314-2 may protrude with a width of 0.1 mm to 30 cm or less and a height of 0.01 mm to 5 cm or less. In this way, when the first head unit 314-1 and the second head unit 314-2 protrude toward the top and bottom of the cushion 310, means for pressing the cushion 310 (eg, user body) and the sensing area of the sensing sheet 300 more closely, the weight sensing performance can be further improved.

Meanwhile, although not shown, the seat plate 110 of the pressure sensing chair 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include a piezoelectric element. For example, when a user gets up after sitting on the seat 110, the seat 110 is contracted and restored. If this process occurs repeatedly, electricity may be generated according to the pressure change. Electricity generated by piezoelectric elements can be applied to a variety of applications.

Although the above has been described with reference to preferred embodiments of the present invention, those skilled in the art will variously modify and change the present invention within the scope not departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention described in the claims below. You will understand that it can be done.

300: detection sheet
302: first electrode
304: second electrode
306: middle layer
310: cushion
312: first elastic body
314: second elastic body

Claims (10)

A first electrode having a plurality of first conductive regions and a plurality of first non-conductive regions formed in a first direction, a second electrode having a plurality of second conductive regions and a plurality of second non-conductive regions formed in a second direction A sensing sheet comprising an electrode and an intermediate layer disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode;
A first elastic body disposed on the sensing sheet and having a first modulus of elasticity; and
A plurality of second elastic bodies arranged in the first elastic body and having a second elastic modulus higher than the first elastic modulus
including,
The plurality of second elastic bodies extend from an upper portion of the first elastic body toward the sensing sheet,
Each of the plurality of second elastic bodies is disposed corresponding to each of a plurality of sensing regions where the plurality of first conductive regions and the plurality of second conductive regions intersect,
Each of the plurality of second elastic bodies includes a first head unit, a second head unit, and an extension unit connecting the first head unit and the second head unit;
a width of the first head unit and a width of the second head unit are greater than a width of the extension unit;
The first head unit protrudes toward the top of the first elastic body,
The second head unit protrudes toward a lower portion of the second elastic body, and the pressure sensing chair. delete According to claim 1,
The plurality of first conductive regions and the plurality of second conductive regions are each composed of conductive fibers. According to claim 1,
The pressure sensing chair of claim 1 , wherein the intermediate layer includes a fiber substrate and a conductive composite dispersed in the fiber substrate. According to claim 1,
A controller connected to the sensing sheet and generating a control signal according to piezoresistance or capacitance between the first electrode and the second electrode; and
The pressure sensing chair further comprising a communication unit for transmitting the signal generated by the control unit. delete delete delete delete delete

Images