JP6278422B2 - Sweat detection sheet - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sweat amount detection sheet.

  Some electrical devices are also used at bedtime (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This is because a plurality of humidity sensors are arranged in a grid pattern between the sheet and the mattress to detect the amount of human sweating at bedtime, and the results are fed back to electrical equipment such as room air conditioners to provide a comfortable indoor temperature. It is a system to maintain.

JP 11-290456 A

  However, the conventional sweat amount detection system has a problem that when the human sleeps on the human body because the humidity sensor is hard, the humidity sensor hits the body and disturbs sleep. Moreover, since it is only the location which has arrange | positioned the humidity sensor that the amount of perspiration can be detected, there exists a problem that detection accuracy is low. Furthermore, in order to construct a sweating amount detection system, there is a problem that a process of attaching a humidity sensor to a sheet or a mattress is required.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a sweat amount detection sheet that can be easily manufactured without causing a sense of incongruity during use and capable of detecting a sweat amount in a wide range.

  Hereinafter, a plurality of modes will be described as means for solving the problems. These embodiments can be arbitrarily combined as necessary.

The sweat amount detection sheet of the present invention is
A sweating amount detection sheet comprising a laminate in which the first fabric, the water absorbing material, and the second fabric are laminated in order, and a conductive thread stitching the laminate in a lattice shape,
The water-absorbing material is a material in which at least one of an electric resistance value or a dielectric constant changes due to moisture absorption,
The conductive yarns forming the lattice are characterized by being electrically insulated from each other at the intersection of the lattice.

  Preferably, the water absorbing material is cotton.

  Also preferably, the conductive yarn is waterproof.

  The sweating amount detection sheet of the present invention is a sweating amount detection sheet comprising a laminate in which a first cloth, a water absorbing material and a second cloth are laminated in this order, and a conductive thread stitching the laminate in a lattice shape. The water absorbing material is a material in which at least one of an electric resistance value and a dielectric constant is changed by absorption of moisture, and the conductive yarns forming the lattice are electrically insulated from each other at the intersection of the lattice. It is what. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a sweating amount detection sheet that can be easily manufactured without causing a sense of incongruity during use and capable of detecting the sweating amount in a wide range.

It is a top view which shows an example of the sweating amount detection sheet of this invention. 2. (a) AA sectional drawing (b) BB sectional drawing (c) A'-A 'sectional drawing (d) It is a partially expanded view of (c) in FIG. It is a top view which shows an example of a lattice shape. It is a top view which shows an example of the detection method of this invention. It is a top view for demonstrating an example of the effect of this invention. It is a top view which shows an example of the method of measuring the change of the electrical resistance value between electrodes. It is a top view which shows an example of the method of detecting a sweating location. It is sectional drawing for demonstrating the change of the electrostatic capacitance value between the electrodes by a human body.

  Hereinafter, an example of the embodiment of the sweat amount detection sheet of the present invention will be described.

  The sweating amount detection sheet of the present invention is a sweating amount detection sheet comprising a laminate in which a first cloth, a water absorbing material and a second cloth are laminated in this order, and a conductive thread stitching the laminate in a lattice shape. The water absorbing material is a material in which at least one of an electric resistance value and a dielectric constant is changed by absorption of moisture, and the conductive yarns forming the lattice are electrically insulated from each other at the intersection of the lattice. It is characterized by being.

  The sweating amount detection sheet 1 is obtained by stitching a laminate in which a first cloth 12, a water absorbing material 11, and a second cloth 13 are laminated in this order with a conductive thread (see FIGS. 1 and 2). . The material of the 1st cloth 12 and the 2nd cloth 13 is not specifically limited, What consists of natural fiber, a synthetic fiber, etc. can be used. The material of the water absorbing material 11 is a material in which at least one of an electric resistance value and a dielectric constant changes due to absorption of moisture. Examples of such materials include cotton, viscose, acetate, hemp (linen), polyester fiber, polyamide fiber, water-absorbing polymer, and the like. Among these, cotton is preferable because it is a material whose electric resistance value and dielectric constant change due to moisture absorption. When cotton is used, for example, the amount of sweating can be detected by a change in electrical resistance value or dielectric constant. Examples of materials that change both the electrical resistance value and the dielectric constant include viscose, acetate, hemp (linen), polyester fiber, polyamide fiber, and water-absorbing polymer in addition to cotton.

  The material of the conductive thread is not particularly limited, and is made of metal such as gold, silver, copper, stainless steel, aluminum, titanium, etc., plated with thread made of natural fiber or chemical fiber, conductive A thread coated with a conductive polymer, carbon fiber, or the like can be used.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the sweat amount detection sheet 1 of the present embodiment is obtained by quilting with a sewing machine. Therefore, the laminate composed of the first cloth 12, the water absorbing material 11, and the second cloth 13 is stitched with the conductive upper thread and the conductive lower thread. In this embodiment, the upper thread (X) 21 and the lower thread (X) 22 constitute an X electrode, and the upper thread (Y) 23 and the lower thread (Y) 24 constitute a Y electrode (FIG. 1 ( a), see FIGS. 1B and 2). As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of X electrodes and Y electrodes are sewn linearly from one end of the cloth to the other, and a plurality of X electrodes and Y electrodes are formed at equal intervals. The X electrode and the Y electrode are arranged so as to equally divide the entire sheet. The sweating amount detection sheet uses an area divided into each sheet-like X electrode and Y electrode as one element, and detects a change in electric resistance value or capacitance value for each area. From the amount of change for each area, the coordinates of a place with sweating are calculated. Therefore, it is preferable that the X electrode and the Y electrode are orthogonal because the coordinates can be easily calculated.

  The upper thread (X) 21 and the lower thread (X) 22 that are X electrodes form seams so as to be entangled between the first cloth 12 and the second cloth 13 (FIG. 1 (c), (Refer FIG.1 (d)). The upper thread (Y) 23 and the lower thread (Y) 24, which are Y electrodes, similarly form stitches. The X electrode and the Y electrode are insulated from each other by an insulator i. Insulation is performed between the yarn for the portion where the upper yarn (X) 21 and the upper yarn (Y) 23 intersect and the portion where the lower yarn (X) 22 and lower yarn (Y) 24 intersect. And a method of sandwiching a cloth and a method of coating or heat-welding an insulating resin at an intersection. Alternatively, only the upper thread may be a conductive thread only for the X electrode, and only the lower thread may be a conductive thread, and sewing may be performed so as to avoid contact between the upper thread and the lower thread at the portion where the stitches intersect. .

  It is also a preferred aspect that the conductive yarn is waterproof. The yarn itself may have waterproofness, or the yarn may be covered to provide waterproofness. If it does in this way, the sweating amount detection sheet can be washed and dried and used repeatedly.

  The sweating amount detection sheet of the present invention is a laminate of cloth and cotton stitched with a conductive thread. Since sweat is detected by cotton and conductive thread, there is no sense of incongruity even when a person sleeps on the sweat amount detection sheet, and it is difficult to disturb sleep. Further, the sweat amount detection sheet can be easily manufactured because it is only necessary to quilt the laminate with a conductive thread.

  The lattice shape formed by the X electrode and the Y electrode is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the upper thread (X) 21 and the upper thread (Y) 23 are sewn along the XY coordinates obtained by rotating the XY coordinates in FIG. 2 counterclockwise by 45 ° (see FIG. 3A). ). Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, there may be an intersecting portion c where the upper thread (X) 21 and the upper thread (Y) 23 intersect with a certain width. In this case, the above-described insulation treatment is performed at the intersection portion c.

  Next, a method for detecting the amount of sweat from the human body using the sweat amount detection sheet of the present invention will be described.

  When a person sleeps on the sweating amount detection sheet 1 and sweats, the sweat penetrates into the first cloth 12 and is absorbed by cotton which is the water absorbing material 11. In addition, moisture increases around the first cloth 12 soaked with sweat, and cotton absorbs this moisture. As water is absorbed, the electrical resistance value of cotton decreases. By sequentially measuring the electrical resistance value between adjacent X electrodes, it is possible to measure at which position on the X-axis there is perspiration. Similarly, by sequentially measuring the electric resistance value between the Y electrodes, it is possible to measure at which position on the Y-axis there is sweating. In addition, the amount of sweat absorbed by the entire sheet can be calculated from the total amount of these electrical resistance value changes. Details of the measurement of the electrical resistance value are shown in FIG. The resistance measuring instrument is a device that measures a resistance value between terminals of the input 1 and the input 2. The switching device is a device having a function capable of switching and connecting each terminal of input 1 and input 2 to an arbitrary electrode. To measure the electrical resistance value between the X electrodes of the sweating amount detection sheet, the input 1 terminal is connected to the electrode X0, the input 2 terminal is connected to the electrode X1, and the resistance value between X0 and X1 is measured. Next, the input 1 of the resistance measuring instrument is connected to X1 and the input 2 is connected to X2 by the switch, and the electrical resistance value between the electrodes of X1-X2 is measured. In this manner, the electrical resistance value between adjacent electrodes is sequentially measured. Similarly, the Y electrode measures the electrical resistance value between adjacent electrodes using a switch and a resistance measuring instrument.

  Based on the change in the electrical resistance value of the X electrode and the change in the electrical resistance value of the Y electrode, a place where sweating is identified. For example, when there is sweating at the position shown in FIG. 7, the electrical resistance value decreases between X0-X1, X1-X2, Y0-Y1, and Y1-Y2. I understand.

  3A and 3B, the amount of sweat can be detected by the above method.

  Next, a method for detecting the human body and the amount of sweat using the change in the capacitance value between the XY electrodes will be described. When there is no conductor such as a human body on the sweat amount detection sheet (see FIG. 8A), the mutual capacitance between the XY electrodes is determined by the characteristics of the cloth and the water absorbing material and the electrode interval. Electric fields are formed around the X electrode and the Y electrode, respectively, and the electric field is affected by nearby conductors.

When a person sleeps on the sweating amount detection sheet, the electric body formed around the X electrode and the Y electrode is blocked by the human body, which is a conductor, and the capacitance value between the XY electrodes decreases. That is, the capacitance value between the XY electrodes in a portion where the human body is present decreases (see FIG. 8B). By measuring the decreasing electrode combination, it is possible to detect where a person is on the sheet.
Further, when a person sleeps on the sweat amount detection sheet and sweats, the sweat penetrates into the first cloth 12, and the moisture around the first cloth 12 where the sweat soaks increases. As the moisture absorbs this moisture, the dielectric constant of the cotton increases, and the capacitance value between the XY electrodes increases. A part where the capacitance value of the sweating amount detection sheet has increased is detected as a part where sweating has occurred. The amount of change in the capacitance value is detected for each region partitioned by the X electrode and the Y electrode, and these are added together to detect the total amount of sweating.

  In order to take out the detected sweating amount and the position of the human body as data, for example, the following method can be cited. The plurality of upper threads 21 constituting the X electrode and the plurality of upper threads 23 constituting the Y electrode are respectively sewn so as to slightly protrude from the perspiration amount detection sheet 1 (see FIG. 4). The ends 21 a and 23 a that protrude outside the sweating amount detection sheet 1 and the external device 3 are connected by the wiring (X) 41 and the wiring (Y) 42. The wiring (X) 41 and the wiring (Y) 42 may be lead wires integrated with the external device 3 or may be separate from the external device 3. Further, the wiring (X) 41 and the wiring (Y) 42 may be formed on a sheet. In that case, it is preferable that a grounded electrode covering each of the wiring (X) 41 and the wiring (Y) 42 is disposed on the sheet. For example, a sheet, film, thin plate, foil, or the like can be used as the electrode. In this way, even if conductors such as a human body are close to each other, the mutual capacitance between the wirings hardly changes.

  In the sweat amount detection sheet of the present invention, the water absorbing material and the conductive thread for detecting the sweat amount are present over the entire surface of the sheet and can be detected using an arbitrary electrode. Even perspiration can be detected.

  In a conventional sweating amount detection system in which a plurality of humidity sensors are attached to a sheet or mattress, for example, when nine humidity sensors are attached in a matrix shape, at least nine wires for connecting to external devices are required (FIG. 5). (See (a)). On the other hand, when the sweating amount detection sheet of the present invention detects the same nine elements as the conventional product, the sweating amount detection sheet of the present invention detects a change in electrical resistance value or capacitance value between the X electrode and the Y electrode. Therefore, there are three X electrodes composed of the upper thread (X) 21 and lower thread (X) 22, and three Y electrodes composed of the upper thread (Y) 23 and lower thread (Y) 24. Then, these threads are sewn in a lattice shape (see FIG. 5B). Therefore, when detecting the same number of elements as the conventional product, the sweat amount detection sheet of the present invention has at least six wires connected to the external device, and the number of wires can be reduced as compared with the conventional product.

  As described above, the sweating amount detection sheet of the present invention can be obtained.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1: Sweat detection sheet | seat 11: Water absorbing material 12: 1st cloth 13: 2nd cloth 21: Upper thread (X)
21a: end (X)
22: Lower thread (X)
23: Upper thread (Y)
23a: End (Y)
24: Lower thread (Y)
3: External device 41: Wiring (X)
42: Wiring (Y)

Claims (3)

A sweating amount detection sheet comprising a laminate in which the first fabric, the water absorbing material, and the second fabric are laminated in order, and a conductive thread stitching the laminate in a lattice shape,
The water-absorbing material is a material in which at least one of an electric resistance value or a dielectric constant changes due to moisture absorption,
The sweating amount detection sheet according to claim 1, wherein the conductive yarns forming a lattice are electrically insulated from each other at an intersection of the lattice.   The sweat amount detection sheet according to claim 1, wherein the water absorbing material is cotton.   The sweat amount detection sheet according to claim 1, wherein the conductive yarn is waterproof.

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