JP7034744B2 - Matt sensor - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a mat sensor that is placed on the floor and detects the presence of an object (particularly a person) by treading pressure, and more specifically, treading pressure on a wiring connection portion to which a lead wiring for detecting signal output is connected. It is about technology to protect from.

The mat sensor is a planar sensor in which a pair of upper and lower electrode films (upper electrode film and lower electrode film) are laminated with an electrically insulating spacer sandwiched between them. The presence of an object (particularly a person) is detected by an electrical change between them (change in conduction or capacitance of the electrode film) (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

In many cases, the mat sensor is placed beside the bed in hospitals, long-term care facilities, etc. to detect the patient getting out of bed, or is placed in the passage of an automatic door, and is used for the purpose of detecting the entry and exit of a person.

The mat sensor is provided with a wiring connection portion to which the lead wiring for detecting detection signal output is connected. Normally, the lead wiring has a crimp terminal at the end, and the crimp terminal is riveted to the electrode film at the wiring connection portion.

If treading pressure is applied to the wiring connection, the crimp terminal may come off. Therefore, in order to protect the wiring connection portion from treading pressure, a protective plate made of a hard material is provided on the wiring connection portion, but when the treading pressure on the wiring connection portion is repeated, the following problems occur.

FIG. 7A shows the wiring connection portion 2 of the lower electrode film 11 among the electrode films included in the mat sensor. The electrode film 11 is made of, for example, a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) film as a base material, and an aluminum foil is attached to one side thereof, and a lead wiring 61 for detecting signal output is connected to a predetermined portion (corner portion in this example). A wiring connection portion 2 is provided.

In the wiring connection portion 2, a part of the electrode film 11 is pulled out like a tongue piece as a terminal portion 111, and a crimp terminal 62 provided at the end of the lead wiring 61 is fixed to the terminal portion 111 by a rivet 71. Ru. In order to protect the wiring connection portion 2 from treading pressure, the wiring connection portion 2 is covered with a protective plate 31.

For the protective plate 31, for example, a core base material of an epoxy glass laminated substrate is used. As shown in FIG. 7B, the protective plate 31 is applied to the wiring connection portion 2 from the back surface side via a cushioning pad 21 made of soft PVC and having a double-sided adhesive tape on the back surface.

As shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 7A, the protective plate 31 is a quadrangular plate having a size that covers the electrode film 11 in the vicinity of the wiring connection portion. When the wiring connection portion 2 is stepped on, stress is concentrated on the electrode film 11 along the edge 311 of the protective plate 31.

When this is repeated, continuous cracks are generated in the electrode film 11 along the edge 311 of the protective plate 31, and in the worst case, the terminal portions 111 in the wiring connection portion 2 are separated from the electrode film 11 by the cracks, and the lead wiring 61. This leads to a disconnection accident in which the continuity of the electrode film 11 cannot be taken.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-203772 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-97034

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to prevent a disconnection accident of the wiring connection portion due to the protective plate in a mat sensor provided with a protective plate that protects the wiring connection portion to which the lead wiring for detection signal output is connected from treading pressure. There is something in it.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention comprises a sensor body in which an upper electrode film and a lower electrode film are laminated with an electrically insulating spacer interposed therebetween, and each of the electrode films is formed on a predetermined portion of the sensor body. In a mat sensor in which a wiring connection portion to which a lead wiring for detection signal output is connected is provided and protective plates are provided on both the front and back surfaces of the wiring connection portion.
The protective plate is made of a hard material having a size of covering the electrode film in the vicinity of the wiring connection portion, and is arranged at the wiring connection portion via a cushioning pad . It is characterized in that a concave groove that penetrates inside is partially formed.

In the present invention, as another aspect, at least a pair of convex portions are formed on the edge of the protective plate on the electrode film at predetermined intervals, and the concave grooves may be formed between the convex portions.

Further, the present invention also includes an aspect in which the protective plate is provided with the concave groove for drawing out the lead wiring in addition to the concave groove.

According to the present invention, even if a crack is generated along the edge of the protective plate due to the treading pressure due to the partial formation of the concave groove inward on the edge of the protective plate in contact with the electrode film, the crack is formed. The location of occurrence is a discontinuous chain line excluding the concave groove portion, and the continuity between the electrode film and the lead wiring is ensured through the concave groove portion.

The cross-sectional view which shows the wiring connection part which is the main part of the mat sensor which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The perspective view which shows the said wiring connection part. An exploded perspective view showing the wiring connection portion. Top view showing the protective plate. The cross-sectional view which shows the state which the treading pressure is applied to the wiring connection part. (A) A perspective view of a wiring connection portion for explaining the effect of the protective plate, and (b) a partial cross-sectional view for explaining a crack generation state of the lower electrode film. (A) A perspective view showing a wiring connection portion in a conventional mat sensor, and (b) a partial cross-sectional view illustrating the crack generation state.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, in the mat sensor 1 according to this embodiment, a pair of upper and lower electrode films, that is, an upper electrode film 11a and a lower electrode film 11b are laminated with an electrically insulating spacer 12 interposed therebetween. The sensor body 10 is provided. When it is not necessary to distinguish the upper electrode film 11a and the lower electrode film 11b for explanation, they are collectively referred to as the electrode film 11.

In this embodiment, the electrode film 11 is an electrode film using a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) film as a base material and having an aluminum foil adhered to one side thereof, and is laminated so that the surfaces of the aluminum foils face each other. The electrode film 11 may have another configuration, provided that it has facing electrode surfaces.

In this embodiment, the electrically insulating spacer 12 uses a urethane foam sheet having a large number of holes 121. The treading pressure is detected when the upper electrode film 11a and the lower electrode film 11b are in contact with each other at the portion of the hole 121 and become conductive. Separately from this, the electrically insulating spacer 12 may be used as an insulating sheet without holes to detect the treading pressure by the change in capacitance.

The sensor main body 10 is provided with a wiring connection portion 2 for connecting the lead wiring 61 (61a, 61b) for detecting detection signal output to the electrode film 11. In this embodiment, the sensor body 10 has a rectangular shape, and the wiring connection portion 2 is arranged at the corner portion thereof, but may be arranged at the center portion of the side, for example.

Of the electrode film 11, the corners of the aluminum foil as the electrodes are cut out in an L shape along the wiring connection portion 2, but a part of the electrode film 11 is used as the terminal portion 111 and the tongue piece is inside the wiring connection portion 2. It is pulled out like a shape. The corners of the PET film as a base material are left without being cut out.

As shown in FIG. 2, the terminal portion 111a of the upper electrode film 11a and the terminal portion 111b of the lower electrode film 11b are arranged so as not to overlap each other, and the lead wirings 61a and 61b are provided as rivet tacks on each of them. The crimp terminals 62a and 62b provided at the ends are fixed by rivets 71. Instead of rivets, for example, solder may be used for connection.

In order to protect the wiring connection portion 2 from treading pressure, the wiring connection portion 2 is covered with a protective plate 31. The protective plate 31 includes two protective plates 31a arranged on the upper side of the wiring connection portion 2 and a protective plate 31b arranged on the lower side of the wiring connection portion 2.

For the protective plate 31 (31a, 31b), a hard substrate such as a core substrate of an epoxy glass laminated substrate is used. Although not shown, a double-sided adhesive tape is attached to the back surface of the protective plates 31a and 31b (the surface facing the wiring connection portion 2 side).

As shown in FIG. 3, the upper protective plate 31a is made of soft PVC and is arranged on the upper side of the wiring connection portion 2 via a cushioning pad 21a having a double-sided adhesive tape on the back surface (the surface facing the wiring connection portion 2 side). Will be done. Similarly, the lower protective plate 31b is also arranged under the wiring connection portion 2 via a cushioning pad 21b made of soft PVC and having a double-sided adhesive tape on the back surface (the surface facing the wiring connection portion 2 side). ..

After the protective plate 31 is attached to the wiring connection portion 2 as described above, the upper protective plate 31a is covered with the protective cover 41a, and similarly, the lower protective plate 31b is also covered with the protective cover 41b. In this embodiment, the protective cover 41 (41a, 41b) uses an acetate cloth tape having an adhesive material on the back surface.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 1, the sensor main body 10 is housed in a bag-shaped exterior cover 51, and is placed on the floor surface beside the bed as a bed leaving sensor in, for example, a hospital or a nursing facility, and an automatic door. In the case of use, it is placed on the floor near the doorway of the building.

The protective plate 31 basically has a rectangular shape having a size that covers the electrode film 11 in the vicinity of the wiring connection portion 2. As described above, when the wiring connection portion 2 is stepped on, stress is concentrated on the electrode film 11 along the edge of the protective plate 31.

When this is repeated, cracks occur in the electrode film 11, and in the worst case, the electrode film is cut along the edge of the protective plate 31, and the conduction with the lead wiring 61 is interrupted as a disconnection accident.

Therefore, in the present invention, even if a crack occurs in the electrode film 11, the generated portion is partially set so as not to lead to a disconnection accident.

Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, a concave groove 312 that enters the inside of the edge 311 of the protective plate 31 is partially formed. The shape of the concave groove 312 may be U-shaped, U-shaped, V-shaped, bulb-shaped, or the like.

Further, since the electrode film 11 is cut into an L shape in the wiring connection portion 2, of the four sides of the protective plate 31, the electrode film 11 is covered by the right side 31R and the lower side 31L in FIG. It is a side.

Therefore, it is sufficient to provide the concave groove 312 on the two sides of the right side 31R and the lower side 31L, but in this embodiment, the concave groove 312 is also provided on the upper side 31U as a groove for drawing out the lead wiring 61. ..

In this embodiment, the concave grooves 312 are provided at two locations on each of the two sides of the right side 31R and the lower side 31L of the electrode film 11, but the number may be one or three or more. ..

According to this, as shown in FIG. 5, when a treading pressure is applied to the wiring connection portion 2, as shown in FIG. 6B, the electrode film 11 is formed at the edge 311 of the protective plate 31. The electrode film 11 is kept in a substantially flat state without being bent at the portion of the concave groove 312, although the stress is concentrated on the film and the film is bent in a dogleg shape.

Therefore, even if a treading pressure is repeatedly applied to the wiring connection portion 2 and a crack occurs in the electrode film 11 at the portion of the edge 311 of the protective plate 31, the terminal portion 111 does not spread to the portion of the concave groove 312. And the conduction state of the electrode film 11 is maintained.

In the above embodiment, the concave groove 312 is formed with respect to the edge 311 of the protective plate 31, but for example, two convex portions may be formed on the edge 311 of the protective plate 31 to form a concave groove between them. In short, two or more convex portions may be formed on one side of the protective plate 31 on the electrode film 11, and a concave groove may be formed between the convex portions.

As described above, according to the present invention, the concave groove 312 that enters the inside is partially formed on the edge 311 in contact with the electrode film 11 of the protective plate 31, so that the edge 311 of the protective plate 31 is formed by treading pressure. Even if a crack occurs along the crack, the location where the crack occurs is a discontinuous chain line excluding the portion of the concave groove 312, and the continuity between the electrode film 11 and the lead wiring 61 is ensured through the portion of the concave groove 312. A highly reliable mat sensor can be obtained.

1 Matt sensor 2 Wiring connection part 10 Sensor body 11 (11a, 11b) Electrode film 12 Electrical insulation spacer 21 (21a, 21b) Buffer pad 31 (31a, 31b) Protective plate 311 Edge (convex part)
312 Concave groove 41 (41a, 41b) Protective cover 51 Exterior cover

Claims (3)

A sensor main body formed by laminating an upper electrode film and a lower electrode film with an electrically insulating spacer interposed therebetween is provided, and lead wiring for detecting signal output is connected to each of the electrode films in a predetermined portion of the sensor main body. In a mat sensor in which a wiring connection portion is provided and protective plates are provided on both the front and back surfaces of the wiring connection portion.
The protective plate is made of a hard material having a size of covering the electrode film in the vicinity of the wiring connection portion, and is arranged at the wiring connection portion via a cushioning pad . A mat sensor characterized by a partially formed concave groove that penetrates inside. Claim 1 is characterized in that at least a pair of convex portions are formed at a predetermined interval on the edge of the protective plate over the electrode film , and the concave grooves are present between the convex portions. The mat sensor described in. The mat sensor according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the protective plate includes the concave groove for drawing out the lead wiring in addition to the concave groove.

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