This application claims the benefit of Finnish Patent Application No 20146057 filed on Dec. 3, 2014, which is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth.
The invention relates to a device for determining effects of aging of a wearable device or an object integrated into the wearable device, such as a garment. Especially the invention relates to determining effects of aging related to a wearable sensor, object or device. In addition the invention relates to a method of manufacturing the devices.
In general, devices and especially wearable devices wear or age during use. In some cases there is a need for determining a level of aging of the device, such as especially wearable devices, like apparels, garments or clothing, and in particularly sport or activity apparels. In addition it is commonly known that the wearable devices may nowadays comprise plurality of electronic sensors, including e.g. sensors and data processing units, as well as electrical wires or other data communication lines integrated into the wearable devices, especially into the apparels, garments or clothing, for transmitting e.g. measured electrical signals between the sensors, sensors or data processing units or the like.
There are however some disadvantages relating to the known prior art, such as e.g. when the wearable device ages, the aging affects to electrical or other properties of the sensors, sensors and especially to the electrical wires or other data communication lines changes. For example resistance of the electric wire connecting the data processing units and the measuring sensor may change due to aging or e.g. mechanical stress, whereupon it causes error or deviations to the signal, e.g. measured resistance, detected by the data processing units.
In view of the above, it is thus an object of the invention is to alleviate and eliminate the problems relating to the known prior art. An object of the invention is to provide a device for determining effects of aging of an object of a wearable device, such as aging of a signal transmitting lines or wires or the like, aging of the wearable device itself or aging of a portion of the wearable device. The aging should be understood as a time based aging or aging due to mechanical or stress based aging or deterioration, detrition, erosion or abrasion or all of these. An additional object of the invention is to compensate the measured signals by taking into account the effects of the aging.
According to an embodiment of the invention a wearable device comprises an object integrated into the wearable device as well as an arrangement for determining effects of aging of an object of a wearable device. The object may be e.g. the wearable device, like garment itself, or any electrical wiring or conductor, such as printed conductor in or on the wearable device, as an example. The arrangement comprises first and second transmitting loops coupled with the wearable device and connected to a data processing unit. The second transmitting loop may also be coupled with an end device, such as a sensor outputting a measuring signal. In addition the loops have a property with a readable value, where the readable value depends on an aging of the object of a wearable device, whereupon the data processing unit measures the value of the property of the first and second transmitting loop and thereby determines effects or amount of the aging, as is described in more details elsewhere in this document.
According to an embodiment the first and second transmitting loops are physically the same one transmitting loop, whereupon the measurements of the value of the property are made sequentially, so the first measurement is done at the first moment and the second measurement is done at the second moment being later than said first moment (the loops are thus construed to be physically one loop and functionally in time as two loops). In this embodiment the effects of the aging are determined by comparing the sequentially measured results with each other and thereby determining the aging via the changed measured values.
Alternatively or in addition to a baseline or factory value of said property of said loop can be used for determination of aging. In this case it is advantageous to know the baseline or factory value (property) of the loop at a first time, whereupon the read current value can be compared to the baseline or factory value. When the trend or dependency or behavior of the property of the loop is known in function of time, the effects or amount of aging can be determined based on the comparison of the current value to the baseline or factory value. For example it is known that baseline or factory value for resistance of a certain loop is Ω1 at first, but during time i.e. due to aging the resistance of said loop for example increases linearly (or other manner), whereupon the degree of the aging can be estimated and determined based on current reading and comparing to known behavior or trend of that component property. In practice the data processing unit may be configured to determine the effects or amount of aging by comparing the currently read value of said property at a second time to said baseline or factory value.
As an example, resistance of a printed conductor will increase in time, whereupon the aging can be determined via determining changes in resistance in time. Thus according to an example at least portion of the first and/or second transmitting loops is advantageously printed conductive conductor.
Also other electrical properties of the loop can be detected, such as conductance, capacitance or inductance. In addition the property may also be another property, such as an optical property, like intensity, polarization or wavelength. When the behavior or changes of the property in time or under mechanical pressure or under loading is known, the effect or amount of aging can be determined. Therefore the loops may be e.g. electrically or optically implemented loops, whereupon they are coupled with the data processing unit advantageously either galvanically and/or optically, and the property is electrical or optical property.
According to another embodiment the first and second transmitting loops are physically separate transmitting loops, whereupon the measurements of the value of the property can be made simultaneously and the aging is determined via comparing the results of the first and second values with each other.
In addition, according to an embodiment, the first and second transmitting loops are separate transmitting loops and the property with a readable value depending on aging of the object of a wearable device is a mutual property of at least two physically separate loops, such as capacitance or resistance between two adjacent loops. This is for example the case where the loops are arranged into the wearable device next to each other, whereupon the mutual property, such as capacitance or conductance (resistance) between the first and second loops have a certain value at the beginning (so at the first moment of time t1). Then, when the wearable device is getting older (ages), it typically absorbs sweat and salts, whereupon the value of the mutual property will change. In this case the aging can be determined based on the changing value of the mutual property so for example when the value of capacitance or conductance (resistance) has changed over a certain limit or threshold value, the effect or amount of aging can be deduced.
According to an embodiment, separate first and second transmitting loops may also comprise different material selected advantageously so that the first material has a property, which depends on aging essentially differently than said second material. For example erosion of the first material may be much higher during time and usage of the wearable device that its resistance or other property changes much more that the one of said second material. Examples of materials are e.g. carbon ink, silver ink or copper. Based on this different rate of changing the aging can be deduced. For example resistance of a printed ink conductor will change more rapidly than e.g. resistance of a copper wire integrated into the wearable device. Very analogously the first transmitting loop may comprise first physical structure, which differs essentially from a physical structure of the second transmitting loop. The structures are advantageously selected so that the first physical structure depends on aging essentially differently than the second physical structure. The first structure may be for example a thick printed conductor and the second structure a thin printed conductor, whereupon their resistances will change essentially differently during usage or time. For example the resistance or other property of the first structure changes much more that the one of said second material during usage or time. In addition the location of the separate transmitting loops can be selected in said wearable device so that the first transmitting loop will be exposed to higher erosion than the second transmitting loop during usage, whereupon the aging can again be detected by comparing the different rates of changing of the properties, such as different rates of changing of resistances of the loops.
The determined effect or amount of the aging can be used to provide notification of either aging level of the object or notification, such as an indication via a LED light or sound device that the object or the wearable device is over aged based on said determined effect or amount of aging. According to an embodiment, the data processing unit may send information related to the determined effect or amount of the aging further e.g. to an outer device, such as a smart phone or the like, which then can provide notification or even further process said data and provide an indication about the aging level of the object or that the object or the wearable device is over aged. Alternative, or in addition, the determined effect or amount of the aging (or even the measured difference in the values of the property) can be used to manipulate, such as compensate or correct, the measured signals read via the second transmitting loop. The signal manipulation may be based on the value of the property of the first transmitting loop.
According to an embodiment, the second transmitting loop may be a loop or conductor, such as a printed conductor, used for powering an end device, like a LED light source, heating element, antenna, intelligent component or the like, whereupon the determined effect or amount of the aging of the first transmitting loop can be used to manipulate the fed power to the second transmitting loop and again to the end device, such as adjusting the electric current or voltage and thereby compensating possible changes in conductivity of the second transmitting loop.
The wearable device may be a garment or a structure portion of the garment, such as a strap or belt, heart rate sensor strap, shirt, belt, sleeve, back or front portion of a shirt, leg, pocket, brand label, elastic portion of the garment, hat, bra, underwear, jacket, trousers, swimming suit, band, shoe, sock and/or glove, for example. The sensor may be a sensor for detecting biosignals, heart rate, respiration rate, posture of the user, temperature, humidity, conductivity, and/or acceleration, for example.
The present invention offers advantages over the known prior art, such as the possibility to determine the degree of the aging of the object, such as aging of the printed loops integrated into the garment or even the garment as such. In addition according to the invention the effects or amount of the aging can be taken into account in order to correct e.g. measuring signals, because the aging causes changes into the property of the measuring lines, such as to the printed conductors, which is especially important when measuring very weak signals or where the sensor as such determines e.g. changes in resistance, whereupon the resistance changes in the measuring loop due to aging are highly important.
The object of the invention can be achieved by the features of the claims. The invention relates to a wearable device according to claim 1. In addition the invention relates to a manufacturing method of a wearable device according to claim 17.
It is further noted that the invention relates to all possible combinations of features unless explicitly stated otherwise.
The above, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention, will be better understood through the following illustrative and non-limiting detailed description of preferred embodiments of the present invention, with reference to the appended drawings, where the same reference numerals will be used for similar elements, wherein:
The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. The systems and devices disclosed herein will be described during operation.
In
In
According to an example, the first 103A and second 103C transmitting loops are selected so that their properties (readable values or measurable properties) depend on aging in different ways. For example, the electrical property of the first loop 103A material (e.g. carbon ink) changes more rapidly during aging than the electrical property of the second loop material (e.g. silver ink), whereupon the trend or amount of difference between these two values implies the aging of the object of the wearable device. Also or alternatively, the physical structure of the first and second loops 103A, 103C may differ which each other and selected so that e.g. electrical property of the structure (e.g. thin, zigzag printed loop) of the first loop 103A changes more rapidly during aging than the electrical property of the second loop structure (e.g. thick and wide straight printed loop), whereupon the trend or amount of difference between these two values implies the aging of the object of the wearable device.
In addition it is to be noted that the arrangement may also comprise a reference component, such as a resistance 201 corresponding to the original resistance (or other property) of the sensor 101, whereupon the compensation for the measured signal of 101 can be compensated by using the value of the component 201, to which said aging does not influence as it does to the component or sensor 101.
The data processing unit may be any known data processing unit, which is configured to measure the value of said property of the first and second transmitting loops 103A, 103B and thereby determine effects or amount of aging, as depicted elsewhere in this document. In addition according to an embodiment the data processing unit is advantageously configured to provide indication for example via an indication device 105 of either aging level of the object, where it is integrated, or notification (such as LED light or sound or the like 105) that the object or the wearable device is over aged based on said determined effect or amount of aging. Alternatively, or in addition to, the data processing unit 104 may be configured to communicate 301 the determined effect or amount of the aging further e.g. to an outer device 302, such as a smart phone or the like, which then can provide notification or even further process said data and provide an indication about the aging level of the object or that the object or the wearable device is over aged.
Again it is to be noted that the arrangement 200, 300 may comprise plurality of first transmitting loops 103A and/or second transmitting loops 103B. In addition the arrangement 200, 300 may comprise also an end device 303, such as a LED light source, whereupon at least one second transmitting loop 103B (left in
Furthermore according to an embodiment the data processing unit 104 is advantageously configured to manipulate, such as compensate or correct, the measured signals read via the second transmitting loop 103B based on the value of the property of the first transmitting loop, when this is possible so when the signal reading from the sensor is read (e.g. arrangements in
In
The invention has been explained above with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, and several advantages of the invention have been demonstrated. It is to be noted that even if the term loop is used, the measurements can also be done by one conductor. In addition it is clear that the invention is not only restricted to these embodiments, but comprises all possible embodiments within the spirit and scope of the inventive thought and the following patent claims. The features recited in dependent claims are mutually freely combinable unless otherwise explicitly stated.
In addition it is to be noted that the wearable device may comprise plurality of first transmitting loops and/or second transmitting loops with the same functional analogy as described in this document. Furthermore it is to be noted that at least one second transmitting loop may be used for powering the end device. Still on addition the arrangement may also control data transmission via the second transmitting loop, whereupon the manipulation may also comprise adapting line impedance of the data transmission loop or line based on the (changed) value of the property of the first transmitting loop. As an example the line impedance of the data transmission loop or line is typically 50Ω or 75Ω (Ohm). However, during the use of the wearable device the line impedance may change. Thus, according to the invention the data processing unit 104 may also perform active impedance matching to the transmission line (so the second transmitting loop used as said transmission line) so to keep the impedance of the line as desired. The impedance matching is advantageously done based on the (changed) value of the property of the first transmitting loop. Again it is to be noted that the first and second transmitting loops may be physically separate loops or the same transmitting loop.
While the disclosure has been described in connection with what are considered the exemplary embodiments, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
20146057 | Dec 2014 | FI | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
3479565 | Ross et al. | Nov 1969 | A |
3631298 | Davis | Dec 1971 | A |
3954100 | Sem-Jacobsen | May 1976 | A |
4729377 | Granek et al. | Mar 1988 | A |
4763660 | Kroll et al. | Aug 1988 | A |
5450845 | Axelgaard | Sep 1995 | A |
5624736 | DeAngelis et al. | Apr 1997 | A |
6047203 | Sackner | Apr 2000 | A |
6080690 | Lebby et al. | Jun 2000 | A |
6145551 | Jayaraman et al. | Nov 2000 | A |
6210771 | Post et al. | Apr 2001 | B1 |
6368990 | Jennergren et al. | Apr 2002 | B1 |
6381482 | Jayaraman et al. | Apr 2002 | B1 |
6400975 | McFee | Jun 2002 | B1 |
6501055 | Rock et al. | Dec 2002 | B2 |
6729025 | Farrell et al. | May 2004 | B2 |
6775566 | Nissila | Aug 2004 | B2 |
6941775 | Sharma | Sep 2005 | B2 |
7206630 | Tarler | Apr 2007 | B1 |
7559902 | Ting et al. | Jul 2009 | B2 |
7637747 | Jaatinen et al. | Dec 2009 | B2 |
7712373 | Nagle et al. | May 2010 | B2 |
8003887 | Hsieh et al. | Aug 2011 | B1 |
8224418 | Birnbaum et al. | Jul 2012 | B2 |
8704758 | Figley et al. | Apr 2014 | B1 |
8750959 | Lindberg et al. | Jun 2014 | B2 |
8945328 | Longinotti-Buitoni | Feb 2015 | B2 |
8948839 | Longinotti-Buitoni | Feb 2015 | B1 |
9282893 | Longinotti-Buitoni | Mar 2016 | B2 |
9498128 | Jayalath | Nov 2016 | B2 |
9817440 | Longinotti-Buitoni | Nov 2017 | B2 |
9848826 | Volpe | Dec 2017 | B2 |
10037672 | Abraham | Jul 2018 | B1 |
10045439 | Longinotti-Buitoni | Aug 2018 | B2 |
10258092 | Longinotti-Buitoni | Apr 2019 | B2 |
10462898 | Longinotti-Buitoni | Oct 2019 | B2 |
20020026112 | Nissila et al. | Feb 2002 | A1 |
20020076948 | Farrell | Jun 2002 | A1 |
20020082491 | Nissila | Jun 2002 | A1 |
20020124295 | Fenwick et al. | Sep 2002 | A1 |
20020154518 | Elferich | Oct 2002 | A1 |
20030223263 | Jacob | Dec 2003 | A1 |
20030224685 | Sharma | Dec 2003 | A1 |
20050054941 | Ting et al. | Mar 2005 | A1 |
20050275416 | Hervieux et al. | Dec 2005 | A1 |
20060124193 | Orr et al. | Jun 2006 | A1 |
20060152377 | Beebe et al. | Jul 2006 | A1 |
20060224072 | Shennib | Oct 2006 | A1 |
20060267790 | Matthiessen et al. | Nov 2006 | A1 |
20070073131 | Ryu et al. | Mar 2007 | A1 |
20070083096 | Paradiso | Apr 2007 | A1 |
20070100666 | Stivoric | May 2007 | A1 |
20070177298 | Jaatinen et al. | Aug 2007 | A1 |
20070285868 | Lindberg et al. | Dec 2007 | A1 |
20070298666 | Kurth | Dec 2007 | A1 |
20080039687 | Shimizu | Feb 2008 | A1 |
20080064964 | Nagata | Mar 2008 | A1 |
20080208029 | Thijs et al. | Aug 2008 | A1 |
20080287770 | Kurzweil et al. | Nov 2008 | A1 |
20090012408 | Nagata | Jan 2009 | A1 |
20090018428 | Dias et al. | Jan 2009 | A1 |
20090112079 | Hassonjee et al. | Apr 2009 | A1 |
20090173529 | Lee et al. | Jul 2009 | A1 |
20090281394 | Russell et al. | Nov 2009 | A1 |
20090287426 | Kukowski | Nov 2009 | A1 |
20100198043 | Holzer | Aug 2010 | A1 |
20100298899 | Donnelly et al. | Nov 2010 | A1 |
20110160601 | Wang et al. | Jun 2011 | A1 |
20110213208 | McKenna et al. | Sep 2011 | A1 |
20110282164 | Yang et al. | Nov 2011 | A1 |
20130085538 | Volpe et al. | Apr 2013 | A1 |
20130160183 | Reho et al. | Jun 2013 | A1 |
20130274587 | Coza et al. | Oct 2013 | A1 |
20130281795 | Varadan | Oct 2013 | A1 |
20130321168 | Mahony et al. | Dec 2013 | A1 |
20140015410 | Shibata et al. | Jan 2014 | A1 |
20140070957 | Longinotti-Buitoni | Mar 2014 | A1 |
20140090146 | Yeomans et al. | Apr 2014 | A1 |
20140275883 | Haisley et al. | Sep 2014 | A1 |
20140318699 | Longinotti-Buitoni | Oct 2014 | A1 |
20140343392 | Yang | Nov 2014 | A1 |
20150025354 | Salonius et al. | Jan 2015 | A1 |
20160038083 | Ding | Feb 2016 | A1 |
20160249698 | Berzowska | Sep 2016 | A1 |
20170082418 | Gong | Mar 2017 | A1 |
20180010902 | Gong | Jan 2018 | A1 |
20180317814 | Nurkka | Nov 2018 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
662717 | Oct 1987 | CH |
200966186 | Oct 2007 | CN |
201114998 | Sep 2008 | CN |
10338029 | Apr 2005 | DE |
102004058731 | Jun 2006 | DE |
0509689 | Oct 1992 | EP |
0855167 | Jul 1998 | EP |
0947967 | Oct 1999 | EP |
1095612 | May 2001 | EP |
1504739 | Feb 2005 | EP |
1632926 | Mar 2006 | EP |
1676528 | Jul 2006 | EP |
1894523 | Mar 2008 | EP |
2057943 | May 2009 | EP |
2082967 | Jul 2009 | EP |
2975915 | Jan 2016 | EP |
119456 | Nov 2008 | FI |
119716 | Feb 2009 | FI |
2257523 | Jan 1993 | GB |
2503716 | Jan 2014 | GB |
9964657 | Dec 1999 | WO |
0019957 | Apr 2000 | WO |
0044411 | Aug 2000 | WO |
0101855 | Jan 2001 | WO |
0102052 | Jan 2001 | WO |
0148291 | Jul 2001 | WO |
0149912 | Jul 2001 | WO |
0178577 | Oct 2001 | WO |
0230279 | Apr 2002 | WO |
02032665 | Apr 2002 | WO |
0240091 | May 2002 | WO |
02071935 | Sep 2002 | WO |
02098659 | Dec 2002 | WO |
03010561 | Feb 2003 | WO |
2006029105 | Mar 2006 | WO |
2006068811 | Jun 2006 | WO |
2006094152 | Sep 2006 | WO |
2006128957 | Dec 2006 | WO |
2006129272 | Dec 2006 | WO |
2007050650 | May 2007 | WO |
2007107906 | Sep 2007 | WO |
2008071843 | Jun 2008 | WO |
2009107906 | Sep 2009 | WO |
2012176193 | Dec 2012 | WO |
2013033238 | Mar 2013 | WO |
2015136521 | Sep 2015 | WO |
Entry |
---|
Merriam-Webster.com definition of loop. |
Wikipedia Entry for Impedance Matching, snapshot taken by Wayback Machine on Oct. 19, 2014 (Year: 2014). |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20160161376 A1 | Jun 2016 | US |