Patent Grant
11647951
This application is the U.S. national phase of International Application No. PCT/JP2015/055941 filed 27 Feb. 2015, which designated the U.S. and claims priority to JP Patent Application No. 2014-039885 filed 28 Feb. 2014, the entire contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to an input device, a fiber sheet, an article of clothing, and a biological information detection device.
In some countries, the number of aged persons has increased, and many electrical devices that can be easily used by aged persons have been developed and sold. In order to reduce social costs accompanying the aging of citizens, it is preferable to promote better health care. In such circumstances, there is a need for an input device that can be easily used by aged persons. There is also a need for a device that can easily carry out health care. For example, relevant techniques are disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2.
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Application, Publication No. 2011-86114
[Patent Document 2]
Japanese Patent Application, Publication No. 2005-322052
Patent Document 1 discloses a technique of a conductive fabric having a folding structure that is devised to accurately detect a touched position.
Patent Document 2 discloses a technique relevant to conductive clothes and a device attached to a conductive fabric of the conductive clothes.
However, in the conductive fabric disclosed in Patent Document 1, an input operation cannot be performed unless a user actually touches the fabric. There is a need for a device that operates by detecting a measurement target in a contactless manner.
An object of an aspect of the present invention is to provide an input device, a fiber sheet, an article of clothing, and a biological information detection device that can be suitably used for contactless sensing or detection of biological information.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an article of clothing including: a cloth; at least two conductors that are set in the cloth; and an output unit configured to determine an impedance variation of a predetermined area on the basis of a voltage value between the at least two conductors to which a high-frequency current is applied.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a biological information detection device including: two first conductors that are set in an article of clothing; two second conductors that are set in the article of clothing at positions corresponding to lungs or a heart; an output unit configured to determine an impedance variation in an area in the vicinity of the two first conductors on the basis of a voltage value between the two first conductors to which a first high-frequency current is applied; and a biological information detection unit configured to determine biological information on the basis of a voltage value between the two second conductors to which a second high-frequency current is applied.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a biological information detection device including: two conductors that are set in a cloth at positions corresponding to lungs or a heart; and a biological information detection unit configured to determine biological information on the basis of a voltage value between the two conductors to which a high-frequency current is applied.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an input device including: two conductors that are sewn onto a fiber sheet; and an output unit configured to determine an impedance variation in a predetermined area on the basis of a voltage value between the two conductors to which a high-frequency current is applied.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a fiber sheet including the above-mentioned input device.
According to aspects of the present invention, it is possible to provide an input device, a fiber sheet, an article of clothing, and a biological information detection device which can be suitably used for contactless sensing or detection of biological information.
Hereinafter, an input device according to an embodiment of the present invention and a fiber sheet and an article of clothing to which the input device is added will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In
Since a dielectric constant of air is finite, a space (a predetermined area in the vicinity of the conductor, a space in the vicinity of the conductor) can be expressed by the equivalent circuit shown in
Impedance (|Z|) (of an air layer) between the conductor 10 (electrode) and a measurement target in
|Z|=√{square root over (R2+(1/(2πfC))2)} (1)
Impedance (|ZC|) of a capacitor (C) can be expressed by Equation (2).
|Zc|=1/(2πfC) (2)
In Equation (2), when a high-frequency current flows, the impedance of the capacitor is a value that becomes infinitely close to 0. When a high-frequency current is input to the conductors 10, a current can flow into air (space) and the measurement target. That is, the input device 1 can determine that a measurement target (for example, a hand) is disposed in the vicinity of the conductors 10 (for example, that an area including at least a part of the conductors 10 is covered with the measurement target) on the basis of the impedance variation even in a state in which the electrodes serving as the conductors 10 and the measurement target are substantially not in contact with each other (or a state in which the measurement target is substantially not in contact with a fiber sheet or an article of clothing) using a high-frequency current. As described above, for example, the conductors 10 constituting the input device 1 are conductive threads. By sewing the conductive threads to a part of an article of clothing (for example, a sleeve, a shoulder, a vicinity of an arm, a collar, a skirt, or a neckline of the article of clothing), the input device 1 can be configured as a unified body with the clothing. For example, when the conductors 10 of the conductive threads are covered with a hand, the input device 1 detects an approach of the hand to the conductive threads on the basis of the impedance variation and outputs a signal. Accordingly, the input device can serve as an input interface. The high-frequency current flowing into the conductors 10 formed of the conductive threads is, for example, a high-frequency current ranging from 100 kHz to 5 MHz. For example, the high-frequency current can be set to about 100 KHz, 150 KHz, 200 KHz, 250 KHz, 300 KHz, 350 KHz, 400 KHz, 450 KHz, 500 KHz, 550 KHz, 600 KHz, 650 KHz, 700 KHz, 750 KHz, 800 KHz, 850 KHz, 900 KHz, 950 KHz, 1 MHz, 1.5 MHz, 2 MHz, 2.5 MHz, 3 MHz, 3.5 MHz, 4 MHz, 4.5 MHz, or 5 MHz or can be set to be in a range acquired in combination of the above-mentioned numerical values. The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned numerical values. The high-frequency current may be set to be less than 100 KHz or may be set to be equal to or greater than 5 MHz.
The input device 1 includes a circuit section 1A (
The circuit section shown in
As described above, the conductor 10 according to this embodiment is formed of a conductive thread. The conductive threads are sewn onto a fiber sheet.
Here, the expression “a conductor is sewn onto a fiber sheet (a cloth) (a conductor is set in a fiber sheet (a cloth))” includes, for example, (a) a condition in which the conductor 10 is at least a partial element of a fabric structure of the cloth, (b) a condition in which the conductor 10 is disposed between layers in the cloth having a multi-layered structure (for example, multi-layered fabric structure), (c) a condition in which the conductor 10 is disposed between two layers of the cloth (including a folded part of the cloth) or between the cloth and another material, (d) a condition in which the conductor 10 is disposed as a sewing material in the cloth, (e) a condition in which the conductor 10 is disposed at an end of the cloth, and (f) a condition in which the conductor 10 is disposed in the cloth as a part of a pattern or a design. The conductor 10 can be disposed so as to be observable or substantially non-observable from the outside at the time of usual use. The surface of the conductor 10 may be set to, for example, a color the same as a primary color of cloth, a similar color, or a color different from the primary color of the cloth. The cloth may have at least one of a color, a figure (pattern), characters, and a drawing pattern (design). The cloth is a plate-shaped or a sheet-shaped member formed of a fiber (such as a natural fiber or a synthetic fiber) and includes various kinds. For example, the cloth includes fabric, non-woven fabric, felt, knit, or lace. The cloth has a structure in which warp yarns (warp) and weft yarns (weft) are crossed. In general, the warp yarns are disposed in the length direction of the cloth at the time of weaving and the weft yarns are disposed in the width direction. The repetition of crossing of a predetermined pattern constitutes a fabric structure. In an embodiment, at least a part of the yarns of the cloth may be formed of a conductor. Representative examples of the cloth include synthetic fabric in addition to silk fabric, wool fabric, cotton fabric, and hemp fabric. Various materials can be used as the material of the cloth, and examples thereof include cotton, silk, hemp, mohair, wool, cashmere, and synthetic fiber (such as acetate, cupra, rayon, recycled polyester, nylon, polyurethane, polyester, and Fistop). Examples of the non-woven fabric include a nylon fiber, a polyolefin fiber, a silk fiber, a rayon fiber, a vinylon fiber, a glass fiber, and an aramid fiber. The above-mentioned materials may be used alone or in combination. The cloth and the material thereof are not limited to the above-mentioned examples.
The structure of the fiber sheet has only to have at least a conductor 10 sewn thereto (a conductor 10 has only to be set in the cloth). In order to provide the fiber sheet with an input area and an area other than the input area, the structure of the fiber sheet has only to include at least an insulating layer to which the conductor 10 is sewn and a shield layer S2 stacked thereon and to have an opening formed in the shield layer S2 in a predetermined area (the input area). For example, in
It has been described that the conductor 10 has a thin wire shape, but the conductor 10 may have a belt shape. The shape of the conductor 10 is not particularly limited as long as it can determine the impedance variation in the circuit section 1A. The substantial number of layers in the multi-layered fiber sheet may be set to 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, or more. Another object may be attached to the fiber sheet.
The input signal output unit 13 detects the impedance variation shown in
In the configuration of the input device 1 shown in
The vertical axis in
The input device 1 can be assumed to be attached to clothing or a fiber sheet. For example, an input area can be set to an area in a sleeve of an article of clothing. For example, the circuit section 1A can be built in a pouch, a pocket, or a patch, or the like attached to the clothing. The conductor 10 (an extending portion electrically connecting the conductor 10 and the circuit section 1A) which is drawn out from the circuit section 1A to the input area is shielded by the shield layer S2 as shown in
For example, the circuit section 1A may include a wireless communication circuit and may transmit the signal output from the input signal output unit 13 to another external electrical device or the like. For example, the input signal output unit 13 may output a television control signal for turning on a power supply of a television or changing a channel. In this case, the wireless communication circuit of the circuit section 1A may transmit the television control signal to the television and the television may receive the television control signal and change the channel of the television or perform control of turning on or off the power supply. The input signal output unit 13 includes a memory and stores control information for each electrical device in the memory. The input signal output unit 13 may read the control information of the electrical device based on the pattern of the detected impedance variation of the conductor 10 (the number of times or the timing at which the impedance value per unit time becomes greater than the threshold value, etc.) and may transmit the control information via the wireless communication circuit. The circuit section 1A may include a wired communication circuit instead of the wireless communication circuit, which is connected to an electrical device via a communication cable.
In
The clothing shown in
The input device 1 and the biological information detection device 100 are equivalent to each other in configuration, but are different from each other in whether a processing unit that outputs an input signal on the basis of the impedance variation or a processing unit configured to determine biological information is provided as a processing unit. In this embodiment, the fabric electrode areas 3A and 3B are attached to both armpits (positions of an article of clothing corresponding to the positions of the lungs) of a shirt with the lungs to be measured interposed therebetween. In this embodiment, the fabric electrode areas 4A and 4B are attached to the vicinity of the heart (positions of the article of clothing corresponding to the position of the heart) to be measured. When the biological information detection device 100 inputs a high-frequency current to the combination of the fabric electrode areas 3A and 3B, the current passes through a living body (in the vicinity of the lungs) between the fabric electrode areas 3A and 3B and an electric field is generated in the living body. When the biological information detection device 100 inputs a high-frequency current to the combination of the fabric electrode areas 4A and 4B, the current flows radially through a living body (in the vicinity of the heart) between the fabric electrode areas 4A and 4B and a radial electric field is generated in the living body.
When the fabric electrode areas shown in
The control unit 14 performs a process of controlling the functional units (the first current source 11, the input signal output unit 13, the second current source 15, and the biological information detection unit 16) of the circuit section 1A.
The second current source 15 inputs a high-frequency current (a second high-frequency current) to the conductors 10 of the fabric electrode areas 3A, 3B, 4A, and 4B.
The biological information detection unit 16 determines a pulmonary ventilation rate (biological information) based on the impedance variation acquired from the fabric electrode areas 3A and 3B on the basis of the biological information detection start signal acquired from the input signal output unit 13 via the control unit 14. Alternatively, the biological information detection unit 16 determines heartbeat information (biological information) based on the impedance variation acquired from the fabric electrode areas 4A and 4B on the basis of the biological information detection start signal acquired from the input signal output unit 13 via the control unit 14. The biological information detection unit 16 may switch its operation between detection of the pulmonary ventilation rate and detection of the heartbeat information on the basis of the biological information detection start signal acquired from the input signal output unit 13 via the control unit 14.
The circuit section 1A shown in
This equivalent circuit is equivalent to the equivalent circuit shown in
Here, respiration is a series of operations of inhaling air from the atmosphere into the lungs and exhaling air from the lungs to the atmosphere. The fabric electrode areas 3A and 3B are attached to positions of an article of clothing corresponding to the positions of the lungs and the second current source 15 causes a high-frequency current to flow through the conductors 10 of the fabric electrode areas 3A and 3B. Accordingly, the biological information detection unit 16 can detect an impedance variation which is generated due to inhalation and exhalation to and from the lungs caused by the respiration in the same principle as described above with reference to the input device 1. More specifically, since impedance of air is high, the impedance value of the lungs decreases as the amount of air flowing into the lungs decreases (which corresponds to an amount of air exhaled). Accordingly, when the lungs expand, the amount of air increases (which corresponds to an amount of air inhaled) and thus the biological information detection unit 16 determines the increase of the impedance value. On the other hand, when the lungs contract and air flows out of the lungs, the biological information detection unit 16 determines variation in which the impedance decreases.
In this way, the amount of air ventilated in the lungs can be determined by the biological information detection device 100 including the fabric electrode areas 3A and 3B and the circuit section 1A. The fabric electrode areas 3A and 3B are formed of a fiber sheet to which conductive threads are sewn. Accordingly, since the amount of air ventilated in the lungs can be measured merely by disposing the fiber sheet in the vicinity of the lungs, it is not necessary to bring electrodes into close contact with skin in the vicinity of the lungs. Even when a user serving as a measurement target wears clothes, the amount of air ventilated in the lungs can be determined in a contactless manner by wearing the clothing shown in
According to the biological information detection device 100, since an increase or a decrease in the amount of air flowing into the lungs is directly detected on the basis of the impedance variation, it is possible to determine the amount of air ventilated with certain accuracy even in a contactless manner.
The technique of measuring a measurement target on the basis of the impedance variation in a contactless manner is hereinafter referred to as contactless impedance measurement.
In
The biological information detection unit 16 can measure an amount of air ventilated better so as to be equivalent to the value measured by the flow sensor in
The biological information detection device 100 including the fabric electrode areas 4A and 4B and the circuit section 1A shown in
An amount of blood in the heart varies depending on heartbeats. The fabric electrode areas 4A and 4B are attached to positions of an article of clothing corresponding to the position of the heart and the second current source 15 causes a high-frequency current to flow in the conductors 10 of the fabric electrode areas 4A and 4B. Accordingly, the biological information detection unit 16 can determine an impedance variation caused by an increase or a decrease in the amount of blood in the heart based on the heartbeats in the same principle as described above in the input device 1. More specifically, since the impedance of blood is low, the impedance of the heart increases as the amount of blood in the heart decreases. Accordingly, when the heart contracts, the biological information detection unit 16 determines that the impedance varies to increase. On the other hand, when the heart expands and blood flows into the heart, the biological information detection unit 16 determines that the impedance varies decreasingly.
In this way, measurement of heartbeat information of the heart can be performed by the biological information detection device 100 including the fabric electrode areas 4A and 4B and the circuit section 1A. The fabric electrode areas 4A and 4B are formed of a fiber sheet to which a conductive thread is sewn. Accordingly, since the heartbeat information of the heart can be measured by only disposing the fiber sheet in the vicinity of the heart, it is not necessary to bring electrodes into close contact with a skin. Even when a user as a measurement target wears clothes, the heartbeat information can be measured in a contactless manner by wearing the clothing shown in
According to the biological information detection device 100, since an increase or a decrease in an amount of blood in the heart is directly detected on the basis of an impedance variation, it is possible to determine heartbeat information with higher accuracy than that in the related art. The biological information detection device 100 determines the number of heartbeats per unit time, for example, on the basis of the number of peaks per unit time based on the impedance variation.
In
A process flow in the circuit section will be described below with reference to
First, a power switch of the circuit section 1A is turned on by an operation of a user wearing the clothing shown in
When the ON signal is input from the input signal output unit 13, the control unit 14 outputs a biological information detection start signal to the second current source 15 and the biological information detection unit 16. When the biological information detection start signal is acquired from the control unit 14, the second current source 15 inputs a high-frequency current to the conductors 10 of the fabric electrode areas 3A and 3B (Step S6). When the biological information detection start signal is first input from the control unit 14, the biological information detection unit 16 starts measurement of an amount of air ventilated. The voltage measuring unit 17 measures a voltage and outputs the measured voltage to the biological information detection unit 16. The biological information detection unit 16 calculates the impedance value on the basis of the voltage measurement result of the voltage measuring unit 17. Then, the biological information detection unit 16 determines a variation from the impedance value in the stable state. The biological information detection unit 16 converts the impedance variation into an amount of air ventilated on the basis of the impedance variation and a correction equation, a correction table, or the like (Step S7). The biological information detection unit 16 repeatedly calculates the amount of air ventilated at short time intervals (for example, intervals of several milliseconds). Then, the biological information detection unit 16 records the amount of air ventilated at each time in the memory with the lapse of time.
Through the above-mentioned processes, the information of the amount of air ventilated at each time with the lapse of time is accumulated in the memory. When the biological information detection device 100 includes an output unit such as a liquid crystal screen, the biological information detection unit 16 may output information of a waveform based on the amount of air ventilated to the output unit. Alternatively, the biological information detection unit 16 may transmit the information of the amount of air ventilated to an external monitor device via the wireless communication circuit.
While the above-mentioned processes are performed, the control unit 14 determines whether an ON signal is input from the input device 1 (Step S9). Here, it is assumed that a user covers the input area of the input device 1 with a hand three times. Then, the input signal output unit 13 outputs a second ON signal to the control unit 14. When the ON signal is input from the input signal output unit 13 (YES in Step S9), the control unit 14 outputs a second biological information detection start signal to the second current source 15 and the biological information detection unit 16. When the second biological information detection start signal is input from the control unit 14, the second current source 15 stops outputting a high-frequency current to the conductors 10 of the fabric electrode areas 3A and 3B and inputs a high-frequency current to the conductors 10 of the fabric electrode areas 4A and 4B (Step S10). When the second biological information detection start signal is input from the control unit 14, the biological information detection unit 16 switches measurement of the pulmonary ventilation rate to measurement of the heartbeat information. The voltage measuring unit 17 measures a voltage and outputs the measured voltage to the biological information detection unit 16. The biological information detection unit 16 calculates the impedance value on the basis of the voltage measurement result of the voltage measuring unit 17 (Step S11). The biological information detection unit 16 repeatedly calculates the impedance value at short time intervals (for example, intervals of several milliseconds). The biological information detection unit 16 records the impedance variation at each time in the memory with the lapse of time (Step S12). The biological information detection unit 16 calculates the number of heartbeats per unit time on the basis of the number of peaks per unit time based on the impedance variation (Step S13) and records the calculated number of heartbeats in the memory. Through the above-mentioned processes, the heartbeat information at each time with the lapse of time is accumulated in the memory. When the biological information detection device 100 includes an output unit such as a liquid crystal screen, the biological information detection unit 16 may output information of the number of heartbeats to the output unit. Alternatively, the biological information detection unit 16 may transmit the information of the number of heartbeats to an external monitor device via the wireless communication circuit.
The control unit 14 determines whether an ON signal is input again (Step S14) and stops the process flow when a third ON signal is input.
The measurement of a pulmonary ventilation rate is switched to the measurement of heartbeat information on the basis of the input of the ON signal in the above-mentioned processes, but after the determination result of Step S5 is YES, measurement and recording of the amount of air ventilated in Steps S6 to S8 and measurement and recording of the number of heartbeats in Steps S11 to S13 may be simultaneously performed (the measurements are simultaneously performed by sequentially switching the two measurements at a high speed). Accordingly, it is possible to measure a pulmonary ventilation rate and the number of heartbeats in sleep.
The clothing shown in
While the measurement target has been described to be a living body such as a hand, lungs, or an organ, the measurement target is not particularly limited as long as an impedance variation can be detected by inputting a predetermined high-frequency current.
The above-mentioned input device 1 or biological information detection device 100 has a computer system therein. The above-mentioned process steps are stored in a computer-readable recording medium in the form of a program and the process steps are performed by causing a computer to read and execute the program.
The program may be configured to realize a part of the above-mentioned functions. The program may be a program, that is, a so-called differential file (differential program), capable of realizing the above-mentioned functions in combination with a program recorded in advance in a computer system.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| JP2014-039885 | Feb 2014 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2015/055941 | 2/27/2015 | WO |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2015/129887 | 9/3/2015 | WO | A |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20020032383 | Weil et al. | Mar 2002 | A1 |
| 20040111041 | Ni | Jun 2004 | A1 |
| 20050054941 | Ting | Mar 2005 | A1 |
| 20060111640 | Shen | May 2006 | A1 |
| 20080183095 | Austin | Jul 2008 | A1 |
| 20080218180 | Waffenschmidt | Sep 2008 | A1 |
| 20090088652 | Tremblay | Apr 2009 | A1 |
| 20090281394 | Russell et al. | Nov 2009 | A1 |
| 20100298899 | Donnelly | Nov 2010 | A1 |
| 20120101357 | Hoskuldsson et al. | Apr 2012 | A1 |
| 20120215076 | Yang et al. | Aug 2012 | A1 |
| 20130066168 | Yang et al. | Mar 2013 | A1 |
| 20130197387 | Lipoma | Aug 2013 | A1 |
| 20140318699 | Longinotti-Buitoni | Oct 2014 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 11-168268 | Jun 1999 | JP |
| 2000-14655 | Jan 2000 | JP |
| 2005-253610 | Sep 2005 | JP |
| 2005-322052 | Nov 2005 | JP |
| 2007-201641 | Aug 2007 | JP |
| 2009-244020 | Oct 2009 | JP |
| 2011-86114 | Apr 2011 | JP |
| 2012-90880 | May 2012 | JP |
| 2013-63186 | Apr 2013 | JP |
| 2013-81577 | May 2013 | JP |
| 2014-502181 | Jan 2014 | JP |
| 2014-233619 | Dec 2014 | JP |
| 2005032368 | Apr 2005 | WO |
| WO 2010038176 | Apr 2010 | WO |
| WO-2010038176 | Apr 2010 | WO |
| Entry |
|---|
| Extended European Search Report issued in Appln. No. 15755819.8 dated Oct. 16, 2017. |
| International Search Report issued in PCT/JP2015/055941 dated May 26, 2015. |
| Office Action issued in JP Appln. No. 2016-505338 dated Feb. 26, 2019 (w/ translation). |
| Search Report issued in EP Appln. No. 20153537.4 dated Aug. 24, 2020. |
| Fredd Alferink, “Measuring capacitance:: Electronic Measurements”, Informationstechnik, Jan. 20, 2014, pp. 1-6, XP055653416, Retrieved from the Internet: URL: https://meettechniek.info/passive/capacitance.html [retrieved on Dec. 17, 2019]. |
| Office Action issued in JP App. No. 2020-075681 (dated Mar. 9, 2021) (w/ translation). |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20170164896 A1 | Jun 2017 | US |
