TEXTILE SYSTEM WITH A PLURALITY OF ELECTRONIC FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS

Abstract

A textile system is provided with a flat textile part and with a plurality of electronic functional elements. The functional elements are arranged on the textile part. A process for data transmission in a textile system is also presented and described. The textile part has a first conductor and a second conductor. The conductors are flat and extend on the textile part. The electronic functional elements are connected to the first conductor and to the second conductor.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a cross section of a part of a first exemplary embodiment of a textile system according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of a part of a second exemplary embodiment of a textile system according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a top view of a third exemplary embodiment designed as a piece of clothing;

FIG. 4 is a cross section of a part of the third exemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 5 is a time chart of the course of data transmission in a textile system according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawings in particular, the first exemplary embodiment of a textile system 1 according to the present invention, whose cross section is shown in FIG. 1, comprises a textile part 2, which has a first conductor 3 and a second conductor 4. A textile part 2 according to the present invention is defined as a flat textile material, which may have, among other things, the form of a piece of clothing, for example, a T-shirt, a pullover or the like. However, it is also possible that the textile part 2 is simply only a flat piece of textile that does not have any specially selected shape.

The conductors 3, 4 are of a flat design in this exemplary embodiment, which is a preferred exemplary embodiment in this respect, and extend in parallel to one another along the textile part 2 between two cover layers 5. The conductors 3, 4 are each designed here as a layer, between which an insulating layer 6 extends, in turn. The conductors 3, 4 may extend, on the one hand, as a closed layer over the entire surface of the textile part 2. However, it is also conceivable, on the other hand, that the conductors 3, 4 are designed as strips extending in parallel one on top of another with a flat cross section, which extend, for example, in a meandering pattern along the textile part 2. Such a strip-shaped design is associated with the advantage that the conductors 3, 4 can better absorb tensile stresses, which are exerted on the textile part 2. In case of a strip-shaped embodiment of the conductors 3, 4, the latter may be surrounded by a film-like jacket, not shown, in order to better protect the conductors 3, 4 against external effects such as moisture. The material of the conductors 3, 4 may be designed, among other things, as a fabric of conductive fibers.

The insulating layer 6 is designed in this embodiment as a semipermeable membrane, which is impermeable to water but permeable to water vapor and air. This prevents, on the one hand, the conductors 3, 4 from being short-circuited by moisture. On the other hand, air can reach the patient's body, so that the textile part 2 can be worn comfortably.

In addition, the textile part 2 has first and second terminal elements 7, 7′, which together form a terminal. The first terminal element 7 is connected to the first conductor 3 and the second terminal element 7′ to the second conductor 4. The first terminal element 7 is provided, furthermore, with an elastic locking element 8, while the second terminal element 7′ has a catch element 9. The locking element 8 is electrically connected here to the first conductor 3, while the catch element 9 is electrically connected to the second conductor 4 and is insulated against the first conductor 3. While FIG. 1 shows only a first and second terminal element 7, 7′ and consequently only one terminal, a plurality of first and second terminal elements 7, 7′ may be arranged adjacent to one another distributed over the surface of the textile part 2 and thus form a plurality of terminals.

Furthermore, the textile system 1 according to the first exemplary embodiment comprises a functional element 10, which has a flexible board 11, on which a plurality of electronic components 12 are, in turn, arranged. In addition, the functional element 10 has a digital interface in order for the functional elements 10, which are connected to the conductors 3, 4, to be able to communicate. The board 11 is surrounded by a jacket 13, by which the components 11 are shielded from the environment.

Functional elements 10 according to the present invention may be defined, for example, as measuring devices with which patient data such as pulse and temperature are detected. On the other hand, this term also covers transmitting and receiving means, with which patient data are transmitted to a base station. The functional elements 10 may have a rechargeable battery as a power supply unit. In case of the design with only two conductors 3, 4, the functional elements 10 may be supplied with power via the conductors 3, 4. However, the functional elements 10 may also have a rechargeable battery (not shown), one functional element being designed as a power supply unit, by which a supply voltage, by means of which the batteries can be charged, is applied to the conductors 3, 4. If the functional element designed as a charger is connected to the conductors and the supply voltage is applied, the other functional elements can be switched over from a normal mode of operation to a charge mode.

In addition, the functional element 10 is provided with contact elements 14, 14′, the contact element 14 having a catch element 15. The contact element 14′ is provided, by contrast, with a locking element 16′. The contact elements 14, 14′ together form a contact, which is designed for detachable connection to the terminals on the textile part 2.

When the functional element 10 is to be connected to the textile part 2 and to the conductors 3, 4 provided therein, the terminal and contact elements 7, 14 and the terminal and contact elements 7′, 14′ are caused to mesh with one another, the catch element 15 meshing with the locking element 8 and the catch element 9 with the locking element 16′, so that a “pushbutton-like” connection is obtained. The functional element 10 will thus snap in on the textile part 2 and is thus firmly connected to the latter, but it can be removed in a simple manner. In addition, the functional element 10 is electrically connected via the terminals 7, 7′ and 14, 14′ to the first and second conductors 3, 4, so that the functional element 10 can also be integrated into the data transmission.

It is possible due to the two flat conductors 3, 4, which extend between the cover layers 5 at least in one part of the textile part 2, to provide a textile system 1 with any desired number of different functional elements 10 and to arrange these at the terminal elements 7, 7′ as desired, because the individual functional elements 10 can communicate with one another because of the two conductors 3, 4 by means of a bus system and a corresponding data transmission process. One of the two conductors 3, 4 may now be used for data transmission and the other as a reference potential.

FIG. 2 shows a second example of a textile system 1′, in which the textile layers of the textile part are not shown for the sake of clarity. Contrary to the first exemplary embodiment, the conductors are not designed as continuous layers in this exemplary embodiment, but the first conductor comprises a plurality of first fibers 20 and the second conductor a plurality of second fibers 21. The first fibers 20 are electrically insulated against the second fibers 21, and the first fibers 20 extend in parallel to one another in a first direction through the textile part, while the second fibers 21 extend in parallel to one another in a second direction. The first direction extends at right angles to the second direction. On the whole, the conductors formed by the fibers 20, 21 consequently likewise extend flatly over the textile part.

The textile system 1′ has functional elements 10, 10′, the functional element 10′ being designed as a master functional element, which controls the communication between the functional elements 10 and the master functional element 10′. The functional elements 10 are connected to one of the first fibers 20 and one of the second fibers 21 each, so that a plurality of functional elements 10 can be arranged flexibly in this exemplary embodiment as well. The network- or grid-like structure of the conductors in this exemplary embodiment is associated with the advantage that the surfaces of the conductors, which surfaces are located opposite each other, are reduced compared to the first exemplary embodiment, so that the capacitive load is reduced for the data transmission. In addition, such a structure is more breathable and more lightweight.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary embodiment of a textile system 1″, in which the textile part 2″ is designed in the form of a piece of clothing, namely, a pullover. A plurality of functional elements 10, 10′, which are connected to first and second flat conductors, not shown, which extend in the textile part 2″, are, in turn, arranged on the textile part 2″. The conductors may have, for example, the same design as in the first or second exemplary embodiment, i.e., as layers extending in parallel or in a grid-like manner. As in the textile system 1′ as well, master functional elements 10′, which control the data transmission among the functional elements 10, are also provided besides functional elements 10′.

Both the first conductor and the second conductor are completely severed along two separation lines 22 in this exemplary embodiment, so that the first conductor and the second conductor have three separate areas. One of the areas extends over the trunk, while the other two extend over the arms of a patient. Subnetworks 23, which can exchange data by means of the bridging elements 24 provided at the separation lines 22, can be formed due to the separation of the conductors. The subnetworks are preferably electrically insulated against one another, and the bridging elements 24 are designed as optoelectronic couplers, so that a decoupling is established between the subnetworks and consequently the corresponding areas of the conductors.

Finally, a textile system according to the present invention may be provided with transmission elements, not shown, which are connected to the first and second conductors 3, 4 and may be designed as a coil or antenna. As a result, data can be transmitted from a first textile system 1 to a second one, which is in contact with the first textile system 1. This may be necessary when a patient wears, for example, a plurality of pieces of clothing provided with functional elements one on top of another and these are to exchange data with one another.

FIG. 4 shows two exemplary embodiments for bridging elements 24. The first example (a) is embodied as an active bridging element, while the second example (b) is a passive bridging element. The active bridging element assumes the function of a master functional element for the subnetwork, and the mode of operation will be explained below in connection with the description of the process of data transmission.

In both examples, the bridging element 24 connects areas of the first and second conductors 3, 4, which are separated from one another by the separation line 22, the separation line 22 being formed in this exemplary embodiment, which is a preferred example in this respect, by a flexible, deformable material. The bridging element 24 extends over the separation line 22 and has at its ends two terminals 25 and 26, via which the bridging element 24 is connected to the first and second conductors 3, 4. The terminals 25, 26 may have a design similar to that of the terminals 7, 7′ and 14, 14′ in FIG. 1 in order to provide a detachable connection of the bridging element 24 to the conductors and to the textile part.

Contrary to the second example (b), the first example (a) of the bridging element 24 has additional electronic components 27, which are necessary for the functions, in order for the bridging element to be able to operate as a master functional element in the subnetwork.

The process for data transmission in a textile system according to the present invention for controlling the course of data transmission over time between the functional elements 10 and the master functional element 10′ will be described in detail below.

The communication between the functional elements 10 in the textile system 1 according to the present invention may take place, on the one hand, on the basis of a master-slave architecture, in which case a master functional element must be provided, which assumes the control, or the communication takes place, on the other hand, in such a way that all functional elements 10 are considered to enjoy equal rights (peer-to-peer network). If the textile system 1 is connected as a master-slave system, this has, however, the advantage that different data rates and speeds can be operated on a single data bus.

In this exemplary embodiment, which is preferred in this respect, each of the so-called slave-master functional elements 10 has an unambiguous identification, which comprises two components. A first component is a type identification (family ID; 8 bits), which describes the type (e.g., temperature or pulse sensor), while the other component is an individual identification (likewise 8 bits long).

The slave functional elements 10 contained in the textile system 1, 1′, 1″ are first detected, and the master functional element 10′ first sends for initialization an initialization command to the slave functional elements 10 via the conductors 3, 4, the initialization command comprising an initialization sequence and a delay factor (delay multiplicator; DM).

The training sequence is used to enable the slave functional elements 10 to determine the bit length, i.e., the time period that is required for transmitting a bit.

The waiting time after which the response signal is sent arises for the particular slave functional element 10 from its identification, and the numerical value of the identification, multiplied by the delay factor, shows the number of cycles after which the sending of the response signal of the particular functional element 10 takes place. The response signal comprises the training sequence, the identification, i.e., the family ID and the individual identification, the data width (number of bits for a measured value) as well as the cycle rate at which the measured values are transmitted.

By setting the waiting time based on the unambiguous identification, it is ensured that the response signals are sent at time intervals from one another to the master functional element 10′, so that the functional elements 10, which are arranged on the textile part, can be selected as desired. If there is an overlap of response signals in time, the delay factor can be changed by the master functional element 10, and the initialization command is sent again.

After the response signals have been received, the initialization operation and consequently the detection of the functional elements 10 is concluded, and the master functional element 10′ knows the properties of the other slave functional elements 10. In the knowledge of these properties, the master functional element 10′ can then put a communications network into operation, and time slots are assigned to the slave functional elements 10 for the communication process for transmitting the measured data. In addition, polling time slots and the alarm time slots are set by the master functional element.

Alarm time slots are necessary because some functional elements 10 detect patient data that are extraordinarily important and a deviation from a set point of these measured values or the appearance of a critical value must be processed by the system as fast as possible. It is necessary for this that the data of these functional elements 10 be able to be transmitted at higher priority. The time slot process being used has alarm time slots for this purpose, which are set aside only for transmitting data with higher priority.

The polling time slots are used, on the one hand, to enable the master functional element 10′ to address the individual slave functional elements 10 separately in order to optionally check data. On the other hand, the polling time slots are used to request additional data from other functional elements 10 after an alarm reported by a slave functional element 10. In addition, the polling time slots may also be used to synchronize the slave functional elements 10 and the master functional element 10′, because an initialization command can be sent during the polling time slots.

FIG. 5 shows the time structure for the communication in a textile system that comprises a master functional element 10′ and three slave functional elements 10. The time slots S1, S2 and S3 are assigned to the three slave functional elements 10 in order to transmit their measured data to the master functional element 10′. It shall be pointed out in this connection that the frequency of the time slots S1 for the first slave functional element 10 is twice as high as that for the other slave time slots S2 and S3, because the corresponding functional element shall transmit its data more frequently to the master functional element 10′.

Since the time slots S1, S2, S3 are set for each functional element 10, the functional elements 10 can be switched to an energy-saving mode (sleep mode) between the time slots S1, S2, S3 for sending the data, so that the overall energy consumption can be reduced in the textile system 1, 1′, 1″. In addition, due to the time slots S1, S2, S3 being assigned, time slots with shorter time intervals, whose measured data show more rapid variations, can be assigned to such functional elements 10. For example, time slots that have a shorter time interval between them can be assigned to a pulse sensor, whereas time slots that have a greater time interval can be assigned to a temperature sensor. The energy consumption can thus be reduced further, because the functional elements “wake up” from the energy-saving mode only when this is also necessary based on the measured variable detected.

Furthermore, polling time slots R, during which the master functional element 10′ can directly address individual slave functional elements 10, as was described above, are provided between the slave time slots S1, S2 and S3.

In addition, alarm time slots A are made available, during which the slave functional element 10 can transmit an alarm signal without having to wait for a corresponding time slot in case this functional element detects a critical value.

Such a complicated time structure is necessary to make it possible for the textile system 1 to make do with only two conductors 3, 4 for the data transmission, because, unlike in other bus designs with address and control lines, no separate back plans or power supply is present in the preferred exemplary embodiments, which makes the system especially comfortable for the patient.

The need to make available separate connections between the functional elements is eliminated due to the two conductors. As a result, a more flexible textile system is obtained, on the whole, which can be individually adapted to the needs of the particular patient in a simple manner especially when it is being used for patient data detection.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.

Claims

1. A textile system comprising: a flat textile part having a first flat, extending conductor and a second flat, extending conductor; anda plurality of electronic functional elements arranged on said textile part, said electronic functional elements being connected to said first conductor and to said second conductor.

2. A textile system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said first conductor and said second conductor comprise layers in said textile part, which are electrically insulated against one another and extend in parallel.

3. A textile system in accordance with claim 2, further comprising an insulating layer arranged between said first conductor and said second conductor.

4. A textile system in accordance with claim 3, wherein said insulating layer is impermeable to water.

5. A textile system in accordance with claim 4, wherein said insulating layer is permeable to water vapor and air.

6. A textile system in accordance with claim 2, wherein said first conductor and said second conductor have a strip-shaped design.

7. A textile system in accordance with claim 6, wherein said first conductor and said second conductor are surrounded by a jacket.

8. A textile system in accordance with claim 1, wherein: said first conductor has a plurality of first conductor fibers and said second conductor has a plurality of second conductor fibers;said first conductor fibers extend through said textile part in parallel to one another in a first direction; andsaid second conductor fibers extend through said textile part in parallel to one another in a second direction.

9. A textile system in accordance with claim 8, wherein the first direction extends at right angles to the second direction.

10. A textile system in accordance with claim 1, wherein: a plurality of terminals are provided in said textile part;said electronic functional elements have contacts; andsaid terminals and said contacts are designed for being detachably connected to one another.

11. A textile system in accordance with claim 10, wherein said terminals or contacts have an elastic locking element, which meshes with a contact or a terminal when being connected to a contact or a terminal in order to lock said electronic functional element on said textile part.

12. A textile system in accordance with claim 10, wherein said terminals have a first terminal element and a second terminal element; andsaid first terminal element is connected to said first conductor and said second terminal element is connected to said second conductor.

13. A textile system in accordance with claim 1, wherein one of said functional elements has a rechargeable battery; andone of said functional element is designed as a power supply unit, by which a supply voltage is applied to said first conductor and to said second conductor.

14. A textile system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said first conductor and said second conductor are completely severed along a separation line, whereby said first conductor and said second conductor have two separate areas.

15. A textile system in accordance with claim 14, further comprising: a bridging element connecting a first area and a second area of said first conductor and a first area and a second area of said second conductor.

16. A textile system in accordance with claim 15, wherein said bridging element comprises an optoelectronic coupler.

17. A textile system in accordance with claims 14, wherein the areas of said conductors are electrically insulated against each other.

18. A textile system in accordance with claim 1, wherein transmission elements are provided at said first and second conductors.

19. A textile system in accordance with claim 18, wherein said transmission elements are designed as a coil or an antenna.

20. A process for data transmission in a textile system, the process comprising: providing a textile part with a plurality of electronic functional elements, with a master functional element and with a first conductor and with a second conductor;providing the conductors extending on or in the textile part;connecting the functional elements and the master functional element to the first conductor and to the second conductor;detecting the functional elements present in the textile system by the master functional element;assigning time slots to the functional elements by the master functional element for sending measured data; andsending data, in the time slots assigned to the functional elements, as measured data by the functional elements via the first and said second conductors to the master functional element.

21. A process in accordance with claim 20, wherein the functional elements are switched to an energy-saving mode between the time slots assigned to them.

22. A process in accordance with claim 20, wherein the functional elements have an unambiguous identification and the detection of the functional elements comprises the steps of: sending an initialization command by the master functional element via the first and second conductors to the functional elements; andsending a response signal via the first and second conductors by each of the functional elements after a waiting time, the response signal containing the identification and the waiting time being set by the identification.

23. A process in accordance with claim 22, wherein: the identification is formed by a numerical value; andthe waiting time is proportional to the numerical value.

24. A process in accordance with claim 23, wherein the initialization command comprises a delay factor and the waiting time corresponds to the product of the numerical value times the delay factor.

25. A process in accordance with claim 22, wherein the identification comprises a type identification and an individual identification.

26. A process in accordance with claim 20, wherein alarm slots are set by the master functional element, so that the functional elements transmit alarm signals outside the time slots assigned to them.

27. A process in accordance with claim 20, wherein: said time slots are set by the master functional element as polling time slots; andsaid master functional element sends polling signals via the conductors to the functional elements during the polling time slots.