JPH06323929A - Wearing-pressure measuring apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a wearing-pressure measuring apparatus wherein the wearing pressure of even a complicated three-dimensional curved surface can be measured with good accuracy and the distribution of a pressure on a measuring face can be measured precisely. CONSTITUTION:This measuring apparatus is provided with a pressure sensor 10 which is constituted of a pressure-sensitive sheet 9 composed of a pressure- sensitive and conductive elastomer displaying a change in a resistance value having a significant difference within a load range of 0.1 to 200g/cm<2> and of expansive and contractive electrodes 8 constituted so as to hold linear conductive parts 2 on expansive and contractive base materials 3 and which is fitted to a three-dimensional curved surface. In addition, a plurality of the linear conductive parts 2 for the expansive and contractive electrodes 8 are arranged so as to be mutually orthogonal, and the distribution of a pressure can be measured.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wearing pressure measuring device for measuring the wearing pressure of all clothing including underwear such as underwear, foundations and pantyhose, and outerwear such as sportswear and men's clothing. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, the wearing pressure of clothing is an important factor in designing and evaluating products. Therefore, various methods of measuring the wearing pressure have been devised conventionally. A typical example thereof employs a strain gauge as a pressure sensor, and the load is measured via a head having a shape corresponding to a portion to be measured. It is also known that the pressure change due to the wearing pressure is transmitted to the sensor by using air, water, silicone oil or the like as a medium to measure the change in the capacitance in the sensor.

For measuring the pressure applied to a chair or bedding, the measuring surface is flat and the reading accuracy is 100 g / cm ^2.
Under the above restrictions, a pressure-sensitive conductive elastomer is also known.

[0004]

However, when a strain gauge is used as a sensor, the pressure of a certain portion (point) is measured, and therefore, in order to capture the pressure distribution of a certain area, several sensors need not be embedded in the head. Don't However, even if the current sensor is small, it has a diameter of 6
Since it is about mm, it is necessary to process the head to embed them, and there is a limit to embedding it in high density, and it is difficult to make the embedded surface into a curved surface like an actual worn state. Also, the more sensitive the strain gauge is, the more easily it breaks, and the sensor may be crushed when putting clothes on for measurement, or it may be damaged by the action of excessive load. Is required, and workability is extremely poor. Furthermore, even if you try to capture the pressure change over time, the stress due to the load causes a drift in sensitivity, which requires correction of the measured value and the drift changes due to slight changes in the environment or the load. ,
Reproducibility was difficult to obtain, highly reliable measurement was not possible, and it was not practical.

Further, in the case where a pressure change is captured by a medium such as air, the pressure applied to the pressure receiving portion is averaged because the internal medium moves to the one with less pressure in a portion where the pressure is not uniformly applied. For example, there is a problem that there is no reliability in the measurement of the wearing pressure of a portion which the wearer is most likely to be aware of, such as a wire portion of a brassiere, an end portion of a waist rubber, and a sewing portion of a product.

The one using a pressure-sensitive conductive elastomer has low sensitivity and can be applied only to the measurement of a load of several hundred g / cm ² or more, and is indispensable for applying a voltage to the pressure-sensitive conductive elastomer. In order to satisfy the absolute condition that the conductive part does not break in a flexible electrode, a glass / epoxy substrate or a non-stretchable polyimide film is used for plating, and it can be applied to a quadric surface such as a flat surface or a cylindrical surface. However, there is a problem that it cannot be applied to the measurement of wearing pressure on a complicated curved surface such as a human body surface.

As described above, any of the conventional methods can be applied only to the point measurement, the uniform pressure receiving part measurement, or the flat surface measurement, and is intended for the human body constituted by the complicated three-dimensional curved surface. There is a problem that it cannot be applied to measurement of wearing pressure and its pressure distribution. In view of the above conventional problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a wearing pressure measuring device that can accurately measure the wearing pressure even with a complicated three-dimensional curved surface and can also precisely measure the pressure distribution on the measurement surface. And

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a pressure-sensitive electroconductive material which exhibits a significant change in resistance value in a load range of 0.1 to 200 g / cm ² . It is characterized by comprising a pressure sensor composed of a pressure-sensitive sheet made of an elastomer and a stretchable electrode constituted by a stretchable base material holding a linear conductive portion.

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that a plurality of linear conductive portions parallel to each other are arranged in the stretchable electrode so as to be orthogonal to each other so as not to contact each other. Note that the stretchable base material in the present specification is not limited to a sheet-like body made of a stretchable material, a band-like body made of a stretchable material, a linear body, a fiber or the like knitted or woven, and a non-stretchable material. However, a band-shaped body, a linear body, a fiber or the like made of a flexible material is knitted and woven, and the surface is expanded and contracted by a slight displacement thereof to fit a three-dimensional curved surface.

[0010]

According to the invention described in claim 1, for example, the conventional pressure-sensitive conductive elastomer in which the fine spherical carbon particles are dispersed in the non-conductive elastomer is added with an improvement such as dispersing the hollow elastic microspheres. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-204, which aims to widen the range of change in resistance value with respect to pressure deformation and improve responsiveness
By using a pressure-sensitive conductive elastomer as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 71108,
We realized a pressure-sensitive sheet that can detect a load range of m ² , and arranged a stretchable electrode composed of a stretchable base material holding a linear conductive portion on at least one side of this pressure-sensitive sheet to change its resistance value. By detecting the pressure sensor, it is possible to obtain a pressure sensor having a fitting property with respect to a three-dimensional curved surface, and it is possible to reliably measure the wearing pressure of a human body composed of a complicated three-dimensional curved surface. it can.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the linear change is sequentially detected for each of the linear conductive parts of the two groups of linear conductive parts arranged orthogonally so as not to contact each other. The pressure at each intersection of the conductive parts can be detected, and the pressure distribution on the measurement surface can be precisely measured.

[0012]

【Example】

(Example 1) Using a milling machine having a shuttle diameter of 17 inch and a number of 996 needles, as shown in FIG. 1, in a milling fabric knitted with polyester filament 1 of 50d, stainless steel having a wire diameter of 0.5 mm A fabric 3 in which the fibers 2 are used as linear conductive portions and inlaid every other course is knitted. Next, as shown in FIG. 2, this cloth 3 is cut into 5 cm × 5 cm, and one end of the stainless fiber 2 is connected to a lead wire 5 whose tip is connected to a connector 6 by soldering 4, After that, the cut peripheral part is adhered and fixed by the silicone rubber 7 while maintaining the stretchability to prevent fraying of the end of the cloth 3 and short circuit of the stainless fiber 2, and a stretchable electrode for pressure measurement having three-dimensional fitting property. 8 is used, and two elastic electrodes 8 are used, one of which is 90
The pressure sensitive sheet 9 made of a high-sensitivity conductive elastomer disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-71108 is sandwiched between these two stretchable electrodes 8 by rotating the pressure sensitive sheet 9 by rotating the pressure sensitive sheet 9. The pressure sensor 10 is configured with the above.

The high-sensitivity conductive elastomer has a particle diameter of 1 to 20 μm in a non-conductive elastomer composed of liquid silicone rubber and a silicone varnish and a raw silicone rubber or a silicone adhesive containing these as the main components. Particle size of fine spherical carbon particles and vinylidene chloride-acrylonitrile copolymer is 10
A pressure-sensitive sheet 9 is obtained by dispersing hollow elastic fine spherical particles of 150 μm, prepared to have a resistance value characteristic as shown in FIG. 3 with a thickness of 0.5 mm, and molded into a sheet. ing. This pressure sensitive sheet 9 is
It goes without saying that any structure can be applied as long as it exhibits a resistance value change with a significant difference in the load range of 200 g / cm ² and has elasticity so as not to impair the three-dimensional fitting property. .

As shown in FIG. 4, the pressure sensor 10 thus constructed was attached to the thighs and ankles of the foot type torso 11 to prepare a wearing pressure measuring device for measuring the wearing pressure at these specific points. That is, the lead wires 5 of the pair of elastic electrodes 8, 8 of each pressure sensor 10 are connected to the X-direction multiplexer 12a and the Y-direction multiplexer 12b of the electronic control unit 15, respectively, and the leads of the pair of elastic electrodes 8, 8 are connected. The resistance value change between the lines 5 and 5 is sequentially detected separately, and the detected value is digitized by the A / D conversion circuit 13 and the data is transmitted to the personal computer unit 20 via the digital logic 14. Configured. The personal computer unit 20 is configured to perform data processing and data analysis on the data input from the I / O port 16 by the CPU 17, and output the result to the color display 18 or the color printer 19.

Using this wearing pressure measuring device, the wearing pressures at the ankles and thighs of the support-type pantyhose designed so that the wearing pressure changes from the ankle to the thigh were measured. That is, the X-direction multiplexer 12a and Y are provided between the stainless fibers 2 and 2 as the linear conductive portions in the stretchable electrodes 8 and 8 on both sides of the pressure sensor 10.
By sequentially applying the voltage by the direction multiplexer 12b, the change in the electric resistance according to the wearing pressure acting on the pressure sensitive sheet 9 between them is detected as the change in the voltage, and the personal computer unit 20 changes the pressure value. It is converted and output as a measured value. In order to confirm the reliability of the measurement result, the measurement was also performed using a conventional strain gauge type wearing pressure measuring device and an air bag type capacitance type wearing pressure measuring device. When these measurement results were compared, the results shown in Table 1 were obtained.

[0016]

[Table 1]

(Embodiment 2) A single circular knitting machine having a shuttle diameter of 6 inch and a number of needles of 168 is used, and as shown in FIG.
The polyester filament 21 of 0d is used for the insulating part,
Knitting a piece of plain cloth by 3-neck repeat using one stainless fiber 22 with a wire diameter of 0.08 mm for the conductive part,
Spread the width of 34 cm and have a vertical scale of 60 stitches / inch and a horizontal scale of 8 stitches.
A dough 23 of eyes / inch was obtained. In this cloth 23,
The linear conductive portion 24 is composed of the meandering stainless fiber 22. Further, this dough 23 was cut into 10 cm × 5 cm and 5 cm × 10 cm, and as shown in FIG.
Similarly, solder one end of each stainless fiber 22 to a lead wire to connect it, and then bond and fix the cut peripheral portion with silicone rubber while maintaining stretchability, and Two types of elastic electrodes for pressure measurement having a three-dimensional fitting property with an electrode pitch of 1.3 mm were constructed in order to prevent short-circuiting of stainless steel fibers. Next, using these stretchable electrodes, one of them is 90 °
The pressure sensor 25 was constructed by rotating and sandwiching a pressure-sensitive sheet made of a high-sensitivity type conductive elastomer between these two stretchable electrodes. This pressure sensor 25
As shown in FIG. 6, by attaching to the abdomen of a female lower body torso 26 and connecting the pressure sensor 25 to the electronic control unit 15 and the personal computer unit 20 similar to those in the first embodiment, a conventional wearing pressure measuring device is obtained. We created a wearing pressure measuring device that can measure the pressure around the edge of the waist rubber and the seam allowance of the sewing part, which could not be measured with.

When the tightening force of the waist and abdomen of the girdle was measured using this wearing pressure measuring device, as shown in FIG. 7, the waist rubber portion 27 and the waist rubber were sewn vertically at the center of the abdomen. The result that the difference between the pressure of the portion 28 and the pressure of the body material portion 29 can be clearly recognized was obtained. In the above-mentioned embodiment, the stretchable electrode 8 is formed by knitting conductive fibers such as stainless fibers 2 and 22 with non-conductive fibers such as polyester filaments. However, these fibers are knitted. You may comprise.
Further, not only the conductive fiber, but also a linear conductor made of a conductive elastomer may be used, and the linear conductors are arranged in parallel in one direction so that they do not come into contact with each other. It can also be configured by adhesion fixing with a non-conductive elastomer having a.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, slit yarns 33 formed by forming a gold plating layer 32 on the surface of a synthetic resin film 31 such as polyethylene terephthalate are orthogonal to each other so that the gold plating layers 32 do not short-circuit with each other. The stretchable electrode 34 can be configured by weaving as described above. When such a stretchable electrode 34 is used, even if the stretchable electrode 34 is arranged only on one surface of the pressure-sensitive sheet, the stretchable electrode 34 can be arranged in the X direction and the Y direction. It is possible to detect changes in the resistance value of the pressure-sensitive sheet between the slit yarns 33 arranged in parallel at the intersections thereof.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the outer periphery is the insulating layer 3.
The copper wires 35 covered with 6 are woven so as to be orthogonal to each other, and the insulating layer 36 on the protruding portion on one surface of the copper wires 35 is removed to expose the copper wires 35 in a matrix to form the stretchable electrode 37. Can have a similar function.
Furthermore, for application to parts with a relatively small curvature, by making slits in the electrodes formed by plating polyimide film etc. to have flexibility in the lateral direction, or by making it into an elongated strip shape. Can also have a function as a stretchable electrode.

[0021]

As described above, according to the invention described in claim 1, a pressure sensor having a three-dimensional fitting property is obtained by combining the pressure-sensitive sheet made of the pressure-sensitive conductive elastomer and the stretchable electrode. It is possible to measure the wearing pressure of an arbitrary site without being restricted by the shape of the measurement site. According to the invention of claim 2, the pressure distribution of the wearing pressure can be measured with high accuracy. Moreover, the structure is simple and there is little risk of damage due to handling. Therefore, a site with a large curvature such as an ankle that could not be measured with a conventional wearing pressure measuring device, a wire part of a brassiere,
Furthermore, even in small parts such as sewn parts and rubber ends, and in bent parts such as the base of the foot, it is possible to directly measure the wearing pressure instead of the substitute characteristics, which is extremely useful in product design and evaluation. Effective data can be obtained with good workability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a structural diagram of a material knitted for a stretchable electrode according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a pressure sensor of the same example.

FIG. 3 is a resistance value characteristic diagram of the pressure-sensitive sheet of the example.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a wearing pressure measuring apparatus of the same embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a structural diagram of a fabric knitted for a stretchable electrode according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a wearing pressure measuring apparatus of the same embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a pressure distribution diagram of the abdomen of the girdle measured in the same example.

8A and 8B show another structural example of the stretchable electrode, FIG. 8A is a perspective view, and FIG. 8B is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing still another configuration example of the stretchable electrode.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Stainless Fiber (Linear Conductive Part) 3 Fabric (Stretchable Base Material) 8 Stretchable Electrode 9 Pressure Sensing Sheet 10 Pressure Sensor 22 Stainless Fiber 23 Fabric (Stretchable Base Material) 24 Linear Conductive Part 25 Pressure Sensor 34 Stretchability Electrode 37 Stretchable electrode

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Teruo Okamoto 3-7-3 Edobori, Nishi-ku, Osaka City Inaba Rubber Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A pressure-sensitive sheet made of a pressure-sensitive conductive elastomer that shows a significant change in resistance value in a load range of 0.1 to 200 g / cm ² , and a stretchable base material holding a linear conductive portion. A wearing pressure measuring device comprising a pressure sensor including a stretchable electrode configured as described above. 2. The wearing pressure measuring device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of linear conductive portions parallel to each other are arranged on the stretchable electrode so as to be orthogonal to each other so as not to contact each other.