Capacitance-based sensing device for detecting presence of body part
First Claim
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1. A device for detecting a presence of a body part, the device comprising:
- a capacitor incorporated into an item;
a capacitance measuring circuit adapted to facilitate measuring an actual capacitance of the capacitor; and
a controller adapted to compare the actual capacitance with a reference capacitance, wherein the presence of the body part is determined as a difference between the actual capacitance and the reference capacitance.
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Abstract
A capacitance-based sensing device (10) for detecting or determining a presence or proximity of a body or body part (12) in or near a garment, device, apparatus, or other item, such as, for example, an orthopedic device or exercise apparatus. Two or more conductive surfaces (16,18), interacting as a capacitor (17) having an actual capacitance, are embedded into the item, and the presence of the body part (12) is detected as a difference between the actual capacitance of the capacitor(17)formed by the conductive surfaces (16,18)and a reference capacitance.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A device for detecting a presence of a body part, the device comprising:
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a capacitor incorporated into an item;
a capacitance measuring circuit adapted to facilitate measuring an actual capacitance of the capacitor; and
a controller adapted to compare the actual capacitance with a reference capacitance, wherein the presence of the body part is determined as a difference between the actual capacitance and the reference capacitance. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A sensing device for detecting a presence of a body part, the sensing device comprising:
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a first conductor and a second conductor interacting as a capacitor, with the first conductor and the second conductor each being comprised of a flexible electrically conducting sheet material;
a shield adapted to partially shield the first and second conductors to prevent detection of the body part outside of a detection area, wherein the shield is also comprised of the flexible electrically conducting sheet material;
a capacitance measuring circuit adapted to facilitate measuring an actual capacitance of the capacitor formed by the first conductor and the second conductor; and
a controller adapted to compare the actual capacitance with a reference capacitance, wherein the presence of the body part is determined as a difference between the actual capacitance and the reference capacitance. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A sensing device for detecting a presence of a body part, with the sensing device being incorporated into an item, the sensing device comprising:
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a first conductor and a second conductor interacting as a capacitor, with the first conductor and the second conductor each being comprised of a flexible electrically conducting sheet material;
a shield adapted to partially shield the first and second conductors to prevent detection of the body part outside of a detection area, wherein the shield is also comprised of the flexible electrically conducting sheet material;
a substrate comprised of a flexible electrically non-conducting material and having a first side and a second side, with the first conductor and the second conductor being secured to the first side and the shield being secured to the second side;
a capacitance measuring circuit adapted to facilitate measuring an actual capacitance of the capacitor formed by the first conductor and the second conductor; and
a controller adapted to compare the actual capacitance with a reference capacitance, wherein the presence of the body part is determined as a difference between the actual capacitance and the reference capacitance, with the controller using a high pass filter to substantially eliminate a slow increase in the actual capacitance that is not attributable to the presence of the body part. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification