Conductive polymer coated fabrics for chemical sensing
First Claim
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1. A process for the detection of one or more component chemicals of a chemical vapor, said process comprising the steps of:
- (i) electrically connecting one or more fabric chemical sensors to a power source, said one or more fabric chemical sensors comprising one or more sensor elements, said sensor elements woven into a fabric of insulating fibers, said fibers being coated with one or more conductive polymers, each of said fabric chemical sensors having a baseline resistance;
(ii) exposing at time=t0 over said one or more fabric chemical sensors a chemical vapor, said chemical vapor comprising one or more component chemicals;
(iii) detecting and quantifying a change in said baseline resistance of said one or more fabric chemical sensors at a later time=t1 in response to exposure of said one or more fabric chemical sensors to said chemical vapor; and
(iv) resolving and classifying from said change in said baseline resistance the identity of at least one of said one or more component chemicals of said chemical vapor.
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Abstract
A fabric chemical sensor, a process and an apparatus is disclosed. The sensor, process and apparatus are for the detection, classification, identification and/or quantitation of one or more component chemicals of a chemical vapor via a resistance measurment made across sensor in response to exposure of the sensor to the chemical vapor.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A process for the detection of one or more component chemicals of a chemical vapor, said process comprising the steps of:
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(i) electrically connecting one or more fabric chemical sensors to a power source, said one or more fabric chemical sensors comprising one or more sensor elements, said sensor elements woven into a fabric of insulating fibers, said fibers being coated with one or more conductive polymers, each of said fabric chemical sensors having a baseline resistance; (ii) exposing at time=t0 over said one or more fabric chemical sensors a chemical vapor, said chemical vapor comprising one or more component chemicals; (iii) detecting and quantifying a change in said baseline resistance of said one or more fabric chemical sensors at a later time=t1 in response to exposure of said one or more fabric chemical sensors to said chemical vapor; and (iv) resolving and classifying from said change in said baseline resistance the identity of at least one of said one or more component chemicals of said chemical vapor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An apparatus for the detection of one or more component chemicals of a chemical vapor, said apparatus comprising:
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(i) one or more fabric chemical sensors comprising one or more sensor elements, said one or more sensor elements being woven into a fabric of insulating fibers, said fibers being coated with one or more conductive polymers; (ii) a power supply being electrically connected to said one or more fabric chemical sensors, said one or more fabric chemical sensors having a measurable baseline resistance; (iii) a means for exposing a chemical vapor over said one or more fabric chemical sensors sufficient to measure a reproducible change in said baseline resistance, said chemical vapor further comprising one or more component chemicals; (iv) a means for detecting and quantifying said change in said baseline resistance in response to said exposure of said one or more fabric chemical sensors to said chemical vapor; and (v) a means for resolving from said change in said baseline resistance a classification of the identity of at least one of said one or more component chemicals of said chemical vapor. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification