FOOTWEAR ARTICLE WITH PRESSURE SENSOR
First Claim
1. An article of footwear, comprising a sole structure for supporting a wearer'"'"'s foot and an upper for holding the wearer'"'"'s foot onto the sole structure, wherein said article of footwear comprises a pressure sensor arranged in said sole structure for measuring a pressure exerted by the wearer'"'"'s foot on the sole structure, said pressure sensor comprising one or more elongated pressure-sensing cells, each of said pressure sensing cells having an axis of main extension and comprisinga first flexible carrier film and a second flexible carrier film, said first and second carrier films being attached to one another by a spacer film having an elongated opening oriented along said axis of main extension,a first electrode arranged on said first carrier film and a second electrode arranged on said second carrier film, at least one of said first and second electrodes made of resistive material, said first and second electrodes being arranged in facing relationship with each other in said opening in such a way that said first and second electrodes may be brought into contact with each other when pressure is exerted on said pressure-sensing cell and that a contact area between said first and second electrode increases with increasing pressure,wherein an electrically insulating layer is arranged within the opening of said spacer, said electrically insulating layer having a shape so as to locally prevent a direct contact between said first and second electrodes where said electrically insulating layer is present and to enable said direct contact where said electrically insulating layer is absent, said shape being constant or repetitionary along said axis of main extension.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An article of footwear including a pressure sensor arranged in the sole structure, where the sensor includes elongated pressure-sensing cells, each of which has an axis of main extension, each cell having a first and a second carrier film, which are attached to one another by a spacer film having an elongated opening oriented along the axis of main extension, as well as a first and a second electrode on the first and the second carrier film, respectively, where the electrodes are arranged in facing relationship with each other, so that a contact area between them increases with increasing pressure, and an electrically insulating layer is arranged within the opening having a shape such that it locally prevents direct contact between the electrodes where the insulating layer is present and enables the direct contact where it is absent, where the shape is constant or repetitionary along the axis of main extension of the cell.
63 Citations
16 Claims
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1. An article of footwear, comprising a sole structure for supporting a wearer'"'"'s foot and an upper for holding the wearer'"'"'s foot onto the sole structure, wherein said article of footwear comprises a pressure sensor arranged in said sole structure for measuring a pressure exerted by the wearer'"'"'s foot on the sole structure, said pressure sensor comprising one or more elongated pressure-sensing cells, each of said pressure sensing cells having an axis of main extension and comprising
a first flexible carrier film and a second flexible carrier film, said first and second carrier films being attached to one another by a spacer film having an elongated opening oriented along said axis of main extension, a first electrode arranged on said first carrier film and a second electrode arranged on said second carrier film, at least one of said first and second electrodes made of resistive material, said first and second electrodes being arranged in facing relationship with each other in said opening in such a way that said first and second electrodes may be brought into contact with each other when pressure is exerted on said pressure-sensing cell and that a contact area between said first and second electrode increases with increasing pressure, wherein an electrically insulating layer is arranged within the opening of said spacer, said electrically insulating layer having a shape so as to locally prevent a direct contact between said first and second electrodes where said electrically insulating layer is present and to enable said direct contact where said electrically insulating layer is absent, said shape being constant or repetitionary along said axis of main extension.
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15. A pressure sensor for an article of footwear, comprising a flexible multilayer film structure that includes a forefoot portion, a heel portion and a connection strip that connects the forefoot portion to the heel portion, the connection strip being integrally formed with the multilayer film structure, wherein the pressure sensor further comprises a trough-shaped receptacle for an electronic control module, which receptacle the connection strip is arranged across and bonded to.
Specification