Fabrics and Garments with Information Infrastructure

Abstract

Fabrics, articles of apparel, and / or garment structures include infrastructure for transmitting information, such as signals produced by a wearer or from another source. Such fabrics may include: a textile formed through a knitting or weaving process, wherein at least one yarn used in the knitting or weaving process is electrically conductive to form sensor regions and / or other integrated electrically conductive infrastructure for transmitting electrical signals. Additional information is provided relating to methods for forming fabrics, articles of apparel, and / or garment structures of the types described above, as well as methods of using such products, e.g., for monitoring and / or displaying information regarding one or more physical and / or physiological parameters.

Description

[0001] This application claims priority benefits based on U.S. Provisional Patent Appln. No. 60 / 729,764 filed Oct. 24, 2005. This prior application is entirely incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates to fabric and garment systems that include an integrated infrastructure for monitoring the vital signs of an individual and / or for other monitoring purposes. Aspects of the invention concern, in at least some examples, a fabric or garment structure that includes an integrated information infrastructure, e.g., as part of the yarn included in the weave or stitch of the fabric structure, for collecting, processing, transmitting, and / or receiving information. BACKGROUND [0003] Significant efforts have been expended to develop garment systems incorporating electrodes for monitoring the condition of the wearer, such as EKG or conductive fibers for electromagnetic screening. As examples, U.S. Pat. No. 4,668,545 to Lowe and U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,504 t...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Such systems may have inherent difficulty in achieving a desired level of comfort and ergonomics.

Furthermore, shirts with physiological monitoring capability generally are built via a cut and sew operation and may lack a sensor or electrode for picking-up electrical signals from the skin.

One limitation relating to current technologies relates to sticky electrode-based systems.

Such systems include sticky sensors that may be uncomfortable and may hurt when removed due to the glue utilized to attach the sensor to the skin.

The sticky sensors also may have many mechanical junctions that are not desirable for data transmission continuity.

A garment system that provides junctions to attach leads from an electrode to the garment network also may have limitations on applicability and data integrity.

The issue of connection of the sensor system to the network is still prevalent.

The sensor used in such a system may have to be sticky to hold on to the skin, which requires glue and may hurt when removed due to the glue.

However, tubular weaving is not traditionally used to produce a full-fashioned woven garment, such as shirt, because this procedure was unable to accommodate discontinuities in the garment, such as armholes, without requiring cutting and sewing.

A problem with existing physiological monitoring devices is that even when available they are not used.

There are three major causes for the non-use of existing cardiorespiratory monitors.

These hook-and-look type belts are difficult to apply.

If not applied properly, the belt and / or electrodes can irritate the user's skin (sometimes to the point of blistering and even bleeding) or can become loose and fall off.

Second, these cardiorespiratory monitors also can trigger false alarms.

Lastly, caregivers and users are reluctant to use the devices in at least some scenarios because they believe that the protruding wires that go from the sensors on the body to the monitoring equipment can be dangerous.

Images