Textile elements such as clothing

Abstract

The present invention relates to a textile element, such as a garment, intended to cover a part of a body, such as a human body, with the particular application of the garment to produce a physical effect, such as heat or cold, on the part of the body. The textile element 1 forms an envelope 1 intended to at least partially cover the part of the body, the textile element comprising a textile support and body part detection means 2 arranged on or within the textile support, the body part detection means 2 being configured to detect the presence and / or absence of a body part within the envelope 1 and to generate a detection signal when the presence and / or absence of a body part within the envelope 1 is detected.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to textile elements such as clothing, which aim to cover a part of the body such as the human body, and the clothing for producing physical effects such as heat or cold air on a part of the body is for specific uses.

Background Art

[0002] Thermal comfort is determined by the temperature inside the human body and the temperature on the surface of the body. The deep body temperature of a person is generally 37°C, and the average skin temperature of a person is generally 33°C. For example, when the environment changes, such as when the wind becomes stronger or on a particularly sunny day, or when a person moves to a cooler place, the person will feel uncomfortable in terms of temperature sensation. In general situations, the discomfort in terms of temperature sensation is felt by the user when the skin temperature of the user changes, rather than the change in the core temperature.

[0003] Conventional chemical or electric heating systems used in clothing can supply heat relatively easily at a relatively high level. Most of the currently available devices consist of wearable garments with heating pads that can be manually adjusted by the user. In at least some devices, the heating pads generate equal heat output, and all the heating pads operate to provide heat.

[0004] Here, consider an example of a warm glove in which a heating element operates when the sensed temperature drops below a determined threshold. If the glove is connected to an external power source and the conditions for triggering heat generation are satisfied, the heating element will operate even if the user is not wearing it. For example, if the glove is stored in an unheated room and the user forgets to disconnect the connection so that the glove remains connected to the external power source, the heating element will automatically operate according to the ambient temperature and the power source will be unloaded.

[0005] This problem can be solved by incorporating a manual on / off button into the glove. However, there is a possibility that the user may forget to switch the glove on or off. Moreover, the user has to remember to switch the glove on again the next time they put it on. Additionally, incorporating such a button into the glove has ergonomic implications for the user.

[0006] In other applications, for safety reasons for example, other actions are only permitted when the user's hand is inserted into the glove. This is the case when using dangerous tools and should not be used by a user not wearing protective gloves. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED BY THE INVENTION

[0007] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, among other problems. MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEM

[0008] For this purpose, the present invention proposes a textile element that forms an envelope intended to at least partially cover a part of the body and is capable of identifying when a part of the body has been inserted into the envelope.

[0009] According to a first aspect, the subject of the present invention is a textile element forming an envelope intended to at least partially cover a part of the body, the textile element comprising a textile support and body part detection means arranged on or inside the textile support, the body part detection means being configured to detect the presence and / or absence of the said part of the body within the envelope and to generate a detection signal when the presence and / or absence of the said part of the body within the envelope is detected.

[0010] In some embodiments, the textile element further comprises one or more of the following features, either alone or in any technically possible combination: - The textile element is suitable for generating physical effects such as heat or cold air and comprises active elements arranged on or inside a textile support, the active elements being adapted to be connected to a power supply and a control unit configured to activate / deactivate said active elements, the body part detection means being connected to said control unit and adapted to transmit a detection signal so that the control unit activates / deactivates the active elements when it receives said detection signal; - The body part detection means is configured to detect a part of the body entering or exiting the envelope; - The body part detection means comprises sensing means adapted to sense physical information related to the presence and / or absence of said body part within the envelope, and a controller connected to said sensing means and configured to receive one or more sensed information from said sensing means and generate a detection signal based on said one or more sensed information; - The information sensed by said sensing means is related to contact of the hand with said sensing means or the hand entering a defined vicinity of said sensing means; - The body part detection means includes capacitance detection means, the sensing means includes capacitance sensing elements, and the controller is configured to detect an electric field generated when a part of the body contacts or enters the vicinity of a capacitance sensing element; - The capacitance sensing elements include one or more conductive elements arranged within or on the textile support, and the controller is configured to detect an electric field generated when a part of the body contacts or enters the vicinity of at least one of the conductive elements; - The sensing means is arranged on or inside the textile support and forms one or more sensing paths passing through one or more predetermined locations of the textile element and intended to contact or be in the vicinity of corresponding predetermined locations of a part of the body; - The sensing means forms at least two separate sensing paths; - The body part is the hand, the textile element is a glove, and at least one of the sensing paths passes from the back part of the glove, between the thumb and index finger of the glove, to the palm part of the glove; - The body part is the hand, the textile element is a glove, and at least one of the sensing paths passes over the palm part of the glove and through a line formed by a base point where each finger part except the thumb part connects to the palm part of the glove; - The sensing means includes a pressure sensing element adapted to sense pressure from the body part within the envelope; - The textile element includes motion detection means such as an accelerometer adapted to be connected to a power supply and a control unit. The motion detection means is connected to the control unit and is adapted to transmit a motion detection signal, enabling the control unit to activate / deactivate the active element when the motion detection signal is received; - The body is a human body, and the textile element is clothing configured to receive at least a part of the body; - The body is the hand and the clothing is a glove, or the body part is the foot and the clothing is a sock or a shoe, or the body part is the head and the clothing is a hat or a helmet.

[0011] Therefore, such a textile element makes it possible to determine the presence and / or absence of the body part within the envelope. Thereby, for example, in the above-mentioned application of the heated glove, energy from the power supply can be saved by not activating the heating unnecessarily without the need for manual intervention from the user. Thereby, in other applications, it is also possible to prevent the user from performing an operation when not wearing the glove.

[0012] The present invention and its advantages can be better understood by referring to the following description given for purposes of example and illustration only, and by referring to FIG. 1 showing an example of a textile element according to the present invention, namely a glove.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0013]

Figure 1

Embodiment for Carrying out the Invention

[0014] The glove 1 forms an envelope 1 intended to cover the user's hand either entirely or partially.

[0015] The detecting means 2 is incorporated into the glove 1, more specifically into the textile support of this glove 1. That is, the glove 1 is made of one or more textile layers, one of which is the said textile support. The integration of the detecting means 2 into the textile support means that these detecting means are arranged on or in the textile support, for example, by knitting, sewing and / or heat bonding.

[0016] The hand detecting means 2 is configured to detect the presence and / or absence of the user's hand inside the envelope formed by the glove 1 and to generate a detection signal when such presence and / or absence of the hand inside the envelope 1 is detected.

[0017] The presence and / or absence of a hand inside and / or from the glove respectively enables understanding of inserting and / or removing a hand into and / or from the glove respectively. In such a case, the detection means 2 is configured to detect a hand entering into and / or exiting from the interior of the envelope formed by the glove 1. That is, the detection of presence may be performed at a specific moment during the stage of inserting a hand into the glove, according to calibration and preset, not necessarily when the hand is completely inserted into the glove. Similarly, the detection of absence may be performed at a specific moment during the stage of removing a hand from the glove, according to calibration and preset, not necessarily when the hand is completely removed from the glove.

[0018] In a preferred embodiment, a textile element such as the glove 1 in FIG. 1 is an active textile element. Such an active textile element includes active elements (not shown in FIG. 1) adapted to generate physical effects such as heat or cold air. This active element is arranged on or inside a textile support and is adapted to be connected to a power supply and a control unit (both not shown in FIG. 1), and the control unit is configured to activate / deactivate the active element.

[0019] Such an example of the configuration of a textile element provided with an active element adapted to generate heat when supplied with power from a power supply and under the control of a control unit is described in WO 2018 / 214088 or WO 2017 / 162131.

[0020] Then, the body part detection means 2 is connected to the control unit and is adapted to transmit a detection signal, and the control unit can activate / deactivate the active element when receiving the detection signal.

[0021] Therefore, in a specific embodiment of the heated glove, the heating element can be automatically activated or deactivated via a control unit that receives a detection signal from the detection means based on the detection of a hand inserted into or removed from the glove.

[0022] In an embodiment of the heated glove or in other embodiments, the hand detection means 2 more specifically includes sensing means 2a, 2b and a controller 3.

[0023] The sensing means 2a, 2b are adapted to sense physical information related to the presence and / or absence of a hand within the envelope 1 by the glove.

[0024] The controller 3 is connected to the sensing means 2a, 2b and is configured to receive one or more sensed information from the sensing means 2a, 2b and generate a detection signal based on the one or more sensed information.

[0025] The information sensed by the sensing means is, for example, information related to contact with the hand with the sensing means 2a, 2b, or information related to a hand entering a determined vicinity of the sensing means 2a, 2b.

[0026] As an example, the detection means 2 includes capacitance detection means 2, and then the sensing means 2a, 2b include capacitance sensing elements 2a, 2b. Then, the controller 3 is configured to detect an electric field generated when a hand comes into contact with or enters the vicinity of the capacitance sensing elements 2a, 2b.

[0027] Alternatively, or in combination, the detection means 2 may include pressure sensing means, and the sensing means includes pressure sensing elements adapted to sense pressure from a hand inside the glove 1.

[0028] In the case of the capacitance detection means 2, the capacitance sensing means 2a, 2b include one or more conductive elements 2a, 2b. These conductive elements 2a, 2b may be conductive wires as shown in FIG. 1, or may be plates of conductive materials such as copper that are directly disposed within or on the textile support or are disposed via a support such as a PCB support.

[0029] And the controller 3 is configured to detect an electric field generated when a hand comes into contact with or enters the vicinity of at least one of the conductive elements 2a, 2b.

[0030] When connected to a power source via the controller 3, the conductive elements 2a, 2b generate an electric field, the intensity of which is modified when the user's hand enters the vicinity of these conductive elements 2a, 2b.

[0031] The sensing means 2a, 2b are disposed on or within the textile support and form one or more sensing paths 2a, 2b, exactly two separate sensing paths 2a, 2b in the embodiment of FIG. 1.

[0032] One sensing path is sufficient, but two are preferred to reduce the risk of false detection.

[0033] One or more sensing paths 2a, 2b pass through one or more predetermined locations of the textile element according to the application. These sensing paths 2a, 2b are intended to contact or be in the vicinity of a body part, namely the corresponding predetermined location of the hand in the embodiment of the present invention.

[0034] In the hand and glove embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the two sensing paths 2a, 2b run from the back portion of the glove (left side of FIG. 1), between the thumb and index finger, to the palm portion of the glove (right side of FIG. 1).

[0035] In the case of the conductive wires 2a and 2b, one end of each of these wires 2a and 2b is free (on the right side of FIG. 1), and the other end is connected to a controller 3 such as a microchip 3 (on the left side of FIG. 1).

[0036] As can be seen on the right side of FIG. 1, one of the sensing paths 2a and 2b, namely the sensing path 2a, passes over the palm part of the glove and through a line formed by the base points where each finger part except the thumb part of the glove is connected to the palm part of the glove.

[0037] First, the threshold value of the electric field is determined, and if the value is above this threshold, the hand is considered to be inside the glove 1, and noise is taken into account in this determination.

[0038] The conductive elements 2a and 2b need to be arranged so as not to cross any other conductive elements such as data lines or power lines.

[0039] The controller 3 is configured to detect that the generated electric field has become above a first predetermined value (present) and below a second predetermined value (absent), and the first and second predetermined values are potentially the same. To further improve the detection accuracy, the differential, and in some cases the integral, of the electric field generated over one or more predetermined periods may be used.

[0040] Various methods can be used to generate a detection signal based on the generated electric field.

[0041] In certain embodiments, the controller 3 sends one or more pulses to these capacitive conductive elements 2a, 2b during a sensing cycle, measures the pulse response during this sensing cycle, which depends on the capacitance of the conductive elements 2a, 2b and thus the generated electric field. The pulse response during one cycle is accumulated in a counter, which is re-initialized at the start of each cycle. A reference value corresponding to the absence of a hand inside the glove is stored in the memory of the controller 3. At the end of each sensing cycle, the value accumulated in the counter is compared with the reference value, and a positive or negative delta between the accumulated value and the reference value is used to determine whether a hand has been inserted into the glove.

[0042] When using the capacitance detection means 2, in some states, for example when the weight absolute humidity is high, the detection of the electric field may be disturbed and the risk of false detection may increase. In such cases, it may be advantageous to use movement detection means incorporated in the glove, such as an accelerometer.

[0043] This movement detection means is adapted to be connected to the control unit described above for an active textile element having a power source and an active element such as a heating or cooling element.

[0044] This movement detection means is also adapted to send a movement detection signal to the control unit, enabling the control unit to activate / deactivate the active element when the movement detection signal is received.

[0045] In this way, even if the main detection means is disrupted due to, for example, high weight absolute humidity, after a rest period, the movement detected by the movement detection means can be judged to activate the heating system. Similarly, after an activity period, the absence of movement detected by the movement detection means can be judged to stop the heating system.

[0046] The specific embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments described for illustrative purposes only.

[0047] In particular, the present invention is not limited to textile elements or clothing intended to cover a part of the human body, but also extends to textile elements intended to cover a part of the body of an animal or any kind of inanimate body.

[0048] In the case of a part of the human body, the present invention is not limited to gloves, but also extends to any kind of clothing intended to at least partially cover said part of the human body, such as stockings or shoes (in which case the part of the body is the foot), or a hat or helmet (in which case the part of the body is the head).

[0049] Moreover, the present invention is not limited to any particular kind of sensing technology for detecting the presence and / or absence of a body part within an envelope formed by a textile element. Although a preferred example based on capacitive sensing means is given herein, it is also possible to envisage other kinds of sensing means, such as pressure sensing means with pressure sensors arranged in one or more sensing paths as described above.

Claims

A textile element for forming a glove (1) intended to at least partially cover a user's hand, said textile element comprising a textile support and hand detection means (2) arranged on or within said textile support, said hand detection means (2) being configured to detect the presence and / or absence of the hand within said glove (1) and to generate a detection signal when the presence and / or absence of the hand within said glove (1) is detected, said hand detection means (2) comprising sensing means (2a, 2b) adapted to sense physical information relating to the presence and / or absence of the hand within said glove (1), and a controller connected to said sensing means (2a, 2b) and configured to receive one or more sensed information from said sensing means (2a, 2b) and to generate said detection signal based on said one or more sensed information, said sensing means (2a, 2b) being arranged on or within said textile support and forming one or more sensing paths (2a, 2b) intended to pass through one or more predetermined locations of said textile element and to contact or be in the vicinity of corresponding predetermined locations of the hand, at least one of said sensing paths (2a, 2b) passing from the back portion of said glove, between the thumb and index finger of said glove, to the palm portion of the hand of said glove characterized in that it is a textile element. A textile element according to claim 1, comprising active elements arranged on or within said textile support and suitable for generating a physical effect, said active elements being adapted to be connected to a power supply and to a control unit configured to activate / deactivate said active elements, said hand detection means (2) being connected to said control unit and adapted to transmit said detection signal such that said control unit activates / deactivates said active elements when it receives said detection signal characterized by the above. **Claim 3**: A textile element according to claim 2, comprising motion detection means adapted to be connected to a power supply and a control unit, said motion detection means being connected to said control unit and adapted to transmit a motion detection signal, enabling said control unit to activate / deactivate said active element when said motion detection signal is received. **Claim 4** **Claim 1 to 3**: A textile element according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said hand detection means (2) is configured to detect a hand entering or exiting said glove (1). **Claim 5** **Claim 1 to 4**: A textile element according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the information sensed by said sensing means (2a, 2b) is related to contact of the hand with said sensing means (2a, 2b) or the hand entering a defined vicinity of said sensing means (2a, 2b). **Claim 6** **Claim 1 to 5**: A textile element according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein said hand detection means (2) comprises capacitance detection means, said sensing means (2a, 2b) comprises capacitance sensing elements (2a, 2b), and said controller is configured to detect an electric field generated when the hand contacts or enters the vicinity of said capacitance sensing elements (2a, 2b). **Claim 1 to 5**: A textile element according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that **Claim 7** **Claim 6**: A textile element according to claim 6, wherein said capacitance sensing elements (2a, 2b) comprise one or more conductive elements (2a, 2b) arranged within or on said textile support, and said controller is configured to detect an electric field generated when the hand contacts or enters the vicinity of at least one of said conductive elements (2a, 2b). **Claim 6**: A textile element according to claim 6, characterized in that **Claim 8** **Claim 1 to 7**: A textile element according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein said sensing means comprises a pressure sensing element adapted to sense pressure from the hand within said glove (1). **Claim 9** **Claim 1 to 8**: A textile element according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein said sensing means (2a, 2b) forms at least two separate sensing paths (2a, 2b).

10. The textile element according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that at least one of the sensing paths (2a, 2b) passes over the palm part of the glove and through a line formed by a base point where each finger part except the thumb part is connected to the palm part of the glove.

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