Wearable Environmental Sensor Venting for Accurate Body-Proximate Sensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional WBGT meters and environmental sensors are too large to be conveniently worn on the body, restricting their placement, and miniaturized sensors face issues with thermal insulation and humidity interference, leading to inaccurate environmental measurements.
Innovation Solution
A wearable environmental sensor device with a protective structure featuring ventilating holes and a specific attachment mechanism that ensures thermal insulation and minimizes humidity interference, allowing accurate and stable measurement of temperature and humidity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the sensor device is miniaturized to be wearable, then wearability and portability are improved, but thermal insulation between the sensor element and housing cannot be ensured, causing heat transmission from housing to sensor element
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor substrate is divided into a sensor region and a non-sensor region. The attaching part contacts only the non-sensor region, separating the attachment function from the sensing function. This segmentation prevents heat transmission path from housing to sensor element while maintaining device miniaturization.
Solution Approach 2:
The non-sensor region of the sensor substrate acts as an intermediary between the attaching part and the sensor element. This intermediary region blocks the thermal conduction path, preventing heat from the housing (which contains battery and circuit board) from reaching the sensor element, thus maintaining measurement accuracy in a miniaturized wearable device.
2Measurement precision
If the sensor is placed inside clothing for proximity measurement, then measurement proximity to body environment is improved, but sweat attaches to sensor surface causing high humidity measurement errors
Solution Approach 1:
The harmful factor (sweat) is extracted from the sensor surface by the repulsive force mechanism. The sensor surface is designed with properties that repel sweat, preventing sweat attachment while maintaining the ability to measure environmental humidity accurately when placed inside clothing.
Solution Approach 2:
The sweat that would normally interfere with measurement is converted into a beneficial indicator. The repulsive force mechanism prevents sweat from contaminating the sensor, allowing the device to distinguish between environmental humidity and sweat moisture, thereby improving measurement reliability in close proximity to the body.
3Measurement precision
If conventional WBGT meters are used for heat stroke prevention, then measurement capability is improved, but device size and portability deteriorate making them difficult to place at specific locations
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple functions are merged into a single miniaturized device: environmental sensing (temperature, humidity), heat index calculation, and wireless communication. The sensor device integrates the sensor element, attaching part, battery, and circuit board into a compact unit that maintains measurement capability while achieving wearable size.
Solution Approach 2:
The mechanical display and operation systems of conventional WBGT meters are replaced with electronic sensing and wireless communication. The device uses electronic sensors to detect environmental parameters and wireless transmission to communicate heat index data, eliminating the need for large mechanical components and displays.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables accurate, easy, and stable measurement of environmental conditions near the body by reducing heat conduction and humidity impact, facilitating wearability and ease of use.
Implementation Method 1
a protective structure formed around the environmental sensor, wherein the protective structure includes a plurality of ventilating holes
Implementation Method 2
an attaching part for attaching the environmental sensor to the wall surface comes into contact only with an edge of a sensor substrate of the environmental sensor and with a portion of a back face of the sensor substrate
Data Source
AI summary
A wearable environmental sensor includes an environmental sensor arranged on a wall surface of a housing including a sealed section, the wall being in contact with an environment, and a protective structure formed around the environmental sensor, wherein the protective structure includes a plurality of ventilating holes, a sensor surface of the environmental sensor is arranged to face an opening of at least one of the ventilating holes, and an attaching part for attaching the environmental sensor to the wall surface comes into contact only with an edge of a sensor substrate of the environmental sensor and with a portion of a back face of the sensor substrate.