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US 10,945,892 B2Granted
Incontinence detection system and detectors
AssigneeHill-Rom Services, Inc.
InventorRyan Severns
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An incontinence detector includes a layer of material having uniformly distributed electrically resistive elements which impart a baseline electrical resistance to the layer. The layer also has an actual electrical resistance. The detector also includes an RFID tag having a first and second leads which extend into the material without contacting each other. The tag is responsive to deviations of the actual resistance from the baseline resistance.
Claims14
An incontinence detector for use in a multi-layer incontinence detection pad, the incontinence detector comprising:
- a layer of nonwoven material having uniformly distributed electrically resistive fiber elements that are embedded within the layer of nonwoven material so as to be dispersed uniformly throughout an entirety of a thickness, a length, and a width of the layer of nonwoven material and which impart a baseline electrical resistance to the layer, the layer also having an actual electrical resistance that varies depending upon an amount of liquid to which the layer is exposed;
- an RFID tag;
- and
- first and second leads which extend between the RFID tag and the material layer without contacting each other, the RFID tag being responsive to a deviation of the actual resistance when the pad is wet from the baseline resistance established when the pad is dry.
1 more element
An incontinence detection system comprising:
- a multi-layer pad which includes carbon fiber segments that are uniformly distributed and that are embedded within a layer of nonwoven material so as to be dispersed uniformly throughout an entirety of a thickness, a length, and a width of the layer of nonwoven material and so that the pad has a dry electrical resistance when the pad is dry and a wet electrical resistance when the pad is wet with an electrically conductive liquid, the wet electrical resistance being less than the dry electrical resistance;
- and
- a processor and machine readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the system to respond in a first way to the dry electrical resistance and to respond in a second way to the wet electrical resistance.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.