Foot presence sensing systems for active footwear
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorsSteven H. Walker, Phillip Meneau
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A foot presence sensor system for an active article of footwear can include a sensor housing configured to be disposed at or in an insole of the article, and a controller circuit, disposed within the sensor housing, configured to trigger one or more automated functions of the footwear based on a foot presence indication. In an example, the sensor system includes a capacitive sensor configured to sense changes in a capacitance signal in response to proximity of a body. A dielectric member can be provided between the capacitive sensor and the body to enhance an output signal from the sensor.
Claims20
A system comprising:
- a first sensor configured to sense a body position of a body, wherein the first sensor includes an insulating substrate having a substrate surface and at least two electrodes disposed on the substrate surface and fixedly spaced apart by a portion of the substrate;
- a gap filling member disposed between the first sensor and a body-receiving cavity configured to receive the body;
- and
- a signal generator configured to provide respective components of an electric signal to the electrodes to thereby generate an electric field, wherein the electric field extends between the electrodes and the electric field extends outside the first sensor and inside the body-receiving cavity that is configured to receive the body;
- wherein the gap filling member is configured to influence a responsiveness of the first sensor to a change in the body position when the change in the body position is within at least a portion of the generated electric field inside the body-receiving cavity.
A method comprising:
- providing respective components of an alternating current excitation signal to electrodes of a first sensor to generate an electric field between the electrodes and extending away from the first sensor and inside a body-receiving cavity configured to receive a body, the first sensor configured to sense a body position of the body in the body-receiving cavity relative to the electric field and a first surface of the first sensor, and the electrodes being fixedly spaced apart on a shared substrate surface that is parallel to the first surface and adjacent to the cavity;
- and
- receiving a response signal from the first sensor in response to the excitation signal, wherein a magnitude of the response signal is influenced by a dielectric characteristic of a gap filling member that is interposed between the first surface of the first sensor and the body-receiving cavity configured to receive the body, wherein the body-receiving cavity configured to receive the body and the electrodes of the first sensor are on respective opposite sides of the first surface of the first sensor.
An article of footwear comprising:
- a motorized tensioning device for controlling a position of a tensioning member;
- a first sensor configured to sense a foot position inside a body-receiving cavity of the footwear, wherein the first sensor includes an insulating substrate having a substrate surface and at least two spaced apart electrodes on the substrate surface, wherein the electrodes are immobilized relative to each other and the substrate surface;
- a gap filling member disposed between the first sensor and the body-receiving cavity of the footwear, wherein the gap filling member is configured to influence a responsiveness of the first sensor to a change in the foot position relative to an electric field provided by the electrodes and the electric field extends away from the first sensor and inside the body-receiving cavity;
- and
- a processor circuit configured to conditionally actuate the motorized tensioning device based on information from the first sensor about the foot position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.