Capacitive foot presence sensing for 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.
Claims19
A method for determining whether a foot is present in an article of footwear using a sensor system, the method comprising:
- generating an electric field, using an electrode of a foot presence sensor disposed in the article of footwear and in response to an AC drive signal provided to the electrode, wherein the electric field extends away from the electrode and from the foot presence sensor, and wherein the electric field is inside of a foot-receiving cavity of the article of footwear;
- detecting a reference characteristic of the electric field when the foot interrupts a first portion of the electric field in the foot-receiving cavity and the foot is at an unseated position inside the article of footwear and the foot is unseated from an insole of the article of footwear;
- detecting a change from the reference characteristic of the electric field in response to a change in a position of the foot inside the foot-receiving cavity of the article of footwear;
- determining an orientation of the foot inside the article of footwear based on the detected change in the electric field, wherein the orientation of the foot indicates the foot is at a seated position against the insole of the article of footwear and the foot interrupts a second portion of the electric field in the foot-receiving cavity and the second portion of the electric field is different than the first portion of the electric field in the foot-receiving cavity;
- and
- selectively actuating an automated footwear response based on the determined orientation of the foot inside of the article of footwear.
A system for use with an article of footwear to determine whether a foot is present inside the article of footwear, the system comprising:
- a first electrode configured to receive an AC drive signal and, in response, provide an electric field inside of a foot-receiving cavity of the article of footwear, wherein the electric field extends away from the first electrode and into the foot-receiving cavity;
- and
- a processor circuit configured to:
- receive information about a change in the electric field inside of the article of footwear in response to a change in an orientation of the foot inside the foot-receiving cavity of the article of footwear and relative to the first electrode, wherein the change in the orientation of the foot includes a change from an unseated foot position to a seated foot position, wherein the unseated foot position corresponds to the foot interrupting a first portion of the electric field in the foot-receiving cavity and being detected inside the article of footwear and spaced apart from an insole of the article of footwear, and wherein the seated foot position corresponds to the foot interrupting a second portion of the electric field in the foot-receiving cavity and being detected inside the article of footwear and at or against the insole of the article of footwear;
- and
- selectively actuate an automated footwear response based on the change in the electric field.
A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor inside an article of footwear, configure the processor to:
- provide an AC drive signal to an electrode of a foot presence sensor that is disposed in the article of footwear to thereby generate an electric field inside of a foot-receiving cavity of the article of footwear, wherein the electric field extends away from the electrode and the foot presence sensor and inside the foot-receiving cavity;
- detect a reference characteristic of the electric field when a foot interrupts a first portion of the electric field inside the foot-receiving cavity and the foot is at an unseated position that is inside the article of footwear and is unseated from an insole of the article of footwear;
- detect a change from the reference characteristic of the electric field in response to a change in a position of the foot inside the foot-receiving cavity of the article of footwear;
- determine an orientation of the foot inside the article of footwear based on the detected change in the electric field, wherein the orientation of the foot indicates the foot is at a seated position against the insole of the article of footwear and the foot interrupts a second portion of the electric field inside the foot-receiving cavity;
- and
- selectively actuate an automated footwear response based on the determined orientation of the foot inside the article of footwear.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.