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US 12,474,186 B2Granted
Footwear-based body presence detector
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorsPhillip Meneau, Erin McAuliffe
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Active footwear can include a system to automatically detect a presence or absence of a foot. In an example, the system can be configured to provide information about a liquid saturation level that can affect a sensitivity or performance of the foot presence sensor. The system can use time-multiplexed signals to excite respective different electrodes in a foot presence sensor, and the electrodes can generate respective electric fields inside the footwear. Interruptions in the fields can be detected and used to determine foot presence or absence or a liquid saturation level.
Claims18
A footwear sensor system comprising:
- a first capacitive sensor comprising a first electrode pair in an article of footwear, the first capacitive sensor configured to use a first excitation signal to provide a first electric field at least partially inside the article of footwear, wherein the first electrode pair comprises a ring electrode and a reference electrode;
- a second capacitive sensor comprising a second electrode pair in the article of footwear, the second capacitive sensor configured to use a second excitation signal to provide a second electric field at least partially inside the article of footwear, wherein the second electrode pair comprises a planar electrode and the reference electrode, and wherein the planar electrode is provided coaxially with the ring electrode, and wherein the planar electrode and the ring electrode are spaced apart;
- a signal generator configured to provide the first and second excitation signals;
- and
- a processor circuit configured to provide a foot presence indication based on information received from the first and second capacitive sensors about an interruption in the first and second electric fields.
2 more elements
A footwear system comprising:
- a first electrode;
- a second electrode;
- a third electrode;
- a signal generator configured to provide excitation signals to respective electrode groups of the first, second, and/or third electrodes at respective different times;
- and
- a processor circuit configured to receive electric field information from the respective electrode groups and, in response, determine whether a foot is present in or absent from a foot-receiving cavity of an article of footwear;
- wherein:
- a first electrode group includes the first and second electrodes electrically coupled as an anode and the third electrode as a cathode;
- a second electrode group includes the first electrode as an anode and the third electrode as a cathode and the second electrode is electrically isolated from the first and third electrodes;
- and
- the signal generator is configured to provide a first AC excitation signal to the first electrode group at a first time and provide a second AC excitation signal to the second electrode group at a different second time.
8 more elements
A method comprising:
- providing time-multiplexed first and second excitation signals from a signal generator circuit to respective first and second electrode pairs in an article of footwear to thereby generate respective first and second electric fields in the article of footwear;
- receiving, at a processor circuit, respective first and second response signals from the first and second electrode pairs;
- and
- determining a foot proximity indication for a foot inside the article of footwear using the received first and second response signals;
- wherein providing the first excitation signal includes electrically coupling first and second conductor portions of a composite electrode, and wherein providing the second excitation signal includes electrically isolating the first and second conductor portions of the composite electrode, and wherein providing the second excitation signal includes electrically coupling the second conductor portion to a reference electrode.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.