ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE TEXTILE
An electrically conductive textile includes an electrically conductive textile member and at least one electrically conductive element. The electrically conductive textile member includes a textile body and a plurality of electrically conductive wires that are woven into the textile body in a first direction and that are spaced apart from each other. The at least one electrically conductive element is attached onto the textile body in a second direction transverse to the first direction, and is electrically connected to the electrically conductive wires for adjusting a resistance value of the electrically conductive textile member.
This application claims priorities of Taiwanese Patent Application No. 104128260, filed on Aug. 28, 2015, and Taiwanese Utility Model Application No. 104213968, filed on Aug. 28, 2015.
FIELDThe disclosure relates to a textile, more particularly to an electrically conductive textile.
BACKGROUNDElectrically conductive textiles that can transmit signals into or out of smart clothes are seen in fields such as medicine, entertainment, etc.
Conventional electrically conductive textiles typically have high and non-uniform resistance, resulting in decreased signal sensitivity or increased noise. In addition, conventional electrically conductive textiles with high resistance are generally associated with static charge build-up, causing inconvenience to a user.
Moreover, patients undergoing electrotherapy with conventional electrically conductive textiles tend to feel a stinging sensation due to dryness of the textiles after long-term use.
Referring to
Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide an electrically conductive textile that can alleviate at least one of the aforementioned drawbacks associated with the prior art.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an electrically conductive textile includes an electrically conductive textile member and at least one electrically conductive element. The electrically conductive textile member includes a textile body and a plurality of electrically conductive wires that are woven into the textile body in a first direction and that are spaced apart from each other. The at least one electrically conductive element is attached onto the textile body in a second direction transverse to the first direction, and is electrically connected to the electrically conductive wires for adjusting a resistance value of the electrically conductive textile member.
Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
Before the disclosure is described in further detail with reference to the accompanying embodiments, it should be noted herein that like elements are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the disclosure.
Referring to
The electrically conductive textile member 1 has a resistance value R1, the electrically conductive element 2 has a resistance value R2, and R1/R2 ranges from 1 to 106. In the first embodiment, the resistance value R1 may range from 10 to 105 ohms, and the resistance value R2 may range from 10−1 to 10 ohms. Preferably, the resistance value R2 is smaller than the resistance value R1. The electrically conductive element 2 may be made of: metal, e.g., silver, structured silver, stainless steel, copper, nickel; metal oxide, e.g., indium tin oxide; or a non-metal material, e.g., carbon black, graphene, carbon nanotube, electrically conductive polymer. In certain embodiments, the electrically conductive element 2 may be in the form of a coating, a strip, or a film. Moreover, according to practical requirements, there may be more than one electrically conductive element 2.
In certain embodiments, the electrically conductive element 2 electrically connects the electrically conductive wires 12 in parallel, thereby reducing the overall resistance of the electrically conductive textile. As a result, the overall resistance of the electrically conductive textile can be controlled by adjusting the resistance value R2 of the electrically conductive element 2 without having to adjust the number of the electrically conductive wires 12.
Referring to
A second embodiment of the electrically conductive textile according to this disclosure is similar to the first embodiment with the differences disclosed below.
In the second embodiment, R1/R2 ranges from 1 to 109, the resistance value R1 may range from 105 to 1011 ohms, and the resistance value R2 may range from 102 to 105 ohms.
In an experimental example, the electrically conductive textile member 1 has the resistance value R1 of 108 ohms. After the electrically conductive element 2 is attached onto the electrically conductive textile member 1, the overall resistance of the electrically conductive textile can be lowered to 106 ohms. Moreover, by controlling the overall resistance of the electrically conductive textile to be within a range from 105 to 1011 ohms, static charge build-up of the electrically conductive textile is less likely to occur.
In another experimental example, an ohmmeter is used to measure the resistance at various points of the electrically conductive textile member 1, before and after the electrically conductive element 2 is attached to the electrically conductive textile member 1. Before the electrically conductive element 2 is attached, the measured resistance values of the electrically conductive textile member 1 are 23.32, 232.56, and 430.54 ohms. After the electrically conductive element 2 is attached, the measured overall resistance values of the electrically conductive textile are 23.41, 16.92, 18.36, and 22.42 ohms. The results demonstrate that the electrically conductive element 2 provides superior resistance uniformity to the electrically conductive textile.
To sum up, the overall resistance of the electrically conductive textile can be controlled by adjusting the resistance value R2 of the electrically conductive element 2 without having to adjust the number of the electrically conductive wires 12 of the electrically conductive textile member 1. In this way, the resistance uniformity of the electrically conductive textile can be increased. In addition, the moisture-absorbing fibers may alleviate the stinging sensation felt by the user after long-term use of the electrically conductive textile.
While the disclosure has been described in connection with what are considered the exemplary embodiments, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments end variation but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
Claims
1. An electrically conductive textile comprising:
- an electrically conductive textile member including a textile body and a plurality of electrically conductive wires that are woven into said textile body in a first direction and that are spaced apart from each other; and
- at least one electrically conductive element that is attached onto said textile body in a second direction transverse to the first direction, and that is electrically connected to said electrically conductive wires for adjusting a resistance value of said electrically conductive textile member.
2. The electrically conductive textile as claimed in claim 1, wherein said electrically conductive textile member has a resistance value R1, said at least one electrically conductive element has a resistance value R2, and R1/R2 ranges from 1 to 106.
3. The electrically conductive textile as claimed in claim 2, wherein the resistance value R1 ranges from 10 to 105 ohms, and the resistance value R2 ranges from 10−1 to 10 ohms.
4. The electrically conductive textile as claimed in claim 1, wherein said electrically conductive textile member has a resistance value R1, said at least one electrically conductive element has a resistance value R2, and R1/R2 ranges from 1 to 109.
5. The electrically conductive textile as claimed in claim 4, wherein the resistance value R1 ranges from 105 to 1011 ohms, and the resistance value R2 ranges from 102 to 105 ohms.
6. The electrically conductive textile as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one electrically conductive element electrically connects said electrically conductive wires in parallel.
7. The electrically conductive textile as claimed in claim 1, wherein said textile body includes a plurality of moisture-absorbing fibers.
8. The electrically conductive textile as claimed in claim 1, wherein said textile body is cross-shaped.
9. The electrically conductive textile as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one electrically conductive element is made of metal.
10. The electrically conductive textile as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one electrically conductive element is made of a non-metal material.
11. The electrically conductive textile as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one electrically conductive element is in the form of a coating.
12. The electrically conductive textile as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one electrically conductive element is in the form of a strip.
13. The electrically conductive textile as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one electrically conductive element is in the form of a film.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 8, 2016
Publication Date: Mar 2, 2017
Inventor: Chun-Yen HUANG (Taipei City)
Application Number: 15/018,143