SYSTEM FOR FORMING A FLOOR FOR DETECTING A PRESSURE APPLIED THEREON, DEVICE FOR USE IN SUCH SYSTEM, CARPET TILE PROVIDED THEREWITH AND CONNECTION ELEMENT FOR SUCH CARPET TILE

Abstract

Device for detecting pressure comprising a first foil layer with first and second electric conductors, electrically isolated from each other; a second foil layer, comprising an electric resistance; wherein the first and second layers are arranged on top of each other, such that the first and second electric conductors and the resistance face each other, wherein a projection of the location of the electrical resistance on the first layer covers an area to which both the first and second electric conductors extend; a separator, for keeping the first and second layers a distance from each other when there is no pressure applied; a first connector point, electrically coupled to the first electric conductor, and outwardly available at a first pair of opposite sides of the device; a second connector point, electrically coupled to the second electric conductor, and outwardly available at the second pair of opposite sides of the device.

Claims

1. A system for forming a floor for detecting a pressure applied thereon, comprising: a plurality of adjacently arranged flooring parts, each part comprising: a flooring part layer, comprising a top side; a back side, provided with: a first foil layer, provided with at least a first electric conductor and at least a second electric conductor, electrically isolated from each other; and a second foil layer, comprising an electric resistance; wherein the first layer and the second layer are arranged on top of each other, such that respective sides with the at least one first and second electric conductor and the resistance face each other, and are dimensioned such that a projection of a location of the electrical resistance on the first layer covers an area to which both the at least one first and second electric conductor extend; a separator, for keeping the first and the second layer at least locally at a distance from each other when there is no pressure applied to the flooring part; and at least a first connector point, electrically coupled to the first electric conductor, and outwardly available at a first pair of opposite sides of the flooring part; at least a second connector point, electrically coupled to the second electric conductor, and outwardly available at a second pair of opposite sides of the flooring part; a plurality of interconnectors, the interconnectors each comprising: a foil layer, at a first side thereof provided with an electric conductor, and an adhesive, provided at a second side thereof, for fixing the interconnector to a substrate wherein all first electric conductors of flooring parts in adjacently arranged flooring parts in a first direction are electrically connected and all second electric conductors of flooring parts in a second direction of adjacently arranged flooring parts are electrically connected.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the respective first connector points and second connector points of adjacent flooring parts are mutually electrically connected by electric conductors of interconnectors, wherein each contact of a connector point of a part and a conductor of an interconnector is provided with a conductive adhesive, for electrically and mechanically coupling the flooring parts and the interconnectors.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first direction of the first connectors and the second direction of the second connectors are under an angle, and are mutually perpendicular.

4. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a controller, for subsequently measuring an electric resistance between combinations of electrically connected first electric conductors and electrically connected second electric conductors.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the controller is adapted to provide a data signal representing a pressure on each of the flooring parts.

6. A flooring part for forming a floor for detecting a pressure, comprising: a flooring part layer, comprising a top side; a flooring bottom layer, comprising a backing, the backing on a side facing away from the top side provided with: a first foil layer, provided with a first electric conductor and a second electric conductor, electrically isolated from each other; a second foil layer, comprising an electric resistance; wherein the first layer and the second layer are arranged on top of each other, such that the respective sides with the first and second electric conductor and the resistance face each other, and are dimensioned such that a projection of a location of the electrical resistance on the first layer covers an area to which both the first and the second electric conductor extend; a separator, for keeping the first and the second layer at least locally at a distance from each other when there is no pressure applied to the flooring part; at least a first connector point, electrically coupled to the first electric conductor, and outwardly available at a first pair of opposite sides of the flooring part; and at least a second connector point, electrically coupled to the second electric conductor, and outwardly available at the second pair of opposite sides of the flooring part.

7. The flooring part according to claim 6, wherein the first electric conductor and the second electric conductor are arranged as fingers that extend in between each other.

8. The flooring part according to claim 6, wherein the first and/or second electric conductor comprises aluminum.

9. The flooring part according to claim 6, wherein the resistance comprises a carbon layer.

10. The flooring part according to claim 6, wherein the separator comprises paint dots, arranged on at least one of the layers.

11. The flooring part according to claim 6, comprising an electrically conducting path from the outwardly facing sides from the first foil layer to the second foil layer.

12. The flooring part according to claim 11, wherein the conducting path is formed by a through hole.

13. The flooring part according to claim 6, wherein a combination of the first and second foil layers as a whole is water resistant.

14. A device for detecting a pressure comprising: a first foil layer, provided with at least a first electric conductor and at least a second electric conductor, electrically isolated from each other; a second foil layer, comprising an electric resistance; wherein the first layer and the second layer are arranged on top of each other, such that the respective sides with the at least one first and second electric conductor and the resistance face each other, and are dimensioned such that a projection of the location of the electrical resistance on the first layer covers an area to which both the at least one first and second electric conductor extend; a separator, for keeping the first and the second layer at least locally at a distance from each other when there is no pressure applied to the device; at least a first connector point, electrically coupled to the first electric conductor, and outwardly available at a first pair of opposite sides of the device; and at least a second connector point, electrically coupled to the second electric conductor, and outwardly available at a second pair of opposite sides of the device.

15. (canceled)

16. The system according to claim 1, wherein the interconnector comprises an extended shape to accommodate flooring part patterns.

17. The system according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive is a waterproof adhesive.

18. The device according to claim 14, wherein the device is extended by a grounded electrode separated by a PVDF layer to simultaneously measure a body or a pressure dependent capacitance.

19. The system according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is a floor.

20. The system according to claim 16, wherein the flooring patterns are brick or ashlar.

Description

[0021] The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to the following figures.

[0022] Herein:

[0023] FIGS. 1a, b show a schematic top and cross sectional view of a device according to the present invention;

[0024] FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of a flooring according to the present invention; and

[0025] FIG. 3a, b show electric schemes of a floorings according to the present invention.

[0026] FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a device 1 according to the present invention. The device 1 comprises a first essentially rectangular foil layer 2, provided with at least a first electric conductor 3 and at least a second electric conductor 4, electrically isolated from each other, a second essentially rectangular foil layer 5, comprising an electric resistance 6, wherein the first layer 2 and the second layer 5 are arranged on top of each other, such that the respective sides with the at least one first and second electric conductor 3, 4 and the resistance 6 face each other, and wherein the device is dimensioned such that a projection of the location of the electrical resistance on the first layer covers an area to which both the at least one first and second electric conductor extend. The device further comprises a separator 7, here embodied by a number of elevated spots, for keeping the first and the second layer 2, 5 at least locally at a distance from each other when there is no pressure applied to the device. The device further shows a first connector point 8, electrically coupled to the first electric conductor 3, and outwardly available at a first pair of opposite sides of the device 1, and a second connector point 9, electrically coupled to the second electric conductor 4, and outwardly available at the second pair of opposite sides of the device 1. The device comprises through holes 10, forming an electrically conducting path from the outwardly facing sides from the first essentially rectangular foil layer to the second essentially rectangular foil layer, which serves to enable grounding of the carpet tile.

[0027] FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of a flooring according to the present invention, wherein carpet tiles 21, 22, 23, 24, 31, 32, 33, 34, 41, 42, 43, 44, 51, 52, 53, 54, 61, 62, 63, 64, 71, 72, 73, 74 each provided with a device from FIG. 1 are arranged in a room, thus forming a flooring comprising seven rows, 2*, 3*, 4*, 5*, 6*, 7*, and four columns *1, *2, *3 and *4. the first connectors of tiles in the same row are mutually connected by interconnectors, like interconnector 25, and the second connectors of tiles in the same row are mutually connected by interconnectors, like interconnector 26.

[0028] A pressure on the flooring is determined by scanning the resistances of the devices corresponding with the respective flooring parts, which is done by sequentially connecting each combination of rows and columns to a voltage source, and determining the current that flows. This current may be determined indirectly, that is, by measuring the voltage over a resistance 27, that is coupled in series with the respective combinations of rows and columns.

[0029] FIG. 3a shows an electric scheme of a flooring according to the present invention, for a three times three matrix, and shows equations for determining the voltage measured over the resistance R1. The equation enables to determine the resistance corresponding with the device under a specific tile. With a predetermined relation between the resistance of the device and the pressure applied thereon, the weight of a person or object on the flooring part can be determined.

[0030] FIG. 3b shows an alternative electric scheme that can be used when instead of a resistance, a pressure or body dependent capacity is used. In that case, the use of an alternating reference voltage is preferred but not strictly necessary. With a predetermined relation between the capacity of the device and the pressure applied thereon, the weight of a person or object on the flooring part can be determined.

[0031] It should be noted that also an embodiment with solely a resistance can be used for measurements based on capacitive properties. In particular when the first electric conductor and the second electric conductor are arranged as fingers that extend in between each other, a body capacitance of a person approaching the device or carpet tile according to the invention van be determined, even before a pressure is exerted on the device or flooring part.