An improved moisture-sensing device, preferably combined with an improved lead, is provided which represents a significant advance in the state of the art in the treatment of enuretic children. Both sensor and lead utilize a special type of conductive polyvinyl cloth and the components are connected by silver-impregnated Velcro.RTM..

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Various anti-bed-wetting devices have been used in the past to train 
enuretic children to get up in time to empty their bladders and avoid 
bed-wetting. The first such devices consisted of metallic grids placed 
under the bedsheet and separated by absorbent but nonconductive material 
such as cotton cloth. The flow of urine into the bed would activate a 
bedside alarm shortly after urination by virtue of a circuit being closed 
and previously nonconducting dry cloth would become conductive when wet by 
electrolyte-containing urine. These devices have the disadvantage of a 
moderate delay of between 5 and 10 seconds before the alarm would sound 
after the onset of urination. There was also the inconvenience 
necessitated by changes of bed linen during the night. 
In the past several years different devices have been proposed which are 
portable and which are activated by urine in the area of the child's 
perineum or underwear or sleepwear, thereby decreasing the time between 
the onset of urination and the triggering of the alarm and with the 
additional advantage of at least theoretically reducing the amount of 
urine flowing into the bed. 
The present invention does not claim originality in regard to portability 
of the device, but does claim to a significant improvement in the state of 
the art because of the type of sensor employed and, in a preferred 
embodiment, because of the means of making the electrical connection 
between the sensor and the alarm, the latter to be worn on the shoulder of 
the sleeping child. 
Previous devices have been less than completely acceptable to many children 
because of the bulkiness of the device in the area of the perineum or the 
long length of rather stiff electrical cord which necessarily had to reach 
from the area of the alarm (such as on the wrist, up the arm, and down to 
the perineal area). An additional disadvantage of previous devices is that 
the sensor is rather small, covering a very limited area and may be missed 
by the flow of urine, particularly in boys. If the flow of urine does not 
hit the metallic buttonlike sensor in such a device, the alarm may not be 
activated at all and the entire urine flow may be directed into the 
underlying bed without triggering the alarm. This event has, in fact, been 
found to occur using this particular type of sensing mechanism. 
In the present invention to be described, a significant improvement in the 
state of the art, the sensor consists of a long double strip of conductive 
vinyl cloth surrounded by a soft cotton flannel tube which is fastened 
easily to a pair of ordinary undershorts and is connected via special 
silverimpregnated Velcro.RTM. fasteners to a conductive material leading 
up to the alarm device which is placed in the shoulder region of the 
child. The polyvinyl cloth strips are readily incorporated into a 
cotton-covered tube to make a sensor which covers a wide area over the 
perineum. Such a sensor is soft to the touch and flexible. It can be 
repeatedly laundered with the underpants to which it is permanently 
attached by stitching or, more conveniently, iron-on tape. 
We claim advantages of this particular system for the following reasons: 
1. The arrangement is more comfortable than previous devices because of the 
use of a soft ribbon-like conductor made of cloth which is not noticed by 
the child in contrast to a stiff wire conductor and therefore makes the 
device more acceptable and likely to be used by the enuretic child. 
2. The sensor to be described covers a fairly wide area of the perineum and 
is wet easily by urine which is directed either to the right, forward, or 
to the left, thereby virtually always triggering the onset of urination. 
3. Since the sensor device is always in place on the child's undershorts, 
the child must make no particular effort to place a special button sensor 
in exactly the right area. In addition, the difficulty of placing a double 
snap over thick underwear or pajamas is also avoided, a particular 
difficulty with small children. 
4. The use of conductive Velcro.RTM. in this instance complements the 
entire system and can be readily sewn to the conductive vinyl cloth. The 
Velcro.RTM. connect/disconnect system is easy to use by a child of any age 
and provides a realiable and inexpensive "plug and jack" method of 
connecting the upper and lower halves of the system. 
The essence of this invention is the use of a special polyvinyl cloth as a 
substitute for metallic conductors in at least the sensor and preferably 
both the sensor and the long lead from the electronic device and alarm 
which is to be located on the shoulder of the child. The use of the 
conductive cloth facilitates the use of Velcro.RTM. as a connecting device 
between the upper and lower parts of the system. A particular type of 
Velcro.RTM. is utilized in which the nylon is impregnated with silver. 
The preferred lead from the shoulder region consists of two thin strips of 
conductive cloth, each about 3/8 inch wide, which are each enclosed inside 
separate flat tubes of dacron, thereby insulating the conductive polyvinyl 
cloth and also giving a smooth, soft surface to the lead which is 
comfortable to the touch. 
The upper end of the lead must terminate in an ordinary conductive wire so 
that such a wire can then be soldered to the proper terminal of the 
electronic alarm device. This is accomplished at the upper end of the lead 
by simply folding the polyvinyl strip over a small piece of conductive 
rubber. A staple then perforates the polyvinyl cloth, the conductive 
rubber, and the dacron, thereby crimping the wire and rubber very tightly 
to the polyvinyl cloth. The other end of the wire lead is soldered into 
the circuit board of the alarm device. At the lower end of the lead, 
staples are the most convenient method to fasten a small square of 
conductive Velcro.RTM. to a protruding portion of the conductive vinyl 
strip. A second staple is used to strengthen the attachment of the 
Velcro.RTM. to the dacron tube. Finally, to cover the major portion of the 
staples and to provide additional strength and improve the appearance, a 
square of ordinary Velcro.RTM. but with a sticky back (furnished as 
"Scotchmate" by 3M Company) is placed over the backside of the conductive 
Velcro.RTM.. 
The method described gives a very strong method of attachment which is 
reliably conductive and of a pleasing appearance. An additional advantage 
of using ordinary Velcro.RTM. on the back of the conductive Velcro.RTM. 
(both are of the nap type) is that one of the pairs of leads can be folded 
back, as illustrated in the drawings, and fastened to a small piece of 
hooked Velcro.RTM. to prevent inadvertent sounding of the alarm. 
The sensor strip, which is easily fastened to ordinary underwear by either 
sewing or with cross strips of iron-on tape, also utilizes conductive 
polyvinyl cloth. Again, the same advantages accrue with this technique 
since the cloth is soft and flexible and can be used in conjunction with 
conductive Velcro.RTM. to mate with the leads previously described. Two 
strips of conductive cloth are employed and advantage is taken of the fact 
that the cloth as it comes from the manufacturer (Herculite Company) is 
conductive on only one side and with excellent insulation on the opposite 
side. Thus, it is possible to provide a very simple sensor wherein two 
strips of conductive cloth are employed with the nonconductive surfaces in 
contact with each other. These are enclosed in a simple cotton envelope of 
very absorbent flannel material. At the upper end of the sensor, provision 
is made for the attachment of two small squares of conductive Velcro.RTM., 
which are placed on opposite sides of the sensor. Having the Velcro.RTM. 
squares on opposite sides rather than side-by-side prevents inadvertent 
touching of the leads and thereby avoids the child inadvertently sounding 
the alarm as the leads are attached to the sensor. The unit is very 
sensitive to moisture since a conductive path is established between the 
two polyvinyl strips whenever a small area of the edge of the sensor 
becomes moist from urine.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring now to the drawings by reference characters, a child 11 is 
wearing a device of the present invention. The device consists of two main 
parts, namely, an alarm or sounder box 13 and a sensor 15. Sensor 15 is 
connected to a jack generally designated 17 to a plug 19 connected by 
suitable wires 21 to the alarm device 13. 
The alarm box 13 has means for attachment to the upper garment. Preferably, 
this consists of a patch of Velcro.RTM. 23 which mates with a patch of 
Velcro.RTM. 25 which is attached to the upper garment 27 of the wearer. 
Although hook Velcro.RTM. is shown for the pad 23 and loop for the pad 25, 
this relationship is not critical and can be reversed. The pad 25 is 
attached to the garment 27 by any suitable means such as sewing or 
preferably, by a heat-activated iron-on adhesive. The sensor forms part 
of, or is attached to, the lower portion 28 of the sleeping garment as is 
hereafter described. 
The jack 17 and 19 and plug can be of the conventional type used for 
electrical connectors, but it is preferably made of conductive 
(silver-impregnated) Velcro.RTM. since this results in minimum bulk and is 
easy for a child to work. This consists of two pads 29 of hook Velcro.RTM. 
fastened to a nonconductive pad 31 which is attached to the upper garment 
27 and to the mating loop pads 33 attached to the sensor 15. Obviously, 
the hook and loop relationship could be reversed. 
As was previously mentioned, the sensor 15 is of a flexible material which 
is preferably fastened, by suitable means, to the lower portion 28 of the 
sleeping garment. 
In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the sensor includes a double pouch 
of a diaper material 35 having a center seam 37. Wires 39 and 41 extend 
into the two compartments thus formed. The wires 39 and 41 are thin and 
flexible and preferably of stranded material and are ordinarily made of an 
inert metal such as stainless steel, silver or bronze. The wires 39 and 41 
are attached to the Velcro.RTM. pads 33 as previously described. The 
sensor unit can be sewn into the lower portion of the garment or can be 
attached by other suitable means such as a heat activated iron-on 
adhesive. 
In FIG. 3 another form of sensor unit is shown. In this embodiment of the 
device, a pad 43 of an absorptive material such as a diaper material is 
provided with an outer layer 45 of a thin, flexible plastic while the 
inner surface 47 is not covered. Wires 49 and 51 are exposed or thinly 
embedded in the open surface 47 of the diaper material. These wires are 
connected to the conductive Velcro.RTM. pads 53 and 55 which mate with the 
Velcro.RTM. pads 29 previously described. 
FIGS. 4 and 5 show yet another embodiment of the sensor unit and in this 
embodiment a conductive polyvinyl cloth (such as that manufactured by the 
Herculite Company) is employed instead of the wires. Referring to FIGS. 4 
and 5, two strips 57 and 59 of the conductive cloth are employed and these 
are held in spaced relationship between an upper layer 61 and a lower 
layer 63 of a cloth such as diaper cloth. The parts are held together by 
means of the adhesive layers 65 or can be sewed together with 
nonconductive thread. The outer layer 61 terminates short of the inner 
layer 63, leaving a portion of the inner layer exposed as at 67. Tabs of 
conductive Velcro.RTM. 69 are attached to each of the inner layers of 
conductive cloth. 
Referring now to FIGS. 6-8, another embodiment of the invention is shown 
which also uses the conductive polyvinyl cloth. In this embodiment of the 
invention, the conductive strips instead of being arranged side-by-side 
are sandwiched together. Thus, there is provided an outer layer 73 and an 
inner layer 75 of conductive cloth separated by a layer 77 of ordinary 
cloth such as diaper material. The inner layer 75 has a plurality of 
perforations 79 therein to permit urine to migrate freely between the 
layers. The various layers are held together by means of a suitable 
adhesive 81 or sewn with thread. Conductive Velcro.RTM. patches 82 and 83 
are connected to the ends of the conductive cloth strips 73 and 75 
respectively. The outer strip 73 is notched at 85 and the intermediate 
strip 75 notched at 87 so that the Velcro.RTM. patch 83 will be exposed. 
Although it is preferred that the sensor be built as a unit and placed in 
the lower half of a sleeping garment, the sensor can be built into the 
garment itself as is shown in FIG. 9. In this case, that portion of the 
garment between the two electrodes would become conductive when wet, 
thereby completing the circuit and sounding the alarm. Here pants 84 have 
wires 86 incorporated therein which lead to the Velcro.RTM. tabs 88. Of 
course, strips of conductive polyvinyl cloth could be employed instead of 
the wires. 
Another form of sensor is shown in FIGS. 10-13. In this form of sensor 
unit, the conductive polyvinyl cloth, previously mentioned, is utilized 
and advantage is taken of the fact that the cloth is conductive on only 
one side and the opposite side of the cloth is an insulator. Thus, it is 
possible to provide a very simple sensor wherein two strips of the 
conductive cloth are employed with the nonconductive surfaces in contact 
with each other. This is enclosed in a simple cotton envelope of diaper 
material with the conductive Velcro.RTM. contacts on opposite sides. This 
unit is very sensitive since a conductive path is established around the 
edges of the sensor through the diaper cloth which forms the envelope. 
Referring to FIGS. 10-13, the sensor includes a first strip 101 of 
conductive polyvinyl cloth and a second strip 103. The polyvinyl cloth has 
a conductive layer 105 and a nonconductive layer 107. The two strips can 
be placed against each other since the insulating sides are in contact 
with each other, as shown. The two strips are enclosed in a sheath formed 
of the layers 109 and 111, which can be of ordinary cotton diaper material 
formed into an envelope by the side stitching 113. At one end of the 
strips a small hole 115 is made into each strip of cotton cloth and 
conductive Velcro.RTM. patches 117 and 119 are applied on each side so 
that the conductive Velcro.RTM. patches are in contact with the respective 
conductive sides of the polyvinyl cloth. 
This form of sensor is very simple and inexpensive to make and the 
stitching can pass through the conductive strips of polyvinyl cloth if 
desired. Further, it has been found that the stitching can go right 
through the Velcro.RTM. pads if the pads are of the hook type. The sensors 
shown in this embodiment of the invention are very inexpensive to prepare 
since they can be made in endless strips, sliced into segments, and the 
Velcro.RTM. applied thereto before or after severing the strips into 
segments. The sensors can be pressed onto a sleeping garment with a hot 
iron utilizing known binding cloths. They can be easily laundered and will 
return to their nonconductive form upon drying. With this form of sensor 
the connectors to the sounder must face each other, rather than being 
side-by-side as is shown in FIG. 2. 
Various alarm devices can be used with the sensors of the present 
invention. In FIG. 14 a simple indicator is shown utilizing a miniature 
alarm buzzer 90. The positive terminal of battery 92 is connected to the 
alarm and to an emitter of transistor Q1. The negative terminal of the 
battery is connected through line 94 to one pole of the sensor and to the 
emitter of transistor Q2. The opposite terminal of the sensor is connected 
to the base of transistor Q1 through resistor R1 and the collector of Q1 
is connected through resistor R2 to the base of transistor Q2. It is 
obvious that when there is no conductivity between the two probes of the 
sensor, no current will flow from the battery to the buzzer since 
transistor Q2 is cut off. Now if a conductive path is established between 
the probes of the sensor as by urine, a negative current flows through 
resistor R1 to the base of transistor Q1 causing Q1 to conduct. When Q1 
conducts, the base of transistor Q2 conducts turning on the buzzer 90. If 
the circuit of a sensor is broken such as by disconnecting the sensor, the 
buzzing will stop. Thus, the child upon hearing the buzzer can shut the 
buzzer off by breaking a connection between the upper and lower portions 
of the garment. 
In FIG. 15 a preferred circuit is shown utilizing a hexinverter chip such 
as 74C14 or MC14584 which is designated IC 1 in the drawing. In this 
circuit, if moisture is present between the electrodes of the sensor 15, 
pin 1 of IC 1 will go positive causing pin 2 to go low, releasing the 
clamp diode D1. This permits the Schmitt oscillator formed between pins 3 
and 4 to produce a square wave output at a frequency of about 1 Hz. This 
frequency is controlled by C1 and R3. This is buffered by the trigger 
between pins 5 and 6 alternately clamping and releasing D2. This permits 
the oscillator formed between pins 12 and 13 to oscillate at approximately 
1 kHz at halfsecond intervals. The parallel connected Schmitt triggers 11 
and 10 and 9 and 8 buffer this 50% duty cycle and drive Q3 which in turn 
drives the speaker 96 to produce an audible tone at about 1 kHz which 
turns on and off each half second. When the connections to the probe are 
broken, the circuit turns off. This circuit is preferred because of the 
on-off nature of the tone which is much more reliable in awakening the 
sleeper. 
Referring now specifically to FIGS. 16 through 18, wherein a preferred 
embodiment of the sensor and connector are shown, the device consists of a 
sounder, generally designated 100, connected by means of flat strips 
generally designed 102, to a "plug and jack" unit 104 to the sensor 106. 
The sounder 100 can be of any type, such as those well-known to those 
skilled in the art, including those previously described, which have wires 
108 and 110, wherein the sounder will be activated when a circuit is 
established between the two wires. In this embodiment of the invention, 
the leads consist of two strips 112 and 114 of conductive vinyl cloth, as 
previously described. These are enclosed in two sheaths 116 and 118 of a 
soft yet strong fabric such as dacron. At the upper end, a small piece of 
conductive rubber 120 is attached by means of a small staple 122 which 
lies along the conductive side of the vinyl cloth. A similar connection is 
made between the strip 114 and wire 108. A small strip of adhesive tape 
124 is placed over the connection to provide strength and insulation. 
At the opposite end of the strips are placed small pieces of conductive 
Velcro.RTM. 126 and 128. These mate with strips of conductive Velcro.RTM. 
130 and 132 which are connected to the conductive strips of the sensor 
strips 134 and 136. In the embodiment illustrated the connector is 
provided with loop Velcro.RTM. and the sensor is provided with hook 
Velcro.RTM., but obviously this situation could be reversed. The sensor 
106 is as previously described and consists of two strips of polyvinyl 
cloth, each of which has a nonconductive side 138 and 140 and the 
conductive sides, previously described, 134 and 136. These are held inside 
of a cloth sheath 142 as previously described. 
It will be understood that the embodiment shown in 16-18 are the best known 
mode of practicing the invention since both the sensor proper and the 
conductors leading from the sensor to the sounder are made of flexible 
polyvinyl strips. Since the conductors are enclosed in strong cloth, they 
are not subject to breakage as ordinary wire conductors might be. Further, 
since they are very soft and flexible, they do not interfere with the 
comfort of the sleeper. 
The device of the present invention is ordinarily not provided with an 
off-on switch so that it is desirable to provide some means of preventing 
accidental sounding of the device when it is not in use. For this purpose, 
it is convenient to provide a small pad 144 of Velcro.RTM. spaced some 
distance from the ends 126 and 128 and to provide a small pad 146 of the 
opposite type of Velcro.RTM. on the outer surface of the corresponding 
conductor. Thus, when the device is not in use, 144 and 146 can be pressed 
together, obviating any danger of false triggering by contact between 126 
and 128. 
It is believed apparent from the foregoing that we have provided a simple 
sensor for an anti-bed-wetting device which is very sensitive so that it 
will be activated by only a few drops of urine. Since the device is 
actuated by the first few drops of urine, soiling of the bed and clothing 
is largely prevented. Rapid activation of the device by placing a wetness 
sensor in the sleepwear is also thought to aid in conditioning the subject 
to learn to wake up prior to the involuntary release of urine. Further, 
the preferred form of lead from the sensor to the sounder is strong yet 
comfortable for the wearer.