Abstract:
An electric conductive sensing device is provided. A front sheet of a sensing pad has several openings. A sensing electrode is a conductive ink electrode aligned with and exposed through each opening. Several first terminals are formed on an insert portion of the sensing pad and are connected to sensing electrodes. Each opening covered by a conductive gel is electrically connected to the corresponding sensing electrode. The insert portion is integrated in a connector. The present invention can be used as electrode patches of ECG devices or electric stimulators. In use, the connector is plugged into the devices to transmit tiny electrical currents to the ECG device from human skin surface, or to transmit electrical currents generated from the stimulator to human. The sensing electrodes are formed by conductive ink printing thereby simplifying the manufacturing process and lowering the manufacturing cost compared to conventional soldered structures.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to an electric current conductive pad, and more particularly to an electric conductive sensing device capable of detecting electric current or conducting electric stimulations. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Electrocardiogram (ECG) is a diagnostic technique that periodically monitors and records heart electrophysiological activities by electrodes placed on the skin surface. The principle of ECG is that, while tiny electrical signals are generated on the skin surface that arise from the depolarization and repolarization of myocardial cells during each heartbeat, those electrical signals will be captured and amplified by ECG recording or monitoring devices to produce the ECG diagrams of the person being tested. 
         [0003]    The structure used for capturing changes of electrical signals on the skin surface can be an ECG patch. The surface of such ECG patch has several button-like electrodes. While in use, conductive gels will be spread on the surface of the electrodes, and the electrodes will be adhered to the skin surface on the chest of the person to be tested for capturing electrical signals generated from heartbeats. These signals will eventually be transmitted to ECG devices to produce the ECG diagrams. 
         [0004]    Although conventional ECG patches are fully capable of precisely detecting tiny electrical signals on the human skin surface, the button-like electrodes on the ECG patch is, however, connected to the electrical circuit on the patch by soldering or buckling, which means that the manufacturing process may be more complex because each button-like electrode needs to be soldered or buckled to combine with the patch. Consequently, the manufacturing costs are hard to be effectively reduced and the overall cost of such kind of product will be high. 
         [0005]    Other than the aforementioned ECG patch, the electrode patches used for electric stimulation such as transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) are also capable of transmitting electrical signals. With contrary to ECG that transmits electric signals from skin to device, these kinds of electrode patches transmit electrical signals generated by, for instance, a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator to human body, to create effects such as massage or rehabilitation. 
         [0006]    The structure of the aforementioned electrode patch is quite similar to the conventional ECG patch; they all include multiple button-like electrodes. The button-like electrodes all need to be soldered or buckled for connecting to the electrical circuit of the patch. As mentioned above, these kinds of structure are not easily to be manufactured due to the complexity of the process, thus causing a shortcoming of high cost. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    Conventional structures for capturing tiny electrical signals from human skin surface, such as ECG patches, need to be soldered or buckled with button-like electrodes, these processes cause higher manufacturing costs. Therefore, the present invention provides a structure containing printed sensing electrodes, which is also operated with a connector, in order to not only sense tiny electrical signals with reduced manufacturing costs, but also obtain robustness and generate less debris caused by physical frictions while in use. 
         [0008]    An aspect of the present disclosure is to provide an electric conductive sensing electrode, including: 
         [0009]    A sensing pad, having a front sheet and a rear sheet combined with the front sheet, the front sheet having at least one opening, an electric film sandwiched between the front sheet and the rear sheet, an insert portion extended from a side of the electric film, a sensing electrode formed on the electric film and aligned with each of the at least one opening, each of the sensing electrodes being a conductive ink electrode and exposed through each of the openings, at least one first terminal formed on the insert portion, each of the first terminal and the corresponding sensing electrode of the first terminal are connected together by a first electric circuit, each of the openings covered by a conductive gel, each of the electric gel electrically connected with each of the sensing electrode by directly contacting. 
         [0010]    A connector having the insert portion of the sensing pad integrated in, a tongue plate installed in the connector, at lest one output terminal disposed on the tongue plate, each of the first output terminal electrically connected with each of the first terminal. 
         [0011]    While practicing the present invention as an ECG patch for example, the front side of the sensing pad is adhered to a human chest. By contacting the human skin through the conductive gel, the tiny electric signals generated on the skin surface during each heartbeat will be transmitted to the first terminal and the corresponding first output terminal on the connector through the sensing electrode. When the connector is further connected to an ECG device, the tiny electric signals detected by the sensing pad will be transmitted to the ECG device, and then the tiny electric signals will be amplified and transformed into final results, i.e. an ECG diagram. 
         [0012]    Benefits of the present invention are as following. 
         [0013]    Because the sensing electrode is a printed electrode formed of conductive ink, no solder process is needed while manufacturing, the overall manufacturing process is more simplified and the costs are relatively lower than manufacturing conventional electrodes. 
         [0014]    The insert portion of the sensing pad transmits the electrical signals received by the sensing pad to a device capable of receiving and processing signals, such as an ECG device, through a connector. Therefore, the insert portion does not need to be directly plugged into an ECG device; no debris of the insert portion will be left in the plug of the device, which easily causes damages. 
         [0015]    The conventional ECG patches are designed to attach on user&#39;s chests one by one in proper position. It is troublesome to allocate these ECG patches at proper positions to receive correct electrical signals. On the contrary, the present invention provides integrated multiple sensing electrodes on one sensing pad to reduce the procedure of installing the sensing electrodes on human&#39;s body. The present invention provides a simpler and easier way to place sensing electrodes at proper positions. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0016]    The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings. 
           [0017]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating a first preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0018]      FIG. 2  is an exploded diagram illustrating a sensing pad and an extended electrode structure according to the first embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0019]      FIG. 3  is an exploded diagram illustrating a connector according to the first embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0020]      FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the connector according to the first embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0021]      FIG. 5  is a top view of a housing according to the first embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0022]      FIG. 6  is a partial plane view of where an electric wire connects to the sensing pad according to the first embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0023]      FIG. 7  is a plane view of a well-packaged electric conductive sensing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0024]      FIG. 8  is an exploded diagram illustrating a sensing pad and an extended electrode structure according to a second embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0025]      FIG. 9  is a plane view partially enlarging an insert portion of according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0026]    The structure and technical features of the present invention will now be described in considerable detail with reference to some embodiments and the accompanying drawings thereof, so that the present invention can be easily understood. 
         [0027]    Please refer to  FIG. 1  illustrating a first embodiment of the present invention, which provides an electric conductive sensing device including ECG electrode patches. The electric conductive sensing device includes a sensing pad  10 , a connector  20  combined with the sensing pad  10 , and three extended electrode structures  30  connected to the sensing pad  10 . Number of the extended electrode structures  30  is not limited to three. 
         [0028]    Referring to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 3 , the sensing pad  10  has a rear sheet  11 . The rear sheet  11  is a flexible horizontal rectangular sheet. The front side of the rear sheet  11  is adhesive. A front sheet  12  is disposed on the front side of the rear sheet  11 , and the front sheet  12  is a flexible sheet having the identical shape with the rear sheet  11 . The periphery of the backside of the front sheet  12  is adhered with the periphery of the front side of the rear sheet  11 , and the front side of the front sheet  12  is adhesive. Seven openings  121  are located along the horizontal extension direction of the front sheet  12 . The openings  121  may be circular holes, and an electric film  13  is sandwiched between the front sheet  12  and the rear sheet  11 . The electric film  13  is a flexible rectangular plastic film, where the area of the electric film  13  is smaller than the area of the front sheet  12  and the rear sheet  11 . An insert portion  131  is extended downwardly from the middle of the bottom side of the electric film  13 . The insert portion  131  is a rectangular plastic film, and the insert portion  131  is protruded out of the bottom edges of the rear sheet  11  and the front sheet  12 . Two positioning protrusions  132  are respectively protruded from the left side and the right side of the insert portion  131 . 
         [0029]    Corresponding to each of the seven openings  121 , a sensing electrode  14  is formed at the front side of the electric film  13 . The sensing electrodes  14  are formed of conductive ink and are printed on the surface of the electric film  13 . The sensing electrodes  14  are circular and each of the sensing electrodes  14  is exposed from the opening  121 . Corresponding to the number of the sensing electrodes  14 , seven first terminals  141  are formed on the insert portion  131 . The seven first terminals  141  are spaced horizontally. Each of the first terminals  141  is formed of conductive ink and is printed on the surface of the insert portion  131 . Each of the first terminals  141  is connected to the corresponding sensing electrode  14  by a first electric circuit  142 . The first electric circuit  142  is formed of conductive ink and is printed on the surface of the electric film  13 . Each of the openings  121  is covered by a conductive gel  15 . Each of the conductive gels  15  is contacted with a sensing electrode  14  for electrically connecting with the sensing electrode  14 . 
         [0030]    Three connecting electrodes  16  are formed at the front side of the electric film  13 , where each of the connecting electrodes  16  is a conductive ink electrode printed on the surface of the electric film  13 . The connecting electrode  16  is circular shaped and the area of each connecting electrode  16  is larger than the area of the corresponding sensing electrode  14 . Corresponding with the number of the connecting electrodes  16 , three second terminals  161 , which are spaced horizontally with the seven first terminals  141 , are formed on the insert portion  131 . Each of the second terminals  161  is a conductive ink terminal printed on the surface of the electric film  13 . A second electrical circuit  162  is connected between each of the second terminals  161  and the corresponding connecting electrodes  16 . The second electrical circuit  162  is a conductive ink circuit printed on the surface of the electric film  13 . 
         [0031]    Referring to  FIG. 3  to  FIG. 5 , the connector  20  has a housing  21 , the bottom of the housing  21  has a port  211 , the top of the housing  21  has an assembling recess  212 . A tongue slot  213  is penetrated throughout the assembling recess  212  and the port  211 ; two positioning grooves  214  are respectively located at the both sides of the tongue slot  213 . A lower inclined plane  215  is interiorly formed at the front side of the assembling recess  212 , the edge of the top of the front side of the housing  21  has a notch  216  joining the lower inclined plane  215 . 
         [0032]    The electric conductive sensing device also includes a tongue plate  22 , where the tongue plate  22  is a rectangular circuit board and is penetrated through the tongue slot  213 . The bottom of the tongue plate  22  is inserted into the port  211 . The tongue plate  22  has two positioning flanges  221  respectively protruded from the left side and the right side of the tongue plate  22 , the two positioning flanges  221  are respectively received by the two positioning grooves  214  thereby positioning the tongue plate  22  inside the housing  21 . The surface of the tongue plate  22  has seven spaced first output terminals  222  horizontally spaced with three second output terminals  223 . The insert portion  131  of the sensing pad  10  is inserted into the notch  216 , along the lower inclined plane  215 , and finally lapping the upper surface of the tongue plate  22 . The two positioning protrusions  132  of the insert portion  131  are respectively received by the two positioning grooves  214 , thereby positioning the insert portion  131  inside the housing  21 , electrically connecting each of the first terminals  141  to the corresponding first output terminal  222 , and electrically connecting each of the second terminals  161  to the corresponding second output terminal  223 . 
         [0033]    A pressing block  23  is located in the assembling recess  212  of the housing  21 , and has a pressing portion  231  horizontally protruded toward a side of a surface of the tongue plate  22 . The pressing portion  231  presses against the insert portion  131  thereby tightly pressing the insert portion  131  of the sensing pad  10  against the surface of the tongue plate  22 . The top of the housing  21  is detachably capped by a cap  24 , where the cap  24  is abutted against the top of the pressing block  23  for aiding the pressing block  23  being positioned inside the assembling recess  212 . The bottom of the cap  24  has an upper inclined plane  241  to be fitted with the lower inclined plane  215 , and the insert portion  131  of the sensing pad  10  is sandwiched between the upper inclined plane  241  and the lower inclined plane  215 . 
         [0034]    Please refer to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 6 ; each of the extended electrode structures  30  has a button electrode  31 , in which each of the button electrodes  31  is connected to an electric wire  32 . The electric wire  32  can be conductive yarn or a metal wire. The outer end of the electric wire  32  is in between the rear sheet  11  and the front sheet  12  of the sensing pad  10 , where the outer end of the electric wire  32  is contacted with and electrically connected to the connecting electrode  16 . A conductive membrane  33  is adhered to the surface of the connecting electrode  16 , and the outer end of the electric wire  32  is cladded by the conductive membrane  33 . A fixing patch  34  is adhered to the outer side of the conductive membrane  33 , in which the periphery of the fixing patch  34  is adhered to the surface of the electric film  13  for positioning the conductive membrane  33  and the outer end of the electric wire  32 . 
         [0035]    Please refer to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 3 . While using the present invention, taking the first preferred embodiment as an example, the front side of the front sheet  12  is adhesive, so that the sensing pad  10  can be adhered to the chest of the person to be tested. Further, seven conductive gels  15  are contacted with the skin of the chest of the person, and the button electrodes  31  of the three extended electrode structures  30  are respectively adhered to the chest of the person to be tested. 
         [0036]    As a result, the tiny electric stimulations arose from heartbeats can be detected by the seven sensing electrodes  14  and the three button electrodes  31  of the sensing pad  10  through human chest skin. These tiny electric stimulations are then being transferred to the first output terminal  222  and the second output terminal  223  of the connector  20  through the first terminal  141  and the second terminal  161  of the sensing pad  10 . Hence, while the port  211  of the connector  20  is inserted into an ECG device, these electric signals needed for generating an ECG diagram can be then transferred to and processed via the ECG device. 
         [0037]    One of the benefits of the present invention is that the sensing electrode  14  of the sensing pad  10  is physically electrically connected to the first electric circuit  142 , and the electric wires  32  of each extended electrode structure  30  are adhesively electrically connected to the corresponding connecting electrodes  16 , no solder process is needed. Therefore the manufacturing costs can be effectively reduced and the overall cost of the end-product can be lower. 
         [0038]    Furthermore, the first and second terminals  141 / 161  of the insert portion  131  are conductive ink terminals, if the insert portion  131  is directly inserted into a receiving slot of an ECG device, debris generated during physical frictions of the insertion from the first and second terminals  141 / 161  might be remained in the receiving slot of the ECG device, thus causing damages. Oppositely, the insert portion  131  of the present invention is connected to the receiving slot of an ECG device through the connector  20 , thus no debris will be generated, and damages of the ECG device can be avoided. 
         [0039]    Please refer to  FIG. 7 , while packaging the electric conductive sensing device according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention, the device can be fixed on an adhesive film  40 . The adhesive film  40  is a rectangular plastic film. The sensing pad  10  and the connector  20  are adhered to the middle of the adhesive film  40 . The adhesive film  40  has three rectangular insertion plates  41  located around the peripheral portion of the adhesive film  40 . Each of the extended electrode structures  30  and the button electrodes  31  are adhered to the middle of the insertion plate  41 . Corresponding to the four corners of each insertion plate  41 , four cutting edges  401  are formed on the adhesive film  40 . The four corners of each insertion plate  41  are inserted into the corresponding cutting edges in order to be positioned. The entire electric conductive sensing device according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention can thus be positioned and packaged on the adhesive film  40 . 
         [0040]    While the present invention is being used as ECG patches, such as the aforementioned first preferred embodiment, seven sensing electrodes  14  and three connecting electrodes  16  are located on the sensing pad  10 , and the three connecting electrodes  16  are used for connecting three extended electrode structures  30 . Besides, the number of the sensing electrodes  14  on the sensing pad  10  is not limited to seven; it can be any number more than one. Likewise, the number of the connecting electrode  16  of the sensing pad  10  and the corresponding extended electrode structures  30  can be other than three, more specifically, it can be any number more than one. The position of the sensing electrodes  14  and the connecting electrodes  16  on the electric film  13  can be altered according to different practical uses according to where the electric stimulations are detected. 
         [0041]    According to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention mentioned above, the electric film  13  of the sensing pad  10  is a plastic film. The sensing electrodes  14 , the first terminals  141 , and the first electric circuit  142  can be formed of conductive ink and printed on the surface of the electric film  13 . Other than that, the electric film  13  can also be a flexible printed circuit board by using metal membranes on the flexible printed circuit board to form terminals and electric circuits. Each of such terminals can be connected to the aforementioned button electrodes  31  through wires by soldering, as exemplified in  FIGS. 8 and 9  according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0042]    The structure of the aforementioned first preferred embodiment can not only be used as ECG patches, but also be used as transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation patches by inserting port  211  of the connector  20  into an electrical stimulator. In this instance, electric currents generated from the electrical stimulator can be transferred to human body via the sensing electrodes  14  and the button electrodes  31 , thereby enhancing blood circulation, eliminating fatigue, relieving muscle pain, or training muscle. 
         [0043]    According to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention, the sensing pad  10  has a rear sheet  11 A that is adhesive, and the front side of the rear sheet  11 A has a front sheet  12 A. The front sheet  12 A has the identical shape with the rear sheet  11 A, so that the periphery of the backside of the front sheet  12 A can be exactly matched with and adhered to the periphery of the front side of the rear sheet  11 A. The front side of the front sheet  12 A is adhesive. Seven openings  121 A are located along the horizontal extension direction of the front sheet  12 A. An electric film  13 A is sandwiched between the front sheet  12 A and the rear sheet  11 A. The electric film  13 A is a flexible printed circuit board. The area of the electric film  13 A is smaller than the area of the rear sheet  11 A or the front sheet  12 A. An insert portion  131 A is extended downwardly from the middle of the bottom side of the electric film  13 A. The insert portion  131 A is protruded out of the bottom edge of the rear sheet  11 A and the front sheet  12 A. Two positioning protrusions  132 A are respectively protruded from the left side and the right side of the insert portion  131 A. 
         [0044]    Corresponding to each of the seven openings  121 A, a sensing electrode  14 A is formed at the front side of the electric film  13 A. The sensing electrodes  14 A are formed of conductive ink and are printed on the surface of the electric film  13 A. Each of the sensing electrodes  14 A is exposed from the opening  121 A. Corresponding to the number of the sensing electrodes  14 A, seven first terminals  141 A are formed on the insert portion  131 A. The seven first terminals  141  are spaced horizontally. Each of the first terminals  141 A is a metal membrane terminal formed on the surface of the insert portion  131 A. Each of the first terminals  141 A is connected to the corresponding sensing electrode  14 A by a first electric circuit  142 A. Each of the first electrical circuit  142 A is a metal membrane circuit formed inside the electric film  13 A. An exposing end  1421 A is formed where each of the first electrical circuit  142 A is connected to each of the sensing electrodes  14 A. Each exposing end  1421 A is covered by and electrically connected to a corresponding sensing electrode  14 A. Each of the opening ends  121 A is covered by a conductive gel  15 A, where each of the conductive gels  15 A is electrically connected to a corresponding sensing electrode  14 A by contacting with the corresponding sensing electrode  14 A. 
         [0045]    Three connecting electrodes  16 A is formed at the front side of the electric film  13 A. Each of the connecting electrodes  16 A is a metal membrane electrode. Corresponding to the number of the connecting electrodes  16 A, three second terminals  161 A, which are spaced horizontally with the seven first terminals  141 A, are formed on the insert portion  131 A. Each of the second terminals  161 A is a metal membrane terminal formed on the surface of the insert portion  131 A. Each of the second terminals  161 A is connected to the corresponding connecting electrode  16 A by a second electric circuit  162 A. The second electric circuit  162 A is metal membrane circuit formed inside the electric film  13 A. 
         [0046]    Three extended electrode structures  30 A are provided in correspond with the three connecting electrodes  16 A. Each of the extended electrode structures  30 A has a button electrode  31 A. Each button electrode  31 A is connected to an electric wire  32 A. The outer end of each of the electric wires  32  is in between the rear sheet  11 A and the front sheet  12 A of the sensing pad  10 A, where the outer end of the electric wire  32 A is soldered thereby electrically connecting to the connecting electrode  16 A. 
         [0047]    The rest of the structures of the second preferred embodiment of the present invention, such as the connecting structure of the insert portion  131 A of the sensing pad  10 A and the connector  20 , the structure of positioning the sensing pad  10 A and the three extended electrode structures  30 A onto the adhesive film  40 , and the way to practice is similar to the first embodiment and need not be repeated here. 
         [0048]    Although the present disclosure has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain embodiments thereof, other embodiments are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present disclosure without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present disclosure cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims.