Patent ID: 7161084

Claim:
A detector constructed from electrically conducting fabric and configured to present a varying electrical characteristic in response to a mechanical interaction, wherein a first conducting layer is displaced from a second conducting layer such that conduction between said conducting layers results when said conducting layers are mechanically forced together, wherein the first of said conducting layers has a plurality of lengths of conductive yarn and a plurality of lengths of non-conductive yarn machined therein, such that at least one length of conductive yarn is electrically isolated from another of said lengths of conductive yarn, a plurality of electrical conductors are connected to said conductive yarns in the first of said conducting layers thereby electrically grouping said conductive yarns to define a plurality of identifiable rows, thereby defining specific regions of the detector; each said identifiable row has one of said electrical conductors at each of its opposing ends, thereby allowing different electrical potentials to be applied to each end of conductive yarn within a row; and at least one identifiable row includes a plurality of lengths of conductive yarn in which one length of conductive yarn of the identifiable row is electrically isolated from another of said lengths of conductive yarn.