Patent ID: 7337810

Claim:
An elastic multi-ply woven fabric stretchable from a retracted position into a plurality of elongated positions for use in a physiological sensing system comprising: a plurality of upper and lower textured elastic warp yarns arranged in vertically spaced positions; a plurality of elastic warp yarns arranged in transversely spaced positions along an intermediate plane; at least one inelastic conductive warp yarn extending longitudinally of said fabric in said intermediate plane between said upper and lower warp yarns, said conductive yarn being arranged in controlled sinusoidal configurations; a plurality of textured elastic core warp yarns extending longitudinally of said fabric along said intermediate plane in transversely spaced positions along opposing sides of said conductive warp yarn; a plurality of picks of inelastic weft yarn, first ones of said picks weaving with said upper warp yarns and second ones of said picks weaving with said lower warp yarns forming vertically spaced upper and lower outer surfaces across said fabric; third ones of said picks weaving with said at least one conductive warp yarn, said elastic warp yarns and said core warp yarns between said upper and lower outer surfaces forming an intermediate layer, said third ones of said picks and said core warp yarns and said elastic warp yarns positioning said conductive warp yarn in fixed longitudinal position along said intermediate layer and in sinusoidal configurations of said controlled sinusoidal configurations; wherein, said fabric may be extended longitudinally by between about 25% and 125% from its said retracted position into various of said elongated positions causing said controlled sinusoidal configurations of said conductive yarns to be altered consistent with the degree of said extension.