The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 07, 2008
Filed:
May. 18, 2005
Jae S. Son, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA (US);
Tom Parks, Hermosa Beach, CA (US);
Jae S. Son, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA (US);
Tom Parks, Hermosa Beach, CA (US);
Pressure Profile Systems, Inc., Los Angeles, CA (US);
Abstract
A hybrid tactile sensor includes a flexible cloth-based tactile sensor array including a plurality of electrodes, each of the electrodes connected to a corresponding connecting zone of an intermediate connecting harness made from a flexible film such as Kapton®. The harness includes a common bundle of parallel conductors etched or printed onto the harness and connecting each of the connecting zones to a common terminal for further attaching to a control unit of the sensor. The use of the harness allows repeatable manufacturing of sensor arrays with large number of electrodes or when they are located close to each other. Each connecting zone may include an interconnecting pad for crimping, soldering, or adhering the electrode thereto using a conductive epoxy. Alternative embodiments describe the use of U-shaped malleable connectors, jumper wires including those equipped with U-shaped clips, and other means of attaching electrodes to corresponding connecting zones. The use of alternating connections with electrodes of the array allows to double the distance between individual electrodes available for making a connection.