ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE BANDAGE FOR USE WITH TOUCHSCREEN DEVICES
A bandage covers skin of a patient for the purpose of fostering healing. A touchscreen device normally utilizes conductivity of skin to sense location of a finger upon the touchscreen device. A bandage is disclosed enabling use of a touchscreen device. The bandage includes conductive material including a strand of silver material configured to conduct electricity from one point on the touchscreen device to another point on the touchscreen device.
1 . An apparatus comprising a bandage for placement upon skin of a patient and enabling use of a touchscreen device, the apparatus comprising:
the bandage comprising conductive material comprising strands of silver material configured to conduct electricity from one point on the touchscreen device to another point on the touchscreen device.
2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the bandage comprises:
adhesive on a first side of the bandage; and
a layer of conductive material upon a second side of the bandage.
3 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the layer of conductive material comprises a metallic foil.
4 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the layer of conductive material comprises a cloth layer comprising a metallic thread.
5 . The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the cloth layer is comprised entirely of metallic threads.
6 . The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the metallic threads are woven in a pattern wherein the metallic threads are retained in a straight shape, with threads interwoven at 90 degree angles.
7 . The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the metallic threads are woven in a pattern wherein the metallic threads are woven at angles, such that the cloth layer is configured to be stretchable.
8 . The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the cloth layer further comprises non-conductive threads.
9 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the non-conductive threads can make up a majority of a total number of threads in the cloth layer.
10 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the layer of conductive material comprises a cloth layer comprising a thread comprising a metallic fiber and a non-conductive fiber.
11 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the bandage comprises:
a conductive layer; and
a non-conductive layer.
12 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the non-conductive layer comes into contact with the touchscreen device and comprises a conductive zone permitting electrical conduction from the touchscreen device to the conductive layer.
13 . The apparatus if claim 11 , wherein the conductive layer wraps around at least one side of the bandage.
14 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the bandage comprises an absorbent pad comprising conductive material.
15 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the bandage comprises holes to permit air to pass through the bandage.
16 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the silver material is provided on an adhesive side of the bandage.
17 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a second non-silver conductive material is used on a non-adhesive side of the bandage.
18 . An electrically conductive bandage, comprising:
a thin, flexible, stretchable strip of electrically conductive material comprising a silver material, and
an adhesive side that faces and adheres to the skin.
19 . The bandage of claim 18 , wherein the electrically conductive material comprises a foil layer.
20 . The bandage of claim 18 , wherein the electrically conductive material comprises an electrically conductive cloth.