referring now in more detail to the drawings , in which like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views , fig1 and fig3 show a capacitive type sensor 10 according to the prior art as disclosed by johnson in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 469 , 145 . referring first to fig1 the capacitive sensor 10 is shown in section to be comprised of a housing 12 in which space is provided for circuit components 14 , not shown in detail . the housing 12 is generally round and contains a space 15 for an audible alarm , such as a speaker or buzzer , not shown . affixed to the outside of the housing 12 and positioned in facing contact with garment 20 is a first conductive plate 16 and a second conductive plate 17 . referring additionally to fig3 interleaved plates 16 and 17 , separated by a dielectric ( air ), form a capacitor , which is mounted upon a common , non - conductive substrate 18 . the exposed capacitive sensor 10 is held with its conductive fingers 16 and 17 in facing contact with garment 19 by means of an adhesive patch , not shown . in contrast to the prior art capacitive type wetness sensor 10 , fig2 and 4 depict the completely encased , capacitive type sensor 20 of the present invention . referring first to fig2 capacitive sensor 20 is shown in section to be comprised of a housing 22 in which space is provided for circuit components 24 , not shown in detail . the housing 22 is generally rectangular but could be made round or any other shape that would accommodate the necessary internal circuitry 24 , as well . the internal circuitry 24 , as more specifically detailed in fig9 below , is mounted upon one side of p . c . board 32 . on the opposite side and affixed to p . c . board 32 are located a first conductive plate 26 and a second conductive plate 28 . conductive plates 26 and 28 are preferably formed from the conductive foil which comprises one side of p . c . board 32 , but could alternately be formed from other conductive plates which may be adhered to or otherwise affixed to one side of the p . c . board . it is also envisioned that the two conductive plates 26 and 28 may ultimately be replaced by a one piece capacitive sensor which may be electrically coupled to the remaining sensor circuitry . as can be seen from fig2 the capacitive sensor 20 is totally contained within housing 22 , thus protecting it from becoming soiled and coming into contact with the fingers or skin of the wearer which could cause false triggering . referring additionally now to fig4 non - interleaved plates 26 and 28 , separated by a dielectric ( air ), form a capacitor c2 for use in the capacitive sensing circuit 68 detailed in fig9 below . the substantially solid plate design of the present invention , as opposed to the interleaved fingers shown in the prior art in fig3 has been shown to provide a much more sensitive capacitive arrangement with a much greater dynamic range and which requires no additional amplification in order to function as a capacitive sensor c2 as depicted in fig9 below . for example , the increase in capacitance is roughly around 50 %, e . g ., the range for the interleaved sensor the capacitance is around 36 picofarad dry ( pf ) and 53pf wet . this represents a dynamic range of about 47 %. in contrast , with the capacitive design of the present invention the range of capacitance between dry and wet is typically from around 0 . 2 pf dry to around 6 pf wet , i . e ., representing around 2900 % dynamic range . the wetness sensor 20 is secured in facing contact with garment 19 by means of an adhesive pouch , not shown . alternately , sensor 20 may be attached to garment 19 by using clips , adhesive patches , pre - formed pockets in the garment or other means designed to keep the sensor in close proximity to an area of the garment which is to be monitored for wetness . before discussing the specific circuitry employed by the wetness sensor 20 of the present invention , it may be helpful to contrast the operation of the more common parallel plate capacitor with the co - planar capacitor employed in the present invention and how two electrodes , as at 26 and 28 in fig2 may be effective for non - contact detection of wetness . referring to fig5 it can be seen that the basic structure of a parallel plate capacitor 40 consists of two plates 41 , 43 fixed in parallel to one another separated by a dielectric 42 . the value of capacitance depends upon the geometry of the plates 41 , 43 of the capacitor as well as the dielectric value of the insulator 42 between them . assuming that the electrodes are of the same size , the value of capacitance ( c ) of a parallel plate capacitor , as depicted in fig5 can be generally determined by the formula : ε r = relative permittivity ( dielectric constant ) with respect to air c f = capacitance caused by the fringing effect of the electric field between the two electrodes . the value of c f is usually very small and can be ignored . in practice , the value of ε o in free space is essentially the same as that for a gas ( e . g ., for air , ε o = 1 . 000536 ). the majority of liquid and solid dielectric materials have dielectric constants ( ε r ) extending from approximately 2 to 10 , e . g . plastic is about 2 . 5 . however some liquids have much higher values , such as alcohol ( ε r = 24 ), distilled water ( ε r = 80 ) and salt water ( ε r & lt ; 80 ). referring now to fig6 the general geometry of a capacitor 44 having co - planar electrodes 45 , 46 is there depicted . with respect to the present invention , electrodes 45 , 46 correspond with electrodes 26 , 28 shown in fig2 mounted upon a printed circuit board 25 . the electrodes are separated by an insulator ( air ) 48 . the capacitive value of the co - planar capacitor ( c total ), which corresponds to the value of capacitor c2 in fig9 can be determined using the following formula : c static depends upon : the distance ( d ) between the two electrodes 45 , 46 ; the length ( l ) of the electrodes ;, the thickness ( h ) of the electrodes ; the dielectric constant ( ε r ) of the insulator between the electrodes ; the fringing effect ( c f ); and the stray capacitance ( c stray ). therefore , c static may be determined by the following formula : ε r = relative permittivity ( dielectric constant ) with respect to air c f = capacitance caused by the fringing effect of the electric field between the two electrodes . the value of c f is usually very small and can be ignored . the capacitive value for c dynamic is the actual sensing component of formula ( 2 ) which depends upon the following variables : the dielectric of the sensed media in proximity to the electrodes ( ε rm ); the distance of the sensed media to the electrodes ( y ); the area of the electrode adjacent to the sensed media ( l * x ); and the dielectric constant value of the insulator between the electrodes and the sensed media ( ε rp ). referring additionally to fig7 the c dynamic has two components c r and c d , and may be determined by the following formula : where c d = the capacitance caused by the dielectric constant of the media ( ε rm ) and c r is the capacitance caused by the conductivity of the media . the value of c r may be determined by the following formula : ignoring the small fringing effect capacitance ( c f ), equation ( 2 ) may be rewritten as follows : by design , the effect of the first two terms of equation ( 6 ), ( ε o ε r ( x * h )/ d + c stray ) can be reduced , thus increasing the effect of the last two terms , ( c d + ε o ε rp ( x * l )/ 2y ). an experiment was conducted to confirm the validity of equation ( 6 ). two coplanar electrodes were etched on a printed circuit board in much the same fashion as 25 depicted in fig4 each of the electrodes having the following characteristics : the etched , co - planar capacitive sensor 25 was then connected to an oscillating voltage of 3vdc at 12 khz in a circuit such that the output voltage could be monitored . a plastic container , similar to that depicted at 50 in fig6 having a wall thickness of 0 . 015 in , was placed in proximity to the etched sensor 25 and alternately filled with various liquid materials . the circuit output voltage was recorded for each of the various liquids which were placed in proximity to the sensor . these values are shown in table 1 . table 1______________________________________ change withmedia v . sub . out ( mv ) respect to air ( mv ) ______________________________________air ( empty ) 320 0alcohol 540 220water ( h . sub . 2 o ) 836 516salt water 1230 910mercury ( hg ) 1320 1000______________________________________ the measured values for v out as recorded in table 1 may be explained by referring back to fig7 . mercury ( hg ) is a very good conductor , so essentially resistance r = 0 , and capacitance c d = 0 and would thus drop out of the equivalent circuit shown , leaving only c r1 and capacitances c r2 and c static . therefore the mercury set as the third plate to make the two capacitors in series with the dielectric of the container 50 . the measured output of the sensor 25 with mercury in the container 50 was approximately 1320 mvdc . with respect to water ( h 2 o )), while initially it is pure , it contaminates quickly . under ideal conditions , the equivalent circuit for water would be that capacitances c r1 and c r2 and resistance r would drop out of the circuit shown in fig7 thus leaving c d in parallel with c static . the measured output of the sensor 25 with water in the container 50 was approximately 836 mvdc . next , salt ( nacl ) was added to the water . with the salt added , the voltage output raised from 836 to 1230 mvdc . while the dielectric of the salt water decreased the output voltage of the circuit increased . this is due to a corresponding decrease in the resistivity of the water . fig7 shows the equivalent circuit . the percentage increase can be shown by the following formula : alcohol was also tested because it has a lower dielectric constant than water and because it is not conductive . referring to fig7 the equivalent circuit for alcohol would be the capacitances c r1 and c r2 with resistance r dropping out of the circuit , thus leaving capacitance c d in parallel with c static . pure water produced an output voltage of 836 mvdc . alcohol produced a voltage of 540 mvdc . subtracting the vout empty from each of these results yields the following outputs attributable to the liquids alone : vout alcohol = 220 mvdc and vout water = 516 mvdc . the ratio of outputs of water to alcohol is 516 / 220 = 2 . 4 . the corresponding relationship between their respective dielectric constants is 80 / 24 = 3 . 33 . these two ratios approximate one another . analysis of table 1 is shown to be attributable to the conductivity of the materials and not just their respective dielectric constants . in the application of the co - planar sensor 25 in the detection of wetness within a garment 19 , the following tests were conducted . referring to fig2 copper electrodes 26 , 28 were etched onto a printed circuit ( p . c .) board 32 of a composite , fiber - reinforced type . a ground line 30 is also etched onto the p . c . board 32 to minimize the capacitance of c static . the p . c . board was 0 . 062 in thick and had a dielectric constant of 3 . 4 . the p . c . board 32 was fitted with electronic components generally at 24 . the populated circuit board 32 and sensor 25 were then mounted within a housing 22 . the housing 22 was made of plastic having a thickness of 0 . 020 &# 34 ; and had a dielectric constant ( ε rp ) of 2 . 5 . the housing 22 was then placed against a plastic , disposable diaper , shown generally at 19 . the plastic diaper cover was measured to be 0 . 003 in and had a dielectric constant ( ε rd ) of 1 . 5 . all dielectric constants were determined experimentally . the electrical model for the above wetness detector 20 being placed in contact with a disposable diaper 19 is depicted in fig8 . capacitance c d is the capacitance caused by the dielectric constant of urine ( ε r & lt ; 80 ). c p1 and c p2 are the capacitances created by the housing 22 in the presence of urine in the garment 19 according to the following formula : where ε rp = 2 . 5 and the thickness of the housing is 0 . 020 in . capacitance c d1 and c d2 are the capacitances caused by the garment 19 in the presence of urine according to the formula : where ε rd = 1 . 5 and the thickness of the plastic cover of the diaper is 0 . 003 in . for urine , the value of resistance r is assumed to be 0 since urine is a very good conductor the capacitance c r is the value of c p in series with c d for each of the two electrodes . in the above described test the value of capacitance c r can be computed as follows : from the test using pure water and salt water , it was shown that there was a 47 % increase in the voltage output . therefore , capacitance c d is equal to approximately 17 . 9 pf . the value of capacitance c static is the inherent capacitance of the circuitry , which can be nullified by zeroing circuitry , discussed below . from these calculations , it can be seen that the dynamic range of the sensor can be increased by increasing the value of ε rp . referring now to fig9 the electronic circuit for the capacitive wetness sensor 20 is shown generally at 60 . functionally identifiable circuit components are shown there using dashed lines . the first circuit component is oscillator 64 which , in the preferred embodiment , has been designed for a frequency output of around 12 khz . there it can be seen that the circuit is powered by vcc , which in the preferred embodiment is an on - board 3 volt battery . the circuit has also been designed for very low power consumption because it is desirable that the battery operated capacitive sensor 60 function a long time between battery changes . comparator u1a , available commercially as part number lmc6762 , is a cmos comparator which consumes about 10 μa per op amp . the oscillator basically oscillates at a frequency determined by the values of resistor r1 and capacitor c1 connected between the output pin and the &# 34 ;-&# 34 ; pin of u1a according to the formula 1 / 1 . 4 ( r1 )( c1 ). resistors r2 , r3 and r4 connected to the &# 34 ;+&# 34 ; pin of u1a , are provided to set a bias for op amp u1a . the connection of r2 between the &# 34 ;+&# 34 ; input and the output pin of u1a , test point f , provides the feedback loop which causes u1a to oscillate , providing a pulsed , 3vdc output . the circuit design takes into account the slew rate , or rise time , of pulsed output from u1a , which is rated at a nominal 300 ns . the values for r2 , r3 and r4 are chosen to be high in order to keep the current consumption low , thereby conserving power . referring additionally to fig1 , the pulsed output waveform from oscillator circuit 64 at test point f is shown . looking once again to fig9 the output of oscillator circuit 64 is shown to be connected to capacitive sensor circuit 68 . the sensor circuit 68 is comprised of capacitor c2 , ( shown at 25 in fig4 ), coupled to resistor r6 and r5 . this combination of components forms a differentiator , the wave form of which is shown graphically as fig1 . resistor r5 determines the time constant because resistor r6 is very small compared to resistor r5 . resistor r6 is provided to protect the &# 34 ;+&# 34 ; input of op amp u1b . referring additionally to fig4 the capacitive sensor 25 is basically comprised of two electrodes , nominally 0 . 5 in × 1 . 5 in , set together in the same plane separated by a space , nominally 0 . 075 in . the sensitivity of the capacitive sensor 25 is not a function of the distance between electrodes 26 , 28 , however the gap between electrodes is kept small to conserve on space . the electrodes 26 , 28 of the capacitor may be comprised of copper foil on one side of a printed circuit board 32 upon which the sensor circuit 60 components are mounted . alternately , the electrodes could be fabricated from other conductive materials and mounted to a common substrate , such as at 32 . as shown in fig4 a ground line 30 is provided between the two electrodes 26 , 28 of capacitor c2 which provides a common circuit ground without encroaching upon the surface area of the electrodes . to conserve on space , sensor circuit 60 utilizes mostly surface - mount components . alternately , a custom made integrated circuit could be fabricated to replace the sensor circuit 60 components . the central ground line 30 also eliminates some effect of the initial value of the capacitance affects associated with the edges of the two electrodes 26 , 28 . the input to capacitor c2 is a 3 . 0v peak square wave pulses at 12 khz . referring to fig1 , the output waveforms of the sensor circuit 68 , at test point d , when dry , such as at time t 0 through t 1 , are both positive and negative going voltage spikes of around 100 mv . when wet , such as at time t 1 through t 3 , the peak amplitude of the signal will increase to around 3 - 4 times greater than as when dry , to around 400 mv , depending upon the value of resistor r5 . r5 is of critical value since it cannot be made too high a value because of noise . on the other hand , it needs to be a value which will produce a voltage of sufficient amplitude to trigger the next section of sensor circuit 60 , the peak detector circuit 72 . the output of sensor circuit 60 is provided to the input of peak detector / bridge circuit 72 at the &# 34 ;+&# 34 ; pin of op amp u1b . related to peak detector circuit 72 is zeroing circuit 74 which is comprised of capacitor c3 and c6 . this circuit is connected to the negative input of u1b for zeroing the initial value of the voltage at test point p . the voltage value at test point p is a vdc value which corresponds to reference voltage values of representing a &# 34 ; dry &# 34 ; condition and a &# 34 ; wet &# 34 ; condition . for a corresponding waveform of the voltages at test point p , reference may be had to fig1 . initially , the d . c . voltage level at test point p is ideally close to 0vdc . this voltage level is somewhat variable by adjustment of capacitor c3 . the effect of adjusting c3 in combination with fixed capacitor c6 is to eliminate much of the stray circuit capacitance caused by the presence of components on the opposite side of p . c . board 32 from the foil electrodes 26 , 28 of the sensor capacitor c2 25 . the combined capacitance of capacitors c3 and c6 is the zeroing capacitance provided to resistors r7 and r8 . resistors r8 and r5 are of the same value and resistors r6 and r7 are provided as equal values in order to balance the peak detector / bridge of op amp u1b in such a way as it is always constant . the only change in the balance of the bridge is between the wetness and dryness states . the voltage waveform of the circuit at test point r is shown in fig1 . the peak d . c . voltage out of the peak circuitry 72 , at test point p , is basically the d . c . voltage corresponding to an initial value of about 25 mv by finely adjusting capacitor c3 . when the circuit has been adjusted to produce a 25 mv initial output to represent a &# 34 ; dry &# 34 ; condition , the peak value output of the original 400 mvdc pulses is affected to be 200 mvdc in the presence of a &# 34 ; wet &# 34 ; condition . this represents an eight - fold ( 0 . 025 : 0 . 200 ) voltage shift between a dry and wet states . while this peak detection and zeroing is the expense of cutting down the peak voltage level from 400 mvdc to 200 mvdc , there is a significant increase in the dynamic range between wet and dry conditions -- from 4 : 1 to 8 : 1 . still referring to fig9 diode d1 is a forward biased standard peak detection diode which operates only when the output from u1b is positive . resistor r9 is provided to prevent the overshoot of the peak detector circuit 72 . an important aspect of the peak detector circuit 72 is capacitor network formed by parallel capacitors c5 and c10 . the network formed by capacitor c5 and resistor r16 is provided to perform peak detection . capacitor c5 stores the peak voltage value that was detected and is large enough to provide a large enough time constant , in combination with resistor r16 , to prevent false triggering of the circuit should wetness sensor 20 loose contact with the surface of the garment 19 to which it is attached . in one embodiment of the invention the rc time constant is nominally set to around 44 seconds (( c5 + c10 )× r16 = 20 μf × 2 . 2 mω = 44 secs .). the amount of time that the voltage is stored is an important factor in the present invention in order to minimize the number of false dryness indications that might occur during temporary shifts of the wearer of a wet garment 19 with respect to wetness sensor 20 . in contrast , if the rc time constant were designed to be short and the wearer of the garment 19 were to play with wetness sensor 20 , i . e ., move it up and down , this could result in a multi - triggering of the transmitter circuit 78 , discussed infra . for example , referring to fig1 , time t 3 represents the moment at which wetness sensor 25 is temporarily removed from the surface of garment 19 . the dashed line beginning at time t 3 represents the discharge of an rc network having a short delay . in this respect the faster discharging circuit will arrive at v low sooner than a slower discharging rc network , as incorporated into the preferred embodiment by resistor r16 and capacitor c5 . as can be seen from fig1 , the output of the peak detector , at test point p , is a solid d . c . voltage . the zeroed and peak detected voltage at test point p is , in turn , provided to comparator / hysteresis circuit 76 . the comparator / hysteresis circuit 76 is centered around comparator u2a , such as may be provided commercially as a model lmc6762 . resistor r12 is connected between the output of the comparator u2a and the positive input to provide positive feedback to u2a . the v ref is a dynamic voltage value corresponding to v low or v high which is dependent upon the output of comparator u2a . capacitor c4 is provided between the positive input to u2a and ground in order to filter out some of the a . c . noise in the circuit . the peak voltage value , from test point p , derived from the previous circuit section is fed into the negative input of comparator u2a . the value of the peak voltage is compared to the value of the v ref d . c . voltage provided by network of resistors r10 , r11 , r12 and r13 . in a dry , steady state condition the output of op amp u2a , at test point h , is high . the waveform for test point h is depicted in fig1 . the voltage values of the &# 34 ; wet &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; dry &# 34 ; triggering points in the circuit are designated v high and v low . v high may be computed as follows : v high = r s /( r s + r p )× v cc , where r s = the series resistance of resistors r11 and r13 , and r p = the parallel resistance of resistors r10 and r12 . v low = r p ( r p + r10 )× v cc , where rp = the parallel resistance of r s and r12 . the value of r13 is about 3 kω and resistor ri i in one embodiment of the invention is set to around 16 kω . therefore , when the output of comparator u2a is high , the triggering point for the circuit is accordingly , v ref = v high = 104 mvdc . in operation , when the capacitive sensor 25 senses wetness , the comparator / hysteresis circuit 76 will respond in the following fashion . resistors r10 and r13 and r11 are fixed at their respective values . however , resistor r12 , normally at 3 vdc and in parallel with resistor r10 during the &# 34 ; dry &# 34 ; state , will go to ground . when resistor r12 runs to ground , it becomes in parallel with resistors r11 and r13 , and v ref now becomes v low = 52 mvdc . referring to fig1 , the comparator / hysteresis circuit 76 performs in the following fashion : the voltage output of comparator u2a is high ( from times t 0 through t 2 ) until voltage at test point p , i . e ., the output of the peak detector 72 reaches 104 mvdc ( at t 2 ), at which time the voltage out of comparator u2a goes to 0vdc ( when resistor r12 goes to ground ). once triggered , the output of u2a will continue to be 0vdc regardless of how much more wetness the detector senses , as shown in the fig1 from times t 2 through t 4 . once the wetness condition is removed , as at time t4 , the output of the comparator / hysteresis circuit 76 returns to its high state . the voltage zone between v high ( 104 mvdc ) and v low ( 52 mvdc ) is referred to as the hysteresis zone , wherein the state of the output of comparator u2a will not change from one to the other . when the wetness decreases , due to the source of the wetness being removed from the area of the sensor , such as at time t 3 , then the output of the peak detector will decrease . causes of decreased wetness sensing can include the removal of the wet garment 19 , diffusion of the liquid in the garment by absorption , evaporation , etc . or removal of the wetness sensor 25 from the surface of the garment . it is undesirable that small fluctuations in wetness would change the &# 34 ; wetness &# 34 ; state output from the u2a . otherwise , a wet garment 19 could go unattended or a monitoring receiver , as at 62 in fig1 , could see multiple triggers for a single incident . it is for this reason that the hysteresis designed into the comparator / hysteresis circuit 76 is important . the output of the comparator / hysteresis circuit 76 may be provided to inverter circuit 77 . in one embodiment of the invention this is desirable since the transmitter 78 used in the circuit used to notify a receiver 80 of a wetness condition in the presence of a &# 34 ; high &# 34 ; signal , while the output of comparator / hysteresis circuit 76 is &# 34 ; low &# 34 ; in the presence of a wetness condition . referring to fig1 and 11 , is can be seen that the voltage at test point i , that is the output of the inverter circuit 77 , is &# 34 ; low &# 34 ; when its input , at test point h , is &# 34 ; high &# 34 ; and vice versa . this circuit would not be necessary if a transmitter 78 was chosen which was active in the presence of a &# 34 ; low &# 34 ; output . in inverter circuit 77 , resistor r14 , connected between the output and positive input of u2b , provides positive feedback to the comparator . resistors r15 and r17 form a voltage divider network and are provided to supply the reference voltage to u2b . the circuit behavior is much the same as comparator / hysteresis circuit 76 except the negative input voltage value at comparator u2b is supplied as a digital value of either 0vdc or 3vdc . referring next to fig1 , the output of wetness sensor circuit 60 is provided to a battery operated transmitter 78 for signaling a remote receiver 80 of a wetness condition . the transmitter 78 is preferably of the 900 mhz type as is commercially available from inovanics corporation , as a model fa203s although other frequencies could be employed , as well . the transmitter 78 in one embodiment of the invention is addressable through the selection of dip switches or the like , such that the source of a transmitted signal may be identified . this is highly desirable in an application wherein a number of wetness sensors 20 may be employed , such as a nursing home , and it is important that each transmitted signal be easily identifiable . in this regard , monitoring personnel located at a receiver 80 can identify the source of the wetness signal and timely dispatch the appropriate care giver to attend to the removal of the wet garment 19 . in the preferred embodiment of the invention , the &# 34 ; wetness &# 34 ; signals arriving at receiver 80 are monitored by a computer ( cpu ) 82 and logged into a database using software , such as commercially available from zaggie , inc . as caretrac ™ software . in this regard a complete , time - stamped history of the patient in a nursing home , for example , may be kept automatically . this can help ensure that they are receiving proper care while also assisting the nursing staff by providing vital information regarding a patient &# 39 ; s bodily functions . in addition to maintaining a database of patient information , cpu 82 can also function to periodically remind care givers that a wet garment 19 still needs attention or that a given patient is not urinating regularly . the cpu 82 is preferably connected to a display 84 enabling the monitoring personnel to visually identify the source of the transmitted wetness signals , patient information database and the like . a printer 86 may be provided to create a hard copy of information displayed on the display 84 or to print reports from data contained in the cpu 82 database . additionally , a paging transmitter 88 may be in communication with cpu 82 such that pagers 90 , being worn by the care givers in a facility , may be automatically dialed by the cpu in the presence of a wetness condition and provided with the &# 34 ; address &# 34 ; of the source . in this fashion , the care givers may attend to the changing of wet garments 19 in a timely fashion without the requirement of interacting with the monitoring personnel . in the preferred embodiment of the invention , once the care giver has corrected the wetness condition at a particular patient &# 34 ; address &# 34 ;, that fact is sent to the receiver 80 , reflected upon display 84 and stored in the patient &# 39 ; s history by cpu 82 . additionally , the address of a wetness condition may be supplied by cpu 82 to first modem 89 which , in turn , is directed to communicate with a second cpu 92 via a second modem 91 . in this manner , a support and administration station may be kept informed as to the attention being provided to patients under the care of the facility . the invention has been disclosed and described herein in terms of preferred configurations and methodologies . however , it will be obvious to those of skill in the art that numerous variations of the illustrated embodiments could be implemented within the scope of the invention . for example , the transmitter 78 included in the preferred embodiment might easily be replaced with a visual indicator , such as a flashing led , or a small speaker device for audibly notifying an attendant when the garment becomes wet . further , in addition to the capacitive type sensor illustrated it is also envisioned that other types of sensors , such as resistive , inductive , thermal and photoelectric could be effectively implemented to perform the same functions in an acceptable way . these and other additions , deletions , and modifications might well be made to the exemplary embodiments illustrated herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims .
a garment diaper detector for detecting wetness conditions in diapers or undergarments comprising a capacitive sensor located within a housing and affixed to the exterior surface of the garment being monitored . the sensor is comprised of two substantially solid , coplanar conductor plates affixed to a common substrate and has a very high dynamic range . the inside of the garment becomes wet , the capacitance between the spaced conductors rises above a predetermined value whereupon the detector provides an output to a transmitter or an alarm . when the garment is being changed , the detector is removed from the exterior surface of the garment for reuse on the next . in one embodiment of the invention , multiple , uniquely addressed wetness detectors are employed to monitor the wetness conditions in a plurality of garments , such as in a hospital or nursing home . when a garment becomes wet , that unique address is transmitted to a central monitoring station which dispatches a care giver to change the garment . additionally , the central monitoring station may be equipped with a modem which communicates the address of wet garments to pagers worn by care givers .