Electrically functional fabric for flexible electronics
AssigneeIntel Corporation
InventorsSasikanth Manipatruni, Shawna M. Liff, Brian S. Doyle, Vivek K. Singh
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Flexible electronically functional fabrics are described that allow for the placement of electronic functionality in flexible substrates such as traditional fabrics. The fabrics can be made using flexible electronically functional fibers or a combination of electronically functional fibers and textile fibers. Electronic devices can be incorporated into the fabric to give it full computing capabilities.
Claims31
A flexible electrically functional woven or non-woven fabric comprising:
- a plurality of textile fibers;
- and
- at least one flexible electrically functional fiber capable of one or both of providing energy storage and electrical interconnection to an electrical component, the at least one flexible electrically functional fiber comprising, for a given cross section,
- an embedding material, the embedding material being one of a dielectric, piezoelectric, and piezoluminescent material,
- a plurality of individual electrically functional fibers within the embedding material, such that the embedding material surrounds at least one of the plurality of individually electrically functional fibers, and
- an insulative layer surrounding the embedding material.
A flexible electrically functional woven or non-woven fabric comprising:
- a plurality of textile fibers;
- and
- at least one flexible electrically functional fiber capable of one or both of providing energy storage and electrical interconnection to an electrical component, the at least one flexible electrically functional fiber comprising
- a core portion having a cross-sectional width in the range of 1 nanometer (nm)-100 micrometers (μm),
- a first conductive and essentially metal layer surrounding the core portion,
- a dielectric layer surrounding the first conductive layer,
- a second conductive layer surrounding the dielectric layer, and
- an insulative layer surrounding the second conductive layer.
A method of making a woven electrically functional fabric, the method comprising:
- weaving a flexible electrically functional thread with a textile thread to form the electrically functional fabric, wherein the flexible electrically functional thread is capable of providing one or both of energy storage and electrical interconnection to an electrical component, and wherein the flexible electrically functional thread includes A or B,
- A including, for a given cross section,
- an embedding material, the embedding material being one of a dielectric, piezoelectric, and piezoluminescent material,
- a plurality of individual electrically functional threads within the embedding material, such that the embedding material surrounds at least one of the plurality of individually electrically functional threads, and
- an insulative layer surrounding the embedding material, and
- B including
- a core portion having a cross-sectional width in the range of 1 nanometer (nm)-100 micrometers (μm),
- a first conductive and essentially metal layer surrounding the core portion,
- a dielectric layer surrounding the first conductive layer,
- a second conductive layer surrounding the dielectric layer, and
- an insulative layer surrounding the second conductive layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.