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US 10,772,209 B2Granted
Fabric with embedded electrical components
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsDaniel D. Sunshine, Daniel A. Podhajny, Kathryn P. Crews, Yohji Hamada
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Apparatus, comprising fabric (62) formed from fibers (74); and an electrical component (20) having first and second perpendicular fiber guiding structures, wherein a first of the fibers is soldered in the first fiber guiding structure and a second of the fibers is soldered in the second fiber guiding structure.
Claims31
An apparatus, comprising:
- fabric formed from fibers;
- and
- an electrical component having opposing upper and lower surfaces, a first fiber guiding structure in the upper surface, and a second fiber guiding structure in the lower surface, wherein the first and second fiber guiding structures are perpendicular, and wherein a first fiber of the fibers is soldered in the first fiber guiding structure and a second fiber of the fibers is soldered in the second fiber guiding structure.
An apparatus, comprising:
- woven fabric formed from warp and weft fibers;
- and
- an electrical component having first and second opposing surfaces and having first and second contacts on the first surface, wherein a first of the warp fibers is soldered to the first contact in a first fiber guiding structure and a second of the warp fibers is soldered to the second contact in a second fiber guiding structure and wherein at least one of the warp fibers in the fabric is an insulating warp fiber that lies between the first and second warp fibers and that contacts the second surface of the electrical component.
An electronic device, comprising:
- control circuitry;
- woven fabric having warp and weft fibers including non-conductive fibers, conductive warp fibers, and conductive weft fibers;
- and
- an array of electrical components controlled by signals that are provided by the control circuitry over the conductive warp fibers and the conductive weft fibers, each electrical component having a first groove with a first contact that is soldered to one of the conductive weft fibers, each having a second groove with a second contact that is soldered to one of the conductive warp fibers, and each having a non-conductive groove that guides a non-conductive fiber, wherein the first groove overlaps the second groove and is parallel to the non-conductive groove.
1 more element
An apparatus, comprising:
- fabric formed from fibers;
- and
- an electrical component mounted in the fabric during formation of the fabric, wherein the electrical component has first and second opposing sides, wherein the electrical component has at least a first contact coupled to a first of the fibers with a first electrical connection and a second contact coupled to a second of the fibers with a second electrical connection, wherein the first and second fibers are perpendicular, wherein the electrical component has a groove in the first side, wherein the first electrical connection is formed in the groove, and wherein the second electrical connection is formed at the second side.
A method for forming a fabric-based item, comprising:
- with fiber intertwining equipment, intertwining fibers to produce fabric;
- and
- while intertwining the fibers, mounting electrical components within the fabric by electrically connecting at least first and second contacts on each electrical component to respective first and second fibers among the fibers, wherein the electrical components each have first and second opposing sides, wherein the first and second contacts are located respectively in a first recess formed in the first side and a second recess formed in the second side, and wherein the first and second fibers are perpendicular.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.