Fabric-Embedded Electrical Components for Bend-Resistant Connections
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Solution Overview
Problem
Incorporating electrical components into flexible fabrics is challenging due to the risk of damaging signal paths and dislodging components when the fabric is bent or stretched.
Innovation Solution
Using interlacing equipment with individually adjustable components to insert and embed electrical components during fabric formation, creating gaps for component insertion, and coupling them to conductive strands with protrusions for secure attachment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If electrical components are mounted to fabric after fabrication, then the fabric can be formed first, but the components may become dislodged or damage signal paths when the fabric is bent or stretched
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by inserting electrical components into the fabric during the fabric formation process itself, rather than mounting them afterward. The interlacing equipment creates gaps between fabric portions and inserts components into these gaps as the fabric is being formed, ensuring components are integrated into the fabric structure from the beginning, which prevents dislodgement and protects signal paths during subsequent bending or stretching.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the fabric formation process with the component insertion process by integrating the insertion tool into the interlacing equipment. This combines two previously separate operations (fabric formation and component mounting) into a single unified process, allowing components to be embedded within the fabric structure during its creation, thereby ensuring reliable attachment and protecting signal paths.
2Reliability
If electrical components are inserted into fabric during interlacing operations, then components are securely integrated, but the interlacing equipment must be provided with individually adjustable components and insertion tools
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by designing the interlacing equipment to perform multiple functions: it both forms the fabric through interlacing operations and simultaneously inserts electrical components into the fabric. The insertion tool is integrated into the existing interlacing equipment, allowing a single machine to accomplish both fabric formation and component integration, thereby reducing the need for separate specialized equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies segmentation by providing the interlacing equipment with individually adjustable components that can be independently controlled. This allows different sections of the fabric formation process to be adjusted separately, and enables precise positioning and insertion of components at specific locations within the fabric structure, accommodating varying component requirements while maintaining overall system integration.
Data Source
AI summary
One or more electrical components may be incorporated into a piece of fabric. The electrical component may include an internal portion that is located inside of the fabric, an external portion that is located on an exterior surface of the fabric, and protrusions that extend through the fabric to electrically and/or mechanically couple the internal and external portions of the electrical component. The internal portion of the component may be inserted into the fabric during formation of the fabric. The external portion of the component may be coupled to the internal portion after the fabric is formed by inserting the protrusions on the internal portion into recesses in the external portion. The external portion of the component may contain skin-facing and/or viewer-facing input-output devices, while the internal portion may contain circuitry that electrically communicates with the input-output devices in the external portion.