Flexible Fiber-Panel Interconnects for Misalignment-Tolerant E-Textiles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Challenging to electrically connect functional fibers in e-textiles without compromising flexibility, foldability, and comfort, particularly due to misalignment and alignment requirements in conventional connectors.
Innovation Solution
Utilizing flexible electrical connectors with anisotropically-conductive adhesives and aerosol jet printing to create high-density, direct fiber-to-fiber connections, allowing for misalignment tolerance and integration within garment seams.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional connectors are used to electrically connect functional fibers, then electrical connection is achieved, but flexibility and foldability are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs flexible circuit boards and thin film connectors instead of rigid conventional connectors. These flexible substrates can bend and fold with the garment while maintaining electrical connectivity, thus resolving the contradiction between reliable electrical connection and garment flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The connector design incorporates dynamic flexibility to adapt to garment movement. The flexible electrical connections can dynamically adjust to folding and bending motions, maintaining both electrical reliability and garment comfort throughout motion cycles.
2Reliability
If conventional connectors with precise alignment requirements are used, then electrical connection is achieved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible circuit board acts as an intermediary element that bridges the functional fibers. It provides a forgiving interface that can accommodate misalignment through its flexibility and conformability, reducing the need for precise alignment during manufacturing while ensuring reliable electrical connection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the connector from rigid to flexible, allowing it to deform and adapt to alignment variations. This parameter change enables the connector to maintain electrical reliability even when perfect alignment is not achieved during manufacturing.
3Stability of the object's composition
If bulky connectors are used to ensure reliable electrical connections, then connection stability is improved, but garment comfort and flexibility deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces bulky connectors with thin film flexible circuit boards that maintain connection stability through their adhesive bonding and flexible conductivity. These thin films provide stable electrical connections without the bulk that would compromise garment comfort.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible circuit board copies the conformability of fabric while providing electrical connectivity. It mimics the flexibility of the garment material itself, ensuring that the connection system does not stand out as a bulky foreign element but integrates seamlessly with the garment's flexible structure.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus includes: a fabric panel having a first edge and an electrically nonconductive material; a plurality of electrically conductive fibers integrated in the fabric panel, the plurality of electrically conductive fibers having ends adjacent to or located at the first edge and being optionally insulated; and a flexible electrical connector disposed adjacent to or located at the first edge, the flexible electrical connector having a flexible substrate, wherein the ends of the plurality of electrically conductive fibers are electrically coupled to the flexible electrical connector.