FIELD
This relates generally to closing mechanisms and, more particularly, to closing mechanisms for fabric items.
BACKGROUND
Items such as wristwatches have wrist straps. Straps may be formed from materials such as metal, plastic, and fabric. It can be challenging to form closing mechanisms on straps such as fabric straps. Hook-and-loop fasteners may be prone to damage after extended use.
SUMMARY
Electronic devices may include straps formed from fabric. For example, a wearable strap for attaching a wristwatch or head-mounted device to a user's body may be formed from fabric.
A strap may include a closing mechanism that attaches a first fabric portion of the strap to a second fabric portion of the strap. The closing mechanism may include a first array of posts on the first fabric portion and a second array of posts on the second fabric portion. The first array of posts may engage (e.g., interlock) with the second array of posts to attach the first fabric portion to the second fabric portion.
The posts may be printed, injection-molded, or otherwise formed directly on the surface of the fabric (e.g., using additive manufacturing equipment, injection molding equipment, etc.), which allows the closing mechanism to be integrated into the fabric while also providing a relatively quiet experience when the posts are decoupled from one another. Integrating the closing mechanism into the fabric, as opposed to attaching the closing mechanism to the fabric after it is formed, allows the posts (e.g., column-shaped posts, wall-shaped posts, etc.) to be part of the fabric design, even if only a short section of the fabric is used for the closing mechanism. This is merely illustrative, however. In other arrangements, the posts may be an additional pre-made structure that is bonded, welded, stitched, or otherwise attached to the fabric.
Each post may include a rigid core and soft covering that deforms when the posts are engaged. The rigid core may have an arrow shape, a helix shape, a spiral shape, a staircase shape, or any other suitable shape. Engagement features such as protrusions, recesses, concave surfaces, convex surfaces, and/or other engagement features may be formed on the posts. If desired, magnets and/or buckles may be incorporated into the strap to help hold the closing mechanism in the closed position.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a top view of an illustrative electronic device with a fabric strap in accordance with an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device in accordance with an embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronic device with a strap in accordance with an embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional side view of the illustrative electronic device of FIG. 3 in a configuration in which the strap has been wrapped around a user's body in accordance with an embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative fabric layer in a strap in accordance with an embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a top view of an illustrative closing mechanism that includes an array of posts in accordance with an embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a side view of an illustrative closing mechanism in an open state and having a first array of posts on a first fabric portion and a second array of posts on a second fabric portion in accordance with an embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a side view of the illustrative closing mechanism of FIG. 7 in a closed state in which the first array of posts interlocks with the second array of posts to attach the first fabric portion to the second fabric portion in accordance with an embodiment.
FIG. 9 is a side view of an illustrative closing mechanism that includes interlocking posts and having magnets in respective first and second fabric portions in accordance with an embodiment.
FIG. 10 is a side view of an illustrative closing mechanism that includes interlocking posts and having magnets embedded in the posts in accordance with an embodiment.
FIG. 11 is a side view of an illustrative closing mechanism that includes interlocking posts and a buckle in accordance with an embodiment.
FIG. 12 is a side view of an illustrative closing mechanism that includes interlocking posts with engagement features such as recesses and protrusions in accordance with an embodiment.
FIG. 13 is a top view of an illustrative closing mechanism that includes interlocking posts with wavy shapes in accordance with an embodiment.
FIG. 14 is a top view of an illustrative closing mechanism that includes interlocking posts with rectangular cross sections in accordance with an embodiment.
FIG. 15 is a top view of an illustrative closing mechanism that includes a first array of posts with rectangular cross sections and a second array of posts with round cross sections in accordance with an embodiment.
FIG. 16 is a side view of an illustrative closing mechanism that includes a first array of posts with straight sides and a second array of posts with curved sides in accordance with an embodiment.
FIG. 17 is a side view of an illustrative closing mechanism having interlocking posts that each include a rigid core and a flexible covering in accordance with an embodiment.
FIG. 18 is a side view of an illustrative closing mechanism having interlocking posts that each include materials with different amounts of flexibility in accordance with an embodiment.
FIG. 19 is a side view of an illustrative closing mechanism having posts with spiral-shaped cores and soft coverings in accordance with an embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Electronic devices may be provided with fabric. The fabric may be used to form straps or other fabric items for an electronic device. The fabric may be woven fabric, knit fabric, braided fabric, and/or any other suitable type of fabric. The fabric may be used to attach an electronic device such as a wristwatch, a fitness band, a head-mounted device, or other electronic device to a user's body (e.g., wrist, head, etc.). Illustrative configurations in which portable electronic devices such as wristwatch devices, head-mounted devices, and/or other body-mounted portable electronic devices are provided with fabric straps may sometimes be described herein as an example. In general, any suitable portable electronic device may be provided with a strap and the strap may be formed from any suitable fabric material.
An illustrative electronic device that may be provided with a fabric strap is shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, device 10 may have a display such as display 14 and other electrical components mounted in a housing such as housing 12. Device 10 may be a portable electronic device such as a device that is mounted on a user's wrist, arm, leg, head, torso, or other body part. Device 10 may, for example, be a wrist-mounted device such as a wristwatch, a health monitoring device, a head-mounted device having a head-mounted display, a media player, a wireless key, or other electronic device and/or equipment that includes the functions of two or more of these devices or other suitable devices. Housing 12 (e.g., a watch housing in scenarios in which device 10 is a wristwatch) may be formed from metal, ceramic, plastic, glass, sapphire or other crystalline materials, and/or other suitable materials. Housing 12 may have a rectangular outline, may have an oval or circular shape, or may have other suitable shapes. Display 14 may be a liquid crystal display, an organic light-emitting diode display, or other suitable display.
Strap 16 may have portions attached to opposing sides of housing 12. Strap 16 may be coupled to pins or other structures that are attached to the exterior of housing 12 (as an example). A clasp formed from interlocking posts or other suitable clasp may be used to secure strap 16 about the wrist or other body part of a user.
Strap 16 may include strands of material that are woven together. The strands of material that are woven to form strap 16 may be monofilaments and/or multifilament yarns. Strap 16 may contain insulating strands of material and/or conductive strands of material. Insulating strands may be formed from dielectric materials such as polymers. Conductive strands may be formed from metal wires or may be formed from one more conductive layers of material such as metal layers on polymer cores or other polymer layers. Conductive strands may also be formed by mixing conductive filaments with insulating filaments. Conductive strands may have insulating coatings.
If desired, strap 16 may contain electrical components such as components 20. Components 20 may include sensors, buttons, light-emitting diodes, batteries, antennas, integrated circuits, vibrators and other actuators, and/or other input-output devices. Conductive strands of material such as strands 18 may be used in routing power and data signals between components 20 within strap 16 and between components such as component 20 in strap 16 and circuitry in housing 12.
A schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device such as device 10 of FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, device 10 may include control circuitry 22. Control circuitry 22 may include processing circuitry such as microprocessors, digital signal processors, microcontrollers, baseband processors, image processors, application-specific integrated circuits with processing circuitry, and/or other processing circuitry and may include random-access memory, read-only memory, flash storage, hard disk storage, and/or other storage (e.g., a non-transitory storage media for storing computer instructions for software that runs on control circuitry 22).
Device 10 may include electrical components in housing 12 and/or in strap 16 that form input-output circuitry such as input-output devices 24. Input-output devices 24 may be used to allow data to be supplied to device 10 from external devices and from a user and to allow data to be provided from device 10 to external devices and the user. Input-output devices 24 may include buttons, joysticks, scrolling wheels, touch pads, key pads, keyboards, microphones, speakers, tone generators, vibrators, haptic devices, cameras, light-emitting diodes and other status indicators, displays such as display 14, data ports, etc. Sensors 26 of input-output devices 24 may include touch sensors, force sensors, accelerometers, compasses, magnetic sensors, gas sensors, pressure sensors, temperature sensors, capacitive proximity sensors, light-based proximity sensors, digital image sensors, ambient light sensors, heart rate sensors and blood oxygen sensors (e.g., sensors having a light emitter that emits light into a user's skin and the detects and processes reflected light), and other sensing circuits.
Device 10 may include wireless circuitry (e.g., wireless transceivers, antennas, etc.) for supporting wireless local area network communications, cellular telephone communications, near field communications, wireless power transmission and reception operations, and other wireless communications and power transfer operations.
A cross-sectional side view of an illustrative device such as device 10 of FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3, device 10 may include housing 12 (e.g., a wearable housing such as wristwatch, a head-mounted device, or other device, or a non-wearable housing) and strap 16, which may be used to attach housing 12 to a user's wrist, head, or other body part. Strap 16 may have an outer surface (front side) such as outer surface 30-1 and may have an opposing inner surface (rear side) such as inner surface 30-2. A clasp for strap 16 may be formed using magnets, interlocking prongs and holes, snaps, or other clasp mechanisms. With one illustrative configuration, which is shown in FIG. 3, strap 16 has a clasp such as closing mechanism 60 formed from mating interlocking posts such as posts 32. Portion 30A of outer surface 30-1 of strap 16 may have posts 32 and portion 30B on inner surface 30-2 of strap 16 may have mating posts 32. If desired, most or all of outer surface 30-1 of strap 16 may have posts 32 (e.g., so that outer surface 30-1 has a uniform appearance). Posts 32 may stand out visibly on strap 16 or may be hidden within the fabric of strap 16.
Interlocking posts 32 (sometimes referred to as interlocking fingers, protrusions, pillars, columns, etc.) may be formed on the surface of the fabric that forms strap 16. Posts 32 may be deposited, grown, molded, and/or printed directly on the surface of the fabric that forms strap 16 (e.g., during manufacturing of the fabric). In some arrangements, additive manufacturing equipment such as three-dimensional printing equipment may be used to print posts 32 directly onto the surface of the fabric of strap 16 such that additional bonding material between posts 32 and the fabric is not required. In particular, printing posts 32 directly onto the fabric may cause bonds between the material of posts 32 and the material of the fabric, such that closing mechanism 60 is integrated into the fabric (rather than being added in a post-processing step using an intermediate attachment structure such as adhesive, stitching, etc.). Similarly, injection molding posts 32 directly onto the surface of the fabric using injection molding equipment allows the closing mechanism to be integrated into the fabric. Integrating the closing mechanism into the fabric, as opposed to attaching the closing mechanism to the fabric after it is formed, allows the posts (e.g., column-shaped posts, wall-shaped posts, etc.) to be part of the fabric design, even if only a short section of the fabric is used for the closing mechanism.
This is merely illustrative, however. If desired, posts 32 may be molded (e.g., injection molded, insert molded, or otherwise molded) or otherwise formed and subsequently attached to the fabric of strap 16 using adhesive, stitching (e.g., sewing), welding (e.g., laser welding), fused materials (e.g., fused strands, melted thermoplastic, etc.), and/or other bonding materials.
Posts 32 may be formed from polymer such as silicone, thermoplastic (e.g., thermoplastic polyurethane), and/or other suitable polymer materials, metal, wood, and/or any other suitable materials. If desired, materials that form strap 16 (e.g., the fabric of strap 16) may also be used to form posts 32. In some arrangements, each post 32 may include more than one type of material. For example, posts 32 may have a rigid core (with a first modulus of elasticity) and a soft outer layer (with a second modulus of elasticity that is lower than the first modulus of elasticity). The hard inner core may provide structure to posts 32, while the soft outer covering may provide additional friction on the exterior surface of posts 32. Arrangements in which each post 32 includes three or more different materials (e.g., with different moduli of elasticity and/or with other different characteristics) may also be used.
Posts 32 may have any suitable shape such as shapes with straight sides, shapes with curved sides, wavy shapes, zig-zag shapes, spiral shapes, arrow shapes, rectangular cross-sectional shapes, round (e.g., circular, oval, etc.) cross-sectional shapes, and/or any other suitable shape. Posts 32 on portion 30A and posts 32 on portion 30B may have the same shape or may have different shapes, may have the same materials or may have different materials, may have the same heights or may have different heights, and/or may have other features.
Posts 32 may have engagement features that allow posts 32 on portion 30A to interlock with posts 32 on portion 30B. For example, posts 32 of portion 30A may have recesses that receive protrusions on posts 32 of portion 30B (or vice versa). In some arrangements, posts 32 may be formed from materials and/or shapes that have sufficient friction to allow posts 32 to interlock with one another without requiring dedicated engagement features. Posts 32 may be more durable than hook-and-loop fasteners (which tend to degrade after extended use). Additionally, closing mechanism 60 may be relatively silent when opening (e.g., little noise may be produced when posts 32 are pulled apart from one another), in contrast to a relatively noisy hook-and-loop fastener. This is merely illustrative, however. If desired, mechanism 60 may additionally or instead include a hook-and-loop fastener.
As shown in FIG. 4, when strap 16 is wrapped around a user's wrist or other body part such as wrist 34, posts 32 of portion 30A engage with posts 32 of portion 30B and thereby close closing mechanism 60. When it is desired to open the clasp formed from interlocking posts 32 of strap 16, a user may pull outwardly on the end of strap 16 that is adjacent to posts 32, thereby pulling posts 32 on portion 30B away from the mating posts 32 on portion 30A of strap 16.
If desired, strap 16 may be adjustable to accommodate different wrist sizes (or head sizes in the case where device 10 is a head-mounted device). In particular, the position of portion 30A relative to portion 30B may be adjusted to change the size of strap 16. Posts 32 on portion 30A may be configured to interlock with different posts 32 on portion 30B depending on the size needed. For larger strap diameters, for example, the edge posts 32 towards the end of portion 30A may interlock with the edge posts towards the end of portion 30B. The rest of posts 32 on portions 30A and 30B may not overlap or interlock with any other posts 32. For smaller strap diameters, the edge posts 32 at the beginning of portion 30A may interlock with the edge posts at the beginning of portion 30B. The rest of posts 32 on portions 30A and 30B may not overlap or interlock with any other posts 32. In some strap diameters, the entire array of posts 32 on portion 30A may be engaged with the entire array of posts 32 on portion 30B.
FIG. 5 is a side view of illustrative fabric such as fabric 36 that may be used to form strap 16. Fabric 36 has strands 38 such as weft strands 38A and warp strands 38B. If desired, warp strands 38B (and, if desired, some or all of weft strands 38A) may be formed from stretchable material such as stretchable polyurethane, spandex, silicone, or other stretchable material. When fabric 36 is formed from stretchable materials such as stretchable warp strands 38B, fabric 36 may stretch when pulled in directions 42. Stretchable strands such as warp strands 38B may be oriented to run around the user's wrist (i.e., the warp strands in straps 16 may be oriented so that they extend along the elongated longitudinal dimension of strap 16). This allows a user to stretch strap 16 tightly around wrist 34 or other body part (e.g., to ensure that a satisfactory heart rate monitor signal is picked up by a heart rate monitor in device 10, etc.). If desired, the fabric forming strap 16 may contain non-stretchable strands of material (e.g., polyester, etc.). Non-stretchable strands of material may, for example, be used to provide strap 16 with strength and/or moisture management capabilities.
FIG. 6 is a top view of portion 30A of strap 16 showing how posts 32 may be formed within region 50 of strap 16. Region 50 may be rectangular, may be round (e.g., circular, oval, etc.), and/or may have other suitable shapes. A two-dimensional array of posts 32 may be distributed uniformly or non-uniformly across region 50. Posts 32 may be arranged in a grid of rows and columns, may be arranged in a pseudorandom pattern, may be arranged in staggered rows and columns, may be arranged in concentric circles, and/or may be arranged in any other suitable pattern. Posts 32 may have a lateral dimension D that is 50 to 100 microns, 100 to 200 microns, less than 200 microns, more than 200 microns, and/or any other suitable lateral dimension.
FIG. 7 is a side view of strap 16 showing closing mechanism 60 in an open state. As shown in FIG. 7, portion 30A of strap 16 may include posts 32A and portion 30B of strap 16 may include posts 32B. Posts 32A and posts 32B may be slightly offset from one another to allow posts 32A and posts 32B to interlock with one another. For example, when closing mechanism 60 is in the closed state of FIG. 8, posts 32A are received within the spaces between posts 32B, and posts 32B are received within the spaces between posts 32A. Posts 32A may interlock with posts 32B using friction only or using additional engagement features such as protrusions, recesses, and/or other interlocking engagement features.
If desired, additional structures may be used to assist the opening and/or closing of closing mechanism 60. In the example of FIG. 9, magnets have been incorporated into strap 16 to help maintain a closed and/or open state of closing mechanism 60. A first strip 52A of magnets 54 may be formed in portion 30A of strap 16 overlapping posts 32A, and a second strip 52B of magnets 54 may be formed in portion 30B of strap 16 overlapping posts 32B. Magnets 54 may be switchable magnets (e.g., electromagnets), permanent magnets, and/or other suitable magnets. Magnets 54 of strip 52A may be magnetically attracted to magnets 54 of strip 52B to help maintain mechanism 60 in the closed position until sufficient force is applied to pull portion 30A apart from portion 30B. If desired, some of magnets 54 may be switchable such that when it is desired to open mechanism 60, magnets 54 of strip 52A may be magnetically repelled by magnets 54 of strip 52B to help release and open closing mechanism 60.
In the example of FIG. 10, magnets have been incorporated into posts 32 of closing mechanism 60. A first set of magnets such as magnets 56 may be formed in posts 32A and a second set of magnets 56 may be formed in posts 32B. There may be one, two, three, or more than three magnets 56 in each post 32, or some posts 32 may be free of magnets. Magnets 56 may be switchable magnets (e.g., electromagnets), permanent magnets, and/or other suitable magnets. Magnets 56 of posts 32A may be magnetically attracted to magnets 56 of posts 32B to help maintain mechanism 60 in the closed position until sufficient force is applied to pull portion 30A apart from portion 30B. If desired, some of magnets 56 may be switchable such that when it is desired to open mechanism 60, magnets 56 of posts 32A and/or magnets 56 of posts 32B may be deactivated to help release and open closing mechanism 60.
In the example of FIG. 11, a mechanical fastening mechanism such as buckle 62 is being used to assist with locking and/or unlocking closing mechanism 60. Buckle 62 may be configured to rotate about a rotational axis such as axis 64. When rotated in direction 66, portion 30A may be pulled towards portion 30B to interlock posts 32A with posts 32B and close closing mechanism 60. When rotated in the opposite direction, portion 30A may be pulled away from portion 30B to decouple posts 32A from posts 32B and open closing mechanism 60. The use of a buckle is merely illustrative. If desired, other types of fastening mechanisms such as clasps, snaps, and/or other fastening mechanisms may be used in place of or in addition to buckle 62.
FIG. 12 is a side view of closing mechanism 60 showing how posts 32 may include interlocking engagement features. As shown in FIG. 12, posts 32 may include mating engagement features such as protrusions 58P and recesses 58R. Each protrusion 58P may be received within a respective recess 58R when mechanism 60 is in the closed position of FIG. 12. Protrusions 58P may be ridges, bumps, or other convex surface feature, and recesses 58R may be grooves, pits, or other concave surface feature.
FIG. 13 is a top view of closing mechanism 60 showing how posts 32 may have elongated wall shapes instead of individual columns. In the example of FIG. 13, posts 32 form walls with complementary wavy shapes that interlock with one another. Posts 32A and 32B may have wavy shapes such that the outer surface of each post 32 includes alternating concave and convex surfaces that form engagement features on posts 32. The concave surfaces on post 32A may receive the convex surfaces on post 32B, and the concave surfaces on post 32B may receive the convex surfaces on post 32A. Asymmetric shapes and/or wavy patterns that change along the length of each post 32 may also be used. The wavy shape of FIG. 13 is merely illustrative. If desired posts 32A and 32B may form walls with zig-zag shapes, square waves, etc.
FIG. 14 is a top view of closing mechanism 60 showing how posts 32A and 32B may have rectangular cross sections. FIG. 14 also shows how some of posts 32A and posts 32B may not be engaged with each other. Because strap 16 has an adjustable length (e.g., to accommodate different wrist sizes, head sizes, etc.), the regions of each array of posts 32A and 32B that are engaged with each other will depend on the size needed for strap 16.
FIG. 15 is a top view of closing mechanism 60 showing how posts 32A and 32B may have different cross-sectional shapes. As shown in FIG. 15, posts 32A may have rectangular cross sections, whereas posts 32B may have round (e.g., circular, oval, etc.) cross sections. These shapes are merely illustrative. If desired, posts 32A and/or posts 32B may have other cross-sectional shapes.
In the example of FIG. 16, posts 32A and posts 32B have different shapes along their lengths. For example, posts 32A may have straight (e.g., parallel) outer side surfaces that extend along the length of each post 32A. Posts 32B may have curved (e.g., wavy) outer side surfaces that extend along the length of each post 32B. This is merely illustrative. If desired, posts 32A and/or posts 32B may have other surface profiles along their lengths.
FIG. 17 shows an example in which posts 32 include materials with different properties. For example, each of posts 32A and posts 32B may have a core such as core 72 and one or more covering layers such as covering layer 70. Core 72 and covering layer 70 may be formed from materials with different amounts of flexibility. Core 72, for example, may be a rigid core formed from a stiff material with a first modulus of elasticity, whereas covering layer 70 may be a soft covering formed from a flexible material with a second modulus of elasticity that is lower than the first modulus of elasticity. Rigid cores 72 may provide structure and stiffness to posts 32A and 32B, while soft covering 70 may provide sufficient friction on the exterior surfaces of posts 32A and 32B to help posts 32A engage with posts 32B.
Cores 72 may have any suitable shape such as a pillar shape, a column shape, a tapered shape, a wavy shape, a spiral shape, a helix shape, and/or any other suitable shape. In the example of FIG. 17, posts 32A and 32B include tapered or arrow-shaped cores 72 in which the base of each core 72 (closest to the fabric on which that core is formed) is narrower than the tip of that core 72. Covering 70 may have a matching shape as core 72 or may have a different shape. This is merely illustrative. If desired, cores 72 and coverings 70 may have different shapes.
Covering 70 may be sufficiently soft to allow covering 70 to deform when posts 32A and posts 32B are engaged. For example, the tips of posts 32B (e.g., the wider portion of posts 32B) may press into and deform covering 70 on posts 32A when mechanism 60 is closed, as shown in FIG. 17. Similarly, the tips of posts 32A (e.g., the wider portion of posts 32A) may press into and deform covering 70 on posts 32B when mechanism 60 is closed. This helps posts 32A engage with posts 32B while still allowing portions 30A and 30B to be separated from one another by applying sufficient force.
The material(s) used for posts 32 may be configured to morph and deform as posts 32A engage with posts 32B. As shown in FIG. 17, for example, engaged posts 32A and 32B in region 84 may be in a deformed state in which posts 32A are deformed by neighboring posts 32B and posts 32B are deformed by neighboring posts 32A. The friction between neighboring posts and squeezing of soft covering material 70 helps maintain closing mechanism 60 in the closed state in region 84.
When it is desired to decouple fabric portion 30A from fabric portion 30B, the user may pull portion 30B and portion 30A apart from one another. As shown in FIG. 17, posts 32A and 32B in region 80 may be configured to bend and flex along their lengths to accommodate the opening of closing mechanism 60. As posts 32A and posts 32B are decoupled from one another, posts 32A and posts 32B may return to an undeformed state, as shown by posts 32A and 32B in region 82 which are straight along their lengths. The ability of posts 32A and 32B to morph and deform when engaged and during opening and closing allows closing mechanism 60 to remain relatively silent when opened while also avoiding catching any hairs (e.g., in arrangements where closing mechanism 60 is used on a headband, a head strap, a wrist strap, or other strap that is adjacent to the user's body).
FIG. 18 is a side view of closing mechanism 60 showing how three or more different materials may be used to form posts 32. As shown in FIG. 18, posts 32 may include a core such as core 72, a covering such as covering 70, and one or more intermediate layers between core 72 and covering 70 such as intermediate layer 74. Core 72, covering layer 70, and intermediate layer 74 may be formed from materials with different amounts of flexibility. Core 72, for example, may be a rigid core formed from a stiff material with a first modulus of elasticity, covering layer 70 may be a soft covering formed from a soft material with a second modulus of elasticity that is lower than the first modulus of elasticity, and intermediate layer 74 may be formed a material with a third modulus of elasticity that is lower than the first modulus of elasticity and higher than the second modulus of elasticity.
In arrangements where posts 32 are formed from additive manufacturing equipment, posts 32 may be formed by building layers (e.g., blocks, portions, pixels, etc.) of material on the surface of fabric 36. This may include, for example, depositing a base layer of posts 32 (e.g., a first set of blocks that form the base of core 72 and a second set of blocks that form the base of covering 70) on fabric 36. Additional blocks of core material and covering material may be built on top of the base layer until it is time to deposit blocks that form intermediate layer 74. When it is time to start building intermediate layer 74, the additive manufacturing equipment may deposit blocks of core material, blocks of intermediate layer material, and blocks of covering material until intermediate layer is complete. Additional blocks of core material and covering material may be deposited on top of the previous blocks until post 32 is complete. If desired, the additive manufacturing equipment may be configured to print multiple posts 32 on fabric 36 at the same time in parallel.
In the example of FIG. 19, posts 32 are formed with spiral shapes. In particular, posts 32 include spiral-shaped cores 72 surrounded by soft covering layers 70. Spiral shapes may be achieved using additive manufacturing equipment or other suitable equipment. The spiral shape may be a staircase spiral with straight segments or a spiral shape that is continuously curved along its length. In general, posts 32 may be formed with any suitable shape. The example of FIG. 19 is merely illustrative.
Although various features have been illustrated in different figures, it should be understood that the features of FIGS. 1-19 may be combined with one another. For example, the core and covering layers of FIGS. 17 and 18 may be used in combination with the magnets of FIGS. 9 and 10 and/or with the buckle of FIG. 11. The engagement features of FIG. 12 may be formed on posts 32 that are formed with multiple materials such as posts 32 of FIGS. 17 and 18. The different shapes of FIGS. 12-16 may be used in combination with the core and covering layers of FIGS. 17 and 18, with the magnets of FIGS. 9 and 10, and/or with the buckle of FIG. 11. These examples are merely illustrative.
The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can be made to the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.
Patent Application
20250151856
