Patent Application
20230008099
This relates generally to items with fabric and, more particularly, to items with fabric and electrical components.
It may be desirable to form bags, furniture, clothing, and other items from materials such as fabric. Fabric items generally do not include electrical components. It may be desirable, however, to incorporate electrical components into fabric to provide a user of a fabric item with enhanced functionality.
It can be challenging to incorporate electrical components into fabric. Fabric is flexible, so it can be difficult to mount structures to fabric. Electrical components must be coupled to signal paths (e.g., signal paths that carry data signals, power, etc.), but unless care is taken, signal paths may be damaged, or components may become dislodged as fabric is bent or stretched.
It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide improved techniques for incorporating electrical components into items with fabric.
Interlacing equipment (e.g., weaving equipment, knitting equipment, braiding equipment, etc.) may be provided with individually adjustable components. The use of individually adjustable components may allow electrical components to be inserted into and/or embedded in the fabric during the creation or formation of the fabric.
The interlacing equipment may create a gap between first and second fabric portions during interlacing operations. The gap may be a void between fabric portions or the gap may be a position or location between fabric portions. An insertion tool may insert an electrical component into the gap, and the electrical component may be electrically coupled to conductive strands in the gap.
The interlacing equipment may be used to create a fabric seam and to embed one or more electrical components within the fabric seam. The fabric seam may join two pieces of material or may form the border of a piece of material. The fabric seam may include first and second fabric portions with one or more conductive strands extending between the first and second fabric portions. An electrical component may be coupled to the conductive strand and may have a groove in which the conductive strand is soldered or otherwise attached.
The fabric seam may have one or more side pockets for capturing the edge of a material such as a piece of fabric. The piece of fabric may be stitched within the side pocket or bonded within the side pocket using adhesive or fusible strands that have been melted. The fabric seam may have gaps that allow conductive strands within the fabric seam to branch off in different directions. Openings may be incorporated in the fabric seam to allow air or light to pass through and/or to form a window for an electrical component in the fabric seam.
Electronic devices, enclosures, and other items may be formed from fabric such as woven fabric. The woven fabric may include strands of insulating and conductive material. Conductive strands may form signal paths through the fabric and may be coupled to electrical components such as light-emitting diodes and other light-emitting devices, integrated circuits, sensors, haptic output devices, and other circuitry.
Interlacing equipment (sometimes referred to as intertwining equipment) may include weaving equipment, knitting equipment, braiding equipment, or any other suitable equipment used for crossing, looping, overlapping, or otherwise coupling strands of material together to form a network of strands (e.g., fabric). Interlacing equipment may be provided with individually adjustable components such as warp strand positioning equipment (e.g., heddles or other warp strand positioning equipment), weft strand positioning equipment, a reed, take-down equipment, let off equipment (e.g., devices for individually dispensing and tensioning warp strands), needle beds, feeders, guide bars, strand processing and component insertion equipment, and other components for forming fabric items. The individual adjustability of these components may allow interlacing operations (e.g., weaving operations, knitting operations, braiding operations, and/or other interlacing operations) to be performed without requiring continuous lock-step synchronization of each of these devices, thereby allowing fabric with desired properties to be woven. As an example, normal reed movement and other weaving operations may be periodically suspended and/or may periodically be out-of-sync with other components to accommodate component insertion operations whereby electrical components (sometimes referred to as nodes or smart nodes) are inserted into the fabric during the creation or formation of the fabric.
Items such as item 10 of
Item 10 may include interlaced strands of material such as monofilaments and yarns that form fabric 12. As used herein, “interlaced” strands of material and “intertwined” strands of material may both refer to strands of material that are crossed with one another, looped with one another, overlapping one another, or otherwise coupled together (e.g., as part of a network of strands that make up a fabric). Fabric 12 may form all or part of a housing wall or other layer in an electronic device, may form internal structures in an electronic device, or may form other fabric-based structures. Item 10 may be soft (e.g., item 10 may have a fabric surface that yields to a light touch), may have a rigid feel (e.g., the surface of item 10 may be formed from a stiff fabric), may be coarse, may be smooth, may have ribs or other patterned textures, and/or may be formed as part of a device that has portions formed from non-fabric structures of plastic, metal, glass, crystalline materials, ceramics, or other materials.
The strands of material used in forming fabric 12 may be single-filament strands (sometimes referred to as fibers) or may be threads, yarns, or other strands that have been formed by interlacing multiple filaments of material together. Strands may be formed from polymer, metal, glass, graphite, ceramic, natural materials such as cotton or bamboo, or other organic and/or inorganic materials and combinations of these materials. Conductive coatings such as metal coatings may be formed on non-conductive strands (e.g., plastic cores) to make them conductive. Reflective coatings such as metal coatings may be applied to strands to make them reflective. Strands may also be formed from single-filament metal wire (e.g., bare metal wire), multifilament wire, or combinations of different materials. Strands may be insulating or conductive.
Strands in fabric 12 may be conductive along their entire lengths or may have conductive portions. Strands may have metal portions that are selectively exposed by locally removing insulation (e.g., to form connections with other conductive strand portions and/or to form connections with electrical components). Strands may also be formed by selectively adding a conductive layer to a portion of a non-conductive strand). Threads and other multifilament yarns that have been formed from interlaced filaments may contain mixtures of conductive strands and insulating strands (e.g., metal strands or metal coated strands with or without exterior insulating layers may be used in combination with solid plastic strands or natural strands that are insulating). In some arrangements, which may sometimes be described herein as an example, fabric 12 may be a woven fabric and the strands that make up fabric 12 may include warp strands and weft strands.
Conductive strands and insulating strands may be woven, knit, or otherwise interlaced to form conductive paths. The conductive paths may be used in forming signal paths (e.g., signal buses, power lines for carrying power, etc.), may be used in forming part of a capacitive touch sensor electrode, a resistive touch sensor electrode, or other input-output device, or may be used in forming other patterned conductive structures. Conductive structures in fabric 12 may be used in carrying electrical current such as power, digital signals, analog signals, sensor signals, control signals, data, input signals, output signals, or other suitable electrical signals.
Item 10 may include additional mechanical structures 14 such as polymer binder to hold strands in fabric 12 together, support structures such as frame members, housing structures (e.g., an electronic device housing), and other mechanical structures.
To enhance mechanical robustness and electrical conductivity at strand-to-strand connections and/or strand-to-component connections, additional structures and materials (e.g., solder, crimped metal connections, welds, conductive adhesive such as anisotropic conductive film and other conductive adhesive, non-conductive adhesive, fasteners, etc.) may be used in fabric 12. Strand-to-strand connections may be formed where strands cross each other perpendicularly or at other strand intersections where connections are desired. Insulating material can be interposed between intersecting conductive yarns at locations in which it is not desired to form a strand-to-strand connection. The insulating material may be plastic or other dielectric, may include an insulating strand or a conductive strand with an insulating coating or insulated conductive monofilaments, etc. Solder connections may be formed between conductive strands and/or between conductive strands and electrical components by melting solder so that the solder flows over conductive strands. The solder may be melted using an inductive soldering head to heat the solder, using hot air to heat the solder, using a reflow oven to heat the solder, using a laser or hot bar to heat the solder, or using other soldering equipment. In some arrangements, outer dielectric coating layers (e.g., outer polymer layers) may be melted away in the presence of molten solder, thereby allowing underlying metal yarns to be soldered together. In other arrangements, outer dielectric coating layers may be removed prior to soldering (e.g., using laser ablation equipment or other coating removal equipment).
Circuitry 16 may be included in item 10. Circuitry 16 may include electrical components that are coupled to fabric 12, electrical components that are housed within an enclosure formed by fabric 12, electrical components that are attached to fabric 12 using welds, solder joints, adhesive bonds (e.g., conductive adhesive bonds such as anisotropic conductive adhesive bonds or other conductive adhesive bonds), crimped connections, or other electrical and/or mechanical bonds. Circuitry 16 may include metal structures for carrying current, electrical components such as integrated circuits, light-emitting diodes, sensors, and other electrical devices. Control circuitry in circuitry 16 may be used to control the operation of item 10 and/or to support communications with item 18 and/or other devices.
Item 10 may interact with electronic equipment or other additional items 18. Items 18 may be attached to item 10 or item 10 and item 18 may be separate items that are configured to operate with each other (e.g., when one item is a case and the other is a device that fits within the case, etc.). Circuitry 16 may include antennas and other structures for supporting wireless communications with item 18. Item 18 may also interact with item 10 using a wired communications link or other connection that allows information to be exchanged.
In some situations, item 18 may be an electronic device such as a cellular telephone, computer, or other portable electronic device and item 10 may form a cover, case, bag, or other structure that receives the electronic device in a pocket, an interior cavity, or other portion of item 10. In other situations, item 18 may be a wrist-watch device or other electronic device and item 10 may be a strap or other fabric item that is attached to item 18 (e.g., item 10 and item 18 may together form a fabric-based item such as a wristwatch with a strap). In still other situations, item 10 may be an electronic device, fabric 12 may be used in forming the electronic device, and additional items 18 may include accessories or other devices that interact with item 10. Signal paths formed from conductive yarns and monofilaments may be used to route signals in item 10 and/or item(s) 18.
The fabric that makes up item 10 may be formed from yarns and/or monofilaments that are interlaced using any suitable interlacing equipment. With one suitable arrangement, which may sometimes be described herein as an example, fabric 12 may be woven fabric formed using a weaving machine. In this type of illustrative configuration, fabric may have a plain weave, a basket weave, a satin weave, a twill weave, or variations of these weaves, may be a three-dimensional woven fabric, or may be other suitable fabric. This is, however, merely illustrative. If desired, fabric 12 may include knit fabric, warp knit fabric, weft knit fabric, braided fabric, other suitable type of fabric, and/or a combination of any two or more of these types of fabric.
A cross-sectional side view of illustrative woven fabric 12 is shown in
Item 10 may include non-fabric materials (e.g., structures formed from plastic, metal, glass, ceramic, crystalline materials such as sapphire, etc.). These materials may be formed using molding operations, extrusion, machining, laser processing, and other fabrication techniques. In some configurations, some or all of item 10 may include one or more layers of material such as layers 24 of
A diagram illustrating how electrical components may be inserted into fabric 12 during the formation of fabric 12 is illustrated in
Using interlacing equipment 120, strands 80 may be interlaced to form fabric 12. Interlacing equipment 120 may be weaving equipment, knitting equipment, braiding equipment, or other suitable interlacing equipment. Interlacing equipment 120 may be used to create one or more regions in fabric 12 such as pocket 66 (sometimes referred to as a gap, space, cavity, void, position, location, etc.) for receiving electrical components. Regions in fabric 12 that receive electrical components such as pocket 66 may be formed by creating a space or gap between portions of fabric 12 such as fabric portion 12-1 and fabric portion 12-2. The term “pocket” may be used to refer to a void between fabric portions and/or may be used to refer to a position or location between fabric portions (e.g., a position between strands of material in fabric 12, with or without an actual void).
Electrical components may be inserted into pocket 66 during the formation of fabric 12 using component insertion equipment such as insertion tool 54. Insertion tool 54 may hold component 26 and may position component 26 in pocket 66 during interlacing operations (e.g., by moving component 26 towards pocket 66 in direction 140). If desired, component 26 may be electrically and/or mechanically connected to one or more conductive strands 80C in pocket 66. Following insertion and attachment of component 26, interlacing equipment 120 may continue interlacing operations (which may include closing pocket 66, if desired) to continue forming fabric 12.
In some arrangements, processing steps such as alignment of component 26 with conductive strands 80C, electrically connecting (e.g., soldering) component 26 to conductive strands 80C, encapsulation of the electrical connection between component 26 and conductive strands 80C, and/or verification of the integrity of the electrical connection between component 26 and conductive strands 80C may be performed after component 26 is inserted into pocket 66.
In some arrangements, the gap between first and second fabric portions 12-1 and 12-2 may remain in place after electrical component 26 is enclosed in fabric 12 (e.g., a space may exist between fabric portions 12-1 and 12-2 after formation of fabric 12 is complete). In other arrangements, first and second fabric portions 12-1 and 12-2 may be pulled together such that gap 66 is eliminated after electrical component 26 is enclosed in the gap (e.g., fabric portions 12-1 and 12-2 may be in contact with one another without an intervening gap after the formation of fabric 12 is complete). Fabric 12 may have a bulge where electrical component 26 is located, or fabric 12 may not have a bulge where electrical component 26 is located (e.g., the fabric may have substantially uniform thickness across locations with electrical components 26 and locations without electrical components 26, if desired).
A side view of an illustrative electrical component of the type that may be used in item 10 is shown in
Electrical components such as component 26 may be bare semiconductor dies (e.g., laser dies, light-emitting diode dies, integrated circuits, etc.) or packaged components (e.g. semiconductor dies or other devices packaged within plastic packages, ceramic packages, or other packaging structures). One or more electrical terminals such as contact pads 30 may be formed on body 28 of component 26. Body 28 (sometimes referred to as device 28, electrical device 28, etc.) may be a semiconductor die (e.g., a laser die, light-emitting diode die, integrated circuit, etc.) or may be a package for a component (e.g., a plastic package or other dielectric package that contains one or more semiconductor dies or other electrical devices). Contacts for body 28 such as pads 30 may be protruding leads, may be planar contacts, may be formed in an array, may be formed on any suitable surfaces of body 28, or may be any other suitable contacts for forming electrical connections to component 26. For example, pads 30 may be metal solder pads.
As shown in the example of
Interconnect substrate 36 may contain signal paths such as metal traces 38. Metal traces 38 (sometimes referred to as interconnects, signal paths, etc.) may have portions forming contacts such as pads 34 and 40. Pads 34 and 40 may be formed on the upper surface of interconnect substrate 36, on the lower surface of interconnect substrate 36, and/or on the sides of interconnect substrate 36. Conductive material such as conductive material 32 may be used in mounting body 28 to interconnect substrate 36. Conductive material 32 may be solder (e.g., low temperature solder, high temperature solder, etc.), may be conductive adhesive (isotropic conductive adhesive or anisotropic conductive film), may be formed during welding, and/or may be other conductive material for coupling electrical device pads (body pads) such as pads 30 on body 28 to interconnect substrate pads 34. Metal traces 38 in substrate 36 may couple pads 34 to other pads such as pads 40. If desired, pads 40 may be larger and/or more widely spaced than pads 34, thereby facilitating attachment of substrate 36 to conductive yarns and/or other conductive paths in item 10. Solder, conductive adhesive, or other conductive connections may be used in coupling pads 40 to conductive strands, printed circuit traces, or other conductive path materials in item 10.
Protective structure 130 may be entirely opaque, may be entirely transparent, or may have both opaque and transparent regions. Transparent portions of protective structure 130 may allow light emitted from one or more devices 28 to be transmitted through protective structure 130 and/or may allow external light to reach (and be detected by) one or more devices 28. If desired, one or more openings, recesses, grooves, and/or other features may be formed in protective structure 130. For example, an opening may be formed in protective structure 130 to allow light to be detected by and/or emitted from one or more devices 28. Protective structure 130 may include one or more grooves for receiving strands (e.g., conductive or insulating strands) in fabric 12.
Protective structure 130 may, if desired, have different thicknesses. The example of
If desired, substrate 36 may be sufficiently large to accommodate multiple electrical devices each with a respective body 28. For example, one or more light-emitting diodes, sensors, microprocessors, and/or other electrical devices may be mounted to a common substrate such as substrate 36 of
The examples of
Electrical components 26 may be coupled to fabric structures, individual strands, printed circuits (e.g., rigid printed circuits formed from fiberglass-filled epoxy or other rigid printed circuit board material or flexible printed circuits formed from polyimide substrate layers or other sheets of flexible polymer materials), metal or plastic parts with signal traces, or other structures in item 10.
In some configurations, item 10 may include electrical connections between components 26 and conductive paths in fabric 12. As shown in
Component 26 may have contact pads such as pads 40. Conductive material 82 may be used to couple pads 40 to conductive strands 80C. Conductive material 82 may be solder, anisotropic conductive adhesive, or other conductive material. Arrangements in which conductive material 82 is formed from solder may sometimes be described herein as an illustrative example. In the example of
In some configurations, it may be desirable to provide a more robust mechanical connection between component 26 and fabric 12 to ensure that component 26 does not come loose when fabric 12 is bent or stretched. To increase the robustness of the connection between strands 80C and component 26, component 26 may have one or more recesses for receiving strands 80C. For example, one or more strands 80 may be threaded through a portion of component 26 to help secure component 26 to fabric 12. Strands 80 may be threaded through openings (sometimes referred to as recesses, trenches, grooves, holes, slots, notches, etc.) of component 26. The openings may be formed in device 28, interconnect substrate 36, protective structure 130, and/or other portions of component 26.
Grooves 50 (sometimes referred to as recesses, trenches, openings, holes, slots, notches, etc.) in protective structure 130 may be formed by removing portions of protective structure 130 (e.g., using a laser, a mechanical saw, a mechanical mill, or other equipment) or may be formed by molding (e.g., injection molding, insert molding, etc.) or otherwise forming protective structure 130 into a shape that includes grooves 50. Grooves 50 may have a width between 2 mm and 6 mm, between 0.3 mm and 1.5 mm, between 1 mm and 5 mm, between 3 mm and 8 mm, greater than 3 mm, less than 3 mm, or other suitable width. If desired, grooves 50 may have different depths (e.g., to expose contact pads 40 that are located at different surface heights of interconnect substrate 36).
In the example of
Each strand 80C may align with an associated pad 40 on component 26. If desired, pads 40 may formed from elongated strips of conductive material (e.g., metal) that extend from one edge of substrate 36 to an opposing edge of substrate 36. This provides a large area with which to form a mechanical and electrical connection between substrate 36 and strands 80C. The elongated shape of pads 40 may allow conductive material 82 to attach a longer portion of strand 80C to pad 40. The connection between pad 40 and strand 80C may, for example, span across the width of substrate 36, thereby providing a robust connection between substrate 36 and strand 80C. This is, however, merely illustrative. If desired, pads 40, conductive material 82, and the exposed conductive portions of strands 80C may span across less than all of the width of component 26.
One or more electrical components such as electrical component 26 may be incorporated into a fabric seam or hem. The fabric seam may join two or more portions of fabric, may join fabric with a non-fabric material (e.g., leather, metal, plastic, etc.), and/or may form an outer edge (e.g., a border) of a fabric item. If desired, fabric seams that incorporate electrical components may be manufactured as stand-alone items that can later be incorporated into clothing items to provide the clothing items with a desired set of electrical functions (e.g., sensing, visual output, fitness tracking, location tracking, heartrate tracking, display functionality, etc.).
As shown in
If desired, electrical components 26 may be configured for health-related functions such as fitness tracking, activity tracking, medical applications, biometric applications, wellness applications, personal training, rehabilitation, stress relief, focus, full-body motion tracking, physical therapy, sun exposure monitoring, fall detection, posture monitoring, and/or other suitable health-related functions, may include wireless payment circuitry for making contactless payments, and/or may include one or more sensors, haptic output devices, light sources such as status indicators and/or displays, wireless power receiving circuitry, and/or communications circuitry for communicating with an electronic device.
Electrical components 26 may include one or more sensors that are used in gathering health-related measurements and/or user input and may include light sensors (visible light sensors, color sensitive light sensors, ultraviolet light sensors, etc.), optical proximity sensors, capacitive proximity sensors, temperature sensors, force sensors (e.g., strain gauges, capacitive force sensors, resistive force sensors, force sensors for measuring biometric information, etc.), microphones for sensing audio and/or ultrasonic signals, magnetic sensors (e.g., Hall effect sensors, giant magnetoresistance sensors, or other sensors or magnetometers that measure magnetic fields), gas pressure sensors, heart rate sensors, blood oxygen level sensors (e.g., based on emitted and detected light), electrocardiogram sensors (e.g., sensors for measuring electrical signals on a user's body), humidity sensors, moisture sensors, particulate sensors (e.g., sensors that use light measurements and/or other measurements to measure particulate concentration in the air), image sensors (cameras), gas pressure sensors, carbon dioxide sensors and/or sensors measuring other gas concentrations, motion sensors for detecting position, orientation, and/or movement (e.g., accelerometers, magnetic sensors such as compass sensors, gyroscopes, barometers, and/or inertial measurement units that contain some or all of these sensors), radio-frequency sensors, depth sensors (e.g., structured infrared light sensors and/or depth sensors based on stereo imaging devices), optical sensors such as self-mixing sensors and light detection and ranging (lidar) sensors that gather time-of-flight measurements, accelerometers for gathering user tap input (e.g., single taps, double taps, triple taps, etc.), and/or other sensors.
Fabric seam 12A may have multiple portions such as fabric portion 12-1, fabric portion 12-2, and portion 12-3. As described in connection with
Electrical components 26 may be coupled to conductive strands 80C in fabric seam 12A. For example, each component 26 may have one or more grooves 50 (as shown in
In arrangements where there are multiple electrical components 26 incorporated into fabric seam 12A, each electrical component 26 may be coupled to a different conductive strand 80C, or some electrical components 26 may be coupled to one or more of the same strands 80C. Electrical components 26 that are coupled to the same conductive strands 80C may be isolated from one another (e.g., may be separated by one or more insulating segments of strands 80C) and/or may be electrically coupled to one another (e.g., one component 26 may transmit signals to another component 26 via conductive strands 80C). If desired, components 26 and strands 80C may form an interconnected network of sensors, input devices, and/or output devices within a given fabric item (e.g., a shirt, a pair of pants, a dress, a wristband, a headband, other wearable fabric items, non-wearable fabric items such as bags, vehicle interiors, etc., and/or any other suitable fabric item).
As shown in
Fabric seam 12A may have one or more side pockets such as side pockets 52 for receiving ends 54 of fabric portions 12B. In the example of
Electrical components 26 may have a single, set function that is predetermined during manufacturing (e.g., components 26 may be configured specifically for posture monitoring during manufacturing), a set function that is determined during an initial set up process by the user (e.g., the user may configure components 26 as fitness tracking devices) or by a third party (e.g., a physician for the user), and/or an adjustable function or set of functions that can be freely changed and reconfigured based on the user's needs. For example, the user may configure a device 26 as a fall detection device during regular use and may reconfigure device 26 as a physical therapy assistant during physical therapy sessions.
Electrical components 26 may be placed at locations within item 10 based on the desired functionality of each component 26. For example, electrical component 26 around an arm of shirt 10 may have a heart rate sensor for monitoring heart rate and/or may have a motion sensor (e.g., an accelerometer) for tracking arm movements, electrical component 26 along the back of shirt 10 may have a posture monitoring device and a haptic output device that provides haptic output to remind a user to straighten his or her back when the posture monitoring device indicates that the user's back is slumped. Electrical components 26 around the collar of shirt 10 may include light sensors for monitoring sun exposure levels. These examples are merely illustrative. In general, electrical components 26 may be configured with any set of suitable input-output functions and may be placed at any suitable location in fabric item 10.
As shown in
In the example of
In the example of
In the example of
Initially, seam 12A may lie flat. For example, seam 12A may initially lie in a plane (e.g., the X-Y plane of
As another example, fabric seam 12A may form part of a glove having sensors and/or other electrical components 26 located along the user's individual fingers. Seam 12A may have central base portion at the user's palm (or on the back of the user's hand) and may have different strips 64 that extend from the base portion and branch off to extend along the user's individual fingers. This allows the electrical components 26 along the individual fingers to be connected to one another and/or to common control circuitry with the use of a single fabric seam, if desired.
If desired, one or more portions of seam 12A may form a connector. For example, seam 12A may have a portion with one or more electrical contacts (e.g., exposed portions of conductive strands 80C, metal leads or contact pads that are coupled to strands 80C, etc.) that are configured to mate with electrical contacts of a mating connector (e.g., a connector on another seam 12A in item 10 and/or a connector that is external to item 10).
In some arrangements, openings may be incorporated into fabric seam 12A. As shown in
In the example of
For example, component 26 may include an optical component such as optical component 72. Optical component 72 may be a light sensor, a light-emitting device, a proximity sensor that includes both a light-emitter and a light sensor, a heart rate sensor, and/or other optical component. In one illustrative arrangement, optical component 72 may be used to gather information about external objects such as external object 70. For example, external object 70 may be a user's skin that rests against fabric seam 12A, and optical component 72 may detect heart rate, blood oxygen levels, color, presence, distance, and/or other information about external object 70 by gathering measurements through window 74. If desired, other types of electrical components may operate through windows 74 in fabric seam 12A. The use of an optical component is merely illustrative.
As described above, one aspect of the present technology is the gathering and use of information such as information from input-output devices. The present disclosure contemplates that in some instances, data may be gathered that includes personal information data that uniquely identifies or can be used to contact or locate a specific person. Such personal information data can include demographic data, location-based data, telephone numbers, email addresses, twitter ID's, home addresses, data or records relating to a user's health or level of fitness (e.g., vital signs measurements, medication information, exercise information), date of birth, username, password, biometric information, or any other identifying or personal information.
The present disclosure recognizes that the use of such personal information, in the present technology, can be used to the benefit of users. For example, the personal information data can be used to deliver targeted content that is of greater interest to the user. Accordingly, use of such personal information data enables users to have control of the delivered content. Further, other uses for personal information data that benefit the user are also contemplated by the present disclosure. For instance, health and fitness data may be used to provide insights into a user's general wellness, or may be used as positive feedback to individuals using technology to pursue wellness goals.
The present disclosure contemplates that the entities responsible for the collection, analysis, disclosure, transfer, storage, or other use of such personal information data will comply with well-established privacy policies and/or privacy practices. In particular, such entities should implement and consistently use privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining personal information data private and secure. Such policies should be easily accessible by users, and should be updated as the collection and/or use of data changes. Personal information from users should be collected for legitimate and reasonable uses of the entity and not shared or sold outside of those legitimate uses. Further, such collection/sharing should occur after receiving the informed consent of the users. Additionally, such entities should consider taking any needed steps for safeguarding and securing access to such personal information data and ensuring that others with access to the personal information data adhere to their privacy policies and procedures. Further, such entities can subject themselves to evaluation by third parties to certify their adherence to widely accepted privacy policies and practices. In addition, policies and practices should be adapted for the particular types of personal information data being collected and/or accessed and adapted to applicable laws and standards, including jurisdiction-specific considerations. For instance, in the United States, collection of or access to certain health data may be governed by federal and/or state laws, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), whereas health data in other countries may be subject to other regulations and policies and should be handled accordingly. Hence different privacy practices should be maintained for different personal data types in each country.
Despite the foregoing, the present disclosure also contemplates embodiments in which users selectively block the use of, or access to, personal information data. That is, the present disclosure contemplates that hardware and/or software elements can be provided to prevent or block access to such personal information data. For example, the present technology can be configured to allow users to select to “opt in” or “opt out” of participation in the collection of personal information data during registration for services or anytime thereafter. In another example, users can select not to provide certain types of user data. In yet another example, users can select to limit the length of time user-specific data is maintained. In addition to providing “opt in” and “opt out” options, the present disclosure contemplates providing notifications relating to the access or use of personal information. For instance, a user may be notified upon downloading an application (“app”) that their personal information data will be accessed and then reminded again just before personal information data is accessed by the app.
Moreover, it is the intent of the present disclosure that personal information data should be managed and handled in a way to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use. Risk can be minimized by limiting the collection of data and deleting data once it is no longer needed. In addition, and when applicable, including in certain health related applications, data de-identification can be used to protect a user's privacy. De-identification may be facilitated, when appropriate, by removing specific identifiers (e.g., date of birth, etc.), controlling the amount or specificity of data stored (e.g., collecting location data at a city level rather than at an address level), controlling how data is stored (e.g., aggregating data across users), and/or other methods.
Therefore, although the present disclosure broadly covers use of information that may include personal information data to implement one or more various disclosed embodiments, the present disclosure also contemplates that the various embodiments can also be implemented without the need for accessing personal information data. That is, the various embodiments of the present technology are not rendered inoperable due to the lack of all or a portion of such personal information data.
The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.
This application claims priority to provisional patent application No. 63/220,912, filed Jul. 12, 2021, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63220912 | Jul 2021 | US |
