Patent Grant
10653190
All publications and patent applications mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.
The disclosure herein relates to electrical connectors for garments having multiple integrated electrical components (including sensors), and garments including them. In particular, this disclosure relates to strips of elastic electrical connectors that may be used to connect multiple electrical devices on a garment having integrated electrical devices.
In recent years the development of wearable electronics has dramatically expanded. Computers with ever-faster computer processors enabled faster communication with increased processing speed and improved analysis of vast quantities of data. In addition, sensor technology has also rapidly expanded how patients have been monitored, even by non-professionals. The development of various sensors enabled a variety of measurements to be taken and analyzed by a computer to generate useful information. The use of medical sensing technology in combination with various communications platforms may provide new and interesting ways for people, including patients, to be monitored or to monitor themselves and communicate the results of the monitoring with their physician or caregiver.
Cardiovascular and other health-related problems, including respiratory problems may be detected by monitoring a patient. Monitoring may allow early and effective intervention, and medical assistance may be obtained based on monitored physiological characteristics before a particular health issue becomes fatal. Unfortunately, most currently available cardiovascular and other types of health monitoring systems are cumbersome and inconvenient (e.g., impractical for everyday use) and in particular, are difficult or impractical to use for long-term monitoring, particularly in an unobtrusive manner.
Clothing that includes sensors have been previously suggested. See, e.g., US2007/0178716 to Glaser et al., which describes a “modular microelectronic-system” designed for use with wearable electronics. US2012/0071039 to Debock et al. describes interconnect and termination methodology fore-textiles that include a “conductive layer that includes conductors includes a terminal and a base separately provided from the terminal. The terminal has a mating end and a mounting end.” US2005/0029680 to Jung et al. describes a method and apparatus for the integration of electronics in textiles. These wearable electronic garments are limited however, in their ability to comfortably and accurately link electronics (including sensors) on the garment.
It has been proposed that patient health parameters, including vital signs (such as ECG, respiration, blood oxygenation, heart rate, etc.) could be actively monitoring using one or more wearable monitors, however, to date such monitors have proven difficult to use and relatively inaccurate. Ideally such monitors could be unobtrusively worn by the subject (e.g., as part of a garment, jewelry, or the like). To date, the wearable electronics garments proposed all suffer from a number of deficits, including being uncomfortable, difficult to use and manufacture, and providing inaccurate results. For example, in applications such as US 2012/0136231, a number of individual electrodes are positioned on the garment and connected to a processor by woven conductive fibers or the like; although such garments “require . . . consistent and firm conductive contact with the subject's skin,” in order to provide accurate readings, such designs require that the garment be restrictive in order to prevent movement of the garment (and thus sensors) contacting these skin regions. Such a configuration rapidly becomes uncomfortable, particularly in a garment that would ideally be worn for many hours or even days. In addition, even such tightly worn garments often move relative to the wearer (e.g., slip or ride up). Further, devices/garments such as those described in the prior art are difficult and expensive to manufacture, and are often rather “fragile”, preventing robust usage and washing. Finally, such devices/garments typically do not allow processing of manual user input directly on the garment, but either relay entirely on passive monitoring, or require an interface of some sort (including off-garment interfaces).
The use of garments including one or more sensors that may sense biometric data have not found widespread use. In part, this may be because such garments may be limited in the kinds and versatility of the inputs that they accept, as well as limits in the comfort, and form factor of the garment. For example, sensors, and the leads providing power to and receiving signals from the sensors have not been fully integrated with the garment in a way that allows the garment to be flexible, attractive, practical, and above all, comfortable. For example, most such proposed garments have not been sufficiently stretchable. Finally, such proposed garments are also limited in the kind of data that they can receive, and how they process the received information.
What is needed are apparatuses (including garments) having multiple sensors that may be comfortably worn, yet provide relatively accurate and movement-insensitive measurements over a sustained period of time. It would also be beneficial to provide garments that can be easily and inexpensively manufactured.
In particular, what is needed are stretchable and conductive connectors that can be attached or applied onto a garment. These stretchable, conductive connectors may be used even with the most stretchable of fabrics, and/or with compression fabrics/compression garments, and moved through numerous stretch/relaxation cycles with the underlying fabric without breaking and while maintaining a stable electrical connection over time and use. The apparatuses, including devices and systems including them described herein may address some or all of the problems identified above.
Described herein garments including integrated electronic sensors and methods of making and using them. In particular, the methods and apparatuses described herein may provide methods and apparatuses (systems, devices, etc.) for forming garments with wearable electronics that may be fabricated in a robust, efficient, and cost-effective manner. For example, described herein are strips of elastic electrical connectors that may be used to connect multiple electrical devices on a garment having integrated electrical devices (including sensors). These strips of elastic electrical connectors may be adhesively applied to a garment (or a fabric to forma garment) and may be comfortably worn while providing robust electrical connection.
For example, described herein are elastic electrical connector devices for incorporating into a garment to connect multiple electrical components in the garment. Such devices may include: an elongate strip of fabric substrate having a first side and a second side; a plurality of wires extending along a length of the first side of the elongate strip of fabric substrate in a sinusoidal or zig-zag pattern, wherein each of the wires is electrically insulated, and wherein the plurality of wires are attached to the first surface by a stitch at a peak and a trough of the sinusoidal or zig-zag pattern; and an adhesive coating the first side.
As used herein, a sinusoidal pattern is a curve that describes a repeating (or oscillating) pattern, and may broadly include zig-zag, saw-tooth, (e.g., triangular), smooth, or other repeating waves having a peak and a trough, where the peak and trough are connected by non-vertical paths (e.g., excluding purely square waveforms). Thus, in general the oscillating pattern of the wires in any of the apparatuses (e.g., devices, garments, etc.) described herein may be referred to as an oscillating pattern having a series of longitudinally repeating peaks and troughs, wherein each peak is followed by an adjacent trough and separated by a longitudinal distance (e.g., greater than 0.1 mm, 0.5 mm, 1 mm, etc.) and separated by a vertical distance (e.g., amplitude).
Any of these elastic electrical connector device for incorporating into a garment to connect multiple electrical components in the garment may include: an elongate strip of fabric substrate having a first side with a length; a bundle of wires that are twisted together extending along the length of the first side of the elongate strip of fabric substrate in a sinusoidal or zig-zag pattern, wherein each of the wires is electrically insulated with a thermoremovable insulator, and wherein the bundle of wires are attached to the first surface by a stitch at each peak and trough of the sinusoidal or zig-zag pattern wherein the length between peak and trough stitches is between about 1 mm and 15 mm; and an adhesive coating the first side.
The elastic electrical connector may be a generally thin strip (e.g., ribbon, band, etc.) that may be relatively thin and narrow. For example, the strip may have a maximum thickness of less than about 2 mm (e.g., less than about 1.9 mm, less than about 1.8 mm, less than about 1.7 mm, less than about 1.6 mm, less than about 1.5 mm, less than about 1.4 mm, less than about 1.3 mm, less than about 1.2 mm, less than about 1.1 mm, less than about 1.0 mm, etc.).
The elastic electrical connector may be any appropriate length and thickness. For example, the elastic electrical connector (the elongate strip of fabric substrate of the elastic electrical connector) may be between about 0.6 mm and about 3 cm wide, and greater than about 10 cm long. The length may extend for meters, including greater than 1 m, greater than 2 m, greater than 3 m, etc. the elastic electrical connector may be spooled up so that it may be cut to fit and conveniently used in a variety of fabrications.
The plurality of wires comprises a bundle of wires twisted together. In some variations, the plurality may be wires arranged in parallel. The plurality of wires generally includes between 2 and 20 (e.g., between 2 and 18, 2 and 17, 2 and 16, 2 and 15, 2 and 14, 2 and 13, 2 and 12, 2 and 11, 2 and 10, 2 and 9, 2 and 8, 2, etc.). In general, each of the wires is individually coded along its outer length, so that it may be distinguished from the other wires. For example, each wire may be a distinct color and/or pattern (e.g., printed on the outer visible surface of the wire. When the plurality is a bundle of wires, the wires are typically individually electrically insulated. Thus, the bundle is not encased or enclosed as a group, so that they can be individually separated out from the bundle, though pulled out of the stitch or attachment holding them to the substrate fabric.
As mentioned, each wire is typically individually electrically insulated, and this electrical insulation may be configured as a thermoremovable insulator that can be removed by application of a relatively low heat, as applied during soldering. Thus, the wires may not need to be separately stripped or removed of the insulation. For example, the wires may be made of a copper wire that is electrically insulated with a polyurethane.
The wires are typically attached on one side of the substrate (fabric) in a sinusoidal pattern, or more specifically a zig-zag pattern. For example, the sinusoid or zig-zag pattern may have an amplitude (from peak to trough, measured in a direction normal to the zig-zag pattern) that is from about 0.2 mm to 20 mm (e.g., from 0.5 mm to about 15 mm, etc.). The distance between the peak and trough measured along the sinusoidal (e.g., zig-zag) pattern, e.g., a length between peak and trough stitches, may be between about 0.5 mm and about 20 mm (e.g., between about 1 mm and 15 mm, etc.).
The elastic electrical connector typically has a relaxed configuration (e.g., unstretched) and a stretched configuration. The garment may be stretched up to about 100% (2×) or more (e.g., 200%, 300%, etc.) of its relaxed configuration without breaking one of the connecting wires.
In some variations, it is helpful that the wires (e.g., bundle of wires) are held to the garment by one or more stitches at the peak and trough of the sinusoidal pattern, as through stitches around the wires that pass through the substrate. This configuration may allow the stitches to act as eyelets that the wires may slide, while still maintaining the shape of the sinusoid.
In any of the elastic electrical connectors described herein the adhesive coating may be a relatively thin adhesive coating. For example, the adhesive coating may comprise a hot melt film having a low melting point. The adhesive coating may have a thickness of between 10 and 200 micrometers thick (e.g., 20 and 190, 30 and 180, 40 and 170, 50 and 160, 60 and 150, etc., or any thickness between 10 and 200 micrometers. The actual thickness may depend on the material, though thinner coatings are preferred. The adhesive is configured to secure the elastic electrical connector to the garment that it will form a part of. Thus, any appropriate garment-compatible (and somewhat elastic and/or flexible) adhesive may be used. For example, the adhesive coating comprises a hot melt film having a melting point of between about 130° C. and 200° C.
In any of these variations, the substrate fabric may be formed of the same fabric as the garment to which the elongate strip of fabric substrate is to be attached, including a stretchable fabric substrate. For example, the elongate strip of fabric substrate may comprise a polyamide/elastane blend fabric (e.g., 74% polyamide, 26% elastane).
Any of these devices (elastic electrical connectors) may include a removable backing on the first side covering the adhesive. The back may be paper (e.g., waxed paper), plastic, or the like, and may be peeled off to expose the adhesive.
Also described herein are elastic electrical connector device for incorporating into a garment to connect multiple electrical components in the garment, the device comprising: an elongate strip of fabric substrate having a first side and a second side; a plurality of wires extending along a length of the first side of the elongate strip of fabric substrate in a sinusoidal or zig-zag pattern, wherein each of the wires is electrically insulated, and wherein the plurality of wires are attached to the first surface; and an adhesive coating the first side.
Method of making these elastic electrical connectors are also described herein. A method of forming an elastic electrical connector that may be applied to a garment to connect multiple electrical components of the garment may include: attaching an elongate bundle of wires to a first surface of an elongate strip of fabric in a sinusoidal or zig-zag pattern comprising alternating peaks and troughs, wherein the wires are each electrically insulated, and wherein the bundle is attached to the first surface by at least one stitch at each peak and trough of the sinusoidal or zig-zag pattern, wherein the length between peak and trough stitches is between about 1 mm and 15 mm; applying an adhesive coating the first side; and covering the adhesive coating with a removable backing.
Also described herein are garments made using the elastic electrical connectors described herein. For example, a garment may include: a first fabric; a plurality of electrical components on the first fabric; and at least one elastic electrical connector comprising: an elongate strip of a second fabric substrate having a first side; a plurality of wires extending along a length of the first side of the elongate strip of fabric substrate in a sinusoidal or zig-zag pattern, wherein each of the wires is electrically insulated, and wherein the plurality of wires are attached to the first surface by a stitch at a peak and a trough of the sinusoidal or zig-zag pattern, and an adhesive coating the first side; wherein the each electrical component is connected to one or more wire in the at least one electrical connector. In general, the electrical components described herein that may be connected by the elastic electrical connectors may include any appropriate electrical component, and in particular (but not limited to) a sensor.
A method of forming a garment may include: adhesively attaching one or more elastic electrical connector to a first fabric, each elastic electrical connector comprising: an elongate strip of a second fabric substrate having a first side; a plurality of wires extending along a length of the first side of the elongate strip of fabric substrate in a sinusoidal or zig-zag pattern, wherein each of the wires is electrically insulated, and wherein the plurality of wires are attached to the first surface by a stitch at a peak and a trough of the sinusoidal or zig-zag pattern, and an adhesive coating the first side; and attaching a plurality of electrical components to the first fabric, wherein each electrical component is connected to at least one wire of the one or more elastic electrical connector.
The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the claims that follow. A better understanding of the features and advantages of the present invention will be obtained by reference to the following detailed description that sets forth illustrative embodiments, in which the principles of the invention are utilized, and the accompanying drawings of which:
In general, descried herein are wearable electronic devices. Wearable electronics typically include garments that may be worn on a subject and include one (or more preferable, a plurality) of sensors that are configured to detect, process and relay biometric signals for monitoring the user; outputs (haptics, speakers, etc.) may also be included, and one or more processors may be included as well. A particular challenge for wearable electronics is sizing. Because the garments may be used by a variety of different body types, and because they may be comfortable for use through a variety of body movements, the garments must be configured to make robust and reliable contact with the subject's body in a predictable manner, even while being worn, stretched and otherwise manipulated by the wearer. In particular, described herein are methods and apparatuses (including devices, systems, garments, etc.) that form wearable electronics so that they may be easily fabricated and may make robust and reliable electrical contact with sensors on the garment, while positioning the sensors in a predefined location on the wearer's body.
For example, described herein are elastic electrical connector devices for incorporating into a garment to connect multiple electrical components in the garment, methods of making these elastic electrical connectors, garments including elastic electrical connectors and methods of making such garments.
An elastic electrical connector may be referred to herein as an elastic strip connector, a fabric strip connector, or the like. Generally, the elastic electrical connectors described herein may include a fabric substrate (e.g., cut or formed into an elongate strip of fabric substrate). This substrate may be elastic (e.g., it may be made of a stretchable fabric). A plurality of wires may be attached to one side of the fabric, and the plurality of wires may be attached in a sinusoidal (e.g., zig-zag) pattern along the length of the elastic electrical connector. For example, the elastic electrical connector may include a plurality of wires extending along a length of the first side of the elongate strip of fabric substrate in a sinusoidal or zig-zag pattern. The wires may be attached to the substrate by sewing or stitching. In some variations, the wires are attached by adhesive (instead of or in addition to stitching). For example, the plurality of wires may be attached to the first surface by one or more stitches at the peaks and troughs of the sinusoidal or zig-zag pattern.
The garments described herein may be worn by any appropriate user/subject/patient. As used herein the wearer may be referred to as a user, patient, or subject, or alternatively, “wearer,” and may include human and non-human (e.g., animal) subjects.
In general, there may be spacing between the attachment points at the peak and troughs (e.g., between the stitches) holding the bundle of wires to the substrate in the sinusoidal or zig-zag pattern. This spacing may be greater than 1 mm, 2 mm, 3 mm, 4 mm, 5 mm, 6 mm, 7 mm, 8 mm, 9 mm, 10 mm, 11 mm, 12 mm, 13 mm, 14 mm, 15 mm, 20 mm, etc. (e.g., between about 1 mm and 15 mm); this spacing may be distance between durable attachment sites (e.g., stitches). The spacing between attachment points may along the length of the substrate may vary, or it may be constant. Leaving the bundle of wires (which may be twisted together) may make the wires easier to separate out for attachment to an electrical component as will be described below. Note that even in variations in which the wires are not referred to herein as attached, the wires of the elastic electrical connector may be considered as unattached, as the adhesive may not securely hold the wire(s) to the substrate between the peaks and troughs. In general, any of the variations described herein (unless otherwise specified) may include an adhesive on one or both sides of the elastic electrical connector, including the side to which the zig-zag/sinusoidal wires (wire bundle) is attached.
In some variations the adhesive may hold (or help hold) the plurality of wires or bundle of wires in the sinusoidal pattern as described. For example, the plurality of wires may be embedded within adhesive that holds (or helps hold) the wires in the sinusoidal (e.g., zig-zag, sawtooth, etc.) oscillating pattern yet allow individual wires to be removed from the adhesive and the substrate individually, e.g., by pulling, for cutting and attaching to an electrical device such as a sensor. In any of the variations including adhesive, the adhesive may help hold the plurality (e.g., bundle) of wires in the oscillating pattern along the substrate while still permitting individual wires to be removed from the side (e.g., back) of the substrate for attachment, leaving the other wires in the oscillating pattern. Thus, the adhesive strength (e.g., tensile or pull-off adhesive strength) of a wire held to the substrate (or within the substrate) may be relatively low, allowing it to be manually removed without damaging the individual wire or disrupting the oscillatory pattern of the other wires on the substrate.
Each of the wires of the elastic electrical connector may be electrically insulated. In particular, the insulation layer on the wire may be thermo-removable, so that just heating (e.g., by soldering, e.g., greater than 200 degrees C., greater than 250 degrees C., greater than 300 degrees C., greater than 350 degrees C., greater than 400 degrees C., etc.) may remove the insulation from the wire at the heated portion, leaving the rest of the wire(s) insulated.
For example,
The electrical connectors described herein may allow deformation (elongation, twisting, curling, etc.) of the electrical connections. Shortly, this is achieved by embedding a bundle of electrical wire in a fabric sandwich held together by the thermo-adhesive. The thickness of the finished spidon may be important for wearable comfort. For example, the thickness applied may be between about 0.5 and 2 mm. (typically <2 mm).
Because of the arrangement of the zig-zag (sigmoidal) assembly may have material property advantages. For example, maximum elongation (which is dictated by the mechanical properties of the chosen substrate fabric) may increase. The geometry of the ZIG.ZAG pattern is optimized to ensure maximum elongation of the fabric in the long direction (Zig-zag direction) (i.e., the ZIG-ZAG is not the weak-link).
The amplitude and stitch-lengths of the patterns used to form the elastic electrical connector. For example, the device (e.g., elastic electrical connector) may be optimized to meet the above constraint and to support 3000 stress cycles, e.g., having a guaranteed elongation: of between about 80% to 400. The values for range of angles between the lines of wire extending between peak and trough of usually between 30 and 110 degrees.
The substrate used may be any appropriate substrate. For example the material used may be, e.g., Lycra, and other synthetic fibers. For example in some variations the fabric comprises a mixture of fabrics, such as a mixture of a synthetic (e.g., polyester) and another material (e.g. Lycra or elastin), e.g., around 25-40% of elastin or Lycra with the remainder being polyester. The fabric in some ways acts as a limiter, limiting the maximum stretch of connector to the maximum stretch of the fabric used, or less.
As mentioned, any appropriate glue (adhesive) may be applied to the back of the elastic electrical connector. For example, the adhesive may be applied to a thickness of between about 20 and 300 microns (e.g., between about 80-100 microns, between about 50-200 microns, between about 100-200 microns, etc.)
As will be described in more detail below, to connect a wire to an electrical component, the wire maybe cut and removed from the bundle at the cut end so that it can be electrically connected. The wires may be coded (e.g., color/pattern coded), and the proper wire may be cut (e.g., with a scalpel or scissor) and then when soldered directly; the application of the solder (heat) may remove e.g., by evaporation, the insulation. In general, the wires in the bundle are not fused or enclosed together, but may be secured as a bungle only at the apexes (peaks and troughs) of the sinusoidal pattern, e.g., by a stitch. This may allow the wires to be individually separated and pulled out of the bundle (and out of the stitches holding the pattern, e.g., by pulling the cut end from the bundle, allowing them to be easily identified and attached to an electrical component, such as a sensor or PCB.
Overall, the strip of fabric forming the device may be cut into fabric strips of any length and width. E.g., strips may generally be between 3-4 cm widths (e.g., as thin as possible). Likewise, the length may be varied. In some examples (e.g.,
This elastic electrical connectors may also be referred to as fabric ribbons or fabric ribbon connectors, and may include the conductive zig-zag (e.g., sinusoidal) enameled, twisted wires. The purpose of the elastic electrical connector is to deliver signals and electricity in every needed part of a garment. There are numerous advantages to this type of elastic electrical connector: every single wire/conductor can be easily connected to a sensor, an electrode or an electronic board without having to strip the wire's jacket, or remove the fabric protection or others. This is possible because the strand on enameled, twisted wires (composed from 2 to up to more than 8 wires) is sewed on the glued side of the ribbon and can be easily worked on (cut, stripped of protection, welded, attached, . . . ) before being thermally applied to the garment. Therefore only a single simple operation is needed in the production process: removing the cut wire's insulation so that it can be welded to electrodes, sensors or any electronic or electrical parts.
Moreover, this allows us to prepare the “harnesses” with all the required connections in advance, to test it and to then ‘attach’ it (the ‘harness’ or SPIDON assembly) to the garment in one single/efficient/low-cost operation much like is done in the car manufacturing for the electrical distribution. In contrast to other devices and methods for connecting electrical components on a wearable garment, the elastic electrical connectors described herein are relatively thin (e.g., less than 2 mm, less than 1.9 mm, less than 1.8 mm, less than 1.7 mm, less than 1.6 mm, less than 1.5 mm, etc.). In contrast, other connectors are too thick which may prevent the comfort needed in compression or tight clothes. Other connectors are also described as woven inside the ribbon, thus the connections can only be done at the beginning or at the end of the ribbons so many different ribbons are needed. Further, it may be very difficult and time consuming to cut the ribbon at the desired dimensions and strip out the wires without damaging them. In some cases the wires may not have insulation, thus they have to be sewed separately limiting the ribbon width to the number of wires, moreover the ribbon risks to generate short-circuit effects when in contact with sweat or rain.
The fabrication of the conductive ribbon as described herein may start with the coupling of a thermo adhesive film with the fabric: the two coupled materials pass then between two hot metal rollers that melt the glue onto the fabric side. A fabric reel normally has a dimension of 140 cm width and a length of about 70 m: after the glue coupling process, the reel can be cut in smaller reels sized to the desired width (
Using a special custom designed sewing machine, the conductors strand is sewn over the glue side of the ribbon (
The side sewing may be used for sensors (
The use of an elastic electrical connector as a garment electrification method has been tested by an external certified laboratory with a cycling test bench machine doing a tensile strength with 20% of elongation to verify the electrical continuity of the conductors. Note that other (e.g., 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100%, etc.) elongations have been successfully tested with similar results as well.
Each single screen test has been applied by thermal transfer onto a piece of elastic fabric (same fabric material of the ribbon) with dimensions of 45×20 cm. One end of the sample was bound to the frame of the test device, while the other end was fixed to the pneumatic piston. The electric wires of the samples, connected in series each other's, have been connected to the source of direct current power supply through a current-limiting resistor. Potential voltage leak at the ends of the wire was monitored by means of a data logger. The tests have been conducted on three different screen test samples: one with 4 conductors, one with 6 conductors and one with 8 conductors.
In this example, the breath sensor (elastic) is placed, centered and attached to the middle of a fabric strip 1509 as shown. The sensor may be attached by keeping the sensor stable, marking two (or more) holes on the band (e.g., by an awl), punching through the band to form holes of approximately 2 mm diameter and fixing the sensor to the strip with two rivets 1511, 1511′. The rivets may be inserted from the back side of the strip, as shown. Once attached, the sensor may be covered with another layer, as shown in
As mentioned above, the connectors described herein may be part of a system including one or more flexible connectors (which may be referred to as a “spidon”), that may connect multiple electrical components, including connecting such components to a Sensor Management System (SMS), having male and/or female connectors with their components. The spidon may be configured as a harness with multiple intelligent strands (e.g., made of twisted enameled multi (2 to 20, 2 to 18, 2 to 16, 2 to 14, 2 to 12, etc.) wires sewed against one side of a fabric strip in a sinusoidal (e.g., zig-zag) pattern, and may include isolating glue. The spidon may connect and therefore include electrodes, sensors, haptic actuators, touch-points and ICs such as microcontrollers and IMUs. A spidon may be designed for garment application where signals coming from multiple sensors, electrodes, touch points and haptic actuators placed in different parts of the garment/body have to be connected to microprocessors placed in different parts of the garment/body and to (an) external devices such as a Multi Media Module device (MMM). The SMS connector is part of the Spidon and may be positioned in the upper center of each shirt, which corresponds to the center between the wearer's shoulder blades, the place in the human body less sensitive to weight and to touch.
The SMS may be placed in each shirt rather than in the MMM. This solution increases the cost of the system: rather than buying an MMM with a SMS and use it with many shirts with no SMS, the user now has to buy a MMM without an SMS and use it with many shirts each one having an SMS. However this solution allows to increase the number of sensors, electrodes, touch points and haptic actuators in the garment without having to increase the size of the male and female connectors on the MMM. Potential users may not wear an SMS with more than 36 pins because its size would become too intrusive and uncomfortable.
By placing the SMS in the connector glued to the shirt, each sensor, electrode, touch point or haptic actuator may be directly connected to the SMS microprocessor through the already mentioned strands. The SMS microprocessor is then responsible for acquiring and processing each sensor, electrode, touch point or haptic actuator data and signals, and for sending those calculations to the MMM through a digital serial port that requires just two pins on the SMS connector.
It should be noted that in case the SMS would have been placed in the MMM rather than in shirt connector, all the sensors, electrodes, touch points or haptic actuators would have been connected to the MMM, thus dramatically increasing the number of pins on the connector and, as a result, increasing its overall size. In this case, a high number of sensors, electrodes, touch points or haptic actuators could be achieved only at the cost of a bigger connector size. On the contrary, the chosen solution ensures small connector dimensions and a high number of sensors, electrodes, touch points or haptic actuators (up to forty-four connections or more) at the same time.
In addition to the already described architecture, additional technology allows the system to increase the number of sensors, electrodes, touch points or haptic actuators without increasing the number of strands that need to be embedded into the garment and connected to the SMS connector. This may be achieved by using the intelligent dedicated strands that were already mentioned above. These intelligent strands which connect embed sensors, electrodes, touch points, haptic actuators and microprocessors that communicate with the SMS microprocessor in a similar way as the MMM and SMS are. Each bundle may include multiple strands or wires. For example, four twisted enameled wires may be used: two wires to carry signal (e.g., acting as a digital serial communication bus), and two for the power supply and ground.
Following a similar principle as the one described for the SMS, it is possible to consider additional ‘modules’, each containing one or more, each additional microcontroller, embedded into intelligent strands can be then connected to a high number of different sensors, electrodes, touch points and haptic actuators placed on the garment. These modules are connected to the SMS by the strands. The microcontroller, in fact, manages not only sensor conditioning, but also digital communication.
In addition to this first advantage, there are two other important features that should be noted. First, by using this overall system architecture, the number of wires that go around the garment is considerably reduced, because the sensors, electrodes, touch points or haptic actuators are not connected to the SMS but to the microcontrollers, and also because all the microcontrollers can share the same digital serial bus for communicating with the SMS microcontroller. This is possible because each microprocessor is identified by an address, thus it can be uniquely identified while communicating with the SMS. The fact that the number of wires is reduced by this solution, surely improves garment wearability and comfort for the final users. Wearability and comfort is important for wearable computers like ours that operate when in direct contact with a large portion of our skin (entire upper body/shirts, entire lower body/tights, hands/gloves, feet/socks, head/balaclava and more) contrary to computers, smart phones that are used while on desks, in hands or in pockets or intelligent watches or wrist bands that are worn on our wrists.
It should be also noted that the number of different microprocessors that can share the same digital serial bus is theoretically infinite or very high and limited primarily by the space on the garment and by the computational power of the SMS microcontroller that needs to manage all the microcontrollers placed around the garment (including the interrogation frequency, bandwidth, etc.).
Lastly, the combination of microcontrollers, sensors, electrodes, touch points or haptic actuators connected to it, allows to create a sort of “smart sensorized node” that can be managed independently from the SMS and can help to distribute the data processing and to relieve the SMS microcontroller processing load.
Referring to
In
In
The connector may also be made waterproof, e.g., or at least water/moisture resistant, as shown in
One basic pins configuration is shown in
The SMS main component is a microcontroller. As already mentioned, the main purpose of this microcontroller is to manage the acquisition of data and signals coming from sensors (e.g. ECG electrodes, EMGs, string gauges, skin conductance, IMUs, etc.), electrodes, touch points or haptic actuators. The same component is also involved into a first phase of data processing (e.g. digital filters) and into the communication of these calculations to the Multimedia Module through a serial digital line.
In one example, shown in
In any of the connectors described herein in which the insulated wires are sewn onto the substrate, a separate thread material (e.g., cotton, polyester, blend, etc.) may be used to sew the bundle of wires against the substrate (fabric) at the appropriate regions. A single loop of thread, or multiple loops of thread may be used to hold the wires in place. The thread may pass around the bundle of wires one or more times, and through the substrate one or more times. The stitches securing the wires to the substrate may be separated by a spacing distance (e.g., see
The wired elastic ribbons connect different sensors types as: IMUs, EMGs, electrodes, touch points, ink sensors by conductive washers connections (e.g.,
In case of PCBA incorporation, this must be previously covered by epoxy resin to prevent any water, sweat or any kind of liquid penetration inside the electronic circuit. The coverage has a smooth and rounded shape in order to have a good touch feeling and an attractive appearance from the external side of the garment.
The conductive washers may be used for connect the copper wire, soldered on it, to the ink sensors and are made by silver-chloride thin steel film in order to have a strong bending resistance and good protection against rust and oxidation, maintaining optimal conductivity values. The coupling between the washer and the ink surface is made thanks a special conductive adhesive named z-axis (manufactured by 3M) that allows transmission of electrical signals between the two different material surfaces.
With this system, it is possible have also input/output electrical connections, like connectors or external modules in every parts of the garments thanks to the “splitter PCB” (SPP) that allows the connection of the thin enameled conductor to standard harnesses. As per the PCBA, the SPP must be protected by epoxy resin coverage after cabling.
All the wired ribbons terminations are soldered to the SMS PCBA pads on the Solder layer and, after test, are incorporated by epoxy resin inside the SMS connector shell (
Other examples of SMS and SMS connectors are shown in
In some variations it may be useful to use conductive threads or other high-conductivity connectors, such as those shown in
One or more conductive threads may be applied directly to a fabric (such as a compression garment) or to a transfer (e.g., patch of fabric or other material that is then attached to the garment). Conductive threads may be insulated (e.g., enameled) before being sewn. In some variations the conductive thread may be grouped prior to sewing onto a fabric or other substrate. For example, a plurality (e.g., 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.) of threads may be insulated and wound together, then stitched into a substrate, such as the compression fabric. For example, in one variation, an apparatus includes a garment having an IMU and two EMGs with inputs fed into circuitry (e.g., microchip) on the apparatus, including on a sensor module/manager. The components may be operated on the same electronic ‘line’, where the line is a plurality of electrically conductive threads that are combined together for stitching through the substrate. In one example, two microchips can be operated by the same ‘line’ made of 4 wires, where each wire is electrically isolated from each other. In stitching a material, the stitch may be formed of two sets of wires; one on top of the substrate and one beneath the substrate, as is understood from mechanical sewing devices; in some variations a stitch formed of conductive thread may include an upper conductive thread (or group of conductive threads) and a lower conductive thread (or group of conductive threads), where the upper conductive thread(s) is primarily on the upper surface and the lower conductive thread(s) are primarily on the lower surface (but one or either may pass through the substrate to engage with the other).
For example, a conductive thread may include a very fine (e.g., 0.7 millimeters gauge/thickness) ‘wire’ made of 4 twisted and enameled (thus electrically isolated from each other) wires covered with a binding solution (that is silicon or water based) or protected by a jacket, having a total diameter of about 0.9 millimeters. A conductive wire may be sewn in a wavy (e.g., zig-zag) pattern, such as a pattern having 45 to 90 degrees angles between the legs of the zig-zag, directly on a fabric or substrate. In some example, the pattern is formed on a substrate of material (e.g., fabric) and attached to the garment. For example, the substrate may be a 1 cm to 3 cm self-adhesive strip of fabric.
For example, in
Once applied to the conductive wires, the elastic ribbon may be enclosed within a fabric (e.g., an insulating fabric, which may be the same as the fabric to which it's being applied). In some variations the elastic ribbon may be enclosed in an insulator material and/or coated with an insulator. In
Thereafter, the resulting ribbon including the conductive elastic material and zig-zag wires may be attached to a garment, such as a compression garment.
It may also be beneficial to coat the contact region (including the vertex 4915, 5015 and PAD contacts 4909, 5009) with a polymer, such as a silicone. For example, in both
In
Any of the methods (including user interfaces) described herein may be implemented as software, hardware or firmware, and may be described as a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a set of instructions capable of being executed by a processor (e.g., computer, tablet, smartphone, etc.), that when executed by the processor causes the processor to control perform any of the steps, including but not limited to: displaying, communicating with the user, analyzing, modifying parameters (including timing, frequency, intensity, etc.), determining, alerting, or the like.
Additional Examples
The methods and apparatuses described herein may be configured for use with or as part of a wearable electronics garment that includes a plurality of sensors. One improvement described herein is the use of a strip of fabric, configured as a framework that includes wiring and sensors preformed and connected thereon. The framework may be made attached into a garment, and allows flexibility in construction, testing and finishing. As described above, the framework includes strips or ribbons of substrate, which may be the same or a different material from the rest of the garment to which it is attached. These ribbons may include wire bundles that are then connected to the sensors and/or outputs on the strips and attached to the garment. Rolls of the wired ribbon (with flexibly and slideably attached zig-zag wire bundles) may be formed and variable lengths later cut and used to form a variety of garments having different shapes and sizes.
In addition, the ribbons including the flexible and slideable bundles of insulated wires may also have one or more sensors and/or outputs (e.g., electrodes, haptics, accelerometers, temperature sensors, speakers, capacitive touch sensors, etc.) formed on the strip of material or attached to an adjacent strip of material. For was illustrated above in
Any of the electrodes for contacting the wearer's body described herein may be configured as an assembly of electrodes. For example,
Any appropriate covers may be used. The electrode cover may be particularly helpful to keep the electrode in contact with the wearer's skin. For example,
As mentioned, sensors, such as electrodes, may be attached to the electrical connectors on the strips/ribbons of material and used to form the framework for attaching to the garment.
In
In operation, the electrically conductive cord may provide a stretch sensor that changes an electrical property (e.g., resistance) with stretch within a relatively linear range that provides a sufficient measure of respiration based on the stretching and relaxation of the cord during breathing while wearing the garment. The electrically conductive cord may include conductive carbon fibers.
Balaclava
In general, the balaclava apparatus may be part of a garment adapted for use when sleeping. Sleep has a critic impact on human health. Getting a good night's sleep is essential to feeling vigorous the following day. The challenge is to define what a “good” sleep is. Biometric signals can be exploited to infer indices of clinical relevance which describe the structure of the sleep, highlighting different phases, patterns, transient events and possible pathological conditions.
The balaclava apparatus shown in
The apparatus may be connected to additional garments measuring other body parameters, and may be a complementary tool for polysomnographic monitoring and sleep studies: the acquired signals are useful to implement a sleep report and to infer nocturnal unconscious behaviors. An additional feature of the apparatus is the possibility of providing relaxing, acoustic stimuli to the user or to stream music as a sleep aid, by exploiting a pair of embedded earbuds.
Target users may be subjects with either diagnosed or suspected sleep disorders, subjects who need a sleep aid or subjects who want to “quantify themselves” even in complete, unconscious conditions.
As shown in
On the top of the garment, a light-plastic case may be attached to the fabric with a thermal, welded patch. The case may hold electronics board and it has inlets for the passage of the cables.
A breathable fabric insert, present on both the sides, improves the user's comfort to allow skin transpiration. The garment may be available in different sizes and it is completely washable, even with the embedded electronics.
In general, the balaclava apparatus may include a set of dry electrodes and sensors for the acquisition of biometric signals, electronics for sensors management, a pair of earbuds and anti-shock circuitry to manage sound experience, a 5-poles jacketed cable to connect the device to L.I.F.E. CTS-Med: biometric data streaming, and a 4-poles jacketed cable to connect the device to Grivola: audio streaming.
The user's experience may involve a multiparametric monitoring during sleep, followed by an off-line analysis of the acquired signals which produces a sleep report. The device may, for example, be part of an asset (do you mean ‘a set’) which implements a complete polysomnography. In some variations, the user wears both a monitoring garment (such as those shown and described above, including the shirts e.g.,
When a feature or element is herein referred to as being “on” another feature or element, it can be directly on the other feature or element or intervening features and/or elements may also be present. In contrast, when a feature or element is referred to as being “directly on” another feature or element, there are no intervening features or elements present. It will also be understood that, when a feature or element is referred to as being “connected”, “attached” or “coupled” to another feature or element, it can be directly connected, attached or coupled to the other feature or element or intervening features or elements may be present. In contrast, when a feature or element is referred to as being “directly connected”, “directly attached” or “directly coupled” to another feature or element, there are no intervening features or elements present. Although described or shown with respect to one embodiment, the features and elements so described or shown can apply to other embodiments. It will also be appreciated by those of skill in the art that references to a structure or feature that is disposed “adjacent” another feature may have portions that overlap or underlie the adjacent feature.
Terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. For example, as used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items and may be abbreviated as “/”.
Spatially relative terms, such as “under”, “below”, “lower”, “over”, “upper” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if a device in the figures is inverted, elements described as “under” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “over” the other elements or features. Thus, the exemplary term “under” can encompass both an orientation of over and under. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly. Similarly, the terms “upwardly”, “downwardly”, “vertical”, “horizontal” and the like are used herein for the purpose of explanation only unless specifically indicated otherwise.
Although the terms “first” and “second” may be used herein to describe various features/elements (including steps), these features/elements should not be limited by these terms, unless the context indicates otherwise. These terms may be used to distinguish one feature/element from another feature/element. Thus, a first feature/element discussed below could be termed a second feature/element, and similarly, a second feature/element discussed below could be termed a first feature/element without departing from the teachings of the present invention.
Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word “comprise”, and variations such as “comprises” and “comprising” means various components can be co-jointly employed in the methods and articles (e.g., compositions and apparatuses including device and methods). For example, the term “comprising” will be understood to imply the inclusion of any stated elements or steps but not the exclusion of any other elements or steps.
In general, any of the apparatuses and methods described herein should be understood to be inclusive, but all or a sub-set of the components and/or steps may alternatively be exclusive, and may be expressed as “consisting of” or alternatively “consisting essentially of” the various components, steps, sub-components or sub-steps.
As used herein in the specification and claims, including as used in the examples and unless otherwise expressly specified, all numbers may be read as if prefaced by the word “about” or “approximately,” even if the term does not expressly appear. The phrase “about” or “approximately” may be used when describing magnitude and/or position to indicate that the value and/or position described is within a reasonable expected range of values and/or positions. For example, a numeric value may have a value that is +/−0.1% of the stated value (or range of values), +/−1% of the stated value (or range of values), +/−2% of the stated value (or range of values), +/−5% of the stated value (or range of values), +/−10% of the stated value (or range of values), etc. Any numerical values given herein should also be understood to include about or approximately that value, unless the context indicates otherwise. For example, if the value “10” is disclosed, then “about 10” is also disclosed. Any numerical range recited herein is intended to include all sub-ranges subsumed therein. It is also understood that when a value is disclosed that “less than or equal to” the value, “greater than or equal to the value” and possible ranges between values are also disclosed, as appropriately understood by the skilled artisan. For example, if the value “X” is disclosed the “less than or equal to X” as well as “greater than or equal to X” (e.g., where X is a numerical value) is also disclosed. It is also understood that the throughout the application, data is provided in a number of different formats, and that this data, represents endpoints and starting points, and ranges for any combination of the data points. For example, if a particular data point “10” and a particular data point “15” are disclosed, it is understood that greater than, greater than or equal to, less than, less than or equal to, and equal to 10 and 15 are considered disclosed as well as between 10 and 15. It is also understood that each unit between two particular units are also disclosed. For example, if 10 and 15 are disclosed, then 11, 12, 13, and 14 are also disclosed.
Although various illustrative embodiments are described above, any of a number of changes may be made to various embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention as described by the claims. For example, the order in which various described method steps are performed may often be changed in alternative embodiments, and in other alternative embodiments one or more method steps may be skipped altogether. Optional features of various device and system embodiments may be included in some embodiments and not in others. Therefore, the foregoing description is provided primarily for exemplary purposes and should not be interpreted to limit the scope of the invention as it is set forth in the claims.
The examples and illustrations included herein show, by way of illustration and not of limitation, specific embodiments in which the subject matter may be practiced. As mentioned, other embodiments may be utilized and derived there from, such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred to herein individually or collectively by the term “invention” merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to any single invention or inventive concept, if more than one is, in fact, disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, any arrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments. Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description.
This application claims priority as a continuation-in-part of International Patent Application No. PCT/IB2016/001146, filed on Jul. 20, 2016, and titled “FLEXIBLE FABRIC RIBBON CONNECTORS FOR GARMENTS WITH SENSORS AND ELECTRONICS,” which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/194,731, titled “FLEXIBLE FABRIC RIBBON CONNECTORS FOR GARMENTS WITH SENSORS AND ELECTRONICS,” and filed on Jul. 20, 2015. This application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/813,073, filed Nov. 14, 2017, titled “GARMENTS HAVING STRETCHABLE AND CONDUCTIVE INK,” now U.S. Pat. No. 10,045,439, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/324,152, filed Jan. 5, 2017, titled “GARMENTS HAVING STRETCHABLE AND CONDUCTIVE INK,” now U.S. Pat. No. 9,817,440, which is a national phase application under 35 USC 371 of International Patent Application No. PCT/IB2015/001802, filed Jul. 14, 2015, titled “GARMENTS HAVING STRETCHABLE AND CONDUCTIVE INK,” which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/331,185, filed Jul. 14, 2014, titled “METHODS OF MAKING GARMENTS HAVING STRETCHABLE AND CONDUCTIVE INK,” now U.S. Pat. No. 8,945,328, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent Ser. No. 14/023,830, filed Sep. 11, 2013, titled “WEARABLE COMMUNICATION PLATFORM,” now U.S. Pat. No. 9,282,893, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/699,440, filed Sep. 11, 2012, titled “SMARTWEAR SYSTEM,” and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/862,936, filed Aug. 6, 2013, and titled “WEARABLE COMMUNICATION PLATFORM.” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/331,185 claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/950,782, filed Mar. 10, 2014 and titled “PHYSIOLOGICAL MONITORING GARMENTS.” International Patent Application No. PCT/IB2015/001802 is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/612,060, filed Feb. 2, 2015, titled “GARMENTS HAVING STRETCHABLE AND CONDUCTIVE INK,” U.S. Patent Publication No. 2015/0143601, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,986,771, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/331,185, filed Jul. 14, 2014, titled “METHODS OF MAKING GARMENTS HAVING STRETCHABLE AND CONDUCTIVE INK,” now U.S. Pat. No. 8,945,328. This application may be related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/612,060, filed on Feb. 2, 2015 (“GARMENTS HAVING STRETCHABLE AND CONDUCTIVE INK”), which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/331,142 filed Jul. 14, 2014 (“COMPRESSION GARMENTS HAVING STRETCHABLE AND CONDUCTIVE INK”). This application may also be related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/644,180, filed Mar. 10, 2015 (“PHYSIOLOGICAL MONITORING GARMENTS”), which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/097,560, filed on Dec. 29, 2015 (“STRETCHABLE, CONDUCTIVE TRACES AND METHODS OF MAKING AND USING SAME”).
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