Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
  • H05K1/00—Printed circuits
  • H05K1/02—Details
  • H05K1/03—Use of materials for the substrate
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
  • H05K1/00—Printed circuits
  • H05K1/02—Details
  • H05K1/03—Use of materials for the substrate
  • H05K1/038—Textiles
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
  • H05K1/00—Printed circuits
  • H05K1/02—Details
  • H05K1/03—Use of materials for the substrate
  • H05K1/0393—Flexible materials
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
  • H05K1/00—Printed circuits
  • H05K1/02—Details
  • H05K1/11—Printed elements for providing electric connections to or between printed circuits
  • H05K1/111—Pads for surface mounting, e.g. lay-out
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
  • H05K3/00—Apparatus or processes for manufacturing printed circuits
  • H05K3/22—Secondary treatment of printed circuits
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
  • H05K1/00—Printed circuits
  • H05K1/18—Printed circuits structurally associated with non-printed electric components
  • H05K1/189—Printed circuits structurally associated with non-printed electric components characterised by the use of a flexible or folded printed circuit
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
  • H05K2203/00—Indexing scheme relating to apparatus or processes for manufacturing printed circuits covered by H05K3/00
  • H05K2203/17—Post-manufacturing processes
  • H05K2203/178—Demolishing, e.g. recycling, reverse engineering, destroying for security purposes; Using biodegradable materials
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
  • H05K3/00—Apparatus or processes for manufacturing printed circuits
  • H05K3/10—Apparatus or processes for manufacturing printed circuits in which conductive material is applied to the insulating support in such a manner as to form the desired conductive pattern
  • H05K3/20—Apparatus or processes for manufacturing printed circuits in which conductive material is applied to the insulating support in such a manner as to form the desired conductive pattern by affixing prefabricated conductor pattern
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02P—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
  • Y02P70/00—Climate change mitigation technologies in the production process for final industrial or consumer products
  • Y02P70/50—Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T29/00—Metal working
  • Y10T29/49—Method of mechanical manufacture
  • Y10T29/49002—Electrical device making
  • Y10T29/49117—Conductor or circuit manufacturing

Definitions

• Electronic textiles are textiles with electronics integrated in the fabric.
• a method of manufacturing an electronic textile comprises the step of providing an electronic structure including conductive wires being at least partly spaced apart from each other and one or more electronic components connected to the conductive wires, wherein one or more gaps are formed in the electronic structure between the at least partly spaced apart conductive wires.
• the method further comprises the steps of providing a fabric structure including two fabric portions and sandwiching the electronic structure between the two fabric portions. Further, the two fabric portions are joined together according to a bonding pattern including bonding segments, such that the bonding segments are arranged in one or more of the gaps of the electronic structure, whereby the electronic structure is held in place in the fabric structure by the bonding pattern.
• the inventors have realized that it is desirable to adapt new electronic textiles to environmental demands and that the integration of textile and electronic rises new issues when it comes to waste sorting and recycling.
• the problem of how to handle the waste appears, as it may be handled both as electronic waste and textile waste.
• the conductive wires are weaved into the fabric as warp and/or weft yarns, or wherein circuit boards are secured to the fabric e.g. by adhesion
• the present invention is based on the idea of having separate electronic and fabric structures in the electronic textile. As the electronic structure is secured in the fabric structure by the bonding pattern with bond segments in the gaps of the electronic structure, the need of further attachment of the electronic structure to the fabric structure is reduced, whereby the separation of the electronics from the fabric is made easier, which is
• the fabric structure may be handled as textile waste and recycled into new textile material, and the electronic structure may be handled as electronic waste or, if still working, even be reused in a new electronic textile.
• the fabric structure with its bonding pattern may provide a stable and protective mechanical structure, as well as electrical insulation, for the electronics, thereby improving the robustness of the electronic textile. Further, as the electronic structure is covered by the fabric structure, the electronics are better protected from wear and tear as compared to the known techniques described above. Further, enclosing of the electronic structure in the fabric structure provides a more esthetic appearance of the electronic textile as the electronic components and the conductive wires are less visible.
• the fabric structure may also provide a diffuser if light emitting components such as light emitting diodes, LEDs, are comprised in the electronic structure.
• a bonding strength of the bonding segments may be weaker than a tear strength of the fabric portions.
• the fabric portions may then be pulled apart such that the bonds of the bonding pattern separates, without the fabric necessarily breaking.
• the electronic structure can be removed from the fabric structure.
• the present embodiment is advantageous in that separation of the electronics from the fabric is further facilitated as the two fabric portions simply may be pulled apart to release the electronic structure. The need of equipment, such as scissors, for opening the fabric structure is reduced.
• the tear strength is a characteristic feature of a fabric and may be measured in a textile laboratory in a standard procedure.
• the tear strength is the force necessary to tear a fabric, e.g. measured by the force necessary to start or continue a tear in a fabric.
• the tear strength of a fabric may depend on the tearing direction, e.g. if the warp and weft yarns have different durability.
• the bonding strength of the bonding segments may be weaker than the tear strength in any tear direction of the fabric portions, and preferably, weaker than the lowest (or weakest) tear strength of the fabric portions (i.e. weaker than the tear strength in the tear direction which has the lowest tear strength).
• Welding may be performed by applying heat and/or pressure at the fabric portions such that they are fused together.
• the segments of the fabric portions to be bonded may comprise a polymer which is capable of slightly melting during the welding procedure.
• the fabric portions may comprise a synthetic fabric such as polyester, and/or a coating comprising a polymer.
• the fabric portions may comprise any weldable material.
• the fabric portions may be joined together by sewing, adhesion or any other appropriate fabric joining method.
• the electronic structure may be adhered or sewn onto one or both of the fabric portions, but preferably just at a few spots for still allowing facilitated separation of the electronics and the fabric.
• the bonding segments may electrically insulate the conductive wires and/or the electronic components from neighboring conductive wires and/or electronic components, which is advantageous in that it reduces the risk of short circuits and the need of additional insulating material, such as plastic, covering the electronic structure.
• the electronic structure may be purer, i.e. comprise mostly electronic material for facilitating further recycling.
• the bonding pattern may further include a bonding segment outside the periphery of the electronic structure, such that the electronic structure may be more completely enclosed in the fabric structure.
• a bonding strength of the bonding segment outside the periphery of the electronic structure may be stronger than a bonding strength of the bonding segments arranged in the gaps of the electronic structure, which is advantageous in that it increases the robustness of the electronic textile while still facilitating separation of the electronics from the fabric.
• a bonding strength of the bonding segment outside the periphery of the electronic structure is stronger than a tear strength of the fabric portions, which is
• the bonding pattern may include more than one bonding segment outside the periphery of the electronic structure.
• the electronic structure may comprise a counter component configured to store the number of re-uses of the electronic structure, which is advantageous in that the electronic structure itself can keep track of how many times it has be re-used.
• the electronic structure may be separated from the fabric structure to be repaired if required, and re-used in a new electronic textile.
• the conductive wires may be bare wires, which is advantageous in that they are purer for further recycling.
• the bare wires may be electrically insulated from neighboring bare wires and electronic components by the bonding segments.
• Fig. 1 shows an electronic textile according to an embodiment of the present invention
• Fig. 2A is a cross-section view of an electronic textile according to an embodiment of the present invention.
• Fig. 2B shows the electronic textile of Fig. 2A, but when two fabric portions are torn apart,
• Fig. 3B shows the electronic textile of Fig. 3 A, but when two fabric portions are separated and an electronic structure is removed, and
• Figs. 4A and 4B illustrate an electronic textile being manufactured in accordance with a method according to an embodiment of the present invention. All the figures are schematic, not necessarily to scale, and generally only show parts which are necessary in order to elucidate the invention, wherein other parts may be omitted or merely suggested.
• the electronic textile 1 may comprise a plurality of spaced apart conductive wires 4, such as a plurality of spaced apart pairs of spaced apart conductive wires 4 (not shown in Fig. 1), wherein gaps 14 may be formed between the spaced apart conductive wires 4 of each pair and between each spaced apart pair of conductive wires 4.
• Figs. 2A and 2B are cross-sectional views of an electronic textile 1 comprising an electronic structure 3 with a plurality of conductive wires 4 and a fabric structure 2 comprising two fabric portions 10.
• the two fabric portions 10 are joined together according to a bonding pattern with bonding segments 8 arranged in gaps 14 between the conductive wires 4 and outer bonding segments 9 arranged outside the periphery of the electronic structure 3, i.e. on the outside of the outer conductive wires 4.
• the bonding strength of the outer bonding segments 9 is stronger (more firm) than the bonding segments 8 in the gaps 14.
• the bonding strength of the outer bonding segments 9 may be stronger than the tear strength of the fabric portions 10.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Woven Fabrics (AREA)
• Manufacturing Of Printed Wiring (AREA)
• Knitting Of Fabric (AREA)

Priority Applications (6)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=47605607

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (7)

Cited By (22)

Families Citing this family (2)

Citations (6)

Family Cites Families (15)

• 2012
  • 2012-11-27 IN IN4571CHN2014 patent/IN2014CN04571A/en unknown
  • 2012-11-27 CN CN201280060282.3A patent/CN104012187B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2012-11-27 WO PCT/IB2012/056754 patent/WO2013084108A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2012-11-27 JP JP2014545402A patent/JP6125526B2/ja active Active
  • 2012-11-27 EP EP12818922.2A patent/EP2749153B1/en not_active Not-in-force
  • 2012-11-27 US US14/362,730 patent/US9474151B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2012-11-27 RU RU2014112076A patent/RU2608832C2/ru active

Patent Citations (6)

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