Massachusetts Institute of Technology

E Rehmi Post

Neil Adam Gershenfeld

Joshua R Smith

Margaret Orth

Babak Nivi

Emily Cooper

Stitchable electrical components have flexible, conductive leads and are encased, at least partially, in sealed packages. Conductive threads, yarns, or fiber bundles are patterned onto a flexible substrate (e.g., a textile panel). To form a circuit, the component leads are conductively stitched, spot welded, or otherwise joined to a textile panel so as to form connections between at least some of the stitched leads so as to form an electrical circuit. Alternatively, leads stitched into or otherwise joined to a textile pattern may be welded or otherwise permanently joined to flexible or non-flexible component leads to form a circuit. Multiple panels of circuitry so formed may then be physically and electrically joined at various locations by a combination of stitching, welding, and/or other joining means, preferably with interposed insulating layers, to form a multilayer flexible circuit.

Method of making flexible electronic circuitry

Fabrics are used as integral elements of electrical circuitry&mdash;to facilitate control over the operation of external components connected thereto, to serve as substrates onto which electrical components are connected, or as the electrical components themselves. In one aspect, selective, anisotropic electrical conductivity is achieved using conductive fibers running along one weave direction and non-conductive fibers running along the opposite direction. The conductive fibers, which may be continuous or arranged in lanes, serve as electrical conduits capable of carrying data signals and/or power, and may be connected, for example, to electrical components soldered directly onto the fabric. In a second aspect, passive electrical components are integrated directly textiles using threads having selected electrical properties.

Electrically active textiles and articles made therefrom

Capacitive coupling is used to transmit data and power through a user's body. In one implementation, a transmitter carried by the user transmits power and data to a receiver, which is also carried on the user's body. The signal that the transmitter applies to the user's body not only contains a data component, but also powers the receiver and enables it to detect and decode the data. In other implementations, the transmitter or the receiver is physically displaced from the user's body (although both receiver and transmitter are coupled to environmental ground), and data and power are transmitted when the transmitter and receiver become sufficiently proximate&mdash;via the user's body&mdash;to permit capacitive coupling. The disclosed approach is amenable to a wide variety of applications, ranging from &ldquo;interbody&rdquo; exchange of digital information between individuals through physical contact (e.g., a handshake) to &ldquo;intrabody&rdquo; data transfer (e.g., between a paging device worn in the shoe and a wristwatch display device) to devices that permit communication between the user and his or her immediate environment.

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Cambridge, MA, United States of America

E Rehmi Post