Koninklijke Philips Corporation N.v.

Philippa C Wagner

David Eves

Nancy Alice Tilbury

Hans-Helmut Bechtel

Yourii Martynov

Peter Johan Massey

Clive Read Van Heerden

Clive Van Heerden

Kyriakos J Mama

Frances Helene Geesin

Jeffrey A Chaman

In the field of flexible displays there is a need for an electro-optic filament that is capable of being woven, knitted or crocheted. An electro-optic filament or fibre () includes an elongate core () extending lengthwise within a volume () of polarisable material; and an outer electrode member () overlying the volume (). The core () and outer member () are electrically conducting and connectable to electrical potentials to generate a radial field in the polarisable material. The outer member () is optically transmissive and/or transflective. The polarisable material () exhibits an optical effect such as a colour change, change in polarisation or change in reflectivity, when subjected to a said field or a change in a said field. The filament or fibre may readily be woven into eg. a fabric or a garment, using conventional textile processing machinery.

Electro-optic filament or fibre

An electrical cable of all textile construction includes a first conductor of conductive textile material, a first insulator of braided insulating textile material, a second conductor of braided conductive textile material and a second insulator of braided insulating textile material. Such a cable, through being of an all textile construction makes it particularly suitable for incorporation in items such as garments, fashion accessories, upholstered article and other soft furnishings as it can be made very flexible, soft to the touch and of a required color. Furthermore, by making the cables using textile materials that have been developed for use in garments, the cables are capable of being subjected to standard garment care techniques such as machine washing in the home or dry cleaning. This means items, such as garments, that include these cables can be placed in the washing machine for cleaning, with no added risk to the wire, garment or washing machine.

Cable

A multi-conductor cable is provided based on a braided structure. Be selectively braiding together conductive yarns with non conductive yarns, a multi-conductor electrical cable can be provided by just one braid. In this example, two electrical conductors are provided, a first provided by conductive yarn and a second provided by conductive yarn. Insulating yarns maintain conductive yarns in spaced relation to each other.

An audio speaker for incorporation into garments, upholstery, etc., has a diaphragm ( ) and connecting wires ( ) or switch ( ), and a concave cover ( or ) made of a heat-molded textile having a ceramic textile covering. The speaker is attached by stitching ( ) to an aperture ( ) in a piece of conventional textile ( ), for easy incorporation into a garment. The speaker may be sewn into the hood of a sports garment, or may be attached by the switch to a conducting area within a concave area of a garment such as a dress.

Deformable loudspeaker

A patch antenna ( ) for mobile telecommunications use is designed for incorporation into the garment of a wearer, e.g. in a shoulder pad ( ) or lapel ( ). The antenna comprises first and second ( ) spaced layers of electrically conducting fabric with a layer ( ) of insulating fabric between, and a connection between the conducting layers. The conducting layers ( ) may be a single strip of shaped fabric (A, B, C) folded around the insulating layers. The conducting layers are shaped so that the layer adjacent the wearer is of larger area and is connected as the ground plane of the antenna so as to shield the wearer from the strongest electrical fields. Also, the patch antenna is arranged so that its radiating regions ( ) are remote from the user's head.

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Philippa C Wagner