The Nottingham Trent University

Bae Systems, Inc.

Tilak Kithsiri Dias

Dean Kitchener

Robert Alan Lewis

Christopher Bryce Wyllie

Anura Sarathchandra Rathnayake

Ingrida Juraite

William Hurley

Anura Rathnayake

Electronic devices () are mounted in sequence or series along a plurality of laterally spaced discrete lines () on a sheet of non-conductive flexible planar support material (). The sheet is slit or stripped between said lines to create at least two yarns each in the form of a strip bearing a series of said devices. The width of each strip can be substantially the same as that of the mounted device or devices and is normally less than twice that of the device or devices. The thickness of the support material is normally no more than 10 &#x3bc;m, and with the width of the devices typically being no more than 800 nm, a strip bearing the devices can thus be used as a yarn or strip for use in many applications, both functional and decorative, either alone or within a sleeve.

Method for manufacturing an electronic strip yarn

A fabric antenna for telecommunications is disclosed. The fabric antenna comprises a host yarn, which is substantially electrically non-conducting, and an antenna yarn, which is substantially electrically conducting. The host yarn and antenna yarn are knitted together to form a host fabric comprising an antenna grid. The antenna grid comprises a plurality of intersecting antenna tracks formed of antenna yarn. The tracks are separated by regions of the host fabric and are electrically coupled together at the regions where the tracks intersect.

Fabric antenna

An electronically functional yarn comprises a plurality of carrier fibers () forming a core with a series of electronic devices () mounted on the core with conductive interconnects () extending along the core. A plurality of packing fibers () are disposed around the core, the devices and the interconnects, and a retaining sleeve () is disposed around the packing fibers. The core, the devices and the interconnects are confined within the plurality of packing fibers retained in the sleeve. In the manufacture of the yarn the electronic devices with interconnects coupled thereto in sequence are mounted on the core; the carrier fibers with the mounted devices and interconnects are fed centrally through a channel with packing fibers around the sides thereof to form a fiber assembly around the core, which is fed into a sleeve forming unit in which a sleeve is formed around the assembly to form the composite yarn.

Electronically functional yarns

Growing community of inventors

Nottingham, United Kingdom

Tilak Kithsiri Dias