FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a textile electronic arrangement, to an electronic textile comprising such an arrangement, and to a method for manufacturing an electronic textile.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Currently, research in the field of electronic textiles is very active, and although not a great deal of advanced electronic textile products can be found in the marketplace today, it is expected that many new products will find their way to the consumers in the near future.

A convenient way of providing electronic components to a textile substrate is to attach to the textile substrate one or several textile "strings" (ribbon(s), yarn(s) etc) having the electronic devices pre-mounted thereon.

To achieve a functional electronic textile, the electronic components should be connected to each other and/or to an external device, such as a power supply or a control device.

Such connections are currently typically made using soldering or by crimp connections.

However, these connection methods are not well suited for a textile production environment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above-mentioned and other drawbacks of the prior art, a general object of the present invention is to enable an improved process for manufacturing an electronic textile.

According to a first aspect the present invention provides a textile electronic arrangement for attachment to a textile substrate, comprising an elongated textile carrier comprising at least one electrical conductor extending along the length of the elongated textile carrier; a plurality of electronic components arranged along the elongated textile carrier and electrically connected to the at least one electrical conductor; and a plurality of connector elements arranged along the elongated textile carrier and electrically connected to the at least one electrical conductor for enabling electrical connection of the electronic components to an external power supply or to other electronic components. By "textile" should, in the context of the present application, be understood a material or product manufactured by textile fibers. The textile may, for example, be manufactured by means of weaving, braiding, knitting, crocheting, quilting, or felting. In particular, a textile may be woven or non- woven.

The "elongated textile carrier" may advantageously be provided as a relatively narrow textile structure, such as a ribbon, a tape, a string, a yarn etc. Preferably, the elongated textile carrier may be considerably narrower than the textile substrate to which it is intended to be attached. The largest width currently envisaged (for banner applications etc.) is about 12 cm. However, for wearable electronic textile applications, the width of the elongated textile carrier (and of the textile electronic arrangement according to the present aspect of the invention) may typically be considerably narrower, such as having a width below 6 cm. The electrical conductor comprised in the elongated textile carrier may be provided on the surface of the carrier, or may be a structural component of the elongated textile carrier.

When being provided on the surface, the electrical conductor(s) may, for example, be formed by a conductive substance that may be applied to the elongated textile carrier. Such a conductive substance may, for example, be a conductive glue or a conductive ink. The conductive substance may, for instance, be applied to the elongated textile carrier using dispensing techniques, printing (including screen printing and inkjet printing), or painting using a suitable brush or similar. The present invention is based on the realization that the production of an electronic textile can be facilitated by providing connector elements to a component carrying elongated textile carrier. Through such connector elements, the electronic components can easily be connected to each other and/or to an external power supply. Hereby, the reliability and robustness of the electronic textile can be improved. Furthermore, the production can be facilitated.

According to one embodiment, the elongated textile carrier may be a ribbon. The ribbon may be manufactured using any suitable textile production technique, such as weaving, knitting or braiding. Furthermore, the at least one electrical conductor comprised in the elongated textile carrier may be a conductive yarn. This may typically be the case when the elongated textile carrier is manufactured using yarns, that is, using techniques such as the above- mentioned weaving, knitting or braiding. One or several conductive yarns may also be stitched to the elongated textile carrier, which means that the elongated textile carrier may also be made of a so-called "non- woven" material.

Depending on the application, the conductive yarn may have an electrically conductive outer surface. Such a yarn will be easier to connect electronic components etc to than a yarn having an insulating sheath, but to avoid short-circuits where this is not intended, conductive yarns should be separated from each other, for example by non-conductive yarns. A "yarn" is generally defined as a long continuous length of interlocked fibers or filaments, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and rope making.

A "conductive yarn" is a yarn that is capable of conducting electric current. This can be achieved by providing a yarn with one or several conductive filament(s), or coating a non-conductive yarn with a conductive coating.

For applications where the electrical conductor(s) provided on the elongated textile carrier is/are at least partly electrically accessible, that is, have a conductive outer surface, an advantageous way of electrically connecting the connector elements to conductor(s) may be to use a so-called anisotropically conductive adhesive. Hereby, the connector elements can, in a convenient manner, be electrically connected to the appropriate electrical conductors without short-circuiting the conductors. Furthermore, the anisotropic conductive adhesive may additionally be used to mechanically attach the connector elements to the elongated textile carrier, which may alleviate the need for separate attachment means. According to another embodiment, the textile electronic arrangement may comprise at least two electrical conductors each having an electrically insulating sheath, the electrical conductors being interlocked to form a conductive yarn having a plurality of connection locations along the length thereof, wherein the electronic components and the connector elements are provided at respective ones of these connection locations. Some or each of the conductors may either be an individual conductive filament, or a conductive yarn.

By providing the elongated textile carrier as such a conductive yarn, a very narrow textile electronic arrangement can be achieved, whereby a high degree of freedom in the placement of the electronic components on a textile substrate can be achieved. Moreover, the textile electronic arrangement according to the various embodiments of the first aspect of the present invention may advantageously be included in an electronic textile, further comprising a textile substrate to which the textile electronic arrangement is attached. The textile electronic arrangement may be attached to the textile substrate using any suitable means, such as, for example, stitching, embroidery, clamping, gluing, ultrasonic welding, etc.

According to a second aspect the present invention provides a method for manufacturing an electronic textile, comprising the steps of providing a textile substrate; arranging, on the textile substrate, a plurality of segments of a textile electronic arrangement comprising an elongated textile carrier, each segment having at least one electronic component electrically connected thereto; and interconnecting the segments using a connector element for each segment.

As the term "segments" is used herein, each segment of the textile electronic arrangement may be a part of a single continuous textile arrangement being attached to the textile substrate, or may be a separate textile arrangement being attached to the textile substrate.

In both of these cases, the production of a robust electronic textile is facilitated through the use of the inventive method. When separate textile arrangements are being interconnected, the electronic textile may be made functional through the interconnection.

In the case of interconnecting segments being parts of a single continuous textile arrangement, the sensitivity of the total function of the electronic textile to local failure of conductor(s) in the textile arrangement can be reduced. According to one embodiment of the method according to the present invention, the step of interconnecting may comprise the step of interconnecting connector elements being pre-arranged on the textile arrangement.

According to another embodiment, the step of interconnecting may comprise the steps of attaching a connector element to each of the segments in such a way that the connector element is electrically connected to the at least one electronic component; and interconnecting the connector elements using an electrical conductor.

In this embodiment, each connector element may be configured to make electrical connection via one or several terminal(s) of a respective electronic component comprised in the textile electronic arrangement. For example, the connector element may have an outline which is adapted to the particular electronic component. In case the electronic component is a light-emitting device, such as an LED, or a sensing device, the connector element may be shaped in such a way that the electronic component is not completely covered by the connector element. For instance, the connector element may then have an open structure at least partly framing the electronic component.

Alternatively, the connector element may be configured to make electrical connection directly to the conductor(s) in the textile electronic arrangement. In embodiments where the elongated textile carrier comprises at least one conductive yarn having an electrically insulating sheath, the step of attaching may then comprise the step of locally removing the electrically conductive sheath to electrically connect the connector element to the conductive yarn.

The electrically conductive sheath may be locally removed using at least one of heat and penetration using a sharp structure. In the former case, the connector element may be heated to locally melt the insulating layer covering the conductor(s), and in the latter case, the connector element may include a sharp structure which penetrates the insulating layer when pressed against the conductor(s). A combination of heat and penetration may also be used.

Further embodiments and effects associated with this second aspect of the invention are largely analogous to those provided above for the first aspect of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other aspects of the present invention will now be described in more detail, with reference to the appended drawings showing currently preferred embodiments of the invention, wherein:

Fig. Ia schematically illustrates a first exemplary electronic textile;

Fig. Ib is a schematic illustration of a first embodiment of a textile electronic arrangement according to the invention comprised in the electronic textile in Fig. Ia;

Fig. 2a schematically illustrates a second exemplary electronic textile; Fig. 2b is a schematic illustration of a second embodiment of a textile electronic arrangement according to the invention comprised in the electronic textile in Fig. 2a;

Figs 3a-b schematically illustrate how the connector elements may be connected to the electronic components in the textile electronic arrangement in Figs 2a-b; Fig. 4 is a flow-chart schematically illustrating a first embodiment of manufacturing method according to the invention; and

Fig. 5 is a flow-chart schematically illustrating a second embodiment of the manufacturing method according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

In the following description, the present invention is described with reference to an electronic textile in the form of wearable display comprising a plurality of light- emitting diodes (LEDs). It should be noted that this by no means limits the scope of the invention, which is equally applicable to other electronic textiles in which the electronic components are provided on an elongated textile carrier, such as a ribbon, or a special yarn etc. Furthermore, other components than LEDs may naturally be included in the electronic textile, such as various types of passive components or active components, such as sensors, actuators etc. Fig. Ia schematically illustrates a first exemplary electronic textile 1 having a plurality of segments 2a-d of a ribbon-shaped textile electronic arrangement attached to a textile substrate 3. In the exemplary embodiment shown in Fig. Ia, each segment 2a-d is a separate textile electronic arrangement, and each separate textile electronic arrangement comprises nine electronic components, here in the form of LEDs 4 (only one of these is indicated with a reference numeral to avoid cluttering the figure).

The electronic textile 1 in Fig. Ia may, for example, be a part of piece of clothing or similar.

When providing the electronic components 4 on separate segments 2a-d of a textile electronic arrangement attached to the textile substrate 3, the components 4 in each segment 2a-d will need to be electrically connected to some external device, such as an external power source 7 and/or a control device or similar (the latter device not being shown in the figure).

As will now be described with reference to Fig. Ib, which is an enlarged view of a portion of the electronic textile 1 in Fig. Ia, this connection is here taken care of using connector elements that are pre-attached to the ribbon- shaped electronic textile arrangements 2a-b.

Fig. Ib shows in more detail two 2c-d of the segments in Fig. Ia being attached to the textile substrate 3. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in Figs, la-b, the segments 2a-d are, as can be seen in Fig. Ib, provided in the form of woven ribbons 6 formed by interwoven conductive 8a-b and non-conductive 9 yarns. The conductive yarns 8a-b may have a conductive outer surface, and are not short-circuited because they are separated by several non-conductive yarns 9.

The woven ribbons 2a-d are stitched to the textile substrate as is schematically illustrated in Fig. Ib. As will be evident to the skilled person, the ribbons can be attached to the textile substrate in various other ways depending on application. Examples of other ways of attaching the segments 2a-d to the textile substrate 3 include, for example, gluing, clamping, ultrasonic welding, etc.

Referring again to Fig. Ib, each electronic component 4 in the presently illustrated example comprises two terminals 10a-b, each being connected to a respective conductive yarn 8a-b. Furthermore, connector elements 1 la-b are pre-attached to the ribbons 2c-d between the electronic components 4. These connector elements 1 la-b are also connected to the conductive yarns 8a-b, and thereby enable electrical connection of the electronic components 4.

The components 4 and/or the connector elements 1 la-b may be electrically connected to the conductive yarns 8a-b using an anisotropically conductive adhesive, which may, for example, be provided in the form of a paste or a hot-melt film. Various such anisotropically conductive adhesives are well known in the art, and are therefore not further described herein.

By interconnecting the segments 2a-d using electrical conductors 12a-b as is schematically illustrated in Fig. Ib, all of the electronic components 4 of the electronic textile 1 can be connected to the external power source 7 shown in Fig. Ia. The electrical conductors 12a-b may be any suitable conductor, such as metallic or non-metallic conductive wires, conductive yarns, conductive tracks provided on a carrier etc. The wires and/or conductive yarns may be provided as independent components, or may be attached to or provided on an elongated textile carrier.

Turning now to Figs. 2a-b, a second exemplary electronic textile 20 will now be described.

In Fig. 2a, an electronic textile 20 is shown, having a plurality of electronic devices 4 (only one of these is indicated to avoid cluttering the drawing) attached to a textile substrate 3. The electronic textile 20 in Figs. 2a-b differs from that described above in connection with Figs, la-b in that the electronic devices are provided on an elongated textile carrier in the form of a twisted yarn 21 which has been attached to the textile substrate 3 in a meandering pattern to form a plurality of segments 22a-d as is schematically illustrated in Fig. 2a. By connecting the yarn 21 to an external power source 7, the electronic components 4 can all be provided with power. As can be seen in Fig. 2b, which is an enlarged view of a portion of the electronic textile 20 in Fig. 2a, the electronic devices 4 are not only connected in series, but the segments 22a-d of the textile electronic arrangement 21 are interconnected using interconnecting electrical conductors 23a-b for providing a more robust operation of the electronic textile 20. With continued reference to Fig. 2b, the textile electronic arrangement to which the components 4 have been pre-attached is here provided in the form of a twisted yarn 21 comprising conductive yarns 24a-b each being provided with an insulating sheath (not explicitly shown in Fig. 2b). The twisted yarn 21 may be attached to the textile substrate 3 in any suitable manner, such as through stitching as is schematically shown in Fig. 2b. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in Fig. 2b, each segment 2c-d of the textile electronic arrangement 21 further comprises a connector element 25a-b, provided in the form of a connector device which has a shape adapted to at least partly its electronic device 4 and to electrically interconnect each of the terminals 10a-b of the electronic device 4 with a respective one of the interconnecting electrical conductors 23a-b. One exemplary configuration of the connector elements 25a-b will be described in detail below with reference to Figs. 3a-b.

Referring to Figs. 3a-b, the connector element 25 is provided as a non- conductive frame having a first conductive pattern 27 on the side of the frame 25 facing the textile substrate 3, and a second conductive pattern 28 on the opposite side of the frame 25. The first 27 and second 28 conductive patterns are interconnected using an electrical via 30. Hereby, the electronic components 4 in the segments 22a-d of the twisted yarn 21 can be interconnected with each other. Partly following one of these connection paths and referring to Fig. 3b, the second terminal 10b of the electronic component 4 is connected to the conductor pattern 28 on the bottom side of the connector element 25. As is schematically illustrated in Fig. 3b, the conductor pattern 27 on the bottom side is interconnected with the conductor pattern 28 on the top side of the connector element through the electrical via 30. The conductor pattern 28 on the top side of the connector element 25 is connected to the interconnecting conductor 23 a, which is connected to the second terminal 10b of an electronic component 4 in the next segment in the same manner as described above. With reference to the schematic flow-chart in Fig. 4 and Figs, la-b, a first exemplary method for manufacturing an electronic textile will now be described.

In a first step 101, a textile substrate 3 is provided. To this textile substrate 3, ribbons 2a-d having electronic components 4 and connector elements 1 la-b pre-arranged thereon are attached in step 102. Finally, the ribbons 2a-d are interconnected by interconnecting the connector elements with one or several electrical conductors 12.

With reference to the schematic flow-chart in Fig. 5 and Figs. 2a-b, a second exemplary method for manufacturing an electronic textile will now be described.

In a first step 201, a textile substrate 3 is provided. To this textile substrate 3, a continuous textile arrangement 21 having a plurality of electronic components arranged thereon is attached in step 202. In a third step, connector elements 25a-b are connected to the terminals 10a-b of the electronic components 4. Finally, segments 22a-d of the continuous textile arrangement 21 are interconnected by interconnecting the connector elements 25a-b with one or several electrical conductors 23a-b. Through the methods described above, a robust electronic textile 1, 20 can be manufactured using attachment and connection methods that are well-suited for textile manufacturing.

In the second exemplary method described above in connection with the flowchart in Fig. 5, the connector elements 25a-b may alternatively be connected to the terminals 10a-b of the electronic components 4 via the respective conductive yarns 24a-b. The connector element 25 may then be made more compact, since there will be no need to adapt the configuration thereof to the outline of the electronic components 4. Furthermore, since the conductive yarns 24a-b may typically be provided with an insulating sheath, the connector element may be configured to enable local removal of the insulating sheath so that electrical contact can be established between the connector element 25 and the conductive yarns 24a-b.

According to one example, the connector element 25 may then be attached to the textile electronic arrangement 21 using a special tool for selectively heating the connector element to locally melt the insulating sheath to thereby enable electrical connection between the conductive yarns 24a-b and conductive patterns provided on the connector element.

According to another example, the connector element 25 may be provided with a sharp conductive structure and be pressed against the textile electronic arrangement 21 with sufficient force to enable the sharp conductive structure to penetrate the insulating sheath and establish electrical contact with the appropriate conductive part 24a-b. It should be noted that various methods achieving electrical connection by locally melting or mechanically cutting through an insulating sheath are well within the reach of the skilled person. Therefore, a more detailed description of such methods is not considered necessary to provide herein. The term "substantially" herein, such as in "substantially parallel", will be understood by the person skilled in the art. Likewise, the term "about" will be understood. The terms "substantially" or "about" may also include embodiments with "entirely", "completely", "all", "exactly, etc., where appropriate. Hence, in embodiments the adjective substantially may also be removed. For instance, the term "about 2°", may thus also relate to "2°".

The person skilled in the art will realize that the present invention is by no means limited to the preferred embodiments. For example, other types of textile electronic arrangements than the woven ribbon and the twisted yarn described above may advantageously be used depending on application. For instance a braided or knitted ribbon may be especially suitable for applications in which stretchability is desired. Moreover, in the above-described methods, an electronic textile carrier in the form of a ribbon may be provided with connector elements after having been attached to the textile substrate, and an electronic textile in the form of a twisted yarn may have pre-arranged connector elements.