Fabric-based items with stretchable bands

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10849557-B2
Application number	US-201816140419-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 24, 2018
Priority date	Mar 28, 2018
Publication date	Dec 1, 2020
Grant date	Dec 1, 2020

Abstract

A fabric-based item may be provide with a stretchable band. The stretchable band may be formed from a ring-shaped strip of stretchable fabric having an opening configured to fit around a body part of a user. Circuitry may be coupled to strands of material in the stretchable band. The circuitry may include sensor circuitry for making measurements on the body part such as electrocardiogram measurements, blood pressure measurements, and respiration rate measurements. Wireless communications circuitry in the fabric-based item may be used to communicate wirelessly with external electronic equipment. A wireless power transmitting device may transmit wireless power. A coil formed from conductive strands in the fabric-based item may be used by wireless power receiving circuitry in the fabric-based item to receive the wireless power. The coil may have one or more turns that run around the ring-shaped strip of stretchable fabric.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A fabric-based item, comprising:
a band of stretchable fabric having a ring shape with a central opening configured to surround a body part of a user;
at least one conductive strand in the stretchable fabric that is configured to form an inductive wireless power receiving coil that runs continuously around the band of stretchable fabric and surrounds the central opening; and
power receiving circuitry that is coupled to the stretchable fabric and that is configured to receive wireless power using the inductive wireless power receiving coil.

2. The fabric-based item defined in claim 1 wherein the stretchable fabric has first strands with a first elongation-to-break value and second strands with a second elongation-to-break value that is at least five times greater than the first elongation-to-break value and wherein the fabric-based item further comprises electrical components coupled to the stretchable fabric.

3. The fabric-based item defined in claim 2 wherein the first strands comprise nylon, wherein the second strands comprise spandex, and wherein the electrical components comprises electrostatic double-layer supercapacitors.

4. The fabric-based item defined in claim 2 wherein the first elongation-to-break value is less than 50%.

5. The fabric-based item defined in claim 4 wherein the second elongation-to-break value is at least 200%.

6. The fabric-based item defined in claim 2 wherein the electrical components include electrostatic double-layer supercapacitors.

7. The fabric-based item defined in claim 6 wherein the second elongation-to-break value is at least 200%.

8. The fabric-based item defined in claim 2 wherein the electrical components comprise a blood pressure sensor.

9. The fabric-based item defined in claim 2 wherein the electrical components comprise an accelerometer configured to measure a respiration rate.

10. The fabric-based item defined in claim 9 , further comprising:
wireless transceiver circuitry coupled to the stretchable fabric;
a first antenna coupled to the wireless transceiver circuitry, wherein the first antenna has a first orientation; and
a second antenna coupled to the wireless transceiver circuitry, wherein the second antenna has a second orientation that is orthogonal to the first orientation.

11. The fabric-based item defined in claim 2 further comprising:
patch electrodes on the band; and
conductive paths in the band, wherein the electrical components comprise an electrocardiogram sensor coupled to the patch electrodes by the conductive paths.

12. The fabric-based item defined in claim 1 , wherein the power receiving circuitry includes a rectifier that is configured to convert alternating-current power signals received by the inductive wireless power receiving coil into direct-current power.

13. The fabric-based item defined in claim 1 , wherein the power receiving circuitry comprises terminals that are configured to receive wired power.

14. An item of clothing configured to be worn on a body part of a user, comprising:
a ring-shaped stretchable fabric band;
fabric coupled to the ring-shaped stretchable fabric band;
wireless transceiver circuitry coupled to the ring-shaped stretchable fabric band;
a first antenna coupled to the wireless transceiver circuitry, wherein the first antenna has a first orientation and wherein the first antenna has a first antenna resonating element with a meandering path;
a second antenna coupled to the wireless transceiver circuitry, wherein the second antenna has a second orientation that is orthogonal to the first orientation and wherein the second antenna has a second antenna resonating element with a meandering path;
control circuitry coupled to the first antenna and the second antenna, wherein the control circuitry is configured to selectively switch the first antenna and second antenna out of use based on signal strength measurements;
an electrostatic double-layer capacitor; and
sensor circuitry that is coupled to the ring-shaped stretchable band and that is configured to:
receive power from the electrostatic double-layer capacitor; and
gather sensor measurements from the body part.

15. The item of clothing defined in claim 14 further comprising wireless power receiving circuitry having an inductive wireless power receiving coil configured to receive wireless power from a wireless power transmitter.

16. The item of clothing defined in claim 15 wherein the ring-shaped stretchable fabric band includes strands of material having an elongation-to-break value of at least 200% and wherein the sensor circuitry comprises a sensor selected from the group consisting of: a respiration rate sensor, a blood pressure sensor, and an electrocardiogram sensor.

17. The item of clothing defined in claim 14 wherein the first antenna is a dipole antenna and wherein the meandering path of the first antenna resonating element is formed from a conductive strand of material in the ring-shaped stretchable fabric band.

18. A wearable item, comprising:
a stretchable fabric band configured to surround a body part of a user; and
circuitry in the stretchable fabric band that comprises:
wireless communications circuitry configured to communicate wirelessly with external electrical equipment;
wireless power receiving circuitry configured to receive wireless power for the circuitry in the stretchable fabric band;
sensor circuitry including an accelerometer configured to measure a respiration rate;
control circuitry configured to use the sensor circuitry to gather measurements from the body part of the user; and
haptic output circuitry comprising a vibrator that is configured to vibrate to provide haptic output to the user in response to the measurements from the body part of the user.

19. The wearable item defined in claim 18 wherein the stretchable fabric band comprises intertwined first, second, and third strands, wherein the first strands have an elongation-to-break value of less than 50%, wherein the second strands have an elongation-to-break value of at least 200%, wherein the third strands comprise conductive strands configured to form an inductive wireless power receiving coil, and wherein the wireless power receiving circuitry is configured to receive the wireless power signals using the inductive wireless power receiving coil.

20. The wearable item defined in claim 19 further comprising:
fabric coupled to the stretchable fabric band; and
an antenna formed on the fabric, wherein the wireless communications circuitry is configured to communicate with the external electrical equipment using the antenna.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Keating Steven J
• Sunshine Daniel D
• Grena Benjamin J
• Podhajny Daniel A
• Guterman Jerzy S
• Lu Jessica J
• Kindlon David M

Classifications

• A61B5/268

  containing conductive polymers, e.g. PEDOT:PSS polymers · CPC title

• A61B5/263

  characterised by the electrode materials · CPC title

• A61B5/28

  for electrocardiography [ECG] · CPC title

• A61B5/256

  Wearable electrodes, e.g. having straps or bands · CPC title

• D03D15/56

  elastic · CPC title