Touch-sensitive braided cord

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11567616-B2
Application number	US-201917436337-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 5, 2019
Priority date	Mar 5, 2019
Publication date	Jan 31, 2023
Grant date	Jan 31, 2023

Abstract

An interactive cord includes one or more touch-sensitive areas configured to detect user input and one or more non-touch-sensitive areas. An outer cover of the interactive cord includes a set of conductive lines braided together with one or more of a plurality of non-conductive lines at the touch-sensitive area. The set of conductive lines defines a plurality of intersections that each form a capacitive touchpoint at the touch-sensitive area. An inner core of the interactive cord includes at least the set of conductive lines and at least one of the plurality of non-conductive lines at the non-touch-sensitive area.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An interactive cord, comprising:
an outer cover having a touch-sensitive area at a first longitudinal portion of the interactive cord and a non-touch-sensitive area at a second longitudinal portion of the interactive cord, the outer cover comprising a set of conductive lines braided together with one or more of a plurality of non-conductive lines at the first longitudinal portion, the set of conductive lines defining a plurality of intersections that each form a capacitive touchpoint at the touch-sensitive area; and
an inner core comprising at least the set of conductive lines and at least one of the plurality of non-conductive lines at the second longitudinal portion of the interactive cord.

2. The interactive cord of claim 1 , wherein:
the set of conductive lines is lace-braided with the one or more of the plurality of non-conductive lines at the first longitudinal portion.

3. The interactive cord of claim 1 , wherein:
the set of conductive lines is lace-braided with the one or more of the plurality of non-conductive lines to form one or more torchon-lace patterns at the first longitudinal portion.

4. The interactive cord of claim 1 , wherein:
the outer cover comprises a uniform braiding appearance at the first longitudinal portion of the interactive cord and the second longitudinal portion of the interactive cord.

5. The interactive cord of claim 1 , wherein:
the one or more of the plurality of non-conductive lines are braided with one or more additional non-conductive lines at the second longitudinal portion of the interactive cord.

6. The interactive cord of claim 5 , wherein:
a number of the one or more additional non-conductive lines is equal to a number of the set of conductive lines.

7. The interactive cord of claim 1 , wherein:
the inner core comprises a subset of the plurality of non-conductive lines at the first longitudinal portion of the interactive cord, the subset of the plurality of non-conductive lines being exclusive of the one or more of the plurality of non-conductive lines at the first longitudinal portion.

8. The interactive cord of claim 1 , wherein:
the plurality of non-conductive lines includes a first non-conductive line that is part of the outer cover at the second longitudinal portion.

9. The interactive cord of claim 1 , wherein:
the at least one of the plurality of non-conductive lines provides separation between the set of conductive lines and an external touch at the second longitudinal portion.

10. The interactive cord of claim 1 , wherein:
the set of conductive lines includes transmitter conductive threads and receiver conductive threads; and
a subset of the plurality of non-conductive lines separates the transmitter conductive threads from the receiver conductive threads within the inner core of the interactive cord at the second longitudinal portion.

11. The interactive cord of claim 10 , wherein:
the transmitter conductive threads form a first cluster within the inner core at the second longitudinal portion of the interactive cord;
the receiver conductive threads form a second cluster within the inner core at the second longitudinal portion of the interactive cord; and
the transmitter conductive threads are separated from the receiver conductive threads at the second longitudinal portion of the interactive cord by the subset of the plurality of non-conductive lines.

12. The interactive cord of claim 10 , wherein:
the transmitter conductive threads form a first cluster within the inner core at the second longitudinal portion of the interactive cord;
each of the receiver conductive threads at the second longitudinal portion is separated from other receiver conductive threads in a circumferential direction of the interactive cord; and
the receiver conductive threads are separated from the transmitter conductive threads at the second longitudinal portion in a radial direction of the interactive cord.

13. The interactive cord of claim 12 , wherein:
the transmitter conductive threads are positioned at a center of the interactive cord at the second longitudinal portion.

14. The interactive cord of claim 1 , wherein:
the set of conductive lines includes transmitter conductive threads and receiver conductive threads; and
at one or more locations of the first longitudinal portion of the interactive cord, each transmitter conductive thread is separated circumferentially from other transmitter conductive threads by at least one receiver conductive thread.

15. The interactive cord of claim 10 , wherein:
the transmitter conductive threads are braided in a first circumferential direction around the interactive cord at the touch-sensitive area; and
the receiver conductive threads are braided in a second circumferential direction around the interactive cord at the touch-sensitive area.

16. The interactive cord of claim 1 , wherein:
the plurality of intersections is formed in a non-repetitive coded pattern along a longitudinal direction of the interactive cord.

17. The interactive cord of claim 16 , wherein the non-repetitive coded pattern includes:
a one-dimensional code.

18. The interactive cord of claim 16 , wherein the non-repetitive coded pattern includes:
a two-dimensional code.

19. The interactive cord of claim 1 , wherein:
the set of conductive lines is a set of conductive threads; and
the plurality of non-conductive lines is a plurality of non-conductive threads.

20. An interactive fabric, comprising:
a multi-dimensional capacitive touch sensor comprising a first set of conductive lines braided with a second set of conductive lines and one or more of a plurality of non-conductive lines to form an outer cover at a first longitudinal portion of the interactive fabric, the first set of conductive lines and the second set of conductive lines defining a plurality of intersections that each form a capacitive touchpoint for the multi-dimensional capacitive touch sensor; and
wherein the first set of conductive lines is non-braided and separated in a lateral direction from the second set of conductive lines within an inner core at a second longitudinal portion of the interactive fabric to form a non-touch-sensitive portion of the interactive fabric.

Assignees

• Google Llc

Inventors

• Sato Munehiko
• Poupyrev Ivan
• Harada Shozo
• Fukuhara Shiho

Classifications

• G06F3/0448

  Details of the electrode shape, e.g. for enhancing the detection of touches, for generating specific electric field shapes, for enhancing display quality · CPC title

• G06F3/0444 Primary

  using a single conductive element covering the whole sensing surface, e.g. by sensing the electrical current flowing at the corners · CPC title

• G06F3/0447

  Position sensing using the local deformation of sensor cells · CPC title

• G06F3/044 Primary

  by capacitive means · CPC title

• G06F3/0416

  Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers · CPC title