Self-configuring contact arrays for interfacing with electric circuits and fabric carriers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2026053035-A1
Application number	US-202519370874-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 28, 2025
Priority date	May 3, 2018
Publication date	Feb 19, 2026
Grant date	—

Abstract

Embodiments include circuitry and circuit elements such as contact arrays for harvesting power and soft connectors and patches for connecting flexible and stretchable soft circuits.

First claim

I claim:

1 . An electrical contact array, comprising
a plurality of external contacts; a plurality of power collection diodes or transistors, at least one per external contact, configured to extract power from a power source; signal pass-throughs; and a power output configured to output the maximum and minimum voltages to which the contacts are exposed.

2 . The electrical contact array of claim 1 , comprising at least two diodes per contact that produce a rectified power signal when the contact is exposed to an external voltage trace.

3 . The electrical contact array of claim 1 , made from thin film semiconductors.

4 . The electrical contact array of claim 1 , wherein the contact array is rigid.

5 . The electrical contact array of claim 1 , wherein the contact array is flexible.

6 . The electrical contact array of claim 5 , wherein the contact array is stretchable.

7 . The electrical contact array of claim 6 , wherein the contact array is conformal.

8 . The electrical contact array of claim 1 , wherein the contacts are spring contacts.

9 . The electrical contact array of claim 1 , wherein the contact array is part of a human computer interaction (HCl) device.

10 . A system of power delivery involving flexible circuits or e-textiles, comprising
a power circuit with positive and negative voltage traces; and a contact array with a plurality of contacts configured to extract power from the power circuit using any one of a plurality of variable positions of the contact array with respect to the power circuit traces.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the contacts of the contact array are narrower than the smallest gap between the traces on the power circuit.

12 . The system of claim 10 , wherein each of the plurality of contacts of the contact array is electrically connected with at least two diodes, wherein the at least two diodes per contact produce a rectified power signal while maintaining electrical isolation between the positive and negative traces of the power circuit.

13 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the power circuit comprises a plurality of interdigitated electrodes.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the interdigitated electrodes are silver coated nylon threads of an e-textile.

15 . A method of harvesting power from a power circuit with positive and negative voltage traces, comprising
randomly positioning a contact array with respect to the power circuit traces such that some of the contact pins do not contact any power circuit trace, the contact array comprising contact pins that are narrower than the smallest gap between traces on the power circuit; and outputting the maximum and minimum voltages to which the contacts are exposed.

16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising providing the power circuit as a plurality of interdigitated electrodes.

17 . A soft electronic patch, comprising
an array of redundant microelectromechanical system (MEMS) contacts; conductive traces for routing signals and power to a supervisory circuit; and a porous fiber-based carrier.

18 . The soft electronic patch of claim 17 , wherein the conductive traces are meandering paths.

19 . The soft electronic patch of claim 17 , further comprising a plurality of supervisory circuits which respectively include a power rectifying circuit.

20 . The soft electronic patch of claim 19 , wherein each contact of at least some of the MEMS contacts has its own supervisory circuit.

21 . The soft electronic patch of claim 19 , wherein the power rectifying circuit comprises a pair of diodes.

22 . The soft electronic patch of claim 17 , wherein the MEMS contacts are springs.

23 . The soft electronic patch of claim 17 , wherein the MEMS contacts establish through-surface connections for power and communication signals.

24 . The soft electronic patch of claim 17 , wherein the permeable carrier is a textile.

25 . The soft electronic patch of claim 17 , wherein the conductive traces are distortion tolerant.

26 . A method of producing an electrical connection patch, comprising microfabricating a 2D thin film strain-mismatched bilayer on a substrate, the bilayer including a conductive top layer and a bottom layer,
positioning the 2D thin film adjacent to a fabric carrier, and releasing the bilayer from the substrate, causing arms of the bilayer to curl about fibers of the fabric carrier.

27 . The method of claim 26 , wherein the microfabricating step comprises depositing metal at below 200° C. on a silicon dioxide layer grown at 1000° C. to produce strain mismatched bimorphs.

28 . An electrode contact array providing a repositionable circuit for powering electronics existing onboard an underlying circuit with positive and negative traces in an operating e-textile, comprising: a symmetrical pattern of electrical contacts constructed from semiconductor materials configured to provide power from a power source when placed in contact with positive and negative traces of the underlying circuit.

29 . The contact array of claim 28 , wherein the underlying circuit is formed upon fabric stitched with conductive threads.

Assignees

• Univ Louisville Res Found Inc

Inventors

• Harnett Cindy K

Classifications

• H10D86/00

  Integrated devices formed in or on insulating or conducting substrates, e.g. formed in silicon-on-insulator [SOI] substrates or on stainless steel or glass substrates · CPC title

• B81B2207/098

  Arrangements not provided for in groups B81B2207/092 - B81B2207/097 · CPC title

• B81B2207/096

  through the substrate · CPC title

• B81B2207/07

  Interconnects · CPC title

• B81B7/007

  Interconnections between the MEMS and external electrical signals · CPC title