Abstract:
This invention relates to electronic wearable articles such as clothing. The invention is an integrated wearable article (e.g. an electronic glove) that allows a user to signal to others the user&#39;s intent for direction. In an embodiment, the electronic glove includes a glove, a chevron-shaped light (e.g., aluminum gallium indium phosphide LEDs), integrated with the glove, wherein the tip of the chevron-shaped light points to the pinky knuckle of the user when glove is on the hand of the user to indicate intended direction, and an electronic circuit including a switch mechanism with a first contact assembly on the thumb and a second contact assembly on the index finger of the glove, wherein the electronic circuit detects when the first contact assembly touches the second contact assembly to actuate the light, and a battery to power the electronic circuit.

Description:
[0001]    This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/023,459, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    This invention relates to electronic wearable articles. A significant reason people do not ride their bikes more often, particularly in urban areas with heavy traffic, is the fear of death or bodily harm from vehicle collisions. Because cyclists and vehicles share the road, it is important for drivers to understand where the cyclist is heading next. When a cyclist is turning left or right, he or she can indicate this by hand signals. However, not all drivers may recall the hand signaling rules and thus may not understand the rider&#39;s intent. Hand signals also suffer because they do not grab attention and from the fact they are not visible at night. Of course, this problem of signaling exists for skateboarders, runners, and roller skaters as well. There exists a need to quickly and clearly signal to vehicles that share the road with users (e.g., riders and runners) intent for direction. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    This invention relates to electronic wearable articles. In a feature, the invention is integrated with an electronic wearable article, e.g. a glove or set of gloves, that allows a user to signal to others the user&#39;s intent for direction. In one aspect, the electronic glove includes a glove, a chevron-shaped light integrated with the glove that points away from the user when the glove is on the hand of the user to indicate intended direction, and an electronic circuit including a switch mechanism with a first contact assembly on the thumb and a second contact assembly on the index finger of the glove, wherein the electronic circuit detects when the first contact assembly touches the second contact assembly to actuate the light, and a battery to power the electronic circuit. 
         [0004]    In another feature, the electronic glove includes a chevron-shaped light (e.g., aluminum gallium indium phosphide LEDs), integrated with the glove. In another, the tip of the chevron-shaped light points to the pinky knuckle of the user when glove is on the hand of the user when the glove is on the hand of the user to indicate intended direction. 
         [0005]    In a feature of the invention, the switch mechanism includes a first contact assembly including a first conductive plate with a first shaft, a first ring terminal disposed on the first shaft, a first stranded wire connected to the first ring terminal, a second conductive plate with a first hole mated with the first shaft, wherein the first ring terminal contacts either the first conductive plate or the second conductive plate or both of the first and second conductive plates, a second contact assembly including a third conductive plate with a second shaft, a second ring terminal disposed on the second shaft, a second stranded wire connected to the second ring terminal, and a fourth conductive plate with a second hole mated with the second shaft, wherein the second ring terminal contacts either the third conductive plate or the fourth conductive plate or both of the third and fourth conductive plates, wherein the first and the second contact assemblies make contact to actuate the switch mechanism. 
         [0006]    In a feature of the invention, the contact assembly includes a first conductive plate with a shaft, a ring terminal disposed on the shaft, a stranded wire connected to the ring terminal, and a second conductive plate with a hole mated with the shaft, wherein the ring terminal contacts either the first conductive plate or the second conductive plate or both of the first and second conductive plates. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1A  is a perspective view of a left-handed electronic glove. 
           [0008]      FIG. 1B  is a perspective view of a right-handed electronic glove. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2A  illustrates the right-handed electronic glove of  FIG. 1B  with the chevron-shaped light  104  signaling persons in front of the user. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2B  illustrates the right-handed electronic glove of  FIG. 1B  with the chevron shaped light  104  signaling persons in back of the user. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a schematic of an embodiment of the electronic circuit suitable for use in the electronic glove. 
           [0012]      FIG. 4A  is an exploded view of the contact assembly and a portion of the electronic wearable article. 
           [0013]      FIG. 4B  is a view of the contact assembly integrated with the electronic wearable article. 
           [0014]      FIG. 5A  is a top view of the switch mechanism exposed in the electronic wearable article. 
           [0015]      FIG. 5B  is a cross-sectional view through line  5 B- 5 B of the switch mechanism in  FIG. 5A . 
           [0016]      FIG. 6A  illustrates the left-handed electronic glove with a cutaway to show the switch mechanism coupled with stranded wires to the electronic circuit and a chevron-shaped light. 
           [0017]      FIG. 6B  illustrates the right-handed electronic glove with a cutaway to show the switch mechanism coupled with stranded wires to the electronic circuit and a chevron-shaped light. 
           [0018]      FIG. 7A  is a top view of another embodiment of a left-handed electronic glove where the chevron-shaped light points to the pinky knuckle. 
           [0019]      FIG. 7B  is a top view of another embodiment of a right-handed electronic glove where the chevron-shaped light points to the pinky knuckle. 
           [0020]      FIG. 8A  is a top view of another embodiment of a left-handed electronic glove where the chevron-shaped light points to the pinky knuckle. 
           [0021]      FIG. 8B  is a top view of another embodiment of a right-handed electronic glove where the chevron-shaped light points to the pinky knuckle. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0022]    The following description includes the best mode of carrying out the invention, illustrates the principles of the invention, uses illustrative values, and should not be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the invention is determined by reference to the claims. Each part or step is assigned its own number in the specification and drawings. The drawings are not to scale and do not reflect the relative size. 
         [0023]      FIG. 1A  is a perspective view of an embodiment of a left-handed electronic glove. As shown in  FIG. 1A , electronic glove  101  includes a chevron-shaped light  106  activated by switch mechanism  102  integrated with the electronic glove  101  so that the chevron-shaped light  106  points away from the user when electronic glove  101  is on the hand to indicate the intended direction. Similarly,  FIG. 1B  includes chevron-shaped light  104 , switch mechanism  103  integrated in the right-handed electronic glove  105 . 
         [0024]      FIG. 2A  illustrates the right-handed electronic glove of  FIG. 1B  with the chevron-shaped light  104  signaling persons in front of the user. 
         [0025]      FIG. 2B  illustrates the right-handed electronic glove of  FIG. 1B  with the chevron-shaped light  104  to signal persons in back of the user. 
         [0026]    The chevron-shaped light  106  of the left-handed glove  101  can be used in similar fashion. 
         [0027]      FIG. 3  is a schematic of an embodiment of the electronic circuit for use in the electronic gloves  101 ,  105 . The electronic circuit  300  includes a battery  302  which provides a power supply rail  304  and a ground reference  326  for the electronic circuit  300 . The behavior of the electronic circuit  300  is driven by the microcontroller unit (MCU)  316  which contains in one IC package, a central processor unit, non-volatile program memory, volatile memory for data, and a range of I/O peripherals to interact with external system components (not shown). A suitable MCU is part number PIC12LF1840 from Microchip Technology Inc. in Chandler, Ariz. When using part number PIC12LF1840 as the MCU  316 , we connect a digital input capable pin of the MCU  316  to the switch mechanism  102  consisting of two contact assemblies  400 ,  500  that form the two contacts of the switch mechanism  102 . The contact assembly  400  connected to the input pin of the MCU  316  is pulled up to the power supply rail  304  through a resistor  312  suitably sized (e.g., 10 k ohms) to allow the voltage level to drop below the logic low threshold (V_IL) of the MCU input pin when the switch mechanism  102  is closed. 
         [0028]    The ambient light sensor (ALS)  314  includes a transducer in an IC package and supporting circuitry to convert light incident on the transducer&#39;s IC package into an electrical signal capable of being read by the MCU  316 . One suitable ALS is part number SFH 5711 manufactured by Osram GmbH in Munich, Germany. In an embodiment of the electronic circuit  300 , the ALS  314  is routed to a pin (not shown) of the MCU  316  that is capable of being an input to the analog-to-digital converter (not shown) of the MCU  316 . In this embodiment, the light assembly  328  that constitutes the illuminated chevron light includes light emitting diodes such as LED  310  with a current limiting resistor  320 . 
         [0029]    In an embodiment, the light assembly  328  is a variable number of one or more, parallel or series-connected light emitting diodes  310  and current limiting resistors  320 . A suitable LED is part number APTD3216SYCK from Kingbright Inc. in City of Industry, Calif. In another embodiment, the light emitting diodes  310  include the material Aluminum Gallium Indium Phosphide (AlGaInP) which produces primarily orange light in the 596-630 nm range, a more desirable amount in the 600-615 nm range, and an even more desirable amount in the 600-605 nm range. LED chemistries supporting this color range are highly efficient compared to predominately yellow LEDs which have a dominant wavelength of 590 nm. The 600-615 nm predominately orange AlGaInP LEDs having higher efficiencies, can support a wider viewing angle for the same input power and perceived intensity compared to yellow LEDs. A suitable primarily orange LED is the King Bright part APT3216SECK-J4-PRV in City of Industry, Calif. Davidson, et al.,  Molecular Expressions Microscopy Primer: Physics of Light and Color—Introduction to Light Emitting Diodes  (1998-2003), which is incorporated by reference herein, describes other LEDs that can be used for the light emitting diodes  310 . 
         [0030]    A suitable current limiting resistor  320  is 49.9 ohms. In an embodiment, a lithium coin cell battery powers eleven light emitting diodes  310 . The driver circuit  318  for the light assembly  328  is an electronically controllable switch capable of passing the current demanded by the light assembly  328  such as an N-channel MOSFET with its gate connected to an output-capable I/O pin of the MCU  316 . A suitable N-channel MOSFET is part number DMG1013UW-7 manufactured by Diodes Inc in Plano, Tex. 
         [0031]      FIG. 3  illustrates the electronic circuit  300  can be implemented for mechanical flexibility of the wearable article on two printed circuit boards as indicated to the left and right side of the dotted line  306 . 
         [0032]      FIG. 4A  is an exploded view of the contact assembly and a portion of the electronic wearable article (e.g., glove). As shown, the contact assembly  400 , includes a third conductive plate  402  with a shaft  403  inserted in a second ring terminal  406  and a hole  408  in a portion  410  of the electronic wearable article, a stranded wire  401  connected to the second ring terminal  406 , and a fourth conductive plate  412  with a hole  411  to mate with the shaft  403 . 
         [0033]    The stranded wire  401  is defined as a collection of electrically conductive wires, made of copper or tinned copper, where each individual strand measuring 0.3 mm or less in diameter, is bundled together to form a larger wire. This bundle of wire can be straight, parallel, twisted or braided strands. 
         [0034]    In other embodiments, the stranded wire can be made of copper, silver, tin, gold, aluminum, nickel or a combination of those as coatings or mixed together alloys. The wire bundled is sheathed in an electrical insulation comprising of Silicon, polyvinyl chloride, polytetrafluoroethylene or equivalent. 
         [0035]      FIG. 4B  is a view of the fully assembled contact assembly integrated with the electronic wearable article. In an embodiment, we strip the insulation from the end of stranded wire  401  at exposed portion  404 , bend the wire strands back over the insulated part of the stranded wire  401  and this is inserted into a barrel  405  of the second ring terminal  406  to ensure good electrical contact between the exposed portion  404  of the stranded wire  401  and the second ring terminal  406 . In an embodiment, the bent back portion of the exposed portion  404  of the stranded wire is disposed in the barrel  405  of the second ring terminal  406 . The barrel  405  is crimped down to secure the stranded wire  401  to the second ring terminal  406 . In another embodiment, conductive adhesive (e.g. epoxy) or solder is used to secure the stranded wire  401  to the second ring terminal  406 . 
         [0036]    When assembled, the second ring terminal  406  contacts either the third conductive plate  402  or the fourth conductive plate  412  or both of the conductive plates  402  and  412 . Further, the stranded wire  401 , the second ring terminal  406 , and the third conductive plate  402  are on the inside of the electronic wearable article, leaving only the top conductive plate exposed to view. 
         [0037]      FIG. 5A  is a top view of the exposed part of the switch mechanism that is integrated in the electronic wearable article. It also indicates a cross-section through line  5 B- 5 B. 
         [0038]      FIG. 5B  is the cross-sectional view through a line  5 B- 5 B of an embodiment of the switch mechanism. The switch mechanism  102  includes a first contact assembly  500  and a second contact assembly  400 . 
         [0039]    The first contact assembly  500  includes a first conductive plate  502  with a first shaft  504 , a first ring terminal  501  disposed on the first shaft  504 , an exposed portion  510  of a first stranded wire  508  inside the barrel  506  of the first ring terminal  501 , a second conductive plate  511  with a first hole (not shown) mated with the first shaft  504 , wherein the first ring terminal  501  contacts the first conductive plate  502  or the second conductive plate  511  or both of the conductive plates  502 ,  511 . As shown, the first shaft  504  extends through a hole in a portion  512  of the electronic wearable article. 
         [0040]    The second contact assembly  400  includes a third conductive plate  402  with a second shaft  403 , a second ring terminal  406  disposed on the second shaft  403 , a second stranded wire  401  with an exposed portion  404  of second stranded wire  401  inside the barrel  405  of the second ring terminal  406 , a fourth conductive plate  412  with a second hole  411  mated with the second shaft  403 , wherein the second ring terminal  406  contacts either the third conductive plate  402  or the fourth conductive plate  412  or both of the conductive plates  402 ,  412 , wherein the first and the second contact assemblies  400 ,  500 , make physical contact to actuate the switch mechanism  102 . 
         [0041]      FIG. 6A  illustrates the left-handed electronic glove  101  with a cutaway to show the switch mechanism  102  of the contact assemblies  400 ,  500  coupled by the stranded wires  401 ,  407  to the electronic circuit PCB 1  and an illuminated light surface  600  that define the chevron-shaped light. 
         [0042]      FIG. 6B  illustrates the right-handed electronic glove  105  with a cutaway to show the switch mechanism  103 , which has the same construction as switch mechanism  102  of contact assemblies  415 ,  417 , which has the same construction as contact assemblies  400 ,  500  coupled by the stranded wires  409 ,  413  to the electronic circuit PCB 2  and an array of discrete point sources of light  328  that define the chevron-shaped light. 
         [0043]      FIG. 7A  is a top view of an embodiment of a left-handed electronic glove where the chevron-shaped light  106  points to the pinky knuckle. The construction of the glove is the same as illustrated in  FIGS. 1A ,  3 ,  4 A- 4 B,  5 A- 5 B, and  6 A and described in the accompanying specification, but the chevron-shaped light  106  points to the pinky knuckle. This orientation allows the user to signal to others behind them with their arm fully extended in the direction of their intended turn. This orientation also allows users to signal to those in front of them while keeping the users hands on the handle bar of the bicycle. We will refer to this as enhanced signaling. A pocket  107  (outer edge is indicated by a solid line) holding the electronics shown in  FIG. 6A  is outside the outer surface of the glove  101 . 
         [0044]      FIG. 7B  is a top view of another embodiment of a right-handed electronic glove that matches the right-handed glove of  FIG. 7A . The construction is the same as illustrated in  FIGS. 1B ,  3 ,  4 A- 4 B,  5 A- 5 B, and  6 B and described in the accompanying specification, but the chevron-shaped light  104  points to the pinky knuckle, which gives enhanced signaling. A pocket  108  (outer edge indicated by a solid line) holding the electronics shown in  FIG. 6B  is outside the outer surface of the glove  105 . 
         [0045]      FIG. 8A  is a top view of another embodiment of a left-handed electronic glove where the chevron-shaped light  106  points to the pinky knuckle, which gives enhanced signaling. The construction of the glove is the same as illustrated in  FIGS. 1A ,  3 ,  4 A- 4 B,  5 A- 5 B, and  6 A and described in the accompanying specification. The pocket  107  (outer edge indicated by a dotted line) holding the electronics shown in  FIG. 6A  is inside the outer surface of the glove  101 . 
         [0046]      FIG. 8B  is a top view of another embodiment of a right-handed electronic glove that matches the left-handed glove of  FIG. 8A , The construction of the glove is the same as illustrated in  FIGS. 1A-1B ,  3 ,  4 A- 4 B,  5 A- 5 B, and  6 B and described in the accompanying specification, but the chevron-shaped light points to the pinky knuckle, which gives enhanced signaling. The pocket  108  (outer edge is indicated by a dotted line) holding the electronics shown in  FIG. 6B  is inside the outer surface of the glove  105 .