Patent Description:
This relates generally to electronic devices and, more particularly, to electronic devices with fabric.

Electronic devices such as voice-controlled assistant devices may include fabric. As an example, the housing of a voice-controlled assistant device may be covered with a layer of fabric. Openings may be provided in the fabric to allow sound to be emitted from within the device.

It may be challenging to enhance the functionality of a voice-controlled assistant device. For example, it may be difficult to integrated light-emitting devices into a voice-controlled assistant device with a fabric layer. If care is not taken, the fabric may impart an undesired appearance to emitted light or may block emitted light entirely, thereby preventing a light-emitting device from effectively conveying information to a user. <CIT> discloses a fabric-based item that may include fabric layers and other layers of material. An array of electrical components may be mounted in the fabric-based item. The electrical components may be mounted to a support structure such as a flexible printed circuit. The flexible printed circuit may have a mesh shape formed from an array of openings. Serpentine flexible printed circuit segments may extend between the openings. The electrical components may be light-emitting diodes or other electrical devices. Polymer with light-scattering particles or other materials may cover the electrical components. The flexible printed circuit may be laminated between fabric layers or other layers of material in the fabric-based item.

<CIT> discloses electronic equipment that may include structured fabric. Structured fabric may be formed by laminating fabric such as warp-knit fabric with a stiffener such as polymer film. Structured fabrics may include openings through which signals such as optical or audio signals pass.

Items such as item <NUM> of <FIG> may include fabric. For example, fabric may be used in forming one or more covering layers for item <NUM> of <FIG>. Item <NUM> may be an electronic device or an accessory for an electronic device such as a voice-controlled electronic device (sometimes referred to as a digital assistant or voice-controlled speaker), a laptop computer, a computer monitor containing an embedded computer, a tablet computer, a cellular telephone, a media player, or other handheld or portable electronic device, a smaller device such as a wristwatch device, a pendant device, a headphone or earpiece device, a device embedded in eyeglasses or other equipment worn on a user's head, or other wearable or miniature device, a television, a computer display that does not contain an embedded computer, a gaming device, a navigation device, an embedded system such as a system in which fabric-based item <NUM> is mounted in a kiosk, in an automobile, airplane, or other vehicle, other electronic equipment, or equipment that implements the functionality of two or more of these devices. If desired, item <NUM> may be a removable external case for electronic equipment, may be a strap, may be a wrist band or head band, may be a removable cover for a device, may be a case or bag that has straps or that has other structures to receive and carry electronic equipment and other items, may be a necklace or arm band, may be a wallet, sleeve, pocket, or other structure into which electronic equipment or other items may be inserted, may be part of a chair, sofa, or other seating (e.g., cushions or other seating structures), may be part of an item of clothing or other wearable item (e.g., a hat, belt, wrist band, headband, shirt, pants, shoes, etc.), or may be any other suitable fabric-based item. In the illustrative configuration of <FIG>, item <NUM> is a voice-controlled electronic device such as a voice-controlled speaker with internet access. Other types of device may incorporate fabric, if desired.

As shown in <FIG>, item <NUM> includes a housing such as housing <NUM>. Housing <NUM> may have a cylindrical shape with rounded upper and lower ends of the type shown in <FIG> or other suitable shape (e.g., a pyramidal shape, a conical shape, a box shape such as a rectangular box shape, a spherical shape, etc.). Housing <NUM> may include support structures formed from metal, polymer, ceramic, glass, wood, other materials, and/or combinations of these materials. The shape of housing <NUM> may be selected to form an enclosure suited to the type of item <NUM> for which the housing is being used. As an example, in scenarios in which item <NUM> is a voice-controlled electronic device, housing <NUM> may be cylindrical, pyramidal, box-shaped, conical, spherical, or other shapes suitable for enclosing one or more speakers, in configurations in which item <NUM> is a laptop computer, housing <NUM> may have upper and lower thin box-shaped portions that are joined with a hinge and that can respectively house a display and a keyboard, in configurations in which item <NUM> is a computer monitor containing an embedded computer, housing <NUM> may have a slender box shape with optionally curved rear housing walls that can hold a display and be mounted on a stand, in configurations in which item <NUM> is a tablet computer, cellular telephone, media player, or other handheld or portable electronic device, housing <NUM> may have a rectangular outline and a thin depth, in configurations in which item <NUM> is a smaller device such as a wristwatch device or a pendant device, housing <NUM> may have a thin profile and an outline that is rectangular, square, hexagonal, triangular, oval, or circular, in configurations in which item <NUM> is a headphone or earpiece device, housing <NUM> may have a shape configured to fit on or in a user's ear, in configurations in which item <NUM> is a pair of eyeglasses or other equipment worn on a user's head, housing <NUM> may have a head-mountable shape, in configurations in which item <NUM> is a jacket or other item of clothing (e.g., a hat, belt, wrist band, headband, shirt, pants, shoes, etc.), housing <NUM> may be formed from layers of fabric or other material configured to allow item <NUM> to be worn on a user's body, in configurations in which item <NUM> is a television, a computer display that does not contain an embedded computer, a gaming device, or a navigation device, housing <NUM> may have a rectangular outline, an outline with curved sides and/or straight sides, a box shape, a cylindrical shape, and/or other suitable shapes, in configurations in which item <NUM> is a kiosk, housing <NUM> can form a pedestal or other shape suitable for a kiosk, in configurations in which item <NUM> forms part of an automobile, airplane, or other vehicle, housing <NUM> may form a dashboard, console, door, window, seat, body panel, or other portion of the vehicle, in configurations in which item <NUM> is a removable external case for electronic equipment, housing <NUM> may have the shape of a sleeve or other structure with a recess for receiving the electronic equipment, in configurations in which item <NUM> is a strap, wrist band, necklace or headband, housing <NUM> may have a strip shape, in configurations in which item <NUM> forms a case, bag, or wallet, housing <NUM> may have surfaces that form the walls of the case and/or sides of the bag or wallet and/or that forms straps and/or other structures for the case or bag, and in configurations in which item <NUM> is part of furniture, housing <NUM> may be configured to form a part of a chair, sofa, or other seating (e.g., cushions or other seating structures). In the illustrative configuration of <FIG>, housing <NUM> has a cylindrical shape suitable for an item such as a voice-controlled speaker with internet access. Housing <NUM> may have other shapes and may be incorporated into other items, if desired. The configuration of <FIG> is presented as an example.

Item <NUM> includes fabric <NUM>. Fabric <NUM> may form all or part of a housing wall or other layer in an electronic device, may form the outermost layer of item <NUM>, may form one or more inner covering layers, may form internal structures in an electronic device, or may form other fabric-based structures. Item <NUM> may be soft (e.g., item <NUM> may have a fabric surface that yields to a light touch), may have a rigid feel (e.g., the surface of item <NUM> may be formed from a stiff fabric), may be coarse, may be smooth, may have ribs or other patterned textures, and/or may be formed as part of a device that has portions formed from non-fabric structures of plastic, metal, glass, crystalline materials, ceramics, or other materials. In an illustrative configuration, some or all of the upper surface of housing <NUM> such as portion 12P may be formed from rigid polymer or other non-fabric structure and the sidewall surfaces of housing <NUM> are covered with fabric <NUM>. Portion 12P may include touch sensors, light-emitting devices (e.g., light-emitting diodes that backlight button icons and/or that produce other visual output for a user), and/or other input-output components. If desired, fabric <NUM> may cover some or all of portion 12P. Fabric <NUM> may serve as a cosmetic cover for item <NUM> that overlaps audio components (microphones and/or speakers) and is permeable to sound and and/or may be incorporated into other portions of item <NUM>.

Fabric <NUM> may include intertwined strands of material such as strands <NUM>. Fabric <NUM> may, for example, include warp knit fabric that is formed by warp knitting of strands <NUM> and/or may include woven fabric, fabric with braided strands of material, etc. Strands <NUM> may be single-filament strands (sometimes referred to as fibers or monofilaments) or may be strands of material formed by intertwining multiple monofilaments of material together (sometimes referred to as yarns).

Strands <NUM> may be formed from polymer, metal, glass, graphite, ceramic, natural materials such as cotton or bamboo, or other organic and/or inorganic materials and combinations of these materials. Conductive coatings such as metal coatings may be formed on non-conductive material. For example, plastic strands in fabric <NUM> may be coated with metal to make them conductive. Reflective coatings such as metal coatings may be applied to make strands reflective. Strands formed from white polymer (e.g., light-scattering particles in polymer) and/or that are coated with white polymer may help reflect light in some configurations. If desired, strands may be formed from bare metal wires or metal wire intertwined with insulating monofilaments (as examples). Bare metal strands and strands of polymer covered with conductive coatings may be provided with insulating polymer jackets. In some configuration, strands <NUM> may include optical fibers (e.g., lossy optical fibers with surface roughening or other features that allow the strands to guide light while emitting portion of the guided light outwardly). Optical waveguide strands (e.g., lossy optical fibers formed from glass, transparent polymer, etc.) can be provided with light from light sources such as light-emitting diodes to display information (e.g., desired patterns of light). In some cases, it may be desirable for lossy fiber to appear dark or colored in reflection when illuminated by external light, so that the lossy fiber may match the appearance of other fibers. In these cases, the lossy fiber can include regions that are colored on the outside of the fiber but only leak light slightly or not at all and other regions that emit light due to roughen of the fiber surface or localized adjustments to the cladding of the fiber in that region (e.g., localized cladding thinning).

Items such as item <NUM> may, if desired, include control circuitry <NUM>. Control circuitry <NUM> may include microprocessors, microcontrollers, application-specific integrated-circuits, digital signal processors, baseband processors, and/or other controllers and may include storage such as random-access memory, read-only memory, solid state drives, and/or other storage and processing circuitry.

Control circuitry <NUM> may gather information from sensors and other circuitry in input-output devices <NUM> and may use input-output devices <NUM> to supply output. Input-output devices <NUM> may, for example, include audio devices such as microphones and speakers. Microphones can gather audio input (e.g., sound that passes through fabric <NUM> such as voice commands for controlling the operation of item <NUM>). Speakers can produce audio output (e.g., sound that passes through fabric <NUM>). Sensors in input-output devices <NUM> may include touch sensors, force sensors, capacitive sensors, optical sensors, proximity sensors, strain gauges, temperature sensors, moisture sensors, gas sensors pressure sensors, magnetic sensors, position and orientation sensors (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes, and/or compasses), and/or other sensors. Light-emitting diodes, displays, and other visual output devices may be used in supply visual output to a user. As an example, visual output devices may be used to form illuminated buttons, displays that display images, visual feedback areas that display still and/or moving patterns of light to indicate to a user that a command has been received and/or is being processed by control circuitry <NUM>, etc. Buttons, joysticks, haptic output components, and/or other input-output components may be provided in input-output devices <NUM> to gather input from a user and to provide a user with output. Wireless circuitry in circuitry <NUM> (e.g., wireless local area network circuitry, cellular telephone circuitry, etc.) may be used to support wireless communications with external equipment.

Light-emitting devices (e.g., lasers or light-emitting diodes) may be arranged in an array of pixels to form a display or other light-based output device. As an example, light-emitting devices may be formed under one or more covering layers (e.g., fabric) on item <NUM>. The light-emitting devices may be formed just in a ring-shaped upper region 12W-<NUM> that runs around the upper edge of item <NUM> and/or may be formed on one or more other portions of item <NUM> (e.g., on some or all of exterior sidewall surface 12W-<NUM>). In general, the surfaces of item <NUM> such as the surface of housing portion 12P and the sidewalls of item <NUM> may be provided with any suitable input-output devices <NUM>. Sidewall locations in item <NUM> (e.g., the upper sidewall area associated with region 12W-<NUM> and/or the sidewall areas associated with region 12W-<NUM>) may, as an example, be provided with light-emitting devices (e.g., to form a pixel array for displaying images that include text, still image content, moving image content, icons, etc.), may be provided with sensors (e.g., an array of force sensors, touch sensors, proximity sensors, gesture sensors, accelerometers for gathering touch/tap input, domes switches or other pressure-activated switches, etc.), and/or other input-output devices <NUM>. These sidewall locations in item <NUM> may wrap partly or entirely around the periphery of item <NUM> (e.g., light-emitting devices, sensors, and/or other components may be provided on sidewall areas that wrap around a longitudinal axis of item <NUM> such as vertical axis <NUM> and extend along some or all of the circumference of item <NUM>). Some or all of the surfaces of item <NUM> may be covered with one or more layers of material including fabric and/or other layer(s) such as polymer layers, metal layers, etc. If desired, light-emitting devices in item <NUM> may emit light in the infrared, which is invisible to the user, but can be detected by external sensors and devices to support light-based communication between item <NUM> and external devices. Item <NUM> may also include infrared light-detectors to support infrared light-based communications.

A cross-sectional side view of a portion of item <NUM> is shown in <FIG>. In the example of <FIG>, item <NUM> includes internal components such as one or more speakers <NUM> in interior <NUM> of item <NUM>. Wall structures <NUM> (e.g., sidewall structures) may separate interior <NUM> from exterior <NUM>. A user of item <NUM> (e.g., user <NUM>) may view the exterior of item <NUM> in direction <NUM> and may listen to sound that has been emitted from speaker <NUM> and that has passed through wall structures <NUM>.

Wall structures <NUM> may include a housing formed from one or more rigid support structures (e.g., a metal housing wall, a plastic housing wall, a housing wall formed from other material and/or combinations of these materials). As shown in <FIG>, for example, wall structures <NUM> may include housing <NUM> (e.g., a housing wall such as a housing sidewall and/or other housing wall structures). Housing <NUM> may have acoustic openings <NUM> to allow sound to pass through housing <NUM>. Openings <NUM> may be circular, square, diamond-shaped, or may have other suitable shapes. The lateral dimensions of openings <NUM> may be at least <NUM>, at least <NUM>, at least <NUM>, at least <NUM>, less than <NUM>, less than <NUM>, or other suitable size.

Covering layers <NUM> may overlap the exterior surface of housing <NUM>. Covering layers <NUM> may have openings <NUM>. The outermost of covering layers <NUM> may, as an example, serve as a cosmetic layer (e.g., a layer that provides item <NUM> with a desired color, texture, etc.). Inner covering layers (e.g., layers <NUM> that are interposed between the outermost layer and housing <NUM>) may include adhesive layers for attaching layers together, cushioning layers (e.g., layers of foam and/or fabric to provide layers <NUM> with a cushiony feel), component layers (e.g., substrates with electrodes, metal traces forming interconnects, integrated circuits, light-emitting components, sensors such as touch sensor arrays or force sensors, and/or other circuitry), light-modifying layers (e.g., diffuser layers, reflective layers, layers for hiding internal components from view, etc.), component-hiding layers or other layers such as acoustically transparent layers that block light and/or that block moisture, dust, and other environmental contaminants, and/or other covering layer structures. Layers <NUM> may, if desired, include coating layers (e.g., one or more layers of liquid polymer containing light-scattering particles, dye, pigment, and/or other materials that can be applied in liquid form and cured to form solid coatings, coating layers of metal or other materials deposited using physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition, and/or electrochemical deposition, and/or other coatings.

One or more of layers <NUM> may include fabric <NUM>. Fabric <NUM> may, for example, overlap some or all of the exterior of housing <NUM> (e.g., fabric <NUM> may overlap at least region 12W-<NUM> of <FIG>). Fabric <NUM> may also be used in forming straps, covers, wearable items, and/or other structures for item <NUM>.

A warp knitting machine or other equipment (e.g., weaving equipment, braiding equipment, weft knitting equipment, etc.) may be used in intertwining strands <NUM> to form fabric <NUM>. In general, fabric <NUM> may be any suitable type of fabric (e.g., woven fabric, knit fabric, braided fabric, etc.). A layer of illustrative warp knit fabric <NUM> is shown in <FIG>. An illustrative strand <NUM>' among strands <NUM> has been highlighted to show the zig-zag path taken by each strand in fabric <NUM>.

During the process of forming fabric <NUM> (e.g., during knitting), a warp knitting machine or other fabric fabrication equipment that is forming fabric <NUM> may, if desired, direct positioners in the equipment to incorporate openings into fabric <NUM>. As an example, the equipment may be directed to form knit fabric or other fabric that includes diamond-shaped openings or openings of other suitable shapes, as illustrated by openings <NUM> in warp knit fabric <NUM> of <FIG>. In configurations in which fabric <NUM> forms one of layers <NUM>, openings <NUM> may serve as openings <NUM> of <FIG>.

One or more of layers <NUM> of <FIG> may include a fabric layer or a polymer layer (e.g., a perforated polymer sheet) or other substrate layer with openings (e.g., openings that are sufficiently large to allow acoustic signals to pass). A polymer layer may, as an example, have a coating for reflecting and/or blocking light (e.g., one of layers <NUM> may be a polymer substrate and another of layers <NUM> may be a coating on the polymer substrate). In some configurations, metal traces and/or electrical components may be incorporated into a substrate. Flexible polymer substrates with metal traces (e.g., flexible layers of polyimide or other sheets of flexible polymer with metal traces) may sometimes be referred to as flexible printed circuits.

A perspective view of an illustrative flexible substrate layer with openings is shown in <FIG>. Layer <NUM> of <FIG> may be a flexible printed circuit substrate or other substrate layer with an array of openings forming a mesh shape (sometimes referred to as a mesh layer, mesh, or flexible mesh). One or more layers such as mesh layer <NUM> of <FIG> may be included in layers <NUM> of <FIG>. For example, one or more layers such as layer <NUM> of <FIG> may be interposed in layers <NUM> between an outer layer of fabric <NUM> (see, e.g., <FIG>) and housing <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, layer <NUM> may have an array of openings <NUM>. Layer <NUM> has regions <NUM>-<NUM> (sometimes referred to as islands, island regions, component mounting areas, or component support regions) to which components <NUM> are soldered or otherwise mounted (see, e.g., the circuitry forming input-output devices <NUM> and/or control circuitry <NUM> of <FIG>). Components <NUM> may be, for example, packaged or unpackaged semiconductor dies for forming integrated circuits, sensors, light-emitting devices, and/or other circuitry. With one illustrative configuration, components <NUM> are semiconductor dies forming one or more light-emitting devices such as light-emitting diodes or lasers (e.g., vertical cavity surface emitting lasers or other lasers) that emit light <NUM> (e.g., light <NUM> that exits layer <NUM> vertically, parallel to the surface normal of layer <NUM>). Components <NUM> may also include sensors (e.g., capacitive touch sensors, etc.) and/or other input-output devices <NUM>. If desired, a component <NUM> may include multiple semiconductor dies and/or other electrical components in a common package. For example, red, green, and blue light-emitting diodes and an optional control circuit and/or sensor circuits such as capacitive touch sensors can be placed in a common package. Electrostatic discharge protection circuitry can be incorporated into components <NUM> and/or the circuitry coupled to components <NUM> to help protected light-emitting diodes, touch sensors and other sensitive circuitry from electrical damage during electrostatic discharge events (e.g., when a user is touching the surface of item <NUM>).

To enhance flexibility in mesh layer <NUM>, regions <NUM>-<NUM> may be interconnected by elongated portions of layer <NUM> such as segments <NUM>-<NUM>. Segments <NUM>-<NUM> may extend from one of regions <NUM>-<NUM> to another and may extend between openings <NUM>. Segments <NUM>-<NUM> may be straight, may be curved, or may have both straight and curved portions. In the illustrative configuration of <FIG>, segments <NUM>-<NUM> have serpentine shapes to help enhance the flexibility and stretchability of layer <NUM> without damaging layer <NUM> or components <NUM>. Other mesh-shaped support structures may be used, if desired (e.g., mesh substrates with circular openings, triangular openings, hexagonal openings, mesh patterns with a combination of circular and square openings, meshes with non-regular patterns of openings, etc.). Layers <NUM> include one or more layers such as layer <NUM> or other layers <NUM> (e.g., fabric layers) that serve to block internal components in housing <NUM> (e.g., speakers <NUM>) from view by user <NUM> while allowing sound from speakers <NUM> to pass to user <NUM>. These internal layers (which may sometimes be referred to as mesh layers or component-hiding layers) may be free of components <NUM>. Coatings (e.g., white ink or other reflective coating layers) may be formed on the outwardly facing surfaces of the internal layer(s) to reflect light <NUM> outwardly (e.g., in scenarios in which one or more components <NUM> emit light <NUM> as shown in <FIG>). As an example, a perforated flexible sheet of polymer may be coated with metal or a reflective white coating to reflect light <NUM> and/or a fabric with an array of openings and/or a coarse acoustically transparent structure may be provided with metalized strands, white strands, and/or reflective binder material to reflect light <NUM>.

Housing <NUM> may have curved surfaces (e.g., surfaces with compound curvature as shown by the curved surfaces of item <NUM> of <FIG>). Flexible substrates such as substrate <NUM> of <FIG> and other flexible layers <NUM> may have an array of openings <NUM> that is configured to help the layer(s) conform to the curved surfaces of housing <NUM>. If desired, the density of openings <NUM> (e.g., the number, size, and/or shape of openings <NUM> per unit area) may be varied as a function of lateral distance across the surface of substrate <NUM> (or other flexible layer <NUM>) when substrate <NUM> is in a planar configuration. As shown in <FIG>, for example, the density of openings <NUM> may be decreased at the portions of layer <NUM> at the upper and lower ends of item <NUM> (e.g., near where vertical dimension Z is equal to <NUM> at the base of item <NUM> and where vertical dimension Z is equal to height H of item <NUM>). For example, openings <NUM> may be larger (and components <NUM> spaced farther apart) on the portions of layer <NUM> that are to be coupled to the ends of item <NUM>. When layer <NUM> is subsequently attached to the outer surface of housing <NUM>, the lower-density portions of layer <NUM> will increase in density (because the spacing between portions of layer <NUM> will decrease as layer <NUM> laterally contracts when it conforms to the surfaces of housing <NUM> at the ends of item <NUM>). As a result, following assembly of item <NUM> by attaching layer <NUM> to housing <NUM>, components <NUM> that are located at the curved ends of item <NUM> will have an identical or nearly identical pitch (component-to-component spacing) as those components <NUM> that are located in the middle of item <NUM> (e.g., midway up the height of item <NUM>).

<FIG> is a top view of layer <NUM> showing how structures such as metal traces <NUM> and components <NUM> may be formed on layer <NUM>. Metal traces <NUM> and components <NUM> may, for example, be formed on component support regions <NUM>-<NUM>. In some configurations, portions of metal traces <NUM> (and, if desired, circuit components) may extend onto segments <NUM>-<NUM>. Metal traces <NUM> may be used in forming antennas, capacitive sensing electrodes for a capacitive touch sensor and/or capacitive proximity sensor, or electrodes for making other measurements such as force measurements, moisture measurements, temperature measurements, etc. Metal traces <NUM> can route signals between components <NUM> and can be used to interconnect components <NUM> with control circuitry <NUM>. Components <NUM> may include light-emitting devices, sensor circuitry, haptic output components and other input-output circuitry (see, e.g., devices <NUM> of <FIG>), and/or other circuitry in item <NUM>.

<FIG> is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of the sidewalls of item <NUM> showing how layers <NUM> may cover housing <NUM>. Layers <NUM> may include layer <NUM>-<NUM> (e.g., a fabric spacer layer or other layer), layer <NUM> (e.g., an acoustically transparent component-hiding layer interposed between layer <NUM>-<NUM> and housing <NUM>), adhesive layers 38A, layer <NUM> (e.g., a flexible printed circuit mesh layer such as layer <NUM> of <FIG> interposed between adhesive layers 38A), and layer <NUM>-<NUM> (e.g., a cosmetic fabric layer).

Layer <NUM>-<NUM> may be an outer cosmetic fabric layer such as layer <NUM> of <FIG>. Openings <NUM> may be configured to allow sound to pass through layer <NUM>-<NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, other covering layers <NUM> may be interposed between outer layer <NUM>-<NUM> and housing <NUM>.

Layer <NUM> may be a component-hiding layer such as a perforated polymer layer or a fabric layer formed from polymer strands or other strands of material. Layer <NUM> may help hide internal components in item <NUM> such as speaker <NUM> (<FIG>) from view by users <NUM> as user <NUM> views item <NUM> in direction <NUM>. The polymer of layer <NUM> may be provided with light-scattering particles and/or may be coated with a reflective coating (e.g., a polymer coating with light-scattering particles, a metal coating, etc.), so that layer <NUM> serves as a reflective acoustically transparent component-hiding layer that reflects light (e.g., a layer with a visible light reflectivity of at least <NUM>%, at least <NUM>%, at least <NUM>%, less than <NUM>%, etc.).

Fabric spacer layer <NUM>-<NUM> may be formed from a cushiony layer of fabric (e.g., an outer layer of fabric, an opposing inner layer of fabric, and a spacer layer formed from spacer strands that extend back and forth between the outer and inner fabric layers). Fabric spacer layer <NUM>-<NUM> may be sufficiently porous to allow sound to pass or may be provided with openings such as openings <NUM> of <FIG> to allow sound to pass.

Layer <NUM> may be interposed between an outer adhesive layer 38A and an inner adhesive layer 38A. Adhesive layers 38A may have openings that allow sound to pass. The outer layer of adhesive 38A may be used to attach layer <NUM>-<NUM> to layer <NUM>. The inner adhesive layer 38A may be used to attach layer <NUM> to spacer fabric layer <NUM>-<NUM>.

Layer <NUM> may be a flexible printed circuit such as layer <NUM> of <FIG>. Layer <NUM> may include light-emitting components that emit light <NUM>. For example, layer <NUM> has light-emitting devices (components <NUM>) that are configured to emit light <NUM> inwardly toward housing <NUM>. The emitted light may be diffused by the strands of material in fabric spacer layer <NUM>-<NUM> as light <NUM> passes inwardly toward housing <NUM> and again as light <NUM> passes outwardly from housing <NUM> to users <NUM> after reflecting from reflective structures such as layer <NUM>. Optional additional light diffusion layers may be included in layers <NUM>, if desired. For example, one or more light diffusing layers may be located between housing <NUM> and layer <NUM>, between layers <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>, between layers <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>, between layers <NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> and/or in other locations in layers <NUM>. In one illustrative configuration, a diffuser formed from a frosted polymer film may be interposed between one or more, two or more, or three or more of any of the interfaces between layers <NUM> of <FIG> to help diffuse light <NUM> as light <NUM> passes through the diffuser layer. In another illustrative configuration, layers <NUM> contains no frosted polymer films.

In general, light diffusing material, component-hiding material, dust-blocking material, additional flexible substrate(s) with electrical components, adhesive and/or coating structures (e.g., reflective coatings such as coatings of white ink, metal, etc.), may be located at one or more, two or more, or three or more of the interfaces between layers <NUM> of <FIG> and may be coupled to the outwardly facing and/or inwardly facing surfaces at each of these interfaces. If desired, a flexible mesh substrate such as layer <NUM> may include antenna traces (e.g., metal traces for forming patch antennas, inverted-F antennas, loop antennas, coils for inductive power transfer, monopoles, dipoles, etc.), metal traces forming capacitive sensor electrodes and/or signal interconnect traces, and/or other metal traces. Flexible mesh substrate layers in layers <NUM> such as layer <NUM> may also include electrical components such as components for forming input-output devices <NUM> and/or control circuitry <NUM> of <FIG>. If desired, multiple layers such as layer <NUM> may be interposed in the stack of layer <NUM> in <FIG>.

In some configurations, layer <NUM> may be located between layer <NUM> and housing <NUM> and/or between layer <NUM>-<NUM> and layer <NUM>. In these arrangements, light <NUM> can be emitted outwardly towards user <NUM> and diffused while passing through layer <NUM>-<NUM> and/or through <NUM> and other layers <NUM> covering housing <NUM> and/or light <NUM> can be directed inwardly before reflecting outwardly through layer <NUM>-<NUM> and/or <NUM> and any other layers <NUM> covering housing <NUM>.

Layer <NUM> may extend around the circumference of housing <NUM> (e.g., in a ring-shaped region such as region 12W-<NUM> or region 12W-<NUM> of <FIG>. The density of light-emitting devices in layer <NUM> may be sufficient to form a display that is configured to display images for user <NUM> such as images containing text, graphics, moving images. In some configurations, the density of light-emitting devices on some or all of layer <NUM> may be low so that the light-emitting devices are used mainly for displaying diffuse fixed or moving patterns of light that serve as visual feedback (e.g., abstract light patterns of one or more colors).

Each component <NUM> may emit light for one or more pixels. The display formed by layer <NUM> may have any suitable number of pixels. For example, there may be an array of <NUM> by <NUM> pixels on layer <NUM> in region 12W-<NUM> for forming a display with <NUM> pixels. As another example, layer <NUM> may include an array of <NUM> by <NUM> pixels for forming a display with <NUM> pixels in region 12W-<NUM>. In general, layer <NUM> may include at least <NUM> pixels, at least <NUM> pixels, at least <NUM> pixels, at least <NUM> pixels, at least <NUM> pixels, less than <NUM> pixels, less than <NUM> pixels, less than <NUM> pixels, or other suitable number of pixels. Diffuse light emitted from item <NUM> may have a pleasing appearance and may help the emitted light to pass through fabric layer <NUM>-<NUM>. The process of diffusing emitted light <NUM> may help item produce a satisfactory output without using an excessive number of pixels.

<FIG> is a cross-sectional side view of component <NUM> in an illustrative configuration in which multiple light sources have been packaged in a common package. As shown in <FIG>, component <NUM> may include a substrate such as substrate <NUM> (e.g., a printed circuit). Light-emitting diodes <NUM> and other electrical components (e.g., control circuits, touch sensors and other input devices, haptic output devices, etc.) can be mounted on substrate <NUM>. For example, each components <NUM> may include a red light-emitting diode <NUM>, a green light-emitting diode <NUM>, and a blue light-emitting diode <NUM>, thereby allowing component <NUM> to emit light of an adjustable color by adjusting the relative strengths of the red, green, and blue light emitted from diodes <NUM>. Diodes <NUM> may be covered with polymer and/or other materials (e.g., for encapsulation, light diffusion, etc.). In the example of <FIG>, diodes <NUM> are covered with a layer of polymer <NUM>. Light-scattering particles <NUM> (e.g., high refractive index particles formed from titanium oxide or other inorganic materials, etc.) may be embedded in polymer <NUM> to scatter and thereby diffuse emitted light <NUM>. If desired, optional sidewalls <NUM> may be included in the package for component <NUM>. Sidewalls <NUM> may reflect emitted light <NUM> upwards and may thereby help concentrate emitted light <NUM> in a particular direction.

If desired, strands <NUM> in fabric <NUM> and/or elsewhere in item <NUM> may include optical fibers such as optical fiber 16F. Light <NUM> that is emitted from component <NUM> may be coupled into the interior of fiber 16F and may be guided within the interior of fiber 16F in accordance with the principal of total internal reflection. Fiber 16F may be a lossy fiber that tends to scatter and emit guided light along its length. As a result, light <NUM> that has been coupled into fiber 16F may be emitted and viewed by a user of item <NUM>. If desired, light <NUM> may be launched into the ends of one or more fibers such as fiber 16F by coupling components to the ends of the fibers.

In accordance with the invention an electronic device is provided that includes a housing, a speaker in the housing configured to emit sound, a fabric layer having openings configured to allow the sound to pass, and a flexible substrate layer with an array of light-emitting devices that is interposed between the fabric layer and the housing and is configured to configured to emit light towards the housing.

In accordance with another embodiment, the housing is cylindrical and is characterized by a longitudinal axis and the flexible substrate layer is configured to form a ring that wraps around the housing and the longitudinal axis.

In accordance with another embodiment, the electronic device includes light-emitting devices configured to form pixels in a display under the fabric layer, the flexible substrate layer has an array of substrate layer openings and is configured to form component support regions coupled by segments of the flexible substrate layer, and each of the light-emitting devices is mounted on a respective one of the component support regions.

In accordance with another embodiment, the electronic device includes a fabric spacer layer between the flexible substrate layer and the housing, the light emitted toward the housing passes through the fabric spacer layer.

In accordance with another embodiment, the fabric layer openings includes diamond-shaped fabric layer openings.

In accordance with another embodiment, the array of light-emitting devices includes at least <NUM> of the light-emitting devices and the array of light-emitting devices is configured to form a display that displays images.

In accordance with another embodiment, the electronic device includes an acoustically transparent component-hiding layer interposed between the fabric spacer layer and the housing, the acoustically transparent component-hiding layer is configured to reflect the light that passes through the fabric spacer layer back through the spacer layer away from the housing.

In accordance with another embodiment, the flexible substrate layer forms a mesh onto which light-emitting devices are mounted.

In accordance with another embodiment, the housing has regions with compound curvature and the mesh conforms to the housing in the regions with compound curvature.

In accordance with another embodiment, the flexible substrate layer forms a mesh with touch sensor circuitry.

In accordance with an embodiment, a voice-controlled device is provided that includes a housing, a speaker in the housing configured to emit sound, a flexible polymer mesh having openings configured to form component support regions coupled by flexible polymer segments, the flexible polymer mesh is configured to extend around the housing in a ring, and electrical components mounted on the flexible polymer mesh.

In accordance with another embodiment, the housing has a surface region with compound curvature and the flexible polymer mesh is configured to conform to the surface region of compound curvature.

In accordance with another embodiment, the electrical components include light-emitting devices configured to form a display.

In accordance with another embodiment, the voice-controlled device includes a first fabric layer interposed between the flexible polymer mesh and the housing, and a second fabric layer, the flexible polymer mesh is interposed between the second fabric layer and the first fabric layer.

In accordance with another embodiment, the light-emitting devices are configured to emit light that passes through the first fabric layer before passing through the second fabric layer.

In accordance with another embodiment, the voice-controlled device includes at least one reflective acoustically transparent component-hiding layer interposed between the first fabric layer and the housing, the reflective acoustically transparent component-hiding layer is configured to reflect the emitted light that passes through the first fabric layer back through the first fabric layer toward the flexible polymer mesh.

In accordance with another embodiment, the light-emitting devices are configured to emit light that passes through the second fabric layer without passing through the first fabric layer.

In accordance with an embodiment, an electronic device is provided that includes a flexible mesh substrate having support regions interconnected by substrate segments, circuitry on the support regions, a housing around which the flexible mesh substrate is wrapped, and a speaker in the housing.

In accordance with another embodiment, the circuitry includes a circuit selected from the group consisting of an antenna circuit and a sensor circuit.

In accordance with another embodiment, the electronic device includes a first layer of fabric that covers the flexible mesh substrate, and a second layer of fabric between the flexible mesh substrate and the housing, the circuitry includes light-emitting devices configured to form a display that displays images through the flexible mesh substrate.

Claim 1:
An electronic device (<NUM>), comprising:
a housing (<NUM>) having a sidewall;
a speaker (<NUM>) in the housing (<NUM>) configured to emit sound;
a fabric layer (<NUM>) having openings (<NUM>) configured to allow the sound to pass, wherein the fabric layer (<NUM>) overlaps the sidewall;
a flexible substrate layer (<NUM>) with an array of light-emitting devices (<NUM>) that is interposed between the fabric layer (<NUM>) and the housing (<NUM>) and is configured to emit light towards the housing (<NUM>); and
an acoustically transparent component-hiding layer (<NUM>) interposed between the flexible substrate layer (<NUM>) and the housing (<NUM>), wherein the acoustically transparent component-hiding layer (<NUM>) is configured to reflect the light emitted by the array of light-emitting devices (<NUM>) back through the flexible substrate layer (<NUM>) away from the housing (<NUM>).