PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-11504945-B2
Application Number: US-201916358590-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Items formed using stitching equipment with adjustable-shape fixtures

Abstract:
An item may be formed from structures that include holes. Stitching may be used to form a seam that joins the structures. The stitching may be formed from a chain stitch that passes through the holes. The holes may be formed from loops of knit fabric or other holes. Leather layers, polymer layers, fabric layers, and other structures with holes may be joined using the stitching. During fabrication, a layer of material with holes may be placed on an adjustable-shape fixture having a bed of needles. The shape of the bed of nails in the adjustable-shape fixture may then be changed. After the fixture has been used to transform the shape of one or more of the structures, the structures may be placed on needles in an assembly fixture and the stitching between the structures may be formed. The item may be an electronic device cover or other item.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of forming an item, comprising:
 placing first holes in a first layer of material on respective needles in a bed of needles in an adjustable-shape fixture; 
 with positioning equipment, changing the shape of the bed of needles in the adjustable-shape fixture from a first shape to a second shape; and 
 stitching together the first layer of material and a second layer of material with second holes while the first layer of material has a shape that follows the second shape by passing a strand of material through the first holes and the second holes. 
 
     
     
       2. The method defined in  claim 1  further comprising:
 forming the first layer of material by knitting the first layer of material, wherein the first holes are formed from knit loops in the first layer of material. 
 
     
     
       3. The method defined in  claim 2  further comprising:
 forming the second layer of material by knitting the second layer of material, wherein the second holes are formed from knit loops in the second layer of material. 
 
     
     
       4. The method defined in  claim 3  wherein the first shape is a line and wherein the second shape is a rectangle. 
     
     
       5. The method defined in  claim 4  wherein the first layer of material is a rectangular rear wall in an electronic device cover. 
     
     
       6. The method defined in  claim 5  wherein the second layer of material is a strip of material forming sidewalls for the electronic device cover. 
     
     
       7. The method defined in  claim 1  wherein the adjustable-shape fixture has hinged links that each support a respective one of the needles. 
     
     
       8. The method defined in  claim 7  wherein the first layer of material and the second layer of material comprise knitted layers. 
     
     
       9. The method defined in  claim 1  wherein stitching together the first layer of material and the second layer of material comprises forming a chain stitch from the strand of material. 
     
     
       10. The method defined in  claim 1  wherein stitching together the first layer of material and the second layer of material comprises forming a stitch along a seam between the first and second layers of material in a three-dimensional seam shape. 
     
     
       11. The method defined in  claim 1  wherein the strand of material comprises a conductive strand. 
     
     
       12. The method defined in  claim 1  wherein the positioning equipment comprises computer-controlled positioning equipment. 
     
     
       13. The method defined in  claim 1  wherein the positioning equipment comprises manually actuated positioning equipment. 
     
     
       14. A method of forming an item, comprising:
 placing a first layer of material on needles in a bed of needles in an adjustable-shape fixture; 
 changing the shape of the bed of needles in the adjustable-shape fixture from a first shape to a second shape; and 
 stitching together the first layer of material and a second layer of material while the first layer of material has a shape that follows the second shape. 
 
     
     
       15. A method of forming an item, comprising:
 positioning first and second layers of material by placing first holes in a first signal path portion of the first layer of material on respective needles in a bed of needles and by placing second holes in a second signal path portion of the second later of material in the bed of needles so that the first holes overlap the second holes; and 
 stitching the first layer of material to the second layer of material with stitches formed from a strand of material that has conductive and insulating segments and that passes through the first and second holes so that a first conductive structure in the first layer is coupled to a second conductive structure in the second layer via the conductive segment of the strand. 
 
     
     
       16. The method defined in  claim 15  wherein:
 the first layer of material is formed from a first fabric layer; 
 the second layer of material is formed from a second fabric layer; and 
 the conductive segment shorts the first signal path to the second signal path. 
 
     
     
       17. The method defined in  claim 15  wherein the first layer of material is selected from the group consisting of: a fabric layer, a leather layer, and a polymer layer. 
     
     
       18. The method defined in  claim 15  wherein the first layer of material comprises a polymer layer and wherein the first signal path portion comprises a metal trace on the polymer layer. 
     
     
       19. The method defined in  claim 15  wherein the stitching includes a polymer strand. 
     
     
       20. The method defined in  claim 15  wherein the stitch has a three-dimensional shape.

Description:
This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application No. 62/699,127, filed May 9, 2018, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     This relates generally to items formed from automated assembly equipment and, more particularly, to items such as fabric-based items having pieces of material with holes that are stitched together using stitching equipment with adjustable-shape fixtures. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Items such as covers for electronic devices may have layers of fabric and other material. It can be challenging to assemble layers of material to form an item. If care is not taken, assembly operations can be hampered by difficulties in aligning layers of material and in forming joints between the layers. 
     SUMMARY 
     An item may be formed from structures that include holes. The structures that include holes may include layers of fabric, leather, plastic, or other materials. Stitching may be used to form a seam that joins the structures. The stitching may be formed from a chain stitch or other stitch that passes through the holes in each of the structures being joined. 
     In some arrangements, the layers being joined may be fabric layers such as knit layers. Loops in the knit layers of fabric may form the holes. An electronic device cover may be formed by joining first and second knit layers. The first knit layer may be a rectangular planar knit layer that forms a rear wall of the cover and the second knit layer may be formed from a strip of knit fabric that is bend into a rectangle to forms a rectangular sidewall of the cover. 
     During fabrication, a layer of material with holes may be placed on an adjustable-shape fixture having a bed of needles. The shape of the adjustable-shape fixture and layer of material may then be changed. For example, computer-controlled positioning equipment may adjust the positions of links supporting the bed of needles in two or three dimensions. After the adjustable-shape fixture has been used to transform the shape of one or more of the structures, the structures may be placed on needles in an assembly fixture and the stitching between the structures may be formed with a computer-controlled stitching head. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of an illustrative electronic device and a cover for the electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional side view of a layer of woven fabric in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of a layer of knit fabric in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional side view of two layers of fabric with openings being linked using a chain stitch in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 5  is a system diagram of an illustrative system with equipment for forming items with holes linked by stitches in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 6  is a diagram of illustrative stretching equipment in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 7  is a side view of illustrative equipment with adjustable needles in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 8  is a side perspective view of illustrative equipment configured to form material such as fabric with holes in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 9  is a side view of illustrative equipment with needles transferring a layer of fabric with holes or other material with holes to an associated transfer fixture with needles in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 10  is a side view of an illustrative adjustable-shape fixture with a bed of needles that is receiving a layer of material with holes from the transfer fixture of  FIG. 9  in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 11  is a top view of an illustrative adjustable-shape fixture in a configuration with a straight set of needles in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 12  is a top view of the illustrative fixture of  FIG. 11  following bending in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 13  is a top view of the illustrative fixture of  FIG. 11  following adjustment to form a rectangular bed of needles in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 14  is a graph showing how the adjustable-shape fixture may be adjusted to place the bed of needles in a desired three-dimensional shape in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 15  is a side view of an illustrative adjustable-shape fixture such as the fixture of  FIG. 10  during transfer operations in which the needles of the adjustable-shape fixture are aligned with the needles in an illustrative non-adjustable fixture in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 16  is a side view of the illustrative non-adjustable fixture of  FIG. 15  during assembly operations in which pieces of fabric and other structures with holes are fabricated and processed and placed on the no-adjustable fixture in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 17  is a perspective view of an illustrative watch having a band with multiple layers of material of the type that may be joined using equipment of the type shown in  FIG. 5  in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 18  is a top view of a seam formed between two layers of material with holes and aligned signal paths in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 19  is a perspective view of a three-dimensional seam formed between two structures with holes in accordance with an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Items such as item  10  of  FIG. 1  may include fabric and other materials with holes. In the example of  FIG. 1 , item  10  is a cover for an electronic device such as device  34 . Device  34  may be a cellular telephone, tablet computer, laptop computer, or other electronic equipment. Item  10  may be formed from one or more pieces of material (fabric, polymer, metal, leather, and/or other materials). Item  10  may, as an example, have a planar portion forming rear wall  12  (e.g., a planar layer with a rectangular outline) and a sidewall portion formed from rectangular ring-shaped sidewall  14 . The portions of item  10  that have holes  18  (e.g., wall  12  and/or sidewall  14 ) may be formed from fabric, knit fabric, woven fabric, leather, polymer, metal, glass, ceramic, wood, other materials, and/or combinations of these materials. The materials in the portions of item  10  that have holes may be layers of material, may include two or more stacked layers of material, may be solid structures (e.g., spheres, box-shaped members, etc.), and/or may have other suitable shapes. 
     During assembly operations, rear wall  12  may be attached to sidewall  14  using stitching. The stitching may be formed using one or more strands of material. A stitching tool such as a computer-controlled stitching head may be used in forming a seam (e.g., stitching) between rear wall  12  and sidewall  14 . Any suitable stitch types may be formed from each strand of material. As an example, stitch  16  of  FIG. 1  may be a chain stitch that links holes  18  in rear wall  12  to holes  18  in sidewall  14 . 
     Item  10  may be a case for an electronic device, may form part of an electronic device, may form an item of clothing, may form a wearable electronic device, or other suitable items. In some arrangements, item  10  and/or device  34  may include equipment 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&#39;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  10  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  10  may be a removable external cover (case) for electronic equipment, may be a strap, may be a wrist band or head band, 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. 1 , item  10  is a removable cover (case) for an electronic device such as a cellular telephone or tablet computer. In general, item  10  may be any other suitable structure or equipment with holes joined by stitching. The configuration of  FIG. 1  is presented as an example. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , device  34  may have a rectangular housing such as housing  36 . Housing  36  may have opposing front and rear faces and may have a sidewall that surrounds the front and rear faces. In the example of  FIG. 1 , housing  36  has a rectangular outline and is received in a corresponding rectangular recess formed by rear housing wall  18  and peripheral sidewall  14  of item  10 . Item  10  (and/or device  34 ) may include circuitry (e.g., control circuitry formed from integrated circuits and other circuitry, sensors, input-devices such as buttons, and output devices such as speakers, displays, light-emitting diodes, haptic output devices, batteries, a connector for coupling item  10  and device  34 , etc.). 
     Fabric for item  10  may be formed using intertwined strands of material (e.g., woven fabric, knit fabric, braided fabric, and/or other intertwined strands).  FIG. 2  is a side view of illustrative woven fabric. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , woven fabric  20  may include strands of material such as warp strands  22  and weft strands  24 . The strands of material that are intertwined to form the fabric for item  10  may be monofilaments and/or multifilament yarns. Strands of material may be insulating or conductive. Polymers, metal, glass, and/or other materials may be used in forming the strands. Openings in woven fabric  20  may form holes such as holes  18 . 
       FIG. 3  is a top view of illustrative knit fabric. As shown in  FIG. 3 , knit fabric  26  may include knit loops of strands  28 . Openings  30  in the loops formed by strands of material such as strands  28  in knit fabric  26  may form holes such as holes  18  of  FIG. 1 . 
     Fabric openings may be formed during strand intertwining operations (e.g., during weaving, knitting, braiding, etc.) and/or may be formed using hole formation equipment after strand intertwining operations are complete. If desired, item  10  may include one or more non-fabric structures (e.g., layers of plastic, metal, and/or other materials). Hole formation techniques that may be used in processing layers of fabric and/or other layers of material for item  10  to form holes  18  include drilling, stamping, laser cutting, laser drilling, molding, and/or other hole formation techniques. 
     A stitching (sewing) head may be used in forming a chain stitch or other stitching  16  to link pieces of material with holes  18  together to form item  10 . An illustrative chain stitch is shown in the cross-sectional side view of  FIG. 4 . In the example of  FIG. 4 , a first layer of fabric has strands  28 A (e.g., knit strands forming openings  30  that serve as holes  18 ) and a second aligned layer of fabric has strands  28 B (e.g., knit strands forming openings  30  that serve as holes  18  and that are aligned with the openings  30  of the first layer of fabric). Stitching  16  of  FIG. 4  is a chain stitch that loops into and out of each opening  30  (e.g., each hole  18  in both the first fabric layer and the second fabric layer), thereby forming a stitched seam between the first and second fabric layers. 
       FIG. 5  is a diagram of an illustrative system for forming items such as item  10  from structures having holes. As shown in  FIG. 5 , system  40  may include equipment such as strand intertwining tool  42 . Tools such as tool  42  may form fabric by weaving, knitting, braiding, or other strand intertwining techniques. Holes  18  may be formed in fabric during strand intertwining operations (see, e.g., the loops formed in knit fabric  26  of  FIG. 3 ) and/or may be formed after fabric formation. Perforation tool  44  may be used in forming holes  18  in fabric and other layers of material (polymer layers, metal layers, glass layers, leather layers, layers of other natural material, ceramic layers, etc.). Perforation tool  44  may include a laser for laser hole drilling, a stamp (e.g., a punch) to form holes by stamping, mechanical drilling equipment, equipment for melting holes in thermoplastic material (e.g., heated pins), and/or other hole formation equipment. Molding tool  46  may be used in forming a polymer structure for item  10 . Holes  18  may be incorporated into the polymer structure during molding operations and/or may be formed after molding (e.g., using perforation tool  44 ). 
     Stitching equipment  42  may include a stitching head for forming chain stitches and other sewn seams. The strands of material that are used for forming stitches pass through holes  18 . Holes  18  in different structures (e.g., fabric layers, polymer layers, layers of leather, other structures formed from fabric, leather, polymer, metal, glass, etc.) may be aligned to each other using one or more fixtures. These fixtures may include, for example, one or more fixtures with a bed of needles onto which a structure with holes  18  may be placed. Each needle in a bed of needles fixture may, as an example, pass through a respective hole  18 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , system  40  may include one or more adjustable fixtures such as adjustable-shape fixture  50 . Fixture  50  may have a bed of needles with an adjustable shape. 
     If desired, system  40  may include additional equipment such as equipment  48 . In forming item  10 , equipment  48  and the other equipment of  FIG. 5  may operate on layers of fabric, leather layers, polymer layers, other layers of material, structures formed from polymer, metal, glass, ceramic, natural materials such as wood and leather, other materials, and/or combinations of these materials (shown as workpiece  54  in  FIG. 5 ). These operations may be performed in a variety of orders (e.g., before hole formation and/or after hole formation, before structures with holes are placed onto alignment structures such as alignment pins in a fixture and/or after the structures are mounted in a fixture, before a fixture&#39;s shape is changed or after a fixtures shape is changes, before or after stretching operations are performed, etc. In general, any suitable order may be used for these processing steps when forming item  10 . 
     Equipment  48  may include equipment for stretching or folding a layer of fabric or other structures, may include equipment for depositing material (e.g., using techniques such as painting, spraying, dipping, printing, electrochemical deposition, physical vapor deposition, molding, etc.), may include equipment for removing material from a layer of fabric or other structure (e.g., drilling equipment, laser processing equipment, dry and/or wet chemical etching equipment, stamping tools, cutting blades and other cutting equipment, machining tools, etc.). 
     Stitching equipment  42  and/or any of the other equipment of system  40  may include computer-controlled (robotic) equipment (e.g., actuators such as electromagnetic actuators and other actuators, motors, etc.) and/or manually actuated equipment. For example, computer-controlled positioners may be used to move a stitching head in equipment  52  along a seam that is being formed, robotic arms may include computer-control positioners with optional computer-controlled grippers to move fixtures, computer-controlled equipment may be used in weaving, knitting, and braiding fabric, computer-controlled positioners may move cutting tools and laser processing equipment, computer-controlled positioners may move perforation tool  44 , computer-controlled positioners may move needles and/or needle support structures in fixture  50  and/or other fixtures, computer-controlled positioners may move stretching members apart when stretching fabric with equipment  48 , computer controlled-positioners may control the movement of other structures in equipment  48 , and/or other equipment in system  40  may be provided with computer-controlled positioning equipment. 
     Illustrative equipment  48  for stretching material such as fabric is shown in  FIG. 6 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , structure  60  (e.g., a layer of fabric or other material) may be held along its left and right edges by holding members  62 . Members  62  may be grippers, may be rods that are inserted into tubular fabric channels in structure  60 , and/or may be other structures for holding the edges of structure  60 . During stretching operations, one or more computer-controlled positioners such as positioners  64  may be used to stretch structure  60  outwardly in directions  66 . Equipment of the type shown in  FIG. 6  may be used to fold fabric and other materials, may bend fabric layers and other structures into desired curved shapes, and/or may otherwise manipulate structures in workpiece  54  ( FIG. 5 ). 
     Needles and other alignment structures in system  40  may be used to engage holes  18  in the structures being processed to form item  10 . In some situations, needles may be used as part of an intertwining tool (e.g., in a knitting machine or other fabric producing equipment) or may be used in a rigid fixture. In other situations, needles may be used in an adjustable-shape fixture such as fixture  50 .  FIG. 7  shows how a set  68  of needles  70  (sometimes referred to as a bed of needles) may be controlled using computer-controlled positioning equipment  72 . There may be any suitable number of needles  70  in set  68  (e.g., at least 5, at least 20, at least 80, at least 200, at least 400, fewer than 500, fewer than 250, fewer than 100, fewer than 50, or other suitable number. 
     Positioning equipment  72  may include a least one computer-controlled positioner  74 . In some configurations, each needle  70  or each subset of multiple needles  70  may be controlled by a respective independently controlled positioner  74 . In other configurations, all of needles  70  may be linked together on a rigid platform or a flexible support. Needles  70  (e.g., needles in a fixture) may, if desired, be moved within system  40  using computer-controlled transfer arms or other robotic positioning equipment. In some situations, the needles  70  in one system (e.g., needles in an intertwining tool or a separate fixture) may be aligned with needles  70  in another system. For example, each needle  70  in a first set of needles may be temporarily mated with a corresponding needle  70  in a second set of needles. Following this needle mating operation, material with holes  18  can be transferred between the first set of needles and the second set of needles (e.g., by sliding the material with holes  18  along the lengths of the mated needles). When placed on an adjustable-shape set of needles (see, e.g., fixture  50 ), the shape of a fabric layer or other structure with holes  18  and the shape of the seam that is subsequently formed can be altered (e.g., in two-dimensions and/or in three-dimensions). Stitching equipment  52  may be used to form chain stitches and/or other stitches to link different layers of fabric other structures with holes  18  together while these structures are aligned using a common set of needles  70  in an alignment fixture. 
     An illustrative process for forming an item such as item  10  of  FIG. 1  or other item having structures with holes  18  is shown in  FIGS. 8-16 . The operations of  FIGS. 8-16  may, if desired, be performed in different orders and/or steps in these operations may be omitted (e.g., fewer fixtures may be used). The operations of  FIGS. 8-16  are presented as examples. 
     The equipment used in connection with  FIGS. 8-16  includes needles (e.g., needles  70  of  FIG. 7 ) that form fixed and/or adjustable portions of the equipment of system  40 . In the example of  FIGS. 8-16 , structures with holes  18  are assembled together while using these needles for alignment. Stitching equipment  52  may then form stitches that join the structures together to form item  10 . In the example of  FIGS. 8-16 , the structures that are being joined together are layers of material (e.g., fabric layers, polymer layers, etc.). Other types of structures with holes may be joined, if desired. 
     As shown in  FIG. 8 , layer  84  (e.g., a layer of fabric, etc.) may be formed on equipment  86 . Equipment  86  may include needles  82  that pass through holes  18  in layer  84 . Support structure  80  may include computer-controlled positioners, mechanical linkages, fixed support structures, and/or other equipment for supporting needles  82 . In one illustrative configuration layer  84  may be a layer of fabric for item  10  (e.g., a flat knit layer for forming a rear wall such as wall  12  of  FIG. 1  or a strip-shaped circular knit fabric layer for forming a sidewall such as sidewall  14 ), equipment  86  may be knitting equipment (see, e.g., strand intertwining tool  42  of  FIG. 5 ), and needles  82  may be knitting needles in the knitting equipment. If desired, layer  84  may be felt, leather, polymer, metal, glass, ceramic, wood, other materials, and/or combinations of these materials and may be a structure with pre-formed holes  18 , a structure where holes  18  are formed during the process of placing material on needles  82 , and/or other structures. 
     After performing knitting operations or other operations to form layer  84  of  FIG. 8 , needles  82  may be aligned with corresponding needles in equipment such as fixture  94  of  FIG. 9 . Fixture  94  may include support structures  92  and needles  90 . Each of needles  90  and the other needles used in system  40  may have a tip with engagement features. As an example, each of needles  90  may have a tip  90 ′ that is configured to mate with a corresponding tip  82 ′ of one of needles  82  in equipment  86 . A computer-controlled transfer arm and/or other equipment (e.g., computer-controlled positioners separate from equipment  86  or part of equipment  86 ) may be used in mating needles  82  with needles  90 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 9 , when needles  82  and needles  90  have been temporarily joined together at their tips, layer  84  may be pushed in direction  88  (e.g., by computer-controlled equipment). This causes layer  84  (and holes  18 ) to slide off of needles  82  and onto needles  90  in fixture  94 . Once layer  84  has been transferred to fixture  94  in this way, equipment  86  may be removed. 
     Computer-controlled positioning equipment may place needles  90  of fixture  94  into alignment with needles in an adjustable fixture such as adjustable-shape fixture  50  of  FIG. 5 . The computer-controlled positioning equipment may be, for example, a computer-controlled transfer arm such as arm  104  of  FIG. 9 . Arm  104  may include computer-controlled positioner  100  for rotating and/or translating arm  104  and may include an adjustable gripper configured to grip support structure  92  of fixture  94 . When it is desired to move fixture  94  into alignment with adjustable-shape fixture  50 , gripper structures  98  of the adjustable gripper may be moved in directions  96  to grip support structure  92  (as an example). This type of computer-controlled positioning equipment may be used to move rigid fixtures, adjustable fixture  50 , and/or other equipment (e.g., equipment with needles, etc.) in system  40 . 
     Operations associated with aligning needles  90  of fixture  94  to needles  108  in adjustable fixture  50  are shown in  FIG. 10 . As shown in  FIG. 10 , once needles  90  have been mated with corresponding needles  108  in adjustable fixture  50  (e.g., using a computer-controlled positioner), layer  84  may be slid in direction  106  from needles  90  onto needles  108  of fixture  50 . Fixture  94  may then be removed. 
     Fixture  50 , which may sometimes be referred to as an adjustable-shape fixture, may have an adjustable support structure such as adjustable support structure  110 . Support structure  110  may have portions  110 ′ that can move with respect to each other. Needles  108  may be supported by portions  110 ′. There may be a single needle  108  for each portion  110 ′ or multiple needles  108  may be attached to each portion  110 ′. Portions  110 ′, which may sometimes be referred to as links, may be joined by mechanical linkages, flexible hinges (e.g., hinge structures that can bend and/or stretch to accommodate changes in the pitch of portions  110 ′), ball joints, and/or other flexible coupling structures. One or more computer-controlled positioners such as positioner  112  may be used to adjust the relative positions between one or more of portions  110 ′ and thereby adjust the overall shape of fixture  50  and the bed of needles  108  supported by adjustable-shape support structure  110  of fixture  50 . 
     Illustrative two-dimensional fixture shape changing operations for structure  110  are shown in  FIGS. 11, 12, and 13 . In the example of  FIG. 11 , portions  110 ′ of structure  110  have been placed in a straight line so that needles  108  are placed in a straight line. This type of arrangement may be used, for example, when needles  108  are receiving a planar layer of fabric with holes  18 . After receiving the structure with holes on needles  108 , the locations of needles  108  may be changed by changing the shape of fixture  50 . For example, curves may be formed in structure  110  as shown in  FIG. 12  and/or structure  110  may be placed in a rectangular shape, as shown in  FIG. 13 . 
       FIG. 14  shows needle tip positions for needle tips  108 ′ of adjustable fixture  50  in a configuration in which fixture  50  has been adjusted to place tips  108 ′ in an illustrative three-dimensional shape (e.g., a line curved about multiple non-parallel axes or other shape that necessarily lies in more than one plane because the smallest number of planes that contain the shape is greater than one). In this type of arrangement, the positions of needle tips  108 ′ may have straight portions, curved portions, and/or other portions that form three-dimensional shapes (e.g., shapes in which needle tips  108 ′ have various different locations along the X, Y, and Z axes of  FIG. 14 . If desired, adjustable-shape fixture  50  may be adjusted (e.g., using computer-controlled positioning equipment such as positioner  112  of  FIG. 10 ) to form other desired three-dimensional shapes (e.g., lines that are spiral in shape, grids of lines following the outer surface of a sphere, etc.). The configuration of  FIG. 14  is merely illustrative. 
     After adjusting the shape of adjustable-shape fixture (bed of needles)  50 , fixture  50  may be aligned with a rigid fixture such as fixture  124  of  FIG. 15 . This frees up fixture  50  for use in making shape changes for other workpieces. 
     As shown in  FIG. 15 , fixture  124  may include a bed of needles  120  on support structure  122 . Needles  108  of fixture  50  may be aligned and mated with needles  120  of fixture  124 . Following mating, structure  84  may be moved in direction  125 , so that holes  18  of structure  84  slide from needles  108  to needles  120 . Fixture  50  may then be removed and used elsewhere in system  40 . 
     One or more structures with holes  18  may be placed on desired needles  120  of fixture  124  in this way (e.g., a single layer of fabric or other material, two layers of fabric or other material, three layers of fabric or other materials, etc.). For example, if first and second layers of fabric are being linked with stitches, the first and second layers of fabric may be placed on needles  120  so that the holes  18  in the first layer of fabric overlap appropriate holes  18  in the second layer of fabric. Each of these layers may be optionally processed with the tools in system  40  before being placed on needles  120 . The operations may include stretching with stretching equipment in equipment  48 , forming perforations with tool  44 , manual manipulation, transfer operations or other movements using transfer arms and/or other computer-controlled positioners, patterning with metal traces using deposition equipment, etching equipment, and/or other processing tools, and/or other tools, and/or other operations. 
     In the example of  FIG. 16 , four structures with holes have been placed on needles  120 : layer  84 , layer  126 , layer  128 , and layer  130 . These layers may each have holes  18  that receive corresponding needles  120 . While being held by fixture  124  in this way, these structures may be stitched together using stitching equipment  52 . For example, stitching  16  may be formed (e.g., a chain-stitched seam) that joins each of the overlapping structures on needles  108  together. 
     In the example of  FIG. 1 , sidewall  14  of item  10  may be formed from a strip of circular knit fabric. The fabric may be transferred to adjustable fixture  50  and then transformed into a rectangular shape as shown in  FIG. 13 . Rectangular rear wall  12  may then be placed on pins  120  of fixture  124  so that each hole  18  in wall  12  is on the same needle  108  as a respective hole  18  on sidewall  14 . After aligning holes  18  on rear wall  12  and sidewall  14  in this way, stitching equipment  52  may form a chain stitch (see, e.g., stitching  16  of  FIG. 1 ) that joins rear wall  12  and sidewall  14  to form item  10 . 
     Another illustrative example is shown in  FIG. 17 . In the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 17 , item  10  is a strap for a watch (e.g., a wrist watch having a main wrist watch unit  144  with a display, control circuitry, wireless communications circuitry, a battery, etc.). The strap may have an inner layer such a layer  142  (e.g., a fabric layer) and an outer layer such as layer  140  (e.g., a leather layer). Openings  18  may be joined using stitching  16 . 
     In some arrangements, layers of material being joined contain conductive structures. The conductive structures may, as an example, include signal lines. Signal lines can be formed from conductive strands of material (e.g., bare metal wire, polymer strands coated with metal, other conductive strands, etc.) and/or may be formed from metal traces that are deposited and patterned on fabric or other substrates using printing, physical vapor deposition, electrochemical deposition, etching, or other signal line formation patterning techniques. Consider, as an example, item  10  of  FIG. 18 . In the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 18 , a first layer of material (layer  150 ) has holes  18  that have been aligned with holes  18  in a second layer of material (layer  152 ). Layers  150  and  152  may be fabric layers, polymer layers, and/or other layers of material. Conductive path  162  (e.g., conductive strands in fabric and/or metal traces supported by fabric or other substrate material) be formed among insulating portions  160  of layers  150  and  152 . Path  162  may include a first portion on layer  150  that is joined to a second portion on layer  152  using a conductive portion of stitching  16  (portion  16 ′). Portion  16 ′ may be formed from a conductive strand or a conductive portion of an insulating strand. The remainder of the seam may be formed from insulating stitching  16 ″ (e.g., an insulating portion of the strand containing conductive portion  16 ′ or a separate insulating strand). In this way, a series of parallel conductive paths  162  can be joined to corresponding parallel conductive paths  162  in another layer of material without forming undesirable short circuits between laterally adjacent paths. 
     Another illustrative arrangement for item  10  is shown in  FIG. 19 . In the example of  FIG. 19 , adjustable fixture  50  has been adjusted to join first layer  170  and second layer  172  with stitching  16  (the seam between layers  170  and  172 ) having a desired three-dimensional shape. Electrical components such as component  182  may have contacts (terminals) that are electrically coupled to respective signal paths  178  (e.g., conductive traces such as metal traces, conductive strands in fabric, etc.) that are separated by insulating portions  180  of layers  170  and  172 . Electrical components such as component  184  may have contacts that are electrically coupled to a signal path formed from stitching  16  (e.g., with or without forming a seam between layers  170  and  172 ). Components such as electrical components  182  and  184  may be integrated circuits, light-emitting diodes, sensors, and/or other circuitry for item  10 . Stitching  16  that is coupled to components such as component  184  directly may be formed from conductive material to form a signal path. Stitching  16  that runs along a seam and that overlaps conductive paths  178  may be conductive in the portions that overlap paths  178  (thereby shorting mating portions of paths  178  together) and may be insulating in the portions that overlap insulating portions  180  to help avoid shorting adjacent parallel paths  178  together. 
     The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can be made to the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20190319
Publication Date: 20221122
Grant Date: 20221122
Priority Date: 20180509
Inventors: BERLAT, SOFIANE
LOOMIS, AEDHAN M.
COXETER, PETER F.
MONTPLAISIR, SARAH J.
WRIGHT, TIMON A.
HAMADA, Yohji
Perry, Patrick
MILLER, CHAD J.
ROSENBERG, ANDREW L.
PODHAJNY, DANIEL A.
SUNSHINE, Daniel D.
LU, Jessica J.
UESATO, LIA M.
OLMSTEAD, DONALD L.
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "B32B5/26", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D04B21/20", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B2250/02", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D04B1/08", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B2457/00", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B3/266", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B29C66/721", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A45C3/001", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B5/06", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A45C11/00", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B3/08", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B5/024", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B9/047", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D04B1/22", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B2262/103", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B2262/02", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B5/06", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D04B1/08", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B27/12", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D04B1/22", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B2439/02", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B2307/202", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B5/028", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B5/06", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B3/266", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B9/005", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B2262/101", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B29C70/24", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B2250/20", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D04B21/20", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B5/26", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B3/266", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B5/024", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B2307/202", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B7/09", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A45C15/00", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B2262/02", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B9/02", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B15/14", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D05B93/00", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A45C2011/002", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B5/06", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D05B1/06", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B29C70/24", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D04B1/08", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D04B1/22", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B7/09", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B2439/02", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B2307/202", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B29C66/721", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D04B21/20", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B2262/02", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B32B3/266", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A45C11/002", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D05B93/00", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D05B1/06", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A45C11/002", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A45C11/002", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 68465044