PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-11180871-B2
Application Number: US-201815941287-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Fabric items having strands of adjustable appearance

Abstract:
A fabric-based item may include fabric formed from intertwined strands of material such as intertwined strands of tubing. The strands of material may include electrophoretic ink formed from charged nanoparticles of different colors in fluid. The electrophoretic ink may be contained within strands of tubing or may be enclosed within encapsulation structures such as encapsulation spheres. Encapsulation spheres or other encapsulation structures may be embedded in clear polymer binder within tubing or other strands. Electroluminescent particles may be included in the clear polymer binder. Electric fields can be applied to the electrophoretic ink in a given area of the fabric using conductive strands that overlap the area, using conductive electrodes such as transparent conductive electrodes on strands of tubing, using coaxial electrodes, or using other electrode structures.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A fabric-based item comprising:
 a layer of fabric formed from woven warp and weft strands of conductive tubing, wherein the conductive tubing includes tubing walls surrounding electrophoretic ink and electroluminescent particles; and 
 control circuitry configured to adjust electric fields supplied to the electrophoretic ink by adjusting a voltage applied to the conductive tubing. 
 
     
     
       2. The fabric-based item defined in  claim 1  wherein the warp and weft strands of conductive tubing comprise clear polymer tubing walls and transparent conductive material on the clear polymer tubing walls, wherein the fabric-based item further comprises first electrodes formed from the transparent conductive material on the clear polymer tubing walls and second electrodes, and wherein the control circuitry is configured to apply the electric fields to the electrophoretic ink using the first and second electrodes. 
     
     
       3. The fabric-based item defined in  claim 1  wherein the conductive tubing includes transparent polymer tubing walls. 
     
     
       4. The fabric-based item defined in  claim 3  further comprising electrodes with which the control circuitry applies the electric fields. 
     
     
       5. The fabric-based item defined in  claim 4  wherein the electrodes include an electrode formed from at least part of the conductive tubing. 
     
     
       6. The fabric-based item defined in  claim 5  wherein the electrode is a transparent electrode. 
     
     
       7. The fabric-based item defined in  claim 4  wherein the electrodes include first and second electrodes formed from at least part of the conductive tubing. 
     
     
       8. The fabric-based item defined in  claim 4  wherein the electrodes are coaxial electrodes and include a first electrode formed from part of the conductive tubing and a second electrode formed from a conductive strand in the conductive tubing. 
     
     
       9. The fabric-based item defined in  claim 1  further comprising spherical encapsulation structures in the conductive tubing, wherein the electrophoretic ink is within the spherical encapsulation structures. 
     
     
       10. The fabric-based item defined in  claim 9  further comprising binder in the conductive tubing, wherein the spherical encapsulation structures and the electroluminescent particles are embedded in the binder. 
     
     
       11. The fabric-based item defined in  claim 1  wherein the layer of fabric includes additional conductive weft strands configured to apply the electric fields, and wherein the additional conductive weft strands and the warp strands of conductive tubing run orthogonally to each other in the fabric. 
     
     
       12. A fabric-based item comprising:
 fabric comprising:
 strands of conductive tubing containing electrophoretic ink formed from fluid with charged nanoparticles, wherein each of the strands comprises a conductor held at a fixed potential; and 
 conductive strands that cross the strands of conductive tubing; and 
 
 control circuitry configured to alter an appearance of a first portion of the fabric relative to a second portion of the fabric by adjusting a voltage applied to the conductive strands that cross the first portion to adjust an electric field applied to the electrophoretic ink in the strands of conductive tubing in the first portion. 
 
     
     
       13. The fabric-based item defined in  claim 12  further comprising encapsulation spheres in the strands of conductive tubing. 
     
     
       14. The fabric-based item defined in  claim 13  wherein each encapsulation sphere includes some of the fluid with charged nanoparticles, the fabric further comprising:
 binder in the strands of conductive tubing; 
 electroluminescent particles in the binder. 
 
     
     
       15. The fabric-based item defined in  claim 14  wherein the charged nanoparticles include nanoparticles of opposing first and second charge polarities with respective first and second different colors and wherein the fabric comprises woven fabric. 
     
     
       16. Fabric, comprising:
 intertwined strands of conductive tubing each including a first electrode formed from a transparent material and a second electrode; and 
 electrophoretic ink and luminescent particles in the intertwined strands of conductive tubing, wherein the electrophoretic ink in each of the intertwined strands of conductive tubing is configured to change color in response to a change in voltage applied to the first and second electrodes. 
 
     
     
       17. The fabric defined in  claim 16  further comprising:
 clear polymer binder; and 
 encapsulation structures in the clear polymer binder that are each filled with some of the electrophoretic ink.

Description:
This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application No. 62/519,379, filed Jun. 14, 2017, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     This relates generally to fabric-based items and, more particularly, to fabric-based items having adjustable components. 
     BACKGROUND 
     It may be desirable to form bags, furniture, clothing, wearable electronic devices, and other items from materials such as fabric. If care is not taken, however, fabric-based items may not offer desired features. For example, fabric-based items may not include visual output devices to provide a user with visual information or may include visual output devices that are unattractive, bulky, and heavy. 
     SUMMARY 
     A fabric-based item may include fabric formed from intertwined strands of material such as intertwined strands of tubing and other strands of material. The appearance of portions of the fabric can be adjusted using control circuitry in the fabric-based item. 
     The strands of material may include tubing with electrophoretic ink formed from charged nanoparticles of different colors. Electric fields can be applied to the electrophoretic ink using the control circuitry to change the appearance of the fabric. 
     Charged nanoparticles and fluid may be contained within strands of tubing or may be enclosed within encapsulation structures such as encapsulation spheres. Encapsulation spheres or other encapsulation structures may be embedded in clear polymer binder within tubing or other structures in the fabric. Electric fields can be applied in a given area of the fabric using conductive strands that overlap the area, using conductive electrodes such as transparent conductive electrodes on strands of tubing, using coaxial electrodes, or using other electrode structures. 
     If desired, electroluminescent particles may be incorporated into the fabric. For example, electroluminescent particles may be included in the clear polymer binder in strands of tubing. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a side view of illustrative woven fabric in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a top view of illustrative knit fabric in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of an illustrative fabric-based item in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram of illustrative equipment for forming a fabric-based item in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram of an illustrative fabric with electrophoretic material that is displaying information for a user in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative Janus particle having electrophoretic ink in an encapsulation sphere in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 7  is a diagram of an illustrative strand with electrophoretic ink overlapping conductive strands that are configured to supply control signals to the electrophoretic ink in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative strand of tubing containing Janus particles and other particles such as luminescent particles in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view of illustrative tubing of the type shown in  FIG. 8  in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 10  is a diagram of an illustrative strand of tubing with a center conductor and an outer conductive coating that form control electrodes for electrophoretic ink structures such as Janus particles containing nanoparticles in fluid contained within spherical encapsulation structures in the tubing in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 11  is a side view of illustrative fabric having electrode layers for applying control signals to electrophoretic ink structures contained in strands of tubing in the fabric in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 12  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative strip-shaped strand containing electrophoretic ink structures such as Janus particles in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 13  is a cross-sectional side view of a strand of rectangular tubing having electrodes for controlling electrophoretic ink in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 14  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative strand of tubing with electrophoretic ink and a pair of opposing electrodes that run along the length of the tubing in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 15  is a cross-sectional view of an illustrative strand of tubing with electrophoretic ink and coaxial electrodes in accordance with an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Items may be based on fabric. A cross-sectional side view of illustrative woven fabric  12  is shown in  FIG. 1 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , fabric  12  may include strands  20  such as warp strands  20 A and weft strands  20 B. In the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 1 , fabric  12  has a single layer of woven strands  20 . Multi-layer fabric constructions may be used for fabric  12  if desired. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , fabric  12  may be a knit fabric. In the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 2 , fabric  12  has a single layer of knit strands  20  that form horizontally extending rows of interlocking loops (courses  22 ) and vertically extending wales  24 . Other types of knit fabric may be used in item  10 , if desired. 
     An illustrative fabric-based item is shown in  FIG. 3 . Fabric-based item  10  may be an electronic device or an accessory for an electronic device such as 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 wrist-watch 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, a remote control, 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 may be equipment that implements the functionality of two or more of these devices. If desired, item  10  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, sock, glove, shirt, pants, etc.), or may be any other suitable fabric-based item. 
     Item  10  may include intertwined strands of material that form fabric  12 . Fabric  12  may form all or part of a housing wall or other layer in an electronic device, may form internal structures in an electronic device, or may form other fabric-based structures. Item  10  may be soft (e.g., item  10  may have a fabric surface that yields to a light touch), may have a rigid feel (e.g., the surface of item  10  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. 
     The strands of material in fabric  12  may be single-filament strands (sometimes referred to as fibers or monofilaments), may be yarns or other strands that have been formed by intertwining multiple filaments (multiple monofilaments) of material together, or may be other types of strands (e.g., tubing that carries fluids such as gases or liquids). The strands may include extruded strands such as extruded monofilaments and yarn formed from multiple extruded monofilaments. Monofilaments for fabric  12  may include polymer monofilaments and/or other insulating monofilaments and/or may include bare wires and/or insulated wires. Monofilaments formed from polymer cores with metal coatings and monofilaments formed from three or more layers (cores, intermediate layers, and one or more outer layers each of which may be insulating and/or conductive) may also be used. 
     Yarns in fabric  12  may be formed from polymer, metal, glass, graphite, ceramic, natural materials 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 yarns and monofilaments in fabric  12  may be coated with metal to make them conductive. Reflective coatings such as metal coatings may be applied to make yarns and monofilaments reflective. Yarns may be formed from a bundle of bare metal wires or metal wire intertwined with insulating monofilaments (as examples). 
     Strands of material may be intertwined to form fabric  12  using intertwining equipment such as weaving equipment, knitting equipment, or braiding equipment. Intertwined strands may, for example, form woven fabric, knit fabric, braided fabric, etc. Conductive strands and insulating strands may be woven, knit, braided, or otherwise intertwined to form contact pads that can be electrically coupled to conductive structures in item  10  such as the contact pads of an electrical component. The contacts of an electrical component may also be directly coupled to an exposed metal segment along the length of a conductive yarn or monofilament. 
     Conductive and insulating strands may also be woven, knit, or otherwise intertwined to form conductive paths. The conductive paths may be used in forming signal paths (e.g., signal buses, power lines, etc.), may be used in forming part of a capacitive touch sensor electrode, a resistive touch sensor electrode, or other input-output device, or may be used in forming other patterned conductive structures. Conductive structures in fabric  12  may be used in carrying power signals, digital signals, analog signals, sensor signals, control signals, data, input signals, output signals, or other suitable electrical signals. 
     Item  10  may include additional mechanical structures  14  such as polymer binder to hold strands in fabric  12  together, support structures such as frame members, housing structures (e.g., an electronic device housing), and other mechanical structures. 
     Circuitry  16  may be included in item  10 . Circuitry  16  may include electrical components that are coupled to fabric  12 , electrical components that are housed within an enclosure formed by fabric  12 , electrical components that are attached to fabric  12  using welds, solder joints, adhesive bonds (e.g., conductive adhesive bonds such as anisotropic conductive adhesive bonds or other conductive adhesive bonds), crimped connections, or other electrical and/or mechanical bonds. Circuitry  16  may include metal structures for carrying current, electrical components such as integrated circuits, light-emitting diodes (see, e.g., light-emitting diodes  15 ), battery  17 , and other components  19  (e.g., sensors, controller circuitry for applying currents and/or magnetic fields to materials, and other electrical devices). Control circuitry in circuitry  16  (e.g., control circuitry formed from one or more integrated circuits such as microprocessors, microcontrollers, application-specific integrated circuits, digital signal processors, etc.) may be used to control the operation of item  10  by controlling electrically controllable (electrically adjustable) components in circuitry  16  and may be used to support communications with item  18  and/or other devices. 
     Item  10  may interact with additional items such as electronic equipment  18 . Items such as equipment  18  may be attached to item  10  or item  10  and equipment (item)  18  may be separate items that are configured to operate with each other (e.g., when one item is a case and the other is a device that fits within the case, etc.). Circuitry  16  may include antennas and other structures for supporting wireless communications with item  18 . Item  18  may also interact with item  10  using a wired communications link or other connection that allows information to be exchanged. 
     In some situations, item  18  may be an electronic device such as a cellular telephone, computer, or other portable electronic device and item  10  may form a cover, case, bag, or other structure that receives the electronic device in a pocket, an interior cavity, or other portion of item  10 . In other situations, item  18  may be a wrist-watch device or other electronic device and item  10  may be a strap or other fabric-based item that is attached to item  18  (e.g., item  10  and item  18  may be used together to form a fabric-based item such as a wristwatch with a strap). In still other situations, item  10  may be an electronic device (e.g., a wearable device such as a wrist device, clothing, etc.), fabric  12  may be used in forming the electronic device, and additional items  18  may include accessories or other devices that interact with item  10 . Signal paths formed from conductive yarns and monofilaments (e.g., insulated and bare wires) may be used to route signals in item  10  and/or item(s)  18 . 
     The fabric that makes up item  10  may be formed from strands that are intertwined using any suitable intertwining equipment. With one suitable arrangement, which may sometimes be described herein as an example, fabric  12  may be woven fabric formed using a weaving machine. In this type of illustrative configuration, fabric may have a plain weave, a basket weave, a satin weave, a twill weave, or variations of these weaves, may be a three-dimensional woven fabric, or may be other suitable fabric. With other suitable arrangements, fabric  12  is knit or braided. 
     Fabric-based item  10  may include non-fabric materials (e.g., structures such as structures  14  that are formed from plastic, metal, glass, ceramic, crystalline materials such as sapphire, etc.). These materials may be formed using molding operations, extrusion, machining, laser processing, and other fabrication techniques. In some configurations, some or all of fabric-based item  10  may include one or more layers of material. The layers in item  10  may include layers of polymer, metal, glass, fabric, adhesive, crystalline materials, ceramic, substrates on which components have been mounted, patterned layers of material, layers of material containing patterned metal traces, thin-film devices such as transistors, and/or other layers. 
       FIG. 4  is a diagram of illustrative equipment that may be used in forming fabric-based item  10 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , this equipment may include heating and/or trimming tools such as heating and trimming equipment  32 . Cutting equipment such as a trimming tool in equipment  32  (e.g., a mechanical cutting tool, a laser cutting tool, or other equipment for cutting yarn) may be used in cutting fabric  12 . For example, a trimming tool may be used in cutting away undesired portions of fabric  12  and/or portions of strands in fabric  12 . 
     A heating tool in equipment  32  may be used in applying heat to tubing and other strands of material in fabric  12 . The heating tool may include a laser for supplying heat, a reflow oven, an inductive heating tool for heating solder, a heat gun, a lamp, hot bar equipment, a soldering iron tip, equipment for forming heat by applying current (ohmic heating current) to a conductive strand, or may include other heating equipment. 
     Additional equipment such as equipment  36  may be used to help form fabric  12 , strands of material for fabric  12 , circuitry that is coupled to conductive structures in fabric  12 , electrical components, housing structures, and other structures for forming item  10 . Equipment  36  may, for example, include equipment for cutting fabric, equipment for laminating fabric to layers of plastic, metal, and/or other materials, equipment for coating strands of material and/or for depositing layers of material on fabric  12 , equipment for extruding strands of material, equipment for placing fluid in tubing, equipment for mounting integrated circuits, light-emitting diodes, sensors, buttons, and other electrical circuitry to fabric  12  and/or other portions of item  10 , machining equipment for machining parts of item  10 , robotic assembly equipment, and/or other equipment for forming item  10 . The equipment of  FIG. 4  may be used to form strands  20 , to form fabric  12 , to process fabric  12 , to integrate circuitry  16 , fabric  12 , and/or additional structures  14  into item  10 , and/or to perform other fabrication and processing operations on item  10 . 
     Intertwining equipment such as tool (equipment)  30  may include equipment such as braiding equipment, knitting equipment, and weaving equipment. Tool  30  may be used in forming fabric  12  from strands of material. The strands that are intertwined by tool  30  may include strands of tubing that include electrophoretic ink. Electrophoretic ink contains charged nanoparticles of different colors suspended in a fluid such as oil. Electric fields can be used to control movement of the nanoparticles and therefore the appearance of an article that includes the electrophoretic ink. 
     With one illustrative configuration, electrophoretic ink is contained in encapsulation structures such as encapsulating spheres formed from glass or plastic. The spheres or other encapsulation structures containing the electrophoretic ink may sometimes be referred to as Janus particles. Janus particles may be incorporated into strands of tubing in fabric  12 . If desired, electrophoretic ink that is not encapsulated in encapsulation spheres or other encapsulation structures may be placed directly into strands of tubing or other structures that are incorporated into fabric  12 . 
     The charged nanoparticles in electrophoretic ink may include nanoparticles of a first charge (e.g., positively charged nanoparticles) and may include nanoparticles of a second charge (e.g., negatively charged nanoparticles). The particles with the first charge may have a first color (e.g., white or other color) and the particles with the second charge may have a second color (e.g., black or other color). The opposing charges on nanoparticles of different colors can be exploited to change the appearance of a Janus particle or other electrophoretic ink structure under the control of control circuitry in item  10  such as control circuitry  16 . For example, electrodes may be used to supply an adjustable electric field to strands of tubing, thereby causing the nanoparticles to migrate via electrophoresis in accordance with their charge polarity and change the appearance of the tubing. 
     By controlling which nanoparticles in the tubing face towards a user of fabric-based item  10 , control circuitry  16  can dynamically change the appearance of one or more portions of fabric  12  (e.g., to generate an icon, to adjust the appearance of a portion of fabric used as a status indicator, to create text dynamically, etc.). As shown in  FIG. 5 , for example, adjustments can be made to electrophoretic ink in strands in fabric  12  that cause the strands in portion  12 B of fabric  12  to have a different appearance than the strands in portion  12 A of fabric  12 . 
     As an example, tubing in fabric  12  may have electrophoretic ink with white and black portions. When no control signals are applied, all of fabric  12  may appear black. When control signals are applied to the electrophoretic ink in region  12 B, the nanoparticles in region  12 B may segregate so that the white nanoparticles in the ink become visible in region  12 B. This renders region  12 B white, which contrasts with the black particle portions that are visible in portion  12 A. In this way, control circuitry  16  can create alphanumeric letters and other symbols (sometimes referred to as glyphs), can change the status of a status indicator pattern (e.g., from “ON” to “OFF” or to change the number of bars shown in a bar-type indicator), can display images (e.g., in configurations in which the electrophoretic ink structures in fabric  12  are overlapped by a grid of electrodes that form addressable pixels), and/or to otherwise selectively adjust the appearance of fabric  12  in localized areas. 
     Individually adjustable areas of fabric  12  such as region  12 B may be created using addressable subregions (pixels) and/or dedicated electrodes of predetermined shapes and may have any suitable shapes. These areas may be used as adjustable key labels (e.g., to change glyphs on a keyboard when changing the operating mode of the keyboard between different language modes or other operating modes), may be used to adjust virtual button labels in areas of fabric  12  that contain capacitive touch sensors or other input devices, may be used to adjust alert text such as “voice mail received” or “email message received” that is presented for a user on a device housing formed from fabric  12 , may be used to display a heart rate data or other health data when item  10  is a health monitoring device, may be used to display a watch face or a digital representation of the current time, or may be used to display other text, graphics, and/or images. 
       FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional side view an illustrative encapsulation structure containing electrophoretic ink (sometimes referred to as a Janus particle). In the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 6 , Janus particle  68  includes nanoparticles  60  (e.g., thousands of charged nanoparticles  60 ) in cavity  66  within encapsulation structure  64 . Encapsulation structure  64  may be formed from a hollow sphere of glass, plastic, or other transparent material or other hollow encapsulation structure having an encapsulation structure wall that surrounds cavity  66 . In the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 6 , encapsulation structure  64  is spherical. The diameter of spherical encapsulation structure  64  of  FIG. 6  may be, as an example, 20-100 microns, at least 10 microns, less than 200 microns, or other suitable diameter. The thickness of the wall of encapsulation structure  64  may be 1-30 microns, at least 0.5 microns, at least 5 microns, at least 50 microns, or at least 200 microns, less than 800 microns, less than 100 microns, less than 15 microns, or other suitable wall thickness. 
     Interior cavity  66  of encapsulation structure  64  may be filled with transparent fluid such as oil. Charged nanoparticles  60  may be suspended in this fluid to form electrophoretic ink. There are multiple types of nanoparticles in the ink each with a different associated appearance (e.g., a different color, such as white, black, red, green, blue, etc.) There may be any suitable number of different type of nanoparticles and these nanoparticles may have any suitable colors. In the example of  FIG. 6 , nanoparticles  60  include white nanoparticles  60 P and black nanoparticles  60 N. Nanoparticles  60 P and  60 N may have electric charge of opposite polarity. For example, nanoparticles  60 P may carry positive charge and nanoparticles  60 N may carry negative charge. As a result, when an electric field E is applied across Janus particle  68 , nanoparticles  60 P will move towards surface  62 T of Janus particle  68  and nanoparticles  60 N will move towards surface  62 L of Janus particle  68 . This renders surface  62 T white and renders surface  62 B black. By reversing the polarity of applied electric field E, the particles may be moved in opposite directions, so that surface  62 T becomes black while surface  62 B becomes white. 
     In the example of  FIG. 6 , electrophoretic ink is formed from charged nanoparticles  60 N and  60 P and the fluid of cavity  66 . This electrophoretic ink is contained in spherical encapsulation structure  64 . If desired, nanoparticles  60 N and  60 P and the fluid of cavity  66  may be enclosed in other types of structures (e.g., encapsulation structures other than microspheres such as circular tubing, strip-shaped tubes, gaps between encapsulation layers in a planar encapsulation structure, and/or other structures). 
       FIG. 7  is a top view of illustrative fabric  12  with electrophoretic ink structures. The top view of  FIG. 7  includes a cross-section of strand  20 V and shows how strands  20 H may run orthogonally to strands such as strand  20 V. Strands  20 H may be conductive strands. Strands such as strand  20 V may contain electrophoretic ink (e.g., nanoparticles  60  in fluid in the interior of particles  68 ). In the example of  FIG. 7 , particles  68  include encapsulation structures containing electrophoretic ink (e.g., nanoparticles  60  in fluid). Strand  20 V is formed from tubing extending along longitudinal axis  50 . Tubing wall  72  surrounds a channel that forms an elongated interior region extending along longitudinal axis  50 . Particles  68  are located in this interior portion of strand  20 V between tubing wall  72  and center conductor  70 , so that tubing wall  72  surrounds particles  68  and center conductor  70 . Tubing wall  72  may be formed from a clear conductive material (e.g., indium tin oxide, indium tin oxide on a clear polymer wall, conductive polymer, metal that is sufficiently thin to be transparent, etc.) to help distribute electric fields or may be formed from an insulating material (e.g., clear polymer). 
     Center conductor  70  may be formed from a conductive strand of material such as conductive multifilament yarn, a conductive monofilament such as a metal wire, or other conductive strand and may run along the center axis (longitudinal axis) of strand  20 V (e.g., along dimension  50  in the example of  FIG. 7 ). During operation, center conductor  70  may be held at a fixed potential (e.g., center conductor  70  may be grounded). Particles  68  and center conductor  70  may be supported in binder  74  (e.g., a clear polymer such as a clear insulating polymer) within the channel formed by the hollow interior of tubing  72 . When it is desired to change the appearance of an area of fabric  12  such as region  76  that overlaps the intersection between strand  20 V and one of strands  20 H (e.g., the strand at position  82 ), a voltage (e.g., a non-ground voltage) may be applied to that strand by control circuitry in item  10  (see, e.g., circuitry  16  of  FIG. 3 ). This applies an electric field to the electrophoretic ink in particles  68  in the portion of fabric  12  in overlap region  76 . In response to the applied electric field in region  76 , the appearance of region  76  changes (e.g., from black to white, etc.). 
     Arrangements of this type may be used to form arrays of pixels that are individually adjustable by control circuitry  16  and/or may be used in configurations in which multiple pixels (e.g., multiple areas  76 ) are switched simultaneously (e.g., by routing a common signal to multiple adjacent strands  20 H and/or multiple adjacent strands  20 V). Strands  20 V and  20 H may be warp and weft strands, respectively, may be weft and warp strands, respectively, or may be other suitable strands in fabric  12 . Polymer structures in fabric  12  (e.g., tubing) may be formed from elastomeric materials to facilitate stretching. 
     In the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 8 , strand  20  includes particles  68  supported in binder  74  (e.g., a clear polymer) within the channel formed by the interior of tubing  72 . As shown in  FIG. 8 , strand  20  may include luminescent particles  78  (e.g., ZnS particles or other luminescent particles in binder  74 ). Luminescent particles  78  may exhibit electroluminescence and may emit light when signals are applied to particles  78  (e.g., when an alternating current drive signal is applied). A drive signal may be applied to particles  78  using electrodes. The electrodes may be formed on walls  72 , may be formed from conductive structures in intersecting strands such as conductive structures in strands  20 H of  FIG. 7 , may be formed from overlapping planar electrode structures on fabric  12 , and/or may be formed using other electrode structures.  FIG. 9  is a perspective view of an illustrative strand such as strand  20  of  FIG. 8  having a cylindrical channel into which particles  68  (e.g., spherical particles) have been incorporated. Tubing of other shapes may be used in fabric  12 , if desired. 
       FIG. 10  is a diagram of an illustrative strand with coaxial electrodes and particles  68 . The cross-sectional diagram of strand  20  of  FIG. 10  shows how tubing wall  72  may include an insulating outer portion such as outer portion  721  and a conductive inner portion such as inner portion  72 C. Portion  721  may, for example, form the wall of a clear polymer tube. Portion  72 C may be a transparent conductive coating (e.g., indium tin oxide, metal that is sufficiently thin to be transparent, conductive polymer, etc.) formed on an inner surface of portion  721  or other suitable area of portion  721 . Clear polymer binder  74  may support particles  68  and center conductor in the arrangement of  FIG. 10 . Electroluminescent particles  78  in binder  74  may emit light in response to alternating current signals (e.g., signals at a frequency of 500-1500 Hz, at least 100 Hz, less than 3000 Hz, or other suitable frequency and a voltage of 50-150 V, at least 30 V, less than 300 V, etc.) applied between the outer signal path formed from tubular conductive layer  72 C and the inner signal path formed from central conductor  70 . 
     Particles  68  of strand  20  of  FIG. 10  may be adjusted between different configurations by application of direct-current (DC) control signals between conductive coating  72 C and central conductor  70 . For example, particles  68  may be adjusted between a first arrangement in which white particles W are moved outwardly while black nanoparticles B are moved inwardly as shown in  FIG. 9  and an alternative second arrangement in which the black nanoparticles are moved inwardly and which the white nanoparticles are moved outwardly, thereby dynamically changing the appearance of an area of fabric  12  in which these changes are being made. If desired, dyes and/or other substances that alter the appearance of strands  20  may be included in strands  20 . For example, dye may be incorporated into walls  72 , binder  74 , particles  68 , etc. 
       FIG. 11  is a side view of illustrative fabric  12  having electrodes such as upper electrode layer  90  and lower electrode layer  92  for applying control signals to electrophoretic ink in strands  20  (e.g., electrophoretic ink contained in particles  68  in strands  20  of fabric  12  such as strands  20 A and  20 B). Particles  68  may be contained within the interior of tubing walls  72 . Electrode  90  and/or electrode  92  may be formed from transparent conductive material such as conductive adhesive, indium tin oxide, metal that is sufficiently thin to be transparent, and/or other conductive material and may, if desired, be formed from a conductive layer (e.g., indium tin oxide, conductive polymer, etc.) on an insulating substrate (e.g., a clear insulating polymer). Electrode  90  and/or electrode  92  may be pixelated (e.g., to form an array of individually adjustable pixels in fabric  12  that serve as a display or other visual output device) and/or may be patterned in other shapes. 
       FIG. 12  is a cross-sectional view of an illustrative strip-shaped planar structure with electrophoretic ink. As shown in  FIG. 12 , strip  20 ST may include particles  68  containing electrophoretic ink. Particles  68  may be embedded in binder  74  (e.g., transparent polymer) between upper planar layer  72 PU and lower planar layer  72 PL and may extend along a longitudinal axis that runs into the page in the orientation of  FIG. 12 . An upper electrode for strip  20 ST may be formed from a conductive layer (e.g., an upper conductive layer  72 PC) supported on a substrate (e.g., an upper dielectric substrate layer  72 PI) in layer  72 PU. A lower electrode for strip  20 ST may be formed from a conductive layer (e.g., a lower conductive layer  72 PC) supported on a substrate (e.g., a lower dielectric substrate layer  72 PI) in lower layer  72 PL. Substrates  72 PI may be formed from sheets of transparent polymer or other flexible insulating layers. Conductive layers  72 PC may be formed from transparent conductive materials such as indium tin oxide, conductive polymer, thin layers of metal (e.g., metal that is sufficiently thin to be transparent), or other conductive materials. 
     Strip  20 ST may have a width WD and a thickness T. The value of width WD may be less than the value of thickness T. Width WD and/or thickness T may be, for example, 10-1000 microns, at least 3 microns, at least 30 microns, at least 300 microns, less than 1500 microns, less than 400 microns, less than 300 microns, less than 200 microns, less than 100 microns, less than 50 microns, or other suitable value. If desired, strip  20 ST may be sufficiently long and thin to form a strand (e.g., one of strands  20 ) that is woven, knit, braided, or otherwise intertwined with other strands  20  to form fabric  12  and/or may be incorporated into item  10  using other techniques (e.g., by attaching strip  20 ST to a housing structure, by forming strip  20 ST as a portion of a housing, etc.). 
       FIG. 13  is a cross-sectional view of an illustrative strip-shaped structure (strip  20 ST) such as a strand of tubing. Strip  20 ST may have a clear polymer or other material forming an enclosing wall such as wall  721 . Wall  721  may form an encapsulation structure for electrophoretic ink containing nanoparticles  60 . In this configuration, the tubing of strand  20 ST surrounds and encapsulates nanoparticles  60  directly without any additional particle-sized encapsulation structures such as encapsulation structure  64  of particle  68  in  FIG. 6 . Strand  20 ST of  FIG. 13  has the shape of a rectangular tube (e.g., tubing that has a longitudinal axis that extends into the page in the orientation of  FIG. 13 ). Nanoparticles  60  may be formed within the fluid in interior cavity  80  of tubing wall  721 . In the example of  FIG. 13 , the tubing formed by wall  721  has a rectangular cross-sectional profile (e.g., wall  721  and cavity  80  have rectangular cross-sectional profiles). Tubing with other suitable cross-sectional profiles may be used to form an encapsulation structure for electrophoretic ink, if desired (e.g., oval tubing, circular tubing, tubing with multiple parallel channels, etc.). 
     Strip  20 ST of  FIG. 13  may have transparent conductive coatings that are patterned to form electrodes. In the example of  FIG. 13 , these electrodes include an upper electrode formed from conductive coating layer  72 PC on the upper outer surface of a tubular wall  721  and an opposing lower electrode formed from an opposing conductive coating layer  72 PC on the opposing lower outer surface of tubular wall  721 . Configurations in which conductive electrodes are formed from structures on the inner surfaces of wall  721  may also be used. 
       FIG. 14  is a cross-sectional view of an illustrative strand formed from circular tubing. As shown in  FIG. 14 , tubing wall  721  of strand  20  may be formed from a circular structure (e.g., a hollow polymer tube with a circular cross-sectional profile). Tubing wall  721  may surround electrophoretic ink with nanoparticles  60  without any intervening encapsulation structures (e.g., without encapsulation structure  64  of  FIG. 6 ). Electrodes  72 C may be formed from transparent conductive layers that run along the length of tubing wall  721 . Electrodes  72 C are not shorted to each other, so that electric fields can be generated by applying a voltage across electrodes  72 C. 
     As described in connection with  FIG. 10 , strand  20  may be formed from tubing have a coaxial electrode configuration. This may help provide strands  20  and fabric  12  with a uniform appearance, even if some of strands  20  twist within fabric  12  during use of item  10 . In the example of  FIG. 15 , strand  20  has coaxial electrodes and encapsulates electrophoretic ink without using particles  68 . 
     As shown in the cross-sectional view of the illustrative strand of tubing with coaxial electrodes of  FIG. 15 , strand  20  may have tubing formed from insulating tubing wall  721  (e.g., a clear polymer tube). The inner surface of tubing wall  721  may be formed with transparent conductive material such as coating layer  72 C. Layer  72 C may form an outer electrode. Center electrode  70  may be formed from a wire or other conductive strand and may form an inner electrode for strand  20 . Cavity  80  in the tubing of  FIG. 15  may form an elongated channel that runs along the length of strand  20  (e.g., along the longitudinal axis of strand  20 , which runs into the page in the orientation of  FIG. 15 ). The wire or other conductive strand forming center electrode  70  may be supported along its length by periodic radial support structure (e.g., clear polymer posts that extend radially between electrode  70  and electrode  72 C, clear polymer disks (e.g., solid disks or disks with openings) that extend between electrode  70  and electrode  72 C, etc. The appearance of electrophoretic ink with nanoparticles  60  in cavity  80  may be controlled by applying control signals between the inner and outer electrodes of strand  20 . When control circuitry (see, e.g., circuitry  16 ) in item  10  applies a first voltage, particles  60  of a first charge (e.g., white particles) will be attracted outwardly towards electrode  72 C while particles  60  of a second charge (e.g., black particles) will be attracted inwardly towards electrode  70 . When a second voltage (e.g., a voltage with reversed polarity with respect to the first voltage) is applied between the inner and outer electrodes of strand  20 , the black nanoparticles of the electrophoretic ink in cavity  80  will be forced outwardly and the white particles will be forced inwardly. In this way, fabric  12  can be adjusted between a first appearance (e.g., white) and a second appearance (e.g., black). Other suitable colors can be provided in strands  20  (e.g., by using differently colored materials when forming electrophoretic ink, etc.). 
     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: 20180330
Publication Date: 20211123
Grant Date: 20211123
Priority Date: 20170614
Inventors: KEATING, STEVEN J.
SUNSHINE, Daniel D.
CREWS, KATHRYN P.
PODHAJNY, DANIEL A.
MERZ, NICHOLAS G. L.
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "D04B1/14", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D03D15/37", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D03D15/37", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D10B2401/20", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D10B2401/18", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D10B2401/18", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02F1/1685", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D03D15/54", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D10B2401/20", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D03D1/0088", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02F1/16757", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D04B1/14", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D10B2401/16", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D03D15/54", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D03D1/0088", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02F1/167", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D03D15/60", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02F1/167", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02F1/1685", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02F1/16757", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D10B2401/16", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D10B2401/16", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D03D15/44", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D03D15/60", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D10B2401/18", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02F1/16757", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D03D1/0088", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02F1/167", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02F1/1685", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D03D15/54", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D04B1/14", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "D10B2401/20", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 64657239