PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-10303210-B2
Application Number: US-201615237497-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Electronic devices with wrist straps

Abstract:
A portable electronic device may have an electronic device strap. The strap may include inner and outer fabric layers and optional intermediate fabric layers. The inner fabric layer may have strands of material that are characterized by a larger denier per filament value than the outer fabric layer to help draw moisture away from the body of a user. The fabric layers may have stretchable warp fibers that allow the strap to be stretched. Weft fibers at the bottom of grooves that span the width of the strap may be provided with different colors than other weft strands. When the strap is stretched, the visibility of the weft fibers at the bottoms of the grooves may increase. A hook-and-loop fastener may be used to close the strap. Loops for the fastener may be formed from warp strands and may have multiple sizes.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing; 
 electrical components in the housing; and 
 a strap coupled to the housing, wherein the strap contains at least first and second fabric layers, wherein the first fabric layer has warp strands with a first denier per filament value, wherein the second fabric layer has warp strands with a second denier per filament value that is less than the first denier per filament value, wherein the first and second fabric layers have grooves that span the strap, wherein the first and second layers of the strap contain weft strands, and wherein a first set of the weft strands that is in the grooves has a different color than a second set of the weft strands that is not in the grooves. 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the strap is configured to wrap around a body part of a user so that the first fabric layer faces the body part and so that the second fabric layer faces away from the body part. 
     
     
       3. The electronic device defined in  claim 2  further comprising a hook-and-loop fastener formed from hooks at an end of the strap that are configured to engage loops at another end of the strap. 
     
     
       4. The electronic device defined in  claim 3  wherein a portion of the warp strands in the second fabric layer forms the loops. 
     
     
       5. The electronic device defined in  claim 4  wherein the portion of the warp strands that forms the loops includes a first set of warp strands that form loops of a first size and a second set of warp strands that forms loops of a second size that is different than the first size. 
     
     
       6. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein at least some of the warp strands are stretchable and wherein the first set of weft strands in the grooves is configured to become increasingly visible as the stretchable warp strands are stretched. 
     
     
       7. The electronic device defined in  claim 6  wherein the housing comprises a watch housing and wherein the electrical components include a display mounted in the watch housing. 
     
     
       8. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the strap comprises third and fourth fabric layers between the first and second fabric layers. 
     
     
       9. The electronic device defined in  claim 8  wherein the third fabric layer is interposed between the first and fourth fabric layers, wherein the third and fourth fabric layers have warp strands, and wherein the warp strands of the third fabric layer have a smaller denier per filament value than the first denier per filament value. 
     
     
       10. The electronic device defined in  claim 9 , wherein the warp strands of the fourth fabric layer have a smaller denier per filament value than the warp strands of the third fabric layer. 
     
     
       11. The electronic device defined in  claim 10  wherein the warp strands of the fourth fabric layer have a larger denier per filament value than the second denier per filament value. 
     
     
       12. An electronic device strap, comprising:
 an inner fabric layer having warp strands with a first denier per filament value; 
 an outer fabric layer having warp strands with a second denier per filament value that is less than the first denier per filament value; and 
 a hook-and-loop fastener formed from hooks coupled to the inner fabric layer and loops formed from portions of the warp strands in the outer fabric layer wherein the loops include loops of a first size formed from a first set of warp strands in the outer fabric layer and include loops of a second size formed from a second set of warp strands in the outer fabric layer and wherein the first and second sizes are different. 
 
     
     
       13. The electronic device strap defined in  claim 12  further comprising third and fourth fabric layers interposed between the inner and outer fabric layers. 
     
     
       14. The electronic device strap defined in  claim 12  wherein at least some of the warp strands are formed from stretchable polymer. 
     
     
       15. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing; 
 a display mounted in the housing; and 
 a strap having portions coupled to opposing sides of the housing, wherein the strap includes a hook-and-loop fastener having hooks on an inner fabric layer of the strap and having loops formed from strands of material in an outer fabric layer of the strap, wherein the inner and outer fabric layers have warp strands, weft strands, and grooves, wherein a first set of the weft strands is in the grooves and a second set of the weft strands is not in the grooves, wherein at least some of the warp strands are stretchable, and wherein the first set of the weft strands in the grooves become increasingly visible as the stretchable warp strands are stretched. 
 
     
     
       16. The electronic device defined in  claim 15  wherein the outer fabric layer comprises:
 a first set of warp strands that form loops of a first size; and 
 a second set of warp strands that form loops of a second size that is different than the first size, wherein the inner fabric layer has warp strands with a first denier per filament value and wherein the outer fabric layer has warp strands with a second denier per filament value, and wherein a ratio of more than two is formed by dividing the first denier per filament value by the second denier per filament value. 
 
     
     
       17. The electronic device defined in  claim 15  wherein the first set of the weft strands that is in the grooves has a different color than the second set of the weft strands that is not in the grooves.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     This relates generally to electronic devices and, more particularly, to electronic devices with wrist straps. 
     Portable electronic devices such as wristwatches have wrist straps. Straps may be formed from materials such as metal, plastic, and fabric. When a user is involved in athletic activities, the user may perspire. Moist fabric may not feel comfortable next to a user&#39;s skin. There is therefore a risk that a fabric strap may become uncomfortable as perspiration from a user&#39;s wrist soaks into the strap. 
     SUMMARY 
     An electronic device may have a strap. The strap may be formed from multiple layers of fabric. The strap may include an inner fabric layer that rests on a body part of a user and an outer fabric layer that faces away from the body part of the user. The outer fabric layer may have strands of material that are characterized by a smaller denier per filament value than the inner fabric layer to help draw moisture away from the body part of the user due to capillary action. 
     The fabric layers may have stretchable warp fibers that allow the strap to be stretched. Weft fibers at the bottom of grooves that span the width of the strap may be provided with different colors than other weft strands. When the strap is stretched, the visibility of the weft fibers at the bottoms of the grooves may increase. 
     A hook-and-loop fastener may be used to close the strap. Hooks for the hook-and-loop fastener may be coupled to the inner fabric layer. Loops for the fastener may be formed from warp strands in the outer fabric layer. The warp strands may have portions that form loops of different sizes to enhance engagement with the hooks. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a top view of an illustrative electronic device with a fabric strap in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronic device with a wrist strap in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional side view of the illustrative electronic device of  FIG. 3  in a configuration in which the wrist strap has been wrapped around a user&#39;s wrist in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 5A  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative fabric layer in a strap in an unstretched configuration in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 5B  is a cross-sectional side view of the fabric layer of  FIG. 5A  in a stretched configuration in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 6A  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative fabric strap in an unstretched configuration in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 6B  is a cross-sectional side view of the fabric strap of  FIG. 6A  in a stretched configuration in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional side view of illustrative strap fabric with layers characterized by strands with different deniers per filament in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIGS. 8, 9, and 10  are cross-sectional side views of portions of a fabric strap in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 11  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative fabric strap formed from the fabric structures of  FIGS. 8, 9, and 10  in accordance with an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Electronic devices may be provided with straps. The straps may be formed from fabric. The fabric may be woven fabric or knit fabric or may be formed by intertwining strands of material using braiding techniques or other intertwining techniques. The electronic devices may be wristwatches, fitness bands, or other electronic devices. Illustrative configurations in which portable electronic devices such as wristwatch devices or other wrist-mounted portable electronic devices are provided with woven fabric straps may sometimes be described herein as an example. In general, any suitable portable electronic device may be provided with a strap and the strap may be formed from any suitable fabric material. The straps or other fabric structures may be used to attach the portable electronic device to an arm, leg, head, torso, wrist, or other portion of a user&#39;s body. 
     An illustrative electronic device is shown in  FIG. 1 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , device  10  may have a display such as display  14  and other electrical components mounted in a housing such as housing  12 . Device  10  may be a portable electronic device such as a device that is mounted on a user&#39;s wrist, arm, leg, head, torso, or other body part. Device  10  may, for example, be a wrist-mounted device such as a wristwatch, a health monitoring device, a media player, a wireless key, or other electronic device and/or equipment that includes the functions of two or more of these devices or other suitable devices. Housing  12  (e.g., a watch housing in scenarios in which device  10  is a wristwatch) may be formed from metal, ceramic, plastic, glass, sapphire or other crystalline materials, and/or other suitable materials. Housing  12  may have a rectangular outline, may have an oval or circular shape, or may have other suitable shapes. Display  14  may be a liquid crystal display, an organic light-emitting diode display, or other suitable display. 
     Strap  16  may have portions attached to opposing sides of housing  12 . Strap  16  may be coupled to pins or other structures that are attached to the exterior of housing  12  (as an example). A clasp formed from hook-and-loop fasteners or other suitable clasp may be used to secure strap  16  about the wrist or other body part of a user. 
     Strap  16  may include strands of material that are woven together. The strands of material that are woven to form strap  16  may be monofilaments and/or multifilament yarns. Strap  16  may contain insulating strands of material and/or conductive strands of material. Insulating strands may be formed from dielectric materials such as polymers. Conductive strands may be formed from metal wires or may be formed from one more conductive layers of material such as metal layers on polymer cores or other polymer layers. Conductive strands may also be formed by mixing conductive filaments with insulating filaments. Conductive strands may have insulating coatings. 
     If desired, strap  16  may contain electrical components such as components  20 . Components  20  may include sensors, buttons, light-emitting diodes, batteries, antennas, integrated circuits, vibrators and other actuators, and/or other input-output devices. Conductive strands of material such as strands  18  may be used in routing power and data signals between components  20  within strap  16  and between components such as component  20  in strap  16  and circuitry in housing  12 . 
     A schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device such as device  10  of  FIG. 1  is shown in  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , device  10  may include control circuitry  22 . Control circuitry  22  may include processing circuitry such as microprocessors, digital signal processors, microcontrollers, baseband processors, image processors, application-specific integrated circuits with processing circuitry, and/or other processing circuitry and may include random-access memory, read-only memory, flash storage, hard disk storage, and/or other storage (e.g., a non-transitory storage media for storing computer instructions for software that runs on control circuitry  22 ). 
     Device  10  may include electrical components in housing  12  and/or in strap  16  that form input-output circuitry such as input-output devices  24 . Input-output devices  24  may be used to allow data to be supplied to device  10  from external devices and from a user and to allow data to be provided from device  10  to external devices and the user. Input-output devices  24  may include buttons, joysticks, scrolling wheels, touch pads, key pads, keyboards, microphones, speakers, tone generators, vibrators, haptic devices, cameras, light-emitting diodes and other status indicators, displays such as display  14 , data ports, etc. Sensors  26  of input-output devices  24  may include touch sensors, force sensors, accelerometers, compasses, magnetic sensors, gas sensors, pressure sensors, temperature sensors, capacitive proximity sensors, light-based proximity sensors, digital image sensors, ambient light sensors, heart rate sensors and blood oxygen sensors (e.g., sensors having a light emitter that emits light into a user&#39;s skin and the detects and processes reflected light), and other sensing circuits. 
     Device  10  may include wireless circuitry (e.g., wireless transceivers, antennas, etc.) for supporting wireless local area network communications, cellular telephone communications, near field communications, wireless power transmission and reception operations, and other wireless communications and power transfer operations. 
     A cross-sectional side view of an illustrative device such as device  10  of  FIG. 1  is shown in  FIG. 3 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , strap  16  may have an outer surface (front side) such as outer surface  28  and may have an opposing inner surface (rear side) such as inner surface  30 . A clasp for strap  16  may be formed using magnets, interlocking prongs and holes, snaps, or other clasp mechanisms. With one illustrative configuration, which is shown in  FIG. 3 , strap  16  has a clasp formed from mating hook-and-loop fasteners. Portion  30 H of inner surface  30  of strap  16  may have hooks  32  and at least portion  28 L on the outer surface of strap  16  may have mating loops. If desired, most or all of outer surface  28  of strap  16  may have loops (e.g., so that outer surface  28  has a uniform appearance). 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , when strap  16  is wrapped around a user&#39;s wrist or other body part such as wrist  34 , hooks  32  engage the loops of portion  28 L and thereby close the hook-and-loop fastener formed from hooks  32  and the loops of portion  28 L. When it is desired to open the clasp formed from the hook-and-loop fastener of strap  16 , a user may pull outwardly on the end of strap  16  that is adjacent to hooks  32 , thereby pulling hooks  32  away from the mating loops on portion  28 L of strap  16 . 
     The loops that are formed in region  28 L of surface  28  may, if desired, be formed from portions of the strands of material that are woven to form strap  16  (i.e., the strands of material that are used in forming strap  16  may have portions that extend outwardly from the rest of the fabric forming strap  16  so that these loop portions may be engaged by hooks  32 ). Hooks  32  may be individually incorporated into strand  16  or may be mounted on a fabric strip or other support layer that is attached to strap  16  with adhesive, by sewing, by welding (e.g., laser welding), by intertwining the strands of material that form strap  16  with hooks  32 , by crimping hooks  32  to strap  16 , by molding hooks  32  to strap  16 , or by using other suitable attachment mechanisms. Hooks  32  may be formed from metal, from plastic, from portions of the strands of material in fabric  16 , or from other suitable materials. 
     The fabric that forms strap  16  may have one or more stretchable layers. Consider, as an example, the illustrative fabric of  FIG. 5A . Fabric  36  has weft strands  38  and warp strands  40 . Warp strands  40  (and, if desired, some or all of weft strands  38 ) may be formed from stretchable material such as stretchable polyurethane. Due to the presence of stretchable warp strands  40 , fabric  36  may stretch when pulled in directions  42 , as illustrated in  FIG. 5B . Stretchable strands such as warp strands  40  may be oriented to run around the user&#39;s wrist (i.e., the warp strands in straps  16  may be oriented so that they extend along the elongated longitudinal dimension of strap  16 ). This allows a user to stretch strap  16  tightly around wrist  34  or other body part (e.g., to ensure that a satisfactory heart rate monitor signal is picked up by a heart rate monitor in device  10 , etc.). If desired, the fabric forming strap  16  may contain non-stretchable strands of material (e.g., polyester, etc.). Non-stretchable strands of material may, for example, be used to provide strap  16  with strength and/or moisture management capabilities. 
       FIG. 6A  is a cross-sectional side view of strap  16  showing how strap  16  may have grooves  44  (sometimes referred to as valleys) that extend across the width of strap  16  (i.e., into the page in the orientation of  FIG. 6A ) at periodic locations along the length of strap  16 . Strap  16  may be formed from strands of different colors. For example, strands of material at the bottom of each groove  44  such as strands  16 C (e.g., weft strands) may have a different color than strands  16 N at other portions of strap  16 . When strap  16  is not stretched, strands  16 C are fully or partly obscured by the narrow shape of grooves  44 . When strap  16  is stretched in directions  42  as shown in  FIG. 6B , grooves  44  widen so that the visibility of colored strands  16 C increases. As a result, a user such as user  46  who is viewing strap  16  in direction  48  can readily see colored strands  16 C and can thereby be informed that strap  16  is in its stretched configuration. The use of visual feedback of this type may help a user adjust strap  16  to a desired tightness level to support accurate heart rate monitoring or other sensor functions performed by the electrical components of device  10 . 
     To enhance comfort, it may be desirable to incorporate moisture management structures within strap  16 . For example, it may be desirable to incorporate fabric layers into strap  16  that promote the wicking of moisture away from the user&#39;s wrist.  FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of strap  16  in an illustrative configuration in which strap  16  contains fabric  36  having portions such as inner portion  36 - 1  (i.e., a layer facing wrist  34 ) and outer portion  36 - 2  (i.e., a layer facing the air above strap  16 ). Inner portion  36 - 1  may have strands of material with a larger linear density per filament (e.g., a larger denier per filament value) than outer portion  36 - 2 . The smaller denier per filament value of layer  36 - 2  ensures that layer  36 - 2  has more surface area than layer  36 - 1  and therefore helps layer  36 - 2  create a strong capillary action that draws moisture outwardly through fabric  36  in direction  50 . The smaller denier per filament value of layer  36 - 2  also promotes evaporation of moisture into the surrounding environment. The larger denier per filament of layer  36 - 1  allows rapid moisture movement from wrist  34  through fabric  36  in direction  50  and helps reduce moisture retention in fabric  36  near wrist  34  to enhance comfort. Portions of fabric  36  that contact wrist  34  may be modified to enhance comfort (e.g., strands of material in fabric layer  36 - 1  or other portions of fabric  36  in contact with wrist  34  may be bulked, air twisted, or brushed to enhance comfort). 
     Any suitable materials may be used in forming the strands of fabric  36 . For example, the strands of material in fabric  36  may be formed from materials such as polyester, nylon (e.g., polyamide, nylon 6, nylon 6,6, etc.), or polypropylene. These materials may exhibit low moisture regain (low moisture absorbed into the bulk material of the strand), thereby preventing strap  16  from becoming saturated with moisture when a user&#39;s wrist becomes moist and helping to ensure that moisture is free to move through open pores in fabric  36  by capillary action. 
     Fabric  36  may include stands with any suitable filament count ranging from single filament strands (monofilaments) to strands with 50 or more filaments. The strands (yarns) may have any suitable denier per strand value and any suitable denier per filament value. 
     For example, weft strands for fabric  36  may be formed from 50 denier blended yarn having two intertwined strands each of which contains 53 filaments. If desired, the weft strands may have denier values of more than 25 denier per strand, more than 50 denier per strand, less than 100 denier per strand, less than 75 denier per strand, or other suitable values. Weft strands may have more than 20 filaments per strand, more than 40 filaments per strand, more than 100 filaments per strand, fewer than 150 filaments per strand, fewer than 120 filaments per strand, fewer than 70 filaments per strand, etc. 
     Fabric  36  for strap  16  may have warp strands with that each have a denier value of 50-150 denier, more than 40 denier, or less than 200 denier. The warp strands for moisture management layers such as layers  36 - 1  and  36 - 2  of  FIG. 7  may each have 10-36 filaments, 2-150 filaments, more than 10 filaments, more than 20 filaments, more than 30 filaments, 10-13 filaments, 10-36 filaments, fewer than 36 filaments, 106 filaments, 30-120 filaments, fewer than 130 filaments, or other suitable number of filaments. 
     Loops in region  28 L may be formed from warp strands having a denier of 150-250 and having 10-36 filaments, strands having a denier per filament of 10-20, 15, more than 10, or less than 20. If desired, these warp strands may have a denier of less than 300 or more than 100, or other suitable denier value and may have more than five filaments, fewer than 40 filaments, or other suitable number of filaments per strand. 
     Layer  36 - 1  may have a denier per filament of 3 and layer  36 - 2  may have a denier per filament of 1 (i.e., the ratio of the denier per filament values of layer  36 - 1  to  36 - 2  may be 3:1) or these layers may have other denier per filament values. For example, the denier per filament of layer  36 - 2  may be 1-6, may be more than 1, more than 2, more than 3, more than 5 less than 10, etc. The denier per filament of layer  36 - 2  may be 0.5-4, may be more than 0.5, more than 1, more than 2, more than 3, more than 5 less than 6, etc. The ratio of the denier per filament value of layer  36 - 1  to that of layer  36 - 2  may be 3, 2-4, more than 1.2, more than 1.5, more than 2, more than 3, more than 4, more than 8, less than 10, less than 5, or other suitable value. 
       FIGS. 8, 9, and 10  are cross-sectional side views of illustrative portions  36 A,  36 B, and  36 C respectively of illustrative fabric layer  36  of  FIG. 11 . Fabric  36  of  FIG. 11  may be a two-layer fabric, a four-layer woven fabric layer, a fabric formed from more than two layers, more than three layers, two to four layers, fewer than five layers, or other suitable number of layers. Fabric  36  of  FIG. 11  may include warp strands  60  and weft strands  62 . 
     Fabric  36  of  FIG. 11  includes uppermost fabric layer  36 T and lowermost fabric layer  36 B. In this type of configuration, layer  36 T (e.g., warp strands in layer  36 T) may have a smaller denier per filament than layer  36 B (e.g., warp strands in layer  36 B) to promote moisture flow in direction  50 . 
     If desired, two optional intermediate moisture management layers such as fabric layers  36 - 1  and  36 - 2  of  FIG. 7  may be interposed between layers  36 T and  36 B. In this type of arrangement, fabric  36  may have four layers:  36 B,  36 - 1 ,  36 - 2 , and  36 T. To promote moisture flow in direction  50 , layer  36 T (e.g., the warp strands in layer  36 T) may have a denier per filament value that is less than (or is equal to) that of layer  36 - 2 . Layer  36 - 2  (e.g., the warp strands in layer  36 - 2 ) may have a denier per filament value that is less than (or is equal to) that of layer  36 - 1 . Layer  36 - 1  may have a denier per filament value that is less than (or is equal to) that of layer  36 -B. 
     Fabric portion  36 B of  FIG. 9  may have upper layer  36 B-T and lower layer  36 B-B. To enhance moisture flow in direction  50 , layer  36 B-T may have a lower denier per filament value than layer  36 B-B. In a two-layer fabric construction for fabric  36 , layers  36 B-T and  36 B-B may have the properties of layers  36 - 2  and  36 - 1  of  FIG. 7 , respectively. In a four layer construction in which layers  36 - 2  and  36 - 1  are sandwiched between layers  36 B-T and  36 B-B, all four layers may have different denier per filament values to promote moisture flow. 
     As shown in  FIG. 8 , portion  36 A of fabric  36  may have loop portions  60 L in warp strands  60  that are characterized by loop size (height) H 1 . As shown in  FIG. 10 , portion  36 C of fabric  36  may have loop portions  60 L′ in warp strands  60  that are characterized by larger loop size (height) H 2 . When portions  36 A and  36 C are woven together with portion  36 B (and optionally with additional intermediate moisture management layers) to form fabric  36  of  FIG. 11 , the presence of multiple loop sizes such as loop sizes H 1  and H 2  on upper surface  28  of fabric  36  helps form effective fabric loops for loop portion  28 L of strap  16  of  FIG. 3 . This ensures that hooks  32  will satisfactorily engage with the loops in portion  28 L when strap  16  is placed in its closed (clasped) position. 
     If desired, loops and grooves may be formed on both outwardly facing and inwardly facing surfaces of strap  16  to provide strap  16  with a uniform appearance. 
     Stretchable warp strands may be interwoven with weft fibers  62  as described in connection with stretchable warp strands  40  of  FIGS. 5A and 5B . Weft strands in grooves  44  such as weft strands  62 C 2  of  FIG. 11  may have a different visual appearance (e.g., a different color) than weft strands that are not in grooves  44  such as weft strands  62 C 1 ), thereby allowing strands  62 C 2  to become increasingly visible to a user as strap  16  is stretched. 
     Although sometimes described in the context of straps and electronic devices with straps such as wristwatches, fitness bands, or other electronic devices, the features of strap  16  may be used in other contexts. For example, the fabric and other structures of strap  16  such as the strand loops and other structures used to form hook-and-loop fasteners, the strands of different denier per filament values that promote moisture wicking, the strands of stretchable material that allow the fabric to stretch, the grooves with differently colored strands that can be observed when the stretchable strands are stretched, and other features may, if desired be incorporated into other suitable fabric-based items, clothing items, enclosures (e.g., bags, backpacks, etc.). As examples, the features of strap  16  may be incorporated into clothing, straps for backpacks and other bags, belts, suspenders, straps for clothing, shirts, pants, coats, sweatshirts, sweaters, socks, hats, sidewalls and other structures in enclosures such as handbags, satchels, purses, etc., straps and other portions of purses, wallets, covers for electronic devices (e.g., sleeves for tablet computers, cellular telephones, laptop computers, etc.), or any other suitable items having intertwined strands of material. 
     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: 20160815
Publication Date: 20190528
Grant Date: 20190528
Priority Date: 20160815
Inventors: MAYER, KIRK M.
HAMADA, YOJI
WANG, LIMING
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "A45F5/00", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G04G17/00", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A45F2005/008", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A45F2200/0558", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A61B5/681", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A45F2200/0508", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/163", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A45F5/1558", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A45F5/1525", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A45F5/1516", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A45F5/1508", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A45F5/1516", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A45F5/1525", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A45F5/1508", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A45F5/00", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A61B5/0205", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G04G17/00", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/163", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A61B5/0205", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A61B5/681", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A45F2005/008", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A61B5/681", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A45F5/00", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "A45F2005/008", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 61160540