A sensor may include a knitted pocket and loose yarn that is inside a cavity of the pocket. In some cases, this loose yarn is neither woven, nor knit, nor otherwise part of a fabric. A resistive pressure sensor may include a knitted pocket and loose conductive yarn that is inside the pocket. Pressure applied to the pocket may compress the loose yarn, which may increase the number of electrical shorts between different parts of the loose yarn, which in turn may decrease the electrical resistance of the loose yarn. A capacitive sensor may include a knitted pocket and insulative loose yarn that is inside the pocket. A strain sensor may include knitted conductive pleats. Electrical shorts may occur in contact areas where neighboring pleats meet. As the strain sensor stretches, these contact areas may become smaller, causing the electrical resistance of the pleats as a group to increase.

A method of forming a three-dimensional conductive patch, the three-dimensional conductive patch forming a base layer coupled to one or more loop sections extending transverse o the base layer is disclosed. The method comprising forming the base fabric surface by interlacing a plurality of fibres including non-conductive fibres; forming a first segment including conductive fibres as a first portion of the three-dimensional conductive patch by interlacing a plurality of the conductive fibres transverse to the base fabric surface, the first portion interlaced with a first base fibre of the base fabric surface at one end and in a direction to an apex distanced from the base surface layer at another end of the first segment; and forming a second segment as a second portion of the three-dimensional conductive patch by interlacing a plurality of fibres including the conductive fibres extending in a direction from the apex to a second base fibre of the base surface layer; wherein the second portion is positioned relative to the first portion via the first base fibre and the second base fibre such that the first and second portions form a loop extending from the base fabric surface, the loop having the apex spaced apart from the base fabric surface, the first portion, the second portion and the base fabric surface integral with each other.

Conductive yarns in a knitted fabric may include insulating cores covered with metal layers that form signal paths. Open circuits may be formed in the yarns by removing metal from the insulating cores at selected locations within the yarns. The fabric may be formed from rows of interlocked loops of the yarn. The open circuits may be located on the loops so that each loop with an open circuit has a first segment of the metal layer that is separated from a second segment of the layer by a portion of the loop from which the metal layer has been removed. Each electrical component may have terminals that span a respective one of the open circuits and that are shorted respectively to the metal of the first and second segments.

One variation of a method for producing a smart yarn includes: aligning a set of sensing elements offset along a lateral axis in a magazine, wherein each sensing element in the set of sensing elements includes a sensor, a first conductive lead extending from a first side of the sensor along a longitudinal axis perpendicular to the lateral axis, and a second conductive lead extending from a second side of the sensor opposite the first side and along the longitudinal axis; wrapping a set of fibers into a yarn within a wrapping field; feeding a leading end of a first sensing element, in the set of sensing elements, from the magazine into the wrapping field; releasing the first sensing element from the magazine into the wrapping field; encasing the first sensing element between the set of fibers within the yarn; and repeating this process for the set of sensing elements.

A shaped knitted fabric (1a-1f) is provided comprising at least one first layer (10), into which a plurality of linear or flat, for example, strip-shaped, electroconductive structures (10a, 10b, 10c, 11a, 11b, 11c) made of an electroconductive yarn and linear or flat, for example strip-shaped, non-electroconductive structures (12) made of a non-electroconductive yarn are knitted such that the electroconductive structures (10a, 10b, 10c, 11a, 11b, 11c) are electrically insulated from one another, wherein each of the electroconductive structures (10a, 10b, 10c, 11a, 11b, 11c) can individually be electrically contacted and connected to an evaluation circuit (50).

A knitted or woven garment configured for sensing movement of an adjacent underlying body portion of a wearer of the garment via one or more sensors, the garment including a garment body including a plurality of fibres knitted together to form a layer of the garment, the garment layer for positioning adjacent to the underlying body portion when worn by the wearer; one or more electrical connectors attached to the garment body, the one or more electrical connectors for facilitating receipt and transmission of electrical signals between a controller and the one or more sensors when the controller is connected to the one or more electrical connectors; a conductive pathway consisting of one or more conductive fibres incorporated in the garment layer by knitting as part of the plurality of fibres, the conductive pathway electrically connected to the one or more electrical connectors and to the one or more sensors; each of the one or more sensors incorporated in the garment layer by knitting as part of the plurality of fibres, each of the one or more sensors knitted using a plurality of conductive fibres electrically connected to the one or more conductive fibres of the conductive pathway; wherein the controller is configured to measure changes in at least one of resistance or capacitance of the one or more sensors as representative of the movement of the underlying body portion when positioned adjacent to the one or more sensors.

Disclosed and described herein are systems and methods energy generation from fabric electrochemistry. An electrical cell is created when electrodes (cathodes and anodes) are printed on or otherwise embedded into fabrics to generate DC power when moistened by a conductive bodily liquid such as sweat, wound, fluid, etc. The latter acts, in turn, as the cell's electrolyte. A singular piece of fabric can be configured into multiple cells by dividing regions of the fabric with hydrophobic barriers and having at least one anode-cathode set in each region. Flexible inter-connections between the cells can be used to scale the generated power, per the application requirements.

A method for inserting a wire into a longitudinal groove of a semiconductor chip for the assembly thereof, the groove containing a pad made of a bonding material having a set melting point, the method comprises: in a positioning step, placing a longitudinal section of the wire along the groove, in forced abutment against the pad; and, in an insertion step, exposing a zone containing at least one portion of the pad to a processing temperature higher than the melting point of the bonding material and for a sufficient time to make the pad at least partially melt, and causing the wire to be inserted into the groove. The present disclosure also relates to a piece of equipment allowing the insertion method to be implemented.

A textile device for measuring the electrophysiological activity of a subject including at least one element for measuring the electrophysiological activity of the subject and a textile structure made by knitting including at least two conducting rows separated by a plurality of insulating rows; in which the at least one element for measuring of the electrophysiological activity the subject is connected to the surface of the textile structure intended to be in contact with the skin of the subject.

A system with binary coding in a textile structure can include a textile sensor that senses a property and that has a yarn pattern. A binary code can be associated with the yarn pattern. When the textile sensor senses the property, the property alters relative positions of yarns in the yarn pattern, causing the associated binary code to change. A particular change in the binary code represents a defined value of the property. As a result, a second textile sensor having a second yarn pattern can be designed based on the unique binary codes of the first textile sensor measurements, such that the second textile sensor provides predictable responses to different property values.