Surface functional electro-textile with functionality modulation capability, methods for making the same, and applications incorporating the same

Abstract

A surface functional electro-textile fabric incorporates energy-active, electrically conductive or optically conductive fibers and nonconductive fibers in a woven or knitted textile fabric. The weave or knit pattern is selected so as to form floats of the electrically conductive fibers on at least one surface of the electro-textile fabric. The electro-textile fabric can be incorporated into an antenna structure that interacts with high frequency electromagnetic radiation, particularly in the frequency range of DC to 100 GHz.

1 . An electro-textile fabric, comprising: 
 non-conductive textile filaments; and    energy-active functional filaments woven or knitted with the non-conductive textile filaments so as to form the electro-textile fabric,    wherein said energy-active functional filaments are integrated within the electro-textile fabric such that floats of energy-active functional filaments are formed on at least a first surface of the electro-textile fabric.    
   
   
       2 . The electro-textile fabric of  claim 1 , wherein the functional filaments are in the form of at least one of fibers, yarns, slit strips and ribbons.  
   
   
       3 . The electro-textile fabric of  claim 2 , wherein the energy-active functional filaments have at least one functionality or exhibit at least one property upon interaction with a form of energy.  
   
   
       4 . The electro-textile fabric of  claim 3 , wherein the form of energy is at least one of electrical, optical, magnetic, mechanical, chemical or thermal.  
   
   
       5 . The electro-textile fabric of  claim 1 , wherein the floats of the energy-active functional filaments are distributed in parallel and oriented in horizontal directions.  
   
   
       6 . The electro-textile fabric of  claim 1 , wherein the floats of the energy-active functional filaments are distributed in parallel and oriented in vertical directions.  
   
   
       7 . The electro-textile fabric of  claim 1 , wherein the floats of the energy-active functional filaments are distributed at angles with respect to one another.  
   
   
       8 . The electro-textile fabric of  claim 1 , wherein both the energy-active functional filaments and the non-conductive textile filaments are inelastic.  
   
   
       9 . The electro-textile fabric of  claim 1 , wherein the energy-active functional filaments are elastic and the non-conductive textile filaments are inelastic.  
   
   
       10 . The electro-textile fabric of  claim 1 , wherein the energy-active functional filaments are inelastic and the non-conductive textile filaments are elastic.  
   
   
       11 . The electro-textile fabric of  claim 1 , wherein both the energy-active functional filaments and the non-conductive textile filaments are elastic.  
   
   
       12 . The electro-textile fabric of  claim 1 , wherein the first surface of the electro-textile fabric contains floats of the energy-active functional filaments while an opposite surface of the electro-textile fabric contains floats of the non-conductive textile filaments.  
   
   
       13 . The electro-textile fabric of  claim 12 , wherein the first surface of the electro-textile fabric further contains floats of non-energy-active functional filaments.  
   
   
       14 . The electro-textile fabric of  claim 1  wherein both the first surface and an opposite surface of the electro-textile fabric contain floats of the energy-active functional filaments.  
   
   
       15 . The electro-textile fabric of  claim 14  further comprising floats of the non-conductive textile filaments.  
   
   
       16 . The electro-textile fabric of  claim 15 , wherein there is an asymmetric number of energy-active functional filament floats and non-conductive textile filament floats on the surfaces, and the number of energy-active functional filament floats is higher than the number of non-conductive textile filament floats in both surfaces.  
   
   
       17 . The electro-textile fabric of  claim 1 , wherein the electro-textile fabric shields electromagnetic radiation in a range from DC to 100 GHz.  
   
   
       18 . The electro-textile fabric of  claim 1 , wherein the electro-textile fabric exhibits a high surface functionality on only one surface of the fabric.  
   
   
       19 . The electro-textile fabric of  claim 1 , wherein the electro-textile fabric exhibits a high surface functionality on at least a first surface of the fabric.  
   
   
       20 . The electro-textile fabric of  Claim 1 , wherein at least one of the non-conducting filaments and energy-active functional filaments form isolated electrical pathways in the electro-textile.  
   
   
       21 . A capacitive switch incorporating the electro-textile fabric of  claim 1 .  
   
   
       22 . A textile electrode incorporating the electro-textile fabric of  claim 1 .  
   
   
       23 . A fiber optic structure incorporating the electro-textile fabric of  claim 1 .  
   
   
       24 . An electromechanical actuator incorporating the electro-textile fabric of  claim 1 .  
   
   
       25 . A transducer incorporating the electro-textile fabric of  claim 1 .  
   
   
       26 . A resistive heating element incorporating the electro-textile fabric of  claim 1 .  
   
   
       27 . A functional molecule delivery unit incorporating the electro-textile fabric of  claim 1 .  
   
   
       28 . A textile antenna incorporating the electro-textile fabric of  claim 1 , wherein said antenna operates in a frequency range from DC to 100 GHz.  
   
   
       29 . A method for forming an electro-textile fabric, comprising: 
 providing non-conductive textile filaments in a warp direction of a textile weaving apparatus;    providing energy active functional textile filaments in a weft direction of a textile weaving apparatus; and    weaving the filaments with a weave pattern that has at least 1/1 interlacing to form the electro-textile fabric, wherein floats of energy-active functional filaments are formed on at least a first surface of the electro-textile fabric.    
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the weave pattern is selected from the group consisting of: satin, twill, rib, basket weave, double face construction, and any derivative based on these, and plain weaves.  
   
   
       31 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein floats are formed and electrical pathways are isolated by selectively removing at least one of the energy-active functional filaments or the non-conductive filaments.  
   
   
       32 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the energy-active functional filaments and non-conductive filaments are in at least one of the warp direction and weft directions.  
   
   
       33 . A method of modulating functionality of an electro-textile fabric, comprising: 
 incorporating elastic non-conductive textile filaments into a weaving apparatus;    incorporating inelastic energy-active functional filaments into the weaving apparatus, wherein at least one of the non-conductive textile filaments and the energy-active filaments is elastic;    tensioning the elastic non-conductive textile filaments;    integrating the elastic non-conductive textile filaments and the inelastic energy-active textile filaments by weaving in accordance with a weave pattern; and    removing the electro-textile fabric from the weaving apparatus.    
   
   
       34 . A method of modulating functionality of an electro-textile fabric comprising: 
 incorporating non-conductive textile filaments and energy-active functional filaments into a weaving apparatus;    Integrating the non-conductive textile filaments and the energy-active functional filaments by weaving in accordance with a weave pattern,    wherein at least one of the non-conductive textile filaments and the energy-active functional filaments is elastic; and    stretching and recovering the fabric during use.    
   
   
       35 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein the weave pattern is selected from the group consisting of: satin, twill, rib, basket weave, double face construction, and any derivative based on these, and plain weaves.  
   
   
       36 . A method of modulating functionality of an electro-textile fabric, comprising weaving or knitting non-conductive textile filaments and energy-active functional filaments into the electro-textile fabric; and 
 incorporating a higher concentration of floats of energy-active functional filaments in one surface of the electro-textile fabric than another surface of the electro-textile fabric.    
   
   
       37 . A method of modulating functionality of an electro-textile fabric, comprising weaving or knitting non-conductive textile filaments and energy-active functional filaments into the electro-textile fabric; and 
 incorporating floats of non-conductive textile filaments between floats of energy-active functional filaments on a first surface of the electro-textile fabric.    
   
   
       38 . A woven fabric antenna, comprising: 
 a woven electro-textile fabric having non-electrically conductive fibers in a warp direction; and electrically conductive fibers in a weft direction,    wherein the electro-textile fabric exhibits a high conductivity in the frequency range of DC to 100 GHz.    
   
   
       39 . The antenna of  claim 38 , further comprising floats of electrically conductive fiber segments on at least a first face of the electro-textile fabric.  
   
   
       40 . The antenna of  claim 39 , wherein the electro-textile fabric has a first face and a second face, and wherein the first fabric face has a higher concentration of electrically conductive fiber segments than a concentration of floats of electrically conductive fiber segments on the second face.  
   
   
       41 . The antenna of  claim 38 , further comprising floats of electrically conductive fiber segments on a first face and on a second face of the electro-textile fabric, and comprising floats of non-electrically conductive fiber segments on the first face and on the second face of the electro-textile fabric, wherein a higher concentration of floats of electrically conductive fiber segments are present on at least one of the first face and second face of the electro-textile fabric.  
   
   
       42 . The antenna of  claim 38 , wherein the electro-textile fabric is woven according to a weave pattern diagram with an asymmetric construction in the number of warp and weft yarn segments.  
   
   
       43 . The antenna of  claim 42 , wherein a ratio equal to the number of weft yarns density to the yarn density (weft+warp) is at least about 0.30.  
   
   
       44 . The antenna of  claim 38 , wherein the warp fibers comprise elastic yarns.  
   
   
       45 . The antenna of  claim 44 , wherein said elastic yarns comprise spandex fibers and a companion inelastic fiber, and wherein said companion fiber is comprised of polyester or fiberglass.  
   
   
       46 . The antenna of  claim 38 , wherein the weft fibers comprise at least a single metal fiber having a diameter of at least 20 micrometers, said single metal fiber selected from at least one of copper, silver and silver plated copper fibers.  
   
   
       47 . The antenna of  claim 38 , wherein the weft fibers comprise non-conductive fibers having a metallic coating thereon, wherein the metallic coating thickness is at least one of (a) equal to and (b) up to 5 times greater than a skin depth for the metallic coating at an electrical frequency of 1 Hertz (Hz) to 100 GigaHertz (GHz).  
   
   
       48 . The antenna of  claim 47 , wherein a filament diameter of the non-conductive fibers is greater than 20 μm.  
   
   
       49 . The antenna of  claim 38 , wherein the weft direction fibers comprise elastic electrically-conductive yarn.  
   
   
       50 . The antenna of  claim 49 , wherein said elastic electrically-conductive yarn comprises spandex fibers surrounded by at least one electrically conductive yarn.  
   
   
       51 . The antenna of  claim 38 , wherein both the warp and weft fibers are elastic yarns.  
   
   
       52 . The antenna of  claim 38 , wherein said antenna has an electrical conductivity equal to or greater than 1×10 6  Siemens per meter in a range of 1000 megaHertz to 15 gigaHertz.  
   
   
       53 . The antenna of  claim 38 , wherein the antenna is formed as a patch that includes a dielectric textile fabric comprising fibers selected from polyester and fused quartz.  
   
   
       54 . The antenna of  claim 53 , wherein the antenna has an efficiency of equal to or greater than 80% at a frequency of 2.4 GigaHertz (GHz).  
   
   
       55 . The antenna of  claim 53 , wherein the antenna has at least one additional useable multi-mode resonant frequency.  
   
   
       56 . A method for increasing the electrical conductivity of a woven electro-textile fabric antenna wherein the antenna is formed at least in part in a weaving process, comprising the steps of: 
 tensioning warp yarn of the fabric during weaving on a weaving loom, wherein the warp yarn comprises elastic non-electrically conductive textile filaments and a weft yarn comprises electrically conductive textile filaments;    removing the fabric from the weaving loom; and    allowing the fabric to relax without applied tension.    
   
   
       57 . The method of  claim 56 , further comprising the steps of: 
 treating the fabric with vapor;    applying heat to the fabric by at least one of heat setting and boiling water treatment; and    allowing the fabric to relax without applied tension.    
   
   
       58 . The method of  claim 56 , further comprising the steps of: changing a frequency response of the electro-textile fabric antenna by stretching and recovering the fabric.