Novel manufacturing methods for functional electronic textiles

该提案涉及研究和开发新的制造和组装方法，将电子功能添加到纺织品中。纺织品无处不在，例如，用于服装，家居装饰以及医疗，汽车和航空航天应用。纺织品是人类接触到的最常见的材料之一，但目前，纺织品的功能仅限于其外观和物理特性。人们对智能和交互式纺织品（SMIT）越来越感兴趣，这种纺织品可以增加电子功能。SMIT提供了更广泛的功能，包括传感、数据处理和与用户的交互，因此，可以在纺织品存在的广泛应用中应用。这项研究的总体目标是开发新的制造装配方法，使先进的电子元件（例如微控制器）能够在纺织纱线中以超薄模具的形式可靠地封装。研究计划将研究将超薄模具安装到薄柔性聚合物薄膜条上的方法，该薄膜条包含有图案的导电互连和键垫。单独的模具将位于带材和塑料基板上的导电轨道上，它们将一起形成一个长，非常薄，柔性电路或灯丝。然后，长丝将被传统的纺织纤维（如聚酯、棉花、羊毛、丝绸）包围，并连接到导电电线上，形成电子纱线（EY），这种纱线本质上看起来是一种标准的纺织纱线，但在其中嵌入了电路和组件。最终的目标是将这些眼睛结合到纺织品中，以这样一种方式保护电子元件和互连免受严酷的使用，同时保持纺织品的手感、褶皱和透气性。该技术的一个关键方面是使用高度灵活的超薄模具，加上矩形足迹，将最大限度地减少模具在长丝内的轮廓。这将有助于减少对纱线的影响，使电子元件几乎不可见，并使纱线直径最小化。

This proposal is concerned with the research and development of new manufacturing and assembly methods that add electronics functionality to textiles. Textiles are ubiquitous and are used, for example, in clothing, home furnishings as well as medical, automotive and aerospace applications. Textiles are one of the most common materials with which humans come into contact, but, at present, their functionality is limited to their appearance and physical properties. There is considerable and growing interest in SMart and Interactive Textiles (SMIT) that add electronic functionality to textiles. SMIT offer a far greater range of functionality that can include sensing, data processing and interaction with the user and, as a result, can be applied in a vast range of applications potentially wherever textiles are present. The overall objective of the research is to develop new manufacturing assembly methods that enable the reliable packaging of advanced electronic components (e.g. microcontrollers) in ultra-thin die form within a textile yarn. The programme of research will investigate approaches for mounting the ultra-thin die onto thin flexible polymer films strips that contain patterned conductive interconnects and bond pads. Individual die will be located on the strip and conductive tracks on the plastic substrate will them together forming a long, very thin, flexible circuit or filament. The filaments will then be surrounded by classical textile fibres (e.g. polyester, cotton, wool, silk) and connected to conductive wires to form an electronic yarn (EY) that will, essentially, appear to be a standard textile yarn but which has embedded within it, circuitry and components. The ultimate goal is to incorporate these EYs into the textile in such a way as to protect the electronic components and interconnects from the rigours of use whilst maintaining the feel, drape and breathability of the textile. A key aspect of the technology is the use of ultra-thin die which are highly flexible and, together with a rectangular footprint, will minimise the profile of the die within the filament. This will then serve to reduce the impact on the yarn making the electronics virtually invisible and minimising yarn diameter.