Apple applied for touch fabric patented smart watch application breakthrough

Recently, Apple applied for a patent for smart fabrics and showed that the key to the patent lies in fabric-based products. Recently, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) also issued a patent application related to Apple's smart cloth. In the future, Apple Watch will be combined with touch and touch on the strap fabric. Button function.

Apple pointed out in the patent application that the technology can be applied to a variety of fabric products, and can also be applied to the wrist strap, which will be an important technology for the future Apple Watch strap. The wrist strap can be equipped with a touch sensor, and the entire wrist strap can be provided with a touch function if necessary; or a specific area can be specified as needed. For example, various options control buttons such as power control and volume control can be set on the wrist strap.

Apple pointed out in this patent document that various circuit components can be introduced into the fabric, such as resistors, capacitors, inductors, switches, and connectors. It can also import various LED components, microphones, speakers, and vibrators. In addition, it can also import gyroscopes or various sensors such as pressure, light, temperature and humidity, as well as other input and output devices.

In the future, the smart cloth will not only be used in the Apple Watch strap, but also in the detachable case of a headband, hat, case, purse or any other device. Even chairs, sofas or other furniture, as long as it is a textile item, may introduce the technology. The patent was developed by Apple in 2014 and submitted in June 2017. However, the time to market for related products cannot be determined.