GARMENT, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRANSMITTING AUDIO AND/OR MESSAGING INFORMATION TO A USER

• US 20180261054A1
• Filed: 01/22/2018
• Published: 09/13/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sanko Tekstil Isletmeleri San VE TIC As
• Original Assignee: Sanko Tekstil Isletmeleri San VE TIC As
• Inventors: ERYILMAZ, Jitka, COBANOGLU, Ozgur, OZKAN, Kadir, CAGLAR, Fehim
• Granted Patent: US 11,120,672 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A41B 1/08 Details
• CPC Class Codes: A41B 2300/35 Seams
• CPC Class Codes: A41D 1/005 with embedded cable or connector
• CPC Class Codes: A41D 1/06 Trousers
• CPC Class Codes: A41D 2300/50 Seams
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6804 Garments; Clothes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 6/00 Tactile signalling systems, e.g. personal calling systems

Abstract

Provided is a garment comprising fabric and at least one seam, said garment comprising at least one vibrotactile actuator configured for producing a vibrational pattern based on audio and/or messaging information provided by an information signal from an external device. The vibrotactile actuator is contained within the seam. Also provided is a system, circuit and method for transmitting audio and/or messaging information to a user. The system comprises the garment, the external device, and a conversion unit comprising a microcontroller that converts the audio and/or messaging information into a driving signal to be provided to the vibrotactile actuator. The circuit comprises the microcontroller and the vibrotactile actuators coupled to one another by a ribbon of a flexible material. The method evaluates the delay between the vibrational pattern produced by the vibrotactile actuator and acoustic and/or visual signals produced by the external device based on the audio and/or messaging information.

Claims

1. A garment (1) comprising a fabric (2) and at least one seam (4), said garment (1) further comprising at least one vibrotactile actuator (3) configured for producing a vibrational pattern (19) based on audio and/or messaging information provided by an information signal (17) coming from an external device (10) wherein said at least one vibrotactile actuator (3) is contained within said at least one seam (4).

2. The garment (1) according to claim 1, wherein said at least one vibrotactile actuator (3) is coupled to the garment (1) by a ribbon (7) of a flexible material further arranged within said at least one seam (4).

3. The garment (1) according to claim 2, wherein said flexible material is formed of plastic, textile or conductive yarn.

4. The garment (1) according to claim 3, wherein said ribbon (7) comprises a plurality of electrical connections (31) forming a communication bus for a plurality of said vibrotactile actuators (3).

5. The garment (1) according to claim 4, wherein said ribbon (7) is elastically stretchable by at least 10%, said electrical connections (31) being arranged along said ribbon (7) in a crooked path.

6. The garment (1) according to claim 1, wherein said at least one vibrotactile actuator (3) comprises a shaft-less vibration motor, an ultrasonic actuator, a linear resonant actuator (LRA), a piezoelectric actuator, or a combination of the preceding.

7. The garment (1) according to claim 1, comprising a plurality of said vibrotactile actuators (3) arranged so that the minimum distance (D) between one and another is comprised between about 10 mm and 100 mm.

8. The garment (1) according to claim 1, wherein said at least one vibrotactile actuator (3) is controlled by a conversion unit (33) comprising a microcontroller (34) configured for converting said audio and/or messaging information into a driving signal to be provided to said at least one vibrotactile actuator (3).

9. The garment (1) according to claim 6, wherein said conversion unit (33) comprises a first wireless communication module (35) configured for receiving said information signal (17) from a second wireless communication module (15) of said external device (10), said first wireless communication module (35) being further configured for providing said audio and/or messaging information to the microcontroller (34).

10. The garment (1) according to claim 6, wherein said audio and/or messaging information comprise a musical signal, said driving signal being provided to said at least one vibrotactile actuator (3) for producing a vibrational pattern (19) having substantially the same trend over time with said musical signal.

11. The garment (1) according to claim 8, wherein said conversion unit (33) is contained within said at least one seam (4).

12. The garment (1) according to claim 1 comprising a waterproof coating (9) on said at least one vibrotactile actuators (3), within said at least one seam (4).

13. The garment (1) according to claim 1, wherein said garment (1) is a pair of pants, preferably formed of denim, or a garment for upper body, preferably a t-shirt.

14. The garment (1) according to claim 11, wherein said at least one seam (4) comprises, for each pant leg (1a, 1b) of said pair of pants, an outer lateral seam (4a) extending in a longitudinal direction along a wearer'"'"'s leg and an inner medial seam (4b) extending in said longitudinal direction along said wearer'"'"'s leg, each of said outer lateral and said inner medial seams (4a, 4b) including one or more of said vibrotactile actuators (3) disposed along a wearer'"'"'s femur (14) and/or along a lower portion (16) of said wearer'"'"'s leg.

15. The garment (1) according to claim 11, wherein said at least one seam (4) comprises a belt seam (4c) extending along a wearer'"'"'s waist, said belt seam (4c) including at least one of said vibrotactile actuators (3).

16. A system (100) for transmitting audio and/or messaging information to a user, said system (100) comprising a garment (1) provided with at least one vibrotactile actuator (3), an external device (10) configured for providing an information signal (17) containing said audio and/or messaging information, and a conversion unit (33) configured for receiving said information signal (17) and converting said audio and/or messaging information into a driving signal to be provided to said at least one vibrotactile actuator (3) for producing a vibrational pattern (19) based on said audio and/or messaging information, said garment (1) being of the type comprising fabric (2) and at least one seam (4), wherein said at least one vibrotactile actuator (3) is contained within said at least one seam (4).

17. A circuit (30) for transmitting audio and/or messaging information to a user, said circuit (30) comprising one or more vibrotactile actuators (3), a microcontroller (34) electrically connected with said vibrotactile actuators (3), and a communication module (35) adapted to receive an information signal (17) containing said audio and/or messaging information coming from an external device (10), said vibrotactile actuators (3) being controlled by the microcontroller (34) for producing a vibrational pattern (19) based on said audio and/or messaging information, wherein said vibrotactile actuators (3) are coupled to one another by a ribbon (7) of a flexible material, said flexible material comprising at least one of plastic, textile and a conductive yarn.

18. The circuit (30) according to claim 17, wherein said ribbon (7) comprises a plurality of electrical connections (31) forming a communication bus for a plurality of said vibrotactile actuators (3).

19. The circuit (30) according to claim 17, wherein said ribbon (7) is elastically stretchable by at least 10%, said electrical connections (31) being arranged along said ribbon (7) in a crooked path.

20. A method for transmitting audio and/or messaging information to a user comprising the steps of:

a) providing a garment (1) comprising at least one vibrotactile actuator (3);

b) transmitting an information signal (17) containing an audio and/or messaging information by an external device (10) to said garment (1);

c) producing a vibrational pattern (19) based on said audio and/or messaging information by means of said at least one vibrotactile actuator (3);

wherein said audio and/or messaging information is configured to be produced as acoustic and/or visual signals (12, 18) by said external device (10), said method comprising the step of d) evaluating the delay between the vibrational pattern (19) produced by said at least one vibrotactile actuator (3) and said acoustic and/or visual signal (12, 18), and the step of e) producing said acoustic and/or visual signals (12, 18) on the basis of said delay evaluated in the step d) for synchronizing in the time domain said vibrational pattern (19) and said acoustic and/or visual signals (12, 18).

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein said step d) is performed by a user wearing said ga