Appendage mountable electronic devices conformable to surfaces
First Claim
1. An appendage mountable electronic system, said system comprising:
- a flexible or stretchable substrate having an inner surface and an outer surface, wherein the inner surface defines an enclosure capable of receiving an appendage having a curved surface; and
a flexible or stretchable electronic device comprising one or more sensors, actuators or both supported by the inner surface or the outer surface of said flexible or stretchable substrate;
said sensors, actuators or both comprising one or more inorganic semiconductor components, one or more metallic components, or one or more inorganic semiconductor components and one or more metallic components;
wherein at least a portion of said inorganic semiconductor components, metallic components or both has a thickness less than or equal to 500 microns;
wherein said flexible or stretchable substrate and said electronic device provide a net bending stiffness of the system low enough such that the inner surface of the substrate is capable of establishing conformal contact with a surface of said appendage provided within said enclosure.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed are appendage mountable electronic systems and related methods for covering and conforming to an appendage surface. A flexible or stretchable substrate has an inner surface for receiving an appendage, including an appendage having a curved surface, and an opposed outer surface that is accessible to external surfaces. A stretchable or flexible electronic device is supported by the substrate inner and/or outer surface, depending on the application of interest. The electronic device in combination with the substrate provides a net bending stiffness to facilitate conformal contact between the inner surface and a surface of the appendage provided within the enclosure. In an aspect, the system is capable of surface flipping without adversely impacting electronic device functionality, such as electronic devices comprising arrays of sensors, actuators, or both sensors and actuators.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. An appendage mountable electronic system, said system comprising:
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a flexible or stretchable substrate having an inner surface and an outer surface, wherein the inner surface defines an enclosure capable of receiving an appendage having a curved surface; and a flexible or stretchable electronic device comprising one or more sensors, actuators or both supported by the inner surface or the outer surface of said flexible or stretchable substrate;
said sensors, actuators or both comprising one or more inorganic semiconductor components, one or more metallic components, or one or more inorganic semiconductor components and one or more metallic components;
wherein at least a portion of said inorganic semiconductor components, metallic components or both has a thickness less than or equal to 500 microns;wherein said flexible or stretchable substrate and said electronic device provide a net bending stiffness of the system low enough such that the inner surface of the substrate is capable of establishing conformal contact with a surface of said appendage provided within said enclosure. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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2. an appendage mountable electronic system, said system comprising:
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a flexible or stretchable substrate having an inner surface and an outer surface, wherein the inner surface defines an enclosure capable of receiving an appendage having a curved surface; and
a flexible or stretchable electronic device comprising one or more sensors, actuators or both supported by the inner surface or the outer surface of said flexible or stretchable substrate;
said sensors, actuators or both comprising one or more inorganic semiconductor components, one or more metallic components, or one or more inorganic semiconductor components and one or more metallic components;wherein at least a portion of said inorganic semiconductor components, metallic components or both has a thickness less than or equal to 500 microns; wherein said flexible or stretchable substrate and said electronic device provide a net bending stiffness of the system low enough such that the inner surface of the substrate is capable of establishing conformal contact with a surface of said appendage provided within said enclosure;
wherein said flexible or stretchable substrate and said electronic device provide said net bending stiffness of the system less than or equal to 1×
108 GPa μ
m4, a net flexural rigidity of the system less than or equal to 1×
10−
4 Nm, or a net bending stiffness of the system low enough such that said one or more sensors, actuators or both supported by the inner surface of the substrate are capable of establishing conformal contact with said surface of said appendage provided within said enclosure. - View Dependent Claims (3)
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34. An appendage mountable electronic system, said system comprising:
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an elastomeric substrate having an inner surface and an outer surface, wherein the inner surface defines an enclosure capable of receiving an appendage having a curved surface, and the elastomeric substrate has a resting thickness that is less than 10 mm; a first electronic device supported by the inner surface; a second electronic device supported by the outer substrate, wherein the first and second electronic devices are in an opposed configuration with respect to each other and separated by a thickness of the elastomeric substrate to form a pressure sensor whose output varies as a function of elastomeric substrate thickness; each of the first and second electronic devices comprises one or more inorganic semiconductor components, one or more metallic components, or one or more inorganic semiconductor components and one or more metallic components, having a thickness less than 1 mm and a lateral dimension less than 5 mm.
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Specification