Colorful textile antennas integrated into embroidered logos

Abstract

We present a new methodology to create colorful textile antennas that can be embroidered within logos or other aesthetic shapes. Conductive threads (e-Threads) have already been used in former embroidery unicolor approaches as attributed to the corresponding conductive material, viz. silver or copper. But so far, they have not been adapted to 'print' colorful textile antennas. For the first time, we propose an approach to create colorful electronic textile shapes. In brief, the embroidery process uses an e-Thread in the bobbin case of the sewing machine to embroider the antenna on the back side of the garment. Concurrently, a colorful assistant yarn is threaded through the embroidery needle of the embroidery machine and used to secure or 'couch' the e-Threads onto the fabric. In doing so, a colorful shape is generated on the front side of the garment. The proposed antennas can be unobtrusively integrated into clothing or other accessories for a wide range of applications (e.g., wireless communications, Radio Frequency IDentification, sensing).