Wearable Devices - Smart Clothing from Function to Intelligence

Wearable technology is undoubtedly the most popular product in 2015. A series of electronic related product conferences, such as Computex, International CES, and Mobile World Congress (MWC), all focus on wearable devices. Wearable products, wearable technology, as if the smart lifestyle in technology movies will appear in our lives next month.

Wearable devices are electronic devices that are worn on the body. The focus is on clothes or accessories that can move hands freely without holding hands and have communication or transmission functions. Smart clothes are made of fibers or fabrics that integrate electronic components and combine information technology. The clothes are used as signal transmission, and the soft wearable device is more in line with the user's habits and has the characteristics of high added value. However, some people are optimistic about emerging technologies, and some people are not good at it. Those who are optimistic believe that smart wear will change the way of life, an advanced version of mobile phones, or even replace them; those who are bad believe that technology is still far away from real life. A dream, but can the dream come true? From the perspective of the changes in the technical field of patent classification, the technical scope of special functional clothing has spread to the field of electricity, and intelligent textiles with electronic components have gradually shortened the gap between technology and reality. gap.

From Function to Intelligence

In a five-year period, the number of international patent classification statistics from 1995-2014, from 1995-1999, the technical scope for the conventional application of materials for clothing. An electrical classification with intelligent features emerged in 2000-2004, and its technology is a two-dimensional plane with a flexible expanded surface area heating mesh and semiconductor components applied to the technology of fibers.

The technical content from 1995 to 1999 is mainly based on the conventional application technology related to textiles, including natural or artificial yarn, weaving, fabric processing, and various wearables used in human daily necessities, including clothing, accessories and medical supplies; Industrial textiles are in buildings and weapons.

2000-2014 is divided into three stages: 2000-2004, 2005-2009, and 2010-2014. From the newly added patent classification every five years, it is found that the conventional textile technology has gradually spread to other application fields. The patent classification tracks the technological development of functional clothing and provides directions for technological change.

Functional Patent Layout (2000-2009)

The newly added patent categories from 2000 to 2004 include surface coating, substances in plastic state, devices, micromechanical devices, non-metallic elements, polymer compounds, bonding methods, material plating, crystal growth and other technologies used in fabric surface treatment, environmental protection water repellent additives, moisture permeability and waterproof, dyeing and finishing and coating technology and fabric surface treatment can make textiles achieve different functions, such as waterproof and breathable, wear-resistant, quick-drying, antibacterial and deodorant, moisture wicking, heat storage and heat preservation, free Ironing, etc.; even far infrared rays, anti-electromagnetic waves, anti-ultraviolet rays, negative ions, anti-static, etc.

From 2000 to 2009, the newly added patent classification observation, combined the related technologies of polymer compounds in chemistry, combined with the chemical industry, modified the yarn raw materials, developed functional fibers and masterbatches, and changed the fiber structure, such as hollow, island, uniform, non-uniform and other structures of special-shaped fibers, and improve fiber polymerization and spinning technology, ultra-fine fiber spinning technology, composite fiber spinning technology.

From 2005 to 2009, new applications for personal safety such as chemicals or medical preparations, radiation protection, temperature or heat measurement were added.

Functionality has been patented for 10 years, and became popular in the ready-to-wear market after 2010. Functional clothing ranging from lightweight thermal clothing, moisture-wicking sweatshirts to light down and cold-proof jackets has made popular ready-to-wear clothes break away from traditional functions. into the functional range.

Smart Patent Layout (2010-2014)

The main body of clothes is people. Therefore, the design of smart clothes is based on "people's needs". From 2000 to 2005, the layout of textiles was mainly based on functional patents, but the technology of patent classification gradually spread to other industries, and semiconductor devices appeared one after another, electric heating, optical component systems or instruments, electronic digital data processing, analog computing and other patented classification technologies to measure the possible application level of intelligence-related technology trends.

In addition to integrating electronic components, smart textiles also include temperature-adjustable phase change materials, conductive polymer materials, organic dyes, etc., combined with information and communication technology; after 2010-2014, the scope of its new technologies has been towards intelligent applications. Medical-purpose applications, from data identification, record carriers, magnets; inductance, image communication, etc., have gradually shifted from functional textiles to intelligent textiles, and have begun to enter another transformation period in the textile industry, and have driven a large number of wearable accessories patents number of applications.

Conclusion

The design of smart clothing focuses on human nature and the adaptability of the wearer, and its wearing requires multi-faceted consideration. Cross-industry integration and cross-field integration are the future trends. The patent classification of smart clothing has shifted from functional textiles to intelligent ones. Semiconductors and the textile industry combined with ICT are already in the patent landscape.

Taiwan's industry has three advantageous technologies for smart clothing: 1. Semiconductors still have advantages in IC manufacturing, design and packaging, which can solve the problems of traditional sensors; 2. Taiwan's communication industry has a complete industrial value chain from upstream to downstream 3. Among the export products of the textile industry, fibers, yarns and fabrics account for more than 90% of the total export of the textile industry, and they have accumulated in the technology of functional textiles, Research and development energy for polymer compounds and fabric surface treatment.

The Taiwanese industry breaks through the existing management framework of wearable devices, combining functional materials, ergonomics, fabric structure and clothing pattern, etc., and integrating wireless transmission modules and communication technologies to meet different needs and usage scenarios, using fabrics as the carrier of signal transmission , the "smart clothing" that is functional and intelligent can achieve new thinking of creating value and new opportunities for product development.