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ABOUT INTERCOMP USA
About Intercomp USA
Based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Intercomp USA specializes in offering active and passive electronic
components such as A/C converters, memory products, potentiometers, sensors, microprocessors and
more.
Beyond its wide array of electronic components, Intercomp USA offers key services like value
analysis/value engineering (VAVE), BoM analysis and scrub, reverse engineering, communication
gateways and more.
Intercomp USA also shares the insights its team accrues about the latest technology developments in
seminars, e-books and its blog: http://www.intercomp.com/blog/
As an independent franchise distributor for leading-edge technology companies like Gowanda, EON
Instrumentation, Cortron, Hoffman + Krippner and more, Intercomp delivers customized supply chain
solutions to some of the world’s largest manufacturers, including:
We deliver the future for visionary companies.
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3. CONTENTS
The Market
PG. 4-5
The Technology
PG. 5-6
The Applications
PG. 7-11
Next Steps
PG. 12
We deliver the future for visionary companies.
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The Market: Smart Garments to Dominate Wearables
THE MARKET
2014
70.2 million units of wearables shipped,
only .01 million were smart garments*
2015
10.1 million smart garments will ship*
2016
26 million smart garments will ship—they
will overtake smart watches (24 million to
ship in 2016) and become become the most
popular type of wearable*
The Technology: LayStitchTM
Tailored Fiber Placement (TFP)
• Invented in 1992 at Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research in Germany
• TFP begins with a substrate—a veil or woven fabric—or a matrix-
compatible foil material when producing a themoplastic composite
• Automated via purpose-built stitching machines to place continuous
tows or rovings in any direction
• TFP employs biomimetics: the concept is to imitate lightweight
structures in nature (grass, bones) with geometries that are optimally
adapted to specific loads
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THE TECHNOLOGY
Key Advantages of TFP
Lower cost: as much as 75% to 90% cost
reduction with preform material
Extremely lightweight compared to traditional
carbon fiber lay-ups—or even titanium
Free fiber orientation Local reinforcements
Minimizes production waste
Allows for combining various types of materials
within a single design, like carbon, glass,
aramid, natural fibers and more
A range of different shapes are possible,
including circles, arcs and angles
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THE APPLICATIONS
Window frame for
Airbus A350 aircraft
• The TFP technology combines fabric with
other materials to produce lighter, stronger
composite materials at a lower cost than
that of traditional carbon fiber
• It’s suitable in a wide range of industrial
& garment applications which require
extremely lightweight and exceptional
thermal protection
Robotic arms
Dry Fiber Tow
Carbon/Glass Etc.
TFP Preform
TFP Preform
Resin Transfer Molding
Compression Molding
Injection Molding
Thermoplastic Tow Preg
or Commingled Tow
INSERT
PART
PART
In most cases, TFP preforms are combined with other materials
and then put through molding to produce a single homogeneous part.
Bike brake boosters
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THE APPLICATIONS
TFP is also much lighter
2,5
2,0
1,5
1,0
0,5
0,0
CF Material: Toho-Tenax HTS (800 tex)
Experimental Testing
Mass-specificpartstiffness(normalized)
0,52
AI NCF-QI
1,00
TFP 2
2,24
TFP outperforms other materials—such as aluminum alloys—by significant margins
Example: Stiffness optimization bicycle brake booster
TFP 1
1,64
AI: Aluminum alloy
NCF-QI: Non crimp fabric, quasi-isotropic
TFP 1: TFP, material optimized
TFP 2: TFP, topological optimized
ALUMINUM ALLOY
1.0 (reference)
NCF QUASI-ISOTROPIC
0.7 - 0.5
TFP OPTIMIZED
0.4 - 0.28
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THE APPLICATIONS
This technology will give smart garments their intelligence by allowing them to monitor
body vital signs and communicate wirelessly. Wires and sensors in clothes can transmit
information about the body to deliver actionable information in a variety of applications:
WIRE ON FABRIC
FITNESS HEALTH MILITARY
RECESSED LAID WIRE WIRE ON NONWOVEN
WIRE ON FOAM HEATING ELEMENT HEAVY GAUGE WIRE ON NET
Smart Garments
Tailored Fiber Placement is significant for developing smart garments,
because it allows for tailored wire placement to produce:
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THE APPLICATIONS
Examples of Sensors in Action
STRETCH SENSORS
Described as “rubber bands with Bluetooth,” they change shape
as a person moves and transmit data to a mobile phone or tablet.
These sensors measure movement accuracy, position over time
and risk of injury.
SOFTSENSORS
Integrated into clothing, these pick up vital body signals and send
them to a “brain” for processing so as to deliver helpful information
about a user’s heart rate, breathing rate and calorie burn. Via
Bluetooth, this goes to an app on a user’s smartphone or tablet.
BODY MOVEMENT SENSORS
Another role for sensors is tracking how we move when we exercise.
For example, adding a sensor to shorts can measure your cadence,
braking, stride and ground contact. The shorts can take the sensor
data and use an iOS app to give a user live coaching as he or she runs.
Or they can sync data after the run to see where they can improve.
ELECTROMYOGRAPHY (EMG) SENSORS
These detect electrical activity that’s produced when a muscle
contracts. When used in smart garments, they can help users know
which muscles they’re working when they lift weights and correct
form or avoid injury. As with other sensors, their data is transmitted
to a smartphone via Bluetooth.
MEASUREMENT SENSORS
These measure key indicators like heart rate, breathing rate and
calorie count to help users understand the target heart rate they
should be going for and even how hard they’re pushing themselves
during strength training.
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THE APPLICATIONS
GRAPHENE FILAMENT: A NEW WAY TO PRODUCE SENSORS
While TFP offers excellent inlays to work in more precise sensors, the next
key factor in successful 3D printing is producing the sensors themselves.
Good materials are out there for producing sensors, but a new one is even
better: graphene filament.
Key advantages include:
End result: stronger, better sensors and a better wearable produced
with greater ease
• Superior conductivity because of graphene’s volume
resistivity of .6 Ohms versus the 15 Ohms per cm of other
filament types used in 3D printing – 25 times better.
• Graphene is mechanically stronger than PLA or ABS, 207
times stronger than steel by weight.
• Graphene filaments are also lightweight, meaning lighter
sensors and much more comfortable smart garments.
• Circuitry can be produced simultaneously with the
3D-printed product, not after it’s created—a more efficient
process.
Intel’s Adrenaline Dress,
a designer smart garment
12. 12
As one of the premier providers of electronic components like sensors, LEDs, diodes, circuits and
more, Intercomp is uniquely positioned to make smart garments even smarter.
To that end, Intercomp is combining its engineering and components capabilities
with the latest in LayStitchTM
TFP technology.
Questions?
DAVID HOFER
Executive Director
O 954.493.6461
C 248.930.9260
F 954.493.6573
E David.Hofer@Intercomp.com
DAVID SEPANIK
Director – Engineering & Supply Chain Services
O 954.493.6461
C 954.706.9050
F 954.493.6573
E David.Sepanik@Intercomp.com
GET STARTED
BEING SMARTContact Intercomp USA at 954.493.6461
for Smart Resources for Smart Garments
INTERCOMP.COM
954.493.6461 | intercomp.com
LayStitch and Tailored Fiber Placement (TFP) are registered trademarks owned by LayStitch Technologies.