Multi-Tech Commuter Jacket

Designed for stylish and functional street-to-office wearability, the Multi-Tech Commuter (MTC) Jacket features Lubrizol materials that ensure function, comfort and durability over the life of the garment. Stretch denim and polyester fabrics move and breathe with the wearer for comfortable motion and mobility. Named Most Intriguing Flexible and Printed Electronics Product of 2018 by Printed Electronics Now

The jacket includes a flexible circuit heating element located in the inside of the jacket back that incorporates ACI technology, providing warmth on demand without the bulk of additional clothing layers. Fabric treatment at the elbows and palms with Lubrizol's coating technology enhances garment durability both in-use and when laundering.

Technology

• Stretchable, flexible printed circuits with high performance ESTANE^® Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) Films and Flexible Ink Additives
• Comfortable stretch denim fabric and inner liner enhanced by X4zol™-J TPU fiber technology
• Electronic connector housing, 3D printed using ESTANE^® 3D TPU for stretch and impact resistance
• Conductive trace protection through Performax™ 4388 conductive ink coatings
• Superior durability and wear resistance through Performax™ 6363 and 4389 fabric treatment coatings

Collaborative Partners

The Multi-Tech Commuter (MTC) Jacket is the result of an impressive multiple-partner collaboration between leading experts including Lubrizol, Principled Design, ACI Materials, and Butler Technologies that took the project from concept to completion in just nine months.

The project underscores the importance of systems thinking in the development of novel wearable electronics, combining design, materials science, applications know-how, and value chain partners having the right mindset and capabilities, to quickly turn innovative ideas into prototypes and then commercial scale realities.

• Lubrizol Advanced Materials, Inc. - project owner; material solutions provider of stretch fabrics, flexible substrates, hot melt thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) film adhesives, 3D printing TPU filaments and stretch control fabric coatings (Lubrizol Engineered Polymers and Performance Coatings).
• Principled Design - jacket design, development of supply chain, contract assembly of jacket components into final garment form; project management.
• Prosperity Denim - comfort stretch denim fabric produced using Lubrizol’s revolutionary X4zol™-J fiber technology.  
• Ruey Tay - comfort fit interlining produced using Lubrizol’s revolutionary X4zol™-J fiber technology.
• ACI Materials - flexible conductive and resistance inks for printed circuits, flexible circuit encapsulants and adhesives, heater circuit design and technology.
• Butler Technologies, Inc. - screen printing of flexible circuits, application of hot melt flexible adhesive layer, assembly of flexible circuit layer(s) stack up.