Apple Inc.

Ari P Miller

Houtan R Farahani

Kevin M Robinson

Mikael M Silvanto

Edward J Cooper

Bartley K Andre

David Phillip Tarkington

Christopher J Stringer

Simon R Lancaster-Larocque

Ian A Guy

Jonathan P Ive

Duncan Robert Kerr

Richard P Howarth

Eugene Antony Whang

Peter N Russell-Clarke

Martha Evans Hankey

Rico L Zorkendorfer

Daniele De Iuliis

Jody R Akana

Daniel J Coster

Matthew Dean Rohrbach

Jeremy D Bataillou

Julian Hoenig

Shota Aoyagi

Benjamin Andrew Shaffer

Anthony Michael Ashcroft

Keith J Hendren

Robert Y Cao

Stephen Vincent Jayanathan

Matthew William Blum

Edward T Sweet

Robert J Lockwood

Derryk C Davis

Christine A Laliberte

Francesco Ferretti

Dinesh C Mathew

Genie Kim

John Raff

Matthew Theobald

William A Counts

Simon J Trivett

Karan Bir

Antonio Clarke

Gurshan Deol

Prabhu Sathyamurthy

Victor H Yin

Jun Qi

David H Narajowski

William Francis Leggett

George Tziviskos

Justin Derry Crosby

Joshua R Funamura

Mingxia Gu

Daniel K Boothe

Ryan J Mihelich

Xinyu Zhu

Joshua A Spechler

Eric Lee Benson

Yanming Li

Zhenyue Luo

Meizi Jiao

Youchul Jeong

Xiang Fang

Eric N Vergo

Chungjae Lee

Mengyang Liang

Michael C Sulkis

Morteza Amoorezaei

Michael J Lee

Seth G McFarland

Anton Talalayev

Sunitha Chandra

Marianna C Sbordone

Jie Xiang

Mary M Morrison

Terence Chan

Brett W Degner

Christopher D Prest

Paul Xiaopeng Wang

Daniel A Podhajny

Daniel D Sunshine

Ron Alan Hopkinson

Mahmoud R Amini

Adam T Garelli

Christiaan A Ligtenberg

Christopher D Jones

Michelle Rae Goldberg

Laura M DeForest

Simon Regis Louis Lancaster-Larocque

Collin D Chan

Didio V Gomes

Riley E Brandt

Lindsay D Corbet

Mariel L Lanas

Chien-Tsun Chen

Daniel A Bergvall

Kenneth A Ross

A C Manjunath

Christopher I Owen-Elia

Thomas G Budd

A display may have a pixel array such as a liquid crystal pixel array. The pixel array may be illuminated with backlight illumination from a direct-lit backlight unit. The backlight unit may include an array of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on a printed circuit board. The display may have a notch to accommodate an input-output component. Reflective layers may be included in the notch. The backlight may include a color conversion layer with a property that varies as a function of position. The light-emitting diodes may be covered by a slab of encapsulant with recesses in an upper surface.

Display modules with direct-lit backlight units

An electronic device includes an enclosure formed of a plurality of layers cooperating to define an interior volume. The enclosure includes a first layer formed of a first material and defining a user input surface of the enclosure and a first portion of a side surface of the enclosure. The enclosure also includes a second layer, formed of a second material different from the first material, positioned below the first layer and defining a second portion of the side surface of the enclosure. The enclosure also includes a third layer, formed of a third material different from the first and second materials, positioned below the second layer and defining a bottom surface of the enclosure and a third portion of the side surface of the enclosure.

Multi-part device enclosure

An electronic device has a housing that forms an exterior surface of the electronic device. An array of actuators is coupled to the housing and is operable to move the housing in order to produce sound waves and/or haptic output via the exterior surface. In this way, less space is consumed by acoustic and haptic devices as compared to similar conventional devices, thereby allowing for thinner electronic devices and/or room for other components within the housing. The actuators may be operable to move different regions of the housing to produce sound waves and/or haptic output within different frequency ranges.

Electronic device with actuators for producing haptic and audio output along a device housing

An accessory device for an electronic device is disclosed. The accessory device includes multiple sections, with one section holding the electronic device, and another section having an input mechanism, such as a keyboard. The accessory device includes a hinge assembly that allows relative movement of the sections with respect each other. An additional hinge assembly is integrated with the section carrying the electronic device, and provides additional flexibility and range of motion of the section, thereby allowing a user to position the electronic device at multiple different angles relative to the section carrying the input mechanism. Also, each hinge assembly may include multiple roller and spacer elements, as well as a retention structure passing through each roller element and spacer element. The retention structure can provide tension to increase the frictional force between the roller and spacer elements, and/or provide counterbalance to offset the weight of the electronic device.

Hinges for electronic devices and accessory devices

Key assemblies having a foldable stabilizer are disclosed. The stabilizer can be positioned under a keycap to help guide the keycap and limit rotation or movement when the key is pressed. The stabilizer can have a pointed-star shape with multiple folding axes and can have multiple points of connection or linkage to the keycap or other surrounding components. The stabilizer can unfold or flatten as the keycap is pressed and can fold as the keycap is raised.

Folded key stabilizer

A cover for an electronic device includes a glass cover defining a substantially planar first surface, a substantially planar second surface opposite the first surface, an opening extending through the glass cover, and a raised wall surrounding the opening and defining a portion of an interior surface of the opening.

Forming glass covers for electronic devices

Keyboards are disclosed that are retractable. Movable magnetic or mechanical linkage elements are configured to reposition keycaps and stabilizers between different relative positions. Structures in a movable layer can act on the keycaps or stabilizers to move the keycaps and stabilizers into a retracted position for storage and for saving space in an electronic device. The stabilizers can be scissor mechanisms, butterfly mechanisms, and similar devices. The movable layer can be moved in response to rotation of a hinge or other mechanical element in the electronic device.

Retractable keyboards

Component of an electronic device

A hinge assembly is disclosed. The hinge assembly may include roller elements and spacer elements positioned between adjacent roller elements. The hinge assembly couples with two housing parts, and allows movement of the housing parts with respect to one another. The roller elements synchronously rotate along surfaces of the spacer elements during rotation of one of the housing parts. Also, in order to maintain engagement between the roller elements and the spacer elements, a strap may extend through openings of the roller elements and the spacer elements. Further, the strap may provide the hinge assembly with a desired stiffness. For example, when the first housing part ceases rotational movement, the strap may cause the first housing part to maintain its position relative to the second housing part. Also, the hinge assembly may include a tensioning element coupled to the strap in order to provide tension to the strap.

Friction roller hinge for electronic devices and method for making roller and spacer elements

Embodiments are directed to a keyboard or other input structure having a continuous fiber material. In one aspect, the continuous fiber material is disposed in a layered fiber pattern under tension. The continuous fiber material is continuous in that it is not broken or severed within the webbing. Heat and pressure are then applied to form a structural web. The resulting structural web may be stronger than a webbing of conventional materials yet with reduced relative weight.

Continuous carbon fiber winding for thin structural ribs

Growing community of inventors

San Francisco, CA, United States of America

Ari P Miller