Apple Inc.

Bruce E Berg

Dinesh C Mathew

Robert Y Cao

Craig C Leong

Keith J Hendren

Adam T Garelli

John M Brock

Bryan W Posner

Thomas W Wilson, Jr

James J Niu

Bartley K Andre

Mikael M Silvanto

Benjamin M Rappoport

Houtan R Farahani

Kevin M Robinson

Simon Regis Louis Lancaster-Larocque

Bradford J Zercoe

Robert J Lockwood

Kevin M Keeler

Jacob Seth Kononiuk

Yi-Chen Kuo

John Raff

Stephen Robert McClure

Ryan P Brooks

Zheng Gao

Paul Xiaopeng Wang

Matthew Phillip Casebolt

Eric Andrew Knopf

Jeremy C Franklin

Aidan N Zimmerman

Jiang Ai

Nicholas Alan Rundle

Amy Qian

Cesar Lozano Villarreal

Kevin C Armendariz

Alexander Michael Kwan

Dominic E Dolci

Sarah J Montplaisir

Chiew-Siang Goh

Glenn Aune

Ciaran Keane

Eva J Dixon

Ateet Piplani

Simon Regis Louis Lancaster-larocque

Richard J Langlois

Jacob S Kononiuk

Cable assemblies for providing electrical communication between hinged sections of an electronic device are described. The cable assemblies can include a cover that covers one or more cables that run through a hinge region of the electronic device. The cable and cover can be drawn over a mandrel of the hinge region. The cover and the portions of the mandrel can be visible to a user at the hinge region of the electronic device. The cover can be sufficiently rigid to guide a path of the cable and protect the cable from bending beyond a prescribed angle during rotation of the electronic device at the hinge region. The cover can also be sufficiently rigid to prevent ceasing or folding of the cover and the cable during rotation of the electronic device at the hinge region.

Mandrel flex circuit routing

An input mechanism is disclosed. The input mechanism includes a dome support structure defining an opening that extends through the dome support structure, a collapsible dome positioned in the opening and engaged with the dome support structure, and a cover member coupled to the dome support structure and covering the collapsible dome, thereby retaining the collapsible dome within the opening of the dome support structure.

Keyboard for electronic device

A key mechanism including one or more butterfly hinges. Each butterfly hinge may include a double wing design operative to move between a depressed position and non-depressed position. Hinged coupling mechanisms couple respective arms of the wings together. Additionally or alternatively, a key mechanism can include one or more half-butterfly hinges. Each half-butterfly hinge includes a double wing design operative to move between a depressed position and non-depressed position. A hinged coupling mechanism couples one set of corresponding arms of the wings together, while the other set of corresponding arms are not coupled together.

Low-travel key mechanisms using butterfly hinges

Cable assemblies for providing electrical communication between hinged sections of an electronic device are described. The cable assemblies can include a cover that covers one or more cables that run through a hinge region of the electronic device. The cable and cover can be drawn over a mandrel of the hinge region. The cover and the portions of the mandrel can be visible to a user at the hinge region of the electronic device. The cover can be sufficiently rigid to guide a path of the cable and protect the cable from bending beyond a prescribed angle during rotation of the electronic device at the hinge region. The cover can also be sufficiently rigid to prevent ceasing or folding of the cover and the cable during rotation of the electronic device at the hinge region. The cable assemblies can also include a hinged cover that can be pivoted to close a gap between two hinged sections of the electronic device.

An electronic device may be provided with antenna structures that are embedded in a dielectric such as plastic. The plastic may be molded over the antenna structures using molding equipment. Antenna structures may be embedded in molded plastic structures such as plastic electronic device housing structures. The plastic electronic device housing structures may form housing structures such as housing wall structures. The antenna structures may be embedded within the housing wall structures in the vicinity of an exterior surface of the housing wall structures. Embedded antenna structures may also be mounted under other dielectric structures such portions of a display cover layer.

Embedded antenna structures

A key mechanism for an electronic device includes a switch housing and a hinged structure. As one example, the hinged structure can be a butterfly hinge. The switch housing includes switch pin retaining mechanisms on opposing sides of the switch housing. The hinged structure includes two separate wings that are positioned adjacent to each other such that a cavity is formed between the two wings. The two wings are coupled together by coupling elements. The wings of the hinged structure can include switch housing pins on each arm of the wing that extend into the cavity and couple to the switch pin retaining mechanisms in the switch housing. Various configurations of switch pin retaining mechanisms and switch housing pins can be used to attach the hinged structure to the switch housing.

Illuminated low-travel key mechanism for a keyboard

Low-travel key mechanism for an input device

An electronic device having protruding features and a method for molding the protruding features to the electronic device are described. The protruding features may be formed by a molding tool that releases a material that flows through several apertures of a substrate. Also, the molding tool is positioned with respect to the substrate such that the material from the molding tool flows from an interior region of the substrate to an exterior region of the substrate via the several apertures. Accordingly, each aperture extends from an opening of the interior region and to an opening of the exterior region of the substrate. In some cases, the apertures may include a conical shape. For example, the opening in the interior region may include a diameter greater than a diameter of the opening in the exterior region. In this manner, the material, when cured, is mechanically secured to the substrate.

Micro-perforation overmolding gate

A key mechanism can include one or more butterfly hinges. Each butterfly hinge includes a double wing design operative to move between a depressed position and non-depressed position. Hinged coupling mechanisms couple respective arms of the wings together.

Low-travel key mechanisms with butterfly hinges

Systems and methods of providing a tooling system for forming a unitary housing are disclosed herein. One embodiment may utilize a plurality of injection cavity slides. The slides may form the interior cavity of the housing. Utilizing a plurality of injection cavity slides to form a single cavity insert may allow the slides to be remove from an opening in the housing which is smaller than the cavity of the housing. Removing the slides from housing allows for the formation of housing having a unitary structure.

Injection mold with multi-axial core inserts

Growing community of inventors

Santa Clara, CA, United States of America

Bruce E Berg