Western Digital Technologies, Inc.

Apple Inc.

Hgst Netherlands, B.v.

Darya Amin-Shahidi

Toshiki Hirano

Thomas R Albrecht

Denis G Chen

Alex M Lee

Michael Stephen Bell

Kirk Barrows Price

Jeffrey David Wilke

Vipin Ayanoor-Vitikkate

Hari Vasudevan

Vipin Ayanoor Vitikkate

Juil Lee

Scott D Ridel

Lidu Huang

Alex J Speltz

Neale Marvin Jones

Alex Joseph Lehmann

Parin Patel

Brenton A Baugh

Abhishek Dhanda

Shingo Yoneoka

Scott D Abrahamson

Riccardo Tarelli

Dominic P Cincione

Hussam Zebian

Jeff Wilke

Chi Kin Ho

Tristan R Hudson

Adriane S Niehaus

Todd McNally

Vu A Hong

Jonathan A Gordon

Matthew Thomas Metzler

Pongpinit Towashiraporn

Eric M Innis

Michael S Weinstein

Matthew N Weege

Denis M Chen

Matthew D Dombach

Etienne Marecal

A software defined button includes a force sensor and a haptic output element. The button further includes an immutable logic core and a mutable logic core. The mutable logic core is configured to define one or more thresholds against which input received from the force sensor can be compared to determine whether a user input has been provided. The immutable logic core is configured to verify actual force input has been received when the mutable logic core signals that user input has been received. In response to receiving a verified force input, the haptic output element can be caused to be driven by one of the mutable or immutable logic cores to provide a haptic output to a user.

Secure integrated circuit for smart haptics

A haptic actuator may include a housing, and a stator fixed to a medial interior portion of the housing. The haptic actuator may also include a field member having an opening receiving the stator therein. The field member may include a frame and at least one permanent magnet carried by the frame. The haptic actuator may also include at least one flexure coupled between an end of the frame and adjacent interior portions of the housing to permit reciprocal movement of the field member within the housing responsive to the stator.

Haptic actuator including a field member having an opening receiving a stator therein and related methods

In one embodiment of the present disclosure a haptic actuator is disclosed. The haptic actuator includes a housing, a movable mass, and a pivot assembly attaching the movable mass to the housing. The pivot assembly defines a pivot axis, and the movable mass has a mass center offset from the pivot axis along a lever arm extending perpendicular to the pivot axis. The haptic actuator includes a spring extending between the movable mass and the housing. The spring stores and releases energy received from movement of the movable mass. The spring prevents full rotation of the movable mass about the pivot axis. The haptic actuator includes an electric coil attached to the movable mass. The electric coil intersects the lever arm. The haptic actuator includes at least one magnet attached to the housing. The magnet is at least partially aligned with the electric coil. The movable mass moves with respect to the at least one magnet when a signal is applied to the coil.

Haptic engine based on angular resonant actuator with pivot axis and mass center that differ

Disclosed herein are reluctance actuators and methods for feedback control of their applied force. Embodiments of the reluctance actuators include an electromagnet positioned to deflect a metallic plate to provide a haptic output. The control of the force is provided without force sensors (sensorless control) by monitoring voltage and/or current (V/I) applied during an actuation. For a given intended force output, an electrical parameter value (flux, current, or other parameter) is read from a look up table (LUT). The LUT may store a present value of the inductance of the reluctance actuator. The feedback control may be a quasi-static control in which the LUT is updated after actuation based on the monitored V/I. The feedback control may be real-time, with a controller comparing an estimated electrical parameter value based on the measured V/I with the value from the LUT.

Methods to control force in reluctance actuators based on flux related parameters

A haptic actuator may include a housing, a stator coupled to a medial interior portion of the housing, and a field member within the housing and having an opening receiving the stator therein. The field member may include a frame, and at least one permanent magnet carried by the frame. The at least one permanent magnet may include side-by-side magnetic segments having alternating magnetic polarizations with at least one non-vertical magnetic polarization transition zone between adjacent magnetic segments.

Haptic actuator including permanent magnet having a non-vertical, magnetic polarization transition zone and related methods

A haptic system includes a haptic engine in which a reluctance motor is driven by a driver controller operated in conjunction with an impedance-estimator that uses amplitude-modulated calibration signals. An enveloped-calibration signal is superimposed on a haptic-drive signal to quickly, and accurately, estimate the driving coil's impedance, while minimizing power penalty.

Low-latency impedance estimation for controlling a reluctance motor

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media provide multiple modes of haptic feedback for an electronic device using a single haptic actuator. Adjusting a parameter (e.g., frequency) of an actuator waveform generated by the single haptic actuator may affect how a mechanical coupling between the haptic actuator and a portion of the electronic device produces a device waveform at that device portion from the actuator waveform. A first mechanical coupling with a first response characteristic (e.g., stiffness or resonance frequency) may be provided between the haptic actuator and a first portion of the electronic device (e.g., a user input component of the electronic device), while a second mechanical coupling with a different second response characteristic may be provided between the haptic actuator and a second portion of the electronic device (e.g., the device housing of the electronic device) to selectively provide localized haptic feedback at the first portion of the electronic device.

Multi-modal haptic feedback for an electronic device using a single haptic actuator

A reluctance haptic engine for an electronic device includes a core, an attractor, and one or more flexible support members. The core and/or the attractor may be coupled to an input structure, such as a button cap, trackpad cover, touchscreen cover, or the like. In an unactuated configuration, flexible support members maintain a gap between the core and the attractor. An electrical current may be applied to one or more conduction loops of the core to actuate the reluctance haptic engine and provide a haptic output by moving the input structure. The electrical current may cause a magnetic flux that results in a reluctance force that pulls the attractor and the core together and causes the input structure to move (e.g., translate, rotate, oscillate, vibrate, or deform) to produce a haptic output.

Reluctance haptic engine for an electronic device

According to some embodiments, a haptic feedback module for generating a haptic feedback event is described. The haptic feedback module includes an enclosure having walls that define a cavity. The enclosure is capable of carrying operational components within the cavity that include a frame that includes tungsten, a magnetic coil element that is capable of generating a magnetic field, a magnetic element that is carried within an aperture of the frame, linear-actuation end stops that are welded to a first end of the frame and a second end of the frame that opposes the first end, and springs that couple together the walls of the enclosure to the linear-actuation end stops.

Tungsten frame of a haptic feedback module for a portable electronic device

A compact back-flow stopper using an elastic flexure mechanism for a cooling fan is shown and described. The backflow stopper assembly comprises a frame configured to structurally support a fin array when coupled to a fan. The fin array comprises a plurality of flexural deformation elements and associated fin elements arrayed in a radial arrangement to establish a pathway for airflow, each of the flexural deformation elements configured to move an attached fin element responsive to airflow impacting the attached fin element. Flex limiter elements are coupled to the frame and configured to limit flexure of the fin elements beyond a predetermined flexure in relation to the frame to stop backflow of air through the fin array. A fan assembly with a backflow stopper is shown and described. Also, a data storage assembly using fan assemblies with backflow stoppers is also shown and described.

Flexure back-flow stopper

A module includes a permanent magnet biased electromagnetic haptic engine having a stator and a rotor; a constraint coupled to the stator and the rotor; and a force sensor at least partially attached to the permanent magnet biased electromagnetic haptic engine and configured to sense a force applied to the rotor. The constraint is configured to constrain closure of a gap between the rotor and the stator and bias the rotor toward a rest position in which the rotor is separated from the stator by the gap.

Button providing force sensing and/or haptic output

A data storage device involves inner surfaces of sidewalls of a second cover overlapping with and adhesively bonded with the outer surfaces of sidewalls of an enclosure base having an uppermost top surface, where the second cover or an underlying first cover are removably adhered to the uppermost top surface of the base. The removable adhesive bond may comprise a pressure-sensitive adhesive, which can provide for reworkability during the manufacturing and testing process. The second cover-to-base sidewall bond may form a hermetic seal between the second cover and the base. Hence, a thinner base sidewall adjacent to the recording disks is enabled, leaving more space available for larger-diameter recording disks within a standard form factor, hermetically-sealed storage device, which may be filled with a lighter-than-air gas.

Hermetically-sealed data storage device for increased disk diameter

A module includes a permanent magnet biased electromagnetic haptic engine, a constraint, and a force sensor. The force sensor includes a stator and a shuttle. The constraint is coupled to the stator and the shuttle. The force sensor is at least partially attached to the permanent magnet biased electromagnetic haptic engine and configured to sense a force applied to the module. The constraint is configured to constrain closure of a gap between the stator and the shuttle and bias the shuttle toward a rest position in which the shuttle is separated from the stator by the gap.

Systems, software, devices, and methods of distributing a workload among available data storage devices in a thermal aware manner are described herein. More specifically, the examples herein discuss distributing the workload among the available data storage devices in a thermal aware manner that optimizes collective IOPs of the data storage devices in an enclosure. The thermal aware distribution of the storage operations is determined by a thermal model that predicts thermal characteristics of the data storage system based on inlet air characteristics of the enclosure, performance characteristics and thermal constraints of the data storage devices, and constraints of the workload.

Thermal aware workload scheduling

Growing community of inventors

San Jose, CA, United States of America

Darya Amin-Shahidi