Apple Inc.

Denis G Chen

Darya Amin-Shahidi

Alex M Lee

Shingo Yoneoka

Hari Vasudevan

Scott D Ridel

Chin Han Lin

Manoj K Bhattacharyya

Arman Hajati

Xingxing Cai

Alex J Speltz

Riccardo Tarelli

Brian S Medower

Juil Lee

Jui Hua Liu

Alex Joseph Lehmann

Parin Patel

Meng Zhang

Timothy D Koch

Dominic P Cincione

Chi Kin Ho

Mi Hye Shin

Tristan R Hudson

Adriane S Niehaus

Jonathan A Gordon

Matthew Thomas Metzler

Vu A Hong

Matthew N Weege

Matthew D Dombach

Domenico Geria

Etienne Marecal

Eric M Innis

Michael S Weinstein

A torque feedback mechanism for a trigger or lever using a rotary reluctance engine is disclosed. In some examples, the rotary reluctance engine includes two fixed asymmetric core/coil assemblies located on one or both sides of a permanent magnet. In some examples, the core/coil assemblies are fixed in place, and the permanent magnet is coupled to the trigger or lever such that the magnet rotates with respect to the core/coil assemblies as the trigger or lever is squeezed. When the coils of the engine are programmably energized, the cores are magnetized at different angular rotations of the trigger or lever, creating a torque feedback profile that can be quickly modified to provide more or less torque at different angular displacements during the squeezing of the trigger or lever to emulate different triggers or levers.

Rotary reluctance input device with asymmetric poles

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

A reluctance haptic engine for an electronic device includes a core, an attractor plate, and mechanical suspension. The core and/or the attractor plate may be coupled to an input structure, such as a button cap, a trackpad cover, or a touchscreen cover. In an unactuated configuration, flexible support members maintain a gap between the core and the attractor plate. 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 to produce a haptic output.

Reluctance haptic engine for an electronic device

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 for handling user input gestures on an extended trackpad of an electronic device are provided.

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for handling user input gestures on an extended trackpad of an electronic device

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.

An integrated circuit (IC) chip including an array of asymmetrically distributed magnetic field sensing elements. Additionally, an integrated circuit (IC) chip includes a substrate, a sensing coil supported by the substrate and enclosing a portion of substrate, and a Hall effect sensor supported by the portion of the substrate enclosed by the sensing coil.

Motion sensing using hall voltage signals

A haptic engine for measuring displacement of the haptic engine's mass uses a single sensing magnet that is carried by the mass along a driving direction. The haptic engine further uses two or more Hall-effect sensors, which are spaced apart (i) from each other along a direction parallel to the driving direction and (ii) from the single sensing magnet along a direction orthogonal to the driving direction, and are disposed adjacent to an ASIC that receives the sensors' output.

Haptic engine having a single sensing magnet and multiple hall-effect sensors

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

Described herein is a method for determining a higher order resonance mode frequency of a haptic actuator for an electronic device. The higher order resonance mode frequency may correspond to a frequency in which a mass of the haptic actuator exhibits undesired movement. The movement may cause the mass to collide or otherwise impact an enclosure of the haptic actuator. Once the higher order resonance mode frequency is determined, a delay or a polarity inversion may be added to one or more of a series of input waveforms to suppress or brake the undesired movement.

Dampening mechanical modes of a haptic actuator using a delay

In an embodiment, a single-sided or double-sided moving magnet haptic engine comprises: a frame; one or more magnetic field sources mounted to the frame and operable to generate a magnetic field and a back electromotive force (EMF) voltage; a magnetic mass positioned within the frame and operable to move within the frame along a movement axis; a comparator mounted to the frame, the comparator operable to detect the magnetic field and to generate a signal indicating a crossing of one or more magnetic references by the magnetic field; and a processor coupled to the one or more sensors and operable to estimate a displacement of the magnetic mass on the movement axis based on the back EMF voltage and the signal. Other embodiments are directed to a single-sided or double-sided moving coil haptic engine.

Growing community of inventors

San Jose, CA, United States of America

Denis G Chen