Apple Inc.

Eric W Bates

Richard Hung Minh Dinh

Sawyer Isaac Cohen

Richard P Howarth

Shota Aoyagi

Jonathan P Ive

Duncan Robert Kerr

Bartley K Andre

Eugene Antony Whang

Peter N Russell-Clarke

Martha Evans Hankey

Jody R Akana

Jeremy D Bataillou

Julian Hoenig

Benjamin Andrew Shaffer

Anthony Michael Ashcroft

Molly J Anderson

Markus Peter Diebel

Clement Tissandier

Julian Jaede

Marine C Bataille

Scott A Myers

Matthew D Hill

Lucy Elizabeth Browning

Benjamin J Kallman

Tyler B Cater

Yaocheng Zhang

Paul U Leutheuser

Michael W Firka

Ihtesham H Chowdhury

Christopher R Xydis

Xiao Ying Zhao

Hugh J Jay

Benjamin J Pope

Sung-Ho Tan

Gregory N Stephens

Kevin M Froese

David A Hurrell

Rico L Zorkendorfer

Mikael M Silvanto

Abidur Rahman Chowdhury

Clara Geneviève Marine Courtaigne

Jonathan Gomez Garcia

Tang Yew Tan

David A Pakula

Rico Zörkendörfer

John J Baker

Edward S Huo

Rasamy Phouthavong

Martin J Auclair

Richard A Besen

Hani Esmaeili

Matthew P Rao

Trent J Canales

Timothy S Lui

Kurtis J Mundell

Luman Zhang

Salome Bavetta

Mu-Hua Cheng

Daniel William Jarvis

Hao Xu

Shayan Malek

Benjamin Shane Bustle

Zhen Zhang

Zhipeng Zhang

Yiren Wang

Douglas G Fournier

William A Counts

Han Wang

Izhar Zahoor Ahmed

Ying-Chih Wang

Jian Yang

Hao Dong

Jun Sik Ham

Devon A Monaco

Jingjing Xu

Donald J Parr

Kodiak D Burke

Yuan Tao

Peter A Dvorak

Bryan D Keen

Sina Bigdeli

Ana Papio Toda

Michael K Mondry

Shaorui Yang

Griffin L Schmitt

Matthew W Miller

Ronald Lam

Allegra Shum

Shaowei Qin

Bulong Wu

Kikue S Burnham

Jason C Law

Isabel S Gueble

Siddharth Avachat

Sarah Trabia

Benjamin R Pope

Jack R Lanzi

Display for an electronic device

An electronic device may be provided with a liquid crystal polymer (LCP) printed circuit having conductive trace and a hole. A conductive flange may be soldered to the conductive trace and may extend into the hole. The end of the conductive flange may laterally surround a central opening within the hole. A conductive contact may be inserted into the central opening. Solder may be deposited over the conductive flange and in the central opening. The solder may couple the conductive contact to the conductive flange and thus the conductive trace. This may ensure a robust mechanical and electrical connection between the conductive contact and the conductive trace on the printed circuit despite the printed circuit being formed from LCP, which may not support copper-plated through vias for coupling to the conductive contact.

Electronic device having conductive contact soldered to printed circuit

Housing module for an electronic device

An electronic device includes a housing that defines an aperture, and a display assembly positioned in the aperture. The display assembly can include a display layer having a first portion, and a second portion bending at least partially below the first portion. The first portion and the second portion can define a bend volume, and a potting material can be disposed in the bend volume, such that the potting material contacts the first portion and the second portion. An internal enclosure can be contoured to the display assembly.

Display panel bend reinforcement

A portable electronic device includes a housing member defining a first portion of an exterior front surface of the portable electronic device, a first portion of an exterior rear surface of the portable electronic device, at least a portion of an exterior side surface of the portable electronic device, a recess along an interior side of the housing member, and a ledge feature along the interior side of the housing member. The device also includes a top module coupled to the housing member and including a front cover defining a second portion of the exterior front surface of the portable electronic device, a display stack attached to the front cover, and a frame member extending at least partially around a periphery of the display stack and set apart from a surface of the recess by a gap.

Handheld electronic device

A portable electronic device includes a front cover, a rear cover, and a housing structure between and coupled to the front cover and the rear cover. The housing structure includes a first housing member defining and a first interlock feature formed along a first end surface. The portable electronic device also includes a second housing member defining a second interlock feature formed along a second end surface. The portable electronic device also includes a nonconductive joining element engaged with the first interlock feature and the second interlock feature, thereby structurally coupling the first housing member to the second housing member.

Electronic devices, such as mobile communication devices, may include several enhancements and modification not found on traditional electronic devices. An electronic device can include a circuit board assembly that includes stacked layers of circuit components that are retained in a stacked configuration and operably connected to each other by retention features such as solder joints. Features can be provided for structural support and thermal mitigation. A battery assembly can accommodate nesting of other components, such as display components, within one or more recesses defined by variable thickness along different regions of the battery assemblies. The battery assembly can further provide a slim profile by including notches to accommodate the increased thickness of a pouch having folded flaps to seal a cell module of the battery assembly.

Portable electronic device

An electronic device having several modifications designed to prevent liquid ingress into an opening (or openings) of the electronic device is disclosed. For example, the electronic device includes a SIM tray having a sealing element designed to provide a seal at an opening that receives the SIM tray. The sealing element may include a first section and a second section extending from the first section, with the first section designed to bend with respect to (and in some cases collapse onto) the second section. The electronic device may further include an audio module fitted with a sealing element. The sealing element may include extensions extending away from a main body of the sealing element, with some extension designed to engage the audio module, and other extensions designed to engage an audio module interface. The sealing element provides a seal against liquid ingress into the audio module.

Electronic device with liquid-resistant SIM tray and audio module

An electronic device may have a printed circuit to which electrical components are mounted. The electrical components may include a thermal sensor and a pressure sensor. A through hole in the printed circuit may receive the shaft of a standoff. The standoff may be soldered to plated metal on the sides of the through hole. A screw or other fastener may secure the printed circuit to a housing for the electronic device. A ring-shaped metal member may be soldered to the printed circuit. The ring-shaped metal member may form a bumper that surrounds the screw or other fastener and the thermal sensor. The pressure sensor may have a port through which ambient pressure measurements are made. A dust protection cover such as a fabric or other porous layer may cover the port.

Component protection structures for electronic devices

An electronic device having liquid-resistant modifications that prevent liquid ingress into an opening (or openings) in an enclosure of the electronic device is disclosed. For example, the electronic device may include a coating formed from a liquid-resistant material that is applied internally to the enclosure. The electronic device may further include a frame that carries a protective transparent layer designed to cover a display assembly. In order to secure the frame with the enclosure, the electronic device may include an adhesive assembly disposed over an outer perimeter of the coating. The adhesive assembly may include several adhesive parts initially separate from one another. However, with the adhesive parts between the frame and the enclosure, the adhesive parts can be compressed by the frame and the enclosure, causing the adhesive parts to expand and engage each other. As a result, the coating and the adhesive parts provide a seal against liquid.

Liquid-resistant coating on an electronic device

In some designs, getting a flexible circuit (flex) to assume a bent state can be helpful in efficiently routing electrically conductive pathways. One efficient way to implement soldering of flexes in a bent state during a reflow operation is to manipulate paneling that hold batches of the flexes to reliably maintain a suitable bend in those flexes. In some embodiments, a flex can be surface mounted to a portion or the whole of an electric device during a reflow operation during which the bent state is maintained by paneling that is at least partially attached to a periphery of the flex. Another solution is to utilize vacuum or hot glue fixtures to maintain a bend in the flex during surface mounting and reflow operations.

3D flex soldering

Battery for electronic device

Growing community of inventors

Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

Eric W Bates