Apple Inc.

Spectra-physics Gmbh

John C DiFonzo

Chris A Ligtenberg

Stephen Paul Zadesky

Nick Merz

Michael J Prichard

Zheng Gao

Bradley Joseph Hamel

Bartley K Andre

Bertram C Johnson

Paul Xiaopeng Wang

Michael Benjamin Wittenberg

David Albert Lundgren

Min Chul Kim

Zhipeng Zhang

Richard H Koch

Riley E Brandt

Michael Kriege

Dan Hong

David Lynch

Matthew Dean Rohrbach

Jean-Marc Gery

Chang Zhang

Mark Edward Doutt

Kanye Lim

Richard L Herbst

Dayu Qu

Mark E Seeger

Zachary Zeliff

Daniele De Iuliis

Fletcher R Rothkopf

Brett W Degner

Tang Yew Tan

Dinesh C Mathew

John Raff

Keith J Hendren

Ron Alan Hopkinson

Mahmoud R Amini

John M Brock

Charles A Schwalbach

Alex Joseph Lehmann

Aidan N Zimmerman

William Francis Leggett

George Tziviskos

Michelle Rae Goldberg

Andrew Lewis Johnston

Laura M DeForest

Gavin J Reid

Hao Zhu

Paul Choiniere

Nathan Nicholas Ng

Abhijeet Misra

Daniel T McDonald

Paul Joseph Hack

Kevin M Kenney

Sean Murphy

Greg Springer

Timothy S Hibbard

Stephen C Fenwick

Joshua J Pong

Brian Girvin

Scott J Krahn

Charles J Kuehmann

Eric Monsef

Josh Pong

Nicholas L Qu

Shuhi Mori

Vince Duperron

Glenn Aune

Sridhar Sundaram

Dave Narajowski

Daniel Hong

Ayoub Yari Boroujeni

Navpreet S Kaloty

Rian Leichter

Jean-March Gery

Shyue-Yang Wang

Disclosed herein is an input device having adjustable input mechanisms. The input mechanisms of the input device may be dynamically adjusted based on one or more input characteristics associated with a user. Accordingly, the input device may be customized to fit a user's input preferences.

Input device having adjustable input mechanisms

An electronic device includes an enclosure and a keyboard positioned within the enclosure. The keyboard includes a substrate and a key mechanism. The key mechanism includes a keycap support mechanism, a keycap supported by the keycap support mechanism and movable relative to the substrate, a ferromagnetic component attached to the keycap support mechanism, and a selectively magnetizable magnet. The selectively magnetizable magnet system may include a magnetizable material and a coil configured to selectively magnetize and demagnetize the magnetizable material. The key mechanism may include a collapsible dome biasing the keycap toward the extended position.

Bistable retractable buttons

Connectors that have a low profile, can form strong and reliable connections despite connection alignment errors, and can be readily manufactured. One example can provide a connector receptacle having a magnetic array arranged to provide a strong attachment that allows the use of a low profile connector receptacle and connector insert. The magnetic array can include magnets and magnetic elements, where the magnetic elements can be magnetically conductive pole-pieces. Each pole piece can have magnets at two of its sides. Another example can provide contacts for a connector insert that can have more than one contacting surface to connect to a contact of a connector receptacle.

Magnetic connectors with self-centering floating contacts

A system may include a finger device that is worn on a user's finger. The finger device may serve as a controller for a head-mounted device or other devices in the system. The finger device may have a foldable housing with hinge structures that allow portions of the housing to fold with respect to each other. Magnets or other bistability structures may be used to provide the folding housing with folding bistability. This allows the housing to be placed in a stable unfolded state that releases the finger or a stable folded state in which the housing snaps over the finger and holds the finger device in place. A base may be used to store the finger device for charging. The base may have deployment structures that help place the finger device on the user's finger for use.

Deployment systems for computer system finger devices

A component for an electronic device can include a metal alloy formed by a metal injection molding process. The metal alloy can have a composition of about 32 wt % to about 38 wt % cobalt and about 62 wt % to about 68 wt % iron.

Soft magnetic alloy optimized for metal injection molding

Spring-loaded contacts having an improved reliability. One example may provide spring-loaded contacts having a reduced likelihood of entanglement between a spring and a plunger. For example, a piston may be placed between a plunger and a spring. The piston may have a head portion that is wider than the diameter of the spring and located between the spring and the plunger to isolate the spring and the plunger. In these and other examples, an additional object, such as a sphere, may be placed between the plunger and spring. In another example, two additional objects, such as two spheres, may be placed between a plunger and piston.

Spring-loaded contacts

A magnetic connector system having a durable and reliable construction and a reduced height while maintaining sufficient holding strength. A connector insert may utilize a crimping piece to crimp a braiding of a cable. The crimping piece may be fixed to an attraction plate and a board in the insert for mechanical reliability. Retention clips may be used to fix a shell to the attraction plate. A connector receptacle may employ a magnetically conductive label to improve holding strength.

Connector insert having a cable crimp portion with protrusions and a receptacle having a label in the front

A spring-loaded contact may include a barrel to form a housing for the spring-loaded contact, a plunger at least partially enclosed by the barrel, a spring enclosed by the barrel, and a sphere between the plunger and the spring. A back of the plunger may be formed at an angle and to include a retention guide, the retention guide partly over the sphere such that the sphere may be in contact with the back of the plunger and the retention guide.

Spring loaded contacts having sloped backside with retention guide

An electrical plug and receptacle relying on magnetic force from an electromagnet to maintain contact are disclosed. The plug and receptacle can be used as part of a power adapter for connecting an electronic device, such as a laptop computer, to a power supply. The plug includes electrical contacts, which are preferably biased toward corresponding contacts on the receptacle. The plug and receptacle each have a magnetic element. The magnetic element on one of the plug or receptacle can be a magnet or ferromagnetic material. The magnetic element on the other of the plug or receptacle is an electromagnet. When the plug and receptacle are brought into proximity, the magnetic attraction between the electromagnet magnet and its complement, whether another magnet or a ferromagnetic material, maintains the contacts in an electrically conductive relationship.

Electromagnetic connector for electronic device

A multipart computer housing is described. The multipart computer housing includes at least a structural support layer and a body. The body includes at least an outer layer formed of lightweight flexible material and an inner layer attached to the outer layer. The inner layer is connected to the support layer forming a load path between the inner layer and the structural support layer. A load applied to the multipart computer housing is transferred by way of the load path to the support layer without substantially affecting the outer layer.

Computer housing

A computing device is disclosed. The computing device includes a shock mount assembly that is configured to provide impact absorption to sensitive components such as a display and an optical disk drive. The computing device also includes an enclosureless optical disk drive that is housed by an enclosure and other structures of the computing device. The computing device further includes a heat transfer system that removes heat from a heat producing element of the computing device. The heat transfer system is configured to thermally couple the heat producing element to a structural member of the computing device so as to sink heat through the structural member, which generally has a large surface area for dissipating the heat.

Heat dissipation in computing device

Growing community of inventors

San Mateo, CA, United States of America

John C DiFonzo