Elwha LLC

Kimberly Da Hallman

Lowell L Wood, Jr

Roderick A Hyde

Clarence T Tegreene

Jordin T Kare

Nathan P Myhrvold

Robert W Lord

Muriel Y Ishikawa

Charles Whitmer

Richard T Lord

David Bazeley Tuckerman

Craig J Mundie

Hon Wah Chin

Howard Lee Davidson

Marc Tremblay

Eric D Rudder

Nicholas F Pasch

Philip Lionel Barnes

Brian Lee

Described embodiments include a portable electronic device. The device includes a shell and a heat-generating component. The device includes a first and a second exterior heat-rejection element. Each heat-rejection element is configured to reject heat received from the heat-generating component into an environment. The device includes a controllable thermal coupler configured to regulate heat transfer to the first and second heat-rejection elements. The device includes a first proximity sensor configured to determine if a user touch to the shell is within a first zone of possible heat discomfort. The device includes a thermal manager configured to regulate heat transfer by the controllable thermal coupler to the first and second heat-rejection elements. The regulated heat transfer includes adjusting heat rejection away from the first heat-rejection element and toward the second heat-rejection element if the user touch is within the first zone.

Management of exterior temperatures encountered by user of a portable electronic device using multiple heat-rejection elements

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Bellevue, WA, United States of America

Kimberly Da Hallman