Apple Inc.

Google Inc.

Kno, Inc.

Michelle Yu

Kurt R Stiehl

Jeffrey Y Hayashida

Cameron P Frazier

Trent Weber

Christopher D Prest

Richard Hung Minh Dinh

Shaohai Chen

Ji Heun Lee

Michael Benjamin Wittenberg

Jason S Sloey

James Tanner

Wilhelmus M C Crooijmans

Scott A Myers

Gadi Amit

Tang Yew Tan

Adam Duckworth Mittleman

Yoshikazu Hoshino

Kyle H Yeates

Aaron Leiba

Philip J Houdek, Ii

Julien Rouillac

Jae Han Lee

Wim Crooijmans

Osman Rashid

Babur Habib

Phillip George Tamchina

Barbara A Stettler

David M Straus

Felix Jose Alvarez Rivera

Andrew Bowers

Felix Jose Rivera

An electronic device may have buttons, a display, and a vibrator unit. Buttons may be included in electronic devices such as glass buttons, metal buttons, buttons that are assembled on printed circuit boards, and buttons that are partly formed from antenna structures. Button coatings may be used to improve the sliding performance of metal-on-metal buttons. A layer of polymer may be interposed between a button plate and a housing structure. A glass button member may have an underside on which a layer of patterned ink is formed. Elastomeric members may be used to reduce button rattle. Portions of a button may be provided with conductive features that form portions of an antenna.

Button structures for electronic devices

Electronic devices are provided with ejectable component assemblies. Each ejectable component assembly may include a tray that can be loaded with one or more types of removable module, such as a mini-SIM card and a micro-SIM card, and inserted into the device. Each assembly may also include a base coupled to a circuit board for electrically coupling with the removable module, a cage for biasing the module down against the base, and a guide for retaining the module at a functional insertion position within the device.

Compact ejectable component assemblies in electronic devices

A base may include a frame, a keyboard partially enclosed by the frame, a battery, and a single coil coupled to the battery. The keyboard may be configured to wirelessly communicate with a computing device. The battery may be configured to provide power to the keyboard. The single coil may be configured to induce a current from a magnetic field to charge the battery. The base may not include any charging coils other than the single coil.

Charging keyboard based on magnetic field generated by computing device

A device is disclosed as including a hinge disposed intermediate of a display and a keyboard. the hinge includes an at least partially cylindrical housing and a friction band, the hinge providing rotation of the display and the keyboard around a pivot axis extending longitudinally along the hinge. The friction band comprises one or more compression members configured to extend around the pivot axis and in a compressed configuration with an inner surface of the housing to create friction between the inner surface of the housing and an outer surface of the one or more compression members.

Connector integrated into friction hinge

A small form-factor input device operative to be coupled to an electronic device using a cable may include a circuit board; a first electrical switch disposed on a first side of the circuit board; a second electrical switch disposed on a second side of the circuit board; a frame defining a periphery, wherein the circuit board is maintained within the periphery of the frame; first and second shells that house the circuit board, the first shell placed over the first side of the circuit board, and the second shell placed over the second side of the circuit board; and at least one clip coupled to each one of the first shell and the second shell, wherein the at least one clip is operative to engage the frame.

Cable micro input devices

A connector for receiving a cylindrical plug includes a body defining a plug aperture and a cavity for receiving the cylindrical plug. A plurality of electrical contacts in communication with the cavity make electrical connections with the cylindrical plug and retain the cylindrical plug. A microphone is coupled to the body such that the plug aperture and the cavity provide an acoustic path to the microphone. The microphone may be at an end of the connector opposite the plug aperture or on a side of the connector adjacent the plug aperture. The connector allows a microphone to be added to a device, such as a mobile telephone, without the need for an additional external aperture. The microphone in the connector may operate with a second microphone and processing electronics in the device to provide audio processing functions such as noise cancellation or audio beamforming.

Audio jack with included microphone

In one general aspect, an apparatus can include a display portion, a base frame coupled to the display portion where the base frame includes a channel defined by a top wall opposite a bottom wall and a side wall coupled to the top wall and to the bottom wall. The side wall can have an outer surface defining at least a portion of an outer perimeter of the base frame. The channel can have a first portion on a first side of the base frame and a second portion on a second side of the base frame opposite the first side of the base frame. The apparatus can include a midplane having a first edge disposed in the first portion of the channel and having a second edge disposed in the second portion of the channel.

Apparatus related to a structure of a base portion of a computing device

In cable micro input devices

A portable electronic device that provides compact configurations for audio elements are disclosed. The audio elements can be drivers (e.g., speakers) or receivers (e.g., microphones). In one embodiment, an audio element can be mounted on or coupled to an intermediate structure (e.g., a flexible electrical substrate) having an opening therein to allow audio sound to pass there through. In another embodiment, an audio chamber can be formed to assist in directing audio sound between an opening an outer housing and a flexible electronic substrate to which the audio element is mounted or coupled thereto. In still another embodiment, a barrier, such as a mesh barrier, can be provided in an opening of an outer housing so that undesired foreign substances can be blocked from further entry into the opening in the outer housing.

Audio port configuration for compact electronic devices

A computing device can include a base portion housing a central processing unit, a heat exhaust element disposed within the base portion and operable to move air past the central processing unit, a display portion configured to display information to a user, and a metal hinge portion operably coupling the base portion to the display portion and being operable to couple the base portion to the display portion between an open and a closed configuration. The hinge portion can include a hollow cavity extending parallel to a longitudinal axis of the metal hinge and a longitudinal slot in a wall of the metal hinge and parallel to the longitudinal axis, where the longitudinal slot is positioned relative to the heat exhaust element so as to receive air moved by the heat exhaust element through the slot and into the hollow cavity.

Notebook metal hinge as heat sink element

A device having a display and a keyboard is provided. The device includes a hinge disposed intermediate of the display and the keyboard, wherein the hinge includes a housing, a friction band, and a connector. The friction band is in compression and configured to create friction against the housing. The housing is part of the connector.

The computer display includes a display case, a bezel, and a bezel frame in contact with the display case and the bezel, the bezel frame including at least one portion extending away from the bezel to a surface of the display case, the at least one portion defining at least a portion of a cavity.

Computer display including a bezel

An electronic device may be provided with a housing having housing sidewalls. A plate may be connected between a pair of the sidewalls. An audio jack may be mounted to the plate. A microphone may be mounted within the device between the audio jack and a given one of the sidewalls. A vibrator may be mounted between one of the sidewalls and the audio jack using a bracket. The vibrator may have a weight that is tapered along its length. A button may be formed in an opening in one of the housing sidewalls. The button may have a button member with a protrusion that extends through a button opening in the sidewall. A support structure may be interposed between a switch and the button member. The switch may have a portion that extends through an opening in the support structure and that is actuated by the button member.

Growing community of inventors

Oakland, CA, United States of America

Michelle Yu