Apple Inc.

Nathan Nicholas Ng

Zheng Gao

Min Chul Kim

Mahmoud R Amini

Colin J Abraham

Jae Hwang Lee

Paul Z Yuan

Chris A Ligtenberg

Bradley Joseph Hamel

Alex Joseph Lehmann

William P Cornelius

George Tziviskos

Paul A Baker

John C DiFonzo

Ricardo Alba Mariano

Robert Scritzky

Paul Joseph Hack

William O Ferry

Kyle J Nekimken

Rimple Bhatia

Scott J McEuen

Forrest Wen Liau

Josh Pong

Sanjay Champaklal Sheth

Vince Duperron

Matthew B Frazer

Joonas Ilmari Ponkala

Sridhar Sundaram

Samuel W Yuen

James R Kroghahl

My Vu

Jason Squire

Jason Hwang Lee

Rian Leichter

Connector systems may include a connector receptacle and connector plug or insert. The connector receptacle may include a tongue. The tongue may be formed using a printed circuit board. Contacts may be plated on top and bottom surfaces of the tongue. Retention features may also be located on top and bottom surfaces of tongue. These retention features may be speed bumps or other features. The connector insert may include a leading edge portion formed of plastic, a conductive shield around the insert behind the leasing edge portion, a plurality of spring contacts attached to an inside of the conductive shield, a top row of contacts; and a bottom row of contacts. Other connector receptacles may include a tongue having side ground contacts. The side ground contacts may engage an inside of a plug shield and have contacting portion to fit in openings in the plug shield.

Connector receptacle having a tongue

Connector inserts having retention features with good reliability and holding force. These connector inserts may include ground contacts that provide an insertion portion having a reduced length. These connector inserts may be reliable, have an attractive appearance, and be readily manufactured.

Connector insert assembly

Connector systems may include a connector receptacle and connector plug or insert. The connector receptacle may include a tongue. A first plurality of contacts may be formed on a top surface of the tongue. A first ground pad may be located on a top surface of tongue, and a shield may be formed around the tongue. The connector insert may include a housing and a conductive shield around the housing behind a leading edge of the connector insert. A front edge of the shield may be folded into an opening at the leading edge. In other examples, the receptacle shield may include one or more fingers. These fingers may contact the connector insert shield to form a ground path. One or more of these fingers may engage openings in the insert shield to provide a retention force between the connector insert and receptacle.

Connector receptacle having a shield

A laminated stack, such as a trackpad, is assembled by coupling components using an adhesive system. Assembly of the laminated stack includes forming an adhesive-spacing component on a first substrate, forming an adhesive-alignment-holding component on the first substrate in a perimeter around the adhesive-spacing component, forming a bonding component by filling an area within the perimeter with liquid adhesive, and bonding the first substrate to a second substrate by curing the bonding component. The first substrate and the second substrate may each be one of a touch-sensing component and a cover component. The adhesive-spacing component maintains a space between the first substrate and the second substrate while the bonding component cures. The adhesive-alignment-holding component maintains alignment of the first substrate and the second substrate while the bonding component cures.

Rigid trackpad for an electronic device

Circuits, methods, and apparatus that may reduce the number of connector receptacles that are needed on an electronic device. One example may provide a unified connector and circuitry that may be capable of communicating with more than one interface.

Unified connector for multiple interfaces

Connector inserts having a high signal integrity and low insertion loss by shielding signal contacts. One example may provide one or more ground contacts between a front opening and signal pins of a connector insert. These ground contacts may have sufficient lever arm to provide a good contact to a corresponding contact in a connector receptacle. To avoid excessive length in the connector insert, embodiments of the present invention may stack a portion of the ground contact above the signal contacts in the connector insert. To reduce excessive capacitance that would otherwise reduce signal impedance, one or more openings may be formed in the ground contacts. To prevent signal contacts from shorting to a shield through this opening, the opening may be covered by tape. The ground contacts may be positioned to avoid encountering power contacts in the receptacle when the insert is inserted into the receptacle.

Ground contacts for reduced-length connector inserts

Connecting structures to mechanically connect to a connector receptacle tongue and a printed circuit board and to electrically connect contacts on the connector receptacle tongue to traces on the printed circuit board. One example may provide an interposer having a housing and a plurality of contacts to connect a vertical tongue to a horizontal printed circuit board. The contacts may have a side or tongue connecting portion extending beyond a side of the housing and a bottom or board contacting portion extending beyond a bottom of the housing. The contacts may form a ninety-degree bend. A shield may at least substantially surround a vertical side of the housing.

Interposers having three housings interconnected to each other

Low cost ground connections for standard connectors and connectors having reduced pin counts. One example may provide a connector system including a connector insert having a plurality of contacts along a top or bottom, or both top and bottom, of a connector insert, where first contacts in the plurality of contacts may be used to convey power, ground, or data and where second contacts in the plurality of contacts are used for ground. The second contacts may be arranged to have contacting portions that are positioned in the insert at different heights relative to the top or bottom of the connector insert and at different depths relative to a front opening of the connector insert.

Additional ground paths for connectors having reduced pin counts

Connector inserts having contacts with a high-impedance for good signal integrity and low insertion loss, a pleasant physical appearance, and that may be reliably manufactured. One example may provide connector inserts having signal contacts with a high impedance in order to improve signal integrity to allow high data rates. Another may provide connector inserts having a pleasant appearance by providing features to prevent light gaps from occurring between a plastic tip at a front of the connector insert and a connector insert shield. Another may provide reliable manufacturing by crimping a cap used to secure a cable to a connector insert with a multi-section die, where contacting surfaces of the die include various points or peaks along their surface. These points may effectively wrinkle or jog the perimeter of the cap, thereby reducing the dimensions of a cross-section of the cable.

Techniques and apparatus for providing one or more holes in a housing for an electronic device are disclosed. The one or more holes in the housing can be used to facilitate visual indicators. A light source can be controlled to provide light into a hole and thus emit light from the hole. When the light source is not providing light to the hole, the hole can be visually disguised (e.g., camouflaged) so it blends with the surrounding portions of the housing. The electronic device can, for example, be a small electronic device, such as a portable or handheld electronic device.

Camouflaged openings in electronic device housings

Growing community of inventors

Fremont, CA, United States of America

Nathan Nicholas Ng