Apple Inc.

Google Inc.

Nicholas George Merz

Daniel William Jarvis

Marwan Rammah

Ian A Spraggs

David A Pakula

Michael Benjamin Wittenberg

Scott A Myers

Lee E Hooton

Richard H Koch

Jonathan M Lee

Benjamin J Pope

Sawyer Isaac Cohen

Rasamy Phouthavong

Laura M Burke

Ekaterina Pease

Martha Evans Hankey

Marcel Van Os

Stephen Brian Lynch

Steven Porter Hotelling

Stephen Paul Zadesky

Terry L Gilton

Adam Duckworth Mittleman

John Patrick Ternus

Brian Richards Land

John C Difonzo

Shayan Malek

Simon Christopher Helmore

Byron Bay Han

Myra Mary Haggerty

John Andrew Wright

Alexander W Williams

Michael J Prichard

Michael A Cretella

Michael Eng

Melissa A Wah

Mushtaq A Sarwar

Paul M Thompson

Christopher S Tomasetta

Owen D Hale

Jason B Neevel

Paul Meade

Jared P Ostdiek

Bryan D Keen

Jason M Gillier

Dale T Morgan

Gareth L Rose

Jacob Barton

Macey E Dade

Samuel J Pliska

Ethan R Stobbe

Richard Hung Minh Dinh

Robert W Schlub

Matthew D Hill

Hong Peng Wang

Christopher Matthew Werner

Joseph C Poole

Ashutosh Yugesh Shukla

Jared Mitchell Kole

Timothy Michael Johnson

Michael Nikkhoo

Douglas Stuart Brodie

Benjamin Shane Bustle

Joshua G Nickel

Kelvin Kwong

James H Foster

Gregory N Stephens

Michael D Quinones

Robert F Meyer

Dennis R Pyper

Derek C Krass

Erica J Tong

Yehonatan Perez

James B Smith

Boon Wai Shiu

Tseng-Mau Yang

Stoyan P Hristov

David J Dunsmoor

Matthew P Rao

Jason P Shannon

Thomas Johannessen

Jon F Housour

Timothy S Lui

Stefan C Mag

Vincent Yan

Chun-Lung Chen

Michael Ngo

Terence N Tam

Kodiak D Burke

Garrett R Owoc

Hoss Ward

Jesse P Harris

Andrew U Leopold

Griffin L Schmitt

Baris Ozgen

Andriy Pletenetskyy

Xuyang Zhang

Dan Jarvis

Brandon R Collins-Smoot

Jiachen Xu

This is directed to systems and methods for coupling sections of an electronic device together. Sections of an electronic device can be coupled together via 'knuckles.' The particular shape and structure of the knuckles can be based on various design considerations. For example, in some embodiments each section can function as an individual antenna. In this case, the knuckles can be designed in order to provide electrical isolation between the sections, thus allowing proper operation of the antennas. For example, the knuckles can be formed from a dielectric material, etc. As another design example, the knuckles can be designed in order to provide increased strength in areas of high strain, and/or to counteract torsional twisting in areas of high impact. As yet another design example, the knuckle can be designed in a manner that is aesthetically pleasing or which otherwise meets cosmetic requirements.

Systems and methods for coupling sections of an electronic device

A portable electronic device may include a housing having a wall defining an opening in the housing and at least a portion of four side surfaces of the portable electronic device. The portable electronic device may further include a display at least partially within the housing, a front cover positioned in the opening in the housing and over the display, the front cover defining a front surface, a peripheral side surface extending from the front surface and at least partially surrounded by the wall of the housing, and a notch that, together with a portion of the wall of the housing, defines an acoustic port of the portable electronic device. The electronic device may further include an acoustic port cover positioned at least partially in the acoustic port and a speaker at least partially within the housing and configured to direct sound through the acoustic port cover.

Handheld electronic device

A portable electronic device may include a touch-sensitive display, a housing at least partially enclosing the touch-sensitive display, the housing defining an audio port along a side of the housing, the audio port defining a partially enclosed volume, and an acoustic module positioned within the housing and including an audio enclosure defining a first passage and a second passage, a microphone operably coupled to the partially enclosed volume of the audio port by the first passage, a pressure sensor operably coupled to the partially enclosed volume of the audio port by the second passage, and an acoustic mesh positioned between an end of the second passage and the audio port.

Acoustic module for handheld electronic device

A mobile phone may include a housing, a battery at least partially within the housing, and a circuit board assembly at least partially within the housing and positioned along a side of the battery. The circuit board assembly may include a first circuit board defining a first hole, a second circuit board defining a second hole, a wall structure between the first circuit board and the second circuit board and attached to an inner surface of the first circuit board and an inner surface of the second circuit board, and a fastener assembly configured to retain the first circuit board to the second circuit board.

A portable electronic device includes a housing, a sensor array including a first camera module having a first field of view, a second camera module having a second field of view different from the first field of view, and a light source, and a rear cover formed from a glass material and defining a raised sensor array region positioned over the sensor array. The raised sensor array region defines a first hole extending through the rear cover and positioned proximate a first corner region of the raised sensor array region, and a second hole extending through the rear cover and positioned proximate a second corner region diagonal from the first corner region. The first camera module includes a first camera housing defining a recess at a corner of the first camera housing, and the second camera module includes a second camera housing extending into the recess.

A portable electronic device may include a housing member, a rear cover coupled to the housing member, and a top module coupled to the housing member and including a front cover defining an exterior surface and an interior surface opposite to the exterior surface, a display stack attached to the interior surface of the front cover and comprising a flexible circuit element extending from a side of the display stack, a frame member attached to the interior surface of the front cover and extending at least partially around a periphery of the display stack, and an encapsulating structure positioned between the frame member and the display stack and at least partially encapsulating a portion of a peripheral side of the display stack and the flexible circuit element. The encapsulating structure may cover at least a portion of a bottom side of the display stack.

Devices, methods and graphical user interfaces for manipulating user interfaces based on fingerprint sensor inputs are provided. While a display of an electronic device with a fingerprint sensor displays a first user interface, the device may detect movement of a fingerprint on the fingerprint sensor. In accordance with a determination that the movement of the fingerprint is in a first direction, the device allows navigating through the first user interface, and in accordance with a determination that the movement of the fingerprint is in a second direction different from the first direction, the device allows displaying a second user interface different from the first user interface on the display.

Device, method, and graphical user interface for manipulating user interfaces based on fingerprint sensor inputs

A portable electronic device includes a housing, a front cover defining a front side of the portable electronic device, a display stack below the front cover and comprising a plurality of display layers configured to produce a graphical output in a display region of the display stack, the graphical output visible through the front cover, and a light sensor module positioned at least partially within the housing and coupled to the display stack in the display region. The light sensor module may be configured to receive ambient light passing through the front cover and through the plurality of display layers and, while a blanking interval is positioned over the light sensor module, produce an output corresponding to the received ambient light, the portable electronic device configured to determine an ambient light value based at least in part on the output from the light sensor module.

A portable electronic device may include a housing, a display at least partially within the housing, a front cover coupled to the housing and positioned over the display, and a biometric sensor module configured to illuminate an object and capture an image of the object through the front cover. The biometric sensor module may include a first lens positioned below the front cover, a first light source positioned below the first lens and configured to project, through the first lens, a dot pattern on the object, a second light source positioned below the first lens and configured to illuminate, through the first lens, the object with a flood of light, a second lens positioned below the front cover, and a light sensor positioned below the second lens and configured to capture an image of the object.

An input control for controlling various features of an electronic device is described. The input control can be positioned along an exterior surface of the electronic device and cover an opening leading into the electronic device. A pressure sensor can then be positioned within the electronic device and adjacent to the covered opening. The pressure sensor is able to measure a pressure of a volume of air positioned between the pressure sensor and the input control. When movement of the input control changes the pressure of the volume of air, the sensor readings from the pressure sensor can be used to register a user input. The input control can take many forms including rocker buttons, slider switches and input regions.

Input controls using pressure sensors

Growing community of inventors

San Francisco, CA, United States of America

Nicholas George Merz