Apple Inc.

Chadra Laboratories LLC

Paul Puskarich

Duncan Robert Kerr

Jeffrey Traer Bernstein

Avi Elias Cieplinski

David T Amm

Omar Sze Leung

Brian Michael King

Andrea Mucignat

Marc J Piche

Praveen R Subramani

Muhammad Umar Choudry

Aleksandar Pance

Brett W Degner

Patrick Kessler

Marcelo H Coelho

Charles A Schwalbach

Craig C Leong

Jean-Marc Gery

Michael Kane Pilliod

Nathan Alan Johanningsmeier

David Samuel Kumka

Ronald Nadim Isaac

Niel David Warren

James H Foster

Daniel J Culbert

Ruchi Goel

Clark Della Silva

Paulina Mustafa

Andy Weidner

Jim Lynn Tenneboe

Jeffrey Traer Berstein

Avi Cieplinksi

Marlene Nilsen

An electronic device may include wireless communications circuitry that receives location information from tags that are coupled to different items. The electronic device may keep track of the different items using the tags. The electronic device may include control circuitry that analyzes historical tracking data from the tags to identify patterns and relationships between the tags. Based on the historical tracking data, the control circuitry may classify some tagged items as bags for other tagged items and may automatically alert the user when a tagged item is missing from its bag. The control circuitry may generate rules based on the historical tracking data, such as rules regarding acceptable ranges between tagged items and acceptable ranges between tagged items and the electronic device. The control circuitry may determine when to provide real-time location information and other notifications for a tagged item based on the historical tracking data.

Tracking systems with electronic devices and tags

An electronic device may include control circuitry that allows a user to listen to audio playing from an external speaker in the environment from the user's personal speaker device such as a pair of headphones, earbuds, or a personal loudspeaker. In response to receiving user input, the control circuitry may gather audio input from the environment with a microphone. The control circuitry may process the detected audio input to identify what audio track is currently playing from the external speaker and to determine which part of the audio track is currently playing. The control circuitry may then start playing the identified audio track from the user's personal speaker device in sync with the audio track playing from the external speaker. The electronic device may search music streaming platforms, public radio station information, and other public music content sources to anticipate and buffer upcoming songs.

Electronic devices for focused listening

Electronic devices may use touch pads that have touch sensor arrays, force sensors, and actuators for providing tactile feedback. A touch pad may be mounted in a computer housing. The touch pad may have a rectangular planar touch pad member that has a glass layer covered with ink and contains a capacitive touch sensor array. Force sensors may be mounted under each of the four corners of the rectangular planar touch pad member. The force sensors may be used to measure how much force is applied to the surface of the planar touch pad member by a user. Processed force sensor signals may indicate the presence of button activity such as press and release events. In response to detected button activity or other activity in the device, actuator drive signals may be generated for controlling the actuator. The user may supply settings to adjust signal processing and tactile feedback parameters.

Touch pad with force sensors and actuator feedback

Touch and hover switching is disclosed. A touch and hover sensing device can switch between a touch mode and a hover mode. During a touch mode, the device can be switched to sense one or more objects touching the device. During a hover mode, the device can be switched to sense one or more objects hovering over the device. The device can include a panel having multiple sensors for sensing a touching object and/or a hovering object and a touch and hover control system for switching the device between the touch and hover modes. The device's touch and hover control system can include a touch sensing circuit for coupling to the sensors to measure a capacitance indicative of a touching object during the touch mode, a hover sensing circuit for coupling to the sensors to measure a capacitance indicative of a hovering object during the hover mode, and a switching mechanism for switching the sensors to couple to either the touch sensing circuit or the hover sensing circuit. The device can switch modes based on a condition of the device, such as an expiration of a timer or a relative distance of an object from the panel.

Touch and hover switching

Detecting a signal from a touch and hover sensing device, in which the signal can be indicative of concurrent touch events and/or hover events, is disclosed. A touch event can indicate an object touching the device. A hover event can indicate an object hovering over the device. The touch and hover sensing device can ensure that a desired hover event is not masked by an incidental touch event, e.g., a hand holding the device, by compensating for the touch event in the detected signal that represents both events. Conversely, when both a hover event and a touch event are desired, the touch and hover sensing device can ensure that both events are detected by adjusting the device sensors and/or the detected signal. The touch and hover sensing device can also detect concurrent hover events by identifying multiple peaks in the detected signal, each peak corresponding to a position of a hovering object.

Concurrent signal detection for touch and hover sensing

One embodiment of a touch-based user interface may include a haptic feedback layer with one or more actuators configured to supply a haptic feedback. The one or more actuators may be embedded in a nonconductive material. The touch-based user interface may further include a printed circuit board layer underlying the haptic feedback layer. The printed circuit board layer may include one or more conductive traces configured to supply a voltage to the one or more actuators.

Touch-based user interface with haptic feedback

An electronic device may be coupled to an accessory such as a pair of earphones. The earphones may have ear presence sensor structures that determine whether or not the ears of a user are present in the vicinity of the earphones. The earphones may contain first and second speakers. When both the first and second speakers are located in the ears of the user, the electronic device may perform functions such as playing audio content. When one of the speakers has been removed from the ears of the user while the other of the speakers remains in the ears of the user, the electronic device can take actions such as pausing the playback of audio content, switching from stereo to monophonic playback, or stopping the playback of content. Suitable actions such as increasing audio drive strength may be taken when both speakers have been removed from the ears.

Earphones with ear presence sensors

A levitator is disclosed. The levitator may include a repulsion wire coil having a vertical coil axis, a position control wire coil having a vertical coil axis, a rotation control wire coil having a horizontal coil axis, and a controller coupled to each of the repulsion wire coil, position wire coil, and rotation wire coil, where the controller is configured to independently control currents provided to each of the repulsion wire coil, position wire coil, and rotation wire coil to levitate an item.

Electromagnetic levitator

Signal processing for a touch and hover sensing display device is disclosed. A touch and hover sensing display device can include a sensing panel for sensing a touch or hover event, a display for displaying graphical information to select based on the touch or hover event, and a control system for processing a signal indicative of the touch or hover event. The control system can process the signal to determine to which display location a hovering object is pointing according to a profile of the object's shape. In addition or alternatively, the control system can process the signal to differentiate between a close small object and a distant large object so as to subsequently perform intended actions of the device based, at least in part, on the object distance and/or area (or size). The display can be positioned at a desirable distance from the panel so as to reduce interference from the display to the panel and avoid adverse effects on the signal.

Signal processing for touch and hover sensing display device

Compensation for sensors in a touch and hover sensing device is disclosed. Compensation can be for sensor resistance and/or sensor sensitivity variation that can adversely affect touch and hover measurements at the sensors. To compensate for sensor resistance, the device can gang adjacent sensors together so as to reduce the overall resistance of the sensors. In addition or alternatively, the device can drive the sensors with voltages from multiple directions so as to reduce the effects of the sensors' resistance. To compensate for sensor sensitivity variation (generally at issue for hover measurements), the device can apply a gain factor to the measurements, where the gain factor is a function of the sensor location, so as to reduce the sensitivity variation at different sensor locations on the device.

Touch and hover sensor compensation

An electronic device may include a smoke detector. The electronic device may use the smoke detector to monitor for the presence of smoke. In response to detecting smoke with the smoke detector, the electronic device may issue an alert or take other suitable action. The electronic device may transmit alerts to nearby electronic devices and to remote electronic devices such as electronic devices at emergency services facilities. Alerts may contain maps and graphical representations of buildings in which smoke has been detected. Motion detectors and other sensors and circuitry may be used in determining whether electronic devices are being used by users and may be used in determining where the electronic devices are located. Alerts may contain information on the location of detected smoke and building occupants.

Wireless device networks with smoke detection capabilities

A system for simulating materials using touch surfaces includes a touch surface, an actuator and/or an temperature control device, and a control unit. The control unit controls the actuator or the temperature control device to cause at least a portion of the touch surface to simulate a material. Such control may include utilizing the actuator to vibrate the surface to simulate the tactile sensation of texture. Such control may also include utilizing the temperature control device (such as a Peltier device) to control the temperature of the surface in order to simulate the thermal conductivity of a material. In some cases, the temperature control may be performed utilizing a temperature sensor to adjust the temperature of the surface. In various cases, the vibration and/or temperature may be varied over time, such as in response to one or more touches detected using one or more touch sensors.

Growing community of inventors

Palo Alto, CA, United States of America

Paul Puskarich