Apple Inc.

Seul Bi Kim

Daniel A Podhajny

Joshua A Hoover

William Leith

Kristen L Cretella

Yi Zou

Nicholas R Trincia

Yue Chen

Chad J Miller

Tirshathah A Hunter

Erik G De Jong

Anthony Michael Ashcroft

Jessica J Lu

Donald L Olmstead

Nicholas A Treadwell

Camille I Henrot

Johan E Lyon

Molly J Anderson

Clement Tissandier

Erik L Wang

Christopher Matthew Werner

Ryan C Perkins

Yang Zhou

David M Kindlon

John Schooley Camp

Joseph Benjamin Walker

Miikka Olavi Tikander

Benjamin J Grena

Yoji Hamada

Andrew L Rosenberg

Didio V Gomes

Sara Rusignuolo

Bryan A Cloyd

Jack Pickup

Motohide Hatanaka

Robert J Rose

Kevin T Pham

Ayumi Kusano

A watchband can comfortably secure an electronic device to a wrist of a user. The watchband can include a base having a contact surface opposite an engagement surface and an engagement ribbon forming loops on the engagement surface of the base for receiving a hook of a buckle. The engagement ribbon can be interwoven with the base to provide secure anchoring for the hook within one of the loops. The woven portions of the watchband can be securely coupled to end structures, such as the buckle, retaining rings, and/or a connector. The watchband provides adjustable lengths to accommodate different fit configurations as desired.

Watchbands with buckles and woven fabrics

A strap may have a strip of material. A flexible magnet and other layers may be embedded between outer layers of the strip. The outer layers may be formed from leather or other natural materials, fabric, polymer, or other materials. The strap may have a snap mechanism that removably couples the strap to the item. The strip may have left and right portions that are coupled together using sliders and the snap mechanism. The sliders may be fixedly attached to respective end portions of left and right portions of the strip. A first of the sliders may have a slot that allows the first slider to slide along the right strip portion and a second of the sliders may have a slot that allows the second slider to slide along the left strip portion so that the length of the strap may be adjusted.

Adjustable straps with snaps and sliding clasps

Bands for electronic devices, including wearable devices, are designed to dynamically alter their shape (e.g., lengthen) in response to an external force. A band may include one or more interior structures disposed in an exterior structure. The interior structure(s) is/are pulled in tension by the exterior structure. When the interior structure(s) is/are pulled in tension, an additional force (e.g., by a user) that applies tension to the interior structure(s) may cause a relatively small change in tension to the interior structure(s). As a result, the band may appear to provide the same amount to users, despite users having a different wrist size/diameter. A similar phenomenon may occur to a single user when the user's wrist changes in size. Accordingly, based on the interior structure(s) being placed in tension by the exterior structure(s), the force provided by the band may appear constant to users.

Dynamically adjustable bands for wearable devices

A case for a round electronic device may have a device holding portion and an attachment portion for attaching the case to an item such as a suitcase or a key chain. The case may include upper and lower case portions that form a pocket. On a first side of the pocket, the upper and lower case portions may be stitched together or may be integrally formed. On a second side of the pocket, a snap may attach the upper case portion to the lower case portion and may be opened to provide access to the pocket. The attachment portion may have an opening for attaching the case to a key ring, suitcase, or other item. The case may include leather, polymer, and/or fabric. Openings may be surrounded by reinforcement material such as strands of non-elastic material. Snaps may be flush with surrounding portions of the case.

Cases for electronic devices

A holder for a wirelessly locatable tag may be used with a wirelessly locatable tag comprising a housing member defining a region of an exterior surface of the wirelessly locatable tag configured to act as a speaker diaphragm. The holder may include a receptacle portion configured to at least partially surround the wirelessly locatable tag, the receptacle portion defining a first opening configured to allow the wirelessly locatable tag to be positioned in the receptacle portion, a second opening configured to at least partially surround an outer periphery of a battery door of the wirelessly locatable tag, and a third opening aligned with the region of the exterior surface configured to act as the speaker diaphragm. The holder may further include a fastener coupled to the receptacle portion and configured to releasably secure the first opening in a closed configuration to retain the wirelessly locatable tag in the receptacle portion.

Holding accessory for a wirelessly locatable tag

A wearable device can provide an audio module that is operable to provide audio output from a distance away from the ears of the user. For example, the wearable device can be worn on clothing of the user and direct audio waves to the ears of the user. Such audio waves can be focused by a parametric array of speakers that limit audibility by others. Thus, the privacy of the audio directed to the user can be maintained without requiring the user to wear audio headsets on, over, or in the ears of the user. The wearable device can further include microphones and/or connections to other devices that facilitate calibration of the audio module of the wearable device. The wearable device can further include user sensors that are configured to detect, measure, and/or track one or more properties of the user.

Wearable device with directional audio

A stretchable fabric signal path may include a conductive strand located between first and second outer fabric layers. The outer fabric layers may be formed from intertwined strands of elastic material. The conductive strand may have a wavy shape to accommodate stretching of the stretchable fabric signal path. First and second inner fabric layers may be located between the outer stretchable fabric layers. The inner fabric layers may be formed from intertwined strands of non-elastic material. The inner fabric layers may have strands that are intertwined with the outer fabric layers to serve as anchor points for maintaining the shape of the conductive strand as the stretchable fabric signal path expands and contracts. The outer fabric layers and inner fabric layers may be woven. The conductive strand may convey electrical signals such as audio signals, power signals, data signals, or other suitable signals.

Stretchable signal path structures for electronic devices

Wireless earbuds may be provided with adjustable-shape housings. The housings may have bendable portions. Bendable metal members, hinges, or other flexible structures may be used in forming bendable structures for the earbuds. Electrical components may be covered by a layer of molded foam. A cover such as a fabric cover may be used to cover the molded foam. Spacer fabric or other soft material may be interposed between the fabric cover and the foam. The housing may be bent or otherwise adjusted between two or more states such as a normal, non-sleep, walking state in which the housing is expanded for normal operation while a user is sitting or walking and a sleep state in which the housing is bent to enhance comfort while sleeping. The wireless earbuds may have illumination systems, sensors, and other components.

Earbuds

An electronic device may be formed from acoustically permeable textile layers and voice coil layers. The voice coil layers may output sound through the textile layers. The textile layers and voice coil layers may be foldable or bent in one or more directions to allow the electronic device to be placed in expanded, collapsed, or folded configurations to allow for improved portability. Additionally, the textile layers and voice coil layers may be folded or bent to place the electronic device in cylindrical, conical, and other configurations to allow for improved sound output from the voice coil layers. The electronic device may also include light-emitting components between the textile layers that emit light through one of the textile layers to form indicators or images for a user of the device. The electronic device may have a plurality of sensors to allow user interactions to control the output of the electronic device.

Electronic device with flexible housings

An accessory for wireless earbuds can include a first receiving portion defining a first cavity sized to receive and retain a first earbud and a second receiving portion defining a second cavity sized to receive and retain a second earbud. Each receiving portion can include a charging component to electrically couple with the respective earbud. The accessory can include a flexible portion connected to the first receiving portion and the second receiving portion, the flexible portion at least partially defining an internal volume, and a battery disposed in the internal volume and electrically coupled with the charging components.

Wireless headphone accessory

Growing community of inventors

Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

Seul Bi Kim