The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 28, 2020
Filed:
Mar. 22, 2018
Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);
Saeed Mohammadi, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Tao Shui, Cupertino, CA (US);
Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);
Abstract
An earbud may have a housing with an ear portion and an elongated out-of-ear portion that protrudes away from the ear portion. A speaker may be aligned with a speaker port in the ear portion and may emit sound for a user. Audio playback functions and other operations may be controlled using a controller in the earbud. The controller may gather capacitive sensor data and other data and may use this data in identifying an operating mode of the earbud. Using information such as whether the earbud is in an in-ear state or an out-of-ear state or other sensor data, the controller may take actions such as pausing or resuming audio playback or adjusting playback volume. The capacitive sensor data can be gathered using capacitive sensing electrodes located on the ear portion and the stalk portion of the earbud.