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:
Sep. 22, 2020
Filed:
Aug. 29, 2018
Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);
Andrew Deng, San Jose, CA (US);
Travis N. Owens, Fremont, CA (US);
Shubhaditya Majumdar, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Wei Lin, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Ying-da Wang, Taipei, TW;
Timothy D. Koch, Santa Cruz, CA (US);
Nathan K. Gupta, San Francisco, CA (US);
Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);
Abstract
A force input sensor includes a load cell to adapt a compressive force applied to the force input sensor into a strain experienced by a strain sensor in the load cell. In particular, the load cell includes two compression plates separated from one another by a gap so as to define a volume between them. A flexible substrate (a 'diaphragm')—includes a strain sensor and is disposed and supported within the volume. One of the two compression plates includes a feature (a 'loading feature') that extends toward a central region of the flexible substrate. As a result of this construction, when the compression plates receive a compressive force, the loading feature induces a bending moment in the flexible substrate, thereby straining the strain sensor.