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.

Date of Patent:
Jul. 04, 2023

Filed:

Jul. 31, 2020
Applicant:

Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);

Inventors:

Ahmet Fatih Cihan, San Jose, CA (US);

Mehmet Mutlu, San Jose, CA (US);

Assignee:

Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01P 3/36 (2006.01); G01B 9/02 (2022.01); G01P 5/26 (2006.01); G01S 17/58 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G01B 9/02092 (2013.01); G01P 5/26 (2013.01); G01S 17/58 (2013.01);
Abstract

A device includes a first component, a second component having a reconfigurable distance from the first component, an optical element, an SMI sensor, and a processor. The optical element has a fixed relationship with respect to the first component, and has a known optical thickness between a first surface and a second surface of the optical element. The SMI sensor has a fixed relationship with respect to the second component, and has an electromagnetic radiation emission axis that intersects the first and second surfaces of the optical element. The processor is configured to identify disturbances in an SMI signal generated by the SMI sensor, relate the disturbances to the known optical thickness of the optical element, and to determine a distance between the first and second components using the SMI signal and the relationship of the disturbances to the known optical thickness of the optical element.


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