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:
Oct. 21, 2025
Filed:
Sep. 21, 2024
Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);
Mieczyslaw M Dabrowski, San Francisco, CA (US);
Anand K Chamakura, San Jose, CA (US);
Dong Zheng, Los Altos, CA (US);
Peng Zhao, Redwood City, CA (US);
David D Dashevsky, San Jose, CA (US);
Stephen N Sweet, San Jose, CA (US);
Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);
Abstract
An input component for an electronic device configured to detect rotational and/or translational movement of a surface. In an implementation, the input component includes a movable input member with a shaft with a pattern disposed on its surface. A light-emitting element is positioned to direct light towards this pattern, a portion of which is thereafter reflected back. An imaging system is situated to capture the reflected light. The imaging system includes an array of single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) operating in Geiger mode. This array is coupled with a counter circuit, which increments one or more values based on the SPAD array output. These values and corresponding SPAD locations within the array can be correlated to the spatial phase of the reflected light, which in turn can be converted to rotational or axial displacement of the movable input member.