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:
Aug. 19, 2014
Filed:
Apr. 02, 2013
Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);
Benjamin M. Rappoport, San Francisco, CA (US);
Kevin Gibbs, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Patrick Kessler, San Francisco, CA (US);
Derek W. Wright, San Francisco, CA (US);
Alex Chun Lap Yeung, South San Francisco, CA (US);
Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);
Abstract
A process is provided for characterizing a tactile response of a first mechanical actuator (e.g., button) based on a back off distance. The first mechanical actuator may include a plunger, a dome-shaped flexible membrane, and an electrical contact, all aligned with each other so that a contact signal is generated when the flexible membrane touches the contact. The plunger can be moved a first distance towards the contact until the contact signal is generated at a contact point. Then the plunger can be backed off a second distance from the contact point. This second distance may be called the 'back off distance'. The particular feel of the first mechanical actuator can then be correlated to a particular back off distance. This process can be repeated a number of times to classify a number of different 'feels' for the first mechanical actuator based on a number of different back off distances.