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:
Sep. 05, 2017

Filed:

Aug. 27, 2015
Applicant:

Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);

Inventors:

Manoj K Bhattacharyya, Cupertino, CA (US);

Christopher E. Balcells, San Jose, CA (US);

Jian Guo, Milpitas, CA (US);

Peter G. Hartwell, Cupertino, CA (US);

Assignee:

Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);

Attorneys:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01C 17/02 (2006.01); G01R 33/09 (2006.01); G01R 33/00 (2006.01); G01R 35/00 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G01C 17/02 (2013.01); G01R 33/0011 (2013.01); G01R 33/093 (2013.01); G01R 35/005 (2013.01);
Abstract

An electronic device may be provided with an electronic compass. The electronic compass may include magnetic sensors. The magnetic sensors may include thin-film magnetic sensor elements such as giant magnetoresistance sensor elements. Magnetic flux concentrators may be used to guide magnetic fields through the sensor elements. To reduce offset in the electronic compass, the magnetic flux concentrators may be demagnetized by applying a current to a coil in the housing. The coil may be formed from loops of metal traces within a printed circuit or other loops of conductive paths. Magnetic flux concentrators may have ring shapes. A ring-shaped magnetic flux concentrator may be formed from multiple thin stacked layers of soft magnetic material separated by non-magnetic material.


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