On June 11, 2015, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office published patent applications from Apple relating to the Mac Pro security lock and new connectors that are USB-C compatible. Our report also covers an interesting patent application published by USPTO this morning from Konica Minolta. The filing reveals that they've invented an iPad display film that is specifically designed for stylus input.

Mac Pro Security Lock Adapter

Advances in portable computing devices have allowed desktop sized computing devices to be continually reduced in size. Unfortunately, as size and weight of these devices has been reduced, these devices become increasingly more susceptible to misappropriation. In some environments, intrusion into the casing of a computing device can be a concern for an owner of the computing device. Unfortunately, devices configured to secure laptop computing devices may not be compatible with desktop computing devices because many desktop computing devices lack suitable openings to receive a lock.

Apple's invention relates directly to their Mac Pro Security Lock Adapter. If you still wish to investigate their lock patent filing further, you could do so here.

Connector Design Covers USB-C Standard

Embodiments of Apple's invention may provide connector inserts and receptacles that may be located in, and may connect to, various types of devices, such as portable computing devices, tablet computers, desktop computers, laptops, all-in-one computers, wearable computing devices, cell phones, smart phones, media phones, storage devices, portable media players, navigation systems, monitors, power supplies, adapters, remote control devices, chargers, and other devices.

These connector inserts and receptacles may provide pathways for signals that are compliant with various standards such as one of the Universal Serial Bus (USB) standards including USB-C, High-Definition Multimedia Interface. (HDMI), Digital Visual Interface (DVI), Ethernet, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt, Lightning, Joint Test Action Group (JTAG), test-access-port (TAP), Directed Automated Random Testing (DART), universal asynchronous receiver/transmitters (UARTs), clock signals, power signals, and other types of standard, non-standard, and proprietary interfaces and combinations thereof that have been developed, are being developed, or will be developed in the future.

You could further explore Apple's patent application about connectors with a tongue here. Apple's work on this invention that covers the USB-C standard was originally filed in November 2014.

Konica Minolta's Invention for an iPad Stylus Film

The Konica Minolta invention relates to a film being placed onto the input surface of an input device that receives inputs hand-written with a pen, and a pen input device that uses the film.

More specifically, Konica notes in the verbiage associated with their patent FIG. 7 that it "is the input surface (the display surface) of iPad (a trade name), manufactured by Apple, Inc. The value of the static friction coefficient Fs is 0.066, and the value of the kinetic friction coefficient Fk is 0.055.

Whether Apple is considering the use of the Konica Minolta film for a future iPad that works with an Apple stylus or make the film available as an accessory option is unknown at this time. The Konica patent application, which specifically refers to Apple and the iPad and no other tablet maker, was filed in December 2014.

Patently Apple presents a detailed summary of patent applications with associated graphics for journalistic news purposes as each such patent application is revealed by the U.S. Patent & Trade Office. Readers are cautioned that the full text of any patent application should be read in its entirety for full and accurate details. About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Comments are reviewed daily from 5am to 6pm MST and sporadically over the weekend.