Yesterday the US Patent & Trademark Office published a continuation patent from Apple relating to the deformable material used in the making of AirPods Pro and Apple Pencil that accommodates touch and tap controls. Patently Apple briefly covered Apple's first granted patent back in May 2020.

Apple's patent FIG. 2A below illustrates an earpiece having a deformable surface as part of a user input component; FIG. 2C illustrates a stylus having a deformable surface as part of a user input component.

Yesterday's patent application wasn't about a new patent filing but rather a continuation patent wherein Apple is informing the patent office that they're updating and/or adding specific technology, features and/or methods that they want to legally extend into their current granted patent.  Any change and/or addition to this invention is restricted to Apple's patent claims.

So, what did Apple Update in their Patent Claims?

All of Apple's patent claims that were granted in May basically covered all-things related to "An Earpiece." In Apple's newly filed continuation patent, Apple legal decided to add new claims to the original patent to better protect the invention against patent trolls and/or possible competitor lawsuits. So, what have they updated?

Apple's updated patent claims adds 20  new ones divided into three distinct groups: 1) 7 claims covering "An Input Device"; (2) 7 claims covering "A Stylus"; and, (3) 6 claims covering "The user input mechanism."

An Input Device

In their construction all claims are new with some common elements greatly expanded upon

1. An input device comprising: a shell configured to deform in response to an applied force and defining an interior cavity; an incompressible hyperelastic material contained within the interior cavity and defining a void, a volume of the void configured to change in response to the applied force; and a pressure sensing element communicatively coupled with the void and configured to generate a signal in response to a pressure within the void, the pressure corresponding to the volume of the void.
2. The input device of claim 1, further comprising: a first inflexible disk positioned within the shell; and a second inflexible disk positioned within the shell; wherein: the incompressible hyperelastic material is positioned between the first inflexible disk and the second inflexible disk; and the pressure sensing element is encased within the incompressible hyperelastic material.

3. The input device of claim 1, wherein: the void contains at least one of a compressible gas or a material that is not compressible; and the compressible gas or the material that is not compressible is in contact with the pressure sensing element.

4. The input device of claim 1, wherein: the input device is a stylus; the shell is an elongate housing of the stylus; and the stylus comprises a contact point positioned at one end of the elongate housing.

5. The input device of claim 4, wherein: the contact point is configured to emit a color of light; and the signal generated by the pressure sensing element causes the color of light emitted from the contact point to change to a different color of light.

6. The input device of claim 1, further comprising an inflexible disk positioned at a first end of the interior cavity; wherein: the pressure sensing element is positioned at a second end of the interior cavity, the second end opposite from the first end; and the void is positioned within the interior cavity, proximate to the pressure sensing element.

7. The input device of claim 6, wherein: the void extends from the second end of the interior cavity toward the first end of the interior cavity; and the void has a cylindrical shape within the incompressible hyperelastic material.

All Claims under "Stylus" are New

8. A stylus comprising: an elongate housing defining: an external surface configured to deform in response to a force applied to the external surface; and an interior cavity of the stylus; a contact point positioned at an end of the elongate housing; an incompressible hyperelastic material contained within the interior cavity and defining a void, a shape of the void configured to change in response to the force applied to the external surface; and a pressure sensing element communicatively coupled with the void and configured to generate a signal in response to a pressure in the void, the pressure in the void corresponding to the shape of the void.

9. The stylus of claim 8, wherein: the contact point emits a color of light; and a change in the signal generated by the pressure sensing element causes the color of light to change to a different color.

Apple's claim #9 bringing "the contact point emits a color of light" and changing to a different color is something for the future as Apple Pencil doesn't seem to have that feature yet.

Two months after this current continuation patent was filed, an interesting patent came to light that we covered under the title "Apple Pencil may one day include an Advanced Color Sensor System allowing Artists to Match Colors from a Palette or Real-World Objects." Was Apple hinting of such a feature in patent claim #9?

10. The stylus of claim 8, wherein: the end is a first end; the stylus further comprises a second end, the second end opposite the first end; the pressure sensing element is positioned between the first end and the second end; and the void is proximate to the pressure sensing element.

11. The stylus of claim 10, wherein the void has a cylindrical shape within the incompressible hyperelastic material.

12. The stylus of claim 10, wherein the pressure sensing element is encased within the incompressible hyperelastic material.

13. The stylus of claim 8, wherein: the force is a first force; the signal generated by the pressure sensing element is configured to change in response to the first force and a second force, the second force applied to the external surface within a time interval after application of the first force.

14. The stylus of claim 13, further comprising: a controller configured to control an operation of the stylus or a device in communication with the stylus, in response to the signal generated by the pressure sensing element.

All Claims Under "A user Input Mechanism" are New

15. A user input mechanism for an electronic device, the user input mechanism comprising: a deformable input section, a cross-section of the deformable input section configured to compress in response to a user applied force; a void positioned in the deformable input section, a pressure within the void configured to change in response to a compression of the deformable input section; a pressure sensor configured to detect the pressure within the void; and a controller communicatively coupled with the pressure sensor and configured to alter an operation of the electronic device at least partly in response to the pressure satisfying a threshold value.

16. The user input mechanism of claim 15, wherein the void contains at least one of a compressible gas or a material that is not compressible.

17. The user input mechanism of claim 15, wherein: the user applied force is a first user applied force; the pressure within the void is configured to change in response to the first user applied force and a second user applied force, the second user applied force occurring after the first user applied force; and the controller is further configured to alter the operation of the electronic device at least partly in response to detecting the first user applied force and the second user applied force.

18. The user input mechanism of claim 17, wherein the controller only alters the operation of the electronic device when the controller determines the second user applied force occurs within a given time interval after the first user applied force.

19. The user input mechanism of claim 15, wherein the controller is additionally configured to detect a length of time in which the user applied force is applied to the deformable input section.

20. The user input mechanism of claim 19, wherein the controller is further configured to alter the operation of the electronic device for the length of time in which the user applied force is applied to the deformable input section.

Apple's continuation patent that was published yesterday by the U.S. Patent Office was originally filed back on May 15, 2020 or 4 days before their first patent for this invention was granted.