The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 41 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we cover a single patent that relates to the making of devices and/or accessories using recyclable materials with specialized equipment. And, as always, we wrap up this week's granted patent report with our traditional listing of the remaining granted patents that were issued to Apple today, the last granted patent day in October.

Devices/Accessories made with Recycled Materials

Apple is clearly a company that believes in using recycled materials whenever possible. At the iPhone 12 event, Apple's Lisa Jackson, VP Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives pointed out the company's many accomplishments.

Apple's retail stores, data centers and offices are already carbon neutral with 100% renewable energy. Apple's iPhones contain no BFR, PVC, Beryllium, Mercury and supports arsenic-free display glass. They also use 100% recycled rare earth elements in their magnets, including those in the new MagSafe.

The video below is set to begin when Lisa Jackson provides us all with an update on renewable energy and using recyclable materials. You can end the video when that segment is over.

Today Apple was granted patent 10,814,589 titled Items having leatherboard layers with modified portions.

Apple notes in their granted patent that leather, paper, and other natural materials are widely used. During manufacturing, scraps of these natural materials are produced that represent a potential source of waste.

The formation of manufactured materials such as leatherboard from scraps of natural material helps to recycle natural products and reduce or eliminate waste. Leatherboard is an artificial material formed from fibrous natural materials. Items formed from leatherboard may have desired tactile properties and other satisfactory characteristics, but may be missing desired functionality.

Apple's granted patent covers items that may be formed from leatherboard. Layers of leatherboard may be used to form an enclosure for an electronic device, part of an electronic device housing, or other items.

A leatherboard layer for an item may include fibrous natural material such as fibrous leather or paper in a polymer binder. Portions of the leatherboard layer can be locally modified by selective incorporation of filler material with desired properties. The filler material may include magnetic particles, conductive particles, or other material.

By incorporating filler material in localized portions of the leatherboard layer, integral electrodes, integral magnets, or other structures may be formed as part of the leatherboard layer without creating undesired discontinuities in the flexibility, density, or other mechanical properties of the leatherboard layer.

Magnets in leatherboard structures can interact to form a magnetic closure. If desired, the leatherboard layer may include regions with embedded circuitry. Sensors and other components in leatherboard layers or other portions of an item can be configured to interact with magnets, conductive regions, or other structures formed in a leatherboard layer.

Apple's patent FIG. 1 below is a perspective view of an illustrative system including a leatherboard item and an associated electronic device which could be a device like a laptop, glasses, HMD, headphones, a remote control, watch bands, straps, clothing, cases, keyboards and more.  

Apple's patent FIG. 6 above is a cross-sectional side view of leatherboard layer #16 in an illustrative arrangement in which the layer includes a locally modified region (region 18). Fibrous material #24 may also be included in portions #18 to help maintain a desired leather-like feel of the layer in portions.

Apple's patent FIG. 9 above is a cross-sectional side view of layer #16 in an illustrative configuration in which components #38 and signal paths #40 have been embedded in the layer.

Apple's patent FIG. 11 illustrates extrusion equipment with plates that press together, molds with three-dimensional shapes.

More specifically, patent FIG. 11 represents leatherboard fabrication equipment that includes rollers that could establish a desired thickness, to emboss a desired texture, by passing this layer through the rollers (#54).

Apple further notes that dispenser #52 may dispense liquid magnetic particle slurry, conductive particle slurry, other filler material for filler (#28) for forming electrical paths #4 embedded in material to create products.

To drill further down into detail specifics, check out granted patent 10,814,589 here.

The Remaining Patents granted to Apple Today