In 2016 Patently Apple posted a report titled "Apple Reinvents the Watch Band with Auto Adjustment+." I consider Apple's previous patent to be a master patents on this theme wherein they cover various scenarios and a ton of detail about a possible future invention. Last Thursday Apple filed a different kind of continuation patent wherein the current patent was rolled into their previous patents filed in 2015 and 2018.

Apple's latest patent takes on a different path by placing emphasis on adding a "motion detector" to capture motion data and determine whether or not the Apple Watch, or future Apple fitness band, is looser than a target tightness.

It is determined whether the captured motion data satisfies a first condition, where the first condition indicates that an amount of the body-contacting sensor surface that is in contact with a body of a user satisfies a threshold value. In accordance with a determination that the captured motion data satisfies the first condition, measurement of a biometric value with the biometric sensor is enabled.

For example, in some embodiments, an electronic device includes a biometric sensor that is designed to contact a body of a user in order to sense certain physical conditions and/or properties of the user, such as heart rate, blood oxygenation, and the like.

Apple notes that in some embodiments, the amount of the body-contacting the sensor surface that's under the Apple Watch is calculated as a percentage value, e.g., 70% of the body-contacting sensor surface is in contact with the user, to determine if the band need tightening or not.

Apple's patent FIG. 4A illustrates an Apple Watch as the target device; FIG. 2A illustrates a waveform #200 representative of detected motion of the Apple Watch in response to the vibratory input represented by waveform.

Patent FIG. 3A illustrates the priority in their 2016 patent covering this project; Apple's patent FIG. 5 is the current system overview with the emphasis on a "Motion Detector."

Apple's patent FIG. 8 below is a flow chart that depicts example operations of a method of adjusting a fit of an Apple Watch band.

Apple's patent FIG. 10 above is a flow chart that depicts example operations of a method of detecting contact between a sensor and a user.

For more details, review Apple's patent application number 20210360100.  Considering that this is a patent application, the timing of such a product to market is unknown at this time.

Updated Patents of Interest

Last Thursday the U.S. Patent Office (USPTO) published two Apple patent updates (continuation patents) covering Apple Pencil and AirPower.

Apple Pencil

On July 16, 2020 Patently Apple posted a major Apple Pencil patent report titled "Apple Pencil may one day include an Advanced Color Sensor System allowing Artists to Match Colors from a Palette or Real-World Objects."

On Thursday USPTO published Apple's continuation patent 20210357044 that adds 20 new patent claims that you could review here.

AirPower

The second continuation patent of interest relates to their ongoing project to get AirPower to market someday. Apple's patent was filed on July 29, 2021 showing that the project is still alive behind the scenes with nine engineers behind this latest filing. Apple has added 20 new patent claims to future protect their invention which has never seen the light of day to this point.

Apple's patent FIG. 3C below depicts an example of a wireless charging mat configured to detect a location and an orientation of an electronic device via capacitive sensing using transmit coils.

For more details, review Apple's patent application 20210359556.