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Apple wins a patent for a next-gen Apple Watch Band & iPhone Case with a new Water Removal System to better Protect Device Sensors

1 cover Apple granted patent figs

 

This week the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially granted Apple a patent that relates to an apparatus including one or more transducers, and a pathway for drying the one or more transducers via removal of water from vicinities of the transducers. The pathway includes a tubular structure, and the one or more transducers are disposed at a first opening of the tubular structure. The pathway is to facilitate removal of water via capillary-induced pressure gradient created by a capillary-dense material disposed at a second opening of the tubular structure at a distance from the transducers.

 

Apple's patent background states that at small-scale dimensions, capillary forces outcompete the force of gravity. Capillary forces can be seen in phenomena as simple as water wicking up a paper towel or a curved meniscus forming on the inner surface of a drinking straw. Capillary forces have been used in many industrial applications. For example, in semiconductor industries heat pipes are used to cool heatsinks attached to semiconductor chips. The condensed vapor in such heat pipes moves back to an evaporator region along a wick structure by a capillary force along the interior wall of the heat pipe.

 

Apple notes in their description of the invention that it's understood that a transducer (e.g., a sensor) clogging with water, as a result of being exposed to humidity and water, may take a relatively long time (e.g., hours) to completely clear, because drying of the water can be slow. The subject technology is directed to an apparatus with a transducer drying pathway. The apparatus of the subject technology includes one or more transducers and a pathway for drying the transducers via removal of water from the vicinity of the transducers.

 

The pathway includes a tubular structure, and transducers are disposed at a first opening of the tubular structure. The pathway facilitates removal of water via a capillary-induced pressure gradient created by a capillary-dense material disposed at a second opening of the tubular structure at a distance from the transducers.

 

In one or more implementations, the tubular structure is a U-shape cylindrical tube and the transducers are disposed around a periphery of the first opening.

 

The capillary-dense material is disposed to fill a second opening and a portion of the U-shape cylindrical tube at a distance from the first opening. The capillary-dense material can be a sponge material or a material including one of a hydrophilic foam, cotton, wool glass fibers, glass beads or metal sawdust or swarf.

 

In some implementations, the tubular structure has a main cylindrical tube coupled to multiple cylindrical tube branches. The transducers are disposed around a periphery of an opening of the main cylindrical tube and the capillary-dense material is disposed to fill portions of the multiple cylindrical tube branches.

 

In one or more implementations, the tubular structure is a cylindrical tube and further includes a polymeric porous membrane made of polytetrafluoroethylene disposed at a second opening of the cylindrical tube, and the capillary-dense material is disposed over the polymeric porous membrane. The transducers and the tubular structure can be miniature sized with dimensions of a few millimeters. The transducers include speakers, microphones and environmental sensors such as pressure sensors, gas sensors and/or particulate matter sensors.

 

In some implementations, the apparatus of the subject technology is embedded in a smartwatch including a band made of a capillary-dense material. In this implementation, the one or more transducers are coupled via tubes to the band, which facilitates removal of water from the vicinity of the transducers via a capillary-induced pressure gradient created by the capillary-dense material of the band.

 

Apple's patent FIG. 2 below illustrates a perspective view of example electronic devices (an Apple Watch and iPhone) including one or more sensors having drying pathways through attachments made of a capillary dense material.  

 

2 Apple granted patent water repelling system

 

Apple's patent FIG. 4 above illustrates a schematic diagram of a side view of an example smartphone including multiple transducers having drying pathways through a tubular structure.

 

For more details, review Apple's granted patent US 11496828 B2.

 

Inventors

 

Brentley Wiles: Motion Sensing Engineer

Mandeep Gill: Sensing Hardware Engineer 

David MacNeil: Engineer

 

10.52FX - Granted Patent Bar

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