Apple was granted 85 patents this week covering another round of Vision Pro and Smart Glasses systems & more
This week the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 85 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. In this particular report I cover one patent relating to an HMD Tension Adjustment system for future smart glasses plus link to another five Vision Pro granted patents covering foveated displays, a lens mounting system, an optical module system and more. I also added links to three new patent applications for Vision Pro. 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 this week.
Head-mounted Device With Tension Adjustment
The head-mounted device includes a device housing, a support structure that is connected to the device housing to support the device housing with respect to a user, a display device that is connected to the device housing to display content, an optical system that is associated with the display device, and sensors that generate sensor output signals. The head-mounted device also includes a tension controller that determines a tensioning command based on the sensor output signals, and a tension adjuster that applies tension to the user according to the tension command in order to restrain motion of the device housing with respect to the user.
The support structure may include temple portions that are pivotable with respect to the device housing and the tension adjuster includes an active tensioning component that is configured to cause pivoting of the temple portions with respect to the device housing in accordance with the tensioning command. The active tensioning component may include an electric motor. The tension adjuster may include a passive tensioning component.
The tension adjuster may include a contact pad and an actuator that is connected to the contact pad to apply tension by movement of the contact pad. The contact pad may be a nose pad that is configured to engage a nose of a user.
The tension adjuster may include deployable contact features that are movable between a retracted position and an extended position.
The tension adjuster may include a hook portion that is configured to engage an ear of a user, the hook portion is connected to the support structure by a motorized hinge and the tension adjuster is configured to apply tension by causing movement of the hook portion using the motorized hinge.
The tension adjuster may include an actuator and a mass, and the tension adjuster is configured apply tension by moving the mass using the actuator.
The support structure may include temple portions and the tension adjuster is configured to apply tension by causing the temple portions to move between normal positions and curved positions.
The sensors may include a motion sensor, the sensor output signals include a motion signal, and the tension controller is configured to determine the tensioning command based on part on the motion signal.
The sensors may include an eye tracking camera, the sensor output signals include an eye tracking signal, and the tension controller is configured to determine the tensioning command based on part on the eye tracking signal.
The sensors may include a biometric sensor, the sensor output signals include a biometric signal, and the tension controller is configured to determine the tensioning command based on part on the biometric signal.
The sensors may include a pressure sensor, the sensor output signals include a pressure signal, and the tension controller is configured to determine the tensioning command based on part on the pressure signal. The pressure sensor may include a nose pad that is in engagement with a nose of the user.
The device housing and the support structure may define an eyeglasses-type configuration. The device housing and the support structure may define a goggles-type configuration. The device housing and the support structure may define a halo-type configuration.
Apple's patent FIG. 1 below is a block diagram that shows an example of a hardware configuration for a head-mounted device; FIG. 4 is a side view illustration showing a head-mounted device having an eyeglasses-type configuration worn on the head of a user; FIGS. 5-8 and 10-11 covers a tensioning controller with each covering different aspects including motion sensors, eye-tracking sensors, biometric sensors, pressure sensors, Proximity sensors and capacitive touch sensors.
Apple's patent FIG. 17 above is an illustration that shows a tension adjuster for smart glasses.
For more details, review Apple's granted patent 11822091.
Additional Apple Vision Pro Granted Patents published this week:
- 11822081: Optical Module For Head-mounted Device
- 11823648: Electronic Device With Foveated Display System
- 11822078: Head-mounted Display System
- 11822145: Lens Mounting Systems For Electronic Devices
- 11822079: Waveguided Display System With Adjustable Lenses
Additional Apple Vision Pro related Patent Applications this week:
- 20230375843: Head-Mounted Display Unit with Adaptable Facial Interface
- 20230377536: Head-Mounted Display Systems With Alignment Monitoring
- 20230367117: Eye Tracking using Camera Lens-Aligned Retina Illumination
This Week's Remaining Granted Patents
Comments