On Thursday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published one of the largest HMD device related dumps since the Vision Pro's debuted. The difficulty that such a dump represents (in access of a hundred patents) is that it's difficult to discern which patents directly link to the current version of Vision Pro and those relating to future HMDs providing different specifications. In this particular report we cover what could be a different type of HMD that uses a completely different headband concept.

 Apple's patent application describes a new kind of headband that could be used in a possible future style of HMD. The tension force in this new band corresponds to an elastomeric spring force of the elastomeric cover.

In one example, the elastomeric cover of the cable is fixedly connected to the first electrical connector and to the second electrical connector. In one example, the head mountable display further includes a speaker disposed within the band, the speaker electrically connected to the battery and to the display module via the cable. In one example, the head mountable display further includes a lumen defined by the elastomeric cover, the lumen extending from the speaker to an open volume. In one example, the open volume is defined by the battery. In one example, the cable includes a first cable and a second cable with the elastomeric cover disposed around the first cable and the second cable.

In one example, the wearable electronic device further includes an electronic module, wherein the electronic module is electrically connected to the display and the battery via the first and second conductor. In one example, the electronic module includes a speaker and the elastomeric cover defines a lumen, the lumen extending from the speaker to a remote volume. In one example, the remote volume is defined by a battery housing.

Apple's patent FIG. 8 above illustrates a band for a wearable electronic device with a cable disposed in the band with an elastomeric cover in a sine wave geometric pattern; FIG. 9 illustrates a band for a wearable electronic device with a cable disposed in the band with an elastomeric cover in an S bend geometric pattern; FIG. 10 illustrates a band for a wearable electronic device with a cable disposed in the band with an elastomeric cover in a helical coil geometric pattern; FIG. 11 illustrates a band for a wearable electronic device with a cable disposed in the band with an elastomeric cover in a square coil geometric pattern; FIG. 12 illustrates a band for a wearable electronic device with a cable disposed in the band with an elastomeric cover in a snake bend geometric pattern, in accordance with some embodiments.

For full details, review Apple's patent application 20240103572.