Today the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published an Apple patent application that relates to possible alternative Vision Pro headset system  that provides a motorized adjustable support system  to provide users with a quick way to find the perfect comfortable fit for Vision Pro.

Apple notes that head-mounted displays are used by persons having varied head shapes and sizes. Adjustment structures in head-mounted displays may be time consuming to adjust, and finding a comfortable fit may require trial and error by the user.

Apple's patent covers a head-mounted display system that includes a housing and an eye chamber to be positioned adjacent to eyes of the user. A support assembly for the head-mounted display includes a headband and an adjustment mechanism that is operable to change fit of the headband relative to the head of the user in response to a control signal. The adjustment mechanism includes a feedback component, and the control signal is generated based on output from the feedback component.

The adjustment mechanism includes a first motorized sliding joint (#1165 seen in patent FIGS. 11A and 11B below) and a second motorized sliding joint (#1166) with each incorporating electric motors and a mechanical interconnection such as a gear rack that causes relative motion of the interconnected parts in response to operation of the electric motor.

The first motorized sliding joint and the second motorized sliding joint could alternatively be controlled by a single electric motor connected to the joints by tension wires or other mechanical components. For example, tension wires could be used to constrict the first motorized sliding joint and the second motorized sliding joint in opposition to biasing forces applied by springs at each of the joints.

Apple's patent FIG. 5A below illustrates a side view showing a head-mounted display including a support mechanism; FIG. 5B is a top view of the head-mounted display with an adjustable support mechanism; FIG. 4 is a detailed illustration of the adjustment mechanism.

Apple's patent FIG. 9A below presents a cross-section view showing a shape-memory alloy adjustment mechanism #950 in a contracted position, and FIG. 9B is a cross-section view showing the shape-memory alloy adjustment mechanism #950 in an expanded position. 

The shape-memory alloy adjustment mechanism is connected to a headband 906 and includes a variable volume structure #951 that has a cover #952 and a compressible material #953 (e.g. open cell foam). Shape-memory alloy wires #954 (i.e., “muscle wires”) are embedded in the cover and move between the contracted and expanded positions in response to changes in supply of electrical current, to compress the compressible material 953 in the contracted position and to allow expansion of the compressible material in the expanded position. Supply of current can be regulated by a control system, as described with respect to a control system.

Apple's patent FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate an alternative adjustable headset mechanism that goes over the user's head with motorized sliding joints to make adjustments effortless; FIG. 12 is an overview block diagram that shows an example of a hardware configuration for electronic components of a head-mounted display.

To review the full details of Apple's third update to this invention, check out patent application 20240176152 that includes 20 new patent claims supporting "Shape-Memory Allow Wires" and more.

Other HMD Related Patents that may be of Interest

20240176100: Display Systems With Component Mounting Structures

20240168301: Head-Mounted Display Systems With Optical Module Calibration