Today the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a patent application from Apple that relates to input mechanisms for electronic devices and, more particularly, to input mechanisms on a case that act as inputs for an electronic device such as an iPhone or iPad, including Touch ID.

An iPhone/iPad Case with Unique Buttons

Apple's patent application relates to input mechanisms for an iPhone or iPad. More specifically, the patent covers a case for an electronic device that may include separate input mechanisms that cause the electronic device to perform actions based on whether or not the case is coupled to the electronic device.

When a case is installed on an electronic device (e.g., smartphone or tablet), the case can include a region that corresponds to the buttons of the electronic device. The purpose of such case regions can be to indicate to a user where pressure can be applied to actuate the button of the electronic device through the case.

However, if such regions of the case are loosely fitted, then an air gap may form between the case and the button of the electronic device. This can cause an amount of travel to be required before pressure from the user begins to engage the button of the electronic device, thereby causing the user to experience the button as if it had poor tactility.

With some cases, the regions thereof corresponding to the buttons of the electronic device can be pre-loaded with forces against the buttons to eliminate or reduce such air gaps. This can prevent the user from feeling air gap between the case and button, which can improve the button tactility. However, some buttons are highly sensitive, and certain magnitudes of preload can unintentionally trigger the button of the electronic device.

Input mechanisms described herein can employ a case for an electronic device that provides input capabilities to enhance the user experience when using the case in concert with the electronic device. For example, a case can provide a capacitive touch sensor to provide the user with an input mechanism that does not require actuation of the button of the electronic device. The electronic device, upon detecting the presence of the case, can disable one or more buttons and perform actions corresponding to the buttons when signals are received from the case.

Apple's patent FIG. 1 below shows an isometric view of an electronic device and a case for the electronic device; FIG. 2 shows an isometric view of the electronic device and the case of FIG. 1 coupled together; FIG. 4 shows a front view of a portion of an electronic device with a button; FIG. 5 shows a front view of the portion of the electronic device of FIG. 4 with the button actuated, in accordance with one or more implementations of the subject technology; FIG. 6 shows a front view of a portion of an electronic device with a button and a case with a touch sensor; FIG. 7 shows a front view of the portion of the electronic device and the case of FIG. 6 with the touch sensor receiving a touch input.

Apple's patent FIG. 8 above shows a front view of a portion of an electronic device with buttons and a case with a touch sensor; FIG. 9 shows a front view of the portion of the electronic device and the case of FIG. 8 with the touch sensor receiving a sliding input; FIG. 10 shows a front view of a portion of an electronic device and a case with a touch sensor;  FIG. 11 shows a front view of the portion of the electronic device and the case of FIG. 10 with the touch sensor receiving a touch input.

Further to FIG. 11, a touch sensor (#260) can receive inputs independent of the operation of any button. The touch sensor can be operated based on one or more of various criteria for detecting inputs from a use.

In some embodiments, the touch sensor can detect mere presence of user 10 without requiring a threshold force or pressure to be exceeded. For example, the touch sensor can detect a user input as a change in capacitance or other characteristic that is induced in the touch sensor.

By further example, the touch sensor can detect a force or pressure associated with the input from the user. By further example, the touch sensor can detect a location, region, area, or other characteristic of the contact between the user 10 and the touch sensor.

In some embodiments, the touch sensor can be a fingerprint sensor. For example, the touch sensor can be a capacitive sensor, an optical sensor, an ultrasound sensor, a thermal sensor, and the like to detect features of a finger of the user. The detection of a fingerprint can serve as an authentication of the use.

To review the full details of this invention, check out patent application 20240288949 in Safari, Chrome or Vivaldi browsers. For the MS Edge browser, the link will open in a PDF.