Apple Issues iOS 12.0.1 Update Fixes Charging Issue on iPhones that Bombastic Lewis Hilsenteger Brought to Light
Google's Pixel 3 Event will be Held in 10 Cities today and they may actually try to Sell Security as a Major Feature

Apple won 44 Patents today covering the AirPods Charging Case, 2-Port Charging, Taking 360°Pictures and more

  1 X Cover Granted Patents 10-9-2018  AirPods case & more  Patently Apple

 

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 44 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we cover Apple's iPods charging case, 2-port charging and taking 360° pictures on an iPhone. We wrap up this week's granted patent report with our traditional listing of the remaining granted patents that were issued to Apple today.

 

Granted Patent: AirPods Charging Case

 

Apple's newly granted patent covers their invention relating to Apple's AirPods case.

 

2 AirPods granted patent

Apple's patent FIG. 1 is a side view of a case having a lid and configured to hold a pair of earbuds; FIG. 2 is a system level diagram of a case with a charging system coupled to a pair of earbuds.

 

Oddly Apple was granted patent 9,883,281 for this invention in January and yet when you click on the link today it leads to a Patent Office page stating "Withdrawn." The original patent application was under number 20170094392.

 

When examining the patent claims of the original patent and the now granted patent, Apple has altered most claims. Below are three of the new patent claims that stood out prominently:

 

Patent Claim #1: A case for a pair of earbuds, the case comprising: a housing having one or more cavities configured to receive the pair of earbuds; a lid attached to the housing and operable between a closed position where the lid is aligned over the one or more cavities and an open position where the lid is displaced from the one or more cavities; and a first pair of electrical contacts that interface to a first earbud of the pair of earbuds; a second pair of electrical contacts that interface to a second earbud of the pair of earbuds; a charging system including: a case battery; an earbud detector configured to detect when an earbud of the pair of earbuds is placed in a cavity of the one or more cavities; and charging circuitry configured to initiate charging of the earbud when the earbud detector detects that the earbud is placed into the cavity; and data communications circuitry configured to transmit firmware data to the pair of earbuds; wherein the earbud detector, the charging circuitry and the data communications circuitry are operatively coupled to the pair of earbuds through the first and second pairs of electrical contacts.

 

Patent Claim #12: A case for a pair of earbuds, each earbud having an ear interface portion, a stem, an earbud battery and a wireless radio, the case comprising: a housing having a first cavity configured to receive a first earbud in the pair of earbuds and a second cavity configured to receive a second earbud in the pair of earbuds; a lid attached to the housing and operable between a closed position where the lid conceals the pair of earbuds within the case and an open position that allows a user to remove the pair of earbuds from the case; and a charging system including: a case battery; a first connector configured to interface to a power source for charging the case battery; a second connector configured to couple to each of the first and second earbuds, the second connector having at least one contact positioned in the first cavity and at least one contact positioned in the second cavity; an earbud detector configured to detect when an earbud is placed in either of the first or second cavities; and charging circuitry configured to initiate charging of an earbud when the earbud detector detects insertion of the earbud within either the first cavity or the second cavity and configured to cease charging the earbud when the earbud detector detects the earbud is removed from the cavity; data communications circuitry configured to transmit firmware data to the pair of earbuds; wherein the earbud detector, the charging circuitry and the data communications circuitry are operatively coupled to the pair of earbuds through the second connector.

 

Patent Claim #19: "A case for transporting and charging a portable listening device that includes a rechargeable battery and a pair of listening device contacts, the case comprising: a housing configured to receive the portable listening device; a lid attached to the housing and operable between a closed position where the lid conceals the portable listening device within the case and an open position where the lid is displaced from the housing such that a user can remove the portable listening device from the case; first and second case contacts configured to couple to the pair of listening device contacts when the listening device is placed within the housing; detector circuitry configured to generate a detect signal when the listening device is placed in the housing and to generate a removal signal when the listening device is removed from the housing; charging circuitry configured to supply charging current to the rechargeable battery in response to receiving the detect signal; and data communications circuitry configured to transmit firmware data to the listening device; wherein the detector circuitry, the charging circuitry and the data communications circuitry are operatively coupled to the portable listening device through the first and second case contacts."

 

Buried in the middle of this granted patent is Apple's mention of their AirPods case being able to charge on a "Charging Pad," which was supposed to be AirPower.

 

Apple's granted patent 10,097,913 was originally filed in Q3 2016 and published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

 

Granted Patent: Systems and Methods for Bidirectional Two-Port Battery Charging with Boost Functionality

 

Apple's newly granted patent covers their invention relating to techniques for performing bidirectional two-port battery charging with boost functionality. The charging system includes a first bidirectional switching converter connected to a first power port of the portable electronic device, a low-voltage subsystem in the portable electronic device, and a high-voltage subsystem in the portable electronic device. The charging system also includes a second bidirectional switching converter connected to a second power port of the portable electronic device, the low-voltage subsystem, and the high-voltage subsystem.

 

The bi-directional two-port battery charging circuit may charge an internal battery if power is provided through other or both power ports. The power ports can also be used to provide power to attached external accessories. An external battery may be connected to a power port to provide additional power and/or obtain charge from a power supply connected to the other power port.

 

3 X 2 power port charging

The portable electronic device may comprise a plurality of power ports, each of which may be used to receive power from or provide power to an external device depending on the mode of operation of the charging system. For example, in the variation shown in FIG. 2, the charging system may comprise two power ports (a first power port 108 and a second power port 110). In some instances, the power ports may be configured such that the same pins (e.g., a power pin and a common ground) are used to transfer power to and from the portable electronic device through the power port.

 

Apple's granted patent 10,097,017 was originally filed in Q1 2016 and published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office. Click here for more information.

 

Granted Patent: 360 Degree Image Presentation

 

Apple's newly granted patent covers their invention relating to the field of image processing. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, it relates to techniques for stabilizing spherically-captured images, such that camera motion yields a stable representation of the captured scene, while still reflecting desired camera movement. More importantly, the image processing techniques set forth can assist with improving the functionality of computing devices or systems that capture, process, and/or display 360.degree.

 

4 X 360 degree images

Apple's patent FIG. 1 illustrates an electronic image capture device capable of capturing 360.degree. output images.

 

Apple's granted patent 10,097,759 was originally filed in Q3 2016 and published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office. Click here for more information.

 

The Remaining Patents granted to Apple Today

 

5 - Apple's Remaining Granted Patents for Oct 9  2018 -

 

10.5 - Patent Notice Bar

Patently Apple presents only a brief summary of granted patents with associated graphics for journalistic news purposes as each Granted Patent is revealed by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Readers are cautioned that the full text of any Granted Patent should be read in its entirety for full details.

Comments

The comments to this entry are closed.