Dynamically stabilized magnetic array

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10095270-B2
Application number	US-201715633389-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 26, 2017
Priority date	Mar 27, 2015
Publication date	Oct 9, 2018
Grant date	Oct 9, 2018

Abstract

This application relates to devices and accessories that include or are configured to react with a mixture of electromagnets and permanent magnets. In particular the permanent magnets are configured to maintain persistent connections between components while the electromagnets are configured to pulse or activate periodically to maintain the connections or fix alignment of the various connections in certain circumstances.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A consumer electronic product, comprising:
a housing arranged to carry components including a display assembly, the display assembly overlaid by a protective cover, comprising:
a substrate layer;
a display layer that is capable of presenting visual content and separated from the substrate layer, wherein the display layer is capable of moving towards the substrate layer;
a first array of magnetic elements carried on a surface of the substrate layer facing the display layer; and
a second array of magnetic elements carried on a surface of the display layer facing the substrate layer,
wherein when an externally applied force is applied to the protective cover, a portion of the display layer moves towards the substrate layer such that a magnetic circuit is formed between the first and second arrays of magnetic elements, thereby providing a tactile feedback at the portion of the display layer.

2. The consumer electronic product as recited in claim 1 , wherein the display layer is capable of providing a visual change of the portion of the display layer in response to the externally applied force.

3. The consumer electronic product as recited in claim 1 , wherein a touch sensor is coupled to the display layer.

4. The consumer electronic product as recited in claim 1 , wherein the magnetic circuit formed provides an attractive force when an extent of the display layer moving towards the substrate layer exceeds a threshold amount.

5. The consumer electronic product as recited in claim 1 , wherein the magnetic circuit formed provides a repulsive force that increases with an extent of the display layer moving towards the substrate layer.

6. The consumer electronic product as recited in claim 1 , wherein the tactile feedback is variable based on an application setting.

7. The consumer electronic product as recited in claim 1 , wherein the first array of magnetic elements comprises an electromagnet or an electro permanent magnet.

8. The consumer electronic product as recited in claim 7 , wherein the tactile feedback is variable based on an amount of current supplied to the electromagnet or the electro permanent magnet.

9. A display assembly carried by a consumer electronic product, comprising:
a display layer that is capable of presenting visual content;
a substrate layer;
a touch sensor coupled to the display layer, the touch sensor capable of detecting touch events; and
a tactile feedback unit coupled to the display layer and capable of providing a tactile feedback, the tactile feedback unit comprising a magnetic element carried by the display layer and an electromagnet carried by the substrate layer, the electromagnet capable of being activated to form a magnetic circuit with the magnetic element,
wherein when a touch event is detected at the display layer, the electromagnet is activated to form the magnetic circuit with the magnetic element that provides the tactile feedback.

10. The display assembly as recited in claim 9 , wherein the display layer is depressible.

11. The display assembly as recited in claim 9 , wherein the display layer is capable of presenting an input element that corresponds to a key in a virtual keyboard presented on the display layer.

12. The display assembly as recited in claim 9 , wherein the display layer is capable of providing a visual change in accordance with the detection of the touch event.

13. The display assembly as recited in claim 9 , wherein the force is an attractive force that draws the display layer to the substrate layer.

14. The display assembly as recited in claim 9 , wherein the force is a repulsive force that increases with an extent of depression of the display layer.

15. The display assembly as recited in claim 9 , wherein the tactile feedback unit is capable of providing variable tactile feedbacks.

16. The display assembly as recited in claim 15 , wherein the variable tactile feedbacks are based on an application setting.

17. A method for operating an input device, the input device comprising a substrate layer, a display layer separated from the substrate layer, a first magnetic element carried by the substrate layer, and a second magnetic element carried by the display layer, the second magnetic element forming a magnetic circuit with the first magnetic element, the method comprising:
displaying an input element on the display layer;
detecting a change in a strength of the magnetic circuit caused by a depression of the display layer at the input element; and
activating an electromagnet to provide a tactile feedback at the input element when the change in the strength of the magnetic circuit exceeds a threshold value.

18. The method as recited in claim 17 further comprising varying, based on an application setting, an amount of current supplied to the electromagnet when the electromagnet is activated.

19. The method as recited in claim 17 , wherein activating the electromagnet forms a second magnetic circuit between the electromagnet and the second magnetic element, and the second magnetic circuit provides an attractive force.

20. The method as recited in claim 17 further comprising providing a visual change of the input element when the electromagnet is activated.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Stryker James A

Classifications

• H03K2217/96062

  with tactile or haptic feedback · CPC title

• H03K17/97

  using a magnetic movable element · CPC title

• H03K17/95

  using a magnetic detector · CPC title

• H01F7/20

  without armatures (cores H01F3/00; coils H01F5/00 {; shaping metal by applying magnetic forces B21D26/14; electromagnets specially adapted for NMR applications G01R33/381}) · CPC title

• H01F7/0252 Primary

  PM holding devices (H01F7/021, H01F7/0215, H01F7/0226 take precedence) · CPC title