Intelligent vents for electronic devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10684656-B2
Application number	US-201816130969-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 13, 2018
Priority date	Sep 18, 2017
Publication date	Jun 16, 2020
Grant date	Jun 16, 2020

Abstract

Aspects of the subject technology relate to electronic devices with intelligent barometric vents. An intelligent barometric vent may provide a moisture-resistant opening between an environment external to a housing of the device and an internal cavity within the housing. The moisture-resistant opening may include a moisture-resistant cover over the opening, the cover having a cover-integrated sensor to detect occlusions of the opening. The device may also include occlusion mitigation components within the housing that operate, responsive to a detected occlusion, to at least partially remove the occlusion.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A portable electronic device, comprising:
a housing having an internal cavity;
a structure that separates the internal cavity from an environment external to the housing, the structure comprising an opening;
an air-permeable, liquid-resistant cover over the opening;
a sensor, integrated with the cover, and configured to detect an occlusion of the opening; and
an occlusion mitigation component operable to mitigate the occlusion of the opening responsive to the detection of the occlusion by the sensor.

2. The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the structure comprises a portion of the housing.

3. The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the structure comprises a wall within the housing that separates the internal cavity from another cavity that is located within the housing and adjacent to an opening in the housing.

4. The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises at least one conductive trace on the cover that extends across the opening in the structure.

5. The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises at least one conductive thread woven into the cover.

6. The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the cover comprises a conductive polymer material and forms at least a portion of the sensor.

7. The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises a conductive plate that is capacitively coupled to the cover.

8. The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the sensor and the occlusion mitigation component each comprises resistive conductive structures on or within the cover.

9. The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the occlusion mitigation component comprises a vibratory component that is directly mechanically coupled to the cover.

10. The portable electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the vibratory component comprises an ultrasonic piezoelectric water vaporizer.

11. The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the occlusion mitigation component comprises an infrared heater.

12. A portable electronic device, comprising:
a housing having an internal cavity;
an intelligent barometric vent that separates the internal cavity from an environment external to the housing, wherein the intelligent barometric vent comprises an opening and a sensor to detect an occlusion of the opening; and
an occlusion mitigation component operable to remove at least some of the detected occlusion.

13. The portable electronic device of claim 12 , wherein the sensor comprises a conductive structure that extends across the opening and is conductively coupled to occlusion detection circuitry within the housing.

14. The portable electronic device of claim 12 , wherein the intelligent barometric vent comprises a water-resistant cover that prevents ingress of moisture from the environment external to the housing into the internal cavity.

15. The portable electronic device of claim 14 , further comprising a battery and a main logic board disposed in the internal cavity.

16. A portable electronic device, comprising:
a housing having an internal cavity;
an intelligent barometric vent that separates the internal cavity from an environment external to the housing, wherein the intelligent barometric vent comprises an opening and a sensor to detect an occlusion of the opening, wherein the sensor comprises a conductive structure that extends across the opening and is conductively coupled to occlusion detection circuitry within the housing, wherein the occlusion detection circuitry is configured to sense a change in conductivity of the conductive structure due to contact with an occluding liquid, and wherein the device further comprises occlusion mitigation circuitry configured to drive a current through the conductive structure to heat the conductive structure to encourage evaporation of the occluding liquid.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Macneil David
• Ribeiro Roberto M
• Lee William S

Classifications

• G06F1/1626 Primary

  with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs] · CPC title

• H05K7/20

  Modifications to facilitate cooling, ventilating, or heating · CPC title

• H04M1/18

  Telephone sets specially adapted for use in ships, mines, or other places exposed to adverse environment (H04M1/19 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04M2250/12

  including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion · CPC title

• G06F1/1656 Primary

  Details related to functional adaptations of the enclosure, e.g. to provide protection against EMI, shock, water, or to host detachable peripherals like a mouse or removable expansions units like PCMCIA cards, or to provide access to internal components for maintenance or to removable storage supports like CDs or DVDs, or to mechanically mount accessories (mounting of accessories to a computer display G06F1/1607; display hoods G06F1/1603; cooling arrangements for portable computers G06F1/203) · CPC title