Protective case with coupling gasket for a wearable electronic device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10945664-B1
Application number	US-201615253846-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Aug 31, 2016
Priority date	Sep 30, 2015
Publication date	Mar 16, 2021
Grant date	Mar 16, 2021

Abstract

A protective case for a wearable electronic device. The wearable electronic device may include a housing and a band that is configured to secure the wearable electronic device to a user. A protective of removable case may be configured to attach to the external features of the housing and include a body portion and a set of curved protrusions that extend from the body portion to cover the corners of the housing. The device may include an optical sensor and the case may include an aperture formed in the body portion that is substantially aligned with the optical sensor. A gasket, positioned along a perimeter of the aperture, may be configured to provide an optical barrier for the optical sensor of the device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A protective case for a wearable electronic device, comprising:
a body portion configured to at least partially cover a housing of the wearable electronic device and including multiple curved corner protrusions each configured to cover one of multiple corners of the housing, each of the multiple curved corner protrusions extending from a rear surface of the housing to a flat portion of a cover over the housing, the cover being opposite the rear surface and providing a view to a display of the wearable electronic device, wherein each one of adjacent pairs of the curved corner protrusions about the body portion are separated by one of multiple gaps that exposes a portion of the housing, wherein a first one of the adjacent pairs of the curved corner protrusions are arranged to form a first gap for receiving a first band strap extending from the housing and through the first gap, and a second one of the adjacent pairs of the curved corner protrusions are arranged to form a second gap for receiving a second band strap extending from the housing and through the second gap, wherein each of the curved corner protrusions defines a notch that is shaped to provide access for insertion of the band into and removal of the first band strap and the second band strap from the housing while the protective case is attached to the wearable electronic device, wherein each notch is configured to form a shape that matches one or opposing ends of a corresponding channel of the housing; and
a gasket having a protrusion extending from a surface of the body portion and formed around an aperture defined in the body portion, wherein the protrusion is configured to contact a skin of a wearer when the wearable electronic device is attached to the wearer.

2. The protective case of claim 1 , wherein:
the wearable electronic device includes an optical sensor used to compute a health metric of the wearer;
the optical sensor is positioned adjacent to the aperture defined in the body portion; ands
the contact between the protrusion of the gasket and the wearer's skin shields the optical sensor from external light.

3. The protective case of claim 1 , wherein:
each corner of the housing has a contoured shape; and
each curved corner protrusion of curved corner protrusions is formed from a compliant material and is configured to conform to the contoured shape of the corners.

4. The protective case of claim 1 , wherein:
the wearable electronic device includes a removable band strap attached to the housing; and
the curved corner protrusions is configured to cover at least a portion of the removable band strap and retain the removable band strap within a feature formed in the housing.

5. The protective case of claim 4 , wherein:
the removable band strap is received within the corresponding channel of the housing; and
a portion of the protective case is configured to peel away from the respective corner of the housing to allow the removable band strap to be removed from the corresponding channel of the housing.

6. The protective case of claim 1 , wherein the gasket is integrally formed with the body portion.

7. The protective case of claim 1 , wherein the gasket is formed from a compliant material that is configured to conform to a wrist of the wearer to form an optical seal.

8. A wearable electronic device, comprising:
an enclosure including a housing, a cover defining four corners and positioned over the housing and a display of the wearable electronic device, and receiving features for coupling the enclosure to band straps of a band assembly;
a band attached to the enclosure and configured to secure the wearable electronic device to a user; and
a removable case attached to the enclosure and comprising:
a body disposed over a bottom portion of the housing, the bottom portion being opposite the cover;
multiple protrusions that extend from the body to a flat portion of the cover to enclose the four corners of the enclosure and each of the multiple protrusions defining a notched portion that is configured to expose the receiving features and provide access for insertion of the band into and removal of the band from the housing while the removable case is attached to the enclosure, wherein the band, when inserted into one of the receiving features, is configured to extend through a pair of the notched portions of adjacent protrusions; and
a gasket positioned along a perimeter of an aperture defined in the body and configured to contact a skin of the user to form an optical barrier.

9. The wearable electronic device of claim 8 , further comprising:
an optical element positioned at least partially within the housing, wherein the optical element is substantially aligned with the aperture of the body of the removable case.

10. The wearable electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the gasket includes a protrusion that defines a cavity between the skin of the user and the optical element.

11. The wearable electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the cavity formed by the protrusion of the gasket is substantially free of external light when the wearable electronic device is attached to the user.

12. The wearable electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the notched portion exposes a receiving channel in the housing for receiving a portion of the band.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Webb Michael J

Classifications

• A61B2562/18

  Shielding or protection of sensors from environmental influences, e.g. protection from mechanical damage · CPC title

• A61B5/681 Primary

  Wristwatch-type devices · CPC title

• A61B5/02416

  using photoplethysmograph signals, e.g. generated by infrared radiation (A61B5/14552 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A45C11/10 Primary

  Watch cases or guards, with or without windows · CPC title

• A61B5/0059

  using light, e.g. diagnosis by transillumination, diascopy, fluorescence (photoacoustic A61B5/0093; optical measurement of heart rate A61B5/02416; optical measurement of blood flow A61B5/0261; optical measurement of analytes A61B5/1455) · CPC title