Dynamically stabilized magnetic array

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016284497-A1
Application number	US-201514671931-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 27, 2015
Priority date	Mar 27, 2015
Publication date	Sep 29, 2016
Grant date	—

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 . An electronic device attachment system, comprising:
a power source; an electromagnet; and a magnetic field sensor, comprising a switch that electrically couples the electromagnet with the power source to energize the electromagnet when changes detected by the magnetic field sensor in a magnetic field fall within a predefined range of magnetic field characteristics.

2 . The electronic device attachment system as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
a housing enclosing the power source, the electromagnet and the magnetic field sensor.

3 . The electronic device attachment system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the magnetic field sensor is a first magnetic field sensor, the electromagnet is a first electromagnet and wherein the electronic device further comprises:
a second electromagnet; a second magnetic field sensor that electrically couples the second electromagnet with the power source; and a comparator that determines a difference between the magnetic field changes detected by the first and second magnetic field sensors, wherein the comparator directs the first and second magnetic field sensors to independently modify the predefined range of magnetic field characteristics that correspond to the first and second electromagnets being energized.

4 . The electronic device attachment system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the electromagnet includes switching circuitry configured to reverse a direction current flows through coils of the electromagnet.

5 . The electronic device attachment system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the magnetic field sensor electrically couples the power source to the electromagnet when the magnetic field sensor detects a change in the magnetic field that is consistent with an accessory device coupled to the electronic device by the magnetic field being decoupled from the electronic device.

6 . The electronic device attachment system as recited in claim 4 , further comprising a permanent magnet that interacts with the magnetic field to couple the accessory device to the electronic device.

7 . The electronic device attachment system as recited in claim 1 , further comprising a user interface,
wherein a processor in communication with the user interface sends a signal to the switch directing release of an accessory device when a user input is received by the user interface requesting disconnection of the accessory device from the electronic device.

8 . The electronic device attachment system as recited in claim 7 , wherein the user interface comprises a touch sensitive display assembly and the power source comprises a battery.

9 . The electronic device attachment system as recited in claim 1 , further comprising a permanent magnet disposed within the device housing,
wherein the magnetic field is emitted by a device magnetically coupled with the electronic device by way of the permanent magnet.

10 . A portable electronic device, comprising:
a power source; a number of electromagnet assemblies, each of the electromagnet assemblies comprising an electromagnet, a magnetic field sensor and a switch, the switch allowing electrical energy from the power source to energize the electromagnet when the magnetic field sensor detects a magnetic field falling within a predefined range of magnetic field characteristics; and a permanent magnet configured to secure a magnetically attractable device to an exterior surface of the portable electronic device.

11 . The portable electronic device as recited in claim 10 , further comprising:
a comparator that compares magnetic field readings detected by each of the magnetic field sensors and adjusts the predefined range of magnetic field characteristics in accordance with the magnetic field readings.

12 . The portable electronic device as recited in claim 11 , further comprising a number of permanent magnets arranged in an alternating polarity pattern complementary to a polarity pattern formed by permanent magnets of the magnetically attractable device.

13 . The portable electronic device as recited in claim 11 , wherein the comparator adjusts the predefined range of magnetic field characteristics so that a first one of the electromagnets is energized before a second one of the electromagnets.

14 . The portable electronic device as recited in claim 13 , wherein the sequential energizing of the electromagnets is performed at an interval that causes mating surfaces of the portable electronic device and the magnetically attractable device to be aligned when the mating surface of the devices first come into contact.

15 . The portable electronic device as recited in claim 14 , wherein the magnetically attractable device is the same as the portable electronic device.

16 . The portable electronic device as recited in claim 10 , wherein the electromagnet comprises two sets of coils arranged about opposing ends of a substantially u-shaped magnetically attractable material, the electromagnet emitting adjacent opposite polarity fields.

17 . The portable electronic device as recited in claim 10 , further comprising a processor configured to direct a flow of energy through at least one of the electromagnets to be reversed.

18 . A portable computing device, comprising:
a housing formed of a magnetically neutral material; a display assembly disposed within the housing; a battery; and a number of electromagnet assemblies disposed within the housing, each of the electromagnet assemblies comprising an analog switching mechanism that supplies power to an electromagnet from the battery when a sensing coil detects a changing magnetic field meeting a predefined magnetic field characteristic.

19 . The portable computing device as recited in claim 18 , wherein the analog switching mechanism comprises a field effect transistor switch.

20 . The portable computing device as recited in claim 19 , wherein the field effect transistor switch comprises a band pass filter that determines whether the predefined magnetic field characteristic is met and limits a duty cycle of the electromagnet.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Stryker James A

Classifications

• 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

• G06F3/017

  Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures (interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883) · CPC title

• G06F1/1681

  Details related solely to hinges (hinge details related to the transmission of signals or power are classified in G06F1/1683) · CPC title

• H03K2217/96062

  with tactile or haptic feedback · CPC title

• G06F1/1675

  Miscellaneous details related to the relative movement between the different enclosures or enclosure parts · CPC title