Patents by Inventor Qingxiang Li

Qingxiang Li has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 9685690
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a display. A display cover layer and a transparent inner display member may overlap a display pixel layer. The display pixel layer may have an array of display pixels for displaying images for a user. A touch sensor layer may be interposed between the display pixel layer and the transparent display member. A ferromagnetic shielding layer may be mounted below the display pixel layer. A flexible printed circuit containing coils of metal signal lines that form a near-field communications loop antenna may be interposed between the ferromagnetic shielding layer and the display pixel layer. A non-near-field antenna such as an inverted-F antenna may have a resonating element mounted on an inner surface of the display cover layer. The resonating element may be interposed between the transparent display member and the display cover layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2017
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Miroslav Samardzija, Yiren Wang, Yuehui Ouyang, Joseph Hakim, Qingxiang Li, Robert W. Schlub, Ruben Caballero, Siwen Yong, Erik G. de Jong
  • Patent number: 9680205
    Abstract: An electronic device may be provided with electrical components mounted in a housing. The electronic device may include wireless transceiver circuitry and antenna structures. A display may be mounted in the housing. The display may have a transparent layer such as display cover layer. The display cover layer may have an inner surface with a recess. The recess may be a groove that runs along a peripheral edge of the display cover layer. An antenna structure such as an inverted-F antenna resonating element may be formed from a metal trace on a plastic support structure. The metal trace and support structure may be mounted in the groove with adhesive. The housing may be a metal housing that forms an antenna ground. Springs may be used in forming an antenna feed and an antenna return path that couples the antenna resonating element to ground.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2017
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Qingxiang Li, Robert W. Schlub, Erik G. de Jong, Yuehui Ouyang, Siwen Yong, Miroslav Samardzija, Yiren Wang, Jiang Zhu
  • Publication number: 20170149127
    Abstract: Electronic devices are provided that contain wireless communications circuitry. The wireless communications circuitry may include radio-frequency transceiver circuitry and antenna structures. The antenna structures may include antennas such as inverted-F antennas that contain antenna resonating elements and antenna ground elements. Antenna resonating elements may be formed from patterned conductive traces on substrates such as flex circuit substrates. Antenna ground elements may be formed from conductive device structures such as metal housing walls. Support and biasing structures such as dielectric support members and layer of foam may be used to support and bias antenna resonating elements against planar device structures. The planar device structures against which the antenna resonating elements are biased may be planar dielectric members such as transparent layers of display cover glass or other planar structures.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 3, 2017
    Publication date: May 25, 2017
    Inventors: Qingxiang Li, Robert W. Schlub, Fletcher R. Rothkopf, Adam D. Mittleman, Yi Jiang, Emily McMilin, Li-jun Zhang
  • Patent number: 9583838
    Abstract: An electronic device may be provided with antennas. Antennas for the electronic device may be formed from slot antenna structures. A slot antenna structure may be formed from portions of a metal housing for an electronic device. The slots of the slot antenna structures may be indirectly fed to form first and second indirectly fed slot antennas. The first and second indirectly fed slot antennas may be formed from slots in a rear surface of an electronic device and a sidewall of the electronic device. The slots may have open ends along an edge of the sidewall and may have closed ends that face each other. A hybrid antenna may also be formed in the electronic device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jiang Zhu, Harish Rajagopalan, Rodney A. Gomez Angulo, Qingxiang Li, Robert W. Schlub, John Raff
  • Patent number: 9577315
    Abstract: Electronic devices are provided that contain wireless communications circuitry. The wireless communications circuitry may include radio-frequency transceiver circuitry and antenna structures. The antenna structures may include antennas such as inverted-F antennas that contain antenna resonating elements and antenna ground elements. Antenna resonating elements may be formed from patterned conductive traces on substrates such as flex circuit substrates. Antenna ground elements may be formed from conductive device structures such as metal housing walls. Support and biasing structures such as dielectric support members and layer of foam may be used to support and bias antenna resonating elements against planar device structures. The planar device structures against which the antenna resonating elements are biased may be planar dielectric members such as transparent layers of display cover glass or other planar structures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2017
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Qingxiang Li, Robert W. Schlub, Fletcher R. Rothkopf, Adam D. Mittleman, Yi Jiang, Emily McMilin, Li-jun Zhang
  • Patent number: 9559425
    Abstract: An electronic device may be provided with slot antennas. A slot antenna may be formed from metal structures that have a dielectric gap defining an antenna slot. The metal structures may include multiple metal layers that overlap a plastic antenna window and that serve as capacitive electrodes in a capacitive proximity sensor. The metal structures may also include a metal electronic device housing. The metal electronic device housing and the metal layers may be formed on opposing sides of the antenna slot. The metal layers may have a notch that locally widens the antenna slot at an open end of the antenna slot. One of the metal layers may be shorted to the metal electronic device housing at an opposing closed end of the antenna slot. The antenna slot may be indirectly fed using a near-field-coupled antenna feed structure such as a metal patch that overlaps the antenna slot.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jiang Zhu, Rodney A. Gomez Angulo, Qingxiang Li
  • Patent number: 9559406
    Abstract: An electronic device has antennas formed from cavity antenna structures. The electronic device may have a metal housing. The metal housing may have an upper housing in which a component such as a display is mounted and a lower housing in which a component such as a keyboard is mounted. Hinges may be used to mount the upper housing to the lower housing for rotation about a rotational axis. Cavity antennas may be formed in a clutch barrel region located between the hinges and running along the rotational axis. A flexible printed circuit may be formed between the cavity antennas. Each cavity antenna may have a first end that is adjacent to one of the hinges and a second end that is adjacent to the flexible printed circuit. Cavity walls for the cavity antennas may be formed from metal housing structures such as metal portions of the lower housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jerzy Guterman, Qingxiang Li, Mattia Pascolini
  • Publication number: 20170010697
    Abstract: A computer stylus may have an elongated body with a tip and an opposing end having components such as a connector and an antenna. Metal structures for the antenna may be supported using a molded plastic support with metal traces or may be formed using flexible printed circuits or other structures. Metal and plastic tubes may be used in forming the body of the stylus. A metal tube may have an opening in which an antenna is mounted. A plastic tube may serve as an outer housing for the stylus and may cover the metal tube and the opening in which the antenna is mounted. A transmission line such as a cable may be coupled to an antenna feed. The cable may pass through an opening in the metal tube and may be covered using a strip of conductive foam.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 6, 2015
    Publication date: January 12, 2017
    Inventors: Yi Jiang, Huan-Chu Huang, Mattia Pascolini, Qingxiang Li
  • Patent number: 9543660
    Abstract: An electronic device may be provided with wireless circuitry. The wireless circuitry may include cavity antennas. A cavity antenna may be formed from a metal antenna cavity and resonating element structures. The metal antenna cavity may be formed from metal traces on a dielectric carrier. The resonating element structures may include directly fed and indirectly fed slot antenna resonating elements and monopole antenna resonating elements. The metal antenna cavity may exhibit a resonance that is tuned using a transmission line tuning stub. Filters and duplexer circuits may be used in routing signals at different frequency bands among the antenna resonating elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2017
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Harish Rajagopalan, Huan-Chu Huang, Ke Sun, Qingxiang Li, Robert W. Schlub, Rodney A. Gomez Angulo, Umar Azad
  • Publication number: 20170005397
    Abstract: An electronic device may have an antenna for providing coverage in wireless communications bands of interest such as a low frequency communications band and a high frequency communications band. The antenna may have an antenna ground and an antenna resonating element. The antenna resonating element may have a high band arm that contributes to a first high band resonance in the high band and may have a low band arm that exhibits a low band resonance in the low band. A passive filter that is coupled between first and second portions of the antenna resonating element may be configured to exhibit a short circuit impedance associated with a bypass path that allows the antenna resonating element to contribute to a second high band resonance in the high band. A tunable inductor coupled to the antenna resonating element may be used to tune the low band resonance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 13, 2016
    Publication date: January 5, 2017
    Inventors: Yi Jiang, Siwen Yong, Gordon Coutts, Lijun Zhang, Qingxiang Li, Robert W. Schlub
  • Publication number: 20160380333
    Abstract: A portable computing device is disclosed. The portable computing device can take many forms such as a laptop computer, a tablet computer, and no on. The portable computing device can include a single piece housing formed from a radio opaque material with a cover formed from a radio transparent material. To implement a wireless interface, an antenna stack-up can be provided that allows an antenna to be mounted to a bottom of the cover. Methods and apparatus are provided for improving wireless performance. For instance, in one embodiment, a metal housing can be thinned to improve antenna performance. As another example, a faraday cage can be formed around speaker drivers to improve antenna performance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 12, 2016
    Publication date: December 29, 2016
    Inventors: Erik A. Uttermann, Jeremy C. Franklin, Stephen C. McClure, Sean S. Corbin, Qingxiang Li, Rodney A. Gomez Angulo
  • Patent number: 9502750
    Abstract: An electronic device may have an antenna for providing coverage in wireless communications bands of interest. The wireless communications bands may include a communications band at a first frequency. The antenna may have a parasitic antenna resonating element that supports a low efficiency resonance. In response to operation of the electronic device in free space, the low efficiency resonance will be located at a second frequency that is greater than the first frequency. In response to operation of the electronic device in proximity to a user's body or other external object, the antenna will be loaded and the low efficiency resonance associated with the parasitic antenna resonating element will shift to the communications band at the first frequency. The antenna may include a resonating element formed on a flexible printed circuit or a dielectric carrier such as a plastic support structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2016
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Salih Yarga, Qingxiang Li, Robert W. Schlub
  • Publication number: 20160336643
    Abstract: An electronic device may have hybrid antennas that include slot antenna resonating elements formed from slots in a ground plane and planar inverted-F antenna resonating elements. The planar inverted-F antenna resonating elements may each have a planar metal member that overlaps one of the slots. The slot of each slot antenna resonating element may divide the ground plane into first and second portions. A return path and feed may be coupled in parallel between the planar metal member and the first portion of the ground plane. Tunable components such as tunable inductors may be used to tune the hybrid antennas. A tunable inductor may bridge the slot in hybrid antenna, may be coupled between the planar metal member of the planar inverted-F antenna resonating element and the ground plane, or multiple tunable inductors may bridge the slot on opposing sides of the planar inverted-F antenna resonating element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 12, 2015
    Publication date: November 17, 2016
    Inventors: Mattia Pascolini, Umar Azad, Rodney A. Gomez Angulo, Erdinc Irci, Qingxiang Li, Matthew A. Mow, Harish Rajagopalan, Miroslav Samardzija, Ming-Ju Tsai
  • Patent number: 9496608
    Abstract: An electronic device may have an antenna for providing coverage in wireless communications bands of interest such as a low frequency communications band and a high frequency communications band. The antenna may have an antenna ground and an antenna resonating element. The antenna resonating element may have a high band arm that contributes to a first high band resonance in the high band and may have a low band arm that exhibits a low band resonance in the low band. A passive filter that is coupled between first and second portions of the antenna resonating element may be configured to exhibit a short circuit impedance associated with a bypass path that allows the antenna resonating element to contribute to a second high band resonance in the high band.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2016
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Yi Jiang, Siwen Yong, Gordon Coutts, Lijun Zhang, Qingxiang Li, Robert W. Schlub
  • Patent number: 9461674
    Abstract: An electronic device may be provided with a primary antenna that is used for transmitting and receiving signals and a secondary antenna that is used for receiving signals. The primary and secondary antennas may be used together in a diversity arrangement when receiving signals. The electronic device may have a transceiver. A phase shifter may be interposed between the transceiver and the secondary antenna. Control circuitry may select a communications band of interest for transmitting signals with the primary antenna. The control circuitry can adjust the phase shifter in real time based on which communications band of interest has been selected for transmission with the primary antenna. The phase shifter may impose a phase shift on signals carried between the secondary antenna and the transceiver that ensures that primary antenna efficiency degradation associated with the presence of the secondary antenna in the vicinity of the primary antenna is avoided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2016
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Salih Yarga, Miroslav Samardzija, Qingxiang Li, Robert W. Schlub
  • Patent number: 9450289
    Abstract: An electronic device has antennas formed from cavity antenna structures. The electronic device may have a metal housing. The metal housing may have an upper housing in which a component such as a display is mounted and a lower housing in which a component such as a keyboard is mounted. Hinges may be used to mount the upper housing to the lower housing for rotation about a rotational axis. Cavity antennas may be formed in a clutch barrel region located between the hinges and running along the rotational axis. A flexible printed circuit may be formed between the cavity antennas. Each cavity antenna may have a first end that is adjacent to one of the hinges and a second end that is adjacent to the flexible printed circuit. Cavity walls for the cavity antennas may be formed from metal housing structures such as metal portions of the lower housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2016
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jerzy Guterman, Qingxiang Li, Mattia Pascolini
  • Patent number: 9444131
    Abstract: A portable computing device is disclosed. The portable computing device can take many forms such as a laptop computer, a tablet computer, and so on. The portable computing device can include a single piece housing formed from a radio opaque material with a cover formed from a radio transparent material. To implement a wireless interface, an antenna stack-up can be provided that allows an antenna to be mounted to a bottom of the cover. Methods and apparatus are provided for improving wireless performance. For instance, in one embodiment, a metal housing can be thinned to improve antenna performance. As another example, a faraday cage can be formed around speaker drivers to improve antenna performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2016
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Erik A. Uttermann, Jeremy C. Franklin, Stephen C. McClure, Sean S. Corbin, Qingxiang Li, Rodney A. Gomez Angulo
  • Patent number: 9425496
    Abstract: An electronic device may be provided with antenna structures. The antenna structures may be formed using a dielectric carrier structure such as a speaker enclosure, so that interior space within the electronic device that is occupied by a speaker can be used in forming an antenna. A speaker driver may be mounted in the speaker enclosure. Openings in the speaker enclosure may allow sound from the speaker driver to be emitted from the speaker enclosure. The antenna structures may have first and second loop antenna resonating elements. The first loop antenna resonating element may indirectly feed the second loop antenna resonating element. The second loop antenna resonating element may be a distributed loop element formed from a strip of metal with a width that loops around the speaker enclosure. Openings in the second loop antenna resonating element may be aligned with the speaker enclosure openings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2016
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jiang Zhu, Qingxiang Li, Robert W. Schlub, Ruben Caballero
  • Publication number: 20160218414
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a display. A display cover layer and a transparent inner display member may overlap a display pixel layer. The display pixel layer may have an array of display pixels for displaying images for a user. A touch sensor layer may be interposed between the display pixel layer and the transparent display member. A ferromagnetic shielding layer may be mounted below the display pixel layer. A flexible printed circuit containing coils of metal signal lines that form a near-field communications loop antenna may be interposed between the ferromagnetic shielding layer and the display pixel layer. A non-near-field antenna such as an inverted-F antenna may have a resonating element mounted on an inner surface of the display cover layer. The resonating element may be interposed between the transparent display member and the display cover layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 5, 2016
    Publication date: July 28, 2016
    Inventors: Miroslav Samardzija, Yiren Wang, Yuehui Ouyang, Joseph Hakim, Qingxiang Li, Robert W. Schlub, Ruben Caballero, Siwen Yong, Erik G. de Jong
  • Patent number: 9379445
    Abstract: An electronic device may be provided with a satellite positioning system slot antenna. The slot antenna may include a slot in a metal housing. The slot may be directly fed or indirectly fed. In indirectly fed configurations, the antenna may include a near-field-coupled antenna feed structure that is near-field coupled to the slot. The near-field-coupled antenna feed structure may be formed from a planar metal structure. The planar metal structure may be a metal patch that overlaps the slot and that has a leg that protrudes towards the metal housing. A positive antenna feed terminal may be coupled to the leg and a ground antenna feed terminal may be coupled to the metal housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2016
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jiang Zhu, Harish Rajagopalan, Rodney A. Gomez Angulo, Qingxiang Li, Robert W. Schlub