Patents by Inventor Sarah M. BOLTON

Sarah M. BOLTON 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: 9904379
    Abstract: A level of wear of a stylus tip can be estimated and in accordance with a determination that the level of wear of the stylus tip exceeds a threshold, the stylus input functionality of an electronic device can be disabled. The threshold can be set such that the stylus can be disabled before the stylus sensing performance degrades to a degree perceptible to a human and/or before exposing internal portions of the stylus that can scratch a touch screen. Additionally or alternatively, a notification can be provided to indicate to a user that the stylus tip should be replaced. In some examples, the estimated level of wear can also be used to provide warning notifications. Stylus tip wear can be estimated, for example, based on a detected total signal strength or based on an estimated total distance traversed by the stylus tip across a surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2018
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Blake R. Marshall, Apexit Shah, Ari Y. Benbasat, Li-Quan Tan, Priyanka Bhandari, Reza Nasiri Mahalati, Sarah M. Bolton
  • Publication number: 20170249028
    Abstract: A level of wear of a stylus tip can be estimated and in accordance with a determination that the level of wear of the stylus tip exceeds a threshold, the stylus input functionality of an electronic device can be disabled. The threshold can be set such that the stylus can be disabled before the stylus sensing performance degrades to a degree perceptible to a human and/or before exposing internal portions of the stylus that can scratch a touch screen. Additionally or alternatively, a notification can be provided to indicate to a user that the stylus tip should be replaced. In some examples, the estimated level of wear can also be used to provide warning notifications. Stylus tip wear can be estimated, for example, based on a detected total signal strength or based on an estimated total distance traversed by the stylus tip across a surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 29, 2016
    Publication date: August 31, 2017
    Inventors: Blake R. MARSHALL, Apexit SHAH, Ari Y. BENBASAT, Li-Quan TAN, Priyanka BHANDARI, Reza NASIRI MAHALATI, Sarah M. BOLTON