Patents by Inventor Erik A. Uttermann
Erik A. Uttermann 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).
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Patent number: 12238954Abstract: An electronic device may have a hinge that allows the device to be flexed about a bend axis. A display may span the bend axis. To facilitate bending about the bend axis, the display may have layers such as a display cover layer with grooves or other recesses. The recesses form a flexible portion in the display layer. The display layer may be formed from glass or other materials that are transparent. Elastomeric material, fluids, and other materials may be placed in the recesses in the display layer. The material in the display layer may have an index of refraction that is matched to the index of refraction of the display layer. A hinge may be formed between rigid planar layers that are separated by a gap. Flexible layers that lie flush with opposing surfaces of the rigid planar layers may be used to span the gap.Type: GrantFiled: October 17, 2023Date of Patent: February 25, 2025Assignee: Apple Inc.Inventors: Jiang Ai, Erik A. Uttermann, Soyoung Kim
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Patent number: 12124297Abstract: A portable electronic device can include a housing defining an aperture and a display positioned in the aperture. The portable electronic device can include a number of components that can provide desired functionalities and levels of performance. For example, the device can include one or more couplers that interconnect various portions of the housing together. Additionally or alternatively, the portable electronic device can include one or more millimeter-wave antennas. Additionally, or alternatively, the electronic device can include one or more grounding elements or layers that reliably and electrically ground the display to the housing.Type: GrantFiled: April 19, 2021Date of Patent: October 22, 2024Assignee: APPLE INC.Inventors: Sayooj R. Pillai, Annie T. Zhang, Lucas R. Compton, John V. Abram, Heather M. Martin, Timothy J. McHenry, Chi Zhang, Kienan D. McCarty, Lee B. Hamstra, Trevor M. Cardiff, Tristan Sansbury, Erik A. Uttermann, Kevin K. Mayer
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Publication number: 20240113425Abstract: An electronic device may include an antenna and a coaxial cable coupled to the antenna. The coaxial cable may have a signal conductor coupled to an antenna resonating element of the antenna and a ground conductor coupled to an antenna ground of the antenna. The ground conductor may include an ungrounded segment that is separated from the antenna ground by a gap. A capacitive coupling between the ground conductor in the ungrounded segment and the antenna ground via the gap may form an impedance matching component for the coaxial cable. A dielectric retention layer may overlap the coaxial cable and hold the coaxial cable in place relative to the antenna ground to maintain the gap.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 10, 2023Publication date: April 4, 2024Inventors: Panagiotis Theofanopoulos, David Garrido Lopez, Nicholas A Renda, Le Li, Xiangyu Wang, Emily Sheng, Jason Bakhshi, Harish Rajagopalan, Forhad Hasnat, Subramanian Ramalingam, Erik A Uttermann, Rodney A Gomez Angulo, Ozgur Isik
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Patent number: 11907016Abstract: A portable electronic device can include a housing defining an aperture and a display positioned in the aperture. The portable electronic device can include a number of components that can provide desired functionalities and levels of performance. For example, the device can include one or more couplers that interconnect various portions of the housing together. Additionally or alternatively, the portable electronic device can include one or more millimeter-wave antennas. Additionally, or alternatively, the electronic device can include one or more grounding elements or layers that reliably and electrically ground the display to the housing.Type: GrantFiled: April 19, 2021Date of Patent: February 20, 2024Assignee: APPLE INC.Inventors: Thomas O. Henry, Trevor M. Cardiff, Jason A. U. De Souza, Sayooj R. Pillai, Jason Bakhshi, Erik A. Uttermann, Wei Lv, Wenyong Zhu, Lee B. Hamstra, Daniel J. Hoff
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Publication number: 20240049499Abstract: An electronic device may have a hinge that allows the device to be flexed about a bend axis. A display may span the bend axis. To facilitate bending about the bend axis, the display may have layers such as a display cover layer with grooves or other recesses. The recesses form a flexible portion in the display layer. The display layer may be formed from glass or other materials that are transparent. Elastomeric material, fluids, and other materials may be placed in the recesses in the display layer. The material in the display layer may have an index of refraction that is matched to the index of refraction of the display layer. A hinge may be formed between rigid planar layers that are separated by a gap. Flexible layers that lie flush with opposing surfaces of the rigid planar layers may be used to span the gap.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 17, 2023Publication date: February 8, 2024Inventors: Jiang Ai, Erik A. Uttermann, Soyoung Kim
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Patent number: 11825680Abstract: An electronic device may have a hinge that allows the device to be flexed about a bend axis. A display may span the bend axis. To facilitate bending about the bend axis, the display may have layers such as a display cover layer with grooves or other recesses. The recesses form a flexible portion in the display layer. The display layer may be formed from glass or other materials that are transparent. Elastomeric material, fluids, and other materials may be placed in the recesses in the display layer. The material in the display layer may have an index of refraction that is matched to the index of refraction of the display layer. A hinge may be formed between rigid planar layers that are separated by a gap. Flexible layers that lie flush with opposing surfaces of the rigid planar layers may be used to span the gap.Type: GrantFiled: November 11, 2020Date of Patent: November 21, 2023Assignee: Apple Inc.Inventors: Jiang Ai, Erik A. Uttermann, Soyoung Kim
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Patent number: 11480998Abstract: 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 at least a single piece housing. The single piece housing can be machined from a single billet of material, such as a billet of aluminum. The single piece housing can include ledges with a surface receiving a trim bead and a cover. Corner brackets can be attached to the single piece housing to improve the damage resistance of the housing.Type: GrantFiled: November 11, 2019Date of Patent: October 25, 2022Assignee: Apple Inc.Inventors: Stephen R. McClure, Sean S. Corbin, John P. Ternus, Kevin D. Gibbs, Jeremy C. Franklin, Elvis M. Kibiti, John Raff, Jules B. Henry, Benjamin Rappoport, Derek W. Wright, Erik A. Uttermann, Ming Yu, Carl R. Peterson
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Publication number: 20220291717Abstract: A portable electronic device can include a housing defining an aperture and a display positioned in the aperture. The portable electronic device can include a number of components that can provide desired functionalities and levels of performance. For example, the device can include one or more couplers that interconnect various portions of the housing together. Additionally or alternatively, the portable electronic device can include one or more millimeter-wave antennas. Additionally, or alternatively, the electronic device can include one or more grounding elements or layers that reliably and electrically ground the display to the housing.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 19, 2021Publication date: September 15, 2022Inventors: Thomas O. Henry, Trevor M. Cardiff, Jason A. U. De Souza, Sayooj R. Pillai, Jason Bakhshi, Erik A. Uttermann, Wei Lv, Wenyong Zhu, Lee B. Hamstra, Daniel J. Hoff
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Publication number: 20220295648Abstract: A portable electronic device can include a housing defining an aperture and a display positioned in the aperture. The portable electronic device can include a number of components that can provide desired functionalities and levels of performance. For example, the device can include one or more couplers that interconnect various portions of the housing together. Additionally or alternatively, the portable electronic device can include one or more millimeter-wave antennas. Additionally, or alternatively, the electronic device can include one or more grounding elements or layers that reliably and electrically ground the display to the housing.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 19, 2021Publication date: September 15, 2022Inventors: Sayooj R. Pillai, Annie T. Zhang, Lucas R. Compton, John V. Abram, Heather M. Martin, Timothy J. McHenry, Chi Zhang, Kienan D. McCarty, Lee B. Hamstra, Trevor M. Cardiff, Tristan Sansbury, Erik A. Uttermann, Kevin K. Mayer
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Patent number: 11402911Abstract: Disclosed herein are methods and systems for providing haptic output on an electronic device. In some embodiments, the electronic device includes an actuator configured to move in a first direction. The electronic device also includes a substrate coupled to the actuator. When the actuator moves in the first direction, the substrate or a portion of the substrate, by virtue of being coupled to the actuator, moves in a second direction. In some implementations, the movement of the substrate is perpendicular to the movement of the actuator.Type: GrantFiled: September 26, 2019Date of Patent: August 2, 2022Assignee: Apple Inc.Inventors: Erik A. Uttermann, Kevin D. Gibbs, Dhaval Chandrakant Patel, Florence W. Ow, Derek W. Wright, Stephen R. McClure, Inna Lobel
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Publication number: 20210066641Abstract: An electronic device may have a hinge that allows the device to be flexed about a bend axis. A display may span the bend axis. To facilitate bending about the bend axis, the display may have layers such as a display cover layer with grooves or other recesses. The recesses form a flexible portion in the display layer. The display layer may be formed from glass or other materials that are transparent. Elastomeric material, fluids, and other materials may be placed in the recesses in the display layer. The material in the display layer may have an index of refraction that is matched to the index of refraction of the display layer. A hinge may be formed between rigid planar layers that are separated by a gap. Flexible layers that lie flush with opposing surfaces of the rigid planar layers may be used to span the gap.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 11, 2020Publication date: March 4, 2021Inventors: Jiang Ai, Erik A. Uttermann, Soyoung Kim
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Patent number: 10840474Abstract: An electronic device may have a hinge that allows the device to be flexed about a bend axis. A display may span the bend axis. To facilitate bending about the bend axis, the display may have layers such as a display cover layer with grooves or other recesses. The recesses form a flexible portion in the display layer. The display layer may be formed from glass or other materials that are transparent. Elastomeric material, fluids, and other materials may be placed in the recesses in the display layer. The material in the display layer may have an index of refraction that is matched to the index of refraction of the display layer. A hinge may be formed between rigid planar layers that are separated by a gap. Flexible layers that lie flush with opposing surfaces of the rigid planar layers may be used to span the gap.Type: GrantFiled: March 10, 2020Date of Patent: November 17, 2020Assignee: Apple Inc.Inventors: Jiang Ai, Erik A. Uttermann, Soyoung Kim
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Patent number: 10747274Abstract: A portable electronic device, having a single piece housing to carry operational components having a front opening, an integral bottom and sidewalls that cooperate to form a cavity in cooperation with the front opening. The operational components can include a display to present visual content disposed within the front opening and having an outermost protective layer, a main logic board that extends along a central portion of the cavity having a size and shape that bisects the cavity into a first portion and a second portion each having substantially the same size and shape, a power storage system supported at the bottom wall and comprising a first power storage unit located in the first portion and second power storage unit located in the second portion, each being coupled to the main logic board, and self-contained audio components positioned at each corner of the single piece housing.Type: GrantFiled: August 31, 2016Date of Patent: August 18, 2020Assignee: Apple Inc.Inventors: Erik A. Uttermann, John Raff, Melody L. Kuna, Jason S. Keats, G. Kyle Lobisser, John R. Kamorowski, Oliver C. Ross, Guangtao Zhang, Santhana Krishnan Balaji, Jiang Ai, Robert Scritzky, Stephen R. McClure
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Publication number: 20200212340Abstract: An electronic device may have a hinge that allows the device to be flexed about a bend axis. A display may span the bend axis. To facilitate bending about the bend axis, the display may have layers such as a display cover layer with grooves or other recesses. The recesses form a flexible portion in the display layer. The display layer may be formed from glass or other materials that are transparent. Elastomeric material, fluids, and other materials may be placed in the recesses in the display layer. The material in the display layer may have an index of refraction that is matched to the index of refraction of the display layer. A hinge may be formed between rigid planar layers that are separated by a gap. Flexible layers that lie flush with opposing surfaces of the rigid planar layers may be used to span the gap.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 10, 2020Publication date: July 2, 2020Inventors: Jiang Ai, Erik A. Uttermann, Soyoung Kim
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Patent number: 10658744Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: September 12, 2016Date of Patent: May 19, 2020Assignee: APPLE INC.Inventors: Erik A. Uttermann, Jeremy C. Franklin, Stephen C. McClure, Sean S. Corbin, Qingxiang Li, Rodney A. Gomez Angulo
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Publication number: 20200117235Abstract: 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 at least a single piece housing. The single piece housing can be machined from a single billet of material, such as a billet of aluminum. The single piece housing can include ledges with a surface receiving a trim bead and a cover. Corner brackets can be attached to the single piece housing to improve the damage resistance of the housing.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 11, 2019Publication date: April 16, 2020Inventors: Stephen R. McClure, Sean S. Corbin, John P. Ternus, Kevin D. Gibbs, Jeremy C. Franklin, Elvis M. Kibiti, John Raff, Jules B. Henry, Benjamin Rappoport, Derek W. Wright, Erik A. Uttermann, Ming Yu, Carl R. Peterson
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Patent number: 10600989Abstract: An electronic device may have a hinge that allows the device to be flexed about a bend axis. A display may span the bend axis. To facilitate bending about the bend axis, the display may have layers such as a display cover layer with grooves or other recesses. The recesses form a flexible portion in the display layer. The display layer may be formed from glass or other materials that are transparent. Elastomeric material, fluids, and other materials may be placed in the recesses in the display layer. The material in the display layer may have an index of refraction that is matched to the index of refraction of the display layer. A hinge may be formed between rigid planar layers that are separated by a gap. Flexible layers that lie flush with opposing surfaces of the rigid planar layers may be used to span the gap.Type: GrantFiled: June 26, 2018Date of Patent: March 24, 2020Assignee: Apple Inc.Inventors: Jiang Ai, Erik A. Uttermann, Soyoung Kim
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Patent number: 10579184Abstract: A portable input device is described. The portable input device can wirelessly send control signals to an external circuit. The control signals can derive from touch or gestures applied to a touch sensitive surface. The control signals can also include a mouse click equivalent control signal generated by mechanical manipulation of the portable input device.Type: GrantFiled: December 1, 2017Date of Patent: March 3, 2020Assignee: APPLE INC.Inventors: Erik A. Uttermann, Rico Zorkendorfer, Andrew Lauder, Sean S. Corbin
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Publication number: 20200026359Abstract: Disclosed herein are methods and systems for providing haptic output on an electronic device. In some embodiments, the electronic device includes an actuator configured to move in a first direction. The electronic device also includes a substrate coupled to the actuator. When the actuator moves in the first direction, the substrate or a portion of the substrate, by virtue of being coupled to the actuator, moves in a second direction. In some implementations, the movement of the substrate is perpendicular to the movement of the actuator.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 26, 2019Publication date: January 23, 2020Inventors: Erik A. Uttermann, Kevin D. Gibbs, Dhaval Chandrakant Patel, Florence W. Ow, Derek W. Wright, Stephen R. McClure, Inna Lobel
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Patent number: 10481691Abstract: Disclosed herein are methods and systems for providing haptic output on an electronic device. In some embodiments, the electronic device includes an actuator configured to move in a first direction. The electronic device also includes a substrate coupled to the actuator. When the actuator moves in the first direction, the substrate or a portion of the substrate, by virtue of being coupled to the actuator, moves in a second direction. In some implementations, the movement of the substrate is perpendicular to the movement of the actuator.Type: GrantFiled: April 14, 2016Date of Patent: November 19, 2019Assignee: Apple Inc.Inventors: Erik A. Uttermann, Kevin D. Gibbs, Dhaval Chandrakant Patel, Florence W. Ow, Derek W. Wright, Stephen R. McClure, Inna Lobel