Patents by Inventor Jeremy C. Franklin

Jeremy C. Franklin 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).

  • Publication number: 20140133174
    Abstract: Electronic devices may include displays. A display may include backlight components that provide backlight illumination for the display. Backlight components may include a light guide plate that distributes light from a light source across the display. A plastic display chassis may be used to support display layers and backlight components. A light blocking material such as a layer of metal or opaque coating material may be formed on a surface of the plastic display chassis and may be used to reduce light leakage from the backlight components to the exterior of the electronic device. A metal barrier structure may be formed on a surface of the support structure and may be used to ground a conductive display layer to a conductive support structure such as a metal display chassis or a metal housing member. The plastic display chassis may be insert molded around a light barrier structure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 9, 2012
    Publication date: May 15, 2014
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jeremy C. Franklin, Kevin D. Gibbs, Amy Qian, John Raff, Michael J. Reilly, Altan N. Yazar
  • Publication number: 20140133179
    Abstract: Electronic devices may include displays. A display may include backlight components that provide backlight illumination for the display. Backlight components may include a light guide plate that distributes light from a light source across the display. Display chassis structures may be used to support display layers and backlight components. A metal chassis may include a portion that partially surrounds the light source. Openings or perforations in the metal chassis may allow the portion that surrounds the light source to flex about a flex axis. A portion of a display layer may be mounted to a plastic chassis. The plastic chassis may be insert molded over a light source, may form part of a package for a light source, may be adhered to a light source, or may wrap around the light source. An encapsulant may be formed over the light source to protect the light source from vibrations and contaminants.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 9, 2012
    Publication date: May 15, 2014
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jeremy C. Franklin, Kevin D. Gibbs, Amy Qian, John Raff
  • Patent number: 8716932
    Abstract: An electronic device may be provided with a display having a flexible substrate with bent edges. The flexible substrate may have a planar active region that includes an array of light-emitting elements such as organic light-emitting diodes with associated control lines. The flexible substrate may also have inactive regions that lie outside of the active region. The bent edges may be formed from portions of the flexible substrate in the inactive regions. Traces for distributing control signals to the control lines in the active region may be formed in the inactive regions. Corner openings may be formed at the corners of the flexible substrate to accommodate bending of the flexible substrate in the inactive regions. A jumper or a portion of the flexible substrate that lies outside of a corner opening may be used to convey signals between traces on adjoining inactive regions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2014
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Benjamin M. Rappoport, Jeremy C. Franklin, Cheng Chen, Scott A. Myers
  • Publication number: 20140118531
    Abstract: Electronic devices may include displays. A display may include a display unit that includes an array of display pixels and a backlight unit that provides backlight illumination for the display pixels. An automated alignment system may be used to align the display unit to the backlight unit. The alignment system may include a camera, a control unit, and computer-controlled positioners. The control unit may gather alignment feature location information from the display unit and the backlight unit using the camera. The control unit may determine a centroid of the backlight unit based on the alignment feature location information. The alignment feature location information may include the respective locations of openings in the backlight unit. The control unit may operate computer-controlled positioners to align the display unit with respect to the backlight unit using the centroid and to subsequently attach the display unit to the backlight unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 8, 2013
    Publication date: May 1, 2014
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jeremy C. Franklin, Benjamin M. Rappoport, Jiang Ai, Amy Qian, Bruce E. Berg, Eva J. Dixon, Ateet Piplani
  • Patent number: 8690412
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a liquid crystal display with backlight structures. The backlight structures may produce backlight that passes through the display layers in the display. The display layers may include a layer of liquid crystal material interposed between a color filter layer and a thin-film transistor layer. The backlight structures may include a light guide plate. A plurality of light-emitting diodes mounted on a flexible printed circuit may be coupled to an edge of the light guide plate. The flexible printed circuit may be curled into a spring element to bias the light-emitting diodes against the edge of the light guide plate. A plurality of gaps may be formed in the flexible printed circuit and may be used to separate and mechanically decouple adjacent light-emitting diodes. Individual light-emitting diodes may independently register to the light guide plate to maximize optical efficiency in the display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jeremy C. Franklin, Derek Wright, Wenyong Zhu
  • Publication number: 20140092583
    Abstract: Electronic devices may include displays having backlight structures and display layers. The display layers may include alignment features. The backlight structure may include alignment features. The alignment features on the backlight structures may include transparent portions of the backlight structures. The alignment features on the display layers may include alignment marks that are visible through the transparent portions of the backlight structures. The transparent portions of the backlight structures may include openings that extend from a first surface of the backlight structures to an opposing second surface of the backlight structures. The openings may be filled by transparent members formed from plastic or glass. The transparent members may include additional alignment marks. The transparent members may include lensing portions that magnify the alignment marks on the display layers when viewed through the lensing portions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 19, 2013
    Publication date: April 3, 2014
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jeremy C. Franklin, Kevin D. Gibbs, Amy Qian, John Raff, Jiang Ai
  • Publication number: 20140092630
    Abstract: Electronic devices may include displays. A display may include backlight components such as a light guide plate that distributes light from a light source across the display. The light source may include a plurality of light-emitting diodes mounted on a printed circuit substrate. A portion of the light guide plate may be attached to the printed circuit substrate using adhesive. The adhesive may be a supported adhesive that includes a lining of reflective material. A reflective coating such as a layer of white coverlay may be formed on the surface of the printed circuit substrate and may be configured to reflect light into the light guide plate. The reflective coating may serve as a solder mask. The printed circuit substrate may be attached to a metal display chassis using adhesive. A shim may be used to raise the height of the light source relative to the printed circuit substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 20, 2013
    Publication date: April 3, 2014
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jeremy C. Franklin, Kevin D. Gibbs, Amy Qian, John Raff
  • Publication number: 20140092342
    Abstract: Electronic devices may include displays having backlight structures that include optical films. The optical films may help guide light from the backlight structures to display layers that generate display images using the light. The optical films may be attached together at one or more locations. The optical films may be attached to a structural member of the backlight structures. The structural member may be formed along each edge of the optical films and prevent the optical films from sliding within the display. Each optical film may be designed to expand to a common lateral size when the display is operated at a display operating temperature. The optical films may each include an elongated opening such as a slot through which a pin can be placed to partially constrain the movement of the optical films while allowing the optical films to expand or contract under changing thermal conditions in the display.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 19, 2013
    Publication date: April 3, 2014
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jeremy C. Franklin, Kevin D. Gibbs, Amy Qian, John Raff
  • Publication number: 20140092034
    Abstract: Electronic devices may include displays. A display may include backlight structures that generate light and display layers that generate images using the generated light. An electronic device may include an opaque flexible printed circuit that is wrapped around one or more edges of the backlight structures. The opaque flexible printed circuit may prevent light from the backlight structures from reaching other electronic components or escaping from the device. The opaque flexible printed circuit may include signal lines that communicate signals between a printed circuit board and the display. The opaque flexible printed circuit may be a layer of the printed circuit board that extends from an edge of the printed circuit board. The printed circuit board may include an additional flexible extended printed circuit layer that wraps around a surface of the printed circuit board and forms a portion of a conductive shield over that surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 19, 2013
    Publication date: April 3, 2014
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jeremy C. Franklin, Kevin D. Gibbs, Amy Qian, John Raff, Carl R. Peterson
  • Publication number: 20140078412
    Abstract: Transparent articles for use as outer surfaces of electronic devices and methods therefor are disclosed. A transparent cover can be provided over a display of portable electronic device to provide a protective outer cover over the display. The transparent cover can include material to mark, mask or color a portion of the transparent cover, such portion thereupon becoming opaque. The material can be provided in a recessed portion of an inner surface of the transparent cover, such portion being a portion of the transparent cover that is not over a usable portion of the display. The electronic device can, for example, be a portable electronic device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Publication date: March 20, 2014
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Jeremy C. Franklin, Ming Leong, Kristina A. Babiarz, Amy Qian, Kevin David Gibbs, Eugene C. Cheung
  • Publication number: 20140075743
    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 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: Application
    Filed: November 19, 2013
    Publication date: March 20, 2014
    Applicant: 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. Utterman, Ming Yu, Carl R. Peterson
  • Publication number: 20140062629
    Abstract: A magnetic assembly for use in a housing of an electronic device can include a first and a second magnet and a magnetic shield. The magnetic shield can reduce magnetic flux density from the first and the second magnets that can appear on the outside of the housing. A magnetic hinge assembly can include magnets configured to correlate with the first and second magnets. The magnetic hinge can magnetically attach to the housing by cooperating with the first and second magnets with magnets that can be included in the magnetic hinge.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 28, 2012
    Publication date: March 6, 2014
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Florence W. OW, Jeremy C. FRANKLIN
  • Patent number: 8665160
    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: January 31, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Erik A. Uttermann, Jeremy C. Franklin, Stephen R. McClure, Sean S. Corbin, Qingxiang Li, Rodney A. Gomez Angulo
  • Publication number: 20140043741
    Abstract: A cover is described that is magnetically attached to a tablet device. The cover includes at least as flap. In the described embodiment, the flap includes a plurality of segments where the first segment includes a first plurality of edge attach magnets arrayed along a first edge of the flap and where a second segment includes a second plurality of edge attach magnets arrayed along a second edge of the flap opposite the first edge.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 12, 2012
    Publication date: February 13, 2014
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Samuel G. SMITH, Jared A. Sartee, Florence W. Ow, Andrew D. Lauder, Jeremy C. Franklin
  • Publication number: 20140003083
    Abstract: A flat-panel display (such as a liquid crystal display) includes one or more features that reduce temperature changes in an array of light valves disposed on a substrate. In particular, heat generated in a light source and/or electronics is conducted away from the light values. For example, a light-source holder, which contains the light source, may include holes that increase the thermal resistance between the light source and the substrate. Alternatively, the light-source holder may include a material having a thermal conductivity that is higher than that of stainless steel. In addition, the flat-panel display may include materials and/or a geometry that increases the thermal resistance along a direction in a plane of the substrate. By reducing temperature changes in the flat-panel display, these features can reduce or eliminate color changes and other visual artifacts that can degrade the quality of displayed images.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2012
    Publication date: January 2, 2014
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Ihtesham H. Chowdhury, Frank F. Liang, Amaury J. Heresztyn, Jeremy C. Franklin, Benjamin M. Rappoport, Derek W. Wright
  • Publication number: 20130343085
    Abstract: An electronic device display may include display layers mounted in a display chassis. The display chassis may have a plastic chassis structure and a metal chassis structure. Backlight structures may include a rectangular light guide plate. Light-emitting diodes within the backlight structures may emit light that is coupled into the light guide plate. The display chassis may have four edges that surround a rectangular opening. The rectangular opening may be configured to receive display layers such as the light guide plate. The metal chassis may have a C-shaped cross-section that forms a cavity in which the light-emitting diodes are mounted. The metal chassis structure may have engagement features such as holes and bent tabs. The plastic chassis structure may be overmolded on the metal chassis structure in engagement with the engagement features. Mounting structures may be formed from protruding portions of the plastic chassis structure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 20, 2012
    Publication date: December 26, 2013
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Amy Qian, Benjamin M. Rappoport, Jeremy C. Franklin, Jiang Ai, Jivan K. Khosla
  • Publication number: 20130342970
    Abstract: An electronic device may have polarizer layers, color filter layers, thin-film-transistor layers, and other display layers. A display layer may be separated from structures such as a display cover layer formed from clear glass or plastic and a touch sensor layer mounted on an inner surface of the display cover layer by an air gap. Cavities within an electronic device housing may serve as a source of dust and other contaminants. The air gap may be sealed against dust intrusion from a cavity within an electronic device using a dust sealing structure. The dust sealing structure may have a rectangular ring shape that runs around a rectangular peripheral portion of a display layer. The dust sealing structure may be formed from a tape-based structure, an elastomeric structure, a compressible foam structure, or a cured liquid structure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 20, 2012
    Publication date: December 26, 2013
    Inventors: Jeremy C. Franklin, Jiang Ai, Amy Qian, Benjamin M. Rappoport, Kevin D. Gibbs, Derek Wright, John P. Ternus, John Raff, Stephen R. McClure
  • Publication number: 20130342495
    Abstract: An electronic device housing may have conductive walls and planar metal internal housing structures. A display in the electronic device may have a touch sensor layer such as an array of capacitive touch sensor electrodes. The display may have display layers in a plastic chassis structure and a metal chassis structure. A display layer may have a conductive surface. Conductive tape may be used to couple the touch sensor to the metal chassis structure and a metal radio-frequency shielding structure. Conductive tape may also be used to short the conductive surface of the display layer to the internal metal housing structure. Segments of conductive tape may run along each of the four edges of a display and may overlap at display corners. Conductive foam structures may be used to short the segments to adjacent portions of the conductive housing walls.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 21, 2012
    Publication date: December 26, 2013
    Inventors: Benjamin M. Rappoport, Amy Qian, Jiang Ai, Jeremy C. Franklin
  • Publication number: 20130328051
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a display mounted in a housing. The display may have layers such as polarizer layers, a color filter layer, and a thin-film transistor layer. Display layers such as color filter layers and thin-film-transistor layers may have glass substrates. Notches or other openings may be formed in the layers of a display. For example, a notch with a curved chamfered edge may be formed in a lower end of a thin-film-transistor layer. A component such as a button may overlap the notch. Structures such as sensors, cameras, acoustic components, and other electronic components, buttons, communications path structures such as flexible printed circuit cables and wire bonding wires, and housing structures may be received within a display layer notch.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 6, 2012
    Publication date: December 12, 2013
    Inventors: Jeremy C. Franklin, Benjamin M. Rappoport, John P. Ternus, Sean Corbin, Stephen R. McClure
  • Publication number: 20130328917
    Abstract: A tablet device includes a display configured to present visual content, a sensor array configured to detect a status of a foldable flap in relation to the display, and a processor configured to operate the tablet device in accordance with the determined status of the foldable flap in relation to the display. In one embodiment, the processor receives a setting value and uses the setting value to execute an application in accordance with the determined relationship of the flap and the display.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 11, 2012
    Publication date: December 12, 2013
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Nicholas Zambetti, Matthew Irvine Brown, Jeffrey Traer Bernstein, Matthew Dean Rohrbach, Duncan R. Kerr, Imran Chaudri, Paul Meade, Jeremy C. Franklin, Michael A. Cretella, JR., May-Li Khoe