Patents by Inventor Robert Y. Cao

Robert Y. Cao 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: 9480155
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a housing. Electrical components such as a display and other circuitry may be mounted in the housing. The housing may have portions that move with respect to each other such as a lid that rotates relative to a base. A flexible printed circuit may have metal lines that couple components in one portion of the housing to components in another portion of the housing. As the housing portions move with respect to each other, the flexible printed circuit bends. Reliability may be enhanced for the flexible printed circuit by providing the metal layer that forms the metal lines with upper and lower coating layers. The coating layers may be formed from metal with a higher Young's modulus than a metal core in the metal layer. A slot may be formed along the length of the flexible printed circuit to help increase the minimum bend radius exhibited by the flexible printed circuit. Upper and lower metal shield layers may be provided above and below the metal traces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2016
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Bryan W. Posner, Christiaan A. Ligtenberg, Dinesh C. Mathew, Eric L. Benson, Robert Y. Cao, Valerie S. Chang, Victor H. Yin
  • Publication number: 20160259375
    Abstract: A cover plate for a portable electronic device is disclosed. The cover plate can be used as a cosmetic feature disposed on a display or cover glass of the portable computing device. For instance, the cover plate may include one or may layers disposed on a surface of the cover plate. In some cases, the layers are formed on a rear surface of the cover plate. In addition to enhancing the appearance of the portable electronic device, the cover plate provides additional a protective layer to internal components positioned behind the cover plate. Moreover, the cover plate may formed from an electromagnetically transparent material such as glass to allow receipt and/or transmission of electromagnetic waves in the form of radio frequencies. Also, the cover plate offers protection to the display and cover glass when the portable electronic device is in a closed configuration.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 12, 2015
    Publication date: September 8, 2016
    Inventors: Bartley K. ANDRE, Kevin M. ROBINSON, Mikael M. SILVANTO, Robert Y. CAO, Bryan W. POSNER, Wey-Jiun LIN, Dinesh C. MATHEW
  • Publication number: 20160014915
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a housing. Electrical components such as a display and other circuitry may be mounted in the housing. The housing may have portions that move with respect to each other such as a lid that rotates relative to a base. A flexible printed circuit may have metal lines that couple components in one portion of the housing to components in another portion of the housing. As the housing portions move with respect to each other, the flexible printed circuit bends. Reliability may be enhanced for the flexible printed circuit by providing the metal layer that forms the metal lines with upper and lower coating layers. The coating layers may be formed from metal with a higher Young's modulus than a metal core in the metal layer. A slot may be formed along the length of the flexible printed circuit to help increase the minimum bend radius exhibited by the flexible printed circuit. Upper and lower metal shield layers may be provided above and below the metal traces.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 10, 2014
    Publication date: January 14, 2016
    Inventors: Bryan W. Posner, Christiaan A. Ligtenberg, Dinesh G. Mathew, Eric L. Benson, Robert Y. Cao, Valerie S. Chang, Victor H. Yin
  • Publication number: 20150049275
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a housing with a lid that rotates relative to a base. A display in the lid may have a thin-film transistor layer. Display driver circuitry may be mounted to the thin-film transistor layer. A display timing controller integrated circuit may be mounted in the base. A rigid flex printed circuit may have a rigid portion in the base to which the display timing controller integrated circuit is mounted and may have a rigid portion in the lid. A flexible printed circuit portion of the rigid flex printed circuit may be used to couple the rigid printed circuit portion in the lid to the thin-film transistor layer. A flexible printed circuit portion of the rigid flex printed circuit that extends between the lid and the base may be formed from a double-shield-layer single-signal-line-layer flexible printed circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 15, 2013
    Publication date: February 19, 2015
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Bryan W. Posner, Dinesh C. Mathew, Eric L. Benson, Jason N. Gomez, Jun Qi, Robert Y. Cao, Victor H. Yin, Christiaan A. Ligtenberg, Wey-Jiun Lin
  • Publication number: 20150049433
    Abstract: An electronic device may be provided with a display. The electronic device may include a housing. A display trim may be formed from injection molded plastic that is molded directly onto the housing. The molded plastic trim may form a rectangular ring around the periphery of the housing. The housing may have angled or curved interior surfaces that are covered by the molded plastic trim. Computer-controlled positioners may be used to center the housing within an injection molding tool. Independently controlled positioners may also be used in capturing the housing between the lower die and the upper die in the injection molding tool. The injection molding tool may inject thermoplastic elastomer material into a channel in the upper die to form the plastic display trim.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 15, 2013
    Publication date: February 19, 2015
    Applicant: Apple, Inc.
    Inventors: Bruce E. Berg, Bryan W. Posner, Dinesh C. Mathew, Robert Y. Cao
  • Publication number: 20140225131
    Abstract: A display may include a color filter layer, a liquid crystal layer, and a thin-film transistor layer. A camera window may be formed in the display to accommodate a camera. The camera window may be formed by creating a notch in the thin-film transistor layer that extends inwardly from the edge of the thin-film transistor layer. The notch may be formed by scribing the thin-film transistor layer around the notch location and breaking away a portion of the thin-film transistor layer. A camera window may also be formed by grinding a hole in the display. The hole may penetrate partway into the thin-film transistor layer, may penetrate through the transistor layer but not into the color filter layer, or may pass through the thin-film transistor layer and partly into the color filter layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 9, 2014
    Publication date: August 14, 2014
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Eric L. Benson, Bryan W. Posner, Christopher L. Boitnott, Dinesh C. Mathew, Jun Qi, Robert Y. Cao, Victor H. Yin