Patents by Inventor William H. Chui

William H. Chui 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: 11381892
    Abstract: An enclosure may be provided with a housing. The housing may have an opening that separates and joins along a seam. A magnetic closure may have a pair of mating flexible magnetic members such as flexible rings or strips that run along the seam. Magnetic-field shunts may be provided in the flexible magnetic members. Multiple magnetic elements may be formed along the length of each magnetic member to form a multipole permanent magnet. Magnetic attraction may be varied along the lengths of the magnetic members and may be varied as a function of the separation between opposing magnet members. A magnetic clasp may be provided on the housing. The magnetic clasp may have attracting magnets to help close the opening in the housing. Protruding clasp portions may be formed from flexible material and may have embedded magnets configured to repel each other to facilitate use of the clasp.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2022
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy W. Scales, Kodiak D. Burke, Linda D. Benavente-Notaro, Nicholas R. Trincia, Benjamin A. Stevenson, Clayton McCoy, Donald L. Olmstead, Hao Zhu, William H. Chui, Jack Pickup
  • Patent number: 10814589
    Abstract: An item may be formed from layers of material such as leatherboard layers. A leatherboard layer may include fibrous natural material such as leather or paper embedded in polymer. Portions of the leatherboard layer can be locally modified by incorporation of filler material with desired properties. The filler material may include magnetic particles, conductive particles, or other material. By incorporating the filler material in localized portions of the leatherboard layer, integral electrodes or magnets may be formed. The leatherboard layer may also include embedded circuitry. Items such as enclosures and other items may be formed from the leatherboard layer. The leatherboard layer in an item may include locally modified regions such as magnet regions that are configured to form a closure or other structures that interact with each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy W. Scales, Whitney D. Mattson, Benjamin A. Stevenson, Linda D. Benavente-Notaro, Nicholas R. Trincia, William H. Chui, Hao Zhu