Patents by Inventor William J. Thimbleby

William J. Thimbleby 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: 20230393717
    Abstract: Some embodiments described in this disclosure are directed to electronic devices that provide for entering text into one or more text-entry regions within a document displayed in a user interface. Some embodiments described in this disclosure are directed to electronic devices that provide for presenting a mark with thickness that depends on the direction in which a drawing input is received. Some embodiments described in this disclosure are directed to electronic devices that provide for presenting simulated marks that merge with or overlap other simulated marks. Some embodiments described in this disclosure are directed to electronic devices that provide for scrolling and movement of a content entry palette in a user interface based on movement of input directed to the content entry palette.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 1, 2023
    Publication date: December 7, 2023
    Inventors: Christopher D. SOLI, William J. THIMBLEBY, Grant R. PAUL, Aram D. KUDURSHIAN, Jennifer P. CHEN, Jun R. HATORI, Elizabeth J. BOARD, Adrien DELAYE
  • Publication number: 20220391381
    Abstract: A device implementing a system for obtaining a consistent state of data based on data updates made on different devices includes a processor configured to generate, for a first data update, a first data model including first data nodes, each including a first identifier and a first data value corresponding to one of first data objects. The processor is configured to receive from a second device, for a second data update to the data, the second update being independent of the first update, a second data model including second data nodes, each including a second identifier and a second data value corresponding to one of second data objects. A consistent data model is obtained by merging the first and second data values with the same identifier, and then merging the first and second data models, and generating a final update of the data based on the consistent data model.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 1, 2021
    Publication date: December 8, 2022
    Inventor: William J. Thimbleby
  • Publication number: 20220392123
    Abstract: A method includes receiving a plurality of strokes for compositing on a content item and composing each stroke of the plurality of strokes into a respective stroke layer based on a blend mode associated with the respective stroke. The method further includes compositing the stroke layers composed from the plurality of strokes into a single layer and compositing the single layer on the content item.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 5, 2022
    Publication date: December 8, 2022
    Inventors: William J. THIMBLEBY, Peder BLEKKEN
  • Patent number: 11481538
    Abstract: An electronic device, when in a first tilted state, displays a content page in a sketch mode, which includes displaying a zoomed view of a portion of the content page, and configuring the zoomed view of the portion of the content page to accept user inputs modifying content in the first portion of the content page. While displaying the content page in the sketch mode, the device detects that it is tilted from the first tilted state to a distinct second tilted state, and in response, displays the content page in an overview mode, which includes zooming out to display an overview of the content page. Optionally, displaying the content page in the overview mode includes displaying an input position indicator over the overview of the content page to indicate the portion of the content page previously displayed in the zoomed view.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventor: William J. Thimbleby
  • Patent number: 11380028
    Abstract: Aspects of subject technology provide systems and methods for electronic drawing with handwriting recognition. An electronic device may include one or more processors configured to receive a drawing stroke input, generate a bitmap of values that represent the drawing stroke input, render the bitmap for display by a display of the device, generate a vector representation of the drawing stroke input, and store the generated bitmap and the generated vector representation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2022
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: William J. Thimbleby
  • Patent number: 11275517
    Abstract: A device implementing a system for reducing an amount of metadata stored with respect to updates to data includes a processor configured to receive a first sequence of identifiers comprising identifiers which are unique with respect to each other and which represent first updates to data, and a second sequence of identifiers comprising identifiers which are unique with respect to each other and which represent second updates to the data, the first and second updates to the data being independent of one another. The processor is further configured to generate a third sequence of identifiers comprising identifiers which are unique with respect to each other and with respect to the identifiers in at least one of the first or second sequences of identifiers, the third sequence of identifiers representing a combination of the first and second sequences of identifiers, and to provide for storage of the third sequence of identifiers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: William J. Thimbleby
  • Patent number: 11270486
    Abstract: Aspects of subject technology provide systems and methods for electronic drawing with handwriting recognition. An electronic device may include one or more processors configured to receive a modification input to an object rendered on a display, and to perform a first re-rendering of the object on the display based on the modification input. The one or more processors may further be configured to generate at least one polygon-based representation of the object based on the modification input, and to perform, based on the at least one polygon-based representation, a second re-rendering of the object on the display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: William J. Thimbleby, Peder Blekken
  • Publication number: 20210150121
    Abstract: An electronic device, when in a first tilted state, displays a content page in a sketch mode, which includes displaying a zoomed view of a portion of the content page, and configuring the zoomed view of the portion of the content page to accept user inputs modifying content in the first portion of the content page. While displaying the content page in the sketch mode, the device detects that it is tilted from the first tilted state to a distinct second tilted state, and in response, displays the content page in an overview mode, which includes zooming out to display an overview of the content page. Optionally, displaying the content page in the overview mode includes displaying an input position indicator over the overview of the content page to indicate the portion of the content page previously displayed in the zoomed view.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2021
    Publication date: May 20, 2021
    Inventor: William J. Thimbleby
  • Publication number: 20210109665
    Abstract: A device implementing a system for reducing an amount of metadata stored with respect to updates to data includes a processor configured to receive a first sequence of identifiers comprising identifiers which are unique with respect to each other and which represent first updates to data, and a second sequence of identifiers comprising identifiers which are unique with respect to each other and which represent second updates to the data, the first and second updates to the data being independent of one another. The processor is further configured to generate a third sequence of identifiers comprising identifiers which are unique with respect to each other and with respect to the identifiers in at least one of the first or second sequences of identifiers, the third sequence of identifiers representing a combination of the first and second sequences of identifiers, and to provide for storage of the third sequence of identifiers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 4, 2019
    Publication date: April 15, 2021
    Inventor: William J. THIMBLEBY
  • Patent number: 10895954
    Abstract: The subject technology provides rendering an image in a first view including a plurality of tiles, each tile comprising image data corresponding to a portion of the image. The subject technology, responsive to detecting an initiation of touch input corresponding to the image, copies the image data from the plurality of tiles to a graphical canvas. The subject technology displays the image data in the graphical canvas in a second view, the graphical canvas being overlaid over at least a portion of the rendered image. The subject technology receives input stroke data corresponding to the second view, the input stroke data being continuous with the touch input. The subject technology responsive to detecting that the touch input has ended, copies the input stroke data to the plurality of tiles of the first view. Further, The subject technology displays the input stroke data and the image in the plurality of tiles of the first view.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 19, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: William J. Thimbleby, Peter L. Hajas, Jennifer P. Chen
  • Publication number: 20200371676
    Abstract: A method includes displaying a drawing aid in a sketch area on a touch-sensitive display, and receiving one or more drawing inputs. In response to receiving the one or more drawing inputs, the device displays marks based on the drawing inputs that are constrained based on the drawing aid. While displaying the drawing aid in the sketch area, the device detects a touch gesture at a location corresponding to a location of the drawing aid. In response to detecting the touch gesture: if the touch gesture is a pinch gesture, the device ceases to display the drawing aid in the sketch area; and if the touch gesture is a rotational gesture, the device rotates the drawing aid relative to the sketch area in accordance with the movement of at least one contact in the touch gesture while maintaining display of the drawing aid in the sketch area.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 7, 2020
    Publication date: November 26, 2020
    Inventors: Charles J. Migos, William J. Thimbleby, Gustaf Engström
  • Patent number: 10795558
    Abstract: A method includes displaying an on-screen ruler in a sketch area in response to a predefined input. The on-screen ruler has a first edge and an interior portion delineated by the first edge. The method further includes, in response to detecting a first touch input directed to the first edge of the on-screen ruler, rendering a line in the sketch area in accordance with the first edge of the on-screen ruler. The method further includes, in response to detecting a second touch input directed to the first edge of the on-screen ruler, adding fill content in a first portion of the sketch area that corresponds to regions touched by the second touch input on the touch-sensitive surface and that is delineated by the first edge of the on-screen ruler, such that the first portion of the sketch area is confined by the first edge or the line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2020
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Charles J. Migos, William J. Thimbleby, Gustaf Engstrom
  • Patent number: 10739911
    Abstract: A method of emulating an input device. The method receives a set of data associated with a touch input. The set of data includes a set of coordinates of each data point, the force applied at each data point, and the time the data for each data point is received. The method adds several data points to the first set of data points to create a second set of data points. For each data point in the second set of data points, the method calculates a set of parameters based on the set of data associated with the data point. The method provides a subset of the calculated parameters and the data associated with a subset of the second set of data to an application to emulate the input device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Brandon M. Tennant, Conrad R. Carlen, Bradley W. Griffin, William J. Thimbleby, Patrick O. Heynen, Ryan S. Dixon
  • Patent number: 10650565
    Abstract: A device implementing a system for rendering animated user input strokes includes at least one processor configured to retrieve a user-specified mapping of physical characteristics of input strokes to ink parameters, and to receive input stroke data, the input stroke data including metadata corresponding to physical characteristics of the input stroke data. The at least one processor is configured to generate, based on the user-specified mapping, a set of ink parameters from the metadata corresponding to the physical characteristics of the input stroke data, and to render, using at least a portion of the generated set of ink parameters, a stroke based on the input stroke data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: William J. Thimbleby, Jennifer P. Chen, Peter L. Hajas
  • Publication number: 20200005500
    Abstract: Aspects of subject technology provide systems and methods for electronic drawing with handwriting recognition. An electronic device may include one or more processors configured to receive a drawing stroke input, generate a bitmap of values that represent the drawing stroke input, render the bitmap for display by a display of the device, generate a vector representation of the drawing stroke input, and store the generated bitmap and the generated vector representation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 2, 2018
    Publication date: January 2, 2020
    Inventor: William J. THIMBLEBY
  • Publication number: 20200005510
    Abstract: Aspects of subject technology provide systems and methods for electronic drawing with handwriting recognition. An electronic device may include one or more processors configured to receive a modification input to an object rendered on a display, and to perform a first re-rendering of the object on the display based on the modification input. The one or more processors may further be configured to generate at least one polygon-based representation of the object based on the modification input, and to perform, based on the at least one polygon-based representation, a second re-rendering of the object on the display.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 31, 2019
    Publication date: January 2, 2020
    Inventors: William J. THIMBLEBY, Peder BLEKKEN
  • Patent number: 10523663
    Abstract: Various techniques are disclosed for managing and modifying data items. In some embodiments, a first data item can be selected for password protection via establishing an active secured user session according to a set of user credentials. Thereafter, subsequent data items can be selected for password protection using the same set of user credentials while the secured user session remains active. In some embodiments, a gesture input can be received by a touch interface. The input can be detected, and when the input is recognized as a command for creating an extension of a work space associated with a data item, then the extension of the work space is generated. In some embodiments, the gesture input received by the touch interface is recognized as a command for creating a new work space associated with the data item such that a new work space is generated upon recognizing the input.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2019
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Bicrumjit S. Bhullar, Markus Hagele, Jay C. Capela, Gustaf Engstrom, Timothy I. Mahoney, Charles J. Migos, William J. Thimbleby, Michael D. Trent
  • Patent number: 10489033
    Abstract: A method is performed at a device with one or more processors, memory, a touch-sensitive surface, and a display. The method includes receiving a line-drawing input. The method further includes rendering a line in a sketch area in accordance with the line-drawing input. The method further includes, while displaying the sketch area including the line, receiving a fill gesture directed to the line in the sketch area. The method further includes, in response to receiving the fill gesture, adding fill content in a first portion of the sketch area that corresponds to regions touched by the fill-gesture on the touch-sensitive surface and that is delineated and partially enclosed by the line in the sketch area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Charles J. Migos, William J. Thimbleby, Gustaf Engstrom
  • Publication number: 20190303423
    Abstract: A method performed by an electronic device having a display, a touch-sensitive surface, and one or more processors includes, while displaying text in a content presentation area, the displayed text including first handwritten text, receiving handwritten strokes at an insertion location positioned within a range of locations corresponding to the first handwritten text. In response to receiving the handwritten strokes, the device determines whether the handwritten strokes is textual input, and in accordance with a determination by the device that the plurality of handwritten strokes is textual input, comprising newly entered second handwritten text, the device inserts the second handwritten text at the insertion location and moves the first handwritten text to accommodate the second handwritten text. In some embodiments, after inserting the second handwritten text, the device removes one or more white spaces between the first handwritten text and the second handwritten text.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 18, 2019
    Publication date: October 3, 2019
    Inventor: William J. Thimbleby
  • Patent number: 10388055
    Abstract: A device implementing a system for rendering animated user input strokes includes at least one processor configured to receive input stroke data. The at least one processor is configured to render, in a first rendering stage within a frame rendering period, a first portion of the input stroke data. The at least one processor is configured to render, in a second rendering stage within the frame rendering period, a second portion of the input stroke data, the second rendering stage being after, and temporally separate from, the first rendering stage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2019
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: William J. Thimbleby, Jennifer P. Chen, Peter L. Hajas