Apple's Innovations in Touchpad Haptics

Haptic button assemblies for electronic devices that provide tactile feedback when pressed. The assemblies have a movable input member with a sensor to detect button presses. When a press is detected, an electrical current is passed through a coil to generate a magnetic force that laterally translates the input member to provide a haptic output. This allows customized feedback sensations compared to traditional button mechanisms.

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Enhancing user interactions with electronic devices by generating tactile outputs in response to device orientation relative to objects and modifying the outputs as the distance changes. The device also provides tactile feedback indicative of AR planes, data sharing, and hovering over objects. This reduces cognitive burden, saves power, and enhances device usability. The device can also block access to personal information if desired.

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Compact, electrically efficient linear resonant actuator (LRA) designs suitable for haptic feedback in small electronic devices. The actuators have a movable mass with magnet sections and coils around it. The magnets have poles facing each other along the axis. Flexures suspend the mass and allow linear motion. The compactness comes from features like axisymmetric mass, axial magnet polarization, ferritic spacers, ferritic tube, and scalability by varying dimensions and coil number.

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Ring input devices with modulated friction to improve user experience. The ring has a rotating outer band and inner band. The outer band friction is adjusted dynamically based on the item being manipulated. This can provide tactile feedback like detents, prevent rotation at ends, or increase friction at beginnings. It can also prevent rotation completely. The friction modulation can be electromagnetic.

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A reluctance haptic engine for electronic devices that provides a haptic output when a user interacts with the device. The engine uses a core and an attractor plate separated by a gap. Applying an electrical current to the core creates a magnetic force that pulls the attractor plate and moves the device's input structure, providing a haptic output. The gap maintains tension to resist the force. This opposing force reduces the user's input force, giving a more noticeable haptic feedback. The engine's core and attractor plate are connected to the input structure.

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Improved user interfaces and methods for interacting with controls on electronic devices with displays, touchscreens, and off-display buttons. The interfaces provide visual, haptic, and audio feedback during interactions with a control to enhance usability and reduce errors. When a control is activated by a press on an off-display button, it is initially displayed without changing the control value. If a second press is detected within a threshold time, the control value is adjusted. This prevents accidental changes by requiring a second input. The control appearance changes when the value is adjusted. This provides visual feedback without altering the value. The interface also provides a lightweight way to check control values without changing them by showing the initial display after an off-display press.

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Displaying selectable options in a computer-generated environment like virtual reality that provides an intuitive and realistic way to interact with menus and options. The method involves overlaying the menu options onto the virtual environment instead of presenting them as separate floating windows. The options appear as objects in the environment that can be physically interacted with using the user's body movements and controllers. This immersive and immersive approach provides a more natural and intuitive way to select options in a virtual environment compared to traditional menus.

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Dual function transducer that can be used as both an electroacoustic transducer (e.g., loudspeaker) and a tactile transducer (e.g., shaker). The transducer has a single magnet motor assembly that accommodates both the loudspeaker components (e.g., piston and voice coil) and shaker components (e.g., shaker coil) so that both functions can be achieved using a single transducer. The magnetic system design enables the utilization of two functions by directing the magnetic field into two or more sets of high magnetic field density. One set will be utilized by the vibration function, and the other set by the loudspeaker function. This allows both functions to be achieved using a single transducer with space savings compared to separate components.

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Controlling the force output of reluctance actuators used in haptic feedback devices without directly measuring the force. The control uses feedback based on electrical parameters like current, voltage, and magnetic flux during actuation. A correlator component determines input parameters for the actuator based on desired force. During actuation, measurements of electrical parameters are used to estimate force and update the correlator. This allows accurate force control without force sensors on the actuator.

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A consistent haptic feedback experience across different types of electronic devices with varying haptic hardware. It provides an abstraction layer called "sharpness" to map haptic events to the specific device's haptic actuators. The layer allows uniform haptic feedback across devices while varying the actual haptic output based on the device's hardware. This involves converting a single sharpness value into a device-specific haptic waveform and intensity. It enables consistent, scalable haptics across devices with varying haptic actuators.

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Detecting skin-to-skin contact and gestures between body parts using sensors on fingers. The system involves placing sensors on fingers to detect contact and gestures between those fingers or other body parts. It uses criteria like amplitude thresholds and waveform analysis to accurately distinguish between skin-to-skin contact and proximity events. This prevents false positives when the fingers are close but not touching. The sensors can be rings worn on fingers or integrated into devices like gloves.

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Electronic devices with a force-sensing display that can measure the force applied to the display. The force sensor is integrated in-plane with the display, encapsulated between the glass layers, and surrounded by the display frame. This allows measuring the force applied to the display while maintaining the touch sensitivity. The force sensor can estimate the force by detecting changes in capacitance when a force is applied. The encapsulation and enclosure prevent external interference with the force sensor.

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Adaptive haptic feedback in electronic devices that autonomously adjusts user alerts based on the device's environment and operating conditions. The device monitors its own haptic output and measures parameters like vibration frequency. It then compares these to targets based on factors like location and user input. If the measured values deviate, it adjusts the haptic control signal to bring them back to target. This allows optimizing and adapting haptic feedback for different scenarios like indoors vs outdoors, or adjusting vibration frequency based on user input.

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Touch input device for electronic devices that can be implemented in electronic devices to receive user input during operation of the electronic device. The input device uses ultrasonic touch sensing that allows user inputs to be detected through conductive materials like metal enclosures. It generates ultrasound signals using a piezoelectric layer like PVDF. When a user touches the metal housing, the ultrasound signal reflects and is detected by the same piezoelectric layer. An array of electrodes on opposing sides of the piezoelectric layer are operated to generate and detect ultrasound signals. This allows ultrasonic touch sensing through conductive materials like metal enclosures.

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Localized haptic feedback modules for electronic devices like laptops and smartphones that provide tactile feedback when touching input areas like touchpads and keyboards. The modules attach directly to the input surface and deform it using piezoelectric actuators. This allows localized vibrations without the whole device vibrating. The modules can have spacers to suspend them inside the input surface and deform it when actuated. They can also have touch sensors to detect input locations. Multiple modules can coordinate haptic feedback.

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Rotary reluctance motor-based torque feedback mechanism for electronic triggers that provides tactile feedback similar to mechanical springs when no power is applied, but can quickly modify the torque profile when power is applied to emulate different triggers. The mechanism uses asymmetric poles fixed around a rotating magnet. Applying power to the coils of the poles generates forces on the magnet that rotate it and provide torque to the trigger. By carefully shaping the poles and magnet segments, the torque versus angle profile can be optimized to match different triggers. This allows customizable torque feedback for electronic triggers that approximates the feel of mechanical triggers.

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Embedding micro-machined ultrasonic transducers (MUTs) in a flexible band of a wearable device to enable advanced interaction and sensing features. The MUTs, driven by on-board electronics, can detect touch, gestures, physiological signals, and transfer data. The MUTs have piezoelectric layers sandwiched between electrodes and supported by a base material with cavities. This allows flexible band integration without rigid housing. The MUTs can also beamform ultrasound for improved transmission and reception. The flexible band MUTs can detect touch, gestures, body signals, and communicate data.

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A compact and efficient haptic actuator for providing tactile feedback in electronic devices like phones. The actuator uses a small angular movement of an imbalanced mass around a pivot point. A spring limits the angular displacement to prevent full rotation. An electric coil attached to the mass moves it in response to an input signal. The spring stores and releases energy during the angular motion to change direction. This angular resonance generates a haptic output with limited angular rotation that approximates linear motion. It requires fewer components compared to linear actuators like LRAs.

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Enhancing user interactions with devices like smartphones to subscribe to content services and access content items more efficiently. The techniques involve using touch gestures instead of menus and forms to streamline the subscription and access processes. For subscribing, a press gesture with increased contact intensity initiates subscription signup. For accessing content, a press gesture with increased contact intensity plays content via the service. This reduces inputs, time, and power compared to traditional methods.

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Haptic actuator design with a field member having a unique magnet configuration to improve haptic feedback quality. The field member has a frame with multiple side-by-side permanent magnets having alternating polarizations. Each magnet segment has at least one non-vertical transition zone between adjacent segments. This magnet arrangement allows more complex force profiles and better haptic feedback compared to traditional magnets with only vertical polarization transitions.

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