IP Library Granted Patent US 10,627,783
Granted Patent B2
US 10,627,783 · App. 15/261,917 · Granted Apr 21, 2020

Wearable electronic device

Inventors: Fletcher R. Rothkopf (Cupertino, CA); Jonathan Ive (San Francisco, CA); Julian Hoenig (San Francisco, CA); Rico Zorkendorfer (San Francisco, CA)
Assignee: APPLE INC.
G04G17/02A61B5/0205A61B5/0261A61B5/0295A61B5/14551A61B5/681G04B39/02G04G21/025G06F1/163G06F1/169G06F1/1643G06F3/015G06F3/016A61B5/02427A61B5/02438A61B5/0816A61B5/14552G04B3/04G04G13/00
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,627,783
App. No.
15/261,917
Filed
Sep 10, 2016
Granted
Apr 21, 2020
Kind
B2
Art Unit
3792
USPC
600/476
Abstract

A consumer product that is a portable and, in some cases, a wearable electronic device. The wearable electronic device may have functionalities including: keeping time; monitoring a user's physiological signals and providing health-related information based on those signals; communicating with other electronic devices or services; visually depicting data on a display; gather data form one or more sensors that may be used to initiate, control, or modify operations of the device; determine a location of a touch on a surface of the device and/or an amount of force exerted on the device, and use either or both as input.

Claims (72)

1. An electronic device, comprising:

a housing defining a first opening opposite to a second opening;

a band attached to the housing and configured to secure the electronic device to a user;

a display positioned in the first opening;

a ceramic cover disposed over the second opening and forming a portion of an exterior surface of the electronic device;

a biosensor module disposed within the second opening below the ceramic cover; and

a wireless charging receive coil aligned with the second opening and below the ceramic cover;

wherein:

the ceramic cover is configured to pass optical signals generated by the biosensor module; and

the ceramic cover is configured to pass wireless power from an external wireless charging device to the wireless charging receive coil.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the biosensor module comprises:

a light source configured to emit light toward a region of skin of the user; and

a detector configured to receive light reflected from the region of skin.

3. The electronic device of claim 2 , wherein:

the ceramic cover defines a first opening to transmit the light from the light source; and

the ceramic cover defines a second opening to receive the light reflected from the region of skin.

4. The electronic device of claim 2 , wherein:

the light source and the detector are configured to measure changes in light absorption by the region of skin;

the electronic device is configured to compute a health metric using the measured change in light absorption; and

the display is configured to display information associated with the health metric.

5. The electronic device of claim 2 , wherein the light source and the detectors are configured to operate as a photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor.

6. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein:

the ceramic cover is a disk having a disk diameter that is greater than an opening diameter of the second opening; and

the ceramic cover forms a water-tight seal with the housing along a perimeter of the ceramic cover.

7. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein:

the second opening has an opening diameter;

the wireless charging receive coil has a coil diameter that is less than the opening diameter; and

the wireless charging receive coil is configured to receive the wireless power through the second opening.

8. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein:

the ceramic cover has a convex contoured shape that protrudes toward the user; and

the convex contoured shape facilitates alignment between the ceramic cover and a mating surface of the external wireless charging device.

9. A wearable electronic device, comprising:

a housing comprising a bottom portion defining an opening;

a biosensor module aligned with the opening;

a wireless charging receive coil positioned within the housing and aligned with the opening;

a battery operably coupled to the wireless charging receive coil; and

a cover disposed over the biosensor module; wherein:

the cover is configured to pass optical signals to and from the biosensor module; and

the cover is configured to pass wireless power to the wireless charging receive coil.

10. The wearable electronic device of claim 9 , wherein:

the housing is formed from a metal material; and

the cover is formed from a non-metal material.

11. The wearable electronic device of claim 9 , wherein:

the wireless charging receive coil has a coil diameter that is less than a diameter of the biosensor module; and

the wireless charging receive coil is configured to receive the wireless power through the biosensor module.

12. The wearable electronic device of claim 9 , wherein:

the cover is a disk having a convex shape that protrudes away from the housing; and

the convex shape is configured to facilitate alignment with a concave surface of an external inductive power transmitter dock.

13. The wearable electronic device of claim 12 , wherein:

the wearable electronic device is magnetically coupled to the external inductive power transmitter dock through the cover and the biosensor module.

14. The wearable electronic device of claim 9 , wherein:

the biosensor module includes an array of optical components; and

the cover includes an array of windows, each window aligned with a corresponding optical component of the array of optical components.

15. An electronic watch, comprising:

a housing defining an interior cavity and a bottom portion having an opening;

a band attached to the housing and configured to secure the electronic watch to a user;

a biosensor module positioned along the bottom portion of the housing and configured to transmit optical signals and receive reflected optical signals through the opening of the housing; and

a wireless charging receive coil positioned within the interior cavity and configured to receive wireless power through the opening of the housing.

16. The electronic watch of claim 15 , wherein:

the wireless charging receive coil is configured to receive power from an external inductive power transmitter dock; and

the electronic watch is configured to magnetically couple with the external inductive power transmitter dock.

17. The electronic watch of claim 15 , wherein:

the wireless charging receive coil is configured to receive power from an external inductive power transmitter dock;

the electronic watch defines a convex contoured surface along the bottom portion; and

the convex contoured surface is configured to facilitate alignment with a concave contoured surface of the external inductive power transmitter dock.

18. The electronic watch of claim 17 , wherein the convex contoured surface is configured to protrude toward a portion of skin of the user when the electronic watch is worn.

19. The electronic watch of claim 15 , wherein:

the electronic watch is configured to compute a health metric using the biosensor module; and

the health metric is one or more of: a heart rate, a respiration rate, a blood oxygenation level, a blood volume estimate, or blood pressure.

20. The electronic watch of claim 19 , wherein:

the electronic watch includes a display; and

the display is configured to display information associated with the health metric.

Assignments (4)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 19, 2020
From: ROTHKOPF, FLETCHER R.
To: APPLE INC.
Reel/Frame 051857/0357 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 19, 2020
From: IVE, JONATHAN
To: APPLE INC.
Reel/Frame 051857/0536 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 19, 2020
From: HOENIG, JULIAN
To: APPLE INC.
Reel/Frame 051857/0640 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 19, 2020
From: ZORKENDORFER, RICO
To: APPLE INC.
Reel/Frame 051857/0776 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation 14842617 · Sep 1, 2015
Provisional Application 62044974 · Sep 2, 2014
Related Publication 20160378071A1 · Dec 29, 2016
Cited By (26)
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