IP Library › Granted Patent US 10,918,322
Granted Patent B2
US 10,918,322 · App. 15/874,614 · Granted Feb 16, 2021

Light restriction designs in optical sensing applications having shared windows

Inventors: Guocheng Shao (San Jose, CA); Mathieu Charbonneau-Lefort (San Jose, CA); Ueyn L. Block (Menlo Park, CA)
Assignee: Apple Inc.
A61B5/14552A61B5/02427G01J1/0411G01J1/0488G02B3/08G02B5/22A61B2562/0233G02B2207/123
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,918,322
App. No.
15/874,614
Granted
Feb 16, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

This relates to an electronic device configured for optical sensing having shared windows and including light restriction designs. The light restriction designs can include one or more of optical layers, optical films, lenses, and window systems configured to reduce or eliminate crosstalk between optical components. A plurality of accepting sections and a plurality of blocking sections can be employed to selectively allow light having an angle of incidence within one or more acceptance viewing angles and block light with angles of incidence outside of the acceptance viewing angles. In some examples, the light restriction designs can include variations in optical and structural properties can allow the light restriction designs to have spatially varying acceptance angles. Variations in structural properties can include, but are not limited to, differences in widths, heights, and/or tilts of the accepting sections and/or blocking sections.

Claims (56)

1. An optical layer comprising:

an optical film including a plurality of sections, each section configured to allow light having an angle of incidence within a plurality of viewing angles to pass through, the plurality of viewing angles of each section different from the plurality of viewing angles of other section,

wherein each section is further configured to prevent light having an angle of incidence outside of the plurality of viewing angles from passing through; and

a Fresnel lens, wherein the Fresnel lens and the optical film are positioned side by side in a continuous layer.

2. The optical layer of claim 1 , further comprising:

an opaque mask, wherein the Fresnel lens, the opaque mask, and the optical film are a continuous layer.

3. The optical layer of claim 1 , wherein the optical film includes:

a plurality of accepting sections of the plurality of sections, each accepting section configured to allow the light to pass through, wherein each of the plurality of accepting sections has the same width as other of the plurality of accepting sections; and

a plurality of blocking sections, each blocking section configured to prevent light having an angle of incidence outside of the plurality of viewing angles from passing through.

4. The optical layer of claim 1 , wherein the optical film includes:

a plurality of accepting sections of the plurality of sections, each accepting section configured to allow the light to pass through; and

a plurality of blocking sections, each blocking section configured to prevent light having an angle of incidence outside of the plurality of viewing angles from passing through, wherein at least two of the plurality of blocking have different heights.

5. The optical layer of claim 4 , wherein the heights of the plurality of blocking sections vary gradually.

6. The optical layer of claim 1 , wherein the optical film includes:

a plurality of accepting sections, each accepting section configured to allow the light to pass through; and

a plurality of blocking sections, each blocking section configured to prevent light having an angle of incidence outside of the plurality of viewing angles from passing through, wherein at least two of the plurality of blocking sections have different tilts.

7. The optical layer of claim 1 , further comprising:

an additional section configured to accept light, the additional section having optical properties different from the optical film, wherein the additional section and the optical film are a continuous layer.

8. The optical layer of claim 7 , wherein the section includes an infrared transparent material.

9. The optical layer of claim 1 , wherein at least two of the sections are configured to allow light having different wavelengths to pass through.

10. The optical layer of claim 9 , wherein one section is configured to allow visible light to pass through, and another section is configured to allow infrared light to pass through.

11. The optical layer of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of sections are further configured to:

allow light from a first direction having an angle of incidence within a plurality of first viewing angles to pass through,

prevent light from the first direction having an angle of incidence outside of the plurality of first viewing angles from passing through,

allow light from a second direction, different from the first direction, having an angle of incidence within a plurality of second viewing angles, different from the first viewing angles, to pass through, and

prevent light from the second direction having an angle of incidence outside of the plurality of second viewing angles from passing through.

12. The optical layer of claim 11 , wherein the optical film includes:

a plurality of accepting sections, each accepting section configured to allow the light to pass through, wherein each accepting section includes an angled edge; and

a plurality of blocking sections, each blocking section configured to prevent the light having an angle of incidence outside of the plurality of first and second viewing angles from passing through.

13. A device comprising:

one or more light emitters configured to emit light;

one or more light sensors configured to detect at a least a portion of the emitted light;

one or more windows configured to allow light from the one or more light emitters, the one or more light sensors, or both to pass through,

at least one window including an emitter region, a reception region, and a boundary region; and

an optical layer disposed on the one or more windows, the optical layer comprising:

an optical film including a plurality of sections, each section configured to allow light having an angle of incidence within a plurality of viewing angles to pass through, the plurality of viewing angles of each section different from the plurality of viewing angles of other sections; and

a Fresnel lens, wherein the Fresnel lens and the optical film are positioned side by side in a continuous layer,

wherein each section is further configured to prevent light having an angle of incidence outside of the plurality of viewing angles from passing through,

wherein the optical layer covers a portion of the reception region of the at least one window.

14. The device of claim 13 , further comprising:

an isolation located between at least one of the one or more light emitters and at least one of the one or more light sensors,

wherein the isolation is further located in the boundary region of the at least one window,

wherein the optical film covers the boundary region of the at least one window.

15. The device of claim 14 , wherein the optical film further comprises a plurality of accepting sections includes at least one first accepting section and at least one second accepting section, the first accepting section configured with one or more first acceptance angles and the second accepting section configured with one or more second acceptance angles, the one or more second acceptance angles including at least one wider viewing angle than the one or more first acceptance angles, and the at least first accepting section located closer to at least one of the one or more light emitters than the at least second accepting section.

16. A method for determining one or more physiological information of a user, the method comprising:

emitting light from one or more light emitters;

transmitting the emitted light through one or more windows;

allowing at least a portion of the emitted light to transmit through an optical layer, wherein the optical layer includes an optical film and a Fresnel lens positioned side by side in a continuous layer, and allowing at least a portion of the emitted light to transmit through an optical layer includes:

allowing a portion of the emitted light having an angle of incidence within first viewing angles at a first section of the optical layer,

allowing a portion of the emitted light having an angle of incidence within second viewing angles, different from the first viewing angles, at a second section, different from the first section, of the optical layer, and

blocking a portion of the emitted light having an angle of incidence outside of the first and second viewing angles;

detecting the allowed portion of the emitted light by one or more light sensors; and

determining the one or more physiological information from the detected allowed portion of the emitted light.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the allowance of at least the portion of the emitted light further comprises:

allowing a portion of the emitted light from a first direction and having the angle of incidence within the first viewing angles at the first section of the optical layer; and

allowing a portion of the emitted light from a second direction, different from the first direction, having the angle of incidence within the second viewing angles at the second section of the optical layer.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 7, 2018
From: SHAO, GUOCHENG; CHARBONNEAU-LEFORT, MATHIEU; BLOCK, UEYN L.
To: APPLE INC.
Reel/Frame 045137/0933 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 62458525 · Feb 13, 2017
Related Publication 20180228414A1 · Aug 16, 2018
Cited By (5)
US 12,197,694 US 12,204,289 US 12,281,935 US 12,318,178 US 12,336,796