IP Library Granted Patent US 11,221,590
Granted Patent B2
US 11,221,590 · App. 17/188,925 · Granted Jan 11, 2022

Wearable electronic device

Inventors: Fletcher R. Rothkopf (Los Altos, 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 11,221,590
App. No.
17/188,925
Filed
Mar 1, 2021
Granted
Jan 11, 2022
Kind
B2
Art Unit
3792
USPC
368/10
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 (79)

1. An electronic watch comprising:

a housing defining an opening;

a display positioned at least partially within the opening;

a cover positioned over the display;

a touch sensor positioned beneath the cover and configured to detect a touch on the cover; and

a crown comprising:

a rotatable dial positioned along a side of the housing;

a shaft extending from the rotatable dial into the housing; and

a switch positioned at an end of the shaft opposite the rotatable dial, the switch configured to detect an inward translation of the shaft, wherein:

a graphical output of the display is responsive to each of the touch detected on the cover and the inward translation detected by the switch.

2. The electronic watch of claim 1 , wherein:

the opening is a first opening;

the cover is a first cover;

the housing further defines a second opening opposite the first opening; and

the electronic watch further comprises:

a second cover positioned over the second opening;

a biosensor module positioned beneath the second cover and configured to produce a sensor signal; and

a processing unit configured to compute a health metric based on the sensor signal, the health metric including one or more of: a heart rate, a respiration rate, a blood oxygenation level, and a blood volume estimate.

3. The electronic watch of claim 2 , wherein the second cover has a convex shape that extends outward from the housing.

4. The electronic watch of claim 2 , wherein:

the biosensor module comprises:

a set of optical emitters configured to emit light; and

a set of optical detectors configured to detect light; and

the second cover defines a set of windows, each window of the set of windows positioned over an optical emitter of the set of optical emitters or an optical detector of the set of optical detectors.

5. The electronic watch of claim 4 , wherein the set of windows is arranged in a 2×2 array on the second cover.

6. The electronic watch of claim 1 , further comprising a haptic device configured to:

provide a first tactile output along an exterior surface of the housing in accordance with the touch on the cover; and

provide a second tactile output along the exterior surface of the housing in accordance with the inward translation of the shaft.

7. The electronic watch of claim 1 , further comprising a band attached to the housing and configured to couple the electronic watch to a user.

8. A wearable electronic device comprising:

a housing defining a first opening and a second opening opposite the first opening;

a first cover positioned over the first opening;

a display beneath the first cover;

a second cover positioned over the second opening;

a biosensor module positioned beneath the second cover and configured to produce a sensor signal;

a processing unit configured to compute a health metric based on the sensor signal;

a rotatable crown positioned along a side of the housing; and

an input device positioned within the housing and configured to produce an input signal in response to an input to the rotatable crown, wherein:

a graphical output of the display is responsive to each of the sensor signal produced by the biosensor module and the input signal produced by the input device.

9. The wearable electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the health metric comprises at least one of a heart rate, a respiration rate, a blood oxygenation level, or a blood volume estimate.

10. The wearable electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the input device is a switch positioned within the housing and configured to detect an inward translation of the rotatable crown.

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

the rotatable crown comprises:

a dial protruding from the housing; and

a shaft extending from the dial into the housing; and

the switch is positioned at an end of the shaft opposite the dial.

12. The wearable electronic device of claim 8 , wherein:

the wearable electronic device further comprises a touch sensor configured to detect a touch input on the first cover;

the graphical output of the display is further responsive to the touch input detected on the first cover; and

the wearable electronic device further comprises a haptic device configured to provide a tactile output in accordance with the touch input.

13. The wearable electronic device of claim 8 , further comprising a haptic device configured to:

provide a first tactile output along an exterior surface of the housing in accordance with the processing unit computing the health metric; and

provide a second tactile output along the exterior surface of the housing in accordance with the input to the rotatable crown.

14. The wearable electronic device of claim 8 , wherein:

the biosensor module comprises a set of optical components; and

the second cover defines a set of windows, each window positioned over an optical component of the set of optical components.

15. An electronic watch comprising:

a housing defining an opening through a side of the housing;

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

a touch-sensitive display at least partially within the housing and configured to detect a touch input;

a crown module disposed along the side of the housing and comprising:

a rotatable dial protruding from the side of the housing;

a shaft coupled to the rotatable dial and extending through the opening; and

a switch positioned within the housing and configured to detect translation of the shaft; and

a haptic device configured to provide a tactile output along an exterior surface of the housing in response to the touch input.

16. The electronic watch of claim 15 , wherein:

the tactile output is a first tactile output; and

the electronic watch further comprises:

a front cover positioned over the touch-sensitive display;

a rear cover positioned opposite the front cover; and

an optical biosensor module positioned beneath the rear cover and configured to produce a sensor signal; wherein:

the electronic watch is configured to compute a heart rate based on the sensor signal; and

the haptic device is further configured to provide a second tactile output along the exterior surface of the housing in accordance with computing the heart rate.

17. The electronic watch of claim 16 , wherein the electronic watch is configured to present, on the touch-sensitive display, a graphical element corresponding to the heart rate.

18. The electronic watch of claim 15 , wherein:

the electronic watch further comprises a front cover positioned over the touch-sensitive display; and

the touch-sensitive display comprises a touch sensor positioned beneath the front cover and configured to detect the touch input on the front cover.

19. The electronic watch of claim 15 , wherein the switch is a tactile switch positioned at an end of the shaft opposite the rotatable dial.

20. The electronic watch of claim 15 , wherein a graphical output of the touch-sensitive display is responsive to the touch input and the translation of the shaft.

Continuity (7)
Continuation 16826130 · Mar 30, 2020
Continuation 14842617 · Sep 1, 2015
Continuation 15261917 · Sep 10, 2016
Continuation 15261914 · Sep 10, 2016
Continuation 15261912 · Sep 10, 2016
Provisional Application 62044974 · Sep 2, 2014
Related Publication 20210181690A1 · Jun 17, 2021
Cited By (9)
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