Protective cover

• US 8,390,412 B2
• Filed: 12/17/2010
• Issued: 03/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Lauder, Andrew, Rohrbach, Matthew D., Coster, Daniel J., Stringer, Christopher J., Ow, Florence W., Ai, Jiang, Ive, Jonathan P., Kibiti, Elvis M., Ternus, John P., Lubner, Sean D.
• Primary Examiner(s): MUSLEH, MOHAMAD A
• Application Number:
  US12/971,589
• Publication Number:
  US 20120069503A1
• Time in Patent Office: 809 Days
• Field of Search: 335/219, 335/285, 335302-306, 439/38, 439/218, 439/217, 439/39, 243/03, 361/807, 361/679.01, 361/600, 206/45.2, 206/45.23, 206/45.24, 206/305, 206/320, 206/764, 206/765, 345/111
• US Class Current: 335/219
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1633 Protecting arrangement for the entire housing of the computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/00 General purpose image data processing
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 7/04 Means for releasing the attractive force
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 24/32 having magnetic fastener
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49826 Assembling or joining
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 292/11 Magnetic

Abstract

A magnetic attachment mechanism and method is described. The magnetic attachment mechanism can be used to releasably attach at least two objects together in a preferred configuration without fasteners and without external intervention. The magnetic attachment mechanism can be used to releasably attach an accessory device to an electronic device. The accessory device can be used to augment the functionality of usefulness of the electronic device.

Claims

1. A protective cover suitable for releasably attaching to an electronic device having a display with a topmost protective layer and configured to present visual content, comprising:

a flap comprising;

a resilient layer comprising a first surface and a second surface, the first surface configured to come into direct contact with the topmost protective layer of the display in a closed configuration, and an insert disposed between the first and second surfaces, comprising;

a first magnet, and a second magnet separate from and in proximity to the first magnet, wherein only in the closed configuration;

a first magnetic field from the first magnet passes through the topmost protective layer and is detectable by the electronic device and a second magnetic field from the second magnet passes through the topmost protective layer and is suitable for magnetically attaching the flap to the electronic device at the topmost protective layer.

2. The protective cover as recited in claim 1, the electronic device comprising:

a housing having a front face opening, the display disposed within the front face opening;

a first sensor disposed within the housing configured to detect the first magnetic field only when the cover is in the closed configuration; and

a processor for controlling operation of the electronic device and coupled to the display and the first sensor.

3. The protective cover as recited in claim 2, the flap further comprising:

a plurality of independently foldable segments comprising a first segment at the first side of the flap and a second segment at the second side of the flap, the second segment comprising the first magnet, wherein the plurality of independently foldable segments fold with respect to each other and the electronic device to form a folded state of the protective cover.

4. The protective cover as recited in claim 3, the electronic device further comprising a second sensor disposed in the housing and configured to detect that the first segment is in contact with the topmost protective layer.

5. The protective cover as recited in claim 4, wherein the processor uses information from the first sensor and the second sensor to determine the folded state of the cover.

6. The protective cover as recited in claim 5, a first folded state comprising the first segment in contact with the topmost protective layer, and the second segment folded away from the topmost protective layer to reveal a first viewable portion of the display.

7. The protective cover as recited in claim 6, wherein when the processor determines that the flap is in the first folded state, the processor causes the electronic device to operate in a first peek mode.

8. The protective cover as recited in claim 7, wherein in the first peek mode, the display presents visual content in accordance with visual resources corresponding to the first viewable portion.

9. The protective cover as recited in claim 4, wherein the first sensor is a Hall Effect sensor.

10. The protective cover as recited in claim 9, wherein the second sensor is an image capture device.

11. The protective cover as recited in claim 9, wherein the second sensor is an ambient light sensor (ALS).

12. The protective cover as recited in claim 9, wherein the second sensor is a second Hall Effect sensor.

13. The protective cover as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

a pivotal attachment mechanism attached to the first side of the flap configured to pivotally attach the flap to the electronic device.