Proximity sensor arrangement in a mobile device

• US 8,712,485 B2
• Filed: 11/19/2010
• Issued: 04/29/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Tam, Ching Yu John
• Primary Examiner(s): Appiah, Charles
• Assistant Examiner(s): Peaches, Randy
• Application Number:
  US12/950,187
• Publication Number:
  US 20120129579A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,257 Days
• Field of Search: 455/556.1, 455/41.1
• US Class Current: 455/575.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 5/0025 Living bodies ear thermometers G01J5/0011; detecting, measuring or recording for diagnostic purposes A61B5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 5/041 Mountings in enclosures or in a particular environment
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 5/0853 having infrared absorbers other than the usual absorber layers deposited on infrared detectors like bolometers, wherein the heat propagation between the absorber and the detecting element occurs within a solid
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 5/0896 using a light source, e.g. for illuminating a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/04 Systems determining the presence of a target
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/481 Constructional features, e.g. arrangements of optical elements
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49002 Electrical device making

Abstract

A radiation passing layer has a top surface and a bottom surface below which a proximity sensor is positioned. A radiation shield is between the emitter and the detector, and extends to the bottom of the radiation passing layer. A radiation absorber being a separate piece and of a different material than the shield is positioned to provide a radiation seal between the top surface of the shield and the bottom surface of the radiation passing layer. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.

Claims

1. An electronic device comprising:

a radiation passing layer having a top surface and a bottom surface;

a proximity sensor having a radiation emitter and a radiation detector, both positioned below the radiation passing layer;

a radiation shield positioned between the emitter and the detector, and extending to the bottom surface of the radiation passing layer; and

a radiation absorber being a separate piece and of a different material than the shield and positioned to provide a radiation seal between a top surface of the shield and the bottom surface of the radiation passing layer wherein the absorber is formed as a mask that has two holes formed therein directly above the emitter and the detector, respectively.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the absorber comprises a film or sheet that is separate from but that has been joined to at least one of the bottom surface of the radiation passing layer and the top surface of the shield.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein the film or sheet is of a different material than the shield.

4. The device of claim 2 wherein the film or sheet is made of a material that has greater infrared absorption characteristics than that of the radiation shield.

5. The device of claim 2 wherein the film or sheet is one of a polyester film and a plastic sheet.

6. The device of claim 1 wherein the absorber has the following characteristics in an infrared band 700 nm to 1100 nm:

transmittance less than 5% and reflectance less than 10%.

7. An electronic device comprising:

a wireless telephony handset housing having an infrared light passing layer whose top face is part of an exterior face of the housing and whose bottom face is inside the housing;

a proximity sensor having an infrared emitter and an infrared detector both positioned below the bottom face of the light passing layer, inside the housing;

an internal frame member positioned between the emitter and the detector, the frame member to block infrared radiation between the emitter and the detector; and

an infrared absorber being a mask that is of a different material than the frame member and has two holes formed therein, wherein the mask is positioned between a top surface of the frame member and the bottom surface of the light passing layer such that the two holes are directly above the emitter and the detector, respectively.

8. The device of claim 7 wherein the internal frame member extends continuously upward and joins the bottom face of the light passing layer through the infrared absorber.

9. The device of claim 7 further comprising an earpiece speaker and a microphone both inside the housing, a top face to bottom face acoustic aperture formed in the light passing layer and acoustically coupled to the earpiece speaker, and wherein the proximity sensor is positioned closer to the aperture than the microphone.

10. The device of claim 7 wherein the light passing layer is flat, the frame member has a T-shape, and the absorber conforms to a top of the T-shape.

11. The device of claim 7 wherein the absorber comprises a film or sheet that is separate from but that has been joined to at least one of the bottom surface of the light passing layer and the top surface of the frame member.

12. The device of claim 11 wherein the film or sheet is one of a polyester film and a plastic sheet that has been bonded to the light passing layer via an adhesive containing an index-matching material.

13. The device of claim 11 wherein the film or sheet is made of a material that has greater infrared absorption characteristics than that of the frame member.

14. The electronic device of claim 7 wherein the absorber has the following characteristics in an infrared band 700 nm to 1100 nm:

transmittance less than 5% and reflectance less than 10%.

15. The electronic device of claim 7 further comprising a touch screen whose top face is part of the exterior face of the housing, and whose bottom face is inside the housing.

16. The electronic device of claim 15 wherein the infrared light passing layer forms part of and is an outer protective layer of the touch screen as well as a structural layer of the housing.

17. The electronic device of claim 7 further comprising:

a visible light opaque layer in contact with a bottom face of the light passing layer and having an opening therein aligned with one of the emitter and the detector; and

an infrared transmissive layer in contact with the bottom face of the light passing layer within said opening, to give a uniform appearance to the exterior face of the housing,

wherein the absorber is joined to the infrared transmissive layer.

18. A method for manufacturing an electronic device, comprising:

applying an infrared absorber being a mask having two holes formed therein, to the bottom surface of a radiation passing layer; and

then

positioning the radiation passing layer into an exterior housing of a mobile device and fixing the radiation passing layer in place while the absorber is in contact with a top surface of an internal frame member in the housing that lies between an infrared emitter and an infrared detector of a proximity sensor in the housing, such that the two holes of the mask are aligned with a radiation passage for the emitter and the detector, respectively.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the absorber has the following characteristics in an infrared band 700 nm to 1100 nm, namely transmittance less than 5% and reflectance less than 10%.