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Jul 07, 2023

Apple Won a Patent this week for a Motor Temperature Sensor designed for the Apple Vision Pro

This week the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially granted Apple a patent that relates to sensing the temperature of the Apple Vision Pro and more particularly, effectively managing heat with a

This week the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially granted Apple a patent that relates to sensing the temperature of the Apple Vision Pro and more particularly, effectively managing heat with a motor assembly that efficiently and accurately senses a temperature of a motor. Without an iFixit-type teardown, we can't confirm if this motor temperature sensor is for Apple's first generation Vision Pro headset or a future one.

Motor Temperature Sensor for Apple Vision Pro

Apple notes in their granted patent that head-mountable devices, such as head-mounted displays, headsets, visors, smartglasses, head-up display, etc., can perform a range of functions that are managed by the components (e.g., sensors, circuitry, and other hardware) included with the wearable device. The head-mountable device can provide a user's experience that is immersive or otherwise natural so the user can easily focus on enjoying the experience without being distracted by the mechanisms of the head-mountable device.

Components of a head-mountable device can generate heat during operation. For examples, motors can be operated to move components of the head-mountable device as needed to enhance a user's experience. However, motors and other components can generate heat, which can damage the components of the head-mountable device and cause discomfort to the user. It can be desirable to sense, detect, track, and predict the heat output (e.g., temperature) of such components so their operation can be managed and/or mitigation steps can be performed.

Systems of the present disclosure can provide a head-mountable device that effectively manages heat with a motor assembly that efficiently and accurately senses a temperature of a motor. The motor can be operated, for example, to move display modules relative to a frame and/or each other. Within the motor case, coils can drive a rotor. A temperature sensor can be provided on an outer surface (e.g., case) of the motor.

A flex circuit can be operably connect connecting both the motor and the temperature sensor to a controller of the head-mountable device. The flex circuit can have a first side coupled to the outer surface of the case, a second side supporting the temperature sensor, and thermally conductive vias extending from the first side to the second side to conduct heat from the case to the sensor. The flex circuit can further include a memory comprising calibration data of the temperature sensor and a connector for outputting temperature data based on the temperature sensor and the calibration data of the memory.

A motor assembly such as those described herein can provide built-in temperature monitoring of the motor. Accordingly, the assembly can be compact and lightweight with minimal addition of mechanisms to operably connect the components to each other. Additionally, by storing calibration data on a memory of the flex circuit, the resulting output can readily provide temperature data that is already converted to a desired output type.

Apple's patent FIG. 1 below illustrates a side view of a head-mountable device; FIG. 2 illustrates a rear view of a head-mountable device; FIG. 3 illustrates a side view of a motor assembly; FIG. 4 illustrates an enlarged side view of a portion of the motor assembly of FIG. 3; FIG. 5 illustrates a bottom view of an end of a flex circuit having a thermal coupling; FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of a head-mountable device.

For finer details, review Apple's granted patent 11709365.

Posted by Jack Purcher on July 29, 2023 at 04:52 AM in 2. Granted Patents, HMDs, Apple Vision Pro, Smartglasses + | Permalink | Comments (0)