Two new Apple patents have caught the eyes of those who roam the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) looking for morsels that may point to the future of tech.
Many of these designs will never end up on a retail shelf, but they need to be protected just in case.
“Over the years, Apple has been issued various patents for the design of foldable devices, but it is yet to actually produce one (and its first foldable keeps getting delayed),” notes GSM Arena.
“The latest patent is US 12,164,344 or ‘Hinges for folding display devices’.”
The site reports that the patent describes “a series of interconnected links that are formed from interlinked ‘fingers’ and a friction clutch: A key part of the patent is using crescent-shaped slots, which allow each link to rotate relative to others – crucially, this moves the axis of rotation outside of the link itself”.
Apple patent for hinge.
The patent states that the hinge can be applied to phones, tablets, laptops watches and other wearable devices, GSM said.
Meanwhile, Apple has successfully patented an Augmented Reality Room Projector for the home. In October Patently Apple posted about a patent related to an Augmented Reality Light System that projects AR content onto tables, walls and other surfaces, without a headset.
And now the USPTO has granted Apple a second patent relating to a possible future Augmented Reality Room Projector.
“Apple’s granted patent covers various embodiments of methods and apparatus for emitting light including light representing augmented reality (AR) content into environments such as rooms,” Patently Apple reports, per the patent.
“Embodiments of a spatial light system are described that may, for example, be used to project AR content onto one or more surfaces of a room. A spatial light system may project illuminating light, AR imagery, patterns or other image content onto the floor, walls, and/or ceiling of a room.
“The spatial light system may also intelligently light or augment particular objects found within a room, and/or intelligently not illuminate certain surfaces or objects such as windows or television screens or persons, within a room.”
