PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-9331417-B2
Application Number: US-201414282819-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Electronic devices with housing port shutters

Abstract:
An electronic device may have a housing in which a display and other components are mounted. Audio components such as a speaker and microphone and other electrical components may be mounted in an interior portion of the housing. A housing port may be formed from one or more openings that pass through the housing. The audio component or other component may be aligned with the housing port. A shutter may be interposed between the audio component and the housing port. The shutter may have an electrically controlled positioner that is used to position a movable shutter member. The shutter may be closed by placing the shutter member in a position in which the housing openings are blocked, thereby preventing intrusion of contaminants into the interior portion of the housing. The shutter may be opened by placing the shutter member in a position in which the housing openings are unblocked, thereby allowing sound to pass through the housing port.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing having a port, wherein the port has a plurality of housing openings that pass through the housing; and 
 a shutter aligned with the port that is operable in an open position in which the port is unblocked and a closed position in which the port is blocked, wherein the shutter comprises a movable shutter member having shutter member openings that overlap the housing openings when the shutter is in the open position. 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  further comprising an audio component aligned with the port. 
     
     
       3. The electronic device defined in  claim 2  wherein the audio component comprises a microphone and wherein the shutter is interposed between the microphone and the port. 
     
     
       4. The electronic device defined in  claim 2  wherein the audio component comprises a speaker and wherein the shutter is interposed between the speaker and the port. 
     
     
       5. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the plurality of housing openings pass through the housing from within the electronic device to outside of the electronic device. 
     
     
       6. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the housing openings form an array of housing openings having multiple rows. 
     
     
       7. The electronic device defined in  claim 6  wherein the movable shutter member comprises a sliding shutter member with slots that each overlap one of the housing openings in a first of the rows and one of the housing openings in a second of the rows. 
     
     
       8. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the shutter comprises a pivot. 
     
     
       9. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the shutter comprises:
 an electronically controlled positioner that positions the movable shutter member. 
 
     
     
       10. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the housing has a curved wall portion with a housing opening, wherein the port is formed from the housing opening, and wherein the movable shutter member comprises a curved sliding member with a shape that matches the curved wall portion. 
     
     
       11. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  further comprising:
 a display in the housing, wherein the housing has sidewalls and wherein the port is formed from a housing opening in one of the sidewalls. 
 
     
     
       12. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing having a plurality of openings forming a housing port; 
 an audio component in an interior portion of the housing, wherein the audio component is aligned with the housing port; and 
 a shutter having a movable shutter member that is selectively placed in an open position in which each of the plurality of openings is unblocked and sound exits the interior portion of the housing through each of the plurality of openings and a closed position in which each of the plurality of openings is blocked to prevent contaminants from entering the interior portion of the housing. 
 
     
     
       13. The electronic device defined in  claim 12  further comprising:
 control circuitry that determines when shutter toggling criteria have been satisfied; and 
 a positioner that the control circuitry controls to toggle the shutter between the closed and open positions in response to determining that the shutter toggling criteria have been satisfied. 
 
     
     
       14. A portable electronic device, comprising:
 a housing having a rear wall and four sidewalls; 
 a rectangular display mounted in the housing and surrounded by the four sidewalls; 
 a housing port formed from a housing opening in one of the four sidewalls; 
 a speaker in an interior portion of the housing in alignment with the housing port; and 
 a rotating shutter interposed between the speaker and the housing port, wherein the rotating shutter rotates about an axis from a first position in which the rotating shutter overlaps the opening to a second position in which the rotating shutter does not overlap the opening. 
 
     
     
       15. The portable electronic device defined in  claim 14  wherein the axis is orthogonal to the sidewall in which the housing opening is formed. 
     
     
       16. The portable electronic device defined in  claim 14  wherein the axis is parallel to the sidewall in which the housing opening is formed. 
     
     
       17. The portable electronic device defined in  claim 14  wherein the housing port is formed from a plurality of housing openings in the one of the four sidewalls, and wherein a corresponding plurality of rotating shutters is interposed between the speaker and the plurality of housing openings.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     This relates generally to electronic devices with ports, and, more particularly, to shutter structures for selectively blocking ports when not in use to prevent intrusion of contaminants. 
     Electronic devices include components such as audio components. An electronic device housing may be provided with audio ports to accommodate audio components. For example, an electronic device may have a microphone port and a speaker port. A microphone can be mounted in the microphone port to capture sound. Audio signals can be played on a speaker that is mounted in a speaker port. 
     Electronic devices such as laptop computers, cellular telephones, and other portable electronic devices are often exposed to environmental contaminants. For example, a user of a portable computer or cellular telephone may accidentally expose the computer or cellular telephone to moisture or dirt. Contaminants can disrupt the operation of an electronic device. For example, contaminants can prevent sound from properly entering or exiting the device through an audio port. 
     It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide ways to prevent intrusion of contaminants into an electronic device. 
     SUMMARY 
     An electronic device may have a housing in which a display and other components are mounted. Audio components such as a speaker and microphone and other electrical components may be mounted in an interior portion of the housing. 
     The electronic device may have ports in the housing. Each housing port may be formed from one or more openings that pass through the housing. An audio component or other electrical component in the interior of the housing may be aligned with a housing port. 
     A shutter may be interposed between the component and the housing port. The shutter may have an electrically controlled positioner that is used to position a movable shutter member. The shutter member may have openings such as slots or may be free of openings. 
     The shutter may be closed by placing the shutter member in a position in which the housing openings are blocked, thereby preventing intrusion of contaminants into the interior portion of the housing and preventing the port from becoming blocked by the presence of contaminants. The shutter may be opened by placing the shutter member in a position in which the shutter member openings overlap the housing openings or in which the housing openings are otherwise unblocked, thereby allowing sound to pass through the housing port. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device such as a portable electronic device that has ports in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device that may be provided with a shutter to prevent intrusion of contaminants though a port in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is an cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronic device in which a port in an electronic housing has been provided with a shutter than can be deployed to block contaminants in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is a top view of a portion of an electronic device in which a shutter is in an open position to allow sound to pass through a port in the electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 5  is a top view of the electronic device of  FIG. 4  in which the shutter has been placed in a closed position to prevent contaminants from passing through the port in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 6  is an interior view of an illustrative electronic device port having a horizontally sliding shutter that has been placed in a closed position in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 7  is an interior view of the illustrative electronic device port of  FIG. 6  following horizontal movement of the sliding shutter to place the shutter in an open position in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 8  is a top interior view of an illustrative electronic device having two shutters for protecting two respective ports in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 9  is an interior view of an illustrative electronic device having a vertically sliding shutter with elongated horizontal shutter openings in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 10  an interior view of an illustrative electronic device having a solid vertically sliding shutter that is free of openings in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective interior view of an illustrative electronic device with port openings formed in a curved housing sidewall and a curved port shutter with a shape that matches the curved housing sidewall in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 12  is an interior view of an illustrative electronic device with a rotating shutter in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 13  is a top interior view of a portion of an illustrative electronic device having a linkage that allows a port shutter to open and close by respectively moving away from an interior housing surface and towards the interior housing surface in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 14  is a top interior view of an illustrative electronic device having a louvered port shutter in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 15  is a flow chart of illustrative operations involved in operating a shutter for a housing port in an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 16  is a perspective exterior view of a portion of an illustrative electronic device having a manually actuated port shutter in accordance with an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Electronic devices may be provided with ports for audio components and other components. The ports may be provided with shutters to prevent intrusion of contaminants into interior portions of the electronic devices. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device of the type that may be provided with port shutters. An electronic device such as electronic device  10  of  FIG. 1  may be a computing device such as a laptop computer, a computer monitor containing an embedded computer, a tablet computer, a cellular telephone, a media player, or other handheld or portable electronic device, a smaller device such as a wrist-watch device, a pendant device, a headphone or earpiece device, or other wearable or miniature device, a television, a computer display that does not contain an embedded computer, a gaming device, a navigation device, an embedded system such as a system in which electronic equipment with a display is mounted in a kiosk or automobile, equipment that implements the functionality of two or more of these devices, or other electronic equipment. In the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 1 , device  10  is a portable device such as a cellular telephone, media player, tablet computer, or other portable computing device. Other configurations may be used for device  10  if desired. The example of  FIG. 1  is merely illustrative. 
     In the example of  FIG. 1 , device  10  includes a display such as display  14 . Display  14  has been mounted in a housing such as housing  12 . Housing  12 , which may sometimes be referred to as an enclosure or case, may be formed of plastic, glass, ceramics, fiber composites, metal (e.g., stainless steel, aluminum, etc.), other suitable materials, or a combination of any two or more of these materials. Housing  12  may be formed using a unibody configuration in which some or all of housing  12  is machined or molded as a single structure or may be formed using multiple structures (e.g., an internal frame structure, one or more structures that form exterior housing surfaces, etc.). Housing  12  may have a rear wall and four sidewalls that surround display  14 . 
     Display  14  may be a touch screen display that incorporates a layer of conductive capacitive touch sensor electrodes or other touch sensor components (e.g., resistive touch sensor components, acoustic touch sensor components, force-based touch sensor components, light-based touch sensor components, etc.) or may be a display that is not touch-sensitive. Capacitive touch screen electrodes may be formed from an array of indium tin oxide pads or other transparent conductive structures. 
     Display  14  may include an array of display pixels formed from liquid crystal display (LCD) components, an array of electrophoretic display pixels, an array of plasma display pixels, an array of organic light-emitting diode display pixels, an array of electrowetting display pixels, or display pixels based on other display technologies. 
     Display  14  may be protected using a display cover layer such as a layer of transparent glass or clear plastic. Openings may be formed in the display cover layer. For example, an opening may be formed in the display cover layer to accommodate a button such as button  16 . An opening may also be formed in the display cover layer to accommodate ports such as speaker port  18 . 
     Device  10  may have one or more ports. The ports may be formed from openings that pass through housing  12 , display  14 , or other portions of device  10 . The ports of device  10  (e.g., housing ports) may include audio ports, connector ports, and other ports. As an example, device housing  12  may include ports  20 . Ports  20  may each have one or more openings such as openings  22 . In the example of  FIG. 1 , each port  20  has eight openings  22 . If desired, ports such as port  20  may each have a single opening, may each have two openings, may each have three or more openings, may each have fewer than 100 openings, or may have other suitable number of openings. 
     Openings in housing  12  such as openings  22  of ports  20  may allow sound to pass. For example, one of ports  20  may be associated with a microphone and may use openings  22  in housing  12  to allow sound from the exterior of device  10  to pass to a microphone in the interior of device  10  and another of ports  20  may be associated with a speaker and may use openings  22  in housing  12  to allow sound from the speaker to pass from the interior to the exterior of device  10  (i.e., to allow sound to exit device  10  from the interior of device  10 ). 
     Device  10  may also have additional ports such as ports  18  and  24 . Port  18  may be an audio jack port that is configured to receive a mating audio plug (e.g., a ⅛″ tip-ring-sleeve or tip-ring-ring-sleeve plug). Port  24  may be a digital data port having a digital data connector that is configured to receive a mating connector on a digital data cable. Other types of ports may be provided in device  10  and housing  12  if desired. In the example of  FIG. 1 , the ports in housing  12  such as ports  18 ,  20 , and  24  are formed in a housing sidewall at the lower end of device  10 . This is merely illustrative. Ports can be formed along any peripheral edge of device housing  12 , in a rear portion of housing  12 , in a portion of display  14  or other structures on the front face of device  10 , or in other suitable device locations. 
     A schematic diagram of device  10  is shown in  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , electronic device  10  may include control circuitry such as storage and processing circuitry  40 . Storage and processing circuitry  40  may include one or more different types of storage such as hard disk drive storage, nonvolatile memory (e.g., flash memory or other electrically-programmable-read-only memory), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic random-access-memory), etc. Processing circuitry in storage and processing circuitry  40  may be used in controlling the operation of device  10 . The processing circuitry may be based on a processor such as a microprocessor and other suitable integrated circuits. With one suitable arrangement, storage and processing circuitry  40  may be used to run software on device  10  such as internet browsing applications, email applications, media playback applications, operating system functions, software for capturing and processing images, software implementing functions associated with gathering and processing sensor data, software that makes adjustments to display brightness and touch sensor functionality, etc. 
     Input-output circuitry  32  may be used to allow input to be supplied to device  10  from a user or external devices and to allow output to be provided from device  10  to the user or external devices. 
     Input-output circuitry  32  may include wired and wireless communications circuitry  34 . Communications circuitry  34  may include radio-frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry formed from one or more integrated circuits, power amplifier circuitry, low-noise input amplifiers, passive RF components, one or more antennas, and other circuitry for handling RF wireless signals. Wireless signals can also be sent using light (e.g., using infrared communications). 
     Input-output circuitry  32  may include input-output devices  36  such as button  16  of FIG.  1 , joysticks, click wheels, scrolling wheels, a touch screen such as display  14  of  FIG. 1 , other touch sensors such as track pads or touch-sensor-based buttons, vibrators, audio components such as microphone  44  and speaker  42 , image capture devices such as a camera module having an image sensor and a corresponding lens system, keyboards, status-indicator lights, tone generators, key pads, and other equipment for gathering input from a user or other external source and/or generating output for a user. 
     Sensor circuitry such as sensors  38  of  FIG. 2  may include an ambient light sensor for gathering information on ambient light levels, proximity sensor components (e.g., light-based proximity sensors and/or proximity sensors based on other structures), accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetic sensors, and other sensor structures. 
     A cross-sectional side view of device  10  of  FIG. 1  taken along line  53  of  FIG. 1  and viewed in direction  51  is shown in  FIG. 3 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , display  14  of device  10  may be formed from display module  48 . Display module  48  may be a liquid crystal display module, may be an organic light-emitting diode display module, or may be formed from other types of display structures. Display cover layer  50  may be formed from a clear layer of glass or plastic and may be used to protect display module  48 . 
     Device  10  may have one or more substrates such as substrate  52 . Substrate  52  may be a printed circuit such as a flexible printed circuit (e.g., a printed circuit having metal traces supported by a sheet of polyimide or other flexible polymer layer) or a rigid printed circuit (e.g., a printed circuit board formed from a material such as fiberglass-filled epoxy). Components  54  may be mounted on substrate  52 . Components  54  may include audio components, integrated circuits, capacitors, inductors, resistors, connectors, sensors, light-based devices, and other electronic components. 
     Device  10  may include one or more components such as component  40  that are associated with openings  22  in a port such as port  20  in housing  12 . Component  40  may be a connector for a data port, an audio component such as a microphone or speaker, an audio jack connector to receive a mating audio plug or other plug, or other component. Illustrative configurations in which port  20  is associated with an audio component (i.e., configurations in which component  40  is an audio component) are sometimes described herein as an example. In general, component  40  may be any electrical component that is associated with a port in device  10  (e.g., a port formed from one or more openings  22  in device  10  such as openings  22  in housing  12 ). 
     To maintain port  20  free of contaminants, so that audio component  40  can function properly, device  10  can be provided with a shutter. As shown in  FIG. 3 , for example, shutter  46  may be interposed between openings  22  of port  20  and associated component  40 . Shutter  46  may be placed in an open configuration so that openings  22  are unblocked and can serve as a pathway through housing  12  between the outside and inside of device  10  or can be placed in a closed position to prevent moisture, dirt, and other contaminants from entering into device  10  when port  20  is not in use. Because shutter  46  is used to control the open/closed state of openings  22  for port  20 , shutter  46  is sometimes referred to as a port shutter. 
       FIG. 4  is a top view of an interior portion of the lower end of device  10  of  FIG. 1 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , port  20  may be formed from openings  22  in housing  12 . Openings  22  may be circular, may be oval, may have rectangular cross-sectional shapes, or may have other suitable shapes. Shutter  46  has one or more movable shutter members such as shutter member  66  with openings  72  that overlap openings  22  when shutter  46  is placed in an open configuration of the type shown in  FIG. 4 . Shutter member  66  may be formed from metal, plastic, other materials, or combinations of these materials. Openings  74  may be slots or may have other shapes so that openings  74  each cover one or more respective housing openings  22 , may be circular holes or holes with other shapes each of which is able to overlap only a single corresponding opening  22  in housing  12 , or may have other suitable shapes. In some configurations, shutter member  66  may have no holes, but rather may be placed in configurations that either cover or uncover openings  22  as needed. 
     Positioner  70  may be coupled to shutter member  66  by coupling structures  74  (e.g., structures formed from plastic, metal, portions of shutter member  66 , etc.). Positioner  70  may be controlled by control circuitry  40  ( FIG. 2 ) using control signals from control circuitry  40  that are supplied to control input  68  of positioner  70 . Positioner  70  may be a solenoid or other electromagnetic device for positioning shutter member  66 , may be a motor for sliding or rotating shutter member  66 , may be an actuator formed from a shape memory metal (e.g., a nichrome wire that changes shape upon application of heat generated by applying a current to the wire), may be a piezoelectric actuator, or may be any other suitable actuator for positioning shutter structures such as shutter member  66  in shutter  46 . 
     Component  40  may be an audio component such as a speaker or microphone. As an example, component  40  may be a speaker having a speaker driver such as speaker driver  58 . Speaker driver  58  may be mounted in air-filled cavity  60  in the interior of speaker box  56 . Speaker box  56  may have plastic walls or other structures to form cavity  60  and to mount speaker  40  in device  10 . Speaker box opening  62  may have perforations, metal and/or plastic mesh, or other openings to allow sound to pass from the interior of speaker  40  (i.e., cavity  60 ) to the exterior of speaker  40 . If desired, component  40  may be an audio component such as a microphone or other suitable component. The example of  FIG. 4  in which component  40  is a speaker is merely illustrative. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , opening  62  of speaker box  56  is aligned with shutter  46  and port  20 . Shutter  46  is preferably formed on the interior of housing  12  to hide shutter components from view, but may, if desired, be formed partially or completely from structures on the exterior of housing  12 . Shutter member positioner  70  may be used to open and close shutter  46 . When, for example, it is desired to use port  20  normally (e.g., when it is desired to use speaker  40  normally to produce sound for a user of device  10 ), positioner  70  may place shutter member  66  in a position of the type shown in  FIG. 4  in which shutter member openings  72  are aligned with and overlap respective openings  22  in port  20  in housing wall  12 . When speaker  40  is inactive, positioner  70  can move shutter member  66  so that shutter member openings  72  are no longer aligned with openings  22 . When control circuitry  40  determines that speaker  40  is not in use, for example, positioner  70  can slide shutter member  66  along the X-axis of  FIG. 4  until openings  72  are not aligned with openings  22  in housing  12 , as shown in  FIG. 5 . In the configuration of  FIG. 5 , shutter  46  is in a closed position in which solid portions  78  of shutter member  66  overlap and block openings  22  in housing  12 . This prevents intrusion of contaminants  76  (e.g., solid and/or liquid substances such as food particles, dirt, moisture, etc.) into the interior of device  10  and housing  12 . 
       FIG. 6  shows an illustrative configuration for shutter member  66  in which shutter member  66  has an elongated shape that extends along the X-axis of  FIG. 6  (e.g., along an edge of device housing  12 ). In the  FIG. 6  example, openings  22  are provided in multiple rows and columns (e.g., two rows and seven columns). Other patterns of openings  22  may be formed in device housing  12  if desired (e.g., arrays of openings  22  with different numbers of rows and columns, etc.). As shown in  FIG. 6 , each opening  72  may form a rectangular slot that extends along dimension Z. By using elongated opening shapes for openings  72 , each opening  72  can cover multiple openings  22 . For example, each opening  72  may be a slot that is associated with two or more respective openings  22  in respective rows of an array of housing openings  22 . In the state shown in  FIG. 6 , shutter  46  is closed and solid shutter member portions  78  cover openings  22  in housing  12  to prevent intrusion of contaminants into the interior of device  10 . After sliding shutter member  66  laterally along axis X, slots  72  are brought into alignment with openings  22 , as shown in  FIG. 7 . Each slot  72  may, for example, overlap a respective pair of openings  22 . In the state shown in  FIG. 7 , shutter  46  is open and sound can pass through openings  22  and port  20 . 
     If desired, device  10  can have multiple shutters. As shown in  FIG. 8 , for example, device  10  can have a first shutter such as shutter  46 - 1  formed from movable shutter member  66 A and a second shutter such as shutter  46 - 2  formed from movable shutter member  66 B. Shutter member  66 A has openings  72  that can be moved in and out of alignment with respective openings  22  in one of ports  20  in housing  12 . Shutter member  66 B has openings  72  that can be moved in and out of alignment with respective openings  22  in another one of ports  20  in housing  12 . 
     Each shutter may have its own respective electronically controlled positioner  70  or a common positioner may be used to control shutter members  66 A and  66 B. As shown in  FIG. 8 , for example, a single positioner  70  may be coupled to shutter member  66 A via coupling member  74 A and may be coupled to shutter member  66  via coupling member  74 B. Positioner  70  may be used to move shutter members  66 A and  66 B in concert. If desired, shutter members  66 A and  66 B may be coupled using rigid coupling structures or may be formed from a single layer of material (e.g., a single layer of plastic, a single metal sheet, etc.). 
     As shown in  FIG. 9 , the movement of shutter member  66  may be guided using guide structures such as slotted rails  80 . Rails  80  in the  FIG. 9  example, have slots that extend along dimension Z. The slots in rails  80  receive the opposing ends of shutter member  66 . Member  66  may be formed from metal, plastic, other materials, or combinations of these materials. Positioner  70  may move shutter member  66  between open and closed positions along dimension Z. In the configuration shown in  FIG. 9 , shutter member  66  of shutter  46  is in an open position, so that each opening  72  overlaps and therefore uncovers a respective set of housing openings  22 . 
     If desired, shutter member  66  may be formed from a solid structure that does not contain openings to align with openings  22  in port  20 . As shown in  FIG. 10 , for example, shutter member  66  may be a rectangular structure or other structure that is free of openings  72 . Shutter members in device  10  may be controlled using one or more positioners. In the example of  FIG. 10 , two positioners are used in controlling the position of shutter member  66 . Positioner  70 - 1  controls the left-hand side of shutter member  66  and positioner  70 - 2  controls the right-hand side of shutter member  66 . If desired, a single positioner may be used to position shutter member  66 . The use of multiple positioners to control the position of shutter member  66  is merely illustrative. When it is desired to open shutter  46  of  FIG. 10 , positioning equipment such as one or more electronically controlled positioners (e.g., positioners  70 - 1  and  70 - 2 ) can be used to move shutter member  66  in dimension Z until shutter member  66  reaches the position of  FIG. 10 . In this position, shutter member  66  does not overlap holes  22 , so holes  22  are not blocked by shutter member  66 . When it is desired to close shutter  46 , shutter member  66  may be moved in the −Z direction of  FIG. 10  until shutter member  66  overlaps each of openings  22  and thereby blocks openings  22 . Solid shutter members may be used to selectively cover and uncover any suitable number of openings  22 . The use of shutter member  66  to cover and uncover a 2×6 array of openings  22  in  FIG. 10  is merely illustrative. 
     Housing  12  may have planar portions and/or may have curved portions. As shown in  FIG. 11 , for example, housing  12  may have planar portion  82  and curved portion  84 . Planar portion  82  may be part of a planar housing wall such as the rear wall of housing  12 . Curved portions such as curved portion  84  of  FIG. 11  may be associated with curved housing sidewalls. Curved sidewalls may, for example, be formed along each of the four peripheral edges of a rectangular electronic device housing. In configurations for housing  12  that include curved walls or other non-planar shapes, shutter member  66  may have corresponding non-planar shapes. For example, shutter member  66  may be provided with a curved surface that matches the curved inner surface of housing wall portion  84  of housing  12  as shown in  FIG. 11 . Openings  72  may be slots that lie in planes parallel to the Y-Z plane of  FIG. 11  or may have other shapes. 
     As shown in  FIG. 12 , shutter  46  may have a rotating shutter member. Positioner  70  of  FIG. 12  may be a motor or other actuator that rotates shutter member  66  in directions  86  about rotational axis  88 . In closed position  90 , shutter member  66  covers openings  22  (i.e., shutter  46  is closed). In the open position shown in  FIG. 12  (position  92 ), shutter member  66  does not overlap openings  22 , so that openings  22  are unblocked and can serve as port openings for port  20 . 
       FIG. 13  is a top view of an interior portion of device  10  in a configuration in which shutter  46  has been provided with a linkage to move shutter member  66  into closed and open positions without sliding shutter member  66  along the inner surface of housing  12 . Linkage  94  may be formed from one or more coupling members with pivots that allow shutter member  66  to be moved towards and away from the inner surface of housing  12  without sliding along the inner surface of housing  12 . In the position shown in  FIG. 13 , shutter member  66  has been placed in an open position in which shutter member openings  72  are aligned with housing port openings  22  to allow sound associated with the operation of component  40  (e.g., an audio component such as a microphone or speaker) to pass through openings  22 . When positioner  70  moves shutter member  66  in direction  98 , pivoting linkage  94  guides protrusions  96  on shutter member  66  into openings  22  so that openings  22  are blocked (i.e., shutter  46  is closed). Protrusions  96  may be formed as integral portions of shutter member  66  or may be additional structures. Protrusions  96  and/or the rest of shutter member  66  may be formed from an elastomeric material such as silicone to help form effective seals for openings  22 . Configurations for linkage-based shutters that use rigid shutter members (e.g., shutter members formed from rigid plastic and/or metal) may also be used. 
     If desired, shutter  46  may be implemented using multiple louvers such shutter structures  66 - 1 ,  66 - 2 , and  66 - 3  of  FIG. 14 . Positioner  70  may control the positions of each louver. When it is desired to open shutter  46 , each louver is rotated clockwise about a respective pivot until a respective opening or openings  22  in device housing wall  12  has been uncovered as shown in  FIG. 14 . When it is desired to close shutter  46 , positioner  70  closes the louvers (i.e., members  66 - 1 ,  66 - 2 , and  66 - 3  are rotated clockwise in direction  102 ), thereby covering respective openings  22  and blocking port  20 . 
     Illustrative steps associated with operating shutters  46  in electronic devices  10  to block and unblock ports  20  in device  10  are shown in  FIG. 15 . At step  104 , control circuitry  40  monitors device  10  to determine whether shutter toggling criteria have been satisfied. The shutter togging criteria may be predetermined criteria stored in storage in control circuitry  40 . Examples of shutter toggling criteria include detection of an appropriate button press event or selection of an appropriate on-screen option with a touch screen, reception of an appropriate voice command, occurrence of an operating condition that indicates whether a port in device  10  should be blocked or unblocked (e.g., detection of a state in which audio is to be played for the user with a speaker in port  20  such as a speakerphone voice call in a cellular telephone or a media playback event in which audio is to be played for the user with the speaker in port  20 , detection of an audio recording event in which a microphone in port  20  is to be used to record audio data, etc.). During the operations of step  104 , control circuitry  40  can monitor the state of input-output circuitry  32 . For example, control circuitry  40  can monitor communications circuitry  34  to determine whether a user is making a speaker-phone call or is playing audio through a speaker in port  20 , control circuitry  40  can monitor input-output devices  36  to determine whether a user has supplied an open-shutter or close-shutter command or has otherwise supplied input to device  10  that is indicative of a need to change the state of shutter  46 , and control circuitry  40  can monitor sensors  38  to determine whether it is appropriate to change the state of shutter  46  (e.g., to detect moisture, to detect other contaminants, or to detect other environmental conditions that make it advisable to close shutter  46 , etc.). Shutter  46  can be maintained in a normally closed condition and opened in response to detection of a condition that requires the use of port  20  or may be maintained in a normally opened condition in which shutter  46  is closed upon detection of a condition where there is an elevated risk of intrusion of contaminants (as examples). 
     So long as no toggle criteria are satisfied, monitoring continues at step  104 , as indicated by line  106 . 
     When toggle criteria are satisfied, the state of shutter  46  is toggled at step  108 . For example, if shutter  46  is presently open, shutter  46  is closed at step  108  and if shutter  46  is currently closed, shutter  46  is opened at step  108 . 
     As shown by line  110 , monitoring may continue at step  104  following the opening or closing of shutter  46  during the shutter state toggling operations of step  108 . 
     To conserve power and/or to provide a manual backup capability, it may be desirable to provide a user of device  10  with the ability to manually change the position of shutter  46 . This type of arrangement is shown in  FIG. 16 . As shown in  FIG. 16 , housing  12  may have an elongated opening such as opening  114  to accommodate a manual control structure such as shutter member protrusion  112  of shutter member  66 . Shutter member  66  may have openings such as slots  72  that overlap openings  22  in housing  12  as shown in  FIG. 16 . When it is desired to close shutter  46 , a user may slide protrusion  112  or other shutter member structure coupled to shutter member  66  in direction  116 . This moves the solid portions of shutter member  66  so that they overlap housing openings  22  and thereby block openings  22  to prevent the intrusion of contaminants into the interior of device housing  12 . If desired, device  10  may be provided with a combination of manually controlled and electrically controlled shutters. Electrically controlled shutters may be controlled automatically and/or may be responsive to open and close commands supplied to control circuitry  40  by a user. 
     The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20140520
Publication Date: 20160503
Grant Date: 20160503
Priority Date: 20140520
Inventors: LEE SUNGCHANG
RYU KEE SUK
LEE KI MYUNG
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04R1/028", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R13/447", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/18", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R13/447", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/03", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/18", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1688", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1656", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/023", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/086", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1688", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1656", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/03", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/028", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 54473958