PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-10156553-B2
Application Number: US-201615085862-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Electronic device with sensor ports having enhanced airflow

Abstract:
An electronic device may have input-output devices such as sensors. The sensors may include environmental sensors that make measurements on the environment surrounding the electronic device. The environmental sensors may make measurements such as temperature measurements, humidity measurements, gas composition measurements, and particulate level measurements. A sensor may communicate with external air through a sensor port in an electronic device housing. An electronic device may have a movable member. The movable member may be moved in response to motion of the electronic device when handled by user or motion of a button or other movable member that is actuated by the user. As the movable member moves, the movable member may create enhanced airflow through the sensor port. This may refresh the air adjacent to an environmental sensor and enhance sensor response time.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An electronic device that may be moved when handled by a user, comprising:
 a housing; 
 a sensor in the housing; 
 a sensor port in the housing that allows the sensor to communicate with external air surrounding the housing; and 
 a moving member that moves relative to the housing in response to motion of the electronic device due to handling by the user, wherein motion of the moving member promotes airflow through the sensor port and wherein the sensor is mounted to the moving member. 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the sensor port includes a channel and a porous structure to block environmental contaminants and wherein motion of the moving member promotes airflow through the channel and the porous structure. 
     
     
       3. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  further comprising a moving weight that moves within a moving weight chamber and that helps move the moving member. 
     
     
       4. The electronic device defined in  claim 3  further comprising a coupling structure that couples the moving weight to the moving member. 
     
     
       5. The electronic device defined in  claim 4  wherein the coupling structure comprises a flexible structure. 
     
     
       6. The electronic device defined in  claim 4  wherein the moving weight is magnetically coupled to the moving member. 
     
     
       7. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the moving member has protrusions that mate with grooves in the housing. 
     
     
       8. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  further comprising a hinge, wherein the moving member is coupled to the hinge and pivots about the hinge. 
     
     
       9. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the housing surrounds a first cavity portion and a second cavity portion, wherein the moving member separates the first cavity portion from the second cavity portion, wherein the first cavity portion is coupled to the sensor port, and wherein the housing has an opening that allows air to flow out of the second cavity portion when the external air flows into the first cavity portion through the sensor port. 
     
     
       10. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the sensor comprises an environmental sensor. 
     
     
       11. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the sensor comprises a sensor selected from the group consisting of: a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a gas composition sensor, and a particulate sensor. 
     
     
       12. The electronic device defined in  claim 11  further comprising a button, wherein motion of the button promotes motion of the moving member. 
     
     
       13. A portable electronic device, comprising:
 a housing; 
 a sensor in the housing; 
 a sensor port in the housing through which the sensor communicates with external air surrounding the housing while the sensor makes measurements on the external air; and 
 a moving member that moves relative to the housing and thereby promotes airflow through the sensor port wherein the moving member has protrusions that mate with grooves in the housing. 
 
     
     
       14. The portable electronic device defined in  claim 13  wherein the sensor comprises a sensor selected from the group consisting of: a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a gas composition sensor, and a particulate sensor. 
     
     
       15. The portable electronic device defined in  claim 14  wherein the moving member is configured to move in response to movement of the housing from handling by a user. 
     
     
       16. The portable electronic device defined in  claim 14  further comprising a button, wherein motion of the button moves the moving member. 
     
     
       17. An electronic device that is moved by a user, comprising:
 a housing structure, wherein the housing structure surrounds a cavity having a first cavity portion and a second cavity portion; 
 a sensor in communication with ambient air through a sensor port; and 
 a movable structure that slides relative to the housing structure in response to movement of the electronic device by the user and thereby promotes flow of the ambient air through the sensor port to the sensor, wherein the moveable structure seals the first cavity portion from the second cavity portion while sliding relative to the housing structure. 
 
     
     
       18. The electronic device defined in  claim 17  wherein the sensor comprises a sensor selected from the group consisting of: a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a gas composition sensor, and a particulate sensor. 
     
     
       19. The electronic device defined in  claim 18  wherein the sensor port comprises an opening in the housing structure. 
     
     
       20. The electronic device defined in  claim 17  wherein the first cavity portion is coupled to the sensor port and wherein the housing structure has an opening that allows air to flow out of the second cavity portion when the external air flows into the first cavity portion through the sensor port to prevent backpressure from developing in the second cavity portion.

Description:
FIELD 
     This relates generally to electronic devices and, more particularly, to electronic devices with sensors. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Electronic devices sometimes contain sensors. Sensors may be used, for example, to make temperature measurements or other measurements on the ambient environment in which an electronic device is being operated. 
     If care is not taken, sensor performance may be adversely affected by poor coupling between a sensor and the external environment. An electronic device may have a sensor port with structures that helps protect a sensor from environmental contaminants. These structures directly impact the environmental coupling with the sensor in the device. This can lead to undesirably slow sensor response times. 
     SUMMARY 
     An electronic device may have input output devices such as sensors. The sensors may include environmental sensors that make measurements of the environment surrounding the electronic device. The environmental sensors may make measurements such as temperature measurements, humidity measurements, gas composition measurements, and particulate level measurements. 
     A sensor such as an environmental sensor may communicate with external air through a sensor port in an electronic device housing. An electronic device may have a movable member. The movable member may be moved relative to the electronic device housing. The movable member may be moved in response to motion of the electronic device when handled by user or in response to motion of a button or other movable member that is actuated by the user. 
     As the movable member moves within the device, the movable member may create enhanced airflow through the sensor port. This may refresh the air adjacent to an environmental sensor and enhance sensor response time. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device with sensors in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative housing wall with a sensor port and associated sensor in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative housing wall in which a movable member such as a movable sensor support structure has been provided to enhance airflow through a sensor port in the wall in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 6  is another cross-sectional view of the housing wall and movable sensor structure of  FIG. 5  in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative housing wall with a movable member and associated moving mass that is moved in response to motion of an electronic device during handling by a user to help move the member and thereby enhance airflow through a sensor port in the wall in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative housing wall to which a movable structure with a sensor port has been mounted to help promote airflow to a sensor in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative housing wall in which a moving mass that is magnetically coupled to a moving member has been used to promote movement of the moving member and thereby enhance the flow of external air to a sensor in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 10  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative movable structure that pivots about a hinge to promote airflow through a sensor port to a sensor in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 11  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronic device in which movement of a movable member such as a button member is used to promote airflow through a sensor port to a sensor in accordance with an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Electronic devices may be provided with sensors. The sensors in an electronic device may include one or more sensors that make measurements on the environment in which the electronic device is operated. For example, sensors may make measurements on ambient air temperature, the chemical composition of the air and the particulate count in the air, air humidity, and other measurement on the air around the device. Because sensors such as these make measurements on the environment surrounding the electronic device, the sensors may sometimes be referred to as environmental sensors. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device of the type that may include environmental sensors. Electronic device  10  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, a device embedded in eyeglasses or other equipment worn on a user&#39;s head, 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, an accessory (e.g., earbuds, a remote control, a wireless trackpad, etc.), 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, wrist-watch device 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 display  14 . Display  14  has been mounted in housing  12 . Electronic device 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.). 
     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 sensor electrodes may be formed from an array of indium tin oxide pads, other transparent conductive structures, or other touch sensor electrode structures. 
     Display  14  may include an array of pixels formed from liquid crystal display (LCD) components, an array of electrophoretic pixels, an array of plasma display pixels, an array of organic light-emitting diode pixels or other light-emitting diode pixels, an array of electrowetting pixels, or pixels based on other display technologies. 
     Display  14  may be protected using a display cover layer such as a layer of transparent glass, clear plastic, transparent ceramic, sapphire or other transparent crystalline material, or other transparent layer(s). The display cover layer may have a planar shape, a convex curved profile, a concave curved profile, a shape with planar and curved portions, a layout that includes a planar main area surrounded on one or more edge portions that are bent out of the plane of the planar main area, or other suitable shape. Openings may be formed in the display cover layer to accommodate one or more buttons, a speaker port, etc. 
     Openings may also be formed in housing  12 . For example, opening  26  may be formed through housing  12  to form sensor port  28 . Environmental sensor  20  may be mounted within the interior of housing  12  in alignment with sensor port  28 . Air from the exterior of device  10  may flow through opening  26  to reach environmental sensor  20  and particles, humidity, gases, and heat associated with exterior air may diffuse or otherwise pass into the vicinity of sensor  20  through opening  26 . Environmental sensor  20  may be a sensor that measures temperature, that measures relative humidity, that measures ozone concentration, that measures CO 2  concentration, or that measures other chemical properties of the ambient air surrounding device  10 , that measures particulates in the air, or that measures other characteristics of the ambient air. One or more buttons such as illustrative button  16  may be formed from movable button members that are mounted within respective openings in device  10  (housing  12 ). If desired, openings may also be formed in the wall of housing  12  and/or display  14  for connector ports, acoustic ports, etc. 
       FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device with one or more sensors that make measurements on ambient air through sensor ports such as sensor port  28 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , electronic device  10  may have control circuitry  22 . Control circuitry  22  may include storage and processing circuitry for supporting the operation of device  10 . The storage and processing circuitry may include storage such as hard disk drive storage, nonvolatile memory (e.g., flash memory or other electrically-programmable-read-only memory configured to form a solid state drive), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic random-access-memory), etc. Processing circuitry in control circuitry  22  may be used to control the operation of device  10 . For example, the processing circuitry may display alerts, may display sensor measurement data, and may take other suitable actions in response to temperature measurements, ambient air gas composition measurements, ambient air particulate measurements, ambient air relative humidity measurements, etc. The processing circuitry may be based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, baseband processors, power management units, audio chips, application specific integrated circuits, etc. 
     Input-output circuitry in device  10  such as input-output devices  24  may be used to allow data to be supplied to device  10  and to allow data to be provided from device  10  to external devices. Input-output devices  24  may include buttons such as button  16  and other buttons, joysticks, scrolling wheels, touch pads, key pads, keyboards, microphones, speakers, tone generators, vibrators or other components with moving parts, cameras, light-emitting diodes and other status indicators, data ports, etc. As shown in  FIG. 2 , input-output devices  24  may include sensors  20 . Sensors  20  may include environmental sensors such as sensors that make temperature measurements, ambient air gas composition measurements, ambient air particulate measurements, ambient air relative humidity measurements, etc. If desired, input-output devices  24  may include sensors such as force sensors, magnetic sensors, proximity sensors, touch sensors, light sensors, acoustic sensors, and other sensors. A user can control the operation of device  10  by supplying commands through input-output devices  24  and may receive status information and other output from device  10  using the output resources of input-output devices  24 . Input-output devices  24  may include one or more displays such as display  14 . 
     Control circuitry  22  may be used to run software on device  10  such as operating system code and applications. During operation of device  10 , the software running on control circuitry  22  may display images on display  14  using an array of pixels in display  14 . The software running on control circuitry  22  may gather sensor data from sensors  20  such as temperature measurements, humidity measurements, gas concentration measurements, particulate counts, and other information on the characteristics of the air surrounding device  10  (sometimes referred to as air readings or environmental sensor information). 
       FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative device with an environmental sensor. As shown in the example of  FIG. 3 , device  10  may include a display such as display  14  mounted in housing  12 . Display  14  may have display layers  14 B (e.g., a liquid crystal display module, an organic light-emitting diode display, or other layers having an array of pixels to display images) and may have an optional protective outer layer such as transparent display cover layer  14 A. Electrical components  32  (e.g., integrated circuits and other devices for forming control circuitry  22  and/or input-output devices  24 ) may be mounted on one or more substrates such as substrate  30  (e.g., a flexible printed circuit substrate formed from a flexible layer of polyimide or a sheet of other flexible polymer or a rigid printed circuit board substrate formed from a rigid printed circuit board material such as fiberglass-filled epoxy). Housing  12  may have an opening such as opening  26  to form sensor port  28 . If desired, opening  26  may be formed through display layer  14 A or other structure in device  10 . Environmental sensor  20  may be mounted within the interior of housing  12  and may make measurements of the environment surrounding device  10  through opening  26 . 
     An illustrative configuration for mounting sensor  20  in communication with sensor port  28  is shown in  FIG. 4 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , housing  12  may have a wall with exterior surface  12 E and opposing interior surface  121 . The external ambient environment surrounding device  10  (i.e., external air) may be monitored by sensor  20  in device  10  through port  28  as indicated by path  40 . Port  28  may be formed from a passageway through housing  12  of any suitable shape. In the illustrative example of  FIG. 4 , port  28  has an exterior recessed portion such as portion  42  (which may have one or more holes or other openings), a porous contaminant-blocking structure such as structure  38  (e.g., a thin layer of wire and/or plastic mesh, a porous membrane, multiple layers of plastic and/or metal structures with openings, etc.). Porous structure  38  and the shape of the passageway(s) associated with port  28  may help prevent moisture, dust, and other contaminants from entering the interior of device  10  and thereby interfering with the operation of sensor  20 . 
     Sensor  20  may be mounted on a flexible or rigid printed circuit (see, e.g., printed circuit  34 ) or other substrate and may be located in cavity  36  (e.g., a cavity in housing  12 ). Cavity  36  may communicate with the exterior of device  10  via channel  26 . Cavity  36  and channel  26  may have other shapes (e.g., curved shapes, shapes formed from multiple smaller openings, etc.). The cross-sectional shapes of the opening(s) through the wall of housing cavity  36  associated with sensor port  28  may be rectangular, square, circular, or oval, may have a combination of straight and curved edges, or may have any other suitable shapes. Porous structure  38  and/or other structures for preventing the intrusion of contaminants into device  10  and cavity  36  may be located before or after channel  26 , may be placed over exterior surface  12 E of housing  12 , or may be located elsewhere within sensor port  28 . The example of  FIG. 4  is merely illustrative. 
     Channel  26 , porous structure  38 , and cavity  36  are preferably configured to prevent intrusion of contaminants into device  10  that could interfere with the operation of sensor  20 . For example, to prevent intrusion of contaminants, channel  26  should not be too short or too wide, cavity  36  should not be too small, and the porosity of structure  38  should not be too high. At the same time, if channel  26  is too long, cavity  36  is too large, and/or the porosity of structure  38  is too low, it may take an undesirably long time for sensor  20  to measure changes in temperature, humidity, gas composition, and/or particulate count or other characteristics of the air surrounding device  10  (e.g., because communication between sensor  20  and the exterior of device  10  through port  28  is overly restricted). 
     To enhance communication of sensor  20  with the external environment through sensor port  28 , device  10  may be provided with moving structures that enhance the environmental coupling through port  28 . By refreshing the air within cavity  36 , the response time of sensor  20  to changes in the external environment of device  10  may be reduced. 
     An illustrative configuration for providing device  10  with a moving structure that enhances airflow through sensor port  28  is shown in the side cross-sectional view of port  28  of  FIG. 5 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , port  28  may include channel  26  and cavity  36  (porous structure  38  is not shown in the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 5  and some of the other FIGS., but may be included in sensor port  28  as shown in  FIG. 4 ). Sensor  20  may be mounted on sliding (moving) support member  50  (e.g., a rectangular sliding plate, a moving wall of other shapes, or other movable support structure). Moving support member  50  may have protrusions or other engagement features that engage with mating engagement features in housing  12  such as grooves  54  or other recesses. As the orientation of device  10  changes during use and handling of device  10  by a user, gravity and forces from the structures within device  10  will impart forces on member  50  (and on sensor  20  on member  50 ), thereby causing member  50  to move back and forth relative to housing  12 , as shown by arrows  56  and  58 . 
     Movement of member  50  relative to housing  12  (and cavity  36 ) causes pressure variations in the air within cavity  36  and thereby causes air to flow in and out of cavity  36  through channel  26 . When, for example, member  50  moves in outward direction  56 , stale air in cavity  36  will be expelled from cavity  36  to the exterior of device  10  through channel  26  and other passageways associated with port  28 . When member  50  moves in inward direction  58 , fresh air will be drawn into cavity  36  adjacent to sensor  20  through channel  26  and other portions of port  28 . Accordingly, movement of member  50  due to movement of housing  12  from handling of device  10  by a user will help refresh the air within cavity  36  and will help lower the response time of sensor  20 . 
     Member  50  may divide an interior volume in housing  12  (or other portion of device  10 ) into sensor cavity  36  (e.g., the portion the interior volume containing air that is sampled by sensor  20  and that communicates with the exterior of device  10  through port  28 ) and rear cavity ′ 62 . If desired, pressure relief passageways may be formed in device  10  so that backpressure does not develop in rear cavity  62  that could otherwise hinder the motion of member  50 . Sensor cavity  36  and rear cavity  62  are preferably sealed off from each other by wall  50  so that the environment in sensor cavity  36  is influenced by the external environment and not internal air from rear cavity  62 . In the example of  FIG. 5 , opening  60  in housing  12  vents air in cavity  62  to the interior of device  10  and thereby prevents backpressure from developing behind moving wall  50  when wall  50  moves in inwards direction  58 . If desired, pressure relief passageways such as opening (passageway)  60  may vent to the exterior of device  10  or other locations. The example of  FIG. 5  is merely illustrative. 
       FIG. 6  is a front cross-sectional view of the structures of  FIG. 5  showing how engagement features  52  may be formed from T-shaped protrusions that ride within grooves  54  in housing  12 . This allows member  50  to move back and forth along the Y-axis of  FIGS. 5 and 6  (e.g., inwardly and outwardly relative to the interior of device  10 ). Other arrangements may be used to allow gravity and changes in the orientation of device  10  to impart movement to moving structures in device  10  such as moving member  50  (e.g., configurations with supplemental weights to overcome friction, configurations with springs and/or gears to translate motion of a weight to motion of member  50 , configurations in which the motion of member  50  involves rotation around a pivot point or other non-sliding motion, configurations in which multiple members move within device  10 , configurations in which some or all of the passageways and mounting structures associated with housing  12  are formed from structures inside and/or outside of the main wall of housing  12 , etc.). The configuration of  FIGS. 5 and 6  is shown as an example. 
     If desired, weights (e.g., metal members) may be formed as integral portions of moving member  50  and/or may be attached to moving member  50  (e.g., in scenarios in which member  50  is formed from a substrate such as a printed circuit). This additional weight may help ensure that member  50  moves satisfactorily during handling of device  10  by a user. 
       FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional side view of housing  12  in a configuration in which motion of moving member  50  is promoted by movement of moving weight  66 . Moving weight  66  may be formed from a metal member or other dense structure that moves within moving weight chamber  68 . Moving weight  66  may be mechanically coupled to member  50  using a coupling structure such as coupling structure  70 . Coupling structure  70  may include a flexible structure such as flexible member  72  (e.g., a strand of material, a belt, etc.) and guide structures such as pulleys  74  and/or other mechanical coupling structures to mechanically couple weight  66  to member  50 . When device  10  is moved (e.g., when the orientation of device  10  and housing  12  shifts due to movement of device  10  during use by a user of device  10 ), weight  66  will be moved by gravity and/or force imparted onto weight  66  from the walls of chamber  68 . Weight  66  will therefore move. The mass of weight  66  may be relatively large (e.g., larger than the mass of member  50 ) so that movement of weight  66  is sufficiently forceful to overcome system friction and thereby facilitate movement of member  50 . In the example of  FIG. 7 , movement has been imparted to weight (mass)  66  in direction  76 , which, via coupling structure  70 , imparts movement to member  50  and sensor  20  in direction  56 . When weight  66  is moved in direction  78 , member  50  will be moved inwardly in direction  80 , thereby causing external air to be drawn into proximity of sensor  20  in cavity  36  via opening  26  of port  28 . By enhancing airflow into cavity  36  adjacent to sensor  20 , the response time of sensor  20  can be decreased. 
     Another illustrative configuration for enhancing the response of sensor  20  is shown in  FIG. 8 . In the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 8 , airflow through opening (channel)  26  of port  28  is enhanced by imparting movement to a member such as moving structure  12 ′, while a support structure such as inner supporting portion  12 ″ of wall  12  and sensor  20  remain stationary relative to the rest of device  10 . Structure  12 ′ may be a moving metal member or other moving structure and may have protrusions  82  that mate with recesses  84  in portion  12 ″ or other structures that allow moving member  12 ′ to slide in and out of housing  12  relative to portion  12 ″ of the wall of housing  12  and sensor  20 . Cavity  36  is formed in the space between moving member  12 ′ and housing  12 ″. When movement of device  10  causes portion  12 ′ to move inwardly in direction  88  relative to housing structure  12 ″, air will be expelled through opening  26  in moving member  12 ′ and/or through other openings in chamber  36 . When movement of device  10  causes structure  12 ′ to move outwardly in direction  86 , air will be drawn into cavity  36  through opening  26  and/or other passageways in sensor port  28 , thereby providing fresh air for measurement by sensor  20 . 
       FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of device  10  in which moving weight  66  (see, e.g., moving weight  66  of  FIG. 7 ) is magnetically coupled to movable member  50 . Weight  66  may be, for example, a piece of samarium-cobalt, neodymium-iron-born, iron or other permanent magnetic material and a magnetically coupled structure such as permanent magnet  90  may be mounted to member  50 . As movement of device  10  causes weight  66  to move in directions  76  and  78  within chamber  68 , magnetic coupling between weight  66  and magnet  90  will impart corresponding movement to member  50  and sensor  20 . In this way, airflow into cavity  36  will be enhanced and the response time of sensor  20  will be minimized. If desired, springs, gears, levers, flexible structures such as cords, and other structures may be used in addition to or instead of using magnetic coupling structures. Magnetic coupling structures may be formed from a pair of magnets, from a magnetic material such as iron that is magnetically coupled to a magnet, etc. Magnets may be formed on member  50  and/or in moving weight chamber  68  (e.g., weight  66  and/or member  50  may be formed from a magnet or a structure to which a magnet is attached and/or a magnetic material such as iron). The configuration of  FIG. 9  is illustrative. 
       FIG. 10  is a cross-sectional side view of illustrative coupling structures based on a pivot such as hinge  92 . Hinge  92  may couple weight  66  in chamber  68  to moving member  50  in cavity  36 . Member  50  may have an extended portion such as portion  50 ′ that supports weight  66  and that couples weight  66  to member  50 . Optional springs  94  may be coupled to the moving structures of  FIG. 10  or other moving structures associated with sensor  20 . Springs  94  may help provide stability against unwanted vibrations. Springs  94  may be omitted, if desired. 
     If desired, gasket structures (e.g., foam, elastomeric material, etc.) such as gasket  96  may be used to help seal member  50  against the inner surfaces of cavity  36  and thereby minimize air leakage that might reduce the effectiveness of movement of member  50  at promoting airflow through port  28 . In the configuration of  FIG. 10 , movement of weight  66  in direction  98  will cause member  50  to move in direction  100  and movement of weight  66  in direction  102  will cause member  50  to move in direction  104  (i.e., member  50  and member portion  50 ′ may pivot about hinge  92 ). Other arrangements for coupling motion of weight  66  to member  50  may be used if desired (e.g., the mass associated with weight  66  may be integrated into member  50 , may be attached to the rear or front of member  50 , etc.). The configuration of  FIG. 10  is presented as an example. 
     If desired, airflow through sensor port  28  may be enhanced due to movement of a button or other moveable member that is actuated by a user. Consider, as an example, the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 11 . In the example of  FIG. 11 , button  16  is mounted on the side of housing  12 . Button  16  may include a moving structure such as button member  112 . Button member  112  may move within opening  114  in the wall of housing  12 . Button member  112  may move inwardly against switch  132  in direction  116  when pressed by user&#39;s finger  110 , thereby activating switch  132 . Switch  132  may include a spring, a resilient dome, or other biasing structures. When finger  110  is released, switch  132  may expand and move member  112  back in outwards direction  118 . 
     The inner surface of button member  112  may be adjacent to cavity  134 . Gasket  128  or other sealing structure may, if desired, help seal the edges of button member  112  against inner cavity surface  130  of cavity  134 . When button member  112  is moved in direction  116 , air from cavity  134  may be forced in direction  136  through opening  126 . Opening  126  allows cavity  134  to communicate with cavity  124  at the rear of moving member  50 . When air is forced into cavity  124  through opening  126 , moving member  50  will be forced outwardly in direction  120 . This expels air from cavity  36  to the exterior of device  10  through opening  26  of sensor port  28 . When button  112  is released, switch  132  (or ancillary springs or other biasing structures) may force button member  112  in direction  118 , thereby drawing air from cavity  124  into cavity  134  in direction  138  via opening  126 . This creates a drop in air pressure in cavity  124  and moves member  50  inwardly in direction  122 . The inward movement of member  50  in direction  122  draws fresh air into cavity  36  adjacent to sensor  20  through sensor port  28  and thereby helps reduce the response time of sensor  20 . 
     If desired, other structures may be used to couple button motion due to user finger pressure to movement of wall  50  (e.g., button member  112  or other structures in button  16  may be coupled to member  50  with a rigid coupling structure, with a cable-based coupling structure or other flexible coupling structure, using magnetic coupling, using a lever structure of the type shown in  FIG. 10 , etc.). Moreover, moving weights and structures of the type shown in  FIGS. 5-10  may, if desired, be used in conjunction with a moving button structure to promote airflow through sensor port  28 . The configuration of  FIG. 11  in which button motion is used to create air pressure gradients that move member  50  is merely illustrative. 
     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: 20160330
Publication Date: 20181218
Grant Date: 20181218
Priority Date: 20160330
Inventors: CHOI, HYUK J.
RIBEIRO, ROBERTO M.
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "G01N33/0009", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01N1/2273", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01N1/2273", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01N33/0009", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01N33/0009", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 59960919