US 12,411,551 B2
Enclosure with locally-flexible regions
Alex J. Lehmann, Sunnyvale, CA (US); Robert Y. Cao, San Francisco, CA (US); Dinesh C. Mathew, San Francisco, CA (US); Mikael M. Silvanto, San Francisco, CA (US); Qiliang Xu, Livermore, CA (US); Paul X. Wang, Cupertino, CA (US); and Robert J. Lockwood, San Carlos, CA (US)
Assigned to APPLE INC., Cupertino, CA (US)
Filed by Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US)
Filed on Sep. 27, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/935,644.
Application 17/935,644 is a continuation of application No. 16/989,657, filed on Aug. 10, 2020, granted, now 11,487,362.
Application 16/989,657 is a continuation of application No. 15/657,040, filed on Jul. 21, 2017, granted, now 10,775,889, issued on Sep. 15, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0018184 A1, Jan. 19, 2023
Int. Cl. G06F 3/01 (2006.01); G01L 1/16 (2006.01); G06F 3/0354 (2013.01); G06F 3/02 (2006.01); G06F 3/044 (2006.01)
CPC G06F 3/016 (2013.01) [G01L 1/16 (2013.01); G06F 3/03547 (2013.01); G06F 3/0202 (2013.01); G06F 3/044 (2013.01); G06F 2203/04105 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An electronic device comprising:
an enclosure having an external surface comprising:
a first region in which a keyboard is positioned, the keyboard having a length; and
a second region positioned adjacent to the keyboard and extending across at least the length of the keyboard, the second region being continuous and substantially planar, and the second region comprising a first set of locally-flexible areas and a second set of locally-flexible areas defined by openings in an internal surface of the enclosure opposite the external surface,
wherein the second region comprises a user input surface coinciding with at least one of the first set of locally-flexible areas or the second set of locally-flexible areas, the user input surface being visually continuous with a surface of the first region;
a set of sensors within the second region and extending across at least the length of the keyboard; and
a haptic output interface operable to provide haptic feedback at the user input surface via at least one of the first set of locally-flexible areas or the second set of locally-flexible areas in response to user input detected by the set of sensors.