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AppleGranted patentAudio & voiceInterest 4/10

Apple patents fabric-covered speaker with hidden lights and tilt features

Apple describes a speaker with a round, fabric-covered shell that hides buttons, sensors, and lights underneath. The device includes a weight inside that can tilt the speaker based on user input or proximity signals.

Why it mattersIt shows how Apple might design future speakers to look like soft furniture while still allowing users to control them through touch or voice.

In the filing’s own words

A fabric-based item may include a housing that is covered in fabric. Areas of the fabric may overlap input circuitry such as button switches, touch sensors, force sensors, proximity sensors, and other sensing circuitry and may overlap other components such as light-emitting components and haptic output devices. The fabric-based item may include control circuitry that gathers user input from the input circuitry and wireless communications circuitry that the control circuitry uses to transmit remote control commands and other wireless signals in response to information from the input circuitry. The fabric-based item may have a weight that is located in the housing to orient the housing in a desired direction when the housing rests on a surface. A movable weight may tilt the housing in response to proximity sensor signals or other input. Portions of the fabric may overlap light-emitting components and optical fiber configured to emit light.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A voice-controlled speaker comprising: a rigid housing having a surface with a spherical shape; a fabric layer that covers the surface of the rigid housing; at least one light-emitting component that is overlapped by the fabric layer; and wireless communications circuitry enclosed within the rigid housing.

Facts

Company
Apple (Apple Inc.)
Official title
Fabric control device
Patent number
US12747521B2
Application number
18906038
Filed
Oct 3, 2024
Granted
Sep 29, 2026
Inventors
3
Claims
20

Classified under

D03D 1/0088 Textiles & paperA41D 1/005 Human necessitiesA41D 31/02 Human necessitiesD03D 1/0082 Textiles & paperG06F 3/042 Physics & computingG06F 3/0445 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.