Apple patents stylus with a sliding cap that hides a connector and adjusts an antenna
Apple describes a stylus where the tip cap slides to reveal a charging port while hiding it when not in use. Inside the shaft, an antenna works with a metal hook in the cap to manage signal grounding, ensuring the device functions correctly whether the cap is open or closed.
In the filing’s own words
A computer stylus may have a shaft with a metal tube and a cap slidable between open and closed positions. A connector port may be exposed in the open position and hidden in the closed position. An antenna element may be formed from conductive traces on a printed circuit board in the shaft and aligned with a window in the metal tube. The cap may include a metal hook extending from a conductive wall into the shaft. The hook may overlap the antenna element in the closed position. The shaft may include a dielectric bumper in an opening of the hook. The hook and wall may slide relative to the shaft along the dielectric bumper. The cap may include a metal sleeve around the port. The cap may include a conductive bumper on the wall. The conductive bumper may contact the sleeve when the cap is in the closed position.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A computer stylus comprising: a shaft; a cap coupled to the shaft by a metal hook; an antenna resonating element in the shaft and overlapping the metal hook; and a connector port, wherein the cap is movable relative to the shaft between an open position and a closed position, the antenna resonating element overlaps the metal hook when the cap is in the closed position, the metal hook is coupled to a ground of the antenna resonating element while the cap is in the closed position, and the metal hook is decoupled from the ground while the cap is in the open position.
Facts
- Company
- Apple (Apple Inc.)
- Official title
- Stylus antenna
- Patent number
- US12754621B2
- Application number
- 18487471
- Filed
- Oct 16, 2023
- Granted
- Oct 6, 2026
- Inventors
- 9
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
G06F 3/03545 Physics & computingH01Q 1/22 Electricity & electronicsMore from Apple in Phones & computers
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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.