Sensor Detection with Concealed Optics and RF Battery Swell Monitoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional electronic devices with ambient light or flicker sensors often compromise aesthetics due to visible windows or panels, and lithium-ion batteries in wearable devices are prone to swelling, which can compromise structural integrity and wireless performance, while existing microvalve systems require separate pressure sensors, increasing complexity and cost.
Innovation Solution
Conceal optical sensors behind a thinned housing section, use integrated pressure sensors for microvalves, and employ RF couplers for in-situ battery swell detection and adaptive antenna tuning to maintain aesthetics and performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If optical sensors are placed on the device surface, then sensor functionality is achieved, but device aesthetics are compromised due to visible windows or panels
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the optical sensor from the visible surface and relocates it to the interior of the device, specifically positioning it behind the display assembly. This extraction eliminates the visible window or panel that would compromise aesthetics, while the sensor maintains its functional capability through optical coupling to the display assembly's internal structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The optical sensor is nested within the display assembly structure, positioned in the interior space behind the display. This nesting allows the sensor to be housed within the existing device architecture without adding external visible components, thereby preserving aesthetic appearance while maintaining sensor functionality.
2Measurement precision
If separate pressure sensors are added to microvalve systems, then pressure detection accuracy is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the pressure sensing functionality directly into the microvalve structure itself, eliminating the need for separate pressure sensors. The microvalve is designed with integrated pressure detection capabilities, allowing it to monitor its own operational parameters without requiring additional discrete sensor components, thereby reducing system complexity while maintaining measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The microvalve is designed to perform multiple functions including fluid control and pressure detection within a single integrated component. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate dedicated pressure sensors, reducing overall system complexity and component count while maintaining accurate pressure detection through the microvalve's built-in sensing mechanisms.
3Device complexity
If battery swelling is not detected, then device simplicity is maintained, but structural integrity and wireless performance are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the battery pack's own structural changes (swelling) as the detection mechanism, eliminating the need for separate detection sensors. The swelling itself serves as the signal, and the system detects it through the natural mechanical interaction between the swollen battery and the housing structure, thereby maintaining simplicity while ensuring reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex electronic sensing systems with a mechanical detection approach. Instead of using separate sensors to detect battery swelling, the system uses mechanical interaction and structural changes caused by the swelling itself as the detection mechanism, simplifying the overall system while maintaining reliable detection capability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Improves device aesthetics by concealing sensors and reduces complexity and cost in microvalve systems, while effectively managing battery swelling and maintaining wireless connectivity.
Implementation Method 1
an RF coupler, placed in a transmit path of the antenna, to sample an amount of power reflected back to a radio frequency power amplifier
Implementation Method 2
Conceal optical sensors behind a thinned housing section
Implementation Method 3
use integrated pressure sensors for microvalves
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatuses, methods, and systems for sensor detection may incorporate (i) concealed light sensors including a housing shell and an ambient light sensor positioned to detect light, (ii) a plurality of microvalves with each microvalve including a substrate, a fluid channel through the substrate, a valve element configured to open and close a fluid pathway through the fluid channel, and a piezoresistive material, (iii) a microprocessor that is configured to adjust a charging voltage for a battery, calculated from an output signal, and (iv) a radio frequency transceiver configured to control an antenna tuner to change one or more specified operational parameters of at least one antenna based on an input detected from a set of sensors in a watch body and a set of sensors in a watch band.