The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 51 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we cover a Project Titan patent for vehicle passenger doors and windows and another patent for 3D shaped fabric items & accessories. We wrap up this week’s granted patent report with our traditional listing of the remaining granted patents that were issued to Apple today.
3D Shaped Fabric-Based Items
Apple’s newly granted patent 10,286,636 covers their invention relating to fabric-based items and, more particularly, to fabric-based items having three-dimensional shapes.
A fabric-based item may be vacuum-formed into a three-dimensional shape. The three-dimensional shape may be that of a case or cover for an electronic device, a bag, a backpack, a wristband, or other suitable object. Apple’s long list of plausible products this could apply to also includes Apple Watch bands, headphones, eyeglasses and furniture.
The fabric-based item may include one or more layers of fabric and one more polymer layers that can be molded when heated. The polymer layer may, for example, be a thermoplastic or thermosetting polymer.
Apple’s patent FIGS. 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 below are perspective views of illustrative three-dimensional shapes that may be formed using fabric; FIG. 11 shows how fabric can be manipulated during the vacuum forming process to achieve varying effects across the fabric.
Passenger Vehicle Door and Window
Apple’s newly granted patent #10,286,761 covers their invention relating to passenger vehicles for roadways and, in particular, to door structures.
Apple’s patent FIG. 2 below is a side view of the passenger vehicle in a first configuration with closed doors; FIG. 3 is a side view of the passenger vehicle in a second configuration with open doors.
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