Apple Patents its Seamless Glass Casings in the USA
Another patent win for the tech giant and its patent lawyers in the US. Apple has been awarded a patent for its ‘fused glass device housings’ by the USPTO. The technology can be used to produce structurally seamless glass iPhones and iPads and Apple’s win in this area may just see a whole new era of phone technology in the offing.
According to the patent lawyers who filed the claim, the technology can be used to hide the internal structure of the iOS in a glass device making it appear transparent. The futuristic glass aesthetic that this technology can provide the phones that come out in the future will be nothing short of amazing.
Apple takes charge again.
The look of the future
The patent application numbered 8,773,848 contained diagrams and details of the new technology which was developed by Apple’s design chief Jonathan Ive along with other resident designers. It is still unclear whether the new design will be unveiled soon in the market, as Apple’s spokesperson has not been forthcoming on the issue so far. In the new design using the seamless glass technology, the iPhones of the future would not have a glass front and a back like the ones today but the entire phone would be encompassed in a glass shell without any noticeable difference between the front and the back.
But a protective cover will still be needed right?
The glass fusing process that will be used in this manufacturing method will use multiple glass pieces and join them together as a whole. The peripheral glass member would be fused along the edge of another planar glass piece in order to enhance the thickness of the edge. iPhone’s characteristic round edges will be defined by machining the thickened edge to form the rounded structures we all know and love.
The openings in the planar pieces may be supported or surrounded by raised fused glass features. Electronic components will be mounted in a glass box made by fusing multiple planar glass pieces to form a five-sided box piece. Raised support structures or the ‘ribs’ of the phone would be created by fusing glass structures to a planar piece. To hide the internal device components from view, opaque masking material of colored glass may be used to obscure the internal mechanism.
To provide the robustness and strength that such a structure would need, it would be important to create the piece using glass pieces that are sufficiently strong to survive the ‘drop test’. Glass strength can be enhanced by using thicker layers of glass one of top of the other and fusing them to create a complete whole. The crux of the process would lie in gaining enough strength for the glass case to withstand the impact of daily use without becoming excessively bulky and heavy.
Recent patents granted to Apple
The slew of patents filed by Apple’s patent lawyers recently has proved that the company is on its way to revamping the iPhone and iOs as we know it. Steve Jobs may not be heading the company anymore but Apple’s current leaders are in no mood to let go of the momentum and the reputation they enjoy as being one of the most innovative and creative organizations in the world today.
The T1000 – is Apple setting us up for a dangerous future? Nope!
Just like the T1000?!
Earlier in May this year, the company’s patent lawyers had successfully won a patent for the process of fusing the display glass used in iPhones to sapphire stones using a bezel made out of Liquidmetal – a trademarked alloy from a company that Apple is supposed to be currently working with. Liquidmetal focuses solely on amorphous metals, and Apple’s collaboration with this could see a new wave of metal-fused glass case iPhones being launched in the market in the near future. Whatever the product, it is now certain that the iPhone is no longer going to remain the same.
