Apple’s Christmas gifts this year (on top of loads of iPad and iPhone sales) included a few new patents: one covering a method for refining curved displays, and another that covers a new connector for SIM cards.
U.S. patent 8,336,334, “Glass alignment for high temperature processes,” covers a simple method for shaping glass without the need for chemicals or more complex processes. It involves an alignment system during the glass-slumping process that can shape glass around a mold without any interference.
Ultimately, the patent could allow Apple to build curved displays, similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S Android phones. The patent doesn’t just cover phones, Apple could also use it for large monitors (and potentially even TVs).
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Back in June, we reported on Apple’s triumph over Nokia in the battle for a new Micro-SIM connector. Basically, Nokia wanted a “push-based” design for removing and inserting SIM cards, while Apple was pushing for a SIM card tray. That tray is at the heart of U.S. patent 8,337,223, “Mini-SIM connector.”
From the abstract: “One example may provide a plunger system where a user can push on a plunger rod and eject a SIM card. Another example may provide contacts that are not damaged by improper insertion of a SIM card. Another example may provide a plastic housing, the housing reinforced by a metallic shield and having a relatively uniform thickness.”
Via Patently Apple 1, 2; Photo: Devindra Hardawar/VentureBeat
