Will it move to 'Waterproof iPhone'? Apple applies for patent on waterproof technology of device

ByPeter Kemmer

It turned out that Apple applied for patents to USPTO (US Patent and Trademark Office) on technology to realize waterproofness of electronic devices. It includes the possibility that the company's products such as iPhone and iPad will be waterproofed in the future.

United States Patent Application: 0150060110

Apple researching device waterproofing via vapor deposition, silicone seals
http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/03/05/apple-researching-device-waterproofing-via-vapor-deposition-silicone-seals

According to a patent application titled "Method for protecting electronic components from moisture", Apple does not adopt a method of covering the entire terminalWaterproof is realized by the technology of coating the electronic substrate insideIt seems to have developed a technology to do. In this technique,Plasma CVDA method of preventing the short circuit of a circuit by a liquid such as water by depositing a hydrophobic coating material on the entire substrate by using the method of.

According to the application documents, the thickness of this coating layer is extremely thin, on the order of 1 to 10 microns, and it seems that there will be little influence on miniaturization of the terminal body.

However, in this manufacturing method, since the coating is applied to the substrate which has been assembled, the electromagnetic shield (302 in the figure below) covering the wide part of the substrate may interfere with the adhesion of the coat. If the electromagnetic shield is removed, there will be no problems with coating, but since this electromagnetic shield is used for almost all Apple products such as iPhone, iPad, MacBook etc. it is almost impossible to omit it at present. So, in Apple's electromagnetic shield, "While opening the plasma (324) thoroughly, openings with a size that blocks electromagnetic waves (306 · 308) ", And incorporate in the application documents a method to achieve both waterproofness and electromagnetic shielding performance.


Also, even if the substrate is severely protected by the coating, there is a risk that the waterproofness will be impaired if there is an exposed part in the connector that connects the peripheral equipment. So at Apple, as shown below, the conductive part (414) at the base of the connector (410) on the side of the flexible cable (408) is covered with a silicon cover502) And cover it with water, it explains to ensure waterproofness.


"Neo-marketing announced on June 4, 2014"Survey on smartphone case"According to the cause of the failure of the smartphone, the first place is" fall ", the second place is" submerge ", the third place is" wet ", 49.8% when people who emphasize waterproofness at the time of purchase of the smartphone Thing. If "Waterproof iPhone" using this technology is realized, it seems that people who had long shunned that "iPhone is not waterproof" so far can also take in.