Apple Files Patent for Electromagnetic Connector

The US Patent & Trademark Office has published Apple's patent filing for an electromagnetic connector for an electronic device. The invention relates to a magnetic connector for an electronic device, and is supposed to be the basis for an electromagnetic connector for a power adapter, which links a laptop computer to a power supply. Basically, what Apple has in mind is “an apparatus for electrically connecting an electronic device to an electrical relation.”

The afore-mentioned apparatus is composed of multiple connectors and an electromagnet, which is energizable, and can produce magnetic attraction with the magnetic element to “substantially maintain the first and second contacts of the connectors, in an electrically-conductive relationship.” One connector would have “at least one first contact electrically connected to the electronic device.”

“A magnetic connector that relies on magnetic force for maintaining contact is disclosed. The magnetic connector includes a plug and a receptacle,” Apple explains. The company's description of one model of this invention shows that the plug and receptacle can be used as part of a power adapter, for connecting an electronic device, such as a laptop computer to a power supply.

The plug includes electrical contacts, which are preferably biased toward corresponding contacts on the receptacle, the filing goes. “The plug and receptacle each have a magnetic element. The magnetic element on one of the plug or receptacle can be a magnet or ferromagnetic material, while the magnetic element on the other plug or receptacle is an electromagnet.”

Now, according to the company, here's how the invention really works. “When the plug and receptacle are brought into proximity, the magnetic attraction between the electromagnet magnet and its complement, whether another magnet or a ferromagnetic material, maintains the contacts in an electrically-conductive relationship,” Apple explains.

Inventors credited are John C. DiFonzo, Andre K. Bartley, Kanye Lim, Matthew Dean Rohrbach, Mark Edward Doutt and Jean-Marc Gery.