Apple has reportedly been granted a patent covering a futuristic iPhone protection system by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday.
Developed by Nicholas V. King and Fletcher Rothkopf, the patent in question labelled as “protective mechanism for an electronic device” covers a device system that will detect if the handset is about to hit the ground, and rotates it to limit damage.
As described in the patent text, Apple’s futuristic iPhone protection system will rely on the iPhone and iPad sensors including accelerometers, gyroscopes and GPS to detect a free-fall situation, and make calculations about metrics like speed of descent, time to impact, orientation, rotation, and so on.
While the phone is in fall, data generated by the sensors would be sent to a central processing unit. A built in motor will then apply a force inside the phone to rotate the position and make the handset to land on the back or side rather than on the display. This will ensure best protection of the phone’s sensitive parts, like its screen and its camera.
Miniature gas canisters and sliding weights are the other device components that will generate forces from different parts of the phone to reorient it mid-fall so as to save the phone from any damage.
Apple initially submitted the patent to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in September 2011 with assistance of the Treyz Law Group of San Francisco.
It’s still unclear as how soon this mechanism will be available, but it’s for sure that this is something every mobile-phone user would love.
