Remote Temperature Sensing with Enhanced Thermal Coupling in Wearable Electronic Devices

• Main Authors: Ko, Jacky G, Mehra, Saahil, Filiz, Sinan, Gaubert, Zachary, Bi, Han, Chu, Xinsheng
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 23.03.2023
• Subjects: ELECTRONIC TIME-PIECES; HOROLOGY; MEASURING; MEASURING QUANTITY OF HEAT; MEASURING TEMPERATURE; PHYSICS; TESTING; THERMALLY-SENSITIVE ELEMENTS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

Disclosed herein are electronic devices, including wearable electronic devices, and components and configurations thereof, having one or more temperature sensors separated from the point of contact of the electronic device and an object, such as a user, whose temperature is being measured. In some embodiments, the electronic device includes both a temperature sensor and a light (visible, UV, and/or IR) emitter and sensor. Various embodiments are disclosed by which a temperature sensor may be shielded or separated from a light emitter/detector. A spacer may be used to separate the temperature sensor from the device's housing that contacts the object. The spacer may include a thermal path from the housing to the temperature sensor, and may be opaque to the light detected by a light detector.