ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 11 -- United States Patent no. 12,470,856, issued on Nov. 11, was assigned to Apple Inc. (Cupertino, Calif.).
"Ultrasonic particle reduction system for an acoustic micro-valve" was invented by Scott C. Grinker (Belmont, Calif.), Gokhan Hatipoglu (Santa Clara, Calif.) and Peter C. Hrudey (San Jose, Calif.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A portable electronic device comprising: an enclosure having an enclosure wall that forms an interior chamber containing a transducer and a valve operable to open or close a vent to the interior chamber; and a particle removal mechanism coupled to the valve that is operable to drive particles away from the valve upon application of a curren...