Apple patents ultrasonic bonding process for earbuds

1(0)6updated 02:10 pm EDT, Thu April 12, 2012 Apple patents show new 'seamless' headphones due?

Apple may be planning to update the earbuds it bundles with its iPod and iPhone products in the future, as indicated by a newly discovered patent filing. It involves a process called ultrasonic welding and would make for a seamless-looking product, something Apple is a big proponent of in the iMac and other devices. The resulting product would have a "seamless unibody structure," according to Apple.Thus far, headphones are easy to visually break down into their separate components that include cables, the microphone, and headphones and, the grills that cover them. This filing is titled Ultrasonically Welded Structures and Methods for Making the Same, suggesting a more costly process.

Another patent application from Apple called Curved Plastic Object and Systems and Methods for Deburring the Same talks about how to make plastic objects more efficient. The needed holes in an earbud for sound to travel would be deburred with an abrasive material that would cover the object and vibrate against it, thus polishing it. This would ideally give sound waves a clearer path to travel, with less distortions and more accurate sound reproduction.

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