Spend some time reading on the iPad and you’ll notice it starts to feel heavy. Apparently Apple is aware of this, as a new patent describes novel materials meant to reduce its weight.
The current model has an aluminum body, but the patent suggests carbon fiber reinforced plastic, or CFRP. According to Engineers Paradise, CFRP offers high impact resistance and extreme rigidity, and is often used on high-stress products like bicycle frames and robot arms.
The patent describes “an electronic device or other object” (we’ll let you look at the illustration above and assume what you will) with a CFRP spine that has several layers of CFRP stretched across it.
Of course, the iPad’s shell isn’t fully responsible for its heft. We imagine the batteries and glass display have a little more to do with that. However, every ounce counts when you’re dealing with picky geeks.
[Via The Register]
New Apple patent addresses iPad’s weight originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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