Polymagnets for Consumer Electronics

Polymagnets are ideal for a variety of consumer electronics devices for, among other things, magnetic tablet cover attachments, smartphone attachment peripherals and magnetically attached power and data cords. They can be engineered to increase the attach strength of even small magnets while not interfering with sensitive electronics or damaging credit cards.

We all love our ever smaller, thinner and lighter consumer electronics devices. Tablets have gotten incredibly thin. Smartphones are too, although the gap between the two is getting harder to distinguish. And, of course, wearable’s have emerged as the hot new contenders for personal electronics.

The small size of personal devices presents a real challenge to product designers. Our electronics are getting too small to fit magnets that are strong enough to be useful because making a magnet smaller means making it weaker.

Polymagnets break the established relationship between size and strength in a magnet. Polymagnets concentrate the force of a magnet near its surface, which dramatically increases its strength – up to 5x. Magnets can now be both small and strong so magnets can continue to be designed into ever-smaller electronics.

Most importantly, Polymagnets can be programmed to get a specific feel in the product being designed. So a Polymagnet can produce a specific force at a specific distance, guide into alignment or create useful tactile feedback. The force can even be tuned to exhibit the exact sound of the attachment force. Product designers can now tune the emotional response they want to get out their device by subtly changing the response of the Polymagnet.

Smaller products create other challenges for product designers using magnets as well. Magnets that are close to sensitive electronics, like a compass or GPS, may interfere with their operation. And, thinner electronics means that the magnets are more likely to be near the surface of the product and possibly damage the magnetic stripe on a credit card that might rest or pass nearby.

Polymagnets avoid these problems. The same process that focuses the force of a magnet near its surface also minimizes stray magnetic fields where they aren’t wanted. Polymagnets are designed to ensure that magnetic fields won’t interfere with sensitive electronics and won’t damage a credit card.