Patents on the soles of your shoes...: Ōura ring

Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Oh, patents! The Ōura ring potting compound (2)

What’s a potting compound got to do with electronics, specifically the Ōura ring wearable computing device (WCD)? According to the US utility patent US11850069B, titled Wearable device and methods of manufacturing, the Ōura ring potting compound is preferably made of epoxy resin that is overmolded over the Ōura ring flexible circuit board and its electronic components. Thus, the Ōura ring potting compound encapsulates the miniaturized electronic components, preventing them from moving or being damaged by the environment. The potting compound also makes the smart ring impervious to water, which means you can wash dishes or swim without removing your ring. Fiinally, the potting compound forms a transparent window through which the tiny LED, red, green and infrared lights of the optical sensor can be concentrated and emitted, through finger skin into blood vessels, and re-captured by tiny photodiodes (PDs), to measure blood oxygen levels and variations in heart rate. Indeed, the Ōura ring potting compound and its particular embodiments, inside the exterior Ōura ring shell, is a patented invention.*

The included patent Figure 2 depicts an exploded view of an Ōura ring embodiment 200. Specifically, the patent Figure 2 depicts, the exterior ring shell 202, with alignment frames 204 and 206, made of a nickel, iron or cobalt alloy, attracted to the magnets of a charging base (undepicted on this figure drawing). The Figure 2 further depicts the electronic assembly 210, including a flexible circuit board 208, an antenna 222, a pressure sensor 216, a temperature sensor 214, and a near field communication (NFC) interface for connecting the ring via Bluetooth, wifi, Zigbee, ultra-wideband (UWB) or other wireless transmission. The Figure 2 also depicts the power source 220, and material 218 wedged between the power source 220 and the electronic assembly 210. Finally, the Figure 2 depicts the overmolded material 224 (the potting compound), encapsulating all the electronics and the power supply, within the exterior shell 202.

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*Note: The US utility patent US11850069B, titled Wearable device and methods of manufacturing, was awarded on December 26, 2023, to Denis Mars (US), Simon Ratner (US), and Curt C. von Badinski (US), one of the original Motiv Inc. , co-founders and smart ring inventors. In fact, the Motiv Inc., smart ring was the first comfortably and conveniently wearable computing device (WCD), which Ōuraring Inc., has continuously worked on improving, since Motiv Inc., was acquired via Proxy Inc.

References
Hughes, L. (Oct. 3, 2024). Inside the Ōura ring. Ōura Blog.
https://ouraring.com/blog/inside-the-ring-oura-ring-4/
Ōura Smart Ring (website)
https://ouraring.com/US11850069B

Sunday, July 12, 2026

Oh, patents! The Ōura smart ring (1)

Françoise © Herrmann

The Ōura smart ring captures body messages and translates them into actionable information. For example, the Ōura smart ring records your heart rate, blood oxygen level, temperature, the number of steps you take, the number of calories you burn, and how you sleep, plus lots more. Indeed, the Ōura smart ring not only tracks and monitors body messages, it also synthesizes and summarizes them into meaningful daily, weekly, or monthly information, giving you feedback that allows you to make improvements to your health and fitness, in consultation with your healthcare providers. The heart rate data collected has even been evaluated with 99% accuracy, compared to heart rate measured via electrocardiogram (Ōura Science & Research).

The Ōura smart ring is a patented invention. For example, the following US design patent, USD79764S, titled Wearable computing device, was awarded on July 11th, 2017 to Curt C. vo Badinski (US) and Michael J. Strasser (US). The patent was assigned to Motiv Inc., in San Francisco, CA, a competitor that was eventually acquired by Ōuraring Inc., in 2023.*

Below, an image of the patent Figure 1, showing a perspective view of the wearable computing device. An image of one of the latest, generation 5, Ōura ring embodiments of the patented design is also included below. A short YouTube marketing video of the Ōura smart rings 5 is also included beneath.