Patent Grant
7844305
1. Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure relates to powering mobile communication devices.
2. Introduction
Limited battery capacity prevents users from gaining full advantage of their phone's capabilities. For example, if the phone battery runs out of charge, and there is no charger or power outlet available, the user can no longer use his or her phone. In addition, users dislike carrying auxiliary items like chargers, such as wall outlet, solar or crank-style chargers. As a result, users are forced to conserve battery life, thereby limiting call or other feature usage, and thus creating consumer frustration by limiting access to the user's phone, phonebook, calendar, etc.
An apparatus and a method of manufacturing an apparatus that that creates power for a mobile communication device is disclosed. The apparatus may include a roller integrated into the mobile communication device configured to rotate in a counterclockwise direction when the roller contacts a surface and is moved in a first direction, and rotates in a clockwise direction when the roller contacts a surface and is moved in second direction, gearing connected to the roller, wherein the gearing rotates when the roller is moved, and one or more generator that creates power in the mobile communication device upon rotation of the roller and the gearing.
In order to describe the manner in which the above-recited and other advantages and features of the disclosure can be obtained, a more particular description of the disclosure briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the disclosure and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the disclosure will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:
Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure. The features and advantages of the disclosure may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other features of the present disclosure will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the disclosure as set forth herein.
Various embodiments of the disclosure are discussed in detail below. While specific implementations are discussed, it should be understood that this is done for illustration purposes only. A person skilled in the relevant art will recognize that other components and configurations may be used without parting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
The disclosure comprises a variety of embodiments, such as a method and apparatus and other embodiments that relate to the basic concepts of the disclosure.
This disclosure may concern a roller mechanism that may be integrated into a mobile communication device, such as a mobile phone, that acts as a battery charger. In this manner, a user may just roll the phone along a surface, in one direction or back and forth, to charge the phone by converting the mechanical energy into electrical or battery power. The roller mechanism may serve to generate power in a mobile communication device when the battery power has been depleted so that a user can make an emergency telephone call, for example. For example, a user may roll the mobile communication device for one minute to generate over two minutes of talk time.
Also, by integrating a roller mechanism on the mobile communication device, it may be possible to reduce battery size. In addition, a user may desire to increase battery power by using his or her nervous energy, spare time, etc. by rolling the phone to increase battery life.
From a technical perspective, the roller mechanism may combine energy generated by one or more generators, which may be driven by a gear-expansion connection to the roller mechanism. Other gearing and circuitry may exist depending on size constraints and other requirements.
The roller 120 may be configured to protrude out of the chassis 110, or out of a the battery cover 130, which may be user-replaceable. In addition, the roller 120 may also be configured to be retractable so that it is housed inside the mobile communication device 100 and protrude outside of the mobile communication device 100 upon the pressing of a button, lever, clicking on the roller itself, etc., located on the mobile communication device 100. Furthermore, the roller 120 may be part of a separate apparatus attachable to the mobile communication device 100 as needed.
The roller 120 may be integrated into the mobile communication device 100 and be configured to rotate in a counterclockwise direction when the roller 120 contacts a surface and is moved in a first direction, such as forward, backward, left, right, etc. and rotates in a clockwise direction when the roller contacts a surface and is moved in second direction, opposite the first direction, such as forward, backward, left, right, etc. depending on the first direction.
The mobile communication device 100 may be a portable MP3 player, satellite radio receiver, AM/FM radio receiver, satellite television, portable music player, portable computer, wireless radio, wireless telephone, portable digital video recorder, cellular telephone, mobile telephone, personal digital assistant (PDA), or combinations of the above, for example.
The one or more main gear 210 may be connected (or coupled) to the roller 120, such that when the roller 120 is moved, at least one of the main gears 210 rotates. The one or more pinions 220 may be connected to the one or more main gear 210, such that at least one of the pinions 220 rotate when the roller 120 and at least one of the main gear 210 move. The one or more generator 230 may create power in the mobile communication device 100 upon rotation of the roller 120 and the gearing 300 (one or more main gear 210 and one or more pinions 220, for example).
Note that while the figures show four generators 230, this is just illustrative. Any number of generators 230 may be used according to the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
The one or more generator 230 may be one or more direct current (DC) motors that may generate alternating current (AC) resulting from the movement of the roller 120.
The diode array 410 (or rectifier) may include a plurality of diodes configured to operate to convert AC current into DC current necessary for charging the mobile communication device 100.
The voltage boost circuit 420 may represent any electric circuitry capable of boosting the voltage to a level necessary to charge one or more batteries 430 of the mobile communication device 100.
The battery 430 may represent any battery 430 or DC power source that may serve to power the mobile communication device 100. The battery 430 may be internal or external to the mobile communication device 100. As an external battery, the battery 430 may be part of a device that may include the roller 120 and other components that attaches to the mobile communication device 100 for the purpose of providing power to the mobile communication device 100. Please also note that battery 430 may represent more than one battery.
While
At step 5300, the process may couple gearing to the roller, wherein the gearing rotates when the roller is moved. At step 5400, the process may couple one or more generator to the gearing that creates power in the mobile communication device upon rotation of the roller and the gearing. The process then goes to step 5500 and ends.
Although the above description may contain specific details, they should not be construed as limiting the claims in any way. Other configurations of the described embodiments of the disclosure are part of the scope of this disclosure. For example, the principles of the disclosure may be applied to each individual user where each user may individually deploy such a system. This enables each user to utilize the benefits of the disclosure even if any one of the large number of possible applications do not need the functionality described herein. In other words, there may be multiple instances of the apparatus described herein. It does not necessarily need to be one system used by all end users. Accordingly, the appended claims and their legal equivalents should only define the disclosure, rather than any specific examples given.
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