Smart charging of user devices

• US 10,050,457 B2
• Filed: 08/07/2015
• Issued: 08/14/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/07/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Todasco, Michael Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): Henze-Gongola, David V
• Application Number:
  US14/821,615
• Publication Number:
  US 20170040815A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,103 Days
• Field of Search: 320108, 307104
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/322 Aspects of commerce using mobile devices [M-devices]
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/22 The load being a portable electronic device
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00 Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00034 Charger exchanging data with an electronic device, i.e. telephone, whose internal battery is under charge
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0045 concerning the insertion or the connection of the batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0048 Detection of remaining charge capacity or state of charge [SOC]
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0049 Detection of fully charged condition
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/005 Detection of state of health [SOH]

Abstract

A charger device may include a coupling component configured to deliver power for charging user devices and a wireless interface configured to broadcast wireless signals. The coupling component may include a connector that may be plugged into a user device or an inductive coil to be inductively coupled to a user device. The charger device may determine whether the coupling component is coupled to a user device and transmit via the wireless interface an “available” signal indicating the charger device is available in response to determining the coupling component is not coupled. The user device may provide a notification to the user based, at least in part, on receiving the “available” signal. The user device may provide the notification further based on other information, such as activity of a user detected by the user device, a geolocation determined by the user device, or information received from a service provider.

Claims

1. A charger device comprising:

a coupling component configured to deliver power to a user device, wherein the coupling component comprises at least one of a connector configured to plug into the user device or an inductive coil configured to inductively couple to the user device, wherein the coupling component further comprises a data interface configured to communicate data with the user device;

a wireless interface configured to transmit signals;

a non-transitory memory; and

one or more hardware processors coupled with the non-transitory memory and configured to read instructions from the non-transitory memory to cause the charger device to perform operations comprising;

in response to determining that the coupling component is not coupled to any user device, broadcasting via the wireless interface a first signal indicating the charger device is available, wherein the first signal includes location information of the charger device;

detecting that a first user device is coupled to the charger device via the coupling component;

receiving, from the first user device via the data interface, an identifier of the first user device; and

in response to determining that the charger device has charged the first user device to a predetermined level less than a fully charged level, (i) transmitting, to a second user device determined based on the identifier of the first user device, a second signal indicating the first user device is charged and (ii) broadcasting, via the wireless interface, a third signal indicating that the charging device is available.

2. The charger device of claim 1, wherein the first signal causes the first user device to provide a notification to charge to a user of the first user device.

3. The charger device of claim 1, wherein the wireless interface is configured to transmit at least one of Bluetooth signals, Wi-Fi signals, infrared (IR) signals, visible light signals, or radio frequency (RF) signals.

4. The charger device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise aborting a transmission of the first signal in response to determining the coupling component is coupled to the first user device.

5. The charger device of claim 1, wherein the third signal includes the location information of the charging device.

6. The charger device of claim 1,

wherein the second signal includes the identifier of the first user device.

7. A method comprising:

in response to determining that a charger device is not coupled to any user device, transmitting, by one or more hardware processors, via a wireless interface of the charger device a first signal indicating the charger device is available, wherein the first signal includes location information of the charger device;

detecting, by the one or more hardware processors, that the charger device is coupled to a first user device via a coupling component of the charger device, wherein the coupling component comprises at least one of a connector configured to plug into the first user device or an inductive coil configured to inductively couple the charger device to the first user device, wherein the coupling component further comprises a data interface configured to communicate data with the first user device;

receiving, by the one or more hardware processors via the data interface from the first user device, an identifier of the first user device; and

in response to determining that the user device has been charged to a predetermined level below a fully charged level, (i) transmitting, via the wireless interface to a second user device determined based on the identifier of the first user device, a second signal indicating the first user device is charged and (ii) broadcasting, via the wireless interface, a third signal indicating that the charging device is available.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining an amount of power remaining in a battery of the first user device;

determining whether the first user device is in need of charging based, at least in part, on the first user device receiving the first signal and the amount of power remaining in the battery; and

in response to a determination that the first user device is in need of charging, providing a notification on the first user device indicating a need of charging.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising in response to determining the charger device is coupled to the first user device, aborting a transmission of the first signal.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the third signal includes the location information of the charger device.

11. The method of claim 7,

wherein the second signal includes the identifier of the first user device.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising generating activity data of a user associated with the first user device based on sensor data obtained from the first user device, wherein determining whether the first user device is in need of charging is further based on the activity data, and wherein the activity data indicates whether the user has been active during a first time period.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining, via a global positioning system (GPS) of the first user device, a geolocation of the first user device, wherein determining whether the first user device is in need of charging is further based on the geolocation.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining battery usage data for the battery, wherein determining whether the first user device is in need of charging is further based on the battery usage data.

15. The method of claim 7, wherein the wireless interface is configured to transmit at least one of Bluetooth signals, Wi-Fi signals, infrared (IR) signals, visible light signals, or radio frequency (RF) signals.

16. The method of claim 7, further comprising determining the predetermined level based on an estimated age of the battery.

17. A non-transitory machine readable medium having stored thereon machine-readable instructions executable to cause a charger device to perform operations comprising:

in response to determining that the charger device is not coupled to any user device, transmitting via a wireless interface of the charger device a first signal indicating the charger device is available, wherein the first signal includes location information of the charger device;

subsequent to transmitting the first signal, detecting that the charger device is coupled to a first user device via a coupling component of the charger device, wherein the coupling component comprises at least one of a connector configured to plug into the first user device or an inductive coil configured to inductively couple the charger device to the first user device, wherein the coupling component further comprises a data interface configured to communicate data with the first user device;

receiving, from the first user device, an identifier of the first user device; and

in response to determining that the user device has been charged to a predetermined level below a fully charged level, (i) transmitting, via the wireless interface to a second user device determined based on the identifier of the first user device, a second signal indicating the first user device is charged and (ii) broadcasting, via the wireless interface, a third signal indicating that the charging device is available.

18. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 17, wherein the first signal causes the first user device to provide a notification to charge to a user of the first user device.

19. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise in response to determining the charger device is coupled to the first user device, aborting a transmission of the first signal.

20. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 17, wherein the third signal includes the location information of the charger device.