Automatically enabled airplane-mode portable power source

• US 10,054,998 B2
• Filed: 05/05/2016
• Issued: 08/21/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Carrier Corporation (Carrier Global Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Carrier Corporation (Carrier Global Corporation)
• Inventors: Varga, Stephen, Blumsack, Craig Stephen
• Primary Examiner(s): Stoynov, Stefan
• Application Number:
  US15/146,969
• Publication Number:
  US 20160342188A1
• Time in Patent Office: 838 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/266 Arrangements to supply power to external peripherals either directly from the computer or under computer control, e.g. supply of power through the communication port, computer controlled power-strips
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A portable power device including an enclosure, a plurality of power elements housed within the enclosure, and a controller housed within the enclosure and configured to control the power output of the plurality of power elements. The controller is configured to determine if the portable power device is located on an aircraft that is operating in a stationary, taxiing, or flight mode, and if the aircraft is in the stationary, taxiing, or flight mode, to prevent power to be supplied from the plurality of power elements.

Claims

1. A portable power device comprising:

an enclosure having a common side and a power side, wherein the power side includes a switched power line and an unswitched power line, wherein the switched power line is connected to at least one first connected electronic device and the unswitched power line is connected to at least one second connected electronic device;

a plurality of power elements housed within the enclosure arranged to supply power through the switched power line and the unswitched power line; and

a controller housed within the enclosure and configured to control the power output of the plurality of power elements through at least the switched power line,

wherein the controller is configured to (i) determine if the portable power device is located on an aircraft that is operating in a stationary, taxiing, or flight mode, and when the controller determines the aircraft is in the stationary, taxiing, or flight mode, the controller controls the switched power line to prevent power to be supplied from the plurality of power elements to the at least one first connected electronic device,

wherein the determination made by the controller is based on at least one of GPS location, RFID tagging or other RF proximity scheme, Wi-Fi location determination, and Bluetooth.

2. The portable power device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of power elements comprise a plurality of at least one of (i) batteries, (ii) power cells, and (iii) piezoelectric generators.

3. A method of controlling power to one or more devices, the method comprising:

monitoring the location of a portable power device having a plurality of power elements, wherein the portable power device includes an enclosure having a common side and a power side, wherein the power side includes a switched power line and an unswitched power line, wherein the switched power line is connected to at least one first connected electronic device and the unswitched power line is connected to at least one second connected electronic device;

determining that the portable power device is located on an aircraft that is stationary, taxiing, or in-flight; and

disabling a power output of the plurality of power elements of the portable power device to the at least one second connected electronic device by controlling the switched power line,

wherein the determining comprises at least one of GPS locating, RFID or other RF proximity scheme detection, Wi-Fi location determination, and Bluetooth detection.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the plurality of power elements comprise a plurality of at least one of (i) batteries, (ii) power cells, and (iii) piezoelectric generators.