Galvanic Charging and Data Transfer of Remote Devices in a Personal Area Network System and Method

• US 20170110899A1
• Filed: 10/11/2016
• Published: 04/20/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2015
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Bragi GmbH
• Original Assignee: Bragi GmbH
• Inventors: Boesen, Peter Vincent
• Application Number:
  US15/290,629
• Publication Number:
  US 20170110899A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/00 Circuit arrangements or systems for wireless supply or distribution of electric power
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/001 Energy harvesting or scavenging
• 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 7/342 The other DC source being a battery actively interacting with the first one, i.e. battery to battery charging with circuits for polarity protection H02J7/0034
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 13/005 Transmission systems in which the medium consists of the human body
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1016 Earpieces of the intra-aural type
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1025 Accumulators or arrangements for charging secondary cells per se H01M10/00; charging in general H02J7/00

Abstract

A method includes providing a first device, the first device having an electrode for placement at skin of a user, conveying power between the electrode of the first device and an electrode of a second device, wherein both the first device and the second device are associated with a personal area network and the second device is remote from the first device. The conveying power is performed through galvanic coupling.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing a first device, the first device having an electrode for placement at skin of a user;

conveying power between the electrode of the first device and an electrode of a second device, wherein both the first device and the second device are associated with a personal area network and the second device is remote from the first device;

wherein the conveying power is performed through galvanic coupling.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising charging a battery of the second device using the power.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the first device is a wearable device.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the second device is a wearable device.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the first device comprises an ear piece.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the second device comprises an ear piece.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the power from the first device is from a battery of the first device.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the power from the first device is generated by the first device.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the power from the first device is generated by the first device through converting motion associated with the user into charge.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising conveying data between the first device and the second device through galvanic coupling.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the electrode of the first device is used both for conveying the power and conveying the data.

12. A method comprising:

providing a first device, the first device having an electrode for placement at skin of a user;

conveying data between the electrode of the first device and an electrode of a second device, wherein both the first device and the second device are associated with a personal area network and the second device is remote from the first device;

wherein the conveying data is performed through galvanic coupling;

wherein at least one of the first device and the second device is an ear piece.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising conveying power between the electrode of the first device and the electrode of the second device.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising charging a battery of the second device using the power.