Powered case for portable electronic device

• US 10,008,870 B2
• Filed: 03/18/2015
• Issued: 06/26/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Otter Products LLC
• Original Assignee: Otter Products LLC
• Inventors: Davison, Thomas J., Rau, Mark W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dunn, Drew A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Thapa, Sailesh
• Application Number:
  US14/661,210
• Publication Number:
  US 20150270734A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,196 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0044 specially adapted for holding portable devices containing batteries H02J7/0045 takes precedence
• 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 1/1607 Supply circuits converters H02M; filters therefor H02M1/14; voltage stabilisers G05F1/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3883 Arrangements for mounting batteries or battery chargers
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3888 Arrangements for carrying or protecting transceivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/185 Improving the rigidity of the casing or resistance to shocks

Abstract

A case for an electronic device includes a front member having an aperture for interacting with a touchscreen of the electronic device and a back member that includes a rechargeable power cell, a switched electrical interface, an electromechanical switch, and current monitoring circuitry. The switched electrical interface has an enabled mode in which electrical current is permitted to flow from the rechargeable power cell of the case to the installed electronic device and a disabled mode in which the electrical current is not permitted to flow to the installed electronic device. The electromechanical switch transitions the switched electrical interface from the disabled mode to the enabled mode. The current monitoring circuitry automatically toggles the switched electrical interface from the enabled mode to the disabled mode when the magnitude of the electrical current flowing from the case to the electronic device decreases to a predetermined value.

Claims

1. A protective cover for an electronic device having a rechargeable battery and an interactive control panel, the protective cover comprising:

a protective shell having a front, a back, and at least two sides, the protective shell including a cavity defined by the front, the back, and the at least two sides, the cavity at least partially enclosing the electronic device when the electronic device is installed in the protective shell, the protective shell including an opening on the front of the protective shell for accessing the interactive control panel of the installed electronic device;

an external electrical interface accessible at an outside surface of one of the at least two sides of the protective shell, the external electrical interface for receiving electrical power from an external power source;

an internal electrical interface accessible inside the cavity, the internal electrical interface for connecting to the electronic device when the electronic device is installed in the protective shell;

one or more rechargeable batteries contained in the protective shell;

a user input device accessible on the outside surface of the protective shell; and

electrical circuitry electrically interconnected to the external electrical interface, the internal electrical interface, the one or more rechargeable batteries, and the user input device, the electrical circuitry having a charging mode and a non-charging mode, the electrical circuitry configured to transition from the non-charging mode to the charging mode in response to an input received at the user input device, the electrical circuitry further configured for;

transferring stored electrical power of the one or more rechargeable batteries of the protective cover to the installed electronic device through the internal electrical interface if the electrical circuitry is in the charging mode and if the protective case is not receiving the electrical power from the external power source through the external electrical interface, the transferring of the stored electrical power of the one or more rechargeable batteries limited by an amount of current the installed electronic device will consume;

transitioning from the charging mode to the non-charging mode in response to the amount of the current the installed electronic device will consume decreasing below a threshold value; and

transferring the electrical power received from the external power source to the one or more rechargeable batteries of the protective cover and to the installed electronic device if the protective case is receiving the electrical power from the external power source.

2. The protective cover of claim 1, wherein the threshold value is an amount of current the electronic device consumes after the rechargeable battery of the electronic device has been fully charged.

3. The protective cover of claim 1, wherein the user input device comprises a button accessible on the protective shell.

4. The protective cover of claim 3, wherein the button includes one or more optical elements that are illuminated when the electrical circuitry of the protective cover is transitioned to the charging mode.

5. The protective cover of claim 4, wherein the one or more optical elements include light pipes that optically conduct light generated by one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs) included in the electrical circuitry.

6. The protective cover of claim 1 further comprising one or more optical elements configured for indicating a charge state of the one or more rechargeable batteries of the protective cover.

7. The protective cover of claim 1, wherein the electrical circuitry includes a microprocessor.

8. The protective cover of claim 1 further comprising communication circuitry for exchanging electronic data communications with the electronic device.

9. The protective cover of claim 8, wherein the electronic data communications are exchanged with the electronic device through the internal electrical interface.

10. The protective cover of claim 8, wherein the communication circuitry includes an antenna and the electronic data communications are exchanged between the protective cover and the electronic device using a wireless data connection established between the communication circuitry of the protective cover and the electronic device.

11. The protective cover of claim 10, wherein the wireless data connection comprises a Bluetooth Low Energy™

connection.

12. A case for an electronic device having a rechargeable battery and a touchscreen, the case comprising:

a front member including an aperture for interacting with the touchscreen of the electronic device when the electronic device is installed in the case; and

a back member attachable to the front member with one or more clasping mechanisms to at least partially enclose the electronic device in the case, the back member comprising;

a rechargeable power cell;

a switched electrical interface electrically interconnected to the electronic device when the electronic device is installed in the case, the switched electrical interface for providing electrical current from the rechargeable power cell of the case to the installed electronic device, the switched electrical interface switchable between an enabled mode and a disabled mode, the enabled mode permitting the electrical current to flow from the rechargeable power cell of the case through the switched electrical interface to the installed electronic device, the disabled mode not permitting the electrical current to flow from the rechargeable power cell through the switched electrical interface to the installed electronic device;

an electromechanical switch that can be actuated from an outside surface of the case, wherein the case transitions the switched electrical interface from the disabled mode to the enabled mode in response to actuation of the electromechanical switch; and

monitoring circuitry for;

monitoring a magnitude of the electrical current flowing from the rechargeable power cell of the case through the switched electrical interface to the installed electronic device in the enabled mode and for automatically toggling the switched electrical interface from the enabled mode to the disabled mode when the magnitude of the electrical current decreases at least to a predetermined value, the predetermined value associated with an amount of externally supplied current the installed electronic device will consume when the rechargeable battery of the electronic device is substantially charged; and

monitoring a current charge level of the rechargeable power cell of the case and automatically toggling the switched electrical interface from the enabled mode to the disabled mode when the current charge level of the rechargeable power cell decreases below a threshold value.

13. The case of claim 12, the case further comprising:

an input power interface on an outside surface of the case, the input power interface for receiving electrical power from an external power source;

charging circuitry electrically interconnected to the rechargeable power cell of the case for charging the rechargeable power cell; and

control circuitry for providing a portion of the electrical power received from the external power source to the switched electrical interface for transfer to the installed electronic device and for simultaneously providing a remaining portion of the received electrical power to the charging circuitry for charging the rechargeable power cell of the case.

14. The case of claim 12, wherein the electromechanical switch comprises a momentary contact button.

15. The case of claim 12, wherein the predetermined value is associated with the rechargeable battery of the electronic device being 100% charged.

16. The case of claim 12, wherein the predetermined value is associated with the rechargeable battery of the electronic device being 95% charged.

17. The case of claim 12, wherein the predetermined value is associated with the rechargeable battery of the electronic device being 90% charged.

18. The case of claim 12, wherein the electromechanical switch includes one or more optical elements that illuminate to indicate a charging status of the case when the case transitions to the enabled mode.

19. The case of claim 13, wherein the control circuitry includes a microprocessor or a microcontroller.

20. The case of claim 12, wherein:

the front member includes a transparent membrane covering the aperture; and

the front member seals to the back member to form a waterproof cavity for the installed electronic device.

21. The case of claim 12 further comprising communication circuitry for exchanging data communications with the electronic device.

22. The case of claim 21, wherein the data communications are exchanged with the electronic device through a Bluetooth Low Energy™

wireless data connection established between the case and the electronic device.

23. A protective cover for a portable computing device, the protective cover comprising:

a protective shell that at least partially encloses the portable computing device;

an external electrical connector accessible on an outside surface of the protective shell, the external electrical connector for receiving electrical power from an external power source;

an internal electrical connector on an inside surface of the protective shell, the internal electrical connector for electrically interfacing with the installed portable computing device;

a rechargeable power storage device housed in the protective shell and removable from the protective shell;

a button accessible on the outside surface of the protective shell; and

control circuitry electrically interfaced to the external electrical connector, the internal electrical connector, the rechargeable power storage device, and the button, the control circuitry having at least a charging mode and a standby mode, the control circuitry adapted to;

if the protective cover is receiving the electrical power from the external power source, allocate the received electrical power among the rechargeable power storage device of the protective cover and the portable computing device, wherein a first portion of the received electrical power is transferred to the portable computing device and a second portion of the received electrical power is transferred to the rechargeable power storage device to recharge the rechargeable power storage device;

if the protective cover is not receiving the electrical power from the external power source and if the control circuitry is in the charging mode, transfer stored electrical power from the rechargeable power storage device of the protective cover to the installed portable computing device through the internal electrical connector, the transfer limited by an amount of current the installed portable computing device will consume, the control circuitry further adapted to transition from the charging mode to the standby mode when the amount of the current the portable computing device will consume drops below a threshold amount of electrical current the portable computing device consumes when the portable computing device is fully charged; and

if the protective cover is not receiving the electrical power from the external power source and if the control circuitry is in the standby mode, transition from the standby mode to the charging mode in response to detecting actuation of the button.

24. The protective cover of claim 23, wherein the protective cover is water-resistant.

25. The protective cover of claim 23, wherein the control circuitry is further adapted to automatically transition from the charging mode to the standby mode in response to the portable computing device being fully charged.

26. The protective cover of claim 25, wherein the control circuitry includes a microprocessor.

27. The protective cover of claim 25 further comprising communication circuitry for receiving data communications from the portable computing device.

28. The protective cover of claim 27, wherein the control circuitry is further adapted to determine that the portable computing device is fully charged based on information received in the data communications from the portable computing device.

29. The protective cover of claim 27, wherein the communication circuitry includes an antenna and receives the data communications from the portable computing device wirelessly via the antenna.