Communicative and virtual battery chargers and methods
First Claim
1. A virtual battery charger operatively connected to a general purpose external communication interface of a computer for communication with a physical battery charger, wherein the virtual battery charger presents information indicative of an operation of the physical battery charger on a display of the computer and receives a user input for interacting with the physical battery charger and wherein the virtual battery charger has a form factor and arrangement corresponding to those of the physical battery charger.
11 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A physical battery charger (104) connects to a computer (102) using a communications link such as a universal serial bus (USB) connection. Application software (114) resident on the computer (102) presents a virtual battery charger (116) on a display (110) associated with the computer (102). The virtual charger (116) provides information regarding the status of the physical charger (104) and allows the user to control the operation of or otherwise interact with the physical charger (104). The physical charger (104) also adjusts the charging rate of batteries (222) being charged based on the available power.
45 Citations
37 Claims
- 1. A virtual battery charger operatively connected to a general purpose external communication interface of a computer for communication with a physical battery charger, wherein the virtual battery charger presents information indicative of an operation of the physical battery charger on a display of the computer and receives a user input for interacting with the physical battery charger and wherein the virtual battery charger has a form factor and arrangement corresponding to those of the physical battery charger.
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14. A computer readable storage medium containing instructions which, when carried out by a computer, causes the computer to carry out a method comprising:
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presenting, via a user interface of the computer, information indicative of an operation of a physical battery charger including a battery receiving region which selectively receives a generally cylindrical battery for charging, wherein the battery charger is operatively connected to the computer via a communication interface of the computer; presenting virtual elements via the user interface that correspond to element of the physical battery charger; and using information received from the battery charger via the communication interface to update the presented information and the presented virtual elements. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. An apparatus comprising:
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a personal computer comprising a user interface including a virtual charger; a first communication interface; a battery charger comprising; a battery receiving region which selectively receives a plurality of batteries for charging; battery contacts which make electrical contact with the terminals of batteries received in the battery receiving region; a second communication interface operatively connected to the first communication interface for data communication therewith; battery charger circuitry operatively connected to the battery contacts and the second communication interface; and the battery charger having a form factor and arrangement corresponding to those of the virtual battery charger; a computer readable storage medium containing instructions which, when executed by the personal computer, cause the personal computer to display, via the user interface, information indicative of an operation of the battery charger. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A method comprising:
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identifying a device connected to a communication port of a computer, wherein the communication port is configured for communication with a plurality of different devices; if the connected device is a physical battery charger, presenting a virtual battery charger via a user interface of the computer; determing whether battery charger application software is present on the storage medium; and if the battery charger application software is not present storing the battery charger application software on the computer readable storage medium. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification