Method, Apparatus for Emergency Power Supply and Device
Contents
1. computer program product comprising a computer readable medium bearing computer program code embodied therein for use with a computer wherein the computer program code comprises code for detecting a charger connection for mains power code for detecting the remaining power of a recharge able battery in an external electronic device code for control ling power delivery from a battery in the charger directly to the external electronic device for running an emergency application when the mains power is not available and the remaining power of the rechargeable battery in the external electronic device is low or empty or in terms of a user s interaction and code for enabling power saving scheme in the external electronic device if the power is delivered directly from the battery ofthe charger wherein the charger is coupled US 2013 0140899 Al to the external electronic device via a connecting interface and said connecting interface is further coupled to the mains power via a transformer BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0010 For a more complete understanding of example embodiments of the present invention reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which 0011 FIG 1 is a block diagram of an electronic device system according to an exemplary embodiment 0012 FIG 2 is a block diagram of a charging system in connection to a rechargeable electronic device according to an2. 2 should be prevented to ensure that the emergency battery 220 is fully charged The emer gency battery 220 should be only available in emergency situations 0026 In an exemplary embodiment the charger 2 has a mechanical switch 230 for example a button on the surface which is enabled to be turned on by the user in emergency situations when the mobile device battery 214 is empty Emergency situations may be that there is a power blackout when the charger 2 is plugged in the mains 3 or no connection to the power grid This may be detected by the charger detec tion unit for mains power 224 inside the charger 2 The charger 2 further communicates this status to the mobile device 1 which is intended to be charged via a connecting interface 232 The connecting interface 232 couples the charger 2 with the mobile device 1 wirelessly or via a cable If the mobile device 1 is powered on the mobile device will then enable a power saving scheme in the mobile device 1 The power saving scheme may include any necessary steps to save the available power to the mobile device 1 for example turning off all widgets games reducing the brightness of screen etc In an emergency situation by pressing the button 230 in the charger 2 it may notify the user of the device battery s status on a display ofthe mobile device 1 and asking if the user wants to make an emergency call In case the display of the mobile device 1 is broken or the screen is shut down in a pow
3. a second power supply line switch which is configured such that the external electronic device is able to be powered by either the power source or a second battery and a charging detector configured to detect the availability of the mains power wherein the first power supply line switch is further configured to couple the backup power source to the external electronic device via the connecting interface when the mains power is not available such that the first battery is able to deliver power to the external electronic device MOBILE DEVICE System 100 lt _ 210 SE 212 214 Y Y Switch Battery Charger I chargin EL Batter p detection for ging y control mains power Patent Application Publication Jun 6 2013 Sheet 1 of 5 Transmitter s 102 User interface 108 Receiver s 104 GPS receiver Memory 112 Processor s 116 Audio amplifier 120 A 110 Circuitries 114 US 2013 0140899 A1 106 SIM reader 122 ff Voltage regulator 124 FIG 1 Jun 6 2013 Sheet 2 of 5 US 2013 0140899 A1 Patent Application Publication c Old Jamod suieui o33uo2 10 uonoajep Aapeg se DurBieuo Jobi JeB1eu Asayeg uos Co me Me OLZ 00 walsks
4. exemplary embodiment 0013 FIG 3 is a flow diagram showing operations for emergency power supply when an electronic device is pow ered on and the battery in the device is low according to an exemplary embodiment 0014 FIG 4 is a flow diagram showing operations for emergency power supply when an electronic device is pow ered off and the battery in the device is low according to an exemplary embodiment and 0015 FIG 5 is a flow diagram showing operations for emergency power supply when an electronic device is pow ered off and the battery in the device is empty according to an exemplary embodiment DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0016 Some exemplary embodiments of the present inven tion and its potential advantages are understood by referring to FIGS 1 through 5 of the drawings 0017 FIG 1 is a block diagram of an electronic device system according to an exemplary embodiment In an example embodiment the electronic device may be a mobile device such as mobile device 100 A mobile device system 100 comprises one or more transmitters 102 and receivers 104 for transmitting and receiving data In an embodiment the mobile device system 100 comprises one or more antenna 106 serving the purpose of transmitting and receiving data The mobile device system 100 may further comprise a user inter face 108 including but not limited to a graphical user inter face The mobile device system 100 may further comprise one or more e
5. is a very common power source to an electronic device for example a mobile phone The mobile phone works in amount of the current battery charge When a rechargable battery is drained in an emer gency situation it is very common that user is first looking for a charger in order to start up the device In case of mains power blackout the mobile phone operator networks are still working on backup power but it is not possible to charge and power on the phone using a normal charger In this case it is not possible to make a call or leave SMS message even though it is important to call during an emergency or to leave OK message for concerned family 0019 It is desirable to achieve a backup power which is reliable and available in all kinds of emergency situations It may be feasible but not practical to put a second battery inside a mobile phone which would only be used for emergency purposes The reason is that the mobile phone device with a second battery would simply become too big and thick At the moment all the mobile phone manufacturers are very much challenged from operators about the thickness of the mobile device For example adding a typical 1000 mAh battery into a product will increase the product thickness of about 6 mm Another limiting factor is that some phones do not have a user replaceable battery In this case a spare battery is not the solution However the charger form factor is not so critical at the moment Mobile charge
6. rate would be in a reasonable level 7C There are many batteries available at the moment that support 7C discharge rate The battery 220 which is located inside the charger 2 is configured to supply power to the mobile device 1 and keep the mobile device 1 alive with or without charging a certain amount of energy to the recharge able battery 214 Taking account the design of charger for small size lithium ion battery s high current discharge capa bility the voltage or IR drop between the charger 2 and possible low temperature environment to the battery 214 inside the mobile device 1 it is recommended to have a battery capacity of at least 100 mAh to 300 mAh inside the charger 2 According to an exemplary embodiment the emer gency battery 220 inside the charger 2 is a rechargeable bat tery According to another exemplary embodiment the inte grated battery 220 is replaceable when it has reached its expected life time or the battery 220 is not fully or at all usable It is possible to detect the state and condition of the emergency battery 220 with software that is running on the mobile device 1 When user plugs the charger 2 into the mobile device 1 the device 1 notifies the user if the emer gency battery 220 is worn and needs to be replaced 0023 A battery made of lithium ion cells always has a battery protection circuit for example a passive fuse or a positive temperature coefficient PTC device connected between the negative po
7. to control charging or discharging the first battery 4 An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the backup power source further comprises a battery protection circuit 5 An apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the battery protection circuit is a fuse 6 An apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising a mechanical switch configured to be enabled for supplying power from the first battery to the external electronic device when the mains power is not available and the second battery in the external electronic device is low or empty 7 An apparatus according to claim 6 configured to run an emergency application only when the mechanical switch is enabled wherein the emergency application comprises a phone call a text message or location sharing 8 An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the power source is coupled to the external electronic device wirelessly via the connecting interface 9 An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the avail ability of the mains power is determined by the external electronic device and communicated to the charging detector in the connecting interface Jun 6 2013 10 An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the external electronic device is in power saving mode if the power is delivered directly from the first battery in the apparatus 11 n apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the first battery of the apparatus is replaceable 12 An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein th
8. 19 United States US 20130140899A1 a2 Patent Application Publication o Pub No US 2013 0140899 A1 TUUKKANEN et al 43 Pub Date Jun 6 2013 54 METHOD APPARATUS FOR EMERGENCY POWER SUPPLY AND DEVICE ASSOCIATED 75 73 21 22 51 THERETO Inventors Marko Tapio TUUKKANEN Berlin DE Markus Antti Tapio AALTONEN Piikkio FT Assignee Appl No 13 309 746 Filed Dec 2 2011 Nokia Corporation Espoo FI Publication Classification Int Cl H02J 9 00 220 222 230 224 Emergency power enable button 226 L ES 228 Y EN Mains power j Battery charging ae Emergency jd 2006 01 2 TS CHARGER Energy storage Emergency battery 290mAh battery protection circuit ee discharging control Charger detection for mains power power enable switch i Switch X Transformer Converts mains 110V 220V to USB 5V 52 U S CI USPE Ehi dl Dili Lone lai 307 66 57 ABSTRACT An apparatus comprises a transformer coupled to a mains power a backup power source comprising a first battery a first power supply line switch configured to switch the power source between the backup power source and the mains power a connecting interface coupling the power source to an external electronic device comprising a second battery which is rechargeable and
9. 301430 FUTON Sai cec AS asn 0 AOZZ AOL L SUIELU SLIBAUOD JQUWIOJSUEI A i EM yms es i EL UDYIAS e qeue amod fouebBlewg H jlemod SUIELU 10 uonoejep JeB1eyo o 3uoo PuiB1euosip jBuiBieuo Aueyeg M qno uonoejoud Aiepeq uqyup6z Alopeg AoueBlew 3 oBe1ojs ABloug WJOHVHO z A Jemod sule Scc a 9cc uojing eiqeue Jewod oueBjeur voc cw Occ COG Occ Patent Application Publication 306 310 ae 31 316 Device is powered on i Battery is low I A charger is connected to the device Is the charger connected to the power network No Y Notify the user and request user interaction Ts user interaction detected No v Power down the device 300 302 304 Jun 6 2013 Sheet 3 of 5 Yes Charge the device battery normally Yes Switch using the charger s intergrated battery FIG 3 Allow only emergency application s to run be used US 2013 0140899 A1 308 314 ps 318 Patent Application Publication Device is powered off l Battery is low i A charger is User powers on the device connected to the device 406 Ls N p m _ Is the charger _ P lt l
10. bile device 1 In an example embodiment the application logic software or an instruction set is maintained on any one of various conventional computer readable media In the con text of this document a computer readable medium may be any media or means that can contain store communicate propagate or transport the instructions for use by or in con nection with an instruction execution system apparatus or device such as a computer with one example of a computer described and depicted in FIG 1 or 2 A computer readable medium may comprise a computer readable storage medium that may be any media or means that can contain or store the instructions for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system apparatus or device such as a computer US 2013 0140899 Al 0036 If desired the different functions discussed herein may be performed in a different order and or concurrently with each other Furthermore if desired one or more of the above described functions may be optional or may be com bined 0037 Although various aspects of the invention are set out in the independent claims other aspects of the invention comprise other combinations of features from the described embodiments and or the dependent claims with the features of the independent claims and not solely the combinations explicitly set out in the claims 0038 Itis also noted herein that while the above describes example embodiments of the invention th
11. d the device are switched such that the charger s integrated battery can be used to power up the device at 314 for emergency functions use only at 318 If no user s interaction is detected the device assumes no emer gency use of the device is needed and simply powers down the device at 316 0032 FIG 4 is a flow diagram showing operations for emergency power supply when an electronic device is pow ered off and the battery in the device is low according to an exemplary embodiment In a situation that a device with a rechargeable internal battery is powered off at 400 and a low battery is detected at 402 a charger with an integrated emer gency battery according to any of the exemplary embodi ments is connected to the device at 404 The charger or the device detects whether the charger is connected to the power grid at 406 according to any of the exemplary embodiments The device needs to be powered on at 420 if it is used to detect the charger s connection to the power grid at 406 Ifthe mains power is available the charger charges the device battery normally at 408 Otherwise the device notifies the user the situation and requests a user s interaction at 410 The user s interaction is detected at 412 If the user confirms of an emergency situation the power supply lines in both the charger and the device are switched such that the charger s integrated battery can be used to power up the device at 414 Jun 6 2013 for emer
12. e first battery of the apparatus is a one cell lithium ion battery hav ing energy of capacity of at least 100 mAh milliampere per hour to 300 mAh 13 A method comprising coupling a connecting interface to an external electronic device comprising a second battery which is recharge able and a second power supply line switched which is configured such that the external electronic device is able to be powered by either the second battery or an external power source detecting a charging status based partially at least on the availability of mains power coupled to a transformer and coupling a first battery inside a charger as the external power source to the external electronic device when the mains power is not available 14 A method according to claim 13 further comprising controlling a mechanical switch configured to be enabled for supplying power from the first battery inside the charger when the mains power is not available and the second battery ofthe external electronic device is low or empty 15 A method according to claim 13 further comprising notifying the user of the charging status and requesting a user s interaction when the mains power is not available 16 A method according to claim 13 further comprising turning the external electronic device to a power saving mode if the power is delivered directly from the first battery of the charger 17 A method according to claim 14 further comprising only allowing an emergency ap
13. econd battery The provided apparatus further comprises a charging detector configured to Jun 6 2013 detect the availability of the mains power wherein the first power supply line switch is further configured to couple the backup power source to the external electronic device via the connecting interface when the mains power is not available such that the first battery is able to deliver power to the external electronic device 0006 In another exemplary embodiment there is a pro vided method comprising coupling a connecting interface to an external electronic device detecting a charging status based partially at least on the availability of mains power coupled to a transformer and coupling a first battery inside a charger as the external power source to the external electronic device when the mains power is not available wherein the external electronic device comprises a second battery which is rechargeable and a second power supply line switch which is configured such that the external electronic device is able to be powered by either the second battery or an external power source 0007 In a third exemplary embodiment there is a pro vided device comprising an internal rechargeable battery a charging detector coupled to an external power supply via a connecting interface wherein the external power supply comprises a transformer coupled to a mains power and a backup power source comprising a battery The charging detector is f
14. er saving scheme there is nothing to display on the screen In this case pressing the button 230 may directly initiate an emergency call from the mobile device 1 as long as the device 1 is connected to communication network 0027 In an exemplary embodiment an emergency power enable switch 230 is built in the charger detection unit for mains power 224 inside the charger 2 In this case during mains blackout the mobile device 1 needs to be powered on by either the internal battery 214 with a low level voltage or the emergency battery 220 inside the charger The mobile device will then enables a power saving scheme in the mobile device 1 notifying the user the current status of charging and requesting a user s interaction and then waiting for user s confirmation whether to allow the device 1 using the charg er s integrated battery 220 for emergency application only 0028 In an exemplary embodiment there is a built in charger detection unit for mains power 210 inside the mobile device 1 Using software in the power management unit ofthe mobile device 1 it is possible to detect connection to the mains power 3 through the charger by the software If power blackout or lack of connection to the power grid is detected by the software the mobile device 1 enables a power saving scheme in the mobile device 1 notifies the user ofthe charger status at the user interface 108 and request a user s interac tion and then waiting for user s confirmation wh
15. ese descriptions should not be viewed in a limiting sense Rather there are several variations and modifications which may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims What is claimed is 1 An apparatus comprising a transformer coupled to a mains power a backup power source comprising a first battery a first power supply line switch configured to switch the power source between the backup power source and the mains power a connecting interface coupling the power source to an external electronic device comprising a second battery which is rechargeable and a second power supply line switch which is configured such that the external elec tronic device is able to be powered by either the power source or a second battery and a charging detector configured to detect the availability of the mains power wherein the first power supply line switch is further con figured to couple the backup power source to the exter nal electronic device via the connecting interface when the mains poweris not available such that the first battery is ableto deliver power to the external electronic device 2 An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the first battery is a rechargeable battery and the backup power source is coupled to the mains power such that the first battery is able to be charged by the mains power 3 An apparatus according to claim 2 further comprising a controller configured
16. ether to allow the device 1 using the charger s integrated battery 220 for emergency application only 0029 After the user has confirmed to use the emergency battery 220 inside the charger 2 by either physically turning on the mechanical emergency power button 230 or respond ingtherequesting through the user interface 108 ofthe mobile device 1 a switch 226 inside the charger 2 will disconnect the power supply from the transformer 228 and connect the power supply line from the emergency battery 220 into the connector 210 of the mobile device 1 via the connector inter US 2013 0140899 Al face 232 In a preferable exemplary embodiment another switch insider the connector 210 of the mobile device 1 will also switch the power line directly to the mobile device sys tem 100 This way the emergency battery 220 inside the charger 2 provides power directly to emergency functions of the system 100 A potential energy waste on the charging IC 212 to the internal battery 214 of the mobile device 1 can be saved In another exemplary embodiment the switch inside the connector 210 of the mobile device 1 enables continuous charging of the internal battery 214 This is not recommended for emergency situations but respects the user s preference for example when user knows there will be soon mains power available or it is not really an emergency situation In this case the mobile device 1 may support all the other functions in addition to the emergency f
17. gency functions use only at 418 If no user s interac tion is detected the device assumes no emergency use of the device is needed and simply powers down the device at 416 0033 FIG 5 is a flow diagram showing operations for emergency power supply when an electronic device is pow ered off and the battery in the device is empty according to an exemplary embodiment In a situation that a device with a rechargeable internal battery is powered off at 500 and it is detected that the internal battery is empty at 502 a charger with an integrated emergency battery according to any of exemplary embodiments is connected to the device at 504 The charger or the device detects whether the charger is connected to the power grid at 506 according to any of exem plary embodiments The device needs to be powered on at 520 if it is used to detect the charger connection to the power grid at 506 If the mains power is available the charger charges the device battery normally at 508 Otherwise the power supply lines in both the charger and the device are switched such that the charger s integrated battery can be used to supply power at 514 and user can power on the device at 520 The device further notifies the user the situation and requests a user s interaction at 510 The user s interaction is detected at 512 If the user confirms of an emergency situation the device is ready for emergency functions use only at 518 If no user s interaction is detected
18. ind of special battery units are normally disposable and pricy which are not commonly used by the consumers Users can also bring spare rechargeable battery units which can replace or recharge the original battery of the device In this case the users consume the energy from the backup battery for all kinds of functions including emergency use when it is needed The users need to remember of recharging the battery in regular basis because battery self discharge and unit leak age current will slowly discharge the battery As a battery ages the users also need to keep track the status of battery by themselves and make sure the backup battery is ready to use when it is needed SUMMARY 0004 Various aspects of examples of the invention are set out in the claims This section is intended to be a non limiting overview of exemplary embodiments 0005 In an exemplary embodiment there is a provided apparatus comprising a transformer coupled to a mains power a backup power source comprising a first battery a first power supply line switch configured to switch the power source between the backup power source and the mains power a connecting interface coupling the power source to an external electronic device wherein the external electronic device comprises a second battery which is rechargeable and a second power supply line switch which is configured such that the external electronic device is able to be powered by either the power source or a s
19. le of the emergency battery and the positive pole of the charger 2 which is further connected to the mobile device 1 The purpose of the battery protection circuit is to limit the emergency battery discharge current to a rea sonable level and protect safety hazards in case of misuse or in malfunction short circuit during an emergency use of the mobile device 1 0024 The charger 2 further comprises a transformer 228 converting the supply voltage from mains power 3 to a low voltage level suitable for an application device for example a USB charger with an output voltage of 5V and a battery charging discharging control unit 222 The battery charging discharging control unit 222 comprises a battery charging integrated circuit IC not shown One cell lithium ion bat tery charging ICs are commercially available which may be placed inside the charger 2 to ensure that the lithium ion battery 220 is fully charged when the charger 2 is connected to mains 3 When the charger is disconnected from mains 3 the lithium ion charging IC will enter to a special low power mode where the current consumption on the battery charging IC is minimized to keep the integrated emergency battery 220 charged as long as possible The battery charging control 212 Jun 6 2013 inside the mobile device 1 has a similar function as the unit 222 from the charging control perspective 0025 In normal use cases the use of the emergency bat tery 220 inside the charger
20. lements for determination of location or velocity of motion including but not limited to a GPS global positioning system receiver 110 and the GPS circuit in circuitries 114 The mobile device system 100 may further comprise one or more memories 112 for data and application storage and some other functional elements for example a camera 118 one or more subscriber identification module SIM card reader 122 and audio amplifier 120 for driving loud speaker or an earphone The one or more processors 160 execute instructions including but not limited to the energy manage ment for driving the mobile device system 100 with various functions The circuitries 114 may further comprise camera circuitry smart card reader circuitry and or audio circuitry Different functional elements in the systems have their own operating voltages A voltage regulator 124 in the mobile device system 100 stabilizes and regulates the direct current DC voltage from either a battery in the mobile device or en external power supply so that each functional element receives a steady voltage with a proper level independent of how much power is drawn from the power source For example a lithium ion battery has an output voltage up to 4 2 Jun 6 2013 V In the event ofthe SIM card being powered in 1 8V or 3V the output voltage of the lithium ion battery needs to be downconverted to 1 8V or 3V so that the SIM card can be properly operated 0018 A rechargeable battery
21. ly to the device when the internal rechargeable battery of the device is low or empty and the mains power is not available such that the battery in the external power supply is able to supply power to the device 20 A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium bearing computer program code embodied therein for use with a computer the computer program code comprising code for detecting a charger connection for mains power code for detecting the remaining power of a rechargeable battery in an external electronic device code for controlling power delivery from a battery in the charger directly to the external electronic device for running an emergency application when the mains power is not available and the remaining power of the rechargeable battery in the external electronic device is low or empty and code for enabling power saving scheme in the external electronic device if the power is delivered directly from the battery of the charger wherein the charger is coupled to the external electronic device via a connecting interface and said connecting interface is further coupled to the mains power via a transformer Jun 6 2013
22. ource 220 comprising an energy storage emergency battery The backup power source 220 may further comprise a corresponding battery protection circuit In case of GSM global system for mobile communications system a phone call is started with a maximum power level of 33 dBm in decibels dB refer enced to one milliwatt mW which consumes around 2 A ampere peak current from battery Depending on the net work conditions the power level can be either full power or US 2013 0140899 Al lower Average GSM current consumption is around 170 mA milliampere and WCDMA 190 mA This means that theo retically 10 minutes power capacity for consumption in GSM system is around 29 mAh milliampere per hour i e 10 minutes 60 minutes 170 mA A battery with power capacity 29 mAh would be of very small size but the peak current might be relatively high which means 29 mAh size battery has difficulties to deliver the around 2 A peak current during a GSM call Fora 29 mAh battery the discharge rate is C 0 029 A per hour A discharging rate of 69C 2 A would need around 1 minute to fully discharge the battery At the moment there are no lithium ion based batteries available for delivering 69C discharge current Realistic limit at the moment is around 45C Based on the above and to have margin against the peak current it is preferably to use a higher battery capacity for example 10 times higher battery capacity i e 290 mAh In this example the discharge
23. plication to run when the mechanical switch is enabled 18 A device comprising an internal rechargeable battery acharging detector coupled to an external power supply via a connecting interface wherein the external power sup ply comprises a transformer coupled to a mains power and a backup power source comprising a battery the charging detector further configured to detect the avail ability ofthe mains power to the external power supply an internal power supply line switch configured to couple the backup power source to the device such that the device is able to power up by the first battery inside the external power supply when the mains power is not available wherein the device is configured to be powered by either the internal rechargeable battery or the external power supply controlled by the internal power supply line switch 19 A method comprising detecting an emergency status of a device via a connecting interface to an external power supply based partially at least on the availability of mains power wherein the external power supply comprises a battery and a trans former coupled to a mains power and the device com prises a internal rechargeable battery and an internal power supply line switch configured such that the exter US 2013 0140899 Al nal electronic device is able to be powered by either the external power supply or the internal rechargeable bat tery and coupling the battery in the external power supp
24. rs and especially universal serial bus USB chargers are commonly provided to the consum ers with the purchase of a mobile device and majority of consumers in Europe the United States and Asia already own more than one mobile charger and generally available to be used with mobile devices Based on that it may be feasible to put an emergency battery which could be a small battery or an energy capacitor or a supercapacitor connected in parallel with a small battery in the charger to keep enough electric current for a minimum of one phone call about 5 minutes minimum or additionally enough for sending text message or sharing location 0020 FIG 2 is a block diagram of a charging system in connection to a rechargeable electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment 0021 A charging system for example a charger is a power source to a rechargeable electronic device In this exemplary embodiment the rechargeable electronic device is a mobile device 1 comprising a mobile device system 100 a connector 210 to the charger 2 comprising a switch and a charger detec tion unit for mains power a battery charging control unit 212 and a rechargeable battery 214 The mobile device could be a mobile phone a laptop computer a tablet computer or other devices In another exemplary embodiment the battery charging control unit 212 may be included in the power man agement unit of the mobile device 1 0022 The charger 2 comprises a backup power s
25. t _ connected to the power cn network lt No Y 410 Notify the user and request user interaction 412 _ SE _ s user interaction 7 detected Power down the device FIG 4 Jun 6 2013 Sheet 4 of 5 402 _ 404 Charge the device battery normally x gt Yes Switch using gt Yes gt the chargers intergrated battery Allow only emergency application s to run be used US 2013 0140899 A1 414 er 418 Patent Application Publication Jun 6 2013 Sheet 5 of 5 US 2013 0140899 A1 500 Deviceis powered off i Battery is 502 empty a A charger is 504 connected to the device x 506 da ane Is the charger Charge the connected to the power gt Yes device battery EP ud normally 514 AE bi Switch using the charger s intergrated battery 520 7 x 1 User powers on the device n Notify the user 510 and request user interaction 518 FU 512 TR E Allow only N _ 6 user interaction Vas emergency IS M EREI n application s to run be used 516 in di Ne No 4 Power down the device FIG 5 US 2013 0140899 Al METHOD APPARATUS FOR EMERGENCY POWER SUPPLY AND DEVICE ASSOCIATED THERETO TECHNICAL FIELD 0001 The present application generally relates to power supply and managemen
26. t of electronic devices especially in emergency situations BACKGROUND 0002 Portable electronic devices for example mobile phones play an important role in many emergency situations A simple phone call or a short message at an earliest time could save lives and change situations Many of the portable electronic devices are power supplied by a rechargeable bat tery The availability of the battery power is a crucial point for employing the portable electronic devices Users always feel frustrated when a device is not available because of an empty battery Users may even feel as if their chargeable devices with empty batteries are next to worthless during mains power blackout 0003 Currently there are many different existing backup power solutions and devices which can be used to provide electricity during mains power blackout For example diesel fueled aggregate units commonly called uninterruptible power supply UPS Such emergency power unit is driven by diesel fuel and starts up within the first seconds of a blackout This solution is expensive and also heavily depends on the amount of fuel available in the aggregate unit Another avail able solution is to use special battery units designed to recharge the chargeable battery without an actual charger Users can plug the special battery units into the charge port of the device and then from there the users will be able to give the device for example an hour extra running time Such k
27. the device assumes no emergency use ofthe device is needed and simply powers down the device at 516 0034 Without in any way limiting the scope interpreta tion or application of the claims appearing below a technical effect of one or more of the example embodiments disclosed herein is to provide a simple and reliable way to supply power for a rechargeable electronic device in emergency situations especially when the battery in the rechargeable electronic device is very low or empty and no power is available to charge the battery The supplied power is enough for running emergency applications Another technical effect of one or more of the example embodiments disclosed herein is to intelligently control the access to the emergency power sup ply so that the emergency power is available when needed Another technical effect of one or more of the example embodiments disclosed herein is to provide a smart charger being able to provide power to a rechargeable electronic device during mains blackout or lack of connection to power grids 0035 Embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in software hardware application logic or a combination of software hardware and application logic The software application logic and or hardware may reside on the charger 2 If desired part of the software application logic and or hardware may reside on the charger 2 part of the software application logic and or hardware may reside on the mo
28. unctions The emergency func tions may include but not limited any of making a phone call sending an SMS message or sharing the location 0030 There are many considerations in the design of a charging system integrated with an emergency battery for example the voltage or IR drop between charger and device battery should be minimized The charger wire connected to the phone device and other internal electronics should be optimized The user manual should have instructions for using battery in the charger in emergency situations 0031 FIG 3 is a flow diagram showing operations for emergency power supply when an electronic device is pow ered on and the battery in the device is low according to an exemplary embodiment In a situation that a device with a rechargeable internal battery is powered on at 300 anda low battery is detected at 302 a charger with an integrated emer gency battery according to any of exemplary embodiments is connected to the device at 304 The charger or the device detects whether the charger is connected to the power grid at 306 according to any of the exemplary embodiments If it is detected that the mains power is available the charger charges the device battery normally at 308 Otherwise the device notifies the user the situation and requests a user s interaction at 310 The user s interaction is detected at 312 If the user confirms of an emergency situation the power supply lines in both the charger an
29. urther configured to detect the availability of the mains power to the external power supply The provided device further comprises an internal power supply line switch configured to couple the backup power source to the device such that the device is able to power up by the first battery inside the external power supply when the mains power is not available The provided device is configured to be powered by either the internal rechargeable battery or the external power supply controlled by the internal power supply line switch 0008 In a fourth exemplary embodiment there is a pro vided method comprising detecting an emergency status of a device via a connecting interface to an external power supply based partially at least on the availability of mains power wherein the external power supply comprises a battery and a transformer coupled to a mains power and the device com prises a internal rechargeable battery and an internal power supply line switched configured such that the external elec tronic device is powered by either the external power supply or the internal rechargeable battery The provided method further comprises coupling the battery in the external power supply to the device when the internal rechargeable battery of the device is low or empty and the mains power is not avail able such that the battery in the external power supply is able to supply power to the device 0009 Ina fifth exemplary embodiment there is a provided
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search