Power source system for portable electronic devices

Details Power source system for portable electronic devices Power source system for portable electronic devices

1999-04-19

2001-01-02

Wong, Peter S. (Department: 2838)

Electricity: battery or capacitor charging or discharging

Cell or battery charger structure

C307S066000

Utility Patent

active

06169384

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to power source systems for portable electronic devices and more specifically to power source systems for laptop computers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Current power source systems for portable electronic devices, including laptop computers, typically may include disposable batteries, rechargeable packs and separate AC adapters. For numerous reasons, these power source systems are inadequate. Disposable batteries are wasteful, costly, inconvenient and take up an inordinate amount of space. Separate AC adapters can be misplaced, take up additional space in the carrying case and are merely one more item which the user must keep track of and carry around. Further, rechargeable battery packs are far behind advances being made in portable electronic devices, especially advances in laptop computers. For example, power demands for portable electronic devices have risen faster than contemporaneous increases in battery capacity. In fact, the run times of new portable electronic devices are shorter than the run times of previous models. The typical battery run time for laptop computers is generally about two and a half hours and has remained virtually unchanged for several years.
The batteries currently available for laptop computers also add unwanted weight to the portable computer, take up space within the computer itself and may leak, creating a potentially hazardous situation for the user, and may present environmental problems associated with their disposal. Some types of batteries waste space by packing round batteries into square battery packs in which only 57% of the pack's volume is used by the batteries, including the electronics associated with the batteries. Other types of batteries consist of a plastic brick encasing a large lead acid battery. Although this latter type battery offers about a twenty percent increase in run times over other currently available batteries, these batteries are more than four times heavier and take up an inordinate amount of space and still require a separate AC adapter and output regulator for DC use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide a battery system for electronic devices, including laptop computers, which has an extended life.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an extended-life battery system for electronic devices, including laptop computers, which is lightweight.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an extended-life battery system for electronic devices, including laptop computers, which provides space saving benefits.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a rechargeable extended-life battery system for electronic devices, including laptop computers.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a rechargeable battery system for laptop computers which provides increased run times and space saving benefits and is lightweight.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a rechargeable extended-life battery system which provides the increased run times associated with lead acid batteries encased in a plastic brick with the space saving and lightweight advantages of solid polymer batteries.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a battery system for portable electronic devices, including laptop computers, which does not require a separate AC adapter.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a carrying case for a laptop computer in which the AC power supply module is integrated into the structure of the carrying case for the laptop computer.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a carrying case for a laptop computer in which the AC adapter, power source and additional batteries are integrated into the structure of the carrying case for the laptop computer.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a carrying case for portable electronic devices, including laptop computers, in which the carrying case is an additional power source for the electronic device.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a carrying case for portable electronic devices, including laptop computers, which integrates an extended-life battery pack into the carrying case as the internal structural partitions of the case.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an extended-life battery system for portable electronic devices, including laptop computers, which includes an AC adapter function as part of the system.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a battery system for portable electronic devices, including laptop computers, which has three major modes of operation including AC powered mode, battery extender mode and portable battery recharge mode.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a battery system for portable electronic devices, including laptop computers, which includes four sub-systems including an AC power supply, batteries, output regulators and a controller module.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a battery system for laptop computers which provides more energy than can be integrated into the portable device itself.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a battery system for laptop computers which provides 200 Wh of energy.
The system of the invention is the result of efforts to design an extended battery-life system for laptop computers in which the system is an integrated part of the carrying case for the laptop computer. Carrying cases often use sheets of polyethylene, expanded polystyrene or other similar materials to form internal partitions and to give the carrying case its structural shape. In some of the preferred embodiments of the invention, these conventional structural stiffeners are replaced with lithium polymer batteries to fulfill the structural function of these stiffeners while at the same time providing an additional source of battery power with little to no increase in weight. As such, the invention is more versatile and convenient to use by providing users with more battery power per weight carried than if the user had purchased auxiliary battery packs.
A preferred embodiment of the improved power source system of the invention for a portable electronic device which utilizes an external power source, comprises: a carrying case for said electronic device having one or more internal structural components; and an AC power supply module integrated in the structural components of the carrying case and configured to connect the electronic device to the power source.
Another preferred embodiment of the improved power source system of the invention which utilizes power from an external power source and is adapted for use with a portable electronic device, comprises, a carrying case, for the portable electronic device, having one or more structural components; a battery charge controller integrated into one or more of the structural components; an AC power supply module integrated into one or more of the structural components, connected to the battery charge controller and adapted to receive said power from said power source; one or more rechargeable batteries integrated into one or more of the structural components and connected to the battery charge controller; and a DC output regulator integrated into one or more of the structural components and connected to the battery charge controller. The batteries preferably comprise lithium polymer batteries which generally comprise one or more thin, flexible electrolyte-impregnated plastic sheets juxtaposed between metal foil electrodes.
The system may further comprise one or more fuses in series with the batteries and the carrying case may further comprise a means for stiffening one or more of the structural components of the carrying case, wherein the means for stiffening may comprise one or more of said batteries. The battery charge controller may also further comprise a means for directing a portion of the power from the AC power supply module to the batteries while directing another portion of said power to the DC ou

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