S&F Ref: P021807 AUSTRALIA PATENTS ACT 1990 INNOVATION PATENT SPECIFICATION Name and Address Jackson Trademark Holdings Pty Limited, of Applicant: an Australian company, ACN 151 692 134, of 16 Brookhollow Avenue, Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, 2153, Australia Actual Inventor(s): Ross Alec Jackson Address for Service: Spruson & Ferguson St Martins Tower Level 35 31 Market Street Sydney NSW 2000 (CCN 3710000177) Invention Title: Adaptor The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: 5843c(5839115_1) - 1 ADAPTOR Technical Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to a power adaptor and, in particular, to an adaptor configured for use in charging a portable electronic device. Background 5 The number of portable electronic devices in daily use, such as laptop personal computers, mobile telephones, smart phones, personal data assistants, media players and the like, continues to increase. As new features and processing power of such portable electronic devices increases, so do power requirements of the devices. This increase in power requirements has increased the need to re-charge the batteries of these portable 10 electronic devices. Manufacturers of portable electronic devices often bundle battery recharging units and/or batteries with the portable electronic devices. However, the power requirements of the portable electronic devices are often customized by the manufacturers, with each different portable electronic device requiring its own battery charger. This requires users 15 to carry a number of different chargers and/or batteries for their various portable electronic devices. The battery chargers of each portable electronic device need to be plugged into a mains electrical power supply socket to be recharged. However, a problem often encountered by users of such portable electronic devices when recharging the devices, is a 20 lack of suitable mains supply power sockets. This lack of suitable mains supply power sockets is not only inconvenient but in some instances can reduce productivity. For example, when a portable electronic device needs to being recharged, the only mains supply power socket available may be a power socket being used to power another -2 electronic (or electrical) device such as a desktop computer or the like being used by a user. So in order to recharge the portable electronic device, the user may need to shutdown the computer and wait until the portable electronic device has been recharged before being able to continue working with the computer. 5 Thus, a need clearly exists for a more efficient apparatus or method for charging the batteries used to power the various portable electronic devices. Summary It is an object of the present invention to substantially overcome, or at least ameliorate, one or more disadvantages of existing arrangements. 10 According to one aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a power adaptor comprising: a mains electrical plug module configured for connecting said power adaptor to a mains electrical power supply; a plurality of mains electrical power socket modules electrically connected to said 15 mains electrical plug module, each said electrical power socket module comprising a plurality of apertures to each receive a pin of an electrical plug for electrically connecting a mains powered device to the mains electrical power supply; and a universal serial bus (USB) module electrically connected to said mains electrical plug module, via a switch mode power supply, wherein said switch mode power supply is 20 configured for converting any power drawn from said mains electrical power supply, via said single electrical plug module, to a form suitable for recharging a battery of an electronic device connected to said USB module. Other aspects of the invention are also disclosed.
-3 Brief Description of the Drawings At least one embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings, in which: Fig. 1 A shows a rear view of a power adaptor according to the present disclosure; 5 Fig. IB shows a front view of the power adaptor of Fig. IA; Figs. 2A and 2B are functional block diagrams showing the power adaptor of Figs. I A and 1 B in more detail; Fig. 3 shows illustrations of different types of USB standards which may be supported by the disclosed power adaptor arrangements. 10 Detailed Description including Best Mode Where reference is made in any one or more of the accompanying drawings to steps and/or features, which have the same reference numerals, those steps and/or features have for the purposes of this description the same function(s) or operation(s), unless the contrary intention appears. 15 It is to be noted that the discussions contained in the "Background" section relating to prior art arrangements relate to discussions of documents or devices which form public knowledge through their respective publication and/or use. Such should not be interpreted as a representation by the present inventor(s) or the patent applicant that such documents or devices in any way form part of the common general knowledge in the art. 20 As well as the battery chargers provided by the manufacturers, many portable electronic devices may be recharged by being connected to a universal serial bus (USB) module (e.g., a USB socket or USB plug) of a device, such as a computer, via a USB cable. In this instance, the computer can provide power to the portable electronic device, via the USB module, in order to recharge the portable electronic device. The amount of power -4 provided by the computer or other electronic device depends on the USB standard to which the computer or other device conforms. There are two main USB standards in current use. The USB version 2.0 standard was released in the year 2000 and the USB version 3.0 standard was released in 2008. A 5 USB 2.0 cable and a USB 3.0 cable each comprise two wires for power (i.e., +5 volts DC wire and ground). Typically, a device conforming to the USB 2.0 standard can provide +5 volts DC at 500 mill-amps to a portable electronic device connected to the USB module of the device. Similarly, a device conforming to the USB 3.0 standard can provide +5 volts DC at 900 mill-amps to a portable electronic device connected to the USB module of the 10 device. Fig. IA shows a rear view of a power adaptor 100 configured for use in recharging a portable electronic device, such as a laptop personal computer, mobile telephone, smart-phone, personal data assistant (PDA), media player or the like, according to one implementation. As seen in Fig. IA, the power adaptor 100 comprises a housing 15 108. The housing 108 comprises an electrical input in the form of a mains electrical plug module (or "plug") 101 suitable for connection to a mains electrical power supply via a mains electrical power socket, such as a conventional wall power point, an electrical lead, a power board or the like. Fig. lB shows a front view of the power adaptor 100. As seen in Fig. IB, the 20 housing 108 of the power adaptor 100 comprises two mains electrical socket modules (or "sockets") 102 and 103. As described in detail below, each of the sockets 102 and 103 are electrically connected to the plug 101 and are configured for providing mains electrical power to any mains powered electronic/electrical device such as a computer, a television, a digital video disk (DVD) recorder or the like, connected to either one of the sockets 102 -5 and 103. The plug 101 and sockets 102 and 103 are configured as a straight through "double adaptor". In particular, Figs. 2A and 2B are functional block diagrams showing the power adaptor 100 in more detail. Fig. 2A shows the power adaptor 100 comprising the socket 103, the socket 104 5 and the plug 101. The plug 101 is shown in Fig. 2A comprising pins 216, 217 and 218. The sockets 103 and 104 are electrically connected, as depicted by a heavy line 207, to the plug 101. Accordingly, when the plug 101 is connected to a mains electrical power supply socket, for example, which is powered on, the two sockets 102 and 103 may provide mains power 213 to any electronic/electrical device connected to the sockets 102 and 103. In the 10 implementation of Figs. IA and IB, the power adaptor 100 also comprises an indicator light 105 (not shown in Figs. 2A and 2B) to indicate that the plug 101 of the power adaptor 100 is connected to a mains electrical power supply socket which is powered on. As also seen in Fig. IB, the power adaptor 100 comprises two USB modules 106 and 107, which in the example of Figs. 1 A and lB are USB sockets. However, in another 15 implementation, the USB modules 106 and 107 may be USB plugs or a mixture of USB plugs and USB sockets. As seen in Fig. 2A, each of the USB sockets 106 and 107 are electrically connected within the housing 108 to the plug 101, via a power conversion module 208 configured within the housing 108. As seen in Figs. IA and IB, the plug 101 and the sockets 103 and 104 conform to 20 an Australian power standard, having three pins and three apertures, respectively. Further, the USB sockets 106 and 107 conform to one of the various USB standards 300 depicted in Fig. 3. The power conversion module 208 is connected, as depicted by a connection 205, to the connection 207. The power conversion module 208 thus receives mains electrical -6 power via the connection 205, and outputs converted power, in a form suitable for the USB sockets 106 and 107 (which may each be referred to as a USB charging port) as depicted by connection 204. USB power 215 is thus available from the USB sockets 106 and 107 of the power adaptor 100 at the same time as mains electrical power 213 is available from the 5 sockets 103 and 104 for any mains powered device connected to either one of the sockets 103 and 104. Fig. 2B shows the power conversion module 208 in more detail. The connection 207 between plug 101 and the sockets 103 and 104 comprises, in the example shown, three connections 223, 222 and 221 being respectively a "live" connection, a "neutral" 10 connection, and an "earth" connection. Respective connections 205 are tapped off the aforementioned connections 221, 222 and 223 and are provided to the power conversion module 208. The power conversion module 208 may be implemented in a number of different forms. Thus, for example, in one arrangement a switched mode power supply is used to 15 convert the mains electrical power 213 flowing in the connection 207 to USB power 215 at the output 204 of the power conversion module 208. In another example, a passive transformer and associated smoothing circuits may be used. In one example, the power conversion module 208 supplies +5 volts DC on a connection 231 (i.e., with respective connection tapped off) to connection pads 224 and 20 226 in each of the USB sockets 106 and 107, respectively, as seen in Fig. 2B. The power conversion module 208 also provides ground potential on a connection 232 (i.e., with respective connection tapped off) to ground connection pads 225 and 229 in each of the USB socket 106 and 107, respectively. In this instance, the power conversion module 208 is configured to convert (or step down) the mains electrical power 213 from, for example, -7 240 volts at 10 amps at the plug 101 to USB power 215 of +5 volts DC at 500 mill-amps (i.e., according to the USB version 2.0 standard) at each of the USB sockets 106 and 107. Alternatively, the power conversion module 208 may be configured to convert the mains electrical power 213 from for example, 240 volts/ 10 amps at the plug 101 to USB power 5 215 of +5 volts DC/ 900 mill-amps (i.e., according to the USB version 3.0 standard) at each of the USB sockets 106 and 107. Accordingly, in either alternative, the power conversion module 208 is configured for converting any power 213 drawn from the mains electrical power supply, via the plug 101, to a form suitable for recharging a battery of a portable electronic device or the like which may be connected to either of the USB sockets 10 106 or 107 as described in more detail below. In particular, when a user wishes to recharge a battery of a portable electronic device 229 which may, for example, be a mobile telephone, the user mates a USB connection module 228 (i.e., a USB plug in the example of Fig. 2B), of the portable electronic device 229 to the USB socket 106, as depicted by a dashed arrow 227. 15 Alternatively, the user may mate the USB connection module 228 of the portable electronic device 229 to the USB socket 107, in order to recharge the battery of the device 229. Further, the user may recharge the batteries of two portable electronic devices at the same time by connecting each portable electronic device via a separate cable (e.g., 230) and connection module (e.g., 229) to each socket 106 and 107. 20 In other implementations of the power adaptor 100, any other suitable power conversion module configured according to any voltage and current ratings suitable for recharging a battery of a portable electronic device or the like, may be used in the power adaptor 100.
As described above, in use, the power adaptor 100 may be connected to a mains electrical power supply wall socket or the like, via the plug 101, and be used to provide mains electrical power 213 to any electronic and/or electrical device such as a computer, a television, a digital video disk (DVD) recorder or the like connected to the sockets 103 and 5 104. At the same time as providing mains electrical power 213 to the electronic/electrical device(s), a portable electronic device or the like may be connected to each one of the USB sockets 106 and 107, via separate cables (e.g., 230) and USB connectors (e.g., 228). Accordingly, batteries of the portable electronic devices may be recharged using the USB sockets 106 and 107 without having to unplug the mains powered electronic/electrical 10 devices connected to the sockets 103 and 104. The power adaptor 100 therefore overcomes the lack of mains electrical power supply sockets problem often encountered by users of portable electronic devices and the like when recharging batteries of the devices. As the power adaptor 100 provides a plurality of sockets 103 and 104, a user is able to provide mains electrical power a plurality of mains powered electronic/electrical 1s devices, such as a television, a set top box, a stereo system, and the like, and still be able to recharge batteries of their portable electronic devices. The user is also able to power a plurality of mains powered electronic/electrical devices and does not need a computer in order to be able to recharge their portable electronic devices. Industrial Applicability 20 The foregoing describes only some embodiments of the present invention, and modifications and/or changes can be made thereto without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, the embodiments being illustrative and not restrictive. For example, the power adaptor 100 is shown with two USB modules 106 and 107 (e.g., USB sockets or USB plugs). However, in other implementations the power adaptor 100 may have any -9 number of USB modules (e.g., one, two, three or more USB sockets) for recharging batteries of any number of portable electronic devices or the like. Further, while the present specification has been directed primarily to USB modules of a particular type in Fig. 3, the power adaptor 100 can support other types of USB modules, and can provide in 5 a single power adaptor 100, a number of USB modules which may be the same or different. Further, the power adaptor 100 is shown with two mains sockets 103 and 104. However, in other implementations the power adaptor 100 may have any number of electrical sockets (e.g., one, three or more electrical sockets) for providing power to any 10 number of electronic/electrical devices. Further, the power adaptor 100 is shown in Fig. I with an Australian power standard 240 volt plug 101 and sockets 103 and 104, having three pins and apertures, respectively. In other implementations, the power adaptor 100 may have any other country standard power plugs and sockets (e.g., European, United States or Japanese plugs and 15 sockets), having any suitable number of pins and apertures, respectively. Still further, the power adaptor 100 is shown in Fig. I with an Australian standard 240 volt plug 101 and sockets 103 and 104. In other implementations, the power adaptor 100 may be configured as a "travel adaptor" where the plug 101 is of a different country standard to the sockets 103 and 104. For example, in one implementation, the plug 101 20 may be a Japanese style plug while the sockets 106 and 107 are Australian style sockets. Such a travel adaptor may be used to recharge batteries of portable electronic devices while using a laptop computer, for example, when a user is travelling overseas. In the context of this specification, the word "comprising" means "including principally but not necessarily solely" or "having" or "including", and not "consisting only -10 of'. Variations of the word "comprising", such as "comprise" and "comprises" have correspondingly varied meanings.