WO2019228656A1

WO2019228656A1 - Wearable charging device

Info

Publication number: WO2019228656A1
Application number: PCT/EP2018/069249
Authority: WO
Inventors: Brendan Tschabold
Original assignee: Brendan Tschabold
Priority date: 2018-06-02
Filing date: 2018-07-16
Publication date: 2019-12-05
Also published as: WO2019228929A1

Abstract

A wearable charging device (2) for charging a wearable device (4), such as a smartwatch, fitness bracelet or an alerting device, comprises a flat charging section (6) and a bulkier battery section (8) containing a battery (18). The charging section (6) can be inserted between the wearable device (4) and the user's body. It comprises an opening (14) for allowing access of the wearable device's sensors to the user's skin. The charging device (2) can be used to charge the wearable device (4) while it is being worn by the user.

Description

i

Wearable Charging device

Technical Field

The invention relates to a charging device and to a use of such a charging device for charging a wearable device.

Background Art

Wearable devices, such as smart watches, fitness bracelets, and/or communication devices, can integrate rich functionality, but they are known to require substantial power, especially if the device has a screen that is not turned off/dimmed or if it uses WiFi or Bluetooth or general communication (e.g. a cellular network) a lot. Thus, a user has to recharge them regularly, often at least once a day. To do so, the device has to be re- moved from the body and to be connected to a charging station. While the device is being charged, it cannot be used or only be used with limited functionality. This can be a problem, in particular for users who need vital mon^¬ itoring functions like heart rate, blood pressure, or an SOS function.

This is a particularly severe limitation for alerting devices that have SOS functionality.

Disclosure of the Invention

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a system that alleviates such charging issues.

This problem is solved by the independent claims . Hence, in a first aspect, the invention relates to a wearable charging device comprising the following elements:

- A housing: This is a single-piece or multi piece housing e.g. forming the exterior structure of the device .

- A battery: The battery provides power for charging the wearable device. It is arranged in the hous ing .

- A charging interface: The charging inter face can be connected to the wearable device for charging it. The details of its structure depend on the charging standard used by the wearable device.

- A driver: The driver is functionally arranged between the battery and the charging interface. It provides the circuitry for feeding power from the battery to the charging interface. It e.g. comprises power limit ers, voltage converters, temperature controller, oscillators, etc. The nature of the circuitry depends on the charging standard used by the wearable device.

Further, the housing forms a charging section having a first and a second surface and having a height, measured along a first direction extending between said first and said second surface. This height is less than 5 mm.

A device of this type is suited for insertion under a wearable device, i.e. the charging section can be inserted below the wearable device, i.e. between the wearable device and the user's body, thus allowing to charge the wearable device while it is being worn. Once the wearable device has been charged (usually after one or two hours) , the charging device can be removed.

The charging section can be even thinner, in particular less than 2 m , in order to fit even more eas ily under the wearable device.

Advantageously, the charging section is flat. In an advantageous embodiment, the charging section comprises an opening/hole extending therethrough, between its first and its second surface. Such an opening allows sensors on the wearable device to still have ac cess (and monitor) to the user's body surface.

Advantageously, the charging device comprises a coil arranged in the charging section. Such a coil can be used for wirelessly charging the wearable device, e.g. using the Qi-standard.

In particular, the coil can be arranged to extend around the opening in the charging section.

In one embodiment, the housing forms at least one battery section arranged at an edge of the charging section, in particular at an edge of said first and sec ond surface. The battery is arranged in the battery sec tion. The height- of the battery section along said first direction is at least twice of the height of the charging section .

In one embodiment, there is only one battery section arranged at a single side of the charging sec tion. In this case, the charging section forms a tongue that can easily be slid below the wearable device until the battery section comes to rest laterally against the wearable device.

In another embodiment, the charging device can have two or more battery sections on opposite sides of the charging section. In this case, the wearable de vice can be nested between the two battery sections.

Advantageously, the first and/or the second surface of the charging section is/are concave in at least one second direction perpendicular to the first di rection. This is to be understood such that the given surface appears to be concave in a sectional view along a plane containing the first and second directions. This allows the first or second direction to better adapted to the convex shape of the user's body and/or the wearable device . The invention also relates to the use of such a charging device for charging a wearable device while it is being worn by the user. In other words, the user does not take off the wearable device for charging.

For this use, the charging section of the charging device can be inserted between the wearable device and the body of the user.

The wearable device can e.g. be a watch, in particular a smartwatch, a medical monitoring device, a smart- or fitness bracelet, and/or an alerting device adapted to alert the user or a third party of an emer gency situation (SOS-device) .

Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become ap parent when consideration is given to the following de tailed description thereof. This description makes refer ence to the annexed drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view of a first embodiment of a wearable charging device,

Fig. 2 is a top view of the charging device of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a lateral view of the charging device of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a top view of the charging device of Fig. 1 under a smartwatch,

Fig. 5 is a lateral view of the arrangement of Fig. 4 as seen from a direction tangential to the wristband,

Fig. 6 is a lateral view of the arrangement of Fig. 4 as seen from a direction perpendicular to the wristband, Fig. 7 is a top view of a second embodiment of a charging device charging a smartwatch,

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of the charging device along line VIII-VIII of Fig. 7,

Fig. 9 is a sectional view of the charging device along line IX-IX of Fig. 7,

Fig. 10 is a view of a third embodiment of the charging device, e.g. with two battery sections,

Fig. 11 is a top view of the charging device of Fig. 11,

Fig. 12 is a first lateral view of the charging device of Fig. 11,

Fig. 13 is a second lateral view of the charging device of Fig. 11, and

Fig. 14 is a block circuit diagram of a pos sible embodiment of the components of the charging de vice .

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

First embodiment:

Figs. 1 - 3 show a first embodiment of a charging device 2 and Figs. 4 - 6 show it while charging a wearable device 4.

The shown charging device comprises a charg ing section 6 and a battery section 8.

Charging section 6 has a first surface 10 and a second surface 12 (Fig. 3) .

In a first direction XI extending between first surface 10 and second surface 12, and in particular perpendicular thereto, charging section 6 is thin enough to be inserted between a wearable device and the user's body.

Hence, along first direction XI, the height HI of charging section 6 is, in particular at all its points, less than 5 mm, in particular less than 2 mm. In the second and third directions X2, X3, which are perpendicular to first direction XI and to each other, charging section 6 has extensions H2, H3 that are much larger in order to give the device a firm hold while in its charging position. Both these extensions are advantageously at least 1 cm. In particular, at least one or both of H2, H3 are at least 2 cm.

Charging section 6 advantageously comprises an opening 14 extending therethrough from first surface 10 to second surface 12. Opening 12 allows sensors at the inner surface of the wearable device to access the user'^' s skin .

Advantageously, opening 14 has, in any direc tion perpendicular to first direction XI, a diameter D of at least 10 m , and in particular along at least one such direction a diameter of at least 20 mm.

Charging device 2 further comprises a battery section 8, which is arranged at an edge 16 of charging section 6. Battery section 8 contains a battery 18 hold ing the energy for charging the wearable device.

The height B1 (see Fig. 3) of battery section 8 along first direction XI can be considerably larger than the height HI of charging section 6 because, during charging the wearable device, battery section 8 is ar ranged laterally to the wearable device.

In particular, height Bl of the battery section can be at least two times larger than height Hi of the charging section. For example, it can be at least 8 mm.

Along first direction XI, battery section 8 extends beyond first surface 10. It may also extend, typ^¬ ically to a lesser degree, beyond second surface 12. It advantageously extends further beyond first surface 10 than second surface 12 because, while charging the weara^¬ ble device, there is room on the side of first surface 10 while the user's body is located at the side of second surface 12. In a particularly advantageous embodiment, battery section 8 is flush with second surface 12, as shown in Fig. 3.

Advantageously, charging section 6 is fixedly mounted to battery section 8.

Charging device 2 has a housing 9, which can be a single-part of a multi-part housing, and which is e.g. formed at least in part by the outer surface of charging section 6 and battery section 8.

In the embodiment of Figs. 1 - 3, charging device 2 has only one battery section 8 located at one side of charging section 6. Charging section 6 extends away from battery section 8 along second direction X2, for the distance H2 (i.e. at least by 10 mm, in particu lar at least by 20 mm) . Thus, charging section 6 can be easily slid under a wearable device for charging the same .

Charging section 6 comprises a charging interface 19 for charging the wearable device. As mentioned above, its nature depends on the charging standard used by the wearable device.

If, for example, charging device 2 is in tended to charge_^ wearable devices using the Qi standard, the PMA (Power Matters Alliance) standard, or the AirFuel standard, the charging interface 19 will comprise a coil 20, as it is schematically shown in Fig. 2.

If charging device 2 is intended to charge wearable devices using direct electrode contact pads, charging interface 19 will comprise suitable contacts 22 (Fig. 2) on either side of first surface 10.

If charging device 2 is intended to charge wearable devices using capacitive coupling, charging interface 19 will comprise suitable capacitive electrodes (not shown) .

Charging interface 19 may also embody a com bination of different charging techniques. If a coil 20 is provided, is advantageously extends around opening 14 as shown in Fig. 2.

Figs. 4 - 6 show the charging device of Figs. 1 - 3 while charging a wearable device 4. In the shown embodiment, the wearable device 4 comprises a housing 24 and a wristband 26.

In the shown embodiment, wearable device 4 comprises a user-operatable interface element 28, such as a knob or button, at an edge thereof.

When using a charging device 2 has its bat tery section 8 at one side only, such as the one shown in Figs. 1 - 6, the charging device will not obstruct inter face element 28 during charging.

Second embodiment:

Figs. 7 - 9 show a second embodiment of charging device 2.

This embodiment differs from the first one in that it comprises a centering element 30, which is lo cated along the periphery of charging section 6. It extends, in first direction XI, beyond first surface 10 by a height M (Fig. 8), and it forms (optionally together with charging section 8) a cradle or recess 32 for receiving the wearable device and centering the same on charging section 6 in the second and/or third directions X2 , X3.

Centering element 30 can comprise a single, continuous projection or bulge, as shown, or it can com prise a plurality of individual projections.

At least, centering element 30 should form at least one first projection 30a on the side of the charg ing device opposite to battery section 8 in order to cen ter wearable device 4 along second direction X2. It may also form projections 30b, 30c at edges of charging sec^¬ tion 6 opposed along third direction X3 in order to cen ter wearable device 4 along third direction X3. Height M should be at least 1 mm for provid ing good guidance to wearable device 4.

Advantageously, height M should be no more than 5 m , in particular no more than 3 mm, in order not to obstruct wristband 26 and/or interface element 28.

Third embodiment:

Figs. 10 - 13 show a third embodiment of charging device 2.

This embodiment comprises two battery sections 8 at opposite sides of charging section 6. The two battery sections 8 together with charging section 6 for a cradle for receiving wearable device 4, as shown in Fig. 11.

Charging section 6 can again comprise an opening 14 for the sensors of wearable device 4.

Just like all embodiments, the charging interface of this charging device may comprise a coil, electrodes, and/or contacts 22 for feeding power to the wearable device.

This design is particularly suited for wearable devices 4 without interface elements at their edges.

Circuitry :

As mentioned, the circuitry of charging de vice 2 strongly depends on the type of charging interface .

Fig. 14 show a block circuit diagram for a charging device adapted to use the Qi standard for charg ing the wearable device.

In particular, charging device 2 comprises a driver 36 functionally arranged between battery 18 and charging interface 19. It is adapted and structured to feed power from battery 18 to charging interfaced .

In the shown embodiment, driver 36 comprises, by way of example, an AC generator 38 and a current amplifier 40. Depending on the interface used, driver 36 may also comprise e.g. a voltage upconverter and/or cur rent limiters, etc., in order to match the output of bat ter 18 to charging interface 19.

Charging device 2 also comprises components to charge battery 18 using an external charger. These may e.g. comprise a USB interface or any other wire-bound interface 42 for charging battery 18 directly.

In addition to this, or alternatively

thereto, driver 36 may also be adapted and structured to feed power from charging interfaced to said battery 18. In this case, charging interface 19 can not only be used to charge wearable device 4 but also to receive power in order to charge battery 18.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 14, driver 36 comprises a filter 44, a rectifier 46, and a charging controller 48 for receiving power through charging inter face 19 and feeding it to battery 18.

The operations of driver 36 are controlled by a control unit 50, such as a microprocessor.

Driver 36 further comprises a temperature sensor 52, which is used to limit the temperature of charging device 2.

In particular, driver 36 is structured to limit the temperature of charging device 2 while charging and/or discharging battery 18 to a threshold temperature Ts. Advantageously, the threshold temperature Ts is lower than 50°C, in particular lower than 4Q°C. Since charging device 2 can be worn against the user's skin, such a low threshold temperature is advisable.

Limiting the temperature can e.g. be carried out by control unit 50 limiting the average current through battery 18.

Notes : At least the first and/or the second surface 10, 12 of the charging section can be provided with an area or a full coating of a rubber-like material in order to increase friction. This is of particular advantage on the first surface 10 because it helps to retain charging device 2 in its proper position in respect to wearable device 6.

Not only first surface 10 but also (or alter natively) second surface 12 can be concave in at least one direction perpendicular to first direction XI in or der to better fit against a user's curved body part, such as an arm.

The charging device can comprise a magnet, in particular in charging section 6, for positioning it against wearable device 4.

The charging device can be equipped to emit a sound once charging is complete.

The charging device and/or its charging sec tion 6 may have a thickness between 2 and 3 mm.

While there are shown and described presently preferred embodiments of the invention, it is to be dis tinctly understood that the invention is not limited thereto but may be otherwise variously embodied and prac ticed within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. Ά wearable charging device comprising a housing (9) ,

a battery (18) arranged in said housing (9), a charging interface (19),

a driver (36) arranged between said battery (18) and said charging interface (19),

wherein said housing (9) forms a charging section (6) having a first and a second surface (10, 12) and having a height (HI) , along a first direction (XI) extending between said first and said second surface (10, 12), of less than 5 mm, in particular of less than 2 mm.

2. The charging device of claim 1 wherein said charging section (6) comprises an opening (14) extending between said first and said second surface (10, 12) through said charging section (6) .

3. The charging device of claim 2 wherein said opening (14) has a diameter (D) of at least 10 mm, in particular of at least 20 mm.

4. The charging device of any of the preced ing claims wherein said charging interface (19) comprises a coil (20) arranged in said charging section (6).

5. The charging device of claim 4 and of any of the claims 2 or 3, wherein said coil (20) extends around said opening (14) .

6. The charging device of any of the preced ing claims, wherein said housing (9) forms at least one battery section (8) arranged at an edge (16) of the charging section (6), wherein said battery (18) is ar ranged in said battery section (8) and wherein a height (Bl) of said battery section (8) along said first direc^¬ tion (XI) is at least two times larger than the height (HI) of said charging section (6).

7. The charging device of claim 6 wherein the height (Bl) of said battery section (8) is at least 8 mm.

8. The charging device of any of the claims 6 or 7 wherein, in said first direction (XI) , said battery section (8) extends further beyond said first surface (10) than above said second surface (12), and in particular wherein said battery section (8) is flush with said second surface (12).

9. The charging device of any of the claims 6 to 8 comprising only one battery section (8) arranged at a single side of said charging section (6).

10. The charging device of any of the claims 6 to 8 comprising at least two battery sections (6), in particular exactly two battery sections (6), on opposite sides of said charging section (6) .

11. The charging device of any of the preced ing claims further comprising at least centering element (30) located at a periphery of said charging section (6) and extending, along said first direction (XI) , above said first surface (10) .

12. The charging device of any of the preced ing claims wherein a minimum diameter of said charging section (6) in at least one direction (X2, X3) perpendic^¬ ular to said first direction (XI) , in particular in any direction perpendicular to said first direction (XI) , is at least 1 cm, in particular at least 2 cm.

13. The charging device of any of the preced ing claims wherein the driver (36) is adapted and struc tured to feed power from said battery (18) to said charg- ing interface (19) .

14. The charging device of claim 13 wherein said driver (36) is further adapted and structured to also feed power from said charging interface (19) to said battery ( 18 ) .

15. The charging device of any of the preced ing claims, wherein said first and/or second surface (10, 12) is/are concave in at least one direction (X2, X3) perpendicular to said first direction (XI) .

16. The charging device of any of the preced ing claims comprising a temperature sensor (52), wherein said driver (36) is adapted and structured to limit a temperature of said charging device, while charging and/or discharging said battery (18), to a threshold tem perature (Ts) , wherein said threshold temperature (Ts) is lower than 50°C, in particular lower than 40°C.

17. The charging device of any of the preced ing claims wherein said charging interface (19) comprises electrical contacts (22) arranged on said charging section (6) .

18. Use of the charging device of any of the preceding claims for charging a wearable device while it is being worn by a user.

19. The use of claim 18 comprising the step of inserting said charging section (6) between said wear able device and a body section of said user.