WO2008072814A1

WO2008072814A1 - Bluetooth dongle without its charging battery

Info

Publication number: WO2008072814A1
Application number: PCT/KR2006/005590
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ki-Bum Park
Original assignee: Ki-Bum Park
Priority date: 2006-12-13
Filing date: 2006-12-20
Publication date: 2008-06-19

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a Bluetooth dongle without its own charging battery. In the Bluetooth dongle, the Bluetooth dongle is not provided with its own charging battery, and uses power supplied from a charging battery of a mobile phone as driving power. Preferably, the 20-pin or 24-pin Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA) standard-type power terminal of the mobile phone is connected to the external connection terminal of the Bluetooth dongle in order to connect with the power source of the charging battery of the mobile phone, so that driving power is supplied to the Bluetooth dongle through the power terminal of the mobile phone.

Description

Description BLUETOOTH DONGLE WITHOUT ITS CHARGING BATTERY

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to a Bluetooth dongle without its own charging battery and, more particularly, to a Bluetooth dongle without its own charging battery, which is not provided with its own charging battery for supplying power to the Bluetooth dongle, but is supplied with power from the power source battery of a mobile phone, an MP3 player or a similar information device, so that the area occupied by the charging battery in a dongle, which generally has a small size and volume, can be reduced, and parts required to accommodate the charging battery can be removed, thereby simplifying the structure of the dongle and lowering the manufacturing cost of the dongle. Background Art

[2] In general, Bluetooth functions to transmit voice information and control signals over a short distance using weak digitally-modulated radio waves. In order to use this functionality, a circuit for Bluetooth functionality must be embedded in a target device, such as a mobile phone, an MP3 player, or a similar information device.

[3] A device, which is coupled as an attachment to a mobile phone, an MP3 player or a similar information device lacking Bluetooth functionality and which provides Bluetooth functionality to the target device, is referred to as a Bluetooth dongle.

[4] Conventionally, a charging battery is provided within such a Bluetooth dongle in order to supply power to the Bluetooth dongle. In this case, even though a charging battery used as a power source is present in a target device, the Bluetooth dongle is provided with its own charging battery. As a result, the use of space and parts for accommodating a charging battery in such a dongle, which typically has a small size and volume, is inevitable, so that the size and volume of the dongle are increased and the structure of the dongle is also complicated, thereby making the fabrication of the dongle difficult. Accordingly, there is a problem of poor economy in that the manufacturing cost thereof is high. Furthermore, there is inconvenience in that a battery used as a power source or a charging battery must be replaced and charged frequently. Moreover, there is a problem in that a separate battery charger for such a charging battery is required. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem

[5] Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to enable Bluetooth functionality by connecting an external dongle to a mobile phone, an MP3 player or a similar information device when the Bluetooth functionality is not included in the target device, in which case the dongle is supplied with power from the charging battery of the target device, so that the area occupied by the charging battery, and parts required for the accommodation of the charging battery, are removed from the dongle, which generally has a small size and volume, thereby simplifying the structure of the dongle, reducing the size and volume thereof, and reducing the manufacturing cost thereof.

Technical Solution

[6] In order to accomplish the above object through the present invention, in the case of a mobile phone among target devices, a power source and control signals are connected to a 20-pin or 24-pin power terminal, which has already been standardized by the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA) in Korea, so that a dongle according to the present invention can be directly applied to the mobile phone without a change in the power terminal of the mobile phone. In order to drive the dongle, a power terminal used for the power source of the target device must be connected to the external connection terminal of the dongle, and the present invention includes the connection of the power terminal of the mobile phone to the external connection terminal of the dongle. Advantageous Effects

[7] As described above, most target devices, such as mobile phones and MP3 players, contain Bluetooth functionality, or are coupled to external dongles attached thereto externally, thereby performing the Bluetooth functionality. Meanwhile, when the power source of a target device is used as the driving power source of a dongle, a charging battery for a power source and a control circuit are not required in the dongle. Accordingly, the size and volume of the dongle can be reduced, so that the dongle can be manufactured in a small size and fabricated in various designs, in which case the dongle can be used as a mobile phone hanger. Furthermore, the present invention has advantages in that, in particular, the cost corresponding to an overcharge prevention circuit can be eliminated, so that the manufacturing cost thereof can be reduced and smaller dongles, which are more convenient to use, can be supplied to consumers at a low price, thereby improving economic efficiency. Brief Description of the Drawings

[8] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the connection of the TTA standard-type power terminal of a mobile phone to the external connection terminal of a dongle according to the present invention; and

[9] FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 are diagrams showing various embodiments of the dongle of the present invention, which are connected to the power terminals of mobile phones.

[10] <Description of reference numerals of principal elements in the drawings>

[11] 1: mobile phone 2: power terminal 3: Bluetooth dongle

[12] 4: external connection terminal 5: main body 6: cover

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[13] The construction of the present invention is described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings below.

[14] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the connection of the TTA standard- type power terminal of a mobile phone to the external connection terminal of a dongle according to the present invention. FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 are diagrams showing various embodiments of the dongle device of the present invention, which are connected to the power terminals of mobile phones.

[15] The major feature of the present invention is that the external connection terminal of a Bluetooth dongle for communicating with a Bluetooth headset (not shown) is connected to the power terminal of a mobile phone, so that a separate charging battery is not used to operate the dongle and the charging battery of a mobile phone is used as a power source for the dongle.

[16] Meanwhile, although specific elements, for example, a mobile phone, are described as examples in the detailed description and accompanying drawings of the present invention, these are provided only for the sake of a clear understanding of the present invention. Accordingly, it is apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art that these specific elements can be modified or changed within the scope of the present invention.

[17] For this purpose, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the 20-pin or 24-pin TTA standard- type power terminal 2 of a mobile phone 1 is connected to the external connection terminal 4 of a Bluetooth dongle 3 in such a way that the microphone plus reception terminal of the power terminal 2 and the microphone plus transmission terminal of the external connection terminal 4 are connected to each other via a No. 3 pin, a microphone minus reception terminal and a microphone minus transmission terminal are connected to each other via a No. 4 pin, an earphone R transmission terminal and an earphone R reception terminal are connected to each other via a No. 5 pin, an earphone L transmission terminal and an earphone L reception terminal are connected to each other via a No. 7 pin, respective remote ON/OFF terminals are connected to each other via a No. 15 pin, the charging battery anode of the power terminal 2 of the mobile phone 1 and the power source anode of the external connection terminal 4 of the Bluetooth dongle 3 are connected to each other via No. 13 and 14 pins, and a charging battery cathode and a power source cathode are connected to each other via No. 13 and 14 pins.

[18] Meanwhile, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the Bluetooth dongle 3 is configured such that the external connection terminal 4 protrudes upwards from a main body 5 having a square shape or one of various shapes, and is covered with a cover 6 that rotates around a hinge. Furthermore, when the dongle is used, the cover 6 is opened and the external connection terminal 4 is then detachably coupled to the power terminal 2 formed on the side or bottom of the mobile phone 1. In the case of another dongle 3 of FIG. 4, the external connection terminal 4 protrudes from the inner portion of a reverse "L"-shaped body and is then detachably coupled to the power terminal 2 formed on the bottom of the mobile phone 1. For the above -described cases, the dongle 3 is not provided with its own charging battery, but is operated using the power of the charging battery of the mobile phone 1, so that the shape of the dongle 3 can be formed in a small size in various ways.

[19] The functionality of the present invention, constructed as described above, is the same as that of an existing Bluetooth dongle having a charging battery in that, in the case where a circuit for the Bluetooth functionality is not embedded in a target device, such as a mobile phone or an MP3 player, the Bluetooth dongle 3 of the present invention is attached to the target device, and thus the Bluetooth functionality is performed through the Bluetooth dongle 3. That is, a user can exchange voice, information or control signals over a short distance through Bluetooth communication using weak digitally modulated radio waves. Accordingly, the operation thereof is typical, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

[20] First, in order to use the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cover 6, which covers the top of the main body 5 having a square shape or one of various shapes that constitutes the Bluetooth dongle 3, is opened, the external connection terminal 4, which protrudes upwards from the main body 5, is connected to the power terminal 2 formed on the side or the bottom of the mobile phone 1 , and then driving power is allowed to be supplied to the Bluetooth dongle 3 through the power terminal 2 of the mobile phone 1. In the case of another reverse "L"-shaped dongle 3 shown in FIG. 4, the external connection terminal 4 protruding from the inner portion is connected to the power terminal 2 at the bottom of the mobile phone 1, and then driving power is allowed to be supplied to the Bluetooth dongle 3 through the power terminal 2 of the mobile phone 1.

[21] In the case of the mobile phone 1, the power terminal 2 for implementing the above-described functionality is defined according to the TTA standard, so that the Bluetooth dongle can be easily applied thereto. Furthermore, in the case of personal portable terminals, such as PDAs, PMPs or MP3s, the transmission/reception of voice, the exchange of information and remote control can be implemented through a simple modification of additionally assigning a pin to a power terminal for connection to power. [22] Meanwhile, in the case of the mobile phone 1, it is preferable that a dongle that enables the use of a Bluetooth earphone be used. [23] Furthermore, it is preferable that such Bluetooth dongles be selectively applied to mobile phones that are supplied to a plurality of users at a low price.

Claims

[1] A Bluetooth dongle without its own charging battery, wherein the Bluetooth dongle (3) is not provided with its own charging battery, but is supplied with power from a charging battery of a mobile phone (1) and uses the power as driving power.

[2] The Bluetooth dongle as set forth in claim 1, wherein a 20-pin or 24-pin

Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA) standard-type power terminal (2) of the mobile phone (1) is connected to an external connection terminal (4) of the Bluetooth dongle (3) in order to connect with a power source of the charging battery of the mobile phone (1), so that driving power can be supplied to the Bluetooth dongle (3) through the power terminal (2) of the mobile phone (1).

[3] The Bluetooth dongle as set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein the Bluetooth dongle

(3) has the external connection terminal (4) that protrudes upwards from a square main body (5) and that is covered with a cover (6) rotatable around a side hinge, and, when the dongle (3) is used, the cover (6) is opened and the Bluetooth dongle (3) is detachably coupled to the power terminal (2) formed on a side of or at a bottom of the mobile phone (1), so that the driving power can be supplied to the Bluetooth dongle (3) through the power terminal (2) of the mobile phone (1).

[4] The Bluetooth dongle as set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein the external connection terminal (4) protrudes from an inner portion of the Bluetooth dongle (3) having a reverse "L" shape, and is detachably coupled to a power terminal (2) formed at a bottom of the mobile phone (1), so that the driving power can be supplied to the Bluetooth dongle (3) through the power terminal (2) of the mobile phone (1).