Apple awarded patent for magnetic power that could wirelessly energize keyboards & mice
Apple on Tuesday was officially awarded a patent related to wireless, magnetic power systems that could one day in the future allow low-power devices like keyboards and mice to be powered over the air, without any physical contact or even battery necessary.
AppleInsider was first to discover that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has officially granted Apple U.S. Patent No. 8,796,885, entitled "Combining Power from Multiple Resonance Magnetic Receivers in Resonance Magnetic Power System." The invention describes a system that would use wireless near-field magnetic resonance, or NFMR, to transmit power.
Apple's described system would use small form factors to both transmit and receive trace amounts of electricity, and the company noted that this technology could one day help to replace conventional batteries by including a constant supply of power to low-power devices.
In the patent, Apple notes that its goal is to create "efficient and friendly interaction between peripheral devices in a wirelessly powered local computing environment." Its system would include a NFMR power transmitter, while nearby peripheral devices would wirelessly receive power from the transmitter.
In this respect, Apple's concept would not yet be intended for portable devices such as an iPhone or iPad, which are power-hungry, require internal batteries, and are frequently used outside of a user's home. Instead, Apple pictures a small power transmitter sitting on a user's desk, supplying wireless electricity to nearby low-power peripherals such as a Magic Mouse, Magic TrackPad, or Apple wireless Bluetooth keyboard.
And while the technology could completely eliminate batteries, Apple also notes that accessories could still have small built-in batteries that could supply power in the event that the power supply is disabled or the power connection is disrupted.
Of course, it's also possible that Apple could use this technology to bring wireless recharging capabilities to the iPhone and iPad in future iterations. However, the newly granted patent discovered on Tuesday makes no mention of using the technology in larger or more complex devices.
The invention awarded to Apple was first filed with the USPTO in April of 2012. It is credited to inventors David T. Amm and Li-Quan Tan.
The patent is far from the first time that Apple has shown interest in such technology. The company described a "realistic" system in 2012 that would provide power to devices at a distance of up to one meter, while another concept could ensure that devices stay charged when sitting on store shelves.
AppleInsider was first to discover that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has officially granted Apple U.S. Patent No. 8,796,885, entitled "Combining Power from Multiple Resonance Magnetic Receivers in Resonance Magnetic Power System." The invention describes a system that would use wireless near-field magnetic resonance, or NFMR, to transmit power.
Apple's described system would use small form factors to both transmit and receive trace amounts of electricity, and the company noted that this technology could one day help to replace conventional batteries by including a constant supply of power to low-power devices.
In the patent, Apple notes that its goal is to create "efficient and friendly interaction between peripheral devices in a wirelessly powered local computing environment." Its system would include a NFMR power transmitter, while nearby peripheral devices would wirelessly receive power from the transmitter.
In this respect, Apple's concept would not yet be intended for portable devices such as an iPhone or iPad, which are power-hungry, require internal batteries, and are frequently used outside of a user's home. Instead, Apple pictures a small power transmitter sitting on a user's desk, supplying wireless electricity to nearby low-power peripherals such as a Magic Mouse, Magic TrackPad, or Apple wireless Bluetooth keyboard.
And while the technology could completely eliminate batteries, Apple also notes that accessories could still have small built-in batteries that could supply power in the event that the power supply is disabled or the power connection is disrupted.
Of course, it's also possible that Apple could use this technology to bring wireless recharging capabilities to the iPhone and iPad in future iterations. However, the newly granted patent discovered on Tuesday makes no mention of using the technology in larger or more complex devices.
The invention awarded to Apple was first filed with the USPTO in April of 2012. It is credited to inventors David T. Amm and Li-Quan Tan.
The patent is far from the first time that Apple has shown interest in such technology. The company described a "realistic" system in 2012 that would provide power to devices at a distance of up to one meter, while another concept could ensure that devices stay charged when sitting on store shelves.
Comments
Seconded.
Inductive power transfer has been known about for nearly a century. Not sure how this is new or how it can be patented, especially since there are inductively powered mice and keyboards already...
http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/05/intel-inductive-charging-keyboard/
http://www.gizmag.com/mobee-magic-bar-induction-charger/18384/
I agree! Sign me up. I have a re-chargng station next to me and swap batteries in and out for recharging for several mice each week, I don't use my wireless keyboard anymore as it ate batteries and my wireless track pad is dead as the batteries leaked inside and fused it.
At least we haven't had the 'Tesla did it first' whiners on yet.
They already say not to use Bluetooth devices if you have one, so it’s probably not a concern.
Perhaps the patent folks had more information that we do to make such a decision.
I read a ton of posts a while back when this last came up saying because the transmission and reception devices are tuned to a specific what ever they don't affect pacemakers. Not that I'd know, perhaps some physicists can chime in.
"AppleInsider was first to discover that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has officially granted Apple..."
I'm pretty sure that reading an official announcement isn't really grounds for being the "first to discover" anything. Maybe the next story will say "AppleInsider was the first to discover that the New York Times reported that.."
In any case, sounds pretty cool. I hope Apple commercializes this soon.
Physicians? Physicist physicians?
Fizz magicians.
Then, the day will come when they tell us brain tumors are sharply on the rise because of power hubs. Crap!
Since the patent (along with all others) is viewable in its entirety there's nothing that can be hidden really, there (shouldn't) be more information than that which is publicly viewable.
This is true, they need to be the same frequency to charge/communicate. These kind of tuned circuits can emit harmonics though which may interfere with pacemakers unless the harmonics are damped. There aren't really any standards used in non-RFID equipment for inductive power transfer, so the frequency could be anything. As long as the frequency chosen for Apple's inductive power isn't close to the pacemaker frequency (dunno about standards on pacemakers) though it should be fine.
The efficiency of inductive power transfer is very poor though, and an exponential increase in input power is required for the same output power as the distance between the coils increases.
On the plus side, we'll be able to fry eggs on our foreheads.
Cool. But I'm waiting for the day when we can ditch power cables and wires altogether. I hate the jungle of cords, but I guess this would be a nice start. I could see a power hub -- one cord connected to a small device -- that powers everything nearby: computer, phone, speakers, wi-fi, tv....everything!
Then, the day will come when they tell us brain tumors are sharply on the rise because of power hubs. Crap!
On the plus side, we'll be able to fry eggs on our foreheads.
Yes, but the mystery would be, why would we want to?I found this to be interesting (from the patent):
Other interesting tidbits to me are 1) the mention of "portable media player" as being part of a virtual charging area; and 2) the keyboard being able to re-resonate power to the mouse to make up for any power loss due to interference with the direct power channel from the NFMR power supply.
Don't take that away from them...they were soooooo close to having an exclusive. So close. They probably have a google news alert placed on the nowhereelse.fr website to monitor it for new content, for the same reason. Like Samsung, AppleInsider wants to be first to copy
I prefer the wired keyboard with numeric. I have never liked any Apple mouse ever made. I prefer a wired Logitech M500, which is getting hard to find anywhere except online. I find them more accurate and lighter than any wireless mice I have tried.
Cool. But I'm waiting for the day when we can ditch power cables and wires altogether. I hate the jungle of cords, but I guess this would be a nice start. I could see a power hub -- one cord connected to a small device -- that powers everything nearby: computer, phone, speakers, wi-fi, tv....everything!
Then, the day will come when they tell us brain tumors are sharply on the rise because of power hubs. Crap!
On the plus side, we'll be able to fry eggs on our foreheads.
Yes, but the mystery would be, why would we want to?
Why waste a hothead?