Swappable Multi-Component Wearable Device Power Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wearable smart devices face challenges in providing continuous power, as they often need to be separated from the user to charge, disrupting their ability to track activities effectively.
Innovation Solution
A wearable activity tracker or two-way communication device design that allows for quick swapping of power sources, enabling continuous operation by housing power sources within wristbands and using magnets and sliders for easy attachment and detachment of processing units, allowing for seamless power transfer and extended usage without prolonged removal from the user.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If the wearable device is separated from the user to charge, then the battery can be recharged, but the device cannot effectively track activity of the wearer during charging
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into separate components: a processing unit with electronics and a removable battery unit. This allows the battery to be quickly detached and replaced without removing the entire device from the wearer, enabling continuous activity tracking while maintaining power supply capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables rapid replacement of depleted battery units with charged battery units. Used battery units can be recovered and recharged separately while the processing unit remains on the wearer, ensuring continuous operation and tracking capability.
2Device complexity
If the device is designed as a single integrated unit, then the structure is simpler, but the device cannot be quickly recharged without full removal from the user
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into separate components: a processing unit with electronics and a removable battery unit. This allows the battery to be quickly detached and replaced without removing the entire device from the wearer, enabling continuous activity tracking while maintaining power supply capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple battery units can be pre-charged in advance. When one battery is depleted, a pre-charged battery is already available for immediate replacement, eliminating waiting time and ensuring continuous operation without full device removal.
3Loss of time
If the battery unit is made removable for quick swapping, then power source replacement is faster, but the connection reliability between battery and processing unit may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs magnetic coupling between the battery unit and processing unit instead of traditional mechanical connectors. The magnets provide automatic alignment and secure attachment, ensuring reliable electrical contact through the interface while enabling rapid attachment and detachment without complex mechanical operations.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables continuous tracking and communication by ensuring high uptime of the device, minimizing downtime when switching power sources, and allowing for activity monitoring during both active and sleep periods.
Implementation Method 1
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/041,927, filed on the same day, Feb. 11, 2016, entitled 'Magnetically-Coupled Multi-Component Communication Devices and Methods'
Data Source
AI summary
Various activity tracker and communication devices are presented. Such devices may include a processing unit and a battery unit. Such devices may also include a flexible band unit, that includes a first band and a second band that removably couple with each other and a component housing that defines a top window and a bottom window. In some embodiments, the battery unit may be inserted within a cavity defined by the component housing such that a top window permits the processing unit to be viewed when the processing unit is installed in the component housing, but the top window is sized to not permit the processing unit and the battery unit to be removed through the top window.