Patent Publication Number: US-8541985-B1

Title: Multifunctional portable power bank

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a portable power bank, and more particularly to a multifunctional portable power bank that is conveniently portable and enables not only data access and expansion of access device via local or wireless networks but also supply of electric power for charging other electronic devices at any time. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A wide range of portable electronic devices currently available in the market, such as smartphones, tablet computers and the like, has been configured to support fast-response and human-centered applications. For this purpose, advanced processors and many sensing elements are employed in designing the portable electronic devices. However, since the advanced processors and sensing elements consume a high amount of power during the operation thereof, the portable electronic devices using them must be supplied with supplementary power from time to time. 
     Currently, storage devices are provided for data access by users. For example, the portable power bank for mobile phone, NAND Flash storage and hard disk drive all are very common storage devices. Among others, the power bank also serves as a personal wireless server and a large-capacity storage device, but it has a relatively big volume and is therefore not conveniently portable. 
     In recent years, due to the popularization of Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface and flash memory, USB flash disk—an alternative product having big storage capacity, excellent compatibility and good portability—has been developed to enable convenient data transmission and transfer between different computers and storage devices. 
     Further, a mobile hard disk drive (HDD) combining an external HDD tray with a removable HDD or a USB flash disk is developed. Data on the mobile HDD can be accessed and transmitted by connecting the mobile HDD to a USB interface. However, the above data access and transmission requires a cable. 
     When a user wants to copy and transfer data on the mobile HDD via a wireless network, the user must also carry about a wireless network card, a mobile storage device and a mobile power supply with him or her. Since the mobile storage device does not include any power supply unit, it has to be powered by the mobile power supply to enable normal operation thereof and is therefore not convenient for use. Moreover, while the mobile storage device provides a relatively big storage capacity, it is heavy and bulky and accordingly not suitable for carrying about with the user. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A primary object of the present invention is to provide a multifunctional portable power bank that can charge a mobile device while enabling another mobile device to access data via the Internet or other wireless manners. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a multifunctional portable power bank that can serve as a server and enable cloud access. 
     A further object of the present invention is to provide a multifunctional portable power bank that can serve as a router. 
     A still further object of the present invention is to provide a multifunctional portable power bank that includes a built-in flash memory to serve as a storage device and allows access to the flash memory via network streaming. 
     A still further object of the present invention is to provide a multifunctional portable power bank that allows a hard disk drive (HDD), a card reader or a pen drive to connect thereto to serve as an external expanded access device, and allows access to the external expanded access device via network streaming. 
     To achieve the above and other objects, the multifunctional portable power bank according to the present invention includes a main body internally defining a chamber, in which a battery is mounted; and a circuit board arranged in the chamber of the main body and connected to the battery. The circuit board includes a buck converter connected to a first connector and the battery; a booster connected to the battery and a second connector; a first control unit connected to the buck converter, the booster, a changeover switch and an LED indicator for controlling the buck converter to reduce an external power supply supplied thereto to a voltage matching that of a battery power of the battery and controlling the booster to boost the battery power supplied thereto to a preset voltage; a second control unit connected to the first control unit and a wireless transmission unit, and including a connection interface, an Ethernet interface, and a plurality of modules supporting network and file access for controlling network/cloud data transmission and access; an Ethernet connector connected to the Ethernet interface; a regulator connected to the battery and the second control unit, so that the battery power is supplied to the second control unit and the wireless transmission unit via the regulator; and a connector unit connected to the connection interface of the second control unit, a flash memory and a third connector. The connector unit includes a hub/switch and a controller; the hub/switch is connected to the controller and the third connector, and the controller is connected to the flash memory. 
     The main body includes an upper case and a lower case connected to each other to define the chamber therebetween. The upper case has a top wall and a plurality of sidewalls perpendicularly and downwardly extended from peripheral edges of the top wall. The top wall is provided with a push button corresponding to the changeover switch and a plurality of light-transmitting sections corresponding to the LED indicator. One of the sidewalls is provided with a plurality of through holes corresponding to the first connector, the second connector, the third connector, and the Ethernet connector, respectively. 
     According to the present invention, the first, second and third connectors are USB connectors, the connector unit is a USB connector unit, the hub/switch is a USB hub/switch, and the controller is a USB controller; and the connection interface is a USB connection interface. 
     According to the present invention, the second connector is configured for connecting to a device to be charged, so as to charge the device; and the third connector is configured for connecting to an external storage device, so that the second control unit uses the external storage device as an expanded access device. 
     According to the present invention, the external storage device includes, but not limited to, a hard disk drive, a card reader or a pen drive; the plurality of modules supporting network and file access include a server module, a router module, a cloud storage management module, a file system module and a secure sockets layer (SSL) module. 
     According to the present invention, the first control unit and the second control unit are connected to each other via a bus; and the wireless transmission unit includes an antenna. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment and the accompanying drawings, wherein 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of a multifunctional portable power bank according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an assembled view of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional side view of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4A  is a block diagram of a circuit board for the multifunctional portable power bank according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4B  is a block diagram showing the connection of the present invention to an external power supply, a device to be charged, and an external storage device; 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram of a second control unit for the multifunctional portable power bank according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a block diagram of a wireless transmission unit for the multifunctional portable power bank according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a conceptual view showing the application of the present invention to remote connection; and 
         FIG. 8  is a conceptual view showing the application of the present invention to local connection. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The present invention will now be described with a preferred embodiment thereof and with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 1 ,  2  and  3 , in which a multifunctional portable power bank according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown. As shown, the multifunctional portable power bank of the present invention includes a main body  10  including an upper case  11  and a lower case  12  connected to each other to define a chamber  18  between them, and a battery  20  and a circuit board  30  arranged in the chamber  18 . 
     The battery  20  receives an external power supply (V out ) for storing electric power therein, and the stored electric power can be output as a battery power (V bat ). The output battery power can be, but not limited to, a direct current of 3.6V˜5V. The battery  20  can be, but not limited to, a lithium-ion battery, a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery, a lead-acid battery, or a lithium manganese battery. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 4A . The circuit board  30  includes a buck converter  302  connected to a first connector  301  and the battery  20 ; a booster  303  connected to the battery  20  and a second connector  307 ; a first control unit  305  connected to the buck converter  302 , the booster  303 , a changeover switch  306 , and a light-emitting-diode (LED) indicator  308 . When the external power supply (V out ) is supplied via the first connector  301  to the buck converter  302 , the first control unit  305  controls the buck converter  302  to reduce the external power supply to a voltage matching that of the battery power of the battery  20 . When the battery  20  is fully charged, the first control unit  305  stops the external power supply (V out ) from charging the battery  20  any further to protect the battery  20  against overcharging. The first control unit  305  also prevents the battery power of the battery  20  from being overly output to a device being charged. Further, when the battery power (V bat ) of the battery  20  is output via the booster  303  to the second connector  307 , the first control unit  305  controls the booster  303  to boost the battery power (V bat ) to a preset voltage. 
     A second control unit  310  is connected to the first control unit  305  via a bus  309 . A wireless transmission unit  311  is connected to the second control unit  310  and includes an antenna  3111 . The second control unit  310  includes a connection interface  3101 , an Ethernet interface  3102 , and a plurality of modules supporting network and file access (shown in  FIG. 5 ) for controlling network/cloud data transmission and access. An Ethernet connector  312  is connected to the Ethernet interface  3102 . 
     A regulator  314  is connected to the battery  20  and the second control unit  310 . The battery power (V bat ) is supplied via and regulated by the regulator  314  to form a battery power with a stable voltage for supplying to the second control unit  310  and the wireless transmission unit  311 . 
     A connector unit  313  is connected to the connection interface  3101  of the second control unit  310 , and includes a hub/switch  3131  and a controller  3132 . The hub/switch  3131  is connected to the controller  3132  and the connection interface  3101 . In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the connector unit  313  is preferably a USB connector unit, the hub/switch  3131  is preferably a USB hub/switch, and the controller  3132  is preferably a USB controller; and the connection interface  3101  is preferably a USB connection interface. 
     A flash memory  316  is connected to the controller  3132 . The controller  3132  operates based on data input to the flash memory  316  and generates an error detection code (EDC) or an error correction code (ECC). A third connector  315  is connected to the hub/switch  3131 . 
     The first connector  301  can be, but not limited to, a mini USB connector; and the second and the third connector  307 ,  315  can respectively be, but not limited to, a USB connector, as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . Herein, the USB referred to generally includes USB1.0, USB2.0 and USB3.0. As shown in  FIG. 4B , the first connector  301  in the preferred embodiment can be connected to an external power supply  40  for charging the battery  20 ; the second connector  307  can be connected to a device to be charged  41 , such as a smartphone or other tablet computer, and the third connector  315  can be connected to an external storage device  42 . When the device to be charged  41  is connected to the second connector  307  and charged by the battery power of the battery  20 , the first control unit  305  detects whether the device  41  has been fully charged. If yes, the first control unit  305  would stop the battery  20  from charging the device  41  any further. When the external storage device  42  is connected to the third connector  315 , the second control unit  310  detects the existence of the external storage device  42  and uses the latter as an expanded access device. The external storage device  42  includes, but not limited to, a hard disk drive (HDD), a card reader, or a pen drive. 
       FIG. 5  is a block diagram of the second control unit  310  showing the plurality of modules therein for supporting network and file access includes a server module  3103 , a router module  3104 , a cloud storage management module  3105 , a file system module  3106 , and an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) module  3107 . The server module  3103  includes a Web server and an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) server, an HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) server, or an SFTP (Secure Shell File Transfer Protocol) server. With the server module  3013 , the multifunctional portable power bank of the present invention can serve as a server. When a client is connected to the portable power bank of the present invention in a wired or a wireless manner, contents on the server, i.e. the portable power bank, can be browsed or accessed via a browser or an APP (application) on the client. The contents on the server can include text data, graphic data and multimedia data stored in the flash memory  316  or stored in the external storage device  42 , as shown in  FIG. 4B . With the router module  3104 , the multifunctional portable power bank of the present invention can be connected to devices over more than two separate networks. The cloud storage management module  3105  supports a client to upload the client&#39;s data via the Internet for storing the data in the flash memory  316  of the multifunctional portable power bank or the external storage device  42 , as shown in  FIG. 4B . The file system module  3106  manages data in the flash memory  316  and data in the external storage device  42 , as shown in  FIG. 4B . The SSL module  3107  provides transmission security over the Internet to ensure confidentiality and integrity of communication and authenticates a server&#39;s identity. 
       FIG. 6  is a block diagram of the wireless transmission unit  311 . As shown, the wireless transmission unit  311  includes a Wi-Fi module  3112 , a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) module  3113 , and a radio frequency (RF) module  3114 . With these modules  3112 ,  3113 ,  3114 , the multifunctional portable power bank of the present invention supports wireless transmission protocols and upgrades the quality of wireless transmission. The wireless transmission unit  311  further includes a media access control (MAC) address module  3115  for filtering clients based on their MAC addresses, so as to admit or deny the connection of clients to the wireless network. In this manner, it is able to effectively control the wireless clients&#39; access right. 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 1 to 3  again. The upper case  11  includes a top wall  13  and a plurality of sidewalls  14   a ˜ 14   d  perpendicularly downwardly extended from peripheral edges of the top wall  13 . The top wall  13  is provided with a push button  15  corresponding to the changeover switch  306 , and a plurality of light-transmitting sections  16  corresponding to the LED indicator  308 . One of the sidewalls  14   a ˜ 14   d , such as the sidewall  14   a , is provided with a plurality of through holes  17   a ˜ 17   d  corresponding to the first connector  301 , the second connector  307 , the third connector  315  and the Ethernet connector  312 , respectively. 
     The applications of the multifunctional portable power bank of the present invention in remote connection and local connection are now explained with two examples as below. 
     Remote Connection 
     Please refer to  FIG. 7  along with  FIGS. 4A ,  4 B and  5 . The multifunctional portable power bank of the present invention can be connected to a Wide Area Network (WAN)  44  by connecting an Ethernet cable  43  to the Ethernet connector  312 ; to a device to be charged  41 , such as a smartphone, by connecting a transmission cable to the second connector  307 ; and to an external storage device  42 , such as a portable external hard disk drive, by connecting a transmission cable to the third connector  315 . When the changeover switch  306  is turned on, the battery power of the battery  20  is supplied to the first control unit  305 , the second control unit  310 , the wireless transmission unit  311  and the LED indicator  308  for them to work. The first control unit  305  controls the battery power of the battery  20  to charge the device to be charged  41  via the second connector  307  while detects whether the device  41  has been fully charged. When it is detected the device  41  has been fully charged, the first control unit  305  controls the battery  20  to stop charging the device  41 . Meanwhile, via the bus  309 , the first control unit  305  informs the second control unit  310  to actuate the router module  3104  in the second control unit  310 . Another mobile device  46  at a remote location can be connected to the multifunctional portable power bank of the present invention by connecting to the WAN via a wireless hotspot. And, through linking of a browser or a suitable APP in the mobile device  46  to the server module  3103  and the cloud storage management module  3105  in the second control unit  310 , the remote mobile device  46  can browse or access the contents in the flash memory  316  and the external storage device  42 . 
     Local Connection 
     Please refer to  FIG. 8  along with  FIGS. 4A ,  4 B and  5 . A device to be charged  41 , such as a smartphone, can be connected via a transmission cable to the second connector  307 . An external storage device  42 , such as a portable external hard disk drive, can be connected via a transmission cable to the third connector  315 . When the changeover switch  306  is turned on, the battery power of the battery  20  is supplied to the first control unit  305 , the second control unit  310 , the wireless transmission unit  311  and the LED indicator  308  for them to work. The first control unit  305  controls the battery power of the battery  20  to charge the device to be charged  41  via the second connector  307  while detects whether the device  41  has been fully charged. When it is detected the device  41  has been fully charged, the first control unit  305  controls the battery  20  to stop charging the device  41 . Meanwhile, via the bus  309 , the first control unit  305  informs the second control unit  310  to actuate the router module  3104  in the second control unit  310 . The second control unit  310  also enables the Wi-Fi module  3112  and/or the MIMO module  3113  and/or the RF module  3114  and/or the MAC address module  3115  in the wireless transmission unit  311 . Another mobile device  47  within a local area can be wirelessly connected to the wireless transmission unit  311  via a wireless signal, such as a Wi-Fi signal, transmitted by the mobile device  47  and received by the antenna  3111 . And, through linking of a browser or a suitable APP in the mobile device  47  to the server module  3103  and the cloud storage management module  3105  in the second control unit  310 , the remote mobile device  47  can browse or access the contents in the flash memory  316  and the external storage device  42 . 
     The present invention has been described with a preferred embodiment thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in the described embodiment can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.