Patent Publication Number: US-2012028080-A1

Title: Portable electronic device with heater system

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This invention relates generally to portable electronic devices, and more particularly, to such devices that are suitable for use in extreme or cold environments. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Portable electronic devices have become nearly ubiquitous in all facets of modern life. Portable or mobile computers, cellular telephones, Global Positioning System (GPS) devices, portable music players, two-way radios, and many other electronic devices are typically carried by people throughout their day, sometimes for recreation, but often for work. 
     For example, in many different jobs, portable electronic devices have become useful tools to assist a worker in the performance of their job. One such useful product is the TALKMAN® product available from Vocollect of Pittsburgh, Pa. The TALKMAN® product is a voice or speech-based portable computer device that interacts and communicates with a remote central system, and provides a speech dialog with a worker for directing them in the performance of various work tasks. Such a portable computer device is carried by a worker who interfaces with the device using speech, such as through a headset. Portable electronic devices are generally battery-powered to provide the desired portability or mobility, and are carried in various work environments during their use. 
     In certain environmental conditions, and more specifically very cold conditions, the batteries that provide power to these portable electronic devices lose their effective charge level more quickly over time. Therefore, in such environments, the life span of the batteries for a portable device is significantly limited. For example, in using a portable computer device within a speech-based system, a worker might be directed to move around to fill an order, re-stock an item, or generally manage the flow of inventory in a large facility, such as a distribution warehouse. Such speech-based systems are often utilized in filling orders for the distribution of food, such as from a centrally-located warehouse to a plurality of nearby supermarkets. For certain food items, workers will be utilizing their portable devices within refrigerator or freezer environments. As such, portable electronic devices and their batteries are exposed to the very low temperatures in those environments. However, in ambient temperatures below zero degrees Fahrenheit, many of the most current batteries (typically lithium-ion batteries) used in portable electronic devices cannot carry an effective charge for significant amounts of time. 
     Consequently, it is desirable to maintain a suitable temperature for the power sources and batteries of portable electronic devices to ensure their proper operation in cold environments. Conventional heating devices for such use include additional battery-operated heating devices; however, those devices require their own power source. Manually-actuated heating devices that heat based on an exothermic reaction caused by manual interaction with the heating device may be used as well, but those are generally disposable, and not re-usable. Additional batteries that are made to maintain a charge in subzero temperatures are typically much heavier than the lithium-ion batteries used in portable electronic devices. These various solutions to loss of battery life in cold conditions are undesirable solutions because they require constant manual interaction over what may be a period of hours, or are much heavier than the original portable electronic device. Additionally, many of these conventional heating devices are typically not reusable, which increases the overall cost of operating these portable electronic devices. 
     It is thus desirable to improve on the operational life of portable electronic devices and particularly to improve on operational life of their power sources in extreme or cold conditions. 
     SUMMARY 
     A portable electronic device includes a body for housing processing circuitry wherein the body is configured for being carried or worn by a user. A battery couples with the body and provides power to the processing circuitry. A flexible heater unit is disposed adjacent to the battery and generates heat when powered to transfer heat to the battery. A portable photonic power source configured for being carried or worn by a user and operatively coupled with the flexible heater unit to provide electrical power to the flexible heater unit. The flexible heater may include at least one resistive heating element. The photonic power source might include a solar panel. In one embodiment, the portable photonic power source is worn or carried by a user along with the portable electronic device. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with a general description of the invention given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention. 
         FIG. 1  is an illustration of a jacket incorporating one embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 1A  is a schematic of processing circuitry implemented in an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a partially disassembled perspective view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a partially disassembled perspective view of another embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is a top view of the embodiment of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  is a partially disassembled perspective view of another embodiment. 
         FIG. 6  is a partially disassembled perspective view of another embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , one embodiment of the invention is illustrated, including a portable electronic device  14 , with a heating device  10  for heating a battery  12  of the portable electronic device  14 . The heating device  10  illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2  includes a heater unit  16  and a photonic power source  18 . The photonic power source converts light into electrical power. One example of a suitable photonic source is a solar panel. As shown most clearly in  FIG. 2 , the heater unit  16  is disposed adjacent to the battery  12 , and in thermal contact with the battery such that heat is delivered directly to the battery  12  from heater unit  16 . The portable solar panel  18  in one embodiment is operatively coupled to the heater unit  16  via a suitable electrical cord or cable  20 . Alternatively, solar panel  18  might be coupled more directly with heater unit  16 , as discussed below with  FIGS. 5 and 6 . Thus, the portable solar panel  18  produces electrical power and delivers this power to actuate the heater unit  16 , thereby warming the battery  12 . The invention might be used with a portable electronic device  14 , such as a TALKMAN® product available from Vocollect, Inc. of Pittsburgh, Pa., or a portable computer, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,734,361, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     Battery  12  may be any suitable battery for powering a portable electronic device. Battery  12  may be a rechargeable battery. Such batteries normally include one or more fuel cells, such as electrochemical cells to convert chemical energy into electrical energy. For example, lithium-ion batteries are suitable rechargeable batteries for many portable electronic devices. 
       FIG. 1A  is a block diagram of one exemplary embodiment of a portable electronic device for incorporating the invention. Specifically, the device  14  is configured for communicating with a worker or other user and a remote system  41  or remote computer or server, such as a system running an inventory management system, or any other system with which a worker might need to communicate. The remote system  41  might utilize one or more different computers and/or servers. The device  14 , in one embodiment, is configured for providing speech communication with the worker and between the worker and remote system  41 , such as a speech dialog to direct or assist the various work tasks of the worker using speech. 
     Device  14  includes suitable processing circuitry for operation and may include a processor circuit or processor  40  for controlling the operation of the device  14 . As may be appreciated by a person of ordinary skill in the art, such processors operate according to an operating system, which is a software-implemented series of instructions. The processor may also run one or more application programs. For speech applications, the processor software includes applications directed to speech recognition and text-to-speech (TTS) functionality for implementing a speech dialog between the device  14  and a worker or other user of the device. In one embodiment of the invention, a main processor might be coupled to a suitable companion circuit or companion chip  42  by appropriate lines  44 . The processor  40 , and any companion circuit, are coupled to appropriate memory, such as flash memory  46  and random access memory (SDRAM)  48 . The processor and companion chip  40 ,  42 , are coupled to the memory  46 ,  48  through appropriate busses, such as 32 bit parallel address bus  50  and data bus  52 . 
     To provide wireless communication  43  between the device  14  and a remote system  41 , the device  14  also utilizes a PC card slot  54 , so as to provide a wireless Ethernet connection, such as an IEEE 802.11 wireless standard. A suitable RF communication card  56  might be coupled with the slot  54  to provide communication between device  14  and a remote system, depending on the hardware required for the wireless RF connection. 
     A peripheral, such as a headset  64 , might be coupled to the device  14  for speech communication with a worker which provides hands-free voice communication between the worker and the remote system  41 , such as a warehouse management system. To that end, digital information has to be converted to an audio format, and vice versa, to provide the communication between the system  41  and a worker through device  14 . For example, in a typical system, the device  14  might receive digital instructions from the remote system  41  and will convert those instructions to audio to be heard by a worker. The worker will then reply, in spoken utterances or speech, and the audio reply will be converted to a useable digital format and recognized, and any data communicated back to the remote system in the performance of a work task, such as for tracking inventory and order filling. 
     For conversion between digital and analog audio, a CODEC  60  is utilized in device  14 , and is coupled through an appropriate serial interface  62  to one or both of the processors  40 ,  42 . For example, in the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the audio CODEC  60  is coupled through serial interface  62  to the companion processor  42 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 1A , a peripheral, such as headset  64 , is coupled with the audio CODEC  60  for providing audio input/output, e.g., to the device  14  from the worker, and to the worker from the device. Other peripherals, such as a bar code reader  66  or an RFID scanner  68  might be coupled to an appropriate serial interface of the device  14 , and specifically to a serial interface  73  of processor  40 . The various peripherals provide a data collecting and communicating interface between the device  14 , the worker, the remote system and the overall work environment. That is, the device  14  may collect inventory, stocking, and order filling information through a headset, bar code reader or RFID scanner, and may also provide instructions through those various peripherals as appropriate for the work being done. 
     A suitable battery  12  is coupled to the processing circuitry, such as processor circuit  40  for providing to the overall device  14 . As will be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art, the specifics regarding the processing circuitry and the illustrations herein are not meant to be limiting with respect to the type of portable electronic device, or portable computer device for implementing the present invention. Accordingly, the invention might be utilized with a variety of different portable electronic devices, which have a variety of different uses, where they would be exposed to extreme cold temperatures that may affect their operational life or battery life. 
     As shown in the embodiments of  FIG. 1 , the heating device  10  may be configured to be carried or worn remotely or away from the device  14 . For example, it might be used with a jacket  80  or other garments appropriate for cold ambient temperatures where device  14  is used. The heater unit  16  is incorporated with the portable electronic device  14 , which may be carried around and removably attached to a torso section  82  of the jacket  80 . The photonic power source  18  may be a flexible solar panel such that the solar panel  18  may be coupled to or wrapped around an arm of a user, such as an arm section  86  of the jacket  22 . In this arrangement, the electrical cord  20  connecting the flexible heater unit  16  and the remote solar panel  18  has a length configured to permit the arm of the user and arm section  86  of the jacket  80  to move within a normal range of motion with respect to the torso section  82 . Thus, a user wearing the jacket  80  can perform any action without disrupting the operation of the heating device  10 . 
     In the embodiment of  FIGS. 1 and 2 , while the solar panel  18  is remote from device  14 , the heater unit  16  is generally coupled with the portable electronic device  14 . In this regard, the portable electronic device  14  includes a housing case or body  88  having a main body portion  90  for receiving and housing the battery  12  and processing circuitry of the device  14 , as illustrated in  FIG. 1A . The main body portion  90  includes an external control panel  94  for controlling the processing circuitry and device  14 . A cavity  96  in body portion  90  is configured to receive the battery  12  and the heater unit  16 . The heater unit  16  might be exposed when the battery  12  is coupled with housing body  88 . Alternatively, a cover plate  92  might be used for covering the battery  12  and heater unit  16  in the housing body  88 . 
     The heater unit  16  in one embodiment is a flexible heater unit, and is formed as a thin-film member  98  etched with at least one resistive heating element  100  and encased or laminated with thin layers of insulation material (transparent in  FIG. 2 ). Consequently, such a flexible heater unit  16  does not add any substantial weight or size to the portable electronic device  14 , and is readily adapted to the surface of the battery. The battery  12  and heater unit  16  are positioned within the cavity  96  and adjacent to each other. For example, the heater unit  16  overlies the battery  12  on an exposed face surface  13  thereof. The battery cover plate  92  may be coupled to the main body portion  90  to assemble the portable electronic device  14 , and help hold the battery  12  and heater unit  16  in place. The heater unit  16  is thermally coupled to battery  12 , such as by contacting face surface  13 . The heater unit  16  might also be separately coupled to battery  12 , such as by a suitable adhesive, like a thermally-conductive adhesive. For example, in the Vocollect TALKMAN® product, battery  12  is latched into cavity  96 , and stays in place without a separate cover plate  92 . The heater unit may be adhered to battery  12 , and, therefore, similarly held in place. Alternatively, the heater unit  16  might be captured and held between battery  12  and the cover plate  92  as noted. In the embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the main body portion  90  and the cover plate  92  include cooperating notches  102   a ,  102   b  that form an aperture for the electrical cable  20  to pass through the assembled body  88 . It will be appreciated that a notch for the electrical cable  20  could alternatively be formed in only the main body portion  90  or only the cover plate  92 , in other embodiments if necessary to accommodate cable  20 . 
       FIGS. 3 and 4  illustrate another embodiment of a heating device  10 , with identical reference numbers used for identical elements from the previous described embodiment. In this embodiment, the battery  12  is latched into body  88  includes an outer face surface  13 . The battery  12  is shaped and configured so that the face surface  13  cooperates with body portion  104  of the device housing body  106  of the portable electronic device  14   a . The heater unit  16  is appropriately and thermally attached to the outer surface  13  of the battery  12 . For example, adhesive material  110 , such as pressure-sensitive adhesive materials, might be used.  FIG. 3  illustrates adhesive material strips, but a layer of adhesive material  110  also might be used. The adhesive material  110  is pressure-sensitive such that the flexible heater unit  16  can be easily coupled to the portable electronic device  14   a . Thus, the heater unit  16  is positioned on the outer body portion  104  adjacent to or over the battery  12  to thermally deliver heat to the battery  12 . In the embodiment of  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the heat is generated from the power delivered through electrical cable  20  from the portable solar panel  18 . The heating devices  10 ,  10   a  of the invention may be configured for use with various portable electronic devices. 
     One example of a flexible heater unit  16  that may be used in the heating devices  10 ,  10   a  is the Thermofoil® heater produced by Minco of Minneapolis, Minn. In this regard, the at least one resistive heating element  40  of the heater unit  16  is a flat foil element  100  that transfers heat more efficiently over a larger surface area than round wire resistive heating elements. As a result, the heater unit  16  can have a total thickness of about 0.01 inches, which does not add any significant thickness or weight to the portable electronic devices  14 ,  58 . The flexible heater unit  16  may also be designed to have any size corresponding to the size or surface area of face surface  13  of the respective battery  12  to be warmed. Alternatively, the heater unit may be sized larger than the battery to cover some or all of the housing body of the device. 
     One example of a portable photonic power source  18  that may be used in the heating devices  10 ,  10   a  is an Innovative Solar Technologies® Flexible Solar Panel produced by Silicon Solar, Inc. of Bainbridge, N.Y. The flexible solar panel  18  is produced by thin-film deposition of silicon material onto a flexible substrate of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The solar panel  18  can produce anywhere from 5 watts to 50 watts of power for actuating the resistive heating element  100  of the flexible heater unit  16 . The combination of the solar panel  18  and the heater unit  16  is a reusable source of heat energy that does not need to be replaced after every use, like some conventional battery heating devices. 
     Accordingly, in one embodiment of the invention, the electronic devices are worn by a user working within a cold temperature environment, such as a refrigerator or a freezer. Generally, such areas will be illuminated by suitable light sources, which provide light energy to be captured by the portable solar panel  18 . Solar panel  18 , as illustrated in  FIG. 1 , would be worn so as to be exposed to such light sources as the worker moves around throughout the cold work space. The solar panel  18  absorbs light energy from such light sources and converts it to electrical energy for powering flexible heater unit  16 . 
     As illustrated in the embodiments of  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the solar panel or other portable photonic power source  18  is remote from the portable electronic devices  14 ,  14   a , and remote from the heater unit  16 , which it powers. The length of cable  20  provides such a remote adaptation. The remote location may be necessary for power source  18  to obtain and capture as much light energy or photonic energy as possible, so that it provides the desired power to heater unit  16 . For example, portable computer devices  14 ,  14   a  might be worn around the torso of a user, and might be covered by clothing such as the jacket illustrated in  FIG. 1 . Therefore, it is desirable to position power source  18  in an exposed area, such as around the outside of any clothing, such as a jacket, in order to be exposed to the light source. 
     In an alternative embodiment, a portable device, such as device  14   a , might be worn in a sufficient location to be exposed to sufficient natural or artificial light of the work environment, such as a refrigerator or freezer. To that end, as illustrated in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the photonic power source  18  might be located more proximate to the heater unit  16 . For example, photonic power source  18 , such as a flexible solar panel, might overlie the heater unit  16 , and be coupled by an appropriate electrical connection or conductor  20   a . Power source  18  might be appropriately secured to heater unit  16 , such as with a suitable adhesive, and may be sized accordingly with respect to heater unit  16 , for proper arrangement over battery  12  on the portable device  14   a . Depending upon the heat generated by flexible heater unit  16 , an insulation layer  17  might be incorporated between power source  18  and the flexible heater  16  for protecting the power source  18  while heat is being generated to warm or heat the battery  12 . The heater unit  16  and power source  18  might then be coupled as a unit to battery  12  utilizing a suitable pressure-sensitive adhesive material. A transparent cover plate  92   a  might go over all layers to define a face surface  13 . 
     In still another embodiment, as illustrated in  FIG. 6 , portable photonic power source  18  and flexible heater unit  16  might actually be incorporated into a single housing with the battery  12 . That is, the layers provided by the photonic power source  18  and heater unit  16  are integral with or integrally contained in the housing  15  of the battery  12 , as appropriate, as illustrated in  FIG. 6 . It would be understood that any housing  15  for battery  12  must have a transparent face surface  13  for exposing the photonic power source  18  to a source of light. Turning to  FIG. 6 , one embodiment in the invention might incorporate a battery  12   b  having various of the elements disposed as layers and integrally contained in a common battery housing. For example, a housing might contain at least one fuel cell, as is conventional. A flexible heater layer integrally contained in or with the battery housing may be operable to heat when powered to transfer heat to the housing and the fuel cell. The photonic power source layer might be integrally contained in or with the battery housing, and coupled with a flexible heater layer to provide electrical power to the flexible heater layer to heat the battery. The layers all cooperate in a single housing. As illustrated in  FIG. 6 , the photonic power source layer would have to be exposed proximate an outside surface, such as proximate to or at the face surface  13  of the battery  12   b  or battery housing  15  to absorb light energy through the transparent face surface, and thus, power the heater layer. 
     In an exemplary operation, the heating device  10  may be used to raise the temperature of a battery  12  from minus −20 degrees Celsius (where a Lithium-ion battery  12  will not hold a high effective charge) to 0 degrees Celsius (where a Lithium-ion battery  12  can hold an effective charge). Thus, assuming a typical battery mass of 0.14 kilograms, a heat capacity of 0.9 Joules/gram-Kelvin, and a heating time of 20 minutes, the power required to warm the battery to 0 degrees Celsius is 2 watts. Considering the portable solar panel  18  is capable of producing 5 to 50 watts, the heating device  10  will successfully warm the battery  12  for use in the portable electronic device  14  in subzero ambient temperatures. 
     While the present invention has been illustrated by the description of the embodiment thereof, and while the embodiment has been described in considerable detail, it is not the intention of the applicant to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details representative apparatus and method, and illustrative examples shown and described. Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departure from the spirit or scope of applicant&#39;s general inventive concept.