Donate to Science & Enterprise

S&E on Mastodon

S&E on LinkedIn

S&E on Flipboard

Please share Science & Enterprise

Apple Files Patent Applications for Fuel Cell Power

Apple store on Fifth Avenue in New York City (Apple Inc.)

(Apple Inc.)

Apple Inc. in Cupertino, California has filed two U.S. patent applications for building fuel cell systems into the power supplies used in their electronic devices. The patent applications were reported yesterday on the Web site AppleInsider.

One invention outlines a fuel cell system to directly power a portable electronic device. In this system, a fuel cell stack converts fuel into electrical power, and would include fuel source for the fuel cell stack and a controller for operation of the power system. This system would also have an interface delivering the power to the target electronic device and a bidirectional communication link  between the target device and the controller for the fuel cell system.

The second invention combines a fuel cell with a rechargeable battery system for a portable electronic device. This system would also have a fuel cell stack and controller, but would also include a power link that transfers electrical power between the fuel cell system and the portable computing device. The system would, like the direct fuel-cell power system, have a communication link connecting the portable computing device and the controller for the fuel cell system.

The controller in the fuel-cell/battery hybrid system would regulate both the electrical power from the fuel cell system to the portable computing device and the electrical power provided by the rechargeable battery to the fuel cell system. This hybrid system would, according to the application, eliminate the need for the bulky, heavy battery found in current devices, but also reduce the size, weight and cost of the fuel cell system.

Apple cited customer environmental awareness and third-party measures of environmental impact, such as the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, as motivations for electronics manufacturers to develop renewable energy sources for their products.

The company, in each application, also pointed to larger political and economic issues. “Our country’s continuing reliance on fossil fuels has forced our government to maintain complicated political and military relationships with unstable governments in the Middle East, and has also exposed our coastlines and our citizens to the associated hazards of offshore drilling,” say both applications. “These problems have led to an increasing awareness and desire on the part of consumers to promote and use renewable energy sources.”

Read more: Navy Develops Lightweight Power for Explosive Disposal Teams

*     *     *

1 comment to Apple Files Patent Applications for Fuel Cell Power