Could This Be The iWatch Battery?
by Brent Dirks
July 4, 2013
It has been an interesting day on the Apple patent front. We’ve already reported on Apple’s potential Waze-like navigation service and self-adjusting earbuds that use noise-cancellation technology.
But Patently Apple has also discovered a new filing that details a flexible battery pack design that could easily appear in the long-rumored iWatch or a future iPhone with a flexible display:
Apple's invention relates to flexible battery packs for use in electronic devices that overcome one or more of the drawbacks of conventional battery packs. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the flexible battery pack may include a plurality of cells, such as galvanic or photovoltaic cells. The battery pack also may include a plurality of laminate layers coupled to the cells that include a top laminate layer and a bottom laminate layer. An adhesive may be used to couple the top and bottom laminate layers together such that each of the plurality of cells is isolated from each other. This arrangement may allow the battery to be shaped to fit a form factor of the electronic device. This arrangement also may allow one or more of the cells to be selectively removed from the plurality, which may be desirable from a manufacturing perspective.The application, entitled “Flexible Battery Pack,” was first filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office back in late 2011. If you're interested in reading more about the iWatch, our own Bryan M. Wolfe recently detailed five ways that Apple could make the product a success.
