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US 10,097,913 B2Granted
Earbud case with charging system
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsRico L. Zörkendörfer, Lee M. Panecki, James L. McPeak, Chandrahas Aralaguppe Chandramohan, Daniel C. Wagman, Zachary C. Rich, Darshan R. Kasar
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A case for a pair of earbuds includes a housing having cavities to receive the pair of earbuds and charging circuitry that is configured to initiate charging of the pair of earbuds when an earbud detector detects that the earbuds are inserted within the cavities.
Claims20
A case for a pair of earbuds, the case comprising:
- a housing having one or more cavities configured to receive the pair of earbuds;
- a lid attached to the housing and operable between a closed position where the lid is aligned over the one or more cavities and an open position where the lid is displaced from the one or more cavities;
- and
- a first pair of electrical contacts that interface to a first earbud of the pair of earbuds;
- a second pair of electrical contacts that interface to a second earbud of the pair of earbuds;
- a charging system including:
- a case battery;
- an earbud detector configured to detect when an earbud of the pair of earbuds is placed in a cavity of the one or more cavities;
- and
- charging circuitry configured to initiate charging of the earbud when the earbud detector detects that the earbud is placed into the cavity;
- and
- data communications circuitry configured to transmit firmware data to the pair of earbuds;
- wherein the earbud detector, the charging circuitry and the data communications circuitry are operatively coupled to the pair of earbuds through the first and second pairs of electrical contacts.
10 more elements
A case for a pair of earbuds, each earbud having an ear interface portion, a stem, an earbud battery and a wireless radio, the case comprising:
- a housing having a first cavity configured to receive a first earbud in the pair of earbuds and a second cavity configured to receive a second earbud in the pair of earbuds;
- a lid attached to the housing and operable between a closed position where the lid conceals the pair of earbuds within the case and an open position that allows a user to remove the pair of earbuds from the case;
- and
- a charging system including:
- a case battery;
- a first connector configured to interface to a power source for charging the case battery;
- a second connector configured to couple to each of the first and second earbuds, the second connector having at least one contact positioned in the first cavity and at least one contact positioned in the second cavity;
- an earbud detector configured to detect when an earbud is placed in either of the first or second cavities;
- and
- charging circuitry configured to initiate charging of an earbud when the earbud detector detects insertion of the earbud within either the first cavity or the second cavity and configured to cease charging the earbud when the earbud detector detects the earbud is removed from the cavity;
- data communications circuitry configured to transmit firmware data to the pair of earbuds;
- wherein the earbud detector, the charging circuitry and the data communications circuitry are operatively coupled to the pair of earbuds through the second connector.
9 more elements
A case for transporting and charging a portable listening device that includes a rechargeable battery and a pair of listening device contacts, the case comprising:
- a housing configured to receive the portable listening device;
- a lid attached to the housing and operable between a closed position where the lid conceals the portable listening device within the case and an open position where the lid is displaced from the housing such that a user can remove the portable listening device from the case;
- first and second case contacts configured to couple to the pair of listening device contacts when the listening device is placed within the housing;
- detector circuitry configured to generate a detect signal when the listening device is placed in the housing and to generate a removal signal when the listening device is removed from the housing;
- charging circuitry configured to supply charging current to the rechargeable battery in response to receiving the detect signal;
- and
- data communications circuitry configured to transmit firmware data to the listening device;
- wherein the detector circuitry, the charging circuitry and the data communications circuitry are operatively coupled to the portable listening device through the first and second case contacts.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.