Fuel cell power supply for portable computing device and method for fuel cell power control

A power pack adapted to provide electrical operating power to an electrical device, said power pack comprising:

• a fuel cell assembly;
• an electrical interface circuit receiving a voltage and current from said fuel cell assembly and generating an electrical output voltage and current for operation of said electrical device, said electrical interface including a controller executing a control procedure for managing operation of said fuel cell assembly and said electrical device according to a predetermined control procedure;
• and
• a housing enclosing said fuel cell assembly and said electrical interface circuit.

An interface circuit for a fuel cell powered electronic device comprising:

• a DC-DC voltage boost circuit operating with an output voltage related feedback signal;
• a storage capacitor coupled to and receiving charge generated by said boost circuit;
• and
• a microcontroller coupled to said boost circuit for controlling operation or non-operation of said boost circuit.

An interface circuit for a fuel cell powered information appliance comprising:

• a DC-DC voltage boost circuit operating with an output voltage related feedback signal to boost a lower fuel cell output voltage to a higher voltage operating voltage of said cellular telephone;
• a storage capacitor and a storage battery coupled to and receiving charge generated by said boost circuit, said boot converter circuit further operating to limiting a storage battery charging current to a predetermined current less than a current that would damage said storage battery;
• and
• a microcontroller adapted to execute instructions to modify and control the operation of the microprocessor and coupled to said boost circuit for controlling operation or non-operation of said boost circuit based on a fuel cell output voltage;
• said interface circuit being adapted to control and regulate power drawn from and charge and discharge of a fuel cell and maintain safe operation within predefined voltage, current, and power ranges, and said cellular telephone having a power-consumption ranging between substantially 10 watts and 60 watts and an operating voltage range between substantially 5 volts and 20 volts.

A power pack specifically adapted to replace a battery for a laptop computer having a laptop computer body, said power pack comprising:

• a fuel cell assembly;
• a housing adapted to removably engage the laptop computer body, said housing enclosing said fuel cell assembly and said fuel cartridge;
• and
• an interface circuit including:
• a DC-DC voltage boost circuit operating with an output voltage related feedback signal;
• a storage capacitor coupled to and receiving charge generated by said boost circuit;
• and a microcontroller coupled to said boost circuit for controlling operation or non-operation of said boost circuit.