Thermal dock for a mobile computing device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10649506-B2
Application number	US-201916514503-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 17, 2019
Priority date	Feb 22, 2017
Publication date	May 12, 2020
Grant date	May 12, 2020

Abstract

Thermal management systems and corresponding use methods are described herein. A thermal management system includes a thermal dock operable to cool a computing device in physical contact with the thermal dock. The thermal dock includes a housing, a first thermal management device supported by the housing, and a second thermal management device physically connected to the first thermal management device. The first thermal management device is a different type of thermal management device than the second thermal management device.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A thermal dock for docking with a mobile phone, the thermal dock comprising:
a housing having an outer surface on which the mobile phone is supported, the housing formed at least partially of plastic, the housing having at least a partially hollow interior, the housing including an inlet vent and an outlet vent;
a fan supported by the housing and configured to pull air into the inlet vent and push air out of the outlet vent;
a processor connected to the housing and in electrical communication with the fan, the processor configured to control a speed of the fan based on a measured temperature, the processor configured to transmit information to an external display via a wired or a wireless connection to the external display;
a dock transceiver module in electrical communication with the processor, the dock transceiver module positioned at or adjacent to the outer surface of the housing, the dock transceiver module having a protrusion configured to locate the mobile phone relative to the housing and to locate the dock transceiver module relative to a corresponding phone transceiver module in the mobile phone, at least a portion of the protrusion extending through an opening in the housing, the protrusion is positionable within a corresponding recess of the phone transceiver module of the mobile phone, the dock transceiver module configured to communicate with the phone transceiver module in the mobile phone, the dock transceiver module configured to physically connect to the phone transceiver module to communicate with the mobile phone; and
a power supply unit or a battery connected to the housing and in electrical communication with the processor.

2. The thermal dock of claim 1 , wherein the thermal dock configured to provide a higher processing speed to the mobile phone in a docked configuration.

3. The thermal dock of claim 1 , wherein the thermal dock is configured to facilitate operation of the mobile phone in a desktop environment when in a docked configuration.

4. The thermal dock of claim 1 , wherein the processor is in communication with a temperature sensor and wherein the processor adjusts the speed of the fan based on the measured temperature from the temperature sensor.

5. The thermal dock of claim 1 , wherein the fan is an axial fan.

6. The thermal dock of claim 1 , wherein the fan is aligned with a heat sink.

7. The thermal dock of claim 1 , wherein the housing includes a recess or opening for receiving the mobile phone in a docked configuration.

8. The thermal dock of claim 1 , further comprising a heat spreader connected to housing.

9. A thermal dock for docking with a mobile phone, the thermal dock comprising:
a housing having an outer surface on which the mobile phone is supported, the housing including an inlet vent and an outlet vent;
a fan supported by the housing and configured to pull air into the inlet vent and push air out of the outlet vent;
a processor connected to the housing and in electrical communication with the fan, the processor configured to control a speed of the fan based on a measured temperature; and
a dock transceiver module in electrical communication with the processor, the dock transceiver module configured to communicate with a phone transceiver module in the mobile phone, wherein the dock transceiver module includes a protrusion configured to locate the mobile phone relative to the housing and to locate the dock transceiver module relative to a corresponding phone transceiver module in the mobile phone.

10. The thermal dock of claim 9 , wherein the housing has at least a partially hollow interior.

11. The thermal dock of claim 9 , wherein the processor is configured to transmit information to an external display via a wired or a wireless connection to the external display.

12. The thermal dock of claim 9 , wherein the dock transceiver module is configured to physically connect to the phone transceiver module to communicate with the mobile phone.

13. The thermal dock of claim 9 , wherein at least a portion of the protrusion extends through an opening in the housing.

14. The thermal dock of claim 9 , wherein the protrusion is positionable within a corresponding recess of the phone transceiver module of the mobile phone.

15. The thermal dock of claim 9 , further comprising a power supply unit connected to the housing and in electrical communication with the processor.

16. The thermal dock of claim 15 , the power supply unit configured to be in electrical communication with the phone transceiver module of the mobile phone.

17. The thermal dock of claim 9 , wherein the processor is in communication with a temperature sensor and wherein the processor adjusts a speed of the fan based on the measured temperature from the temperature sensor.

18. A thermal dock for docking with a mobile phone, the thermal dock comprising:
a housing having an outer surface on which the mobile phone is supported;
a fan supported by the housing and configured to move air within the housing;
a processor connected to the housing and in electrical communication with the fan; and
a dock transceiver module in electrical communication with the processor, the dock transceiver module configured to communicate with a phone transceiver module in the mobile phone, wherein the dock transceiver module includes a protrusion configured to locate the mobile phone relative to the housing and to locate the dock transceiver module relative to a corresponding phone transceiver module in the mobile phone.

19. The thermal dock of claim 18 , wherein the thermal dock is configured to facilitate operation of the mobile phone in a desktop environment when in a docked configuration.

20. The thermal dock of claim 18 , wherein the dock transceiver module is configured to physically connect to the phone transceiver module to communicate with the mobile phone.

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Siddiqui Kabir
• Perry Jedd
• Delano Andrew Douglas
• Voth David William

Classifications

• G06F1/206

  comprising thermal management · CPC title

• G06F1/1632

  External expansion units, e.g. docking stations · CPC title

• G06F1/203 Primary

  for portable computers, e.g. for laptops · CPC title