System configured to decrease battery ageing of ear wearable device due to transportation or storage of the device while ensuring high charge before initial use

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12119703-B2
Application number	US-202017621186-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 29, 2020
Priority date	Jul 1, 2019
Publication date	Oct 15, 2024
Grant date	Oct 15, 2024

Abstract

An example system includes an ear-wearable device comprising a housing and a rechargeable battery located within the housing; a supplemental power storage device configured to provide electrical energy; and circuitry configured to transfer, responsive to occurrence of an event, electrical energy from the supplemental power storage device to the rechargeable battery prior to an initial use of the ear-wearable device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
an ear-wearable device comprising a housing and a rechargeable battery located within the housing;
a supplemental power storage device located within or attached to an exterior of the housing, configured to provide electrical energy; and
circuitry configured to transfer, responsive to occurrence of an event, the electrical energy from the supplemental power storage device to the rechargeable battery prior to an initial use of the ear-wearable device,
wherein the ear-wearable device, the supplemental power storage device, and the circuitry and disposed within a product package during shipping, wherein the circuitry includes one or more magnetic field sensors and is included within the housing, wherein the one or more magnetic field sensors include one or more near field magnetic induction (NFMI) sensors, and wherein the event includes scanning of the product package at a point of sale.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the supplemental power storage device is not rechargeable.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the supplemental power storage device is positioned within the rechargeable battery.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising the product package, wherein, prior to the initial use of the ear-wearable device, the ear-wearable device and the supplemental power storage device are enclosed within the product package.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the rechargeable battery of the ear-wearable device is not fully charged during shipment of the product package.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the event further includes one or more of:
adjusting of a physical control of the product package,
generating of tracking events by a carrier of the product package,
communicating with another product package,
removing of the product package from a shelf,
opening of the product package,
arrival the product package to a geofenced area,
departure of the product package from the geofenced area,
movement of the product package,
detection of one or more acoustic cues, and
detection of one or more voice activation commands.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry includes one or more of:
one or more motion sensors;
one or more position sensors;
one or more wireless radios; and
one or more physical controls.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more magnetic field sensors comprise one or more magnetometers.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more magnetic field sensors comprise one or more near telecoils.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more magnetic field sensors comprise one or more giant magneto resistance or tunnel magneto resistance sensors.

11. A method comprising:
monitoring, by one or more components included in a product package of a device, for occurrence of an event, wherein the one or more components include one or more near field magnetic induction (NFMI) sensors, and wherein the event includes scanning of the product package at a point of sale; and
responsive to detecting occurrence of the event, transferring electrical energy from a supplemental power storage device included in the product package to a rechargeable battery of the device.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the device comprises an ear-wearable device.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the rechargeable battery of the device is not fully charged during shipment of the product package.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the event further includes one or more of:
adjusting of a physical control of the product package,
generating of tracking events by a carrier of the product package,
communicating with another product package,
removing of the product package from a shelf,
opening of the product package,
arrival the product package to a geofenced area,
departure of the product package from the geofenced area,
movement of the product package,
detection of one or more acoustic cues, and
detection of one or more voice activation commands.

15. A system comprising:
an ear-wearable device comprising a housing and a rechargeable battery located within the housing;
a supplemental power storage device located within or attached to an exterior of the housing, configured to provide electrical energy; and
circuitry configured to transfer, responsive to occurrence of an event, the electrical energy from the supplemental power storage device to the rechargeable battery prior to an initial use of the ear-wearable device,
wherein the ear-wearable device, the supplemental power storage device, and the circuitry and disposed within a product package during shipping, wherein the circuitry includes one or more position sensors and is included within the housing, and wherein occurrence of the event comprises arrival of the product package to a geofenced area or departure of the product package from the geofenced area.

Assignees

• Starkey Labs Inc

Inventors

• Olson Kyle
• Burwinkel Justin
• Sacha Michael Karl

Classifications

• H02J7/731

  specially adapted for holding portable devices containing batteries (H02J7/751 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H02J7/342 Primary

  The other DC source being a battery actively interacting with the first one, i.e. battery to battery charging (with circuits for polarity protection H02J7/68) · CPC title

• H02J7/0044

  Electricity · mapped topic