Apple has reportedly filed a patent
for a new type of battery
technology for their mobile devices –
hydrogen fuel cells. Certainly
eyebrow raising, the patents show
one direction the fruity giant is
pursuing in order to give its future
mobile devices a few weeks worth of
battery life without a recharge.
The schematics of the new fuel cell
system can be seen in the patent
application images below, released by
the US Patent & Trademark Office on
December 22. The company hopes to
power both iOS and OSX portable
devices with the new tech. This is
apparently not the first patent in fuel
cell technology filed by Apple in the
recent past, with one in October
covering fuel cell plates.
The latest patent applications show
the use of an Apple MagSafe
connector for fuel cell recharging. The
fuel cell system design, as seen in the
images, seems to be based with the
intent to provide power to and
receiving power from a rechargeable
battery. It contains a fuel cell stack to
converts fuel into electrical power, as
well as a regulating controller, a
power link, and a communication link
t.
The patent filings elaborate:
"Such fuel cells and associated fuels
can potentially achieve high volumetric
and gravimetric energy densities,
which can potentially enable
continued operation of portable
electronic devices for days or even
weeks without refuelling"
Apart from hydrogen or
hydrocarbons, Apple is also looking
into alternative fuel cells technology,
such as solid oxide, molten carbonate,
direct methanol, and alkaline fuel cells.
You can check out more details about
the technology in the patent
application.
The application cites the following
reason for pursuing the technology:
"Our country's continuing reliance on
fossil fuels has forced our
government to maintain complicated
political and military relationships with
unstable governments in the Middle
East, and has also exposed our
coastlines and our citizens to the
associated hazards of offshore
drilling."
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