Apple has thus far been granted two fuel cell patents. Their first fuel cell patent was granted back in 2015 and their second patent granted in 2016. Today the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals advancements made to their previous patents. In general, fuel cells and associated fuels could potentially achieve high volumetric and gravimetric energy densities, which could potentially enable continued operation of portable electronic devices for days or even weeks without refueling. This is the kind of leap that could be a game changer if Apple could be first to market with such a rechargeable power system.

You could review Patently Apple's first two reports to get a grasp of the foundation of Apple's fuel cell inventions. In today's patent filing, Apple advances their work and once again, Apple updates their patent claims to ensure that their advancements are legally covered and secured.

Our report doesn't provide you with any new cool patent figures but rather straight up points about the technology only real geeks and/or lawyers could appreciate. Apple has added an entire new set of patent claims to add to their previous sets.

New Set of Patent Claims for Apple's Fuel Cell Technology

For the record, it appears that Apple 'cancelled' Patent Claim #1 prior to this application being made public.

Patent Claim #2 - A fuel cell system for a portable computing device, comprising: a fuel cell stack; an interface to the portable computing device, wherein the interface comprises: a power link; and a communication link; and a controller configured to communicate with the portable computing device via the communication link to cause the portable computing device to control current through the power link to regulate the fuel cell stack.

Patent Claim #3 - The fuel cell system of claim 2 wherein the controller causes the portable computing device to control current through the power link to regulate the fuel cell stack by controlling a charging circuit within the portable computing device.

Patent Claim #4 - The fuel cell system of claim 3 wherein the controller controls the charging circuit to supply current from a battery of the portable computing device to the fuel cell system via the power link when the fuel cell stack is not running and during startup of the fuel cell stack.

Patent Claim #5 - The fuel cell system of claim 3 wherein the controller controls the charging circuit to deliver current to a battery of the portable computing device from the fuel cell system via the power link when the fuel cell stack is running.

Patent Claim #6 - The fuel cell system of claim 2 wherein the controller controls portable computing device current in response to changes in hydrogen outlet pressure of the fuel cell stack.

Patent Claim #7 - The fuel cell system of claim 2, wherein the communication link is bidirectional.

Patent Claim #8 - The fuel cell system of claim 7, wherein the bidirectional communication link communicates: computing-device state information from the portable computing device to the fuel cell system; and computing-device control information from the fuel cell system to the portable computing device.

Patent Claim #9 - The fuel cell system of claim 8, wherein the computing-device state information includes at least one of: a power requirement for the portable computing device; and a state-of-charge of a rechargeable battery within the portable computing device.

Patent Claim #10 - The fuel cell system of claim 8, wherein the computing-device control information specifies the portable computing device current to regulate the fuel cell stack.

Patent Claim #11 - A portable computing device adapted for use with a fuel cell system, comprising: a processor; a memory; and an interface to the fuel cell system, wherein the interface comprises, a power link; and a communication link; wherein the portable computing device is configured to regulate a fuel cell stack of the fuel cell system by adjusting current through the power link in response to signals received from the fuel cell system via the communication link.

Patent Claim #12 - The portable computing device of claim 11 wherein adjusting current through the power link in response to signals received from the fuel cell system via the communication link comprises charging a battery of the portable computing device to draw power from the fuel cell system.

Patent Claim #13 - The portable computing device of claim 11 wherein adjusting current through the power link in response to signals received from the fuel cell system via the communication link comprises discharging a battery of the portable computing device to deliver power to the fuel cell system.

Patent Claim #14 - The portable computing device of claim 11 wherein the portable computing device is further configured to receive fuel cell state information from the fuel cell system via the communication link and display the fuel cell state information to a user.

Patent Claim #15 - The portable computing device of claim 14, wherein the fuel cell state information comprises one or more item selected from the group consisting of: power available from the fuel cell system; and fuel remaining in a fuel source for the fuel cell system.

Patent Claim #16 - The portable computing device of claim 11, wherein the communication link is bidirectional.

Patent Claim #17 - The portable computing device of claim 16, wherein the bidirectional communication link communicates computing-device state information from the portable computing device to the fuel cell system.

Patent Claim #18 - The portable computing device of claim 17, wherein the computing-device state information specifies one or more of the following: a power requirement for the portable computing device; and a state-of-charge of a rechargeable battery within the portable computing device.

Patent Claim #19 - A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions executable by a portable computing device to cause the portable computing device to: receive computing device control information from a fuel cell system via a communication link of an interface with the fuel cell system; adjust current through a power link of the interface in response to the received computing device control information, thereby regulating a fuel cell stack of the fuel cell system.

Patent Claim #20 - The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19 wherein the instructions cause the portable computing device to adjust current through the power link in response to the received computing device control information by charging a battery of the portable computing device to draw power from the fuel cell system.

Patent Claim #21 - The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19 wherein the instructions cause the portable computing device to adjust current through the power link in response to the received computing device control information by discharging a battery of the portable computing device to deliver power to the fuel cell system.

Patent Claim #22 - The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19 wherein the instructions further cause the portable computing device to receive fuel cell state information from the fuel cell system via the communication link and display the fuel cell state information to a user, wherein the fuel cell state information comprises at least one of power available from the fuel cell system and fuel remaining in a fuel source for the fuel cell system.

Apple's patent application was filed back in Q3 2016. To review the finer details of this invention, click here. Considering that this is a patent application, the timing of such a product to market is unknown at this time.

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