A patent application for inductive charging system was discovered in a patent application filed in Europe today. After exploring it for some time I realized it was a patent was that published late last month in the U.S. that I didn't cover. Because Apple provided only rudimentary patent figures, it simply appeared to be a patent covering the Apple Watch charger and that's why I didn't cover it in April. However, when taking a closer look at the details this morning, I noticed that Apple clearly notes that the charger is for an iPhone and other devices. One part of the device that you think is the Apple Watch charger is actually a component that is to be incorporated within an iPhone or other Apple device as highlighted below.

Apple's patent FIG. 1A depicts a front perspective view of an example inductive power transfer system in an unmated configuration. The system may include an inductive power receiver #104 and an inductive power transmitter #102.

In various implementations and embodiments, either or both of the inductive power transmitter and the inductive power receiver #104 may be included within or as a component of any kind or type of electronic device such as cell phones, smart phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, wearable devices, navigation devices, sports devices, health devices, medical devices, accessory devices, peripheral input devices, and so on.

For example, the inductive power receiver #104 may be included within the housing of a cellular telephone. In such an example, the inductive power receiver may be entirely or partially concealed by the housing of the cellular telephone.

In other examples, the inductive power receiver 104 may be included along a back surface of an electronic device. In still other embodiments, the inductive power receiver may be included as an accessory for an electronic device. For example, the inductive power receiver may also be included within a protective case for a cellular telephone.

Apple's patent application 20170110911 was filed back in December 2016. Considering that this is a patent application, the timing of such a product to market is unknown at this time. Apple has many patents on wireless charging and it's unknown which method that they'll eventually adopt. To review Apple's other concepts, see our Wireless Charging archive here.

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