A Bizarre Twist in an Apple Patent about a Rechargeable Battery System Reveals a Second Generation 'Liam' Device
In 2010 Patently Apple covered a granted patent from Apple titled "Apple Wins a Patent for an Advanced Battery Recharging System," which was filed in 2007. The original patent was of course focused on the physical aspects of the battery recharging system. Today, we find that Apple has after all these years updated their patent with a whole different twist. It now appears that Apple wants Liam or its robotically designed brother to take apart all other Apple devices including the new battery rechargers. Apple even envisions Liam-like devices appearing at either Apple Stores or third party kiosks. The devices will be able to determine if a device a user brings in is fixable or not and if not begin to begin dissembling it for renewal parts. You get the feeling that the novelty of it will have entertainment value so as to be a draw in stores.
In this continuation patent, all that matters is what's being added in the patent claims and nothing else. Today, the US Patent & Trademark Office published continuation patent 20170200988 with focus on the recycling of parts just as with Apple's Liam. Here are some of the highlights:
Claim 1: An automated system comprising: an automated mechanism; a specialized tool attached to the automated mechanism, wherein the automated mechanism uses the specialized tool to disassemble electronic devices into separate parts; and a plurality of containers, wherein the automated mechanism puts parts of the electronic devices into corresponding containers in the plurality of containers.
Claim 2: The automated system of claim 1 wherein the parts in a first container are recycled.
Claim 3: The automated system of claim 2 wherein the parts in a second container are further processed by external equipment.
Claim 4: The automated system of claim 2 wherein two of the parts are separated by breaking an attachment between them.
Claim 5: The automated system of claim 2 wherein the automated mechanism uses the specialized tool to disassemble electronic devices into separate parts without human intervention.
Claim 6: The automated system of claim 1 wherein the automated mechanism disassembles the electronic devices by separating a first portion of a housing from a second portion of a housing.
Claim 7: The automated system of claim 1 wherein the automated mechanism is located in a kiosk.
Claim 8: The automated system of claim 8 wherein the automated mechanism further tests the electronic device with the new component.
Claim 10: The automated system of claim 8 wherein in response to the automated mechanism determining that the electronic device may not be serviced by replacing the component, the automated mechanism disassembles the electronic device into separate parts.
Claim 11: The automated system of claim 10 further comprising a plurality of containers including the first container, wherein the automated mechanism puts parts of the electronic device into corresponding containers in the plurality of containers.
Claim 15: An automated system comprising: an automated mechanism to determine whether a battery may be serviced by replacing a battery core; a specialized tool attached to the automated mechanism, wherein in response to the automated mechanism determining that the battery may be serviced by replacing the battery core, the automated mechanism removes a portion of the housing from the battery and removes the battery core using the specialized tool; a first container, wherein the automated mechanism puts the removed battery core in the first container; and a second container, wherein the automated mechanism puts the removed portion of the housing in the second container, and wherein the automated mechanism further selects a replacement battery core and inserts the replacement battery core in the battery.
Claim 16: The automated system of claim 15 wherein the automated mechanism further tests the battery with the new battery core.
Apple's patent application 20170200988 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.
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