With many customers wishing the Apple Watch battery life was longer, it’s not surprising that Apple may be thinking about implementing external batteries in the form of Watch bands. This would be particularly useful for users who want sleep tracking on the Apple Watch.
Apple was recently granted a patent for a multi-purpose Apple Watch band, which could include power. However, AI has discovered a new patent application — filed back in 2015, granted today — that describes battery power specifically.
The patent describes a Watch band that would have a built in battery which could supply power to the Watch through the existing inductive charging coils.
A wearable power apparatus for a wearable electronic device includes one or more conductors, one or more batteries connected to the conductor, and/or an inductive coil that attaches to the wearable electronic device to inductively transmit power from the battery to the wearable electronic device, such as while the wearable electronic device is worn. The power apparatus may have attachment mechanisms that attach to a band coupled to the wearable electronic device. Alternatively or additionally, the power apparatus may be at least partially embedded within the band.
The patent illustration above shows something similar to the existing Apple Watch charging puck. The band would, in theory, attach to the magnetic charging point on the back of the Watch. In this specific case, the heart rate sensor will still be fully functional.
The band itself would use the same charging mechanism designed for the Apple Watch. But, as with other Apple patents, there’s no real indication as to if this will ever make it to a real product.
One interesting tidbit, however, is that this patent shows a round Watch, and as we all know the existing Apple Watch is square. While this could indicate the possibility of a round Watch, it’s highly unlikely as Apple has a tendency of using generic images for its patent applications to ensure secrecy.
