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The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Patent No.:

US 9291400 B1

PDFFull Text
Date of Patent:
Mar. 22, 2016

Filed:

Mar. 13, 2013

Management of exterior temperatures encountered by user of a portable electronic device using multiple heat-rejection elements

Applicant:

Elwha Llc, Bellevue, WA (US);

Inventors:

Philip Lionel Barnes, Seattle, WA (US);

Hon Wah Chin, Palo Alto, CA (US);

Howard Lee Davidson, San Carlos, CA (US);

Kimberly D.A. Hallman, Bellevue, WA (US);

Roderick A. Hyde, Redmond, WA (US);

Muriel Y. Ishikawa, Livermore, CA (US);

Jordin T. Kare, Seattle, WA (US);

Brian Lee, Redmond, WA (US);

Richard T. Lord, Tacoma, WA (US);

Robert W. Lord, Seattle, WA (US);

Craig J. Mundie, Seattle, WA (US);

Nathan P. Myhrvold, Medina, WA (US);

Nicholas F. Pasch, Bellevue, WA (US);

Eric D. Rudder, Mercer Island, WA (US);

Clarence T. Tegreene, Mercer Island, WA (US);

Marc Tremblay, Clyde Hill, WA (US);

David B. Tuckerman, Lafayette, CA (US);

Charles Whitmer, North Bend, WA (US);

Lowell L. Wood, Jr., Bellevue, WA (US);

Assignee:

Elwha LLC, Bellevue, WA (US);

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:

Andargie M Aychillhum

Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H05K 7/20 (2006.01); F28D 15/06 (2006.01); G06F 1/16 (2006.01); G06F 1/20 (2006.01); H05B 1/02 (2006.01); H01L 23/34 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
F28D 15/06 (2013.01); G06F 1/1626 (2013.01); G06F 1/203 (2013.01); G06F 1/206 (2013.01); H05B 1/023 (2013.01); H01L 23/34 (2013.01); H01L 2924/0002 (2013.01);
Abstract

Described embodiments include a portable electronic device. The device includes a shell and a heat-generating component. The device includes a first and a second exterior heat-rejection element. Each heat-rejection element is configured to reject heat received from the heat-generating component into an environment. The device includes a controllable thermal coupler configured to regulate heat transfer to the first and second heat-rejection elements. The device includes a first proximity sensor configured to determine if a user touch to the shell is within a first zone of possible heat discomfort. The device includes a thermal manager configured to regulate heat transfer by the controllable thermal coupler to the first and second heat-rejection elements. The regulated heat transfer includes adjusting heat rejection away from the first heat-rejection element and toward the second heat-rejection element if the user touch is within the first zone.

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