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Charge for iPhone
The Charge iPhone case is a concept protective case that includes a built in power supply. The power requirements of cell phones have been increasing much faster than battery technology, and many people have trouble making it through the day on a single charge. This case will ensure that the user is always able to charge their phone.
After coming up with the idea, I decided to create a functioning prototype. I bought an extra power supply for my iPhone (I am still using the first generation model) from Apple and took it apart to remove the components from the plastic casing. I then bought an extra case and created a pocket from Delrin sheets for the power supply to sit below the phone. An image of the power supply with a dock connector attached to the case is shown below.
The socket pins were soldered onto pieces of copper tube which were allowed to rotate around a smaller piece of copper tube that was connected to the power supply input terminals. An image showing the back of the finished case is shown below with the socket pins in the charging position (the pins lay flat against the case when not in use).
After the prototype case was finished, I decided to create a SolidWorks model of what the final product might look like. The first thing I had to do to accomplish this was create a solid model of the iPhone. I used the drawing file Apple supplies for the purpose of making cases in order to create a model as close to the actual phone as possible (Apple does not give all of the dimensions required to create the correct shape of the phone on their drawings). A photorealistic render of the iPhone I modeled is shown below.
The case consists of five different injection molded components along with several other parts that make up the power supply. A photorealistic render of the case I designed is shown below with the iPhone inside.
A version showing the socket pins extended is shown below.
Below is a render showing the inside of the case.
My design would use a thin encapsulated power supply to keep the thickness of the case as small as possible. I could not find a power supply to meet my thickness requirements, however, the total volume of the power supply in my design is similar to the Apple power supply as well as encapsulated models made by CUI, so I am sure a power supply that meets my requirements could be created by a component supplier given a high enough order quantity. Below is an exploded view of my case which shows all of the internal components.
The power supply casing and dock connector casing are the only components that would need to be securely attached to the bottom part of the phone case. These parts were designed to line up correctly when they are pressed together for ease of assembly. An adhesive or ultrasonic welding would then be used to make the attachment permanent. The image below shows the final case with the iPhone inside.
High resolution images of my case design, functional prototype, and iPhone render can be found in my Coroflot Portfolio.
Page created: 2011