Apple has always been famous to bring in groundbreaking technology to make the life of its users easy and more exciting. And now it seems that the Cupertino tech giant and the maker of MacBooks is preparing to surprise its fans with a laptop that can be charged with solar energy.
Apart from the solar charging, the laptop will have a display unit that can display at its both the sides.
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has awarded Apple a new patent detailing an “electronic device display module”. The display module is a combination of a display unit that can act as a secondary screen with touch sensors and a photovoltaic system located in the unit to juice up the device with solar power.
The patent with number US8,638,549B2 was filed in August 2010 and published in March 2012.
Here is the abstract of the patent:
“Electronic devices may have housings. A housing may contain a display on its front face and a rear plate such as a plate formed from glass on its rear face. A peripheral housing member may surround the display and rear plate. An antenna may be formed in the peripheral housing member. The rear plate may be formed from laminated layers including a light guide layer. Device hinges may include hinge structures that are integral to the peripheral housing member. A logo may be formed by coating the rear plate with a patterned masking layer. Display structures for the display and the rear plate may be mounted to opposing sides of a shelf portion of the peripheral housing member. The rear plate may be formed from electrochromic glass and may cover photovoltaic cells and touch sensors. Driver boards may be mounted within a clutch barrel perpendicular to the display.”
The display is going to be in two parts – front and rear plates – wherein the rear plate will bear the Apple logo. In the two-sided display, one display will be front facing and the other display will be rear facing.
The secondary display will not be used for the laptop’s normal functions but with having touch sensors placed inside, it will work more like a control unit to unlock the magnetic lock of the laptop.
The rear plate will be formed from electrochromic glass and photovoltaic cells will be located under the rear plate to produce power when activated by an external light source.
This is not the first time Apple is in news for trying to create something to solar power its device. In year 2011 also Apple was reported to be working on this ‘environment friendly’ move when it was found trying to power iPad with solar energy.
However, this time the MacBook maker has move one step ahead and is trying to bring in dual-display with solar charging options.
We hope that the company moves swiftly from the papers of patent and introduces the technology soon in its upcoming products.
