Patent: Canon Patent Showing Wireless Charging of Cameras

[Canon Rumors Guy]

A patent is making its way around the web today that shows Canon cameras being charged wirelessly, the patent application itself is from 2015 and was awarded in July of 2017.</p>
<p>Canon <a href="http://www.canonrumors.com/canons-next-connectstation-to-do-4k-and-wireless-charging/">already showcased wireless charging back in 2015 at the Canon EXPO</a>. They had a modified EOS Rebel T6s and EOS M3 showing proof of concept.</p>
<p>The follow-up to the Canon ConnectStation CS100 was supposed to have wireless charging ability, but that product has yet to materialize.</p>
<p>You can <a href="https://patents.google.com/patent/US9717056B2/en?oq=US+14%2f733%2c598">view the patent here</a>, or check out the Canon patent drawings below.</p>

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<p><em>image credit // <a href="http://www.photographybay.com/2015/09/11/canons-next-generation-connect-station-does-wireless-charging-4k-video/">PhotographyBay</a></em></p>
<span id="pty_trigger"></span>

 

[Talys]

I'm really surprised these haven't been in the market for years.

Wireless is how I charge my phone every day, at home and in the car, and it's so convenient.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

It does add to the price considerably, and takes room at a time when things seem to be getting smaller. I'd certainly see it as a nice feature if it worked well.

Charging a large camera battery quickly might be a issue though.

I wear a wireless charging device on my head all day long, it provides power and a signal to a cochlear implant embedded in my skull.

 

[Ryananthony]

I'm really surprised these haven't been in the market for years.

Wireless is how I charge my phone every day, at home and in the car, and it's so convenient.

How do you find it convenient at home? The car makes more sense to me. The way I see it, I can't use my phone if its wirelessly charging since from my understanding it has to stay planted on the charging mat etc. I can have it wired, still use it with out pausing the charging every time I pick it up. I also have a charger at my bedside table, but then its plugged in for the night, and having it sit on a pad isn't any more convenient. Genuinely curious if im going about this wrong.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I'm really surprised these haven't been in the market for years.

Wireless is how I charge my phone every day, at home and in the car, and it's so convenient.

How do you find it convenient at home? The car makes more sense to me. The way I see it, I can't use my phone if its wirelessly charging since from my understanding it has to stay planted on the charging mat etc. I can have it wired, still use it with out pausing the charging every time I pick it up. I also have a charger at my bedside table, but then its plugged in for the night, and having it sit on a pad isn't any more convenient. Genuinely curious if im going about this wrong.

Having had broken connectors and charging wires by the dozens over the years, I'd certainly get a replacement phone with wireless charging. Having to disconnect and reconnect the cable every time I want to take the phone with me wears things out and can be a source of frustration.

To me, a mobile phone is supposed to be mobile, not tied to a cord. A land line is less expensive for that.

However, I believe that the wireless phones also still use a cable for charging when that is the best method.

 

[9VIII]

This is the kind of thing that keeps Canon on top.

Quality of Life with Canon products is significantly better than any other company (at least in terms of the EOS products).

 

[9VIII]

I'm really surprised these haven't been in the market for years.

Wireless is how I charge my phone every day, at home and in the car, and it's so convenient.

How do you find it convenient at home? The car makes more sense to me. The way I see it, I can't use my phone if its wirelessly charging since from my understanding it has to stay planted on the charging mat etc. I can have it wired, still use it with out pausing the charging every time I pick it up. I also have a charger at my bedside table, but then its plugged in for the night, and having it sit on a pad isn't any more convenient. Genuinely curious if im going about this wrong.

Having had broken connectors and charging wires by the dozens over the years, I'd certainly get a replacement phone with wireless charging. Having to disconnect and reconnect the cable every time I want to take the phone with me wears things out and can be a source of frustration.

To me, a mobile phone is supposed to be mobile, not tied to a cord. A land line is less expensive for that.

However, I believe that the wireless phones also still use a cable for charging when that is the best method.

You can blame the pursuit of "thinness" for your broken cables and charging ports. That and the insistence on integrated batteries.
It's still disgusting that the Smartphone industry is founded on the premise of making disposable $600-$1,000 pocket computers, and that people keep buying into it.
(Imagine if you could swap batteries on your phone as easily as your camera. Smartphones have got to be the first consumer product in history that was designed with a lifespan limited by the battery.)

 

[pj1974]

I'm really surprised these haven't been in the market for years.

Wireless is how I charge my phone every day, at home and in the car, and it's so convenient.

How do you find it convenient at home? The car makes more sense to me. The way I see it, I can't use my phone if its wirelessly charging since from my understanding it has to stay planted on the charging mat etc. I can have it wired, still use it with out pausing the charging every time I pick it up. I also have a charger at my bedside table, but then its plugged in for the night, and having it sit on a pad isn't any more convenient. Genuinely curious if im going about this wrong.

Having had broken connectors and charging wires by the dozens over the years, I'd certainly get a replacement phone with wireless charging. Having to disconnect and reconnect the cable every time I want to take the phone with me wears things out and can be a source of frustration.

To me, a mobile phone is supposed to be mobile, not tied to a cord. A land line is less expensive for that.

However, I believe that the wireless phones also still use a cable for charging when that is the best method.

You can blame the pursuit of "thinness" for your broken cables and charging ports. That and the insistence on integrated batteries.
It's still disgusting that the Smartphone industry is founded on the premise of making disposable $600-$1,000 pocket computers, and that people keep buying into it.
(Imagine if you could swap batteries on your phone as easily as your camera. Smartphones have got to be the first consumer product in history that was designed with a lifespan limited by the battery.)

Yes... it is so annoying that better integration of removable (while still rechargeable) batteries are not incorporated into the smart phone design and industry.

And then, having some smarts phones only having a 'built in' battery (i.e. without the option to replace the battery) borders on negligent in design.

Making many good phones are 'tossed out' due to their battery issues / battery life - whereas the rest of the smart phone still operates perfectly.

Using slow charging (e.g. 6 to 12 hours) more than 'fast/rapid charge' (20 min - 60 mins) is one way to maximise the battery life in the long term. I realise rapid charging is sometimes necessary. I have a multi-USB charger than has both 'slow charging' and 'rapid charging' ports.

Regards

Paul 8)

Slow charging

 

[RedCentrePhoto]

Ok, so maybe I'm being a bit day-dreamy here, but hear me out...


Would this perhaps open the door for wireless charging of batteries outside the camera?


Just imagine - insert wireless charging pad/mat into a pocket of your camera bag/backpack, and run wire through to a larger power bank like we currently have for smartphones etc. When one battery is done, simply pop it into the pocket where it charges wirelessly while you use your spare battery. Modern power banks would have more than enough power for 4 or 5 recharges meaning up to a few days of heavy use without mains power access.


Yeah, yeah...pipe dreams. But it'd be cool...

 

[mb66energy]

I'm really surprised these haven't been in the market for years.

Wireless is how I charge my phone every day, at home and in the car, and it's so convenient.

How do you find it convenient at home? The car makes more sense to me. The way I see it, I can't use my phone if its wirelessly charging since from my understanding it has to stay planted on the charging mat etc. I can have it wired, still use it with out pausing the charging every time I pick it up. I also have a charger at my bedside table, but then its plugged in for the night, and having it sit on a pad isn't any more convenient. Genuinely curious if im going about this wrong.

About car recharging: Makes sens, is still wanted but:
A smartphone needs ~ 10 Wh per day
An electric car (50km/day) needs ~ 10 kWh=10 000 Wh per day
At 70% efficiency of energy transmission via variable magnetic fields from coil to coil you throw away
With smartphon: 1/0.7 x 10 Wh - 10 Wh= 4.3 Wh per day - makes 1.5 kWh per year (45ct per year)
With car: 1/0.7 x 10 kWh - 10 kWh = 4.3 kWh per day - makes 1500 kWh per year (450 $/EUR per year)

With a car you get substantial absolute losses while smartphones provide only negligible losses. And the 70% efficiency were a rough estimate by me with a very good setup and perfect placement of the coils (the device coil relative to the charging coil).

Besides of efficiency wireless charging allows - combination with touch screens and wireless communication - hermetically sealed packages withstanding rough elements.
For cameras it would be nice to have a fully sealed system maybe some 28-70 equivalent lens, f/2.0-4.0 with touchscreen interface and 64GByte internal memory as outdoor/diving camera. A larger sensor would help for the typical environments.

 

[Ryananthony]

I'm really surprised these haven't been in the market for years.

Wireless is how I charge my phone every day, at home and in the car, and it's so convenient.

How do you find it convenient at home? The car makes more sense to me. The way I see it, I can't use my phone if its wirelessly charging since from my understanding it has to stay planted on the charging mat etc. I can have it wired, still use it with out pausing the charging every time I pick it up. I also have a charger at my bedside table, but then its plugged in for the night, and having it sit on a pad isn't any more convenient. Genuinely curious if im going about this wrong.

About car recharging: Makes sens, is still wanted but:
A smartphone needs ~ 10 Wh per day
An electric car (50km/day) needs ~ 10 kWh=10 000 Wh per day
At 70% efficiency of energy transmission via variable magnetic fields from coil to coil you throw away
With smartphon: 1/0.7 x 10 Wh - 10 Wh= 4.3 Wh per day - makes 1.5 kWh per year (45ct per year)
With car: 1/0.7 x 10 kWh - 10 kWh = 4.3 kWh per day - makes 1500 kWh per year (450 $/EUR per year)

With a car you get substantial absolute losses while smartphones provide only negligible losses. And the 70% efficiency were a rough estimate by me with a very good setup and perfect placement of the coils (the device coil relative to the charging coil).

Besides of efficiency wireless charging allows - combination with touch screens and wireless communication - hermetically sealed packages withstanding rough elements.
For cameras it would be nice to have a fully sealed system maybe some 28-70 equivalent lens, f/2.0-4.0 with touchscreen interface and 64GByte internal memory as outdoor/diving camera. A larger sensor would help for the typical environments.

I apologize, I was referring to wirelessly charging your phone in your vehicle.

 

[exquisitor]

That's interesting, but first I would like to see the in-camera battery charging with USB cable in Canon cameras. This would allow charging of the camera on the fly from various power sources like power bank, solar panel, car, laptop etc. For example during a long time lapse at low temperature changing the battery is not an option. But connecting a big power bank would be.

 

[Talys]

I'm really surprised these haven't been in the market for years.

Wireless is how I charge my phone every day, at home and in the car, and it's so convenient.

How do you find it convenient at home? The car makes more sense to me. The way I see it, I can't use my phone if its wirelessly charging since from my understanding it has to stay planted on the charging mat etc. I can have it wired, still use it with out pausing the charging every time I pick it up. I also have a charger at my bedside table, but then its plugged in for the night, and having it sit on a pad isn't any more convenient. Genuinely curious if im going about this wrong.

I have a wireless charger both in my office and in by my bed. It isn't a lie-down-flat one, but rather an angled one with a lip, that holds the phone at about 70 degrees and has a large, horizontal LED that changes color indicating charge level (not really necessary, because I use a Samsung LED Smart Cover, that shows the battery charge percentage on the front anyways, while it's charging).

The advantage of that over a wired charger beside the bed is that I don't have to plug/unplug a cable -- so the cable can't fall under the dresser and that sort of thing. Also, the wireless charger raises the phone about 3/8", which is nice, in case I knock over a small glass of water on the dresser.

In the office, the wireless charger is a thousand times more convenient, because I can just pick up the phone when I want to use it, and set it down onto the charger when I'm not. It keeps the phone charged, in an age when phones are super battery hungry. I long for the days of blackberries, when one charge lasted a week, but alas, if I use my phone's screen, the battery will not last me a full day of use unless I get some charging during the day.

Finally, in both cases, the phone takes up significantly less space standing almost vertically, rather than lying down flat. Also, standing up, it's easier to see the call display.

In the car, my vehicle has a built-in wireless charger. It isn't 2.4A, so it is not fast-charging, so I'll still use USB if I forgot to charge my phone the night previous (especially since there is a built in USB charger that DOES support 2.4A charging), but for the most part, 1.2A charging is good enough to add more juice during the drive. Since I wear a headset, whether it's tethered or not doesn't matter much, but I don't like cables all about the car if I can avoid it.

There are many things I'd give up now on smartphones, and I'd happily choose a midrange phone over a flagship (this isn't the case at the moment, but has been for several phone upgrade cycles), but wireless charging isn't one of them -- I've just grown to like it way too much.


For the camera, the real benefit would be just having a charging pad there, dropping the camera onto it, and picking it up when I want to use it. In the context of an LPE6 battery... well, there are so few times I'll burn through one fully charged LPE6 that if I always have it charged before I leave (which is not the case now), I'll rarely need to dip into a second battery!

 

[BeenThere]

For use with a DSLR, wireless charging is not important at all to me. I see it more as a gimmick than something really useful and for me, I don’t want to pay more to have it as an added feature. The small Plug-in battery charger works well for me.