Apple files for Smart Cover inductive charging patent for iPad

Apple's new Smart Cover for the iPad has a lot of potential, and it seems the company thinks so as well. Case in point: Apple just applied for a patent that would see the Smart Cover being used as a wireless charger to charge up the iPad when the Smart Cover is closed. Both the iPad and Smart Cover would have induction coils to make the wireless charging possible.

The Smart Cover itself would include battery cells to give the iPad some extra juice, and users would charge up the Smart Cover via a USB cable. This is different than most other wireless charging methods, in that the iPad wouldn't use a stationary charging dock to wirelessly charge, but rather the iPad would use the Smart Cover to charge up, allowing to take it wherever without being tethered to a charging dock.

The patent also notes that solar cells could also be implemented into the Smart Cover, that way there would be no need to charge up the cover itself when the internal battery gets low. The Smart Cover already consists of magnets that have alternating polarities to ensure a perfect fit on the iPad every time, which is a technology that could be of assistance to wireless charging with the Smart Cover.

Of course, most patents never see the light of day, and it's usually just a way for company's to copyright their ideas just in case they want to use them in the future with no guarantees of actual implementation, but a wireless charging Smart Cover seems realistic enough that it would make complete since for it to come to the market at some point.

[via AppleInsider]