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Digital Camera Powered By a Fuel Cell
An anonymous reader notes a development from the world of photography that could spread to notebooks and cell phones. Canon has filed for a patent on a fuel cell-powered DSLR. The fuel cell would power not only the camera body but also all accessories attached to it, doing away with the need to power flashes (for example) with AA or other batteries. The patent covers other electronic devices generally, but is clearly directed toward DSLR cameras, given the diagrams and examples used. "Canon continues to push its fuel cell development by devising a method for powering not only the internal DSLR body electronics, but also external components such as lenses and hotshoe flashes."
This totally beats my pull-start diesel camera! But really, how is this so much better than a really high end lithium polymer rechargeable battery? They're like 5AH minimum which is a ridiculous amount of flashes and when they run out any outlet anywhere can recharge them. As for fuel cells, you better have special ordered a new one if you run out cuz you can't recharge it like a lithium one or run to a gas station to get more like AAs.
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"as a patent examiner, I'm not allowed to post my opinion of patentability, but I will say that most cases are heavily modified from their original application form as this one is in now."
and yet... one-click. I wonder, and fear, what the original application for that was if the resulting 'heavily modified application'-based patent is still what it is now.
I am not a patent lizard...
But it seems to me from a quick read of the patent that this is exactly what this is.
It is more than an assertion that "although fuel cells can be used to power things, a camera is not a thing, hence this crap is patentable !"
It seems that some other manufacturer saw that a camera might supply power to or control and monitor the power within various strap-ons, like flash, power drive.
Canon seems to have added the idea that the camera body might also supply the fuel and monitor fuel cells within these strap-ons.
Nullius in verba
Yeah but you will be able to buy an unlimited amount of (m)ethanol on the other side of security at a x00% markup since it has been somehow "screened", just like butane lighters =(
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I'd go for thinking that nowadays accessories are the power hungry devices. As you mentioned LCDs, but particularly flashes are really power consuming, specially is you want a really fast recycling time. Moreover, other devices like personal printing devices, which come with several moving parts and drain batteries pretty quick.
So what I think they want to do, is to avoid having batteries for the printer, the flash, the camera it self and other devices, but having a centralized battery, like laptops and USB devices work right now.
Canon may not even be developing it (yet), they may just be trying to lock out the other dSLR manufacturers.
It sounds like an obvious idea, like software patents - slap together some well-known ideas (fuel cell, body-powered accessories, camera) and voila! "unique" idea. Let's patent it.
IANAPL - will every existing gizmo joined to a fuel cell yield a valid patent?
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