Card-based power system for electronic devices leads to patent for two Cypress men

Two Cypress men received a U.S. patent this week for a new system of charging electronic devices they and their research partner developed for Hewlett-Packard.

The system is designed to be used for electronic devices that do not use a docking station to connect to a computer. A computer card, or "express card," is instead used to both power the device and serve as a connection to peripheral devices such as a mouse, speakers or optical sensor. In the patent, the inventors claim that in many cases, their device eliminates the hassle of having to worry about multiple power sources and interfaces.

The patent lists as inventors Paul J. Doczy of Cypress, Jonathan R. Harris of Cypress and Steven S. Homer of Tomball. The patent's official number is 7,872,872, and it was originally filed on July 30, 2007. HP owns the patent.

While its international headquarters are in Palo Alto, California, HP's Houston offices serve as the nerve center of its U.S. division. It is located in the Cy-Fair area at 20555 SH 249.