The bicycle cellphone recharger kit

by Peter Rojas, posted Mar 9th 2005 at 9:27AM

We usually prefer to just have one of the interns follow us around with one of those hand crank chargers, but Akihabara News has stumbled upon another way to give your cellphone a little extra juice that probably won't violate any labor laws: a charger kit that connects to a bicycle so you can recharge your phone as you ride around town.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

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seth @ Dec 19th 2005 12:11AM

I thought of this a few weeks ago but I unfortunately have neither money nor electrical engineering ability.

Maybe now I can be one of those people on the patent commericals.

Neutral

Carlton Reid @ Dec 19th 2005 12:11AM

Sorry, it's by no means new.

Here's a report I filed on BikeBiz.com in 5th September 2000:

The phone charger you pedal

A British inventor based in Sweden has developed a mobile phone charging unit that is operated via and comes complete with a dynamo. It could be used to power a whole manner of different devices...

Kieron Loy showed BikeBiz his invention yesterday. He and his business partner travelled to and from the Home Counties in a flash car to demonstrate what they believe will be a big seller.

The Pedal & Power charging kit will cost �24.95 (trade price c. �12.75) and will be available in February/March. It comes complete with a dynamo and universal fixing bracket, a phone holder for the handlebars and a jet-engine shaped charging unit which can be slung under the top tube. The customer has to provide their own in-car cigar lighter phone charging cable because it is not possible to supply a universal one.

As well as charging a phone the jet-engine shaped unit could power any device supplied with a cigar-lighter lead. This could be anything from search lights to baby food heaters to cool box fridges. Mobile mechanics could even carry their own bike-powered vacuum cleaners to make sure they dont leave any mess behind!

Loy and his company Ikon Global Ltd. specialises in developing new products and bringing them to market. The Pedal & Power kit, made in Taiwan/China, will be pre-sold into IBDs by the telesales team at Telecom Network Services, a mobile phone accessories and ancillaries provider. Further business will be sought at David Hydes Cycle & Leisure Show, which Ikon is planning to exhibit at.

The charging kit will be launched in Europe and America at the same time as the UK and overseas distributors are being sought. Pedal & Power is Patent Corporate Treaty protected (ie patents have been filed in 97 countries so rip-offs should be lessoned).