Powered garments, portable devices controlling powered garments, chargers for powered garments, enclosures for storing powered garments, and interconnections of powered garments

Abstract

In selected examples, a hanger couples to an electrically-powered garment, to provide electrical energy to the garment to recharge the battery of the garment. The electrical energy may be transferred from the hanger to the garment using inductive coupling. The electrical energy may also or instead be transferred using contact coupling facilitated by magnet(s) in the interfaces of the hanger system and the garment. The garment may include biometric, environmental, and other sensors to collect data. The hanger system-garment interfaces may provide for data flow between the hanger and the garment. In selected examples, a smart garment may be controlled by a smartphone or another mobile device. The smartphone may control several smart garments, which may be connected in series and/or in parallel, with one of the smart garments being a master connected to the smartphone, and the other garments being slave garments connected to the smartphone through the master.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A hanger system, comprising:
 a main body having a central portion, a first support protruding sideways from the central portion in a first direction, and a second support protruding from the central portion in a second direction, the main body forming a first surface and a second surface;   a hanging attachment device attached to the main body to allow the hanger system to be hanged with the first support and the second support pointing in opposite horizontal directions;   a first hanger charging interface attached to the main body and configured to couple to a garment charging interface of a powered garment and to recharge a rechargeable battery of the powered garment, the first hanger charging interface comprising: a sending coil disposed inside the main body near the first surface and near the second surface to couple inductively to a receiving coil of the garment charging interface when the powered garment is hanged on the hanger system, and a hanger magnet having a first pole configured to attract the garment charging interface of the powered garment; and   hanger circuitry configured to drive the sending coil with alternating current to couple inductively to the receiving coil at a frequency under 10 KHz, thereby providing charging electric energy for charging the rechargeable battery of the powered garment.