CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a 371 of International Application No. PCT/KR2018/009576 filed on Aug. 21, 2018, which claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2017-0105966 filed on Aug. 22, 2017, the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.

1. FIELD

Various embodiments of the disclosure relate to a method of detecting and preventing leakage current in an electronic device having a conductive exterior member.

2. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

With the development of digital technologies, electronic devices are provided in various forms, such as a smart phone, a tablet Personal Computer (PC), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), or the like. The electronic device is also developed such that it is worn by a user to improve portability and user accessibility.

The electronic device may include a housing constituting at least part of an exterior. An electronic device to which a metallic housing is applied may provide a metal-specific luxurious design, compared to an electronic device to which a plastic housing is applied. In addition, since a metallic material applied to the housing also has effect on durability, the electronic device to which the metallic housing is applied is becoming more popular.

In an electronic device having a conductive exterior member (e.g., metal), current may be leaked to the conductive exterior member. The current leaked to the conductive exterior member flows to a human body of a user who carries the electronic device, and the current passing through the human body may cause reactions (or symptoms) of the human body. Unintended high-voltage Alternating Current (AC) current may be supplied from an external power device to the electronic device due to a defect or breakage of an external device (e.g., a charging device) for charging a battery of the electronic device. For another example, unintended Direct Current (DC) over-current output from the electronic device may be leaked to the conductive exterior member. Although the conductive exterior member may be designed to include an insulating material coated on a surface thereof, when the conductive exterior member is aged or broken, leakage current may flow from the conductive exterior member to the human body.

The electronic device may include elements for preventing the current from being leaked to the conductive exterior member. In order to test whether the elements normally operate, an external test device may be coupled to a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) on which the elements are mounted. The external test device may apply impact (or pressure) to the PCB during the test process, which may lead to a damage on the PCB. In addition, when the conductive exterior member is designed as an element which is difficulty detached from the electronic device, it may be difficult to couple the external test device to the PCB of the electronic device which is a final product.

Various embodiments of the disclosure may provide an apparatus supporting for easy detection of current leaked to a conductive exterior member of an electronic device, the electronic device including the apparatus, and a method of detecting the leakage current.

Various embodiments of the disclosure may provide an apparatus designed such that an external test device can be coupled to a leakage current cutoff circuit of an electronic device without having to detach the conductive exterior member from the electronic device, the electronic device including the apparatus, and a method of detecting the leakage current.

SUMMARY

An electronic device according to an embodiment of the disclosure may include a housing including a front plate, a back plate disposed to the opposite side of the front plate, and a side member surrounding a space between the front plate and the back plate, wherein at least a part of the back plate is constructed of a conductive material, and the side member includes an opening, a touch screen display disposed between the front plate and the back plate, a female connector disposed inside the opening, constructed to house a meal connector an external male connector, and including a plurality of pins, a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) disposed inside the space and including a ground plane, a circuit electrically coupled to the ground plane and/or mounted thereon to cut off leak current from the PCB, a first conductive path constructed between the circuit and a first point of at least part of the back plate, and a second conductive path constructed between at least one of the pins and a second point of at least part of the back plate.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, an electronic device may include a housing including a front plate, a back plate disposed to the opposite side of the front plate, and a side member surrounding a space between the front plate and the back plate, wherein at least a part of the back plate is constructed of a conductive material, and the side member includes an opening, a touch screen display disposed between the front plate and the back plate, a PCB disposed inside the space and including a ground plane, a first circuit electrically coupled to the ground plane and/or mounted thereon to cut off leak current from the PCB, a conductive path constructed between the first circuit and a first point of at least part of the back plate, a second circuit electrically coupled with the ground plane and a second point of at least part of the back plate to detect leakage current which flows from the PCB to the back plate, a female connector disposed inside the opening, constructed to house an external male connector, and including a plurality of pins, and a processor electrically coupled with the second circuit and the female connector. The process may transmit intensity of leakage current detected by the second circuit to the male connector connected to the female connector.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, a method of detecting leakage current cutoff performance for an electronic device having a conductive exterior member may include detecting current leaked through a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector of the electronic device, and recognizing that performance for cutting off current leaked to the conductive exterior member is in a deterioration state if the detected current exceeds a threshold.

Various embodiments of the disclosure can easily detect whether leakage current cutoff performance of an electronic device deteriorates, by connecting an external electronic device to a connector prepared to an exterior of the electronic device. According to various embodiments, whether a leakage current cutoff circuit of the electronic device deteriorates can be detected without having to detach the conductive exterior member from the electronic device.

