As reported by various news outlets today, Samsung announced an unprecedented recall of the Galaxy Note 7 just weeks after launching the smartphone due to the phone’s battery, with some scattered reports that “the cell can explode while charging.”

In a bit of irony, yesterday, the USPTO published Samsung’s patent application for a HMD having “a heat radiator” for removing heat from the space between the display and the optical assembly while a smartphone is actively engaged. The device in the application appears to be a version of the Gear VR, with which the Galaxy Note 7 was designed to operate.

As seen in FIG. 6 (below) of Samsung’s application, the HMD includes a heat radiator 400 on a side surface of the frame 202. The heat radiator 400 includes a fan 410 with a blade, or a piezo cooler, and also includes a fan duct 420 and a fan cover member 430. The fan 410 and the fan duct 420 is installed in the frame 202 in a mounting opening unit 260.

As shown in FIG. 7 (below), the heat radiator 400 dissipates the heat from the smartphone 300 by bringing external air into the frame 202. Heat is transferred to the air introduced into the frame 202 through the heat radiator 400, and then the air is discharged through an outlet on the bottom surface of the frame 202, thus making it more comfortable for the user of the device 200.

Samsung’s application also discusses using a heat diffusion member that can be installed to more efficiently transfer heat from the smartphone to the air in the frame 202. The heat diffusion member may be a graphite sheet, a heat transfer member containing carbon such as graphene, a metal member such as a copper sheet, or a heat transfer member such as a heat pipe or heat sink. The application makes no mention of fire suppression technology.

According to public records, Samsung’s patent application claims priority to a Korean patent application that was originally filed in February 2015.