Coil coverage

• US 10,081,266 B2
• Filed: 01/26/2017
• Issued: 09/25/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fraunhofer Gesellschaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandten Forsching E.V.
• Original Assignee: Fraunhofer Gesellschaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandten Forsching E.V.
• Inventors: Draeger, Tobias, Bernhard, Josef, Guettler, Martin, Hartmann, Markus
• Primary Examiner(s): WILLIAMS, ARUN C
• Application Number:
  US15/416,413
• Publication Number:
  US 20170136906A1
• Time in Patent Office: 607 Days
• Field of Search: 320108
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/126 Methods for pairing a vehicle and a charging station, e.g. establishing a one-to-one relation between a wireless power transmitter and a wireless power receiver
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/36 by positioning the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/38 specially adapted for charging by inductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 5/2006 by influencing the self-induction of one or more coils G01D5/22 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/90 involving detection or optimisation of position, e.g. alignment
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/12 Electric charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 Plug-in electric vehicles

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide a measuring device with a receiver coil array and evaluator. The receiver coil array is configured to detect three magnetic field components of a magnetic field of a conductor loop array generated by an electric alternating current signal and to provide a magnetic field component signal for each of the detected three magnetic field components. The evaluator is configured to evaluate the magnetic field component signals in order to determine the phase relation to the electric alternating current signal allocated for the magnetic field component signals, wherein the phase relations each include coarse position information of the conductor loop array relative to the conductor loop array and wherein the evaluator is configured to determine a resulting intersection of the coarse position information, wherein the resulting intersection includes or results in fine position information of the receiver coil array relative to the conductor loop array.

Claims

1. A measuring device, comprising:

a receiver coil array that is configured to detect three magnetic field components of a magnetic field of a conductor loop array generated by an electric alternating current signal and to provide a magnetic field component signal for each of the detected three magnetic field components, wherein the receiver coil array is configured to detect the three magnetic field components along linearly independent directions; and

an evaluator configured to evaluate the magnetic field component signals for determining, for the magnetic field component signals, allocated phase relations to the electric alternating current signal, wherein the phase relations each comprise coarse position information of the receiver coil array relative to the conductor loop array, and wherein the evaluator is configured to determine a resulting intersection of the coarse position information, wherein the resulting intersection comprises fine position information of the receiver coil array relative to the conductor loop array.

2. The measuring device according to claim 1, wherein a positioning area is allocated to the conductor loop array, wherein the positioning area runs parallel to a conductor loop plane that is spanned by the conductor loop array and wherein the positioning area is of the same size or greater than a conductor loop area that is within the conductor loop plane and is limited by the conductor loop array;

and

wherein the coarse position information each indicates a coarse region of several possible coarse regions of the positioning area, wherein the coarse regions indicated by the coarse position information overlap.

3. The measuring device according to claim 2, wherein the fine position information indicates a fine region of several possible fine regions of the positioning area resulting from the intersection of the indicated coarse regions.

4. The measuring device according to claim 3, wherein the evaluator is configured to output a position signal based on the fine region resulting from the intersection of the indicated coarse regions, indicating a position of the receiver coil array relative to the conductor loop array.

5. The measuring device according to claim 3, wherein directional information pointing to the geometric centroid of the conductor loop array is allocated to the fine regions of the positioning area, wherein the evaluator is configured to output a directional signal indicating an estimated direction to the geometric centroid of the conductor loop array based on the directional information allocated to the fine region resulting from the intersection of the indicated coarse regions.

6. The measuring device according to claim 2, wherein the phase relations that are allocated to the magnetic field component signals are respectively one of a first phase, a second phase or a phase jump, wherein the coarse position information comprised by the phase relations indicates in the phase jump a first coarse region of the possible coarse regions, wherein the coarse position information indicates in the first phase a second coarse region of the possible coarse regions and wherein the coarse position information indicates in the second phase a third coarse region of the possible coarse regions, wherein the first coarse region, the second coarse region and the third coarse region that are indicated by the respective coarse position information do not overlap.

7. The measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic field of the conductor loop array is generated by an unbalanced electric alternating current signal;

and

wherein the evaluator is configured to evaluate the magnetic field component signals for determining amplitude curves of the magnetic field components, wherein the amplitude curves each comprise additional position information of the receiver coil array relative to the conductor loop array, and wherein the evaluator is configured to combine the additional position information and the coarse position information or fine position information.

8. The measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the phase relation is a phase shift to the electric alternating current signal or a phase jump.

9. The measuring device according to claim 1, wherein a first phase-relation allocated to a first magnetic field component signal of the magnetic field component signals comprises a phase jump when crossing a conductor region of the conductor loop array.

10. The measuring device according to claim 1, wherein at least a second phase relation allocated to a second magnetic field component signal of the magnetic field component signals comprises a phase jump when crossing a geometric centroid of the conductor loop array.

11. The measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the three linearly independent directions are orthogonal directions.

12. The measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the receiver coil array comprises three coils that are arranged relative to one another to detect the three magnetic field components of the generated magnetic field of the conductor loop array.

13. A positioning system, comprising:

The measuring device according to claim 1; and

a conductor loop array.

14. Usage of a measuring device according to claim 1 for positioning a vehicle on a charging device for charging an electric energy storage of the vehicle, wherein the charging device comprises the conductor loop array.

15. A measuring method, comprising:

detecting three magnetic field components of a magnetic field of a conductor loop array generated by an electric alternating current signal, wherein the magnetic field components are detected along linearly independent directions;

providing a magnetic field component signal for each of the detected three magnetic field components; and

evaluating the magnetic field component signals for determining, for the magnetic field component signals, allocated phase relations to the electric alternating current signal, wherein the phase relations each comprise coarse position information of the receiver coil array relative to the transmitter coil array;

wherein evaluating comprises determining a resulting intersection of the coarse position information, wherein the resulting intersection comprises/results in fine position information of the receiver coil array relative to the conductor loop array.

16. A non-transitory digital storage medium having a computer program stored thereon to perform the measuring method, the method comprising:

detecting three magnetic field components of a magnetic field of a conductor loop array generated by an electric alternating current signal, wherein the magnetic field components are detected along linearly independent directions;

providing a magnetic field component signal for each of the detected three magnetic field components; and

evaluating the magnetic field component signals for determining, for the magnetic field component signals, allocated phase relations to the electric alternating current signal, wherein the phase relations each comprise coarse position information of the receiver coil array relative to the transmitter coil array;

wherein evaluating comprises determining a resulting intersection of the coarse position information, wherein the resulting intersection comprises/results in fine position information of the receiver coil array relative to the conductor loop array, when said computer program is run by a computer.

17. A data transmission device, comprising:

a data transceiver;

a receiver coil array that is configured to detect at least one magnetic field component of a magnetic field of a conductor loop array generated by an electric alternating current signal of a further data transmission device and to provide a magnetic field component signal for the detected magnetic field component;

evaluator configured to evaluate the magnetic field component signal for determining a phase relation between the magnetic field component signal and the electric alternating current signal, wherein the phase relations comprise position information indicating whether a projection of the receiver coil array is perpendicular to a conductor loop area inside the conductor loop area, wherein the conductor loop area is within a plane spanned by the conductor loop array, and wherein the conductor loop area is limited by the conductor loop array; and

a controller configured to enable data transmission of the data transceiver only when the projection of the receiver coil array is perpendicular to the conductor loop area inside or outside the conductor loop area.

18. The data transmission device according to claim 17, wherein the receiver coil array is configured to detect a magnetic field component of the magnetic field of the conductor loop array running orthogonally to the conductor loop area.

19. Data transmission system, comprising:

a data transmission device according to claim 17; and

a further data transmission device with the conductor loop array.

20. A method for data transmission between a data transmission device and a further data transmission device comprising:

detecting a magnetic field component of a magnetic field of a conductor loop array generated by an electric alternating current signal;

providing a magnetic field component signal for the detected magnetic field component;

evaluating the magnetic field component signal for determining a phase relation between the magnetic field component signal and the electric alternating current signal, wherein the phase relations comprise position information indicating whether a projection of the receiver coil array is perpendicular to a conductor loop area inside the conductor loop area, wherein the conductor loop area is within a plane that is spanned by the conductor loop array and wherein the conductor loop area is limited by the conductor loop array;

enabling data transmission between the data transmission device and the further data transmission device if the projection of the receiver coil array perpendicular to the conductor loop area is inside or outside the conductor loop area.