Wireless power transmission system

• US 10,418,891 B2
• Filed: 09/08/2016
• Issued: 09/17/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Takahashi, Eiji, Kanno, Hiroshi, Sakata, Tsutomu, Kikuchi, Satoru
• Primary Examiner(s): Barnie, Rexford N
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mourad, Rasem
• Application Number:
  US15/259,222
• Publication Number:
  US 20170098991A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,104 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 19/0045 Contactless power transmission, e.g. by magnetic induction
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/12 of the resonant type
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/80 involving the exchange of data, concerning supply or distribution of electric power, between transmitting devices and receiving devices
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/08 Circuits specially adapted for the generation of control voltages for semiconductor devices incorporated in static converters
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/537 using semiconductor devices only, e.g. single switched pulse inverters
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/79 for data transfer in combination with power transfer

Abstract

A wireless power transmission system includes a power transmitting device, power receiving device, and load. The power transmitting device includes an inverter circuit, power transmitting antenna, power transmission control circuit, and transmitting-side receiver. The power receiving device includes a power receiving antenna, rectifying circuit, and receiving-side transmitter. The power transmission control circuit causes the inverter circuit to output preliminary AC power to activate the power receiving device. The receiving-side transmitter transmits, to the power transmitting device, control information of the power receiving device including (i) a coupling coefficient between the power transmitting antenna and the power receiving antenna, (ii) requested voltage of the power receiving device, and (iii) load impedance of the load. The power transmission control circuit determines the control parameter based on the control information by referring to the table, based on the control information, and adjusts the voltage and frequency of the AC power output from the inverter circuit using the control parameter.

Claims

1. A wireless power transmission system comprising:

a power transmitting device including

an inverter circuit that converts a first DC power supplied from a power source into AC power and outputs the AC power,

a power transmitting antenna that wirelessly transmits the output AC power, and

a power transmission control circuit that adjusts voltage and frequency of the AC power output from the inverter circuit;

a power receiving device including

a power receiving antenna that receives the AC power transmitted from the power transmitting antenna, and

a rectifying circuit that converts the received AC power into a second DC power; and

a load into which the second DC power is input,

wherein the power transmitting device and the power receiving device are capable of being coupled and detached,

wherein the power receiving device further includes a receiving-side transmitter that transmits, to the power transmitting device, control information of the power receiving device including (i) a coupling coefficient between the power transmitting antenna and the power receiving antenna, (ii) requested voltage of the load of the power receiving device, and (iii) load impedance of the load,

wherein the power transmitting device further includes

a transmitting-side receiver that receives the control information of the power receiving device from the receiving-side transmitter, and

a table containing control parameters correlated with (i) the coupling coefficient, (ii) the requested voltage, and (iii) the load impedance,

and wherein the power transmission control circuit initially;

causes the inverter circuit to output preliminary AC power to activate the receiving-side transmitter of the power receiving device in a state where the power transmitting device and power receiving device are coupled, the preliminary AC power being lower than a power to activate the load of the power receiving device,

causes the transmitting-side receiver to receive the control information of the power receiving device from the power receiving device during the inverter circuit outputting the preliminary AC power,

determines the control parameter based on the control information by referring to the table, and

adjusts the voltage of the AC power output from the inverter circuit using the control parameter,

after the power transmission control circuit has adjusted the voltage of the AC power output from the inverter circuit using the control parameter, the power receiving device creates and transmits, to the power transmitting device via the receiving-side transmitter, control error signals representing a difference between a requested voltage value of the load and a current voltage value of the load, and

the power transmission control circuit adjusts the voltage of the AC power output from the inverter circuit using the control error signals in order to output the power to activate the load.

2. The wireless power transmission system according to claim 1,

wherein the power transmission control circuit

adjusts to match the voltage of the AC power to the requested voltage, by adjusting the voltage of the AC power using the control parameter.

3. The wireless power transmission system according to claim 1,

wherein the power transmission control circuit

adjusts to bring the voltage of the AC power close to a range of 80% to 120% of the requested voltage, by adjusting the voltage of the AC power using the control parameter.

4. The wireless power transmission system according to claim 3,

wherein the power transmission control circuit updates the control parameter to converge the difference that the control error signals represent, and adjusts the voltage and frequency of the AC power output from the inverter circuit using the updated control parameter.

5. The wireless power transmission system according to claim 1,

wherein the requested voltage of the power receiving device is a value indicating a predetermined range.

6. The wireless power transmission system according to claim 1,

wherein the control parameter is a value indicating a predetermined range.

7. The wireless power transmission system according to claim 6,

wherein the power transmission control circuit adjusts the voltage and frequency of the AC power output from the inverter circuit using a median value of the control parameter indicated by the predetermined range.

8. The wireless power transmission system according to claim 1,

wherein the power transmitting device includes a protrusion or a recess on a surface of the power transmitting device,

wherein the power receiving device includes a protrusion or a recess on a surface of the power receiving device,

and wherein the power transmitting device and the power receiving device can be coupled and separated, by the protrusion of the power transmitting device and the recess of the power receiving device being engaged, or by the recess of the power transmitting device and the protrusion of the power receiving device being engaged.

9. The wireless power transmission system according to claim 1,

wherein the load is included in the power receiving device.

10. The wireless power transmission system according to claim 1,

wherein the inverter circuit includes four switching devices,

wherein the four switching devices make up a first switching device pair that outputs voltage of the same polarity as the voltage of the first DC power supplied from the power source when conducting, and a second switching device pair that outputs voltage of opposite polarity from the voltage of the first DC power supplied from the power source when conducting,

wherein the power transmission control circuit

supplies pulse signals to each of the four switching devices, to switch between conducting and non-conducting states, and

adjusts the voltage of the AC power output from the inverter circuit, by adjusting a phase difference of two pulse signals supplied to the first switching device pair, and a phase difference of two pulse signals supplied to the second switching device pair,

and wherein the control parameter is a value indicating the phase difference.

11. The wireless power transmission system according to claim 1,

wherein the power transmission control circuit adjusts the voltage of the AC power output from the inverter circuit in which the control parameter is a value representing the frequency.

12. The wireless power transmission system according to claim 1,

wherein the inverter circuit includes a plurality of switching devices,

wherein the power transmission control circuit supplies pulse signals to each of the plurality of switching devices, to switch between conducting and non-conducting states,

wherein the voltage of the AC power output from the inverter circuit is adjusted by adjusting a duty ratio of the pulse signals,

and wherein the control parameter is a value representing a duty ratio.