Power and data transmission device

• US 20070182530A1
• Filed: 02/28/2005
• Published: 08/09/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/01/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Digades GmbH
• Original Assignee: Digades GmbH
• Inventors: Pilz, Ekkehard, Gasse, Bernd
• Application Number:
  US10/591,106
• Publication Number:
  US 20070182530A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/438
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0413 Wireless charging of active radio frequency circuits
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/043 using transformer type signal transducers, e.g. rotary transformers
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0723 the record carrier comprising an arrangement for non-contact communication, e.g. wireless communication circuits on transponder cards, non-contact smart cards or RFIDs
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07749 the record carrier being capable of non-contact communication, e.g. constructional details of the antenna of a non-contact smart card
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/2241 used in or for vehicle tyres

Abstract

A wheel housing unit is connected to a vehicle processing unit for each travelling wheel, which unit comprises a current supply unit connected to an on-board mains, an interface unit connected to a bus system, a control unit, a storage unit, an HF signal generator, a modulator/demodulator, an amplifier unit and at least one antenna, a transponder component is arranged in or on each tyre, which component comprises a circuit board with an electronic circuit, which incorporates at least one pressure and/or temperature sensor, an HF transponder circuit with receiving, transmitting and signal processing components and a rectifier and smoothing circuit, a coupling coil connecting the input terminals of the electronic circuit and surrounding an I-core, and a U-core magnetically coupled to the I-core, and is provided with an envelope provided with an air inlet and connected to the tyre, and where each tyre has a ring conductor which is arranged coaxially, penetrates the U-core and is thereby inductively coupled to it, and consists of flexible material (FIG. 2).

Claims

1. A device for the wireless transmission of electricity for the generation of at least one supply voltage for one or more electrical consumers which, if necessary, is/are arranged on a rotary device (1), wherein a first coil (4) connected to a supply device (15) forms the primary winding and a ring conductor (2) forms the secondary winding of a transformer, and a second coil (6) is inductively coupled to the ring conductor (2) to which coil an electrical consumer (A) is connected.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the supply deice (15) comprises a supply, receiving and a transmitting unit designed as a load modulator, in that the electrical consumer (A) is designed as an electronic circuit which comprises a transmitting unit (13), a processing and control unit (11), a storage unit (12), at least one sensor element (10) and a rectifier and smoothing circuit (8), in that the rectifier and smoothing circuit (8) is connected to the second coil (6), and in that the ring conductor (2) consisting of a flexible material is arranged coaxially and the second coil (6) and the electrical consumers (A) are arranged on or in a rotary device (1) and the supply device (15) and the first coil (4) are arranged stationarily.

3. The device according to claim 2, wherein the rotary device (1) is a motor vehicle tyre, wherein the diameter of the ring conductor (2) is greater or smaller than the diameter of the metal belt (3) of the tyre (1), and in that the supply device (15) is arranged with the first coil (4) in the wheel housing region (31) of a motor vehicle (100).

4. The device according to claim 2 for supplying voltage to a transponder (T) arranged in or on a vehicle tyre (R), and for the data transmission between the transponder (1) and a vehicle processing unit, wherein

a wheel housing unit (RE) is connected to the vehicle processing unit for each travelling wheel, which wheel housing unit comprises an interface unit (INT) connected to a bus system (LIN), a control unit (CON), a storage unit, an HF signal generator (GEN), a modulator/demodulator (AE, AS),

a transponder component (T) is arranged in or on each tyre, which component comprises a circuit board (PCB) with an electronic circuit (E), which incorporates a pressure and/or temperature sensor, an HF transponder circuit with receiving, transmitting and signal processing components (IC) and a rectifier and smoothing circuit (GG), a coupling coil (L) connecting the input terminals of the electronic circuit (E) and surrounding an I-core (IK), and a U-core (UK) magnetically coupled to the I-core (IK), and is surrounded by a envelope (VH) provided with an air inlet (LE) and connected to the tyre (R), and

each tyre (R)has a ring conductor (RL) arranged coaxially, penetrating the U-core (UK) and hence coupled inductively to it, and consisting of flexible material, the diameter of which ring conductor is greater or smaller than the diameter of the metal belt of the tyre (R).

5. The device according to claim 4, wherein the wheel housing unit (RE) is provided with a first antennae (AE) acting as a receiving antenna for modulated data signals, and a second antenna (AS) acting as a transmitting antenna for an HF carrier signal, wherein the first antenna (AE) is arranged in the wheel housing so that it is located in a region of minimum field strength of the second antenna (AS), and the second antenna (AS) is connected to the wheel housing unit (RE) by means of a twisted or double cable with conductors assembled close together.

6. The device according to claim 4, wherein the power supply is fed to the transponder component (T) when

the HF carrier signal is transmitted via the transmitting antenna (AS) of the wheel housing unit (RE),

the magnetic alternating field thus generated induces an alternating current flowing in the ring conductor (RL),

this alternating current generates a magnetic flux in the U-core (K) crossing the ring conductor (RL) and in the connected I-core (IK), and

the magnetic flux in the coupling coil (L) induces an alternating current voltage which is converted by means of the rectifier and smoothing circuit (GG) to at least one operating d.c. voltage (UB), and

the data transmission from the transponder component (T) to the wheel housing unit (RE) takes place when

the HF carrier signal is transmitted via the transmitting antenna (AS) of the wheel housing unit (RE),

the HF carrier signal is transmitted to a frequency divider parallel with the rectifier and smoothing circuit (GG), thereby generating an auxiliary carrier signal,

the auxiliary carrier signal is modulated with low frequency data signals obtained by means of the sensor and processed by means of the signal processing unit,

a switch is controlled by means of the modulated auxiliary carrier signal, which switch loads the transponder winding with a resistance so that side band frequency signals modulated with the data signal are generated, the frequencies of which signals have distances of whole number multiples of the frequency of the auxiliary carrier signals from the HF carrier signal,

the signal mixture is transmitted by the transponder (T) and is received via the receiving antenna (AE) from the wheel housing unit (RE) in which the modulated auxiliary carrier signals are separated by partial suppression of the carrier signal, amplification and mixing on a non-linear characteristic,

each signal, from the multiplicity of the modulated auxiliary signals, is filtered out and demodulated with the auxiliary carrier frequency originally obtained from the HF carrier signal by frequency division so that the data signals are processed and transmitted via the interface (INT) to the bus system (LIN).

7. The device according to claim 4, wherein the tyre transponder component (T) has a signal processing unit and in that bidirectional data transmission takes place between the wheel housing unit (RE) and tyre transponder component (T).