Magnetically Coupled Battery Charging System
First Claim
1. An inductively coupled battery charging system comprising:
- transmit circuitry comprising a transmit coil, wherein the transmit coil is operatively part of a transmit resonant circuit that exhibits resonance at a transmit resonant frequency, wherein the transmit resonant circuit exhibits an unloaded Q value of at least about 20, and wherein the transmit circuitry is configured to produce alternating current in the transmit coil to generate a magnetic field at about the transmit resonant frequency; and
a rechargeable battery assembly comprising a storage cell and receive circuitry, the receive circuitry comprising a receive coil operatively connected to receive control circuitry, wherein the receive coil is configured to receive inductively coupled current, wherein the receive control circuitry is configured to rectify the current and communicate charging power to the storage cell, wherein the receive coil is operatively part of a receive resonant circuit that exhibits resonance at a receive resonant frequency, and wherein the receive resonant circuit exhibits an unloaded Q value of at least about 10, and wherein the transmit resonant frequency and the receive resonant frequency are about equal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Inductively coupled battery charging systems and methods are provided. Transmit circuitry can include a transmit coil operatively part of a transmit resonant circuit that exhibits resonance at a transmit resonant frequency and an unloaded Q value of at least about 20. Transmit coil can generate a magnetic field at about the transmit resonant frequency. Rechargeable battery assembly can include a receive coil configured to receive inductively coupled current, and circuitry configured to rectify the current and communicate charging power to a storage cell. Receive coil can be part of a receive resonant circuit that exhibits resonance at about the transmit resonant frequency and an unloaded Q value of at least about 10. Transmit circuitry can include multiple transmit coils and can selectively discontinue production of alternating current in the coils generating fields that are not most strongly coupled to the receive coil.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. An inductively coupled battery charging system comprising:
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transmit circuitry comprising a transmit coil, wherein the transmit coil is operatively part of a transmit resonant circuit that exhibits resonance at a transmit resonant frequency, wherein the transmit resonant circuit exhibits an unloaded Q value of at least about 20, and wherein the transmit circuitry is configured to produce alternating current in the transmit coil to generate a magnetic field at about the transmit resonant frequency; and a rechargeable battery assembly comprising a storage cell and receive circuitry, the receive circuitry comprising a receive coil operatively connected to receive control circuitry, wherein the receive coil is configured to receive inductively coupled current, wherein the receive control circuitry is configured to rectify the current and communicate charging power to the storage cell, wherein the receive coil is operatively part of a receive resonant circuit that exhibits resonance at a receive resonant frequency, and wherein the receive resonant circuit exhibits an unloaded Q value of at least about 10, and wherein the transmit resonant frequency and the receive resonant frequency are about equal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method for inductively charging a battery comprising:
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using transmit circuitry in a transmitter to produce alternating current in a transmit coil to generate a magnetic field at about a transmit resonant frequency, wherein the transmit coil is operatively part of a transmit resonant circuit that exhibits resonance at the transmit resonant frequency, and wherein the transmit resonant circuit exhibits an unloaded Q value of at least about 20; using a receive coil in a rechargeable battery assembly to receive inductively coupled current; and using receive circuitry to rectify the current and communicate charging power to a storage cell, wherein the receive coil is operatively part of a receive resonant circuit that exhibits resonance at a receive resonant frequency, wherein the receive resonant circuit exhibits an unloaded Q value of at least about 10, and wherein the receive resonant frequency is about equal to the transmit resonant frequency. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification