METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ALIGNING CONDUCTORS FOR CAPACITIVE WIRELESS POWER TRANSMISSION

• US 20130082540A1
• Filed: 09/29/2011
• Published: 04/04/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Konica Minolta Laboratory U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Konica Minolta Laboratory U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta Inc.)
• Inventors: CHRIST, John Randall
• Granted Patent: US 9,577,713 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 307/109
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/22 Capacitive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/79 for data transfer in combination with power transfer

Abstract

A method of aligning a capacitive wireless power transmission system, the method comprises: providing a transmitter device having a capacitive conductor; positioning a receiver device having a capacitive conductor in proximity to the capacitive conductor of the transmitter device; and aligning the capacitive conductors of the transmitter device and the receiver device with one another using a display panel on the receiver device to optimize a transfer of power between the capacitive conductors.

Claims

1. A method of aligning a capacitive wireless power transmission system, the method comprising:

providing a transmitter device having a capacitive conductor;

positioning a receiver device having a capacitive conductor in proximity to the capacitive conductor of the transmitter device; and

aligning the capacitive conductors of the transmitter device and the receiver device with one another using a display panel on the receiver device to optimize a transfer of power between the capacitive conductors.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of aligning the capacitive conductors of the transmitter device and the receiver device comprises:

obtaining an area and a shape of the capacitive conductors the transmitter and receiver devices;

displaying on the display panel, the area and the shape of the capacitive conductor for the transmitter device relative to the area and the shape of the capacitive conductor of the receiver device on the display panel; and

adjusting the capacitive conductor of the receiver device relative to the capacitive conductor of the transmitter.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the display panel is an LED display panel comprised of a plurality of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs).

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the capacitive conductors of the transmitter and receiver devices are capacitive plates.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the capacitive plates of the transmitter and the receiver devices comprises a plurality of conductors.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising determining the position of the plurality of conductors for the receiver device based on an output of electrical characteristics of the plurality of conductors of the receiver device.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising determining positioning of the conductor for the receiver device to the conductor of the transmitter device by checking output of the plurality of conductors of the receiver device at a corner and/or an edge of the receiver device.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising determining alignment based on a known maximum output and a measured output of the capacitance conductor of the receiver device.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the plurality of conductors have a circular shape thereto and determining alignment by calculating an area of an intersection of the circular shape of the capacitive conductors for the transmitter device and the receiver device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the display panel provides audio and/or visual feedback to a user regarding alignment of the conductors of the transmitter device and the receiver device.

11. A capacitive wireless power transmission system, comprising:

a transmitting device having a capacitive conductor;

a receiver device having a capacitive conductor in proximity to the capacitive conductor of the transmitter device; and

a display panel for aligning the capacitive conductors of the transmitter device and the receiver device with one another to optimize a transfer of power between the capacitive conductors.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the aligning of the capacitive conductors of the transmitter device and the receiver device comprises:

obtaining an area and a shape of the capacitive conductors the transmitter and receiver devices;

displaying on the display panel, the area and the shape of the capacitive conductor for the transmitter device relative to the area and the shape of the capacitive conductor of the receiver device on the display panel; and

adjusting the capacitive conductor of the receiver device relative to the capacitive conductor of the transmitter.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the display panel is an LED display panel comprised of a plurality of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs).

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the capacitive conductors of the transmitter and receiver devices are capacitive plates.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the capacitive plates of the transmitter and the receiver devices comprises a plurality of conductors.

16. The system of claim 11, further comprising determining the position of the conductor for the receiver device based on electrical characteristics of an output of the conductors of the receiver device.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the transmitter device is affixed to a wall of a structure, and the receiver device is part of an electrical device having a display panel

18. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer usable medium having a computer readable code embodied therein for aligning a capacitive wireless power transmission system, the process comprising:

providing a transmitter device having a capacitive conductor;

positioning a receiver device having a capacitive conductor in proximity to the capacitive conductor of the transmitter device; and

aligning the capacitive conductors of the transmitter device and the receiver device with one another using a display panel on the receiver device to optimize a transfer of power between the capacitive conductors.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the step of aligning the capacitive conductors of the transmitter device and the receiver device comprises:

obtaining an area and a shape of the capacitive conductors the transmitter and receiver devices;

displaying on the display panel, the area and the shape of the capacitive conductor for the transmitter device relative to the area and the shape of the capacitive conductor of the receiver device on the display panel; and

adjusting the capacitive conductor of the receiver device relative to the capacitive conductor of the transmitter.

20. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the display panel is an LED display panel comprised of a plurality of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs).