ELECTRIC POWER SUPPLY APPARATUS, ELECTRIC POWER RECEIVING APPARATUS, METHOD OF CONTROLLING ELECTRIC POWER SUPPLY APPARATUS, AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING ELECTRIC POWER RECEIVING APPARATUS

• US 20150162778A1
• Filed: 06/26/2013
• Published: 06/11/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Inoue, Hiroshi, Hokyo, Tomoaki, Nagamine, Kazuhide
• Granted Patent: US 10,014,708 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/12 of the resonant type
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/402 the two or more transmitting or the two or more receiving devices being integrated in the same unit, e.g. power mats with several coils or antennas with several sub-antennas
• 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: H02J 7/00036 Charger exchanging data with battery
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00047 with provisions for charging different types of batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/02 for charging batteries from ac mains by converters

Abstract

The present invention provides a technique to control a distribution of electric power depending on electric power consumption of each of a plurality of electric power receiving apparatuses.

An electric power supply apparatus includes an acquisition unit configured to acquire information associated with electric power consumption of each of the plurality of electric power receiving apparatuses, a determination unit configured to determine the distribution of electric power to the plurality of electric power receiving apparatuses based on the information acquired by the acquisition unit such that a greater amount of distribution of electric power is assigned to an electric power receiving apparatus having greater electric power consumption, and an electric power supply unit configured to supply electric power to each of the plurality of electric power receiving apparatuses according to the distribution of electric power determined by the determination unit.

Claims

1. An electric power supply apparatus comprising:

an acquisition unit configured to acquire first information associated with electric power consumption of each of a plurality of electric power receiving apparatuses;

a determination unit configured to determine a distribution of electric power to the plurality of electric power receiving apparatuses based on the first information acquired by the acquisition unit such that a greater amount of distribution of electric power is assigned to an electric power receiving apparatus having greater electric power consumption; and

an electric power supply unit configured to supply electric power to each of the plurality of electric power receiving apparatuses according to the distribution of electric power determined by the determination unit.

2. The electric power supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines the distribution of electric power to the plurality of electric power receiving apparatuses by setting a length of electric power supply time for each of the plurality of electric power receiving apparatuses.

3. The electric power supply apparatus according to claim 2, wherein in a case where the electric power supply unit supplies electric power to a first electric power receiving apparatus and a second electric power receiving apparatus and the electric power consumption of the second electric power receiving apparatus is greater than the electric power consumption of the first electric power receiving apparatus, the determination unit determines the distribution of electric power to the plurality of electric power receiving apparatuses such that the length of the electric power supply time for the second electric power receiving apparatus is greater than the length of the electric power supply time for the first electric power receiving apparatus.

4. The electric power supply apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the determination unit determines the distribution of electric power such that the length of the electric power supply time corresponds to the ratio of the electric power consumption value of the second electric power receiving apparatus to the electric power consumption value of the first electric power receiving apparatus.

5. The electric power supply apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a notification unit configured such that when a change is to occur in the distribution, determined by the determination unit, of electric power to the plurality of electric power receiving apparatuses, the notification unit notifies at least one of the plurality of electric power receiving apparatuses that the distribution of electric power is to be changed.

6. The electric power supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first information is information indicating an electric power consumption value of each of the plurality of electric power receiving apparatuses.

7. The electric power supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of electric power receiving apparatuses has a plurality of modes with different electric power consumption, and the first information is information indicating which one of the plurality of modes each electric power receiving apparatus is in.

8. The electric power supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first information is information indicating an apparatus type of each of the plurality of electric power receiving apparatuses.

9. The electric power supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in a case where the first information is not acquired from a particular electric power receiving apparatus by the acquisition unit, the electric power supply unit supplies electric power to the particular electric power receiving apparatus according to a predetermined distribution of electric power.

10. The electric power supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in a case where the first information is not acquired from a particular electric power receiving apparatus by the acquisition unit, the determination unit determines the distribution of electric power to the particular electric power receiving apparatus by assuming that the electric power consumption of the particular electric power receiving apparatus is equal to the average of electric power consumption, acquired by the acquisition unit, of remaining electric power receiving apparatuses.

11. The electric power supply apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a receiving unit configured to receive second information indicating a remaining battery charge of each of the plurality of electric power receiving apparatuses.

12. The electric power supply apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the determination unit determines the distribution of electric power according to the second information received by the receiving unit as to the remaining battery charge of each of the plurality of electric power receiving apparatuses, and the electric power supply unit supplies electric power according to the distribution of electric power determined by the determination unit.

13. The electric power supply apparatus according to claim 12, wherein in a case where the remaining battery charge indicated by the second information received by the receiving unit is greater than a predetermined value in all electric power receiving apparatuses, the electric power supply unit operates in a first mode in which the electric power supply unit supplies electric power according to the distribution of electric power determined by the determination unit based on the first information, while in a case where there is an electric power receiving apparatus having a remaining battery charge smaller than the predetermined value, the electric power supply unit operates in a second mode in which the electric power supply unit supplies electric power while giving high priority to the electric power receiving apparatus having the remaining battery charge smaller than the predetermined value.

14. The electric power supply apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the acquisition unit acquires information associated with electric power consumption of each of the plurality of electric power receiving apparatuses based on the second information received by the receiving unit.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium which stores a program configured to cause a computer to operate as the electric power supply apparatus according to claim 1.

15. An electric power supply apparatus comprising:

a determination unit configured to determine a length of an electric power supply time corresponding to electric power consumption of an electric power receiving apparatus; and

an electric power supply unit configured to supply electric power to the electric power receiving apparatus based on the length of the electric power supply time determined by the determination unit.

16. An electric power receiving apparatus configured to receive electric power from an electric power supply apparatus, comprising:

a notification unit configured to notify the electric power supply apparatus of information associated with electric power consumption of the electric power receiving apparatus; and

an electric power receiving unit configured to receive electric power from the electric power supply apparatus according to a distribution of electric power determined by the electric power supply apparatus based on the information notified from the notification unit.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium which stores a program configured to cause a computer to operate as the electric power receiving apparatus according to claim 16.

17. A method of controlling an electric power supply apparatus, comprising:

acquiring information associated with electric power consumption of each of a plurality of electric power receiving apparatuses;

determining a distribution of electric power to the plurality of electric power receiving apparatuses based on the acquired information such that a greater amount of distribution of electric power is assigned to an electric power receiving apparatus having greater electric power consumption; and

supplying electric power to each of the plurality of electric power receiving apparatuses according to the determined distribution of electric power.

18. A method of controlling an electric power receiving apparatus configured to receive electric power from an electric power supply apparatus, comprising:

notifying the electric power supply apparatus of information associated with electric power consumption of the electric power receiving apparatus; and

receiving electric power from the electric power supply apparatus according to a distribution of electric power determined by the electric power supply apparatus based on the notified information.