CONTACTLESS POWER RECEIVER AND METHOD FOR OPERATING SAME

• US 20160308393A1
• Filed: 11/07/2014
• Published: 10/20/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/11/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: PowerbyProxi Limited (Apple Inc.)
• Inventors: LECIAS, Eugenio Jr. Sia, ZENG, Junbo, KUMAR, Arunim, GRAY, Nigel, WANG, Ya-Ting
• Application Number:
  US15/035,817
• Publication Number:
  US 20160308393A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/12 of the resonant type
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/80 involving the exchange of data, concerning supply or distribution of electric power, between transmitting devices and receiving devices
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00714 in response to battery charging or discharging current
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/007182 in response to battery voltage
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/04 Regulation of charging current or voltage

Abstract

A contactless power system comprising a power transmitter having a transmitting coil and a power receiver having a receiving coil, the power receiver being configured to receive power transmitted by the power transmitter via contactless electromagnetic coupling of the respective coils and deliver the received power to a load, wherein the receiving coil of the power receiver is part of a resonant circuit having a resonant frequency, the resonant circuit comprising a detuning element to detune the frequency of the resonant circuit from the resonant frequency in accordance with power requirements of the load.

Claims

1. A contactless power system comprising a power transmitter having a transmitting coil and a power receiver having a receiving coil, the power receiver being configured to receive power transmitted by the power transmitter via contactless electromagnetic coupling of the respective coils and deliver the received power to a load, wherein the receiving coil of the power receiver is part of a resonant circuit having a resonant frequency, the resonant circuit comprising a detuning element to detune the frequency of the resonant circuit from the resonant frequency in accordance with power requirements of the load.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the receiving coil is an inductance element and the resonant circuit of the power receiver comprises the inductance element in series with a capacitive element, the inductance and capacitance values of the inductance and capacitive elements being selected to provide the resonant frequency.

3. A system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the detuning element of the resonant circuit is configured as part of the capacitive element.

4. A system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the detuning element is a variable capacitor.

5. A system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the variable capacitor comprises a capacitor in series with a switch.

6. A system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the power receiver comprises controller configured to receive one or more signals in accordance with the power requirements of the load and to control operation of the switch in accordance with the received signals thereby varying the capacitance value of the variable capacitance and detuning the frequency of the resonant circuit from the resonant frequency.