ENERGY TRANSMISSION DEVICE AND ENERGY TRANSMISSION METHOD

• US 20190319486A1
• Filed: 08/08/2017
• Published: 10/17/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/27/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Schumann, Philipp, Eppler, Steffen
• Granted Patent: US 10,903,686 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/40 using two or more transmitting or receiving devices H02J50/50 takes precedence

Abstract

The invention relates to an energy transmission device (1, 10) for the contactless transmission of electric energy, comprising several transmitting coils (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32), several receiver coils (4, 5, 14, 15), and a control device (6, 16) which is designed to sequentially control a predetermined number of the transmitting coils (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32) in an energy transmission mode. The invention further relates to a corresponding energy transmission method.

Claims

1. An energy transmission device (1, 10) for the contactless transmission of electrical energy, the energy transmission device comprising

a plurality of transmitting coils (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32) and a plurality of receiving coils (4, 5, 14, 15), and

a control device (6, 16) which is configured to activate a predetermined number of the transmitting coils (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32) sequentially in an energy transmission mode.

2. The energy transmission device (1, 10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control device (6, 16) is configured to identify a respective coupling factor to the individual receiving coils (4, 5, 14, 15) for each of the transmitting coils (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32) in an identification mode, and to select, according to the coupling factor, the transmitting coils (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32) which are activated in the energy transmission mode, based on a coil pair having the greatest coupling factor.

3. The energy transmission device (1, 10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein in a case of sequential activation of the transmitting coils (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32), the control device (6, 16) is configured to activate next a respective transmitting coil (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32) which has a greatest spacing from a last-activated transmitting coil (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32).

4. The energy transmission device (1, 10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein in a case of sequential activation of the transmitting coils (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32), the control device (6, 16) is configured to activate each of the transmitting coils (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32) for a period of less than one second, in particular less than 500 milliseconds, less than 250 milliseconds, or less than 100 milliseconds.

5. The energy transmission device (1, 10) as claimed in claim 1, comprising an alternating-current source (19) which is configured to generate an alternating current for activating the transmitting coils (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32), and a toggle switch (20) which is configured to couple the alternating-current source (19) electrically to one of the coils in a controllable manner, wherein the control device (6, 16) is configured to activate the toggle switch (20) in order to activate one of the respective transmitting coils (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32).

6. The energy transmission device (1, 10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control device (6, 16) is configured to determine the predetermined number dynamically, based on a limit value for a coupling factor between the respective transmitting coil (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32) and one of the receiving coils.

7. An energy transmission method for the contactless transmission of electrical energy, the method comprising:

providing (S1) a plurality of transmitting coils (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32) and a plurality of receiving coils (4, 5, 14, 15), and

sequentially activating (S2) a predetermined number of the transmitting coils (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32) in an energy transmission mode.

8. The energy transmission method as claimed in claim 7, wherein a respective coupling factor to the individual receiving coils (4, 5, 14, 15) is identified for each of the transmitting coils (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32) in an identification mode, and the transmitting coils (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32) which are activated in the energy transmission mode are selected according to the coupling factor, based on a coil pair having a greatest coupling factor.

9. The energy transmission method as claimed in claim 7, wherein in a case of sequential activation of the transmitting coils (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32), a respective transmitting coil (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32) is activated next which has a greatest spacing from a last-activated transmitting coil (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32).

10. The energy transmission method as claimed in claim 7, wherein in a case of sequential activation of the transmitting coils (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32), each of the transmitting coils (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32) is activated for a period of less than one second, in particular less than 500 milliseconds, less than 250 milliseconds, or less than 100 milliseconds.

11. The energy transmission method as claimed in claim 7, comprising generating an alternating current for activating the transmitting coils (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32), and respectively electrically coupling the alternating current to a corresponding one of the transmitting coils (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32).

12. The energy transmission method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the predetermined number is determined dynamically, based on a limit value for a coupling factor between a respective transmitting coil (2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 30, 31, 32) and one of the receiving coils.