Methods and apparatus for providing a sufficiently stable power to a load in an energy transfer system
First Claim
1. A first side energy transfer system for transferring power from a power supply having a primary winding located on a first side of a physical boundary to a variable load having a secondary winding located on a second side of the physical boundary over a power channel created between the primary and secondary windings, the first side energy transfer system comprising:
- a primary winding electrically coupled to the power supply to generate a magnetic field based on input power provided by the power supply, the magnetic field permeating the physical boundary for magnetically coupling a secondary winding to the primary winding to form a power channel to provide power to a variable load;
an excitation control circuit coupled to the primary winding to detect on the primary winding an indication of at least one of changes in a variable load and changes in the relative position of the primary winding and a secondary winding; and
a primary control circuit electrically coupled to the primary winding and to the excitation control circuit to regulate a primary voltage across the primary winding based on the detected indication for providing a sufficiently stable output power to the variable load notwithstanding at least one of changes in a load and changes in a relative position of the primary winding and a secondary winding;
wherein the excitation control circuit includes a rectifier coupled to the primary winding and a comparator coupled to the rectifier that compares a voltage in the primary windimg to a threshold voltage, wherein the rectifier at least partially rectifies the primary voltage for comparison with the threshold voltage by the comparator.
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Abstract
Methods and apparatus for providing a sufficiently stable power to a load in an energy transfer system that transfers energy from one side of a physical boundary to another side of he boundary. In one example, a power supply and a primary winding are located on a first side of a physical boundary (e.g., external to a body), and a secondary winding and the load are located on a second side of the physical boundary (e.g., internal to the body). A primary voltage across the primary winding is regulated so as to provide a sufficiently stable output power to the load notwithstanding changes in the load and/or changes in a relative position of the primary winding and the secondary winding. One aspect of the invention relates to energy transfer methods and apparatus for use in connection with the human body. In particular, one example of the invention includes a transcutaneous energy transfer (TET) system for transferring power from a power supply external to the body to a device implanted in the body.
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Citations
51 Claims
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1. A first side energy transfer system for transferring power from a power supply having a primary winding located on a first side of a physical boundary to a variable load having a secondary winding located on a second side of the physical boundary over a power channel created between the primary and secondary windings, the first side energy transfer system comprising:
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a primary winding electrically coupled to the power supply to generate a magnetic field based on input power provided by the power supply, the magnetic field permeating the physical boundary for magnetically coupling a secondary winding to the primary winding to form a power channel to provide power to a variable load; an excitation control circuit coupled to the primary winding to detect on the primary winding an indication of at least one of changes in a variable load and changes in the relative position of the primary winding and a secondary winding; and a primary control circuit electrically coupled to the primary winding and to the excitation control circuit to regulate a primary voltage across the primary winding based on the detected indication for providing a sufficiently stable output power to the variable load notwithstanding at least one of changes in a load and changes in a relative position of the primary winding and a secondary winding; wherein the excitation control circuit includes a rectifier coupled to the primary winding and a comparator coupled to the rectifier that compares a voltage in the primary windimg to a threshold voltage, wherein the rectifier at least partially rectifies the primary voltage for comparison with the threshold voltage by the comparator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. In an energy transfer system for transferring power from a power supply located on a first side of a physical boundary to a variable load located on a second side of the physical boundary, the system having a primary winding on the first side for generating a magnetic field based on input power provided by the power supply, the magnetic field permeating the physical boundary for magnetically coupling the primary winding to a secondary winding on the second side, thereby forming a power channel between the windings through which at least a portion of the magnetic field is received by the secondary winding to provide power to the variable load based on the received magnetic field, the energy transfer system further including a secondary control circuit electrically coupled to the secondary winding to provide a detectable indication on the power channel providing information that indicates a characteristic of the variable load, a system for the first side comprising:
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a primary winding electrically coupled to the power supply; a detector circuit coupled to the primary winding to detect the detectable indication on the power channel; and a primary control circuit electrically coupled to the primary winding to regulate a primary voltage across the primary winding based on the detected indication for providing a sufficiently stable output power to the variable load notwithstanding at least one of changes in the load and changes in a relative position of the primary winding and the secondary winding. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. In an energy transfer system for transferring power from a power supply located on a first side of a physical boundary to a variable load located on a second side of the physical boundary, the energy transfer system having a primary winding electrically coupled to the power supply, to generate a magnetic field based on input power provided by the power supply, the magnetic field permeating the physical boundary for magnetically coupling a secondary winding to the primary winding, thereby forming a power channel between the windings through which at least a portion of the magnetic field is received by the secondary winding and used to provide power to the variable load based on the received magnetic field, the energy transfer system further including a secondary control circuit electrically coupled to the secondary winding to provide a detectable indication on the power channel providing information that indicates a characteristic of the variable load, a method of providing power to the variable load, the method comprising the steps of:
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detecting on the first side of the physical boundary a detectable indication from the power channel indicative of at least one of changes in the variable load and changes in the relative position of the primary winding and the secondary winding; and regulating the magnetic field generated by the primary winding based on the detecting so as to provide sufficiently stable power to the variable load notwithstanding at least one of changes in the variable load and changes in the relative position of the primary winding and the secondary winding. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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Specification