Adaptive inductive power supply
First Claim
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1. A contactless power supply for supplying power wirelessly to a remote device having a secondary inductor in electrical communication with a load, said contactless power supply comprising:
- a tank circuit having a primary inductor for transferring power to said remote device having said secondary inductor in electrical communication with said load, by an inductive coupling, wherein a resonant frequency of said tank circuit is based at least in part on the load;
circuitry for applying power at a rail voltage to said tank circuit, said circuitry applying said power at an operating frequency and a duty cycle; and
a controller coupled to said circuitry, said controller configured to monitor at least one operational characteristic of the contactless power supply, said controller configured to actively vary, based on said at least one operational characteristic, said operating frequency of said power from a first operating frequency to a second operating frequency;
wherein said controller is configured to actively vary said resonant frequency during operation such that said resonant frequency changes from a first resonant frequency to a second resonant frequency, wherein said first operating frequency is at or near said first resonant frequency, and wherein said second operating frequency is at or near said second resonant frequency.
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Abstract
A contactless power supply has a dynamically configurable tank circuit powered by an inverter. The contactless power supply is inductively coupled to one or more loads. The inverter is connected to a DC power source. When loads are added or removed from the system, the contactless power supply is capable of modifying the resonant frequency of the tank circuit, the inverter frequency, the inverter duty cycle or the rail voltage of the DC power source.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A contactless power supply for supplying power wirelessly to a remote device having a secondary inductor in electrical communication with a load, said contactless power supply comprising:
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a tank circuit having a primary inductor for transferring power to said remote device having said secondary inductor in electrical communication with said load, by an inductive coupling, wherein a resonant frequency of said tank circuit is based at least in part on the load; circuitry for applying power at a rail voltage to said tank circuit, said circuitry applying said power at an operating frequency and a duty cycle; and a controller coupled to said circuitry, said controller configured to monitor at least one operational characteristic of the contactless power supply, said controller configured to actively vary, based on said at least one operational characteristic, said operating frequency of said power from a first operating frequency to a second operating frequency; wherein said controller is configured to actively vary said resonant frequency during operation such that said resonant frequency changes from a first resonant frequency to a second resonant frequency, wherein said first operating frequency is at or near said first resonant frequency, and wherein said second operating frequency is at or near said second resonant frequency. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A contactless power supply system comprising:
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an inductive power supply having at least one operating parameter, said inductive power supply having a resonant frequency, an operating frequency, a rail voltage and a duty cycle; a remote device having a secondary inductor in electrical communication with a load, said remote device capable of inductively receiving power from said power supply via an inductive coupling when placed within sufficient proximity to said inductive power supply, said remote device capable of affecting said at least one operating parameter when placed within sufficient proximity to said inductive power supply; and wherein said power supply includes; a tank circuit having a primary inductor for inductively transferring power to said remote device; and a controller programmed to actively adjust, during operation, said operating frequency such that said operating frequency is controlled to be at or near said resonant frequency, said controller programmed to continually monitor said at least one operating parameter of said power supply while actively controlling said operating frequency wherein said controller is programmed to reconfigure the power supply, based on said at least one operating parameter falling outside a nominal range while actively controlling said operating frequency, by actively adjusting said resonant frequency. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of operating an inductive power supply for a remote device having a secondary inductor in electrical communication with a load, the method including the steps of:
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applying power to a tank circuit within the inductive power supply; establishing an inductive coupling between the inductive power supply and the remote device having the secondary inductor in electrical communication with said load; monitoring at least one operating parameter of the inductive power supply after establishing the inductive coupling; based upon said monitoring step, reconfiguring the inductive power supply by; actively adjusting, based on an operating parameter, an impedance of the tank circuit to affect a variable resonant frequency; and actively adjusting a variable operating frequency of power applied to the tank circuit such that the variable operating frequency is at or near the variable resonant frequency, wherein actively adjusting the variable operating frequency affects said operating parameter based on which said impedance of the tank circuit is adjusted. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method for controlling operation of an inductive power supply system, comprising the steps of:
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establishing an inductive coupling between an inductive power supply and a remote device having a secondary inductor in electrical communication with a load, the inductive power supply having a controller and a tank circuit, wherein a resonant frequency of said tank circuit is based at least in part on the load; actively adjusting, based on a setting retrieved from memory, a resonant frequency of the inductive power supply when the remote device is inductively coupled with the inductive power supply; actively adjusting an operating frequency of the inductive power supply such that said operating frequency is at or near the resonant frequency. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. An inductive power supply for supplying power to a remote device having a secondary inductor in electrical communication with a load, the remote device can be selectively placed in proximity to the inductive power supply to wirelessly receive power from the inductive power supply, the inductive power supply comprising:
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a tank circuit having a primary inductor for wirelessly transferring power to the remote device having said secondary inductor in electrical communication with said load by an inductive coupling, wherein a resonant frequency of said tank circuit is based at least in part on said load; an inverter for applying power to said tank circuit, said inverter applying power to said tank circuit at a variable operating frequency and a duty cycle; a DC power source coupled to said inverter to supply DC power to said inverter, said DC power source having a rail voltage; a drive circuit coupled to said inverter, said drive circuit dictating said variable operating frequency and said duty cycle; and a controller for dynamically reconfiguring the inductive power supply, said controller configured to monitor at least one operational characteristic of the inductive power supply, said controller configured to actively vary said variable operating frequency of said inverter such that said variable operating frequency is at or near said resonant frequency, wherein variations in said variable operating frequency affect said at least one operational characteristic, said controller configured to actively vary, based on said at least one operational characteristic, said resonant frequency of said tank circuit. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34)
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Specification