Contactless power-feed equipment

• US 9,331,496 B2
• Filed: 06/26/2012
• Issued: 05/03/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Daifuku Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Daifuku Company Limited
• Inventors: Doi, Yoshio
• Primary Examiner(s): Fureman, Jared
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dominique, Emmanuel R
• Application Number:
  US13/533,097
• Publication Number:
  US 20130002037A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,407 Days
• Field of Search: 307/104, 361/113
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/12 of the resonant type

Abstract

Contactless power-feed equipment includes: a power-supply device that outputs an AC constant current having a predetermined oscillation frequency to a main induction line; a primary coil provided on the main induction line connected to the power-supply device; a secondary coil that forms an insulating transformer with the primary coil and is connected in parallel with the sub induction line, a resonance capacitor that is connected in parallel with the secondary coil and constitutes a parallel resonant circuit with the sub induction line, and a switch provided between the secondary coil and the parallel resonant circuit. In the parallel resonant circuit, the sub induction line and the resonance capacitor have constants such that the parallel resonant circuit has a resonance frequency equal to the oscillation frequency of the power-supply device.

Claims

1. Contactless power-feed equipment provided with a main induction line and a sub induction line that respectively functions as a primary side to supply power to a pickup coil that functions as a secondary side in a contactless manner by induction coupling, the contactless power-feed equipment being capable of switching supply and interruption of electric power from the main induction line to the sub induction line, the contactless power-feed equipment comprising:

a power-supply device that outputs an AC constant current having a predetermined oscillation frequency to the main induction line;

a primary coil connected to the main induction line;

a secondary coil that forms an insulating transformer with the primary coil and is connected to the sub induction line, wherein the primary coil is inductively coupled to the secondary coil such that a voltage in the primary coil induces a voltage in the secondary coil;

a resonance capacitor that is connected in parallel with the secondary coil and constitutes a parallel resonant circuit with the sub induction line; and

a switch that is provided between the secondary coil and the parallel resonant circuit to switch supply and interruption of electric power to the sub induction line wherein the switch is connected in series with the secondary coil,

wherein circuit constants of an inductance of the sub induction line and of a capacitance of the resonance capacitor are selected such that the parallel resonant circuit has a resonance frequency equal to the oscillation frequency of the power-supply device.

2. The contactless power-feed equipment according to claim 1, wherein the primary coil, the secondary coil, and the sub induction line have equal inductances.

3. The contactless power-feed equipment according to claim 1, further comprising a moving unit having the pickup coil, and a main route and a sub route on which the moving unit is capable of traveling,

wherein the main induction line is capable of supplying power to the moving unit on the main route,

the sub induction line is capable of supplying power to the moving unit on the sub route, and

the primary coil, the secondary coil, and the sub induction line are configured such that a current enabling traveling of the moving unit on the sub route is applied based on receiving power from the sub induction line through the pickup coil.