Feed unit and feed system

• US 9,570,920 B2
• Filed: 11/12/2012
• Issued: 02/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Haseno, Shinichi, Uramoto, Yoichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Barnie, Rexford
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vu, Toan
• Application Number:
  US14/345,527
• Publication Number:
  US 20140339912A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,555 Days
• Field of Search: 307/104
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/44 Methods for charging or discharging circuits for charging H02J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/05 using capacitive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• 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 7/0042 characterised by the mechanical construction
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/34 Parallel operation in networks using both storage and other dc sources, e.g. providing buffering H02J7/14 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

A feed unit includes: a power transmission section configured to perform power transmission with use of a magnetic field or an electronic field; a power limiting section provided on a power supply line from an external power source to the power transmission section; and an operation stop section configured to forcibly stop the power transmission. The operation stop section forcibly stops the power transmission when a voltage between an input and an output of the power limiting section exceeds a first threshold. The power limiting section forcibly interrupts power supply to the power transmission section when the voltage between the input and the output exceeds a second threshold that is larger than the first threshold.

Claims

1. A feed unit comprising:

a power transmission section configured to perform power transmission with use of a magnetic field or an electric field;

a power limiting section comprising circuitry provided on a power supply line from an external power source to the power transmission section; and

an operation stop section comprising a switching circuit configured to forcibly stop the power transmission, wherein;

the operation stop section forcibly stops the power transmission when a voltage between an input and an output of the power limiting section exceeds a first threshold, and

the circuitry of the power limiting section is configured to forcibly interrupt power supply to the power transmission section in an event that the voltage between the input and the output exceeds a second threshold, the second threshold being larger than the first threshold.

2. The feed unit according to claim 1, wherein the operation stop section is configured to render a control signal for the power transmission invalid to forcibly stop the power transmission.

3. The feed unit according to claim 2, wherein the switching circuit is configured to switch a state of the control signal between valid and invalid according to magnitude of the voltage between the input and the output.

4. The feed unit according to claim 1, wherein the power limiting section includes an error amplifier that is configured to control power limiting operation based on a potential difference between a reference voltage and a voltage corresponding to an input current from the external power source, and when the voltage between the input and the output exceeds the second threshold, the power limiting section controls magnitude of the reference voltage to forcibly interrupt the power supply to the power transmission section.

5. The feed unit according to claim 4, wherein the power limiting section includes a transistor on the power supply line, and controls the magnitude of the reference voltage and sets the transistor to OFF state to forcibly interrupt the power supply to the power transmission section.

6. The feed unit according to claim 1, wherein

the first threshold defines whether the state of the unit is in an overload state during normal operation, and

the second threshold defines whether the power transmission section is in a failed state or in a destructive state.

7. The feed unit according to claim 1, wherein the operation stop section is in an inoperable state in an event that the voltage between the input and the output exceeds the second threshold.

8. The feed unit according to claim 1, further comprising

a control section that includes a power transmission control section, the power transmission control section being configured to perform control of the power transmission.

9. The feed unit according to claim 8, wherein the control section is provided on a side closer to the external power source than the power limiting section.

10. The feed unit according to claim 8, wherein the power transmission control section controls the power transmission to allow a feeding period during which the power transmission is performed on a unit to be fed with power and a communication period during which predetermined communication is performed with the unit to be fed with power, to be set in a time-divisional manner, and controls the power limiting operation by the power limiting section to allow communication by amplitude modulation to be performed during the communication period.

11. The feed unit according to claim 10, wherein the power limiting section performs the power limiting operation during the feeding period, and performs amplitude modification operation during the communication period.

12. The feed unit according to claim 8, wherein

the power transmission control section controls the power transmission to allow a feeding period during which the power transmission is performed on a unit to be fed with power and a communication period during which predetermined communication is performed with the unit to be fed with power, to be set in a time-divisional manner, and

the operation stop section forcibly stops the communication when the voltage between the input and the output exceeds the first threshold during the communication period.

13. The feed unit according to claim 8, further comprising

an AC signal generation section configured to generate an AC signal to perform the power transmission, wherein

the power transmission control section controls operation of the AC signal generation section to perform control of the power transmission.

14. The feed unit according to claim 13, wherein

the AC signal generation section is configured using a switching amplifier including a switching device, and

the power transmission control section uses a control signal for the power transmission to control ON-OFF operation of the switching device.

15. The feed unit according to claim 14, wherein the power transmission control section controls the power transmission to allow a feeding period during which the power transmission is performed on a unit to be fed with power and a communication period during which predetermined communication is performed with the unit to be fed with power, to be set in a time-divisional manner, and controls a duty ratio of the control signal to allow communication by pulse width modulation to be performed during the communication period.

16. The feed unit according to claim 8, wherein the control section includes the power transmission control section and a control section for data transmission.

17. The feed unit according to claim 1, wherein the power transmission section uses resonance operation to perform the power transmission.

18. The feed unit according to claim 1, wherein the operation stop section includes a voltage detection section that is configured to detect the voltage between the input and the output.

19. A feed system provided with one or a plurality of electronic apparatuses and a feed unit configured to perform power transmission on the electronic apparatuses, the feed unit comprising:

a power transmission section configured to perform the power transmission with use of a magnetic field or an electronic field;

a power limiting section comprising circuitry provided on a power supply line from an external power source to the power transmission section; and

an operation stop section comprising a switching circuit configured to forcibly stop the power transmission, wherein;

the circuitry of the operation stop section forcibly stops the power transmission when a voltage between an input and an output of the power limiting section exceeds a first threshold, and the power limiting section forcibly interrupts power supply to the power transmission section in an event that the voltage between the input and the output exceeds a second threshold, the second threshold being larger than the first threshold.