×

Contactless battery system utilizing a bidirectional power converter

  • US 9,991,732 B2
  • Filed: 04/11/2016
  • Issued: 06/05/2018
  • Est. Priority Date: 04/10/2015
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
Patent Images

1. A battery unit comprising:

  • a sealed housing with no external electrical contacts;

    a battery enclosed by the sealed housing, wherein the battery is configured to selectively store direct current (DC) power and selectively provide DC power;

    a coil enclosed by the sealed housing;

    a bidirectional power converter having an alternating current (AC) terminal connected to the coil, a DC input terminal, a DC output terminal, a direction control, and a transmission enable input, wherein the bidirectional power converter has a transmit mode operable to provide AC output power to the coil from the battery and a receive mode operable to receive AC power via the coil and provide a DC output to the DC output terminal;

    a battery management system connected to the battery, the DC input terminal, and the DC output terminal, wherein the battery management system is responsive to a charge signal to selectively provide DC power to the battery for storage from the DC output of the bidirectional power converter and to provide DC power received from the battery to the DC input of the bidirectional power converter;

    a digital hall effect sensor configured to sense proximity of a permanent magnet of a cart bidirectional power converter assembly and provide a binary presence signal indicative of the proximity of the permanent magnet; and

    a microprocessor connected to the direction control of the bidirectional power converter, the transmission enable input of the bidirectional power converter, the digital hall effect sensor, and the battery management system, wherein the microprocessor is configured to determine a mode of the bidirectional power converter from the cart bidirectional power converter assembly, and in the transmit mode;

    set the battery management system to provide DC power from the battery to the DC input of the bidirectional power converter by providing the charge signal;

    set the bidirectional power converter to the transmit mode via the direction control input; and

    provide a transmit enable signal to the transmission enable input of the bidirectional power converter in response to receiving the binary presence signal from the digital hall effect sensor indicating the presence of the permanent magnet of the cart bidirectional power converter assembly; and

    , in the receive mode;

    set the battery management system to provide DC power to the battery for storage from the DC output of the bidirectional power converter via the charge signal; and

    set the bidirectional power converter to the receive mode via the direction control input.

View all claims
  • 9 Assignments
Timeline View
Assignment View
    ×
    ×