Inductive power transmitter

• US 10,566,853 B2
• Filed: 02/03/2016
• Issued: 02/18/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 02/03/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Chen, Liang
• Primary Examiner(s): Cox, Cassandra F
• Application Number:
  US15/548,112
• Publication Number:
  US 20180019624A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,476 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 38/14 Inductive couplings for wireless supply or distribution of electric power using inductive coupling H02J50/10
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/12 of the resonant type
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/90 involving detection or optimisation of position, e.g. alignment
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00308 Overvoltage protection
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/26 using coils
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/79 for data transfer in combination with power transfer

Abstract

An inductive power transmitter 2 comprising: a plurality of transmitter coils 7; a controller 8 configured to selectively energise the coils 7 in order to couple a receiver 3, the coils 7 selected being dependent on an orientation of the receiver 3, a power transfer optimisation algorithm, or a lookup table.

Claims

1. An inductive power transmitter comprising:

a plurality of transmitter coils; and

a controller configured to selectively energize one or more transmitter coils of the plurality of transmitter coils to transmit wireless power to a receiver, the one or more transmitter coils selected being dependent on an orientation of the receiver,

wherein the one or more transmitter coils are arranged into a planar array, wherein the one or more transmitter coils are selected in order to generate a flux, wherein a substantial component of the flux couples to the receiver, and wherein the substantial component is substantially perpendicular to the receiver.

2. The inductive power transmitter of claim 1, wherein the substantial component is substantially parallel to the inductive power transmitter.

3. The inductive power transmitter of claim 1, wherein coils on a side of the receiver are energized.

4. The inductive power transmitter of claim 3, wherein the coils on the side of the receiver are adjacent to one or more coils which overlap a receiver footprint on the inductive power transmitter.

5. The inductive power transmitter of claim 4, wherein the coils which overlap the receiver footprint are not energized.

6. The inductive power transmitter of claim 3, wherein coils on only one side of a receiver are energized.

7. The inductive power transmitter of claim 1, further comprising a receiver detection circuit arranged to determine the orientation of a receiver.

8. The inductive power transmitter of claim 1, wherein the plurality of transmitter coils comprises a plurality of source coils and a plurality of resonant coils coupled to the plurality of source coils.

9. The inductive power transmitter of claim 8, wherein the plurality of source coils are arranged into a planar array and the plurality of resonant coils are arranged into another planar array.

10. The inductive power transmitter of claim 8 wherein each source coil in the plurality of source coils is associated with two or more resonant coils in the plurality of resonant coils.

11. The inductive power transmitter of claim 10 wherein the plurality of source coils comprises a source coil that is substantially triangular, boomerang shaped or otherwise irregular in perimeter relative to a perimeter of the associated resonant coils.

12. The inductive power transmitter of claim 1, further comprising one or more switched mode inverters electrically coupled to some of the plurality of transmitter coils.

13. An inductive power system including an inductive power transmitter according to claim 1 and a receiver coupled to the inductive power transmitter.