Ripple current reduction for wireless electric vehicle charging

• US 10,630,090 B2
• Filed: 09/19/2017
• Issued: 04/21/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: WiTricity Corporation
• Original Assignee: WiTricity Corporation
• Inventors: Fischer, Marcel, Lattmann, Patrick
• Primary Examiner(s): Tso, Edward
• Application Number:
  US15/709,314
• Publication Number:
  US 20190089171A1
• Time in Patent Office: 945 Days
• Field of Search: 307104, 320107, 320108, 320140, 320141
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/12 Inductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/48 for electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV]
• 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 7/0013 acting upon several batteries simultaneously or sequentially H02J7/1423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00304 Overcurrent protection
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/007 Regulation of charging or discharging current or voltage
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/04 Regulation of charging current or voltage
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 Plug-in electric vehicles

Abstract

The present disclosure describes aspects of ripple current reduction for wireless electric vehicle charging. In some aspects, an apparatus for wireless power transmission includes an inverter circuit to provide alternating current and a resonant circuit having a tuning portion and a coil portion to transmit power based on the alternating current. The apparatus also includes a current sensor to provide an indication of peak-to-peak amplitude (e.g., ripple current) of the alternating current that flows to the coil portion of the resonant circuit. Based on this indication, a control signal of the inverter is altered to adjust the peak-to-peak amplitude of the alternating current, such as to reduce ripple current in the coil portion. By so doing, ripple current can be reduced in power-transmitting or power-receiving devices, which may improve power transmission efficiency, enable use of smaller decoupling capacitors, or reduce stress on elements of respective resonant circuits.

Claims

1. An apparatus for wireless power transmission comprising:

a power input node configured to receive direct-current (DC) power;

an inverter circuit having an input coupled to the power input node;

a resonant circuit coupled to outputs of the inverter circuit, the resonant circuit including a tuning portion and a coil portion;

a current sensor coupled to the resonant circuit; and

a controller coupled to the inverter circuit and the current sensor, the controller configured to;

apply, to the inverter circuit, a periodic control signal for use by the inverter circuit to invert the DC power to alternating current;

receive, from the current sensor, an indication of a peak-to-peak amplitude of the alternating current that flows to the coil portion of the resonant circuit; and

alter, based on the indication, the periodic control signal to adjust the peak-to-peak amplitude of the alternating current that flows between the tuning portion and the coil portion of the resonant circuit.

2. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein altering the periodic control signal to adjust the peak-to-peak amplitude of the alternating current is effective to reduce the peak-to-peak amplitude of the alternating current.

3. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the peak-to-peak amplitude of the alternating current that flows into the coil portion of the resonant circuit corresponds to ripple current; and

altering the periodic control signal is effective to reduce an amplitude of the ripple current that flows into the coil portion of the resonant circuit.

4. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to:

sample, based on the periodic control signal, the indication of the peak-to-peak amplitude to measure the peak-to-peak amplitude of the alternating current;

compare the measured peak-to-peak amplitude of the alternating current with a predefined threshold for the peak-to-peak amplitude of the alternating current; and

alter, responsive to the measured peak-to-peak amplitude exceeding the predefined threshold, the periodic control signal to reduce the measured peak-to-peak amplitude of the alternating current below the predefined threshold.

5. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein:

applying the periodic control signal to the inverter circuit causes the inverter circuit to invert the DC power to the alternating current at a first frequency;

the peak-to-peak amplitude of the alternating current corresponds to a second frequency; and

the second frequency to which the peak-to-peak amplitude corresponds is different from the first frequency at which the alternating current is inverted.

6. The apparatus as recited in claim 5, wherein:

the first frequency at which the inverter circuit inverts the alternating current is greater than 20 kHz; and

the second frequency to which the peak-to-peak amplitude corresponds is less than 400 Hz.

7. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising a DC blocking circuit coupled between the outputs of the inverter circuit and the resonant circuit of the apparatus.

8. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising a coil switch circuit coupled between the outputs of the inverter circuit and the resonant circuit of the apparatus.

9. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising signal conditioning circuitry coupled between an input the controller and an output of the current sensor of the apparatus, the signal conditioning circuitry including at least one of an amplifier, a rectifier, or a low-pass filter.

10. The apparatus as recited in claim 9, wherein the signal conditioning circuitry includes the amplifier, the rectifier, and the low-pass filter.

11. A system for wirelessly transmitting power comprising:

a direct-current (DC) power source configured to convert alternating-current (AC) power of a first frequency to DC power;

an inverter circuit coupled to the DC power source, the inverter circuit configured to invert, based on a pulse-width modulation (PWM) control signal, the DC power to alternating current of a second frequency that is different from the first frequency;

a resonant circuit coupled to the inverter circuit, the resonant circuit including a tuning portion and a coil configured to wirelessly transmit, based on the alternating current, power to another resonant circuit of a power-receiving device;

a current sensor coupled to the resonant circuit; and

a controller configured to;

receive, from the current sensor, an indication of the alternating current flowing to the coil of the resonant circuit;

determine, based on the indication, an amount of the alternating current flowing to the coil at a third frequency, the third frequency being less than one half of the second frequency; and

alter, based on the determined amplitude, the PWM signal of the inverter circuit to reduce the amount of the alternating current flowing to the coil at the third frequency.

12. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein the third frequency at which the amount of alternating current flows to the coil is approximately twice the first frequency of the AC power.

13. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein the controller is further configured to measure, based on the PWM control signal, an amplitude of the indication to determine the amount of the alternating current flowing to the coil at the third frequency.

14. The system as recited in claim 13, wherein measuring the amplitude of the indication includes determining a time at which to measure the amplitude of the indication based on a transition of the PWM control signal.

15. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein the alternating current flowing to the coil of the resonant circuit at the third frequency is ripple current of the DC power of the DC power source.

16. The system as recited in claim 11, further comprising signal conditioning circuitry coupled between the current sensor and the controller of the system.

17. The system as recited in claim 16, wherein the signal conditioning circuitry includes at least one of an amplifier, a rectifier, or a low-pass filter.

18. The system as recited in claim 16, wherein the signal conditioning circuitry includes at least one of a variable-gain amplifier, an active rectifier, or an active low-pass filter.

19. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein:

the first frequency of the AC power is less than 100 Hz;

the second frequency of the alternating current provided by the inverter circuit is greater than 60 kHz; and

the third frequency at which the alternating current flows into the coil is less than 30 kHz.

20. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein the system is implemented as part of a wireless electric vehicle charging (WEVC) system, a bi-polar WEVC system;

or a dual coil WEVC system.

21. A method for wireless power transmission comprising:

receiving direct-current (DC) power;

applying, to an inverter circuit, a periodic control signal used by the inverter circuit to invert the DC power to provide alternating current;

applying the alternating current provided by the inverter circuit to a resonant circuit that includes a tuning portion and a coil portion;

receiving, from a current sensor, an indication of peak-to-peak amplitude of the alternating current flowing to the coil portion of the resonant circuit; and

altering, based on the indication, the periodic control signal to adjust the peak-to-peak amplitude of the alternating current flowing to the coil portion of the resonant circuit.

22. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein the periodic control signal is a pulse-width modulation (PWM) control signal and altering the periodic control signal includes altering a duty-cycle of the PWM control signal.

23. The method as recited in claim 21, further comprising:

determining, based on the periodic control signal, a time at which to sample the peak-to-peak amplitude of the alternating current;

sampling, at the determined time, the indication of the peak-to-peak amplitude of the alternating current to provide a sample of the indication;

altering, based on the sample of the indication, the periodic control signal to adjust the peak-to-peak amplitude of the alternating current flowing to the coil portion of the resonant circuit.

24. The method as recited in claim 23, further comprising:

comparing the sample of the indication with a predefined threshold for the peak-to-peak amplitude of the alternating current; and

altering, responsive to the sample of the indication exceeding the predefined threshold, the periodic control signal to reduce the peak-to-peak amplitude of the alternating current.

25. The method as recited in claim 23, wherein the indication of the peak-to-peak amplitude of the alternating current is an analog signal and the method further comprises at least one of:

amplifying the analog signal prior to the sampling;

rectifying the analog signal prior to the sampling;

or

filtering the analog signal prior to the sampling.

26. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein:

applying the periodic control signal to the inverter circuit causes the inverter circuit to invert the DC power to the alternating current at a first frequency;

the peak-to-peak amplitude of the alternating current corresponds to a second frequency; and

the second frequency to which the peak-to-peak amplitude corresponds is different from the first frequency at which the alternating current is inverted.

27. An apparatus for wireless power transmission comprising:

a power input node configured to receive direct-current (DC) power;

an inverter circuit having an input coupled to the power input node;

a resonant circuit coupled to outputs of the inverter circuit, the resonant circuit including a tuning portion and a coil portion;

means for applying, to the inverter circuit, a periodic control signal for use by the inverter circuit to invert the DC power to alternating current;

means for sensing the alternating current that flows to the coil portion of the resonant circuit;

means for determining, based on the sensed alternating current, a peak-to-peak amplitude of the alternating current that flows to the coil portion of the resonant circuit; and

means for altering, based on the peak-to-peak amplitude of the alternating current, the periodic control signal to adjust the peak-to-peak amplitude of the alternating current that flows to the coil portion of the resonant circuit.

28. The apparatus as recited in claim 27, wherein the periodic control signal is a pulse-width modulation (PWM) control signal, and the apparatus further includes:

means for generating the PWM control signal; and

means for altering a duty-cycle of the PWM control signal.

29. The apparatus as recited in claim 27, further comprising means for sampling, based on the periodic control signal, an indication of the alternating current provided by the means for sensing the alternating current.

30. The apparatus as recited in claim 27, wherein the means for determining the peak-to-peak amplitude of the alternating current further comprise at least one of:

means for amplifying a signal indicative of the peak-to-peak amplitude;

means for rectifying the signal indicative of the peak-to-peak amplitude;

means for filtering the signal indicative of the peak-to-peak amplitude;

or

means for converting the signal indicative of the peak-to-peak amplitude to a digital representation.