Wireless charging method, and apparatus and system therefor

• US 10,797,507 B2
• Filed: 03/17/2017
• Issued: 10/06/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Innotek Company Limited (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Innotek Company Limited (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Lee, Jong Heon
• Primary Examiner(s): Aisaka, Bryce M
• Application Number:
  US16/096,414
• Publication Number:
  US 20190140469A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,299 Days
• Field of Search: 320108
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• 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 7/00045 Authentication, i.e. circuits for checking compatibility between one component, e.g. a battery or a battery charger, and another component, e.g. a power source
• 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 7/00308 Overvoltage protection
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00309 Overheat or overtemperature protection
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/02 for charging batteries from ac mains by converters

Abstract

The present invention relates to a wireless charging method, and an apparatus and a system therefor. A wireless charging method in a wireless power transmitter, according to an embodiment of the present invention, may comprise the steps of: controlling transmission power on the basis feedback signal periodically received from wireless power receiver during power transmission; determining whether or not the wireless power receiver is present in a charging area during the power transmission; and maintaining the intensity of the transmission power constant if the result of the determination shows that the wireless power receiver is not present in the charging area. Therefore, the present invention is advantageous that it is possible to prevent, in advance, the power transmission from being unnecessarily stopped against a user'"'"'s intention.

Claims

1. A wireless charging method of a wireless power transmitter, the wireless charging method comprising:

controlling transmitted power from the wireless power transmitter based on a feedback signal periodically received from a wireless power receiver during power transmission while the wireless power receiver is present in a charging area of the wireless power transmitter;

determining whether the wireless power receiver is present in the charging area of the wireless power transmitter during the power transmission of the transmitted power; and

in response to determining that the wireless power receiver is no longer present in the charging area, constantly maintaining a strength of the transmitted power while the wireless power receiver is absent from the charging area of the wireless power transmitter,

wherein, in the constantly maintaining the strength of the transmitted power, the strength of the transmitted power which is constantly maintained is determined by any one of a strength of transmitted power adjusted based on a last received feedback information, a strength of an initially transmitted power when the power transmission starts, and a power strength corresponding to a category or class of the wireless power receiver.

2. The wireless charging method according to claim 1, wherein, upon determining that the wireless power receiver is present in the charging area while the strength of the transmitted power is constantly maintained, the controlling the transmitted power controlled based on the feedback signal is performed.

3. The wireless charging method according to claim 1, further comprising driving an initialization start timer upon the determining that the wireless power receiver is no longer present in the charging area,

wherein, when the initialization start timer expires, the power transmission of the transmitted power to the wireless power receiver is stopped to enter an initial phase.

4. The wireless charging method according to claim 3, wherein, upon determining that the wireless power receiver is present in the charging area before the initialization start timer expires, the controlling the transmitted power based on the feedback information is performed again.

5. The wireless charging method according to claim 3, wherein the initial phase is any one of a disable state or boot state defined in alliance for wireless power (A4WP) standard, a selection phase defined in wireless power consortium (WPC) standard and a standby phase defined in power matters alliance (PMA) standard.

6. The wireless charging method according to claim 3, further comprising outputting a predetermined alarm signal indicating that the power transmission has stopped before entering the initial phase, when the initialization start timer expires.

7. The wireless charging method according to claim 1, wherein, if a method of transmitting power to the wireless power receiver is an electromagnetic resonance method, the feedback signal is a dynamic characteristic parameter packet defined in alliance for wireless power (A4WP) standard,

wherein, if a method of transmitting power to the wireless power receiver is an electromagnetic induction method, the feedback signal is a control error packet defined in the wireless power consortium (WPC) standard,

wherein, if a method of transmitting power to the wireless power receiver is an electromagnetic induction method, the feedback signal includes at least one of an increase signal, a decrease signal and a no-change signal defined in power matters alliance (PMA) standard.

8. The wireless charging method according to claim 1, wherein the determining whether the wireless power receiver is present in the charging area during the power transmission includes:

determining whether the feedback signal is normally received within a predetermined time;

determining that the wireless power receiver is present in the charging area, upon determining that the feedback signal is normally received within the predetermined time; and

determining that the wireless power receiver is not present in the charging area, upon determining that the feedback signal is not normally received within the predetermined time.

9. The wireless charging method according to claim 1, wherein the determining whether the wireless power receiver is present in the charging area during the power transmission includes:

acquiring sensing information from a sensor provided in the wireless power transmitter; and

determining whether the wireless power receiver is present in the charging area based on the acquired sensing information,

wherein the sensor includes at least one of an illuminance sensor, a pressure sensor, a Hall sensor, a current sensor and a voltage sensor.

10. The wireless charging method according to claim 1, wherein the determining whether the wireless power receiver is present in the charging area during the power transmission includes:

when a method of transmitting power to the wireless power receiver is an electromagnetic resonance method and Bluetooth communication with the wireless power receiver is established, measuring a strength of a received signal of the Bluetooth communication;

determining that the wireless power receiver is not present in the charging area when the measured strength of the received signal is equal to or less than a predetermined reference value; and

determining that the wireless power receiver is not present in the charging area when the measured strength of the received signal exceeds the predetermined reference value.

11. A wireless charging method of a wireless power transmitter, the wireless charging method comprising:

controlling transmitted power from the wireless power transmitter based on a feedback signal periodically received from a wireless power receiver during power transmission while the wireless power receiver is present in a charging area of the wireless power transmitter;

determining whether the wireless power receiver is present in the charging area of the wireless power transmitter during the power transmission of the transmitted power;

in response to determining that the wireless power receiver is no longer present in the charging area, decreasing a strength of the transmitted power by a predetermined level stepwise to a decreased level and transmitting the transmitted power at the decreased level while the wireless power receiver is not present in the charging area; and

in response to the strength of the transmitted power being decreased to a predetermined threshold or less, stopping the power transmission of the transmitted power and entering an initial phase.

12. A wireless power transmitter comprising:

a communication unit configured to receive a periodic feedback signal transmitted by a wireless power receiver during power transmission of transmitted power by the wireless power transmitter while the wireless power receiver is present in a charging area of the wireless power transmitter;

a power converter configured to control the transmitted power to the wireless power receiver based on the feedback signal;

a receiver presence confirmation unit configured to determine whether the wireless power receiver is present in the charging area of the wireless power transmitter during the power transmission of the transmitter power; and

a controller configured to;

in response to determining that the wireless power receiver is no longer present in the charging area, control the power converter to constantly maintain a strength of the transmitted power,

wherein the strength of the transmitted power which is constantly maintained is determined by any one of a strength of transmitted power adjusted based on a last received feedback information, a strength of an initially transmitted power when the power transmission starts, and a power strength corresponding to a category or class of the wireless power receiver.

13. The wireless power transmitter according to claim 12, wherein, upon determining that the wireless power receiver is present in the charging area while the strength of the transmitted power is constantly maintained, the controller controls the power converter to perform transmission power control based on the feedback signal,

wherein, upon the determining that the wireless power receiver no longer present in the charging area while the strength of the transmitted power is constantly maintained, the controller drives an initialization start timer,

wherein, when the initialization start timer expires, the power transmission of the transmitted power to the wireless power receiver is stopped to enter an initial phase,

wherein, upon determining that the wireless power receiver is present in the charging area before the initialization start timer expires, the controller controls the power converter to perform transmission power control based on the feedback signal.

14. The wireless power transmitter according to claim 13, wherein the initial phase is any one of a disable state or boot state defined in alliance for wireless power (A4WP) standard, a selection phase defined in wireless power consortium (WPC) standard and a standby phase defined in power matters alliance (PMA) standard.

15. The wireless power transmitter according to claim 12, further comprising an alarm unit outputting a predetermined alarm signal indicating that the power transmission has stopped before entering the initial phase, when the initialization start timer expires.

16. The wireless power transmitter according to claim 12, wherein, if a method of transmitting power to the wireless power receiver is an electromagnetic resonance method, the feedback signal is a dynamic characteristic parameter packet defined in alliance for wireless power (A4WP) standard,

wherein, if a method of transmitting power to the wireless power receiver is an electromagnetic induction method, the feedback signal is a control error packet defined in the wireless power consortium (WPC) standard,

wherein, if a method of transmitting power to the wireless power receiver is an electromagnetic induction method, the feedback signal includes at least one of an increase signal, a decrease signal and a no-change signal defined in power matters alliance (PMA) standard.

17. The wireless power transmitter according to claim 12, wherein the receiver presence confirmation unit

determines whether the feedback signal is normally received within a predetermined time,

determines that the wireless power receiver is present in the charging area, upon determining that the feedback signal is normally received within the predetermined time, and

determines that the wireless power receiver is not present in the charging area, upon determining that the feedback signal is not normally received within the predetermined time.

18. The wireless power transmitter according to claim 12, wherein the receiver presence confirmation unit determines whether the wireless power receiver is present in the charging area based on a sensing information acquired from a sensor provided in the wireless power transmitter,

wherein the sensor includes at least one of an illuminance sensor, a pressure sensor, a Hall sensor, a current sensor and a voltage sensor.