Multi-coil field generation in an electronic contact lens system

• US 10,838,239 B2
• Filed: 04/30/2018
• Issued: 11/17/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tectus Corporation
• Original Assignee: Tectus Corporation
• Inventors: Owens, Thomas Llewellyn, Pang, Hawk Yin
• Primary Examiner(s): Alexander, William R
• Assistant Examiner(s): Duong, Henry A
• Application Number:
  US15/966,475
• Publication Number:
  US 20190331937A1
• Time in Patent Office: 932 Days
• Field of Search: 35115902
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/014 comprising information/image processing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/017 Head mounted
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0172 characterised by optical features
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 11/10 Electronic devices other than hearing aids
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 7/04 Contact lenses for the eyes disinfection or sterilisation of contact lenses A61L12/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 2038/143 for signals
• 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 50/005 Mechanical details of housing or structure aiming to accommodate the power transfer means, e.g. mechanical integration of coils, antennas or transducers into emitting or receiving devices
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/402 the two or more transmitting or the two or more receiving devices being integrated in the same unit, e.g. power mats with several coils or antennas with several sub-antennas
• 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 50/90 involving detection or optimisation of position, e.g. alignment

Abstract

An augmented reality system includes an electronic contact lens and a plurality of conductive coils to be worn, for instance, around a neck, around an arm, or on a chest of a user. The conductive coils can inductively couple to the electronic contact lens by producing magnetic fields that the electronic contact lens can convert into power. A direction of the resulting magnetic at the electronic contact lens can rotate over time, enabling the electronic contact lens to periodically form a strong inductive coupling with the plurality of conductive coils despite the orientation of the electronic contact lens. The electronic contact lens can also output a feedback signal representative of the power produced at the electronic contact lens or an orientation signal representative of the orientation of the eye, and the magnetic fields produced by the conductive coils can be altered based on the feedback signal or orientation signal.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a plurality of wearable conductive coils each configured to generate a corresponding magnetic field that collectively comprise a resulting magnetic field;

an electronic contact lens, comprising;

a power circuit configured to produce power in response to the resulting magnetic field; and

a feedback circuit configured to transmit a power signal representative of the produced power and an orientation signal representative of an orientation of the electronic contact lens; and

a controller electrically coupled to the plurality of conductive coils and configured to receive the power signal and the orientation signal and to drive the plurality of conductive coils based on the received power signal and the orientation signal.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the power signal indicates an amount of power produced by the power circuit.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to adjust the corresponding magnetic fields produced by a set of the conductive coils in response to the amount of power produced by the power circuit being lower than a threshold amount of power.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the controller is further configured to adjust the corresponding magnetic fields produced by a set of the conductive coils in response to the amount of power produced by the power circuit being lower than a maximum amount of power.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to maintain the magnetic fields produced by a set of the conductive coils in response to the amount of power produced by the power circuit being greater than a threshold amount of power.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein driving the plurality of conductive coils based on the received power signal comprises adjusting a magnitude of current within one or more of the conductive coils to adjust the magnetic field produced by the one or more of the conductive coils.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic contact lens includes an embedded conductive coil, and wherein the power circuit and the feedback circuit are each coupled to the embedded conductive coil.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the resulting magnetic field is equal to a sum of the corresponding magnetic fields.

7. A system, comprising:

a plurality of wearable conductive coils each configured to generate a corresponding magnetic field that collectively comprise a resulting magnetic field;

an electronic contact lens, comprising;

a power circuit configured to produce power in response to the resulting magnetic field; and

a feedback circuit configured to transmit a power signal representative of the produced power; and

a controller electrically coupled to the plurality of conductive coils and configured to receive the power signal and to drive the plurality of conductive coils based on the received power signal by increasing a current within a first of the conductive coils and decreasing a current within a second of the conductive coils.

10. A method for providing power to an electronic contact lens, comprising:

providing, by a controller, a drive signal to each of a plurality of wearable conductive coils to produce corresponding magnetic fields that collectively comprise a resulting magnetic field;

receiving, by the controller, a power signal representative of power generated by the electronic contact lens in response to the resulting magnetic field, and an orientation signal representative of the orientation of the electronic contact lens in the resulting magnetic field; and

adjusting, by the controller, the corresponding magnetic fields produced by the plurality of conductive coils by adjusting the drive signals provided to each of the plurality of conductive coils based on the received power and orientation signals.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the power signal indicates an amount of power produced by the electronic contact lens.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein adjusting the drive signals to adjust the corresponding magnetic fields produced by the plurality of conductive coils is in response to the power signal indicating the amount of power produced by the electronic contact lens is lower than a threshold amount of power.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein adjusting the drive signals to adjust the corresponding magnetic fields produced by the plurality of conductive coils is in response to the power signal indicating the amount of power produced by the electronic contact lens is greater than a threshold amount of power.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein adjusting the corresponding magnetic fields comprises adjusting a magnitude of a current provided to one or more of the conductive coils to adjust the magnetic field produced by the one or more of the conductive coils.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the electronic contact lens includes an embedded conductive coil, and wherein the embedded conductive coil produces power in response to the resulting magnetic field.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the resulting magnetic field comprises a sum of the magnetic fields corresponding to the plurality of conductive coils.

15. A method for providing power to an electronic contact lens, comprising:

providing, by a controller, a drive signal to each of a plurality of wearable conductive coils to produce corresponding magnetic fields that collectively comprise a resulting magnetic field;

receiving, by the controller, a power signal representative of power generated by the electronic contact lens in response to the resulting magnetic field; and

adjusting, by the controller, the corresponding magnetic fields produced by the plurality of conductive coils by adjusting the drive signals provided to each of the plurality of conductive coils based on the received power signal,

adjusting, by the controller, the corresponding magnetic fields produced by the plurality of conductive coils by adjusting the drive signals provided to each of the plurality of conductive coils based on the received power signal, and

wherein adjusting the drive signals comprises increasing a current within a first of the conductive coils and decreasing a current within a second of the conductive coils.

18. A system, comprising:

a plurality of wearable conductive coils each configured to generate a corresponding magnetic field that collectively comprise a resulting magnetic field;

an electronic contact lens, comprising;

a power circuit configured to produce power in response to the resulting magnetic field; and

a feedback circuit configured to transmit a power signal if an amount of power produced by the power circuit meets a condition, the power signal indicating the amount of power produced by the power circuit; and

a controller electrically coupled to the plurality of conductive coils and configured to receive the power signal and to drive the plurality of conductive coils based on the received power signal.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the condition is met when the amount of power produced by the power circuit is less than a predefined threshold amount of power.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the condition is met when the amount of power produced by the power circuit is less than a predefined maximum amount of power.

21. The system of claim 18, wherein the condition is met when the amount of power produced by the power circuit is greater than a predefined threshold amount of power.