Power system

• US 10,838,478 B1
• Filed: 05/09/2018
• Issued: 11/17/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 06/22/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bretford Manufacturing Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Bretford Manufacturing Incorporated
• Inventors: Eswaran, Shankar, Vaiyapuri, Senthilkumar
• Primary Examiner(s): Gblende, Jeffrey A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sprenger, Kevin H
• Application Number:
  US15/974,868
• Time in Patent Office: 923 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/206 comprising thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/26 Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof for memories G11C
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/28 Supervision thereof, e.g. detecting power-supply failure by out of limits supervision
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3231 Monitoring the presence, absence or movement of users
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3234 Power saving characterised by the action undertaken
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A power system includes a power controller, an input power module for receiving AC power from a wall mains, a power driver electrically connected to the input power module to receive the AC power from the input power module, convert the AC power to low and medium voltage DC power, and selectively output the low or medium DC power under the control of power controller, and an output power module for providing DC power to a charging track with exposed electrical contacts along an upper surface. The power controller includes a microcontroller unit having software embedded therein to implement a control application that includes a main function loop, including a state machine operable to cycle through dither task states and drive states to test conditions of the power system and the track.

Claims

1. A power system for a floor power system, comprising:

a power controller;

an input power module for receiving AC power from a wall mains;

a power driver electrically connected to the input power module to receive the AC power from the input power module, convert the AC power to low voltage DC power and medium voltage DC power, and selectively output either the low voltage DC power or medium voltage DC power under the control of power controller; and

an output power module for selectively providing either the low voltage DC power or medium voltage DC power to a charging track of the floor power system, the charging track having exposed electrical contacts along an upper surface;

wherein the power controller includes a microcontroller unit having software embedded therein to implement a control application, the control application comprising;

a main function loop, a class B safety test task, a POST hardware diagnostic test task, a dither task, a power management task, and an object sensing task;

wherein the dither task is configured to toggle the low voltage DC power on/off to the track under no load conditions, and sense conditions on the track during periods of time when the low voltage DC power is turned on to the track; and

wherein the power management task is configured to toggle the medium voltage DC power on/off to the track under load conditions, and sense conditions on the track during periods of time when the medium voltage DC power is turned off to the track.

2. The power system of claim 1, wherein the main function loop comprises a state machine operable to cycle from a dither task initialization state, to a dither task no-load condition state, to a drive task initialization state, to a drive task load condition state, to a wait/fault state, and back to the dither task initialization state.

3. The power system of claim 2, wherein the state machine is operable to transition from the dither task no-load condition state to the wait/fault state if an object is sensed on the track while the main function loop is in the dither task no-load condition state.

4. The power system of claim 2, wherein the state machine is operable to transition from the dither task no-load condition state to the drive task load condition state if a connector is sensed on the track while the main function loop is in the dither task no-load condition state.

5. The power system of claim 2, wherein, while in the dither task no-load condition state, the power controller controls the power driver to drive the low voltage DC power on the track to check for the presence of a connector by iteratively turning the low voltage DC power on for a first ON period and then turning the low voltage DC power off for a second OFF period, and sensing electrical characteristics of the track during the OFF periods.

6. The power system of claim 2, wherein, while in the drive task load condition state, the power controller controls the power driver to drive the medium voltage DC power on the track to check for the presence of a connector, an object, or a human touch, by iteratively turning the medium voltage DC power on for a first ON period and then turning the medium voltage DC power off for a second OFF period, and sensing electrical characteristics of the track during the OFF periods.

7. The power system of claim 2, wherein the state machine is operable to transition from the drive task load condition state to the wait/fault state if an object or a human touch is sensed on the track while the main function loop is in the drive task load condition state;

and

wherein the state machine is operable to remain in the wait/fault state for a wait period and then transition to the dither task no-load condition state.

8. The power system of claim 7, wherein the state machine is operable to remain in the wait/fault state for a first wait period when an object is sensed on the track and is operable to remain in the wait/fault state for a second wait period if the human touch is sensed on the track, wherein the first wait period is a different amount of time than the second wait period.

9. The power system of claim 7, wherein the state machine further comprises a system error state, and wherein the state machine is operable to transition from the drive task load condition state to the system error state if the object has been sensed on the track for a predetermined number of contiguous state cycles greater than one.

10. The power system of claim 2, wherein the state machine is operable to transition from the drive task load condition state to the wait/fault state if an overcurrent condition is sensed on the track while the main function loop is in the drive task load condition state;

and

wherein the state machine is operable to remain in the wait/fault state for a wait period and then transition to the dither task no-load condition state.

11. The power system of claim 10, wherein the state machine further comprises a system error state, and wherein the state machine is operable to transition from the drive task load condition state to the system error state if the overcurrent condition has been sensed on the track for a predetermined number of contiguous state cycles greater than one.

12. The power system of claim 2, wherein the state machine is operable to transition from the drive task load condition state to the wait/fault state if a voltage irregularity is sensed in the power system while the main function loop is in the drive task load condition state;

and

wherein the state machine is operable to remain in the wait/fault state for a wait period and then transition to the dither task no-load condition state.

13. The power system of claim 12, wherein the state machine further comprises a system error state, and wherein the state machine is operable to transition from the drive task load condition state to the system error state if the voltage irregularity has been sensed in the power system for a predetermined number of contiguous state cycles greater than one.

14. The power system of claim 12, wherein the voltage irregularity is a low or high input voltage at the input power module.

15. The power system of claim 12, wherein the voltage irregularity is a low or high output voltage at the output power module.

16. The power system of claim 2, wherein the main function loop further comprises a system idle state, and wherein the state machine is operable to transition from any one of the other states to the system idle state upon detection of a high temperature of the power system.

17. The power system of claim 2, wherein the main function loop further comprises a system error state, and wherein the state machine is operable to remain in system error state until power to the power system has been turned off and then turned back on.

18. A floor power system, comprising:

a charging track having exposed electrical contacts along an upper surface; and

a power system electrically connected to the electrical contacts of the charging track, the power system comprising;

a power controller;

an input power module for receiving AC power from a wall mains;

a power driver electrically connected to the input power module to receive the AC power from the input power module, convert the AC power to low voltage DC power and medium voltage DC power, and selectively output either the low voltage DC power or medium voltage DC power under the control of the power controller; and

an output power module for selectively providing either the low voltage DC power or medium voltage DC power to the electrical contacts of the charging track;

wherein the power controller includes a microcontroller unit having software embedded therein to implement a control application, the control application comprising;

a main function loop, a class B safety test task, a POST hardware diagnostic test task, a dither task, a power management task, and an object sensing task;

wherein the dither task is configured to toggle the low voltage DC power on/off to the track under no load conditions, and sense conditions on the track during periods of time when the low voltage DC power is turned on to the track; and

wherein the power management task is configured to toggle the medium voltage DC power on/off to the track under load conditions, and sense conditions on the track during periods of time when the medium voltage DC power is turned off to the track.