WIRELESS ENERGY TRANSFER

• US 20100289449A1
• Filed: 12/18/2008
• Published: 11/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Elo, Harri Heikki
• Granted Patent: US 8,928,275 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 320/108
• 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 2310/22 The load being a portable electronic device
• 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

Abstract

An apparatus (200) comprising monitoring circuitry (230) configured to monitor a resonant frequency of a supply source (100), a receiving component (211a), and a control unit (220) configured to vary a resonant frequency of said receiving component (211a), wherein the apparatus (200) is configured to vary the resonant frequency of said receiving component (211a) in dependence upon the resonant frequency of said supply source (100).

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

monitoring circuitry configured to monitor a resonant frequency of a supply source;

a receiving component; and

a control unit configured to vary a resonant frequency of said receiving component, wherein the apparatus is configured to vary the resonant frequency of said receiving component in dependence upon a signal from said monitoring circuitry.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the receiving component is adapted to receive energy wirelessly from the supply source by resonant inductive coupling.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the receiving component comprises an adaptive receiving component having a variable resonant frequency.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to match the resonant frequency of said receiving component with the resonant frequency of said supply source.

5. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a voltage is induced in the receiving component by a magnetic field generated by the supply source, and the control unit is configured to vary the resonant frequency of the receiving component to match the resonant frequency of the supply source.

6. An apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the apparatus further comprises a plurality of electrical components, and the apparatus is configured to supply electrical energy to at least one of these electrical components.

7. An apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a battery for supplying electrical energy to at least one of the electrical components when energy is not being received from the supply source.

8. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises a portable electronic device.

9. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises a mobile telephone.

10. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises a personal digital assistant (PDA).

11. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus composes a laptop computer.

12. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises a phase locked loop circuit configured to output a control signal for varying the resonant frequency of the receiving component in dependence upon the resonant frequency of the supply source.

13. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the receiving component is configured to receive electrical energy by wireless non-radiative energy transfer from the supply source and is configured to supply the received electrical energy to a rechargeable battery.

14. An apparatus comprising:

means for detecting a presence of a supply source;

means for monitoring a resonant frequency of said supply source; and

means for varying a resonant frequency of a receiving component in dependence upon the resonant frequency of said supply source.

15. An apparatus comprising a receiving component having variable resonance characteristics for receiving energy wirelessly from a supply source, wherein the resonance characteristics of the receiving component may be varied to match resonance characteristics of the supply source to increase the efficiency at which energy is received from the supply source.

16. An apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising monitoring circuitry for detecting and monitoring the resonance characteristics of the supply source.

17. An apparatus according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the receiving component comprises an adaptive receiving component having variable resonance characteristics and the apparatus further comprises:

a control unit configured to automatically vary the resonance characteristics of the adaptive receiving component to match the resonance characteristics of the supply source.

18. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the apparatus further comprises one or more electrical components and the receiving component is coupled to power supply circuitry to supply power to at least one of these electrical components.

19. An apparatus according to claim 18, further comprising a battery for supplying electrical energy to at least one of the electrical components when energy is not being received from the supply source.

20. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the apparatus comprises a portable electronic device.

21. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the apparatus comprises a mobile telephone.

22. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the apparatus comprises a personal digital assistant (PDA).

23. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the apparatus comprises a laptop computer.

24. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the apparatus comprises a phase locked loop circuit configured to output a control signal for varying the resonant frequency of the receiving component in dependence upon the resonant frequency of the supply source.

25. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the receiving component is configured to receive electrical energy by wireless non-radiative energy transfer from the supply source and is configured to supply the received electrical energy to a rechargeable battery.

26. A system comprising:

a supply source, and

an apparatus comprising;

monitoring circuitry configured to a monitor a resonant frequency of the supply source;

a receiving component; and

a control unit configured to vary a resonant frequency of said receiving component, wherein the apparatus is configured to vary the resonant frequency of said receiving component in dependence upon a signal from said monitoring circuitry.

27. A method comprising:

detecting a presence of a supply source;

monitoring a resonant frequency of said supply source; and

varying a resonant frequency of a receiving component in dependence upon the resonant frequency of said supply source.

28. A method according to claim 27, further comprising:

outputting a control signal from a phase locked loop circuit for varying the resonant frequency of the receiving component in dependence upon the resonant frequency of the supply source; and

matching the resonant frequency of said receiving component with the resonant frequency of said supply source.

29. A method according to claim 27, further comprising:

receiving energy wirelessly at the receiving component from the supply source by resonant inductive coupling.

30. A method according to claim 27, wherein said receiving component comprises an adaptive receiving component having a variable resonant frequency and the method further comprises:

inducing a voltage in the adaptive receiving component using a magnetic field generated by the supply source; and

varying the resonant frequency of the adaptive receiving component to match the resonant frequency of the supply source.

31. A method according to claim 27, further comprising supplying electrical energy to an electrical apparatus.

32. A method according to claim 27, further comprising:

receiving energy at the receiving component from the supply source by resonant inductive coupling,

supplying energy received by resonant inductive coupling to at least one component of an electrical device; and

supplying energy to at least one component of an electrical device from a battery when energy is not being received at the receiving component from the supply source.

34. A method according to claim 27, further comprising receiving electrical energy at the receiving component by wireless non-radiative energy transfer from the supply source and supplying the received electrical energy to a rechargeable battery.

33. A computer program stored on a storage-medium which, when executed by a processor, is arranged to perform a method comprising:

detecting a presence of a supply source;

monitoring a resonant frequency of said supply source; and

varying a resonant frequency of a receiving component in dependence upon the resonant frequency of said supply source.