Dual Power Supply

• US 20170180887A1
• Filed: 05/26/2016
• Published: 06/22/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cochlear Limited
• Original Assignee: Cochlear Limited
• Inventors: Meskens, Werner, Nygard, Tony, Van den Heuvel, Koen
• Granted Patent: US 10,425,751 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36036 of the outer, middle or inner ear
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36038 Cochlear stimulation
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3787 from an external energy source
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/23 The load being a medical device, a medical implant, or a life supporting device
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/12 of the resonant type
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0044 specially adapted for holding portable devices containing batteries H02J7/0045 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0068 Battery or charger load switching, e.g. concurrent charging and load supply H02J7/0013 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/08 arranged for operation in parallel
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/26 using coils
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/72 for local intradevice communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/79 for data transfer in combination with power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/31 Aspects of the use of accumulators in hearing aids, e.g. rechargeable batteries or fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/33 Aspects relating to adaptation of the battery voltage, e.g. its regulation, increase or decrease
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/305 Self-monitoring or self-testing
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/554 using a wireless connection, e.g. between microphone and amplifier or using Tcoils
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/602 of batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/606 acting directly on the eardrum, the ossicles or the skull, e.g. mastoid, tooth, maxillary or mandibular bone, or mechanically stimulating the cochlea, e.g. at the oval window

Abstract

A device comprises a tank circuit including a parallel tank circuit and a series tank circuit. In this example, the parallel tank circuit and the series tank circuit share a capacitive component and an inductive component. The device also includes electronics, and circuitry configured to selectively couple the electronics to the parallel tank circuit for a first application and to couple the electronics to the series tank circuit for a second application.

Claims

1. A device comprising:

a tank circuit including a parallel tank circuit and a series tank circuit, wherein the parallel tank circuit and the series tank circuit share a capacitive component and an inductive component;

electronics; and

circuitry configured to selectively couple the electronics to the parallel tank circuit for a first application and to couple the electronics to the series tank circuit for a second application.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the first application is a lower power use application and the second application is a higher power use application.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the electronics include medical device stimulation electronics and a rechargeable battery, and wherein the first application is for providing power to the stimulation electronics and the second application is for charging a rechargeable battery.

4. The device of claim 3, wherein the medical device stimulation electronics include hearing prosthesis stimulation electronics.

5. The device of claim 4, further comprising a microphone, and wherein the tank circuit, the electronics, the circuitry, the rechargeable battery, the hearing prosthesis stimulation electronics, and the microphone are hermetically sealed within a single operational unit.

6. The device of claim 1, further comprising receiver circuitry coupled to the tank circuit, wherein the receiver circuitry is configured to receive a first signal for the first application and a second signal for the second application, and wherein the first signal and the second signal are received over a wireless communication link and are applied through the tank circuit to the electronics.

7. The device of claim 1, further comprising a controller coupled to the circuitry, wherein the tank circuit is configured to receive a first signal for the first application and a second signal for the second application, and wherein the controller is configured to control the circuitry to selectively couple the electronics to the tank circuit for the first application or the second application in accordance with the first signal or the second signal, respectively.

8. A system comprising:

a secondary coil;

a resonant tank circuit coupled to the secondary coil, and including a parallel tank circuit and a series tank circuit, wherein the parallel tank circuit and the series tank circuit utilize the same inductance component and the same capacitance component;

a first load coupled to the parallel tank circuit; and

a second load coupled to the series tank circuit.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

one or more coupling components for selectively coupling the first load or the second load to the tank circuit; and

a controller configured to control the one or more coupling components to couple the first load to the parallel tank circuit for operation in a first mode or to couple the second load to the series tank circuit for operation in a second mode.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the first load includes hearing prosthesis stimulation electronics and the second load includes a battery, and wherein the first mode is for receiving electrical signals transmitted from a primary coil to the secondary coil and providing the electrical signals as stimulation data to the hearing prosthesis stimulation electronics, and wherein the second mode is for receiving electrical signals transmitted from the primary coil to the secondary coil and applying the electrical signals to charge the battery.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the secondary coil, the resonant tank circuit, the battery, and the hearing prosthesis stimulation electronics are enclosed within a single operational unit that is configured to be at least partially implanted in a person.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the single operational unit further includes a microphone and a sound processor, and wherein the sound processor is configured to generate stimulation signals from audio signals detected by the microphone, and to provide the stimulation signals to the hearing prosthesis stimulation electronics.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the single operational unit further includes a transformer coupled between the secondary coil and the resonant tank circuit.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the one or more coupling components includes a transistor switch.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the controller is configured to close the transistor switch to thereby apply the electrical signals to the hearing prosthesis stimulation electronics for operation in the first mode.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the controller is configured to open the transistor switch to thereby apply the electrical signals to charge the battery for operation in the second mode.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the controller is further configured to:

determine that the battery has reached the end of its operative life; and

responsive to determining that the battery has reached the end of its operative life, close the transistor switch to thereby apply the electrical signals to the hearing prosthesis stimulation electronics.

18. The system of claim 9, wherein the second mode is a higher power use mode than the first mode.

19. A method comprising:

receiving, by receiver circuitry of a device, a first electrical signal over a wireless link;

supplying the first electrical signal to a power supply of the device via a series tank circuit;

receiving, by the receiver circuitry, a second electrical signal over the wireless link; and

supplying the second electrical signal to electronics of the device via a parallel tank circuit, wherein the parallel tank circuit and the series tank circuit utilize the same inductance component and the same capacitance component.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the device is a medical device, and wherein the electronics include medical device stimulation electronics.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the device is a hearing prosthesis, and wherein the electronics include hearing prosthesis stimulation electronics.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the device further includes a microphone.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the receiver circuitry, the series tank, the parallel tank, the power supply, the hearing prosthesis stimulation electronics, and the microphone are hermetically sealed within a single operational unit.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein supplying the first electrical signal to the power supply is performed in response to determining that the power supply is in a state of low charge.

25. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

receiving, by the microphone, audible sounds through skin of a recipient of the hearing prosthesis;

converting the audible sounds into stimulation signals; and

applying, using the hearing prosthesis stimulation electronics, the stimulation signals to the recipient.