Power transmission control device, power transmission device, power reception control device, power reception device, electronic apparatus, and contactless power transmission system

• US 8,314,513 B2
• Filed: 03/02/2010
• Issued: 11/20/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Inventors: Sogabe, Haruhiko, Aoyama, Takashi
• Primary Examiner(s): Barnie, Rexford
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fauth, Justen
• Application Number:
  US12/715,614
• Publication Number:
  US 20100225173A1
• Time in Patent Office: 994 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 307/104
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/12 of the resonant type
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/60 responsive to the presence of foreign objects, e.g. detection of living beings
• 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 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 7/0049 Detection of fully charged condition
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 3/33573 Full-bridge at primary side of an isolation transformer

Abstract

A power transmission control device controls a power transmission device in a contactless power transmission system that transmits power from the power transmission device to a power reception device through electromagnetically coupling a primary coil and a secondary coil. The power transmission control device includes a power transmission driver control section that controls drive timings of a plurality of switching elements of a power transmission driver that drives the primary coil, the power transmission driver control section variably controlling the power to be transmitted from the power transmission device to the power reception device.

Claims

1. A power transmission control device that controls a power transmission device in a contactless power transmission system that transmits power from the power transmission device to a power reception device through electromagnetically coupling a primary coil and a secondary coil, the power transmission control device comprising:

a power transmission driver control section that controls drive timings of a plurality of switching elements of a power transmission driver that drives the primary coil, the power transmission driver including a first driver and a second driver,

the power transmission driver controlling section variably controls the power to be transmitted from the power transmission device to the power reception device

the second driver driving the primary coil such that a drive current flowing through the primary coil is opposite to a direction of a drive current flowing through the primary coil when driven by the first driver;

each of the first driver and the second driver includes a first switching element to which a high potential power supply is supplied and a second switching element to which a low potential power supply is supplied; and

the power transmission driver control section varies a phase difference between a first drive signal for driving the first switching element and a second drive signal for driving the second switching element.

2. A power transmission control device according to claim 1, further comprising a transmission power control section that sets a value of power to be transmitted from the power transmission device to the power reception device, the power transmission driver control section controlling the power to be transmitted from the power trans device to the power reception device based on the value of power.

3. A power transmission control device according to claim 1, the power transmission driver including a first transistor and a second transistor that are connected in series between a high potential side power supply and a low potential side power supply, and a third transistor and a fourth transistor that are connected in series between the high potential side power supply and the low potential side power supply,

the first transistor and the fourth transistor forming a first driver and the third transistor and the second transistor for a second driver;

the first driver and the second driver alternately drive the first coil;

the second driver drives the first coil such that a drive current flowing through the first coil is opposite to a direction of a drive current flowing through the primary coil driven by the first driver;

the power transmission driver control section outputs a first drive signal for driving the first transistor, a second drive signal for driving the second transistor, a third drive signal for driving the third transistor and a fourth drive signal for driving the fourth transistor, and changes a phase shift amount between the first drive signal and the fourth drive signal and a phase shift amount between the second drive signal and the third drive signal, thereby variably controlling transmission power to be transmitted from the power transmission device to the power reception device.

4. A power transmission control device according to claim 3, the power transmission driver control section performing zero-voltage switching of each of the first transistor, the second transistor, the third transistor and the fourth transistor.

5. An electronic apparatus comprising the power transmission device recited in claim 4.

6. A power transmission control device according to claim 1, the power transmission driver control section reducing transmission power to the power reception device in a period in which the power transmission device intermittently transmits power to the power reception device than in a normal transmission period.

7. A power transmission control device according to claim 6, the power transmission driver control section reducing the transmission power to the power reception device in at least one of a standby period in which the power transmission device waits for the power reception device to be placed thereon, and a post-full-charge standby period in which, after a full-charge state of a battery connected to the power reception device has been detected, the necessity of recharging the battery is detected, than in the normal power transmission period.

8. A power transmission control device according to claim 1, the power transmission driver control section reducing the transmission power to the power reception device in a temporary power transmission period that is a continuous power transmission period before starting a normal power transmission, after placement of the power reception device has been detected, than in the normal power transmission period.

9. A power transmission control device according to claim 1, the power transmission driver control section reducing the transmission power to the power reception device, after the normal power transmission is started, in a periodical authentication period that is a period in which the power reception device periodically transmits a foreign object detection signal to the power transmission device, than in the normal power transmission period.

10. A power transmission control device according to claim 1, further comprising a reception processing section that receives feedback information that is sent from the power reception device, the power transmission driver control section variably controlling power to be transmitted from the power transmission device to the power reception device based on the feedback information.

11. A power transmission device comprising:

a primary coil;

a power transmission driver that drives the primary coil; and

the power transmission control device recited in claim 1.

12. A power reception control device that controls operations of a power reception device that receives power transmitted through a primary coil on the power transmission device recited in claim 11 via a secondary coil and a rectification circuit, and supplies the received power to a load,

the power reception control device monitoring an output voltage level of the rectification circuit, judges that a foreign object is present between the primary coil and the secondary coil when the output voltage level lowers to a level exceeding an allowable range, and notifies the power transmission device of detection of the foreign object or stops a signal transmission operation to the power transmission device.

13. A power reception device according to claim 12 comprising the power reception control device.

14. A contactless power transmission system comprising:

a primary coil, a secondary coil, the power transmission device, and the power reception device recited in claim 13.

15. A contactless power transmission system according to claim 14, the power transmission control device including in the power transmission device executes transmission power control based on feedback information sent from the power reception device.