Method and device for transporting, distributing and managing electrical energy by remote longitudinal coupling in near field between electric dipoles

• US 8,847,432 B2
• Filed: 08/14/2008
• Issued: 09/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/17/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Murata Manufacturing Co Limited
• Original Assignee: Murata Manufacturing Co Limited
• Inventors: Camurati, Patrick, Bondar, Henri
• Primary Examiner(s): Amrany, Adi
• Application Number:
  US12/672,141
• Publication Number:
  US 20110234019A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,238 Days
• Field of Search: 307/104
• US Class Current: 307/104
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 4/00 Circuit arrangements for mains or distribution networks not specified as ac or dc
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/05 using capacitive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/20 using microwaves or radio frequency waves
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/40 using two or more transmitting or receiving devices H02J50/50 takes precedence
• 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 50/70 involving the reduction of electric, magnetic or electromagnetic leakage fields
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/00 Near-field transmission systems, e.g. inductive or capacitive transmission systems

Abstract

The apparatus according to the invention is composed of one or plural generator devices (2) connected to an energy source and of one or plural loads (3) (which may be mobile). Each load is powered by the intermediary of a limited spatial zone (4) where an electric field that is intense and rapidly varying is present, and this is achieved without wires or electrical contact or use of an earth connection. The intense field is created locally between certain sub-electrodes (5) located on the surface of the generator and an electrode (6) or several sub-electrodes on the load side and located opposite. The active sub-electrodes (5) on the generator side are selected by switches (7), for example magnetic switches activated by a permanent magnet (8) located at the load (3). On the load side, a passive electrode (9) is used which can be considered as mainly coupled to the surrounding dielectric medium. The invention targets, in particular, the tele-supply of energy to low and medium power fixed or mobile electric devices.

Claims

1. A method of transporting electrical energy at a distance, the method comprising:

providing a generator device comprising a first pair of electrodes, a first electrode of the first pair of electrodes being an active electrode and a second electrode of the first pair of electrodes being a single passive electrode, the first pair of electrodes being connected to a pair of terminals of a generator of electric energy at high frequency and high voltage, wherein the active electrode is segmented into a plurality of sub-electrodes that are connected to a first terminal of the pair of terminals via respective switches, and the single passive electrode is directly connected to a second terminal of the pair of terminals, without an intervening switch, and wherein the switches are configured to selectively control which sub-electrodes are connected to said first terminal of the generator,

providing at least one load device, the load device comprising a second pair of electrodes one being an active electrode and the other being a passive electrode that is not grounded, the second pair of electrodes being connected to a load;

positioning the active electrode of the at least one load device in the vicinity of sub-set of the plurality of sub-electrodes of the generator device;

automatically detecting the sub-set of sub electrode in whose vicinity the active electrode of said at least one load device is positioned; and

transporting electrical energy to said at least one load device by activating the respective switches to connect, to said one terminal of the generator, said sub-set of sub electrode detected in the detecting step, while the other sub-electrodes are not connected to the generator, creating a region of intense electric field localized in the vicinity of said at least one sub-electrode, the region being located in the vicinity of said at least one load device, capacitvely coupling said sub-set of sub electroted detected in the detecting step to the active electrode of said at lease one load device, whereby said intense electric field region induces an electric charge in the active electrode of said at least one load device thereby transferring electrical energy to the load device.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein information is transmitted mono- or bi-directionally using modulation and demodulation units integrated in the generator device and the load device.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein electrical energy is transmitted to the at least one load device according to a communication protocol enabling each load device to itself trigger the energy transfer, the communication protocol being implemented using detection means, control means and switching means situated at each active sub-electrode of the generator device and/or at the load device.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein said communication protocol comprises protection-type or standby-type modes when the transport of energy between said generator device and at least one of the load devices is no longer necessary or can no longer be implemented correctly.

5. A system for transporting electrical energy at a distance by near-field longitudinal electric coupling between at least two oscillating electric dipoles, the system comprising:

at least one generator device, said generator device being provided with a first pair of electrodes, one being an active electrode and the other being a single passive electrode, the first pair of electrodes being connected to a pair of terminals of a generator of electric energy at high frequency and high voltage, wherein one terminal of the pair of terminals is connected to the active electrode via a plurality of switches, and the other terminal of the pair of terminals is directly connected, without an intervening switch, to the single passive electrode, the active electrode being segmented into a plurality of sub-electrodes, wherein the generator is configured to supply the high frequency high voltage to the plurality of sub-electrodes via a single conductor and the plurality of switches, each of the plurality of switches, being configured to selectively connect the sub-electrodes to the single conductor;

at least one load device comprising a second pair of electrodes one being an active electrode and the other being a passive electrode that is not grounded, the second pair of electrodes being connected to a load; and

a control for selectively activating a subset of the plurality of switches to connect at least one of the sub-electrodes to the generator, while other sub-electrodes are not connected to the generator, said at least one sub-electrode constituting a first end of a first electric dipole while a second end of the first electric dipole is constituted by the passive electrode of the generator device;

wherein said control being further adapted to activate at least one sub-electrode facing an active electrode of one of the at least one load devices, said active electrode of the at least one load device constituting a first end of a second electric dipole while a second end of the second electric dipole is constituted by the passive electrode of the load device.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the single passive electrode of at least one of the generator device and the load device is replaced by a connection to the primary ground or to the earth.

7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the generator comprises an electronic device and at least one voltage step-up transformer.

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein the single passive electrode of the load device is metallic shielding of a low-voltage load or low-impedance circuits of the low-voltage load.

9. The system according to claim 7, wherein the voltage step-up transformer is an induction transformer of resonant type, or a piezoelectric transformer.

10. The system according to claim 5, wherein the generator comprises an electronic device and at least one voltage step-up transformer.

11. The system according to claim 10, wherein the single passive electrode of the load device is metallic shielding of a low-voltage load or low-impedance circuits of the low-voltage load.

12. The system according to claim 10, wherein the voltage step-up transformer is an induction transformer of resonant type, or a piezoelectric transformer.

13. The system according to claim 5, wherein the load devices operate directly at high voltage or are constituted by a voltage step-down device associated with a conventional low-voltage load.

14. The system according to claim 5, wherein the connections between the generators and the electrodes associated therewith and the loads comprised in the load devices and their associated electrodes are implemented using conductor wires, and the conductor wires, the electrodes and the switching means, are constituted by conductive materials deposited or included in dielectric materials.

15. The system according to claim 5, wherein a size, number, shape and position of the sub-electrodes of the generator is sufficient so as to ensure at each moment coverage of the load-side active electrode.

16. The system according to claim 5, wherein each of the plurality of switches and a respective detector at a distance are positioned close to the sub-electrodes, each of the plurality of switches being positioned upstream of the generators when the generator is situated at each sub-electrode.

17. The system according to claim 16, wherein electronic means integrated into a switch forming part of each of the plurality of switches, or in close vicinity thereof, is powered by a potential difference existing between terminals of said switch forming part.

18. The system according to claim 16, wherein electronic control means controlling each of the plurality of switches are partly or totally grouped within specialized integrated circuits and are associated with an electronic communicator that operates using a common link as that used for the transport of energy.

19. The system according to claim 5, further comprising supplementary circuits integrated into said control means, enabling the system to adopt protection or standby modes when the transport of energy between said at least one generator device and the load device is no longer necessary or can no longer be achieved correctly.

20. A method of transporting electrical energy at a distance, the method comprising:

providing a generator device comprising a first pair of electrodes, a first electrode of the first pair of electrodes being an active electrode and a second electrode of the first pair of electrodes being a passive electrode which is not grounded, the first pair of electrodes being connected to the terminals of a generator of electric energy at high frequency and high voltage, the active electrode being segmented into a plurality of sub-electrodes, wherein one terminal of the generator is connected to each sub-electrode of said plurality of sub-electrodes via a respective switch, and the other terminal of the generator is connected, without an intervening switch, to the passive electrode, and the switches are arranged to selectively control which sub electrodes of the active electrode are connected to said one terminal of the generator;

providing at least one load device, the load device comprising a second pair of electrodes one being an active electrode and the other being a passive electrode, the second pair of electrodes being connected to a load;

positioning the active electrode of the at least one load device in the vicinity of a sub-set of the plurality of sub-electrodes of the generator device;

automatically detecting the sub-set of sub electrode in whose vicinity the active electrode of said at least one load device is positioned, and

transporting electrical energy to said at least one load device by activating the switches to connect, to said one terminal of the generator, said sub-set of sub electrode detected in the detecting step, while the other sub-electrodes are not connected to the generator, creating a region of intense electric field localized in the vicinity of said at least one sub-electrode, the region being located in the vicinity of said at least one load device, capacitvely coupling said sub-set of sub electroted detected in the detecting step to the active electrode of said at lease one load device, whereby said intense electric field region induces an electric charge in the active electrode of said at least one load device thereby transferring electrical energy to the load device.