Device for the inductive transfer of electrical energy

• US 9,203,258 B2
• Filed: 07/09/2010
• Issued: 12/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ENRX IPT GmbH
• Original Assignee: Conductix-Wampfler GmbH (Delachaux Group SA)
• Inventors: Wechlin, Mathias, Green, Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): CAVALLARI, DANIEL J
• Application Number:
  US13/383,912
• Publication Number:
  US 20120187773A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,971 Days
• Field of Search: 307/104
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/11 DC charging controlled by the charging station, e.g. mode 4
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/12 Inductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/39 with position-responsive activation of primary coils
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• 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 50/90 involving detection or optimisation of position, e.g. alignment
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/342 The other DC source being a battery actively interacting with the first one, i.e. battery to battery charging with circuits for polarity protection H02J7/0034
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/12 Electric charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 Plug-in electric vehicles

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for the inductive transfer of electric energy from a stationary unit that has at least two similar primary inductances (1-4) to a vehicle (5) standing adjacent to said unit. The primary inductances (1-4) of the stationary unit can be supplied with electrical current independently of one another and the current supply can be individually activated or deactivated by a central control unit (12). Preferably, the device is equipped with a uniform two-dimensional arrangement (26-32, 27A-31A) of a plurality of primary inductances that are similar to one another and are in the form of a rectangular matrix (26-31). Either a dedicated output of a central current supply unit or a dedicated current supply unit (7-10) is assigned to each primary inductance. Preferably, the vehicle has several secondary inductances that are similar to one another, the dimensions and arrangement of said inductances being designed in such a way that several pairs of secondary and primary inductances overlap at any one time in at least one position of the vehicle (5A, 5B, 5C).

Claims

1. A device for inductive transmission of electrical energy from a charging station to a vehicle, the device comprising:

at least two primary inductors of a same type, each of the primary inductors electrically connected to a current supply unit such that each primary inductor has its own power supply for producing an electrical output;

voltage-measuring devices, each current supply unit having a voltage-measuring device integrated therein;

a controller in electrical communication with the current supply units; and

signal leads, each current supply unit having a signal lead running to the controller;

wherein the voltage-measuring devices measure voltage induced by presence of a secondary inductor producing a magnetic field at each primary inductor and emit measurement signals through the signal leads to the controller, each of the measurement signals indicating an induced voltage measured at each primary inductor; and

wherein electrical current is supplied to each primary inductor individually through a switch activated or deactivated by the controller to control the electrical current supplied to each primary inductor based upon distribution of induced voltages measured at each of the primary inductors.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the charging station comprises a two-dimensional arrangement of a plurality of the primary inductors.

3. The device according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of primary inductors is arranged in a form of a rectangular matrix.

4. The device according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of primary inductors is arranged in successive rows having the same row spacing and the same grid spacing within the rows, the successive rows offset in a longitudinal direction by half the grid spacing of a row.

5. The device according to claim 1, further comprising at least one secondary inductor, wherein, when a vehicle is in a charging position, the at least one secondary inductor has a geometry such that it lies over and covers at least one primary inductor.

6. The device according to claim 5, wherein the at least one secondary inductor has a same base area as the base area of the primary inductors.

7. The device according to claim 5, wherein the at least one secondary inductor has a smaller base area than the base area of the primary inductors.

8. The device according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of secondary inductors, wherein, when a vehicle is in a charging position, the plurality of secondary inductors have an arrangement and a geometry such that they lie over and cover the primary inductors.

9. The device according to claim 8, wherein each of the plurality of secondary inductors has a same base area as the base area of the primary inductors.

10. The device according to claim 8, wherein each of the plurality of secondary inductors has a smaller base area than the base area of the primary inductors.

11. The device according to claim 8, wherein the arrangement of the plurality of the secondary inductors is identical to at least part of an arrangement of the primary inductors.

12. A device for inductive transmission of electrical energy from a charging station to a vehicle, the device comprising:

at least two primary inductors of a same type;

a controller in electrical communication with the at least two primary inductors;

a current supply unit in electrical communication with the controller, the current supply unit having a plurality of separately-activateable outputs;

a voltage-measuring device integrated with the current supply unit; and

a signal lead running from the current supply unit to the controller;

wherein the voltage-measuring device measures voltage induced by presence of a secondary inductor producing a magnetic field at each primary inductor and emits measurement signals through the signal lead to the controller, each of the measurement signals indicating an induced voltage measured at each primary inductor; and

wherein electrical current is supplied to each primary inductor individually from the separately-activateable outputs through a switch activated or deactivated by the controller to control the electrical current supplied to each primary inductor based upon distribution of induced voltages measured at each of the primary inductors.

13. The device according to claim 12, wherein the charging station comprises a two-dimensional arrangement of a plurality of the primary inductors.

14. The device according to claim 13, wherein the plurality of primary inductors is arranged in a form of a rectangular matrix.

15. The device according to claim 13, wherein the plurality of primary inductors is arranged in successive rows having the same row spacing and the same grid spacing within the rows, the successive rows offset in a longitudinal direction by half the grid spacing of a row.

16. The device according to claim 12, further comprising at least one secondary inductor, wherein, when a vehicle is in a charging position, the at least one secondary inductor has a geometry such that it lies over and covers at least one primary inductor.

17. The device according to claim 16, wherein the at least one secondary inductor has a same base area as the base area of the primary inductors or the at least one secondary inductor has a smaller base area than the base area of the primary inductors.

18. The device according to claim 12, further comprising a plurality of secondary inductors, wherein, when a vehicle is in a charging position, the plurality of secondary inductors has an arrangement and a geometry such that they lie over and cover the primary inductors.

19. The device according to claim 18, wherein each of the plurality of secondary inductors has a same base area of the primary inductors or each of the plurality of secondary inductors has a smaller base area than the base area of the primary inductors.

20. A method for charging a battery of an electric vehicle using a device for inductive transmission of electrical energy from a charging station to the electric vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:

positioning the electric vehicle in a charging position at the charging station;

inducing a voltage at at least one of at least two of primary inductors of the device using a magnetic field produced by a secondary inductor of the electric vehicle;

measuring the induced voltage at each primary inductor using a voltage-measuring device of the device;

emitting signals through signal leads of the device to a controller of the device to indicate induced voltage at each of the primary inductors;

comparing the induced voltages to a predetermined threshold;

identifying primary inductors in which the induced voltage exceeds the predetermined threshold and identifying primary inductors in which the induced voltage does not exceed the predetermined threshold; and

supplying electrical current individually to each primary inductor in which the induced voltage exceeds the pre-determined threshold through a switch activated by the controller and cutting off electrical current individually to each primary inductor in which the induced voltage does not exceed the predetermined threshold through a switch deactivated by the controller, whereby the battery of the electric vehicle is charged.