Wireless optical charging and power supply

• US 9,318,905 B2
• Filed: 11/09/2012
• Issued: 04/19/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: City University of Hong Kong
• Original Assignee: City University of Hong Kong
• Inventors: Tsang, Peter Wai Ming
• Primary Examiner(s): Tso, Edward
• Assistant Examiner(s): Omar, Ahmed
• Application Number:
  US13/673,128
• Publication Number:
  US 20140132201A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,257 Days
• Field of Search: 320/108
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/30 using light, e.g. lasers
• 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 7/0044 specially adapted for holding portable devices containing batteries H02J7/0045 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 40/00 Technologies aiming at improving the efficiency of home appliances, e.g. induction cooking or efficient technologies for refrigerators, freezers or dish washers
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/50 Photovoltaic [PV] energy

Abstract

Techniques for charging electronic devices are presented. A charger controller component controls supplying power to an electronic device having a solar cell component using optical charging. The charger controller component detects a shape and position of the electronic device located on a charger substrate component. The charger controller component identifies a subset of a plurality of light sources associated with the charger substrate component that correspond to the shape and position of the electronic device, and controls illumination of the light sources to illuminate the subset of light sources. The illumination of the subset of light sources provides optical waves to the electronic device that are converted to electrical energy to charge a power component of the electronic device. An optical processing element can employ an array of lenticular lens or microlens that can expand coverage of each light source and enhance uniformity of the illuminated area.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

at least one memory that stores computer executable components; and

at least one processor that facilitates execution of the computer executable components stored in the at least one memory, the computer executable components, comprising;

a detector component that detects an electronic device in response to the electronic device being in proximity to a charger substrate component of a charger component, wherein the detector component determines a type or a brand of the electronic device based at least in part on a tag or a code associated with the electronic device that is detected from the electronic device;

a charger controller component that identifies a charging coverage area of the charger substrate component that corresponds to at least a location of the electronic device in relation to the charger substrate component and controls a set of light sources of the charger component to facilitate illumination of a subset of light sources of the set of light sources associated with the charging coverage area, based at least in part on the location of the electronic device in relation to the charger substrate component and the type or the brand of the electronic device, to facilitate charging or powering the electronic device; and

an optical processor component that employs a set of lenticular lenses associated with the set of light sources, wherein the set of lenticular lenses processes an optical wavefront of light sources of the subset of light sources and expands an illumination coverage area of the subset of light sources, based at least in part on the processing of the optical wavefront, to facilitate reducing a number of light sources in the subset of light sources used to cover the charging coverage area as compared to a larger number of light sources that would otherwise be employed by the system to cover the charging coverage area without the set of lenticular lenses, and wherein the larger number is larger than the number.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the subset of light sources are illuminated to facilitate emission of optical waves that encompass all or at least substantially all of the charging coverage area of the charger substrate component.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the optical processor component expands the illumination coverage area of light sources of the subset of light sources to facilitate emission of optical waves that encompass all or at least substantially all of the charging coverage area of the charger substrate component.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the set of lenticular lenses expands the illumination coverage area of the subset of light sources to enable an amount of space between adjacent light sources of the subset of light sources to be increased by a defined amount as compared to a smaller amount of space between the adjacent light sources that would have been implemented without use of the set of lenticular lenses with the subset of light sources in connection with illumination of the illumination coverage area.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the optical processor component comprises at least one of an optical device or a holographic device.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the detector component detects at least one of a size, a position, a shape, or a location of the electronic device in relation to the charger substrate component, or detects the type of electronic device or the brand associated with the electronic device based at least in part on the tag or the code associated with the electronic device.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the detector component comprises an image capture device that captures an image of the electronic device to produce information representative of the size, the position, the shape, the location, the type, or the brand of the electronic device, in response to the electronic device being in proximity to the charger substrate component.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the charger controller component identifies at least one of the size, the position, the shape, or the location of at least one of the electronic device or a solar cell component of the electronic device, to facilitate the identification of the charging coverage area of the charger substrate component.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the charger controller component identifies the subset of light sources based at least in part on the identification of the charging coverage area of the charger substrate component.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic device includes a solar cell component that receives optical waves from the subset of light sources and converts the optical waves to electrical energy to charge or power the electronic device.

11. A method, comprising:

detecting, by a system including a processor, an electronic device in response to the electronic device being in proximity to a charger substrate component of a charger component;

identifying, by the system, a type or a brand of the electronic device based at least in part on a tag or a code associated with the electronic device that is detected from the electronic device as a result of the detecting;

controlling, by the system, a set of light sources of the charger substrate component to facilitate illuminating a subset of light sources of the set of light sources associated with a charging coverage area of the charger substrate component that corresponds to a location of the electronic device in relation to the charger substrate component, based at least in part on the location of the electronic device in relation to the charger substrate component and the type or the brand of the electronic device, to facilitate charging or powering the electronic device; and

expanding, by the system, an illumination coverage area of the subset of light sources, via use of a set of lenticular lenses, to facilitate reducing a number of light sources in the subset of light sources used to cover the charging coverage area as compared to a second number of light sources that would otherwise be employed by the system to cover the charging coverage area without the set of lenticular lenses, wherein the second number is larger than the number.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

illuminating, by the system, the subset of light sources to facilitate emitting optical waves that cover all or at least substantially all of the charging coverage area.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the expanding further comprises expanding the illumination coverage area of light sources of the subset of light sources to facilitate emitting optical waves that cover all or at least substantially all of the charging coverage area.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

detecting, by the system, at least one of a size, a position, or a shape of the electronic device, and the location of the electronic device, in relation to the charger substrate component.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

at least one of capturing, by the system, an image of the electronic device or sensing, by the system, the electronic device to produce information representative of at least one of the size, the position, the shape, or the location of the electronic device;

identifying, by the system, at least one of the size, the position, the shape, or the location of the electronic device to facilitate identifying the charging coverage area; and

identifying, by the system, the charging coverage area.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

identifying, by the system, the subset of light sources in response to the identifying of the charging coverage area.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

emitting, by the system, optical waves that cover all or at least substantially all of the charging coverage area.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving, by the system, the optical waves;

converting, by the system, the optical waves to electrical energy;

providing, by the system, the electrical energy to charge a power component associated with the electronic device or power the electronic device.

19. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising computer executable instructions that, in response to execution, cause a system including a processor to perform operations, comprising:

sensing an electronic device in response to the electronic device being in proximity to a charger substrate component of a charger component;

determining a type or a brand of the electronic device based at least in part on a tag or a code associated with the electronic device that is sensed from the electronic device during the sensing;

controlling a set of light sources to facilitate illuminating a subset of light sources of the set of light sources associated with a charging coverage area of the charger substrate component that is associated with a location of the electronic device in relation to the charger substrate component, based at least in part on the location of the electronic device in relation to the charger substrate component and the type or the brand of the electronic device, to facilitate charging or powering the electronic device; and

enlarging, via use of a set of lenticular lenses, an illumination coverage area of the subset of light sources to facilitate decreasing a number of light sources in the subset of light sources used to cover the charging coverage area as compared to a different number of light sources that would otherwise be employed by the charger component to cover the charging coverage area without use of the set of lenticular lenses with the subset of light sources, wherein the different number is larger than the number.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise:

identifying at least one of a size, a position, a shape, or a location of at least one of the electronic device or a solar cell component of the electronic device, to facilitate identifying the charging coverage area of the charger substrate component.

21. A system, comprising:

means for detecting an electronic device in response to the electronic device being in proximity to a charger substrate component of a charger component;

means for determining a type or a brand of the electronic device based at least in part on a tag or a code associated with the electronic device that is detected from the electronic device by the means for detecting;

means for controlling a set of light sources to facilitate illuminating a subset of light sources of the set of light sources associated with a charging coverage area of the charger substrate component that corresponds to a location of the electronic device in relation to the charger substrate component, based at least in part on the location of the electronic device in relation to the charger substrate component and the type or the brand of the electronic device, to facilitate charging or powering the electronic device; and

means for expanding an illumination coverage area of the subset of light sources, via use of a set of lenticular lenses, to facilitate reducing a number of light sources in the subset of light sources used to cover the charging coverage area as compared to a second number of light sources that would have been employed by the charger component to cover the charging coverage area without use of the set of lenticular lenses, wherein the second number is larger than the number.

22. The system of claim 21, further comprising:

means for identifying at least one of a size, a position, a shape, the location, the type, or the brand associated with at least one of the electronic device or a solar cell component of the electronic device, to facilitate identifying the charging coverage area of the charger substrate component.