System and method for electrical charge transfer across a conductive medium

• US 9,583,954 B2
• Filed: 11/07/2014
• Issued: 02/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Raytheon BBN Technlogies Corp. (Rtx Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Raytheon BBN Technlogies Corp. (Rtx Corporation)
• Inventors: Insanic, Edin, Cochin, Joshua Michael, Bromberg, Benjamin Phillip, Leland, Will E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Siek, Vuthe
• Application Number:
  US14/535,728
• Publication Number:
  US 20150130405A1
• Time in Patent Office: 844 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/12 of the resonant type
• 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 7/0042 characterised by the mechanical construction
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/02 for charging batteries from ac mains by converters

Abstract

A method for supplying power to detected devices coupled to a conductive backplane includes: supplying a plurality of sensing signals at a plurality of transmit impedance values to the conductive backplane; analyzing a plurality of return signals received from the conductive backplane, the return signals corresponding to the sensing signals; detecting the presence of a sink device coupled to the conductive backplane based on the analyzed return signals; and supplying power from a power supply to the sink device via the conductive backplane after detecting the presence of the sink device.

Claims

1. An apparatus for supplying power to a plurality of devices comprising:

a conductive backplane comprising a conductive metal or conductive textile, wherein each of said plurality of devices are coupled to the conductive backplane via a respective conductive pathway;

sensing circuitry comprising a signal generator and a signal detector, the sensing circuitry coupled to the conductive backplane;

a power supply coupled to the conductive backplane; and

a controller circuit including a memory configured to;

store information about power requirements of each of the plurality of devices in the memory;

control the signal generator to supply a plurality of sensing signals at a plurality of transmit impedance values to the conductive backplane;

analyze a plurality of return signals detected by the signal detector, the return signals corresponding to the sensing signals;

detect, based on the analyzed return signals, the presence of a sink device and its conductive pathway and identify said detected sink device, coupled to the conductive backplane;

retrieve the stored power requirements for the detected and identified sink device; and

control the power supply to supply power according to the retrieved power requirements to the detected and identified sink device via its conductive pathway.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller circuit is further configured to:

detect the absence of the sink device; and

control the power supply to stop the supply of power to the sink device via the conductive pathway in response to detecting the absence of the sink device.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the controller circuit is configured to detect the absence of the sink device by detecting a change in a return signal of the return signals corresponding to the sink device.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the controller circuit is configured to detect the absence of the sink device by detecting a decrease in current on the conductive pathway.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller circuit is configured to:

detect a short circuit on the conductive pathway; and

control the power supply to stop supplying power to the conductive pathway in response to detecting the short circuit.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller circuit is further configured to:

supply a handshake request to the sink device via the conductive pathway; and

receive a handshake response from the sink device via the conductive pathway.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the handshake request comprises a digital signal, the digital signal representing a code.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the handshake response comprises a change in impedance, and

wherein the apparatus is configured to receive the handshake response by detecting a change in a return signal of the return signals after supplying the handshake request.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the conductive pathway comprises a conductive fabric of an article of clothing.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller circuit is a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or an analog feedback circuit.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is located on a vehicle comprising a seat,

wherein the conductive pathway comprises a first electrically conductive portion of a surface of the seat,

wherein the apparatus is configured to change the battery while the battery is electrically connected to a second electrically conductive portion of an article of clothing, and

wherein the first electrically conductive portion of the surface of the seat is electrically connected to the second electrically conductive portion of the article of clothing.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller circuit identifies said detected sink device based on the analyzed return signals and position of said detected sink device with respect to the conductive backplane.

13. A method for supplying power to a plurality of devices coupled to a conductive backplane, the method comprising:

storing information about power requirements of each of the plurality of devices, in a memory;

supplying a plurality of sensing signals at a plurality of transmit impedance values to the conductive backplane;

analyzing a plurality of return signals received from the conductive backplane, the return signals corresponding to the sensing signals;

detecting the presence of a sink device coupled to the conductive backplane based on the analyzed return signals;

identifying said detected sink device;

retrieving the stored power requirements for the identified sink device; and

supplying power according to the retrieved power requirements from a power supply to the identified sink device via the conductive backplane.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

detecting the absence of the sink device; and

stopping the supplying power to the sink device via the conductive backplane in response to detecting the absence of the sink device.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the detecting the absence of the sink device comprises detecting a change in a return signal of the return signals corresponding to the sink device.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the detecting the absence of the sink device comprises detecting a decrease in current on the conductive pathway.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

detecting a short circuit; and

stopping the supplying power to the sink device via the conductive backplane in response to detecting the short circuit.

18. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

supplying a handshake request to the sink device via the conductive pathway; and

receiving a handshake response from the sink device via the conductive pathway.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein identifying said detected sink device is based on the analyzed return signals and position of said detected sink device with respect to the conductive backplane.