Self-aligning wireless power transfer

• US 9,845,018 B2
• Filed: 05/06/2015
• Issued: 12/19/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/06/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Incorporated (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Dede, Ercan Mehmet, Banerjee, Debasish
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, NHA T
• Application Number:
  US14/705,366
• Publication Number:
  US 20160325630A1
• Time in Patent Office: 958 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/62 Vehicle position
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/12 Inductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/126 Methods for pairing a vehicle and a charging station, e.g. establishing a one-to-one relation between a wireless power transmitter and a wireless power receiver
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/39 with position-responsive activation of primary coils
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/48 for electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV]
• 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 50/90 involving detection or optimisation of position, e.g. alignment
• 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: 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 10/72 Electric energy management in electromobility
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/12 Electric charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 Plug-in electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles

Abstract

An apparatus and method of wirelessly charging a battery are disclosed. The wireless charging system may include a charge receiver, charge transmitter, and an active control sheet. The active control sheet may include a plurality of cells. The plurality of cells may be activated or deactivated according to the location of the charge receiver relative to the charge transmitter. Charging may be initiated, and electrical charge transferred, from the charge transmitter, through the activated cells on the active control sheet, and to the charge receiver.

Claims

1. A charging apparatus for wirelessly charging a battery comprising:

a charge transmitter generating an incident magnetic field;

a charge receiver movable relative to the charge transmitter; and

an active control sheet receiving the incident magnetic field from the charge transmitter, the active control sheet having a plurality of cells, wherein at least one of the plurality of cells includes a variable electrical component, and wherein the active control sheet generates a magnetic field from the incident magnetic field by tuning the variable electrical component based, at least in part, on a location of the charge receiver, the magnetic field being received by the charge receiver for charging a battery.

2. The charging apparatus of claim 1 wherein the charge transmitter is of a first size, and the charge receiver is of a second size less than the first size.

3. The charging apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a sensing means for detecting the location of the charge receiver.

4. The charging apparatus of claim 3 wherein the sensing means is at least one of an optical sensor, a light sensor, a weight sensor, and a radar sensor.

5. The charging apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

a controller operatively connected to the variable electrical component; and

a data transmitting means for communicating an identifier to the controller, wherein the controller tunes the variable electrical component based, at least in part, on the identifier.

6. The charging apparatus of claim 5 wherein the identifier corresponds to a shape of the magnetic field.

7. The charging apparatus of claim 1 wherein the variable electrical component is a variable capacitor.

8. The charging apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a controller operatively connected to the variable electrical component, wherein the controller tunes the variable electrical component to adjust a resonant frequency of the at least one of the plurality of cells.

9. The charging apparatus of claim 1 wherein a first group of variable electrical components is timed to output a first resonant frequency in a first region of the plurality of cells, and a second group of variable electrical components is tuned to output a second resonant frequency in a second region of the plurality of cells, the second group of variable electrical components comprising the variable electrical component.

10. The charging apparatus of claim 9 wherein the first resonant frequency is different from the second resonant frequency, and wherein the second region of the plurality of cells corresponds to the location of the charge receiver.

11. A wireless charging station comprising:

a charge transmitter generating an incident magnetic field; and

an active control sheet receiving the incident magnetic field from the charge transmitter, the active control sheet having a plurality of cells, at least one of the plurality of cells including a variable electrical component, wherein the active control sheet generates a magnetic field from the incident magnetic field by tuning the variable electrical component based, at least in part, on a location of a charge receiver present at the wireless charging station, the magnetic field inducing a current in the charge receiver.

12. The wireless charging station of claim 11 further comprising a controller operatively connected to the variable electrical component, the controller receiving data corresponding to the location of the charge receiver relative to the active control sheet, and the controller tuning the variable electrical component.

13. The wireless charging station of claim 11 wherein the variable electrical component is tuned to have a resonant frequency based, at least in part, on the location of the charge receiver relative to the active control sheet.

14. The wireless charging station of claim 12, wherein the controller receives at least one identifier corresponding to an activation shape, and tunes the variable electrical component based, at least in part, on the activation shape and the location of the charge receiver.

15. A method of wirelessly charging a battery at a charging station, the method comprising:

detecting a location of a charge receiver for a battery;

tuning a variable electrical component in at least one of a plurality of cells of an active control sheet, the variable electrical component tuned based, at least in part, on the location of the charge receiver; and

generating, via the tuned variable electrical component, a magnetic field from an incident magnetic field of a charge transmitter, the magnetic field being received by the charge receiver for charging the battery.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising receiving an identifier corresponding to an activation shape of the magnetic field.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein tuning the variable electrical component comprises tuning a group of variable electrical components including the variable electrical component according to, at least, the location of the of the charge receiver and the activation shape to generate the magnetic field.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein tuning the variable electrical component comprises tuning the variable electrical component to adjust a resonant frequency in the at least one cell.

19. The method of claim 15 wherein tuning the variable electrical component comprises tuning a first group of variable electrical components to output a first resonant frequency in a first region of the active control sheet, and tuning a second group of variable electrical components to output a second resonant frequency in a second region of the active control sheet, wherein first group of electrical components comprises the variable electrical component, and wherein the first resonant frequency is different from the second resonant frequency.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the second resonant frequency is substantially the same as a resonant frequency of the charge receiver, and wherein generating the magnetic field comprises generating the magnetic field in the second group of the plurality of cells.