Remote power supply, position sensor and wireless communication device for an extendable door handle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10689880-B2
Application number	US-201816480364-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 7, 2018
Priority date	Jun 13, 2017
Publication date	Jun 23, 2020
Grant date	Jun 23, 2020

Abstract

A device for remotely supplying power, through magnetic induction, to a secondary module able to move in relation to a primary module along a predetermined path. An advantageous arrangement of the primary coils of the primary module and of a secondary coil of the secondary module furthermore allows the device to estimate the position of the secondary module. The primary coils are arranged such that: the primary coils form respective magnetic fields oriented in the same direction along their respective axes, during the movement, the inductive coupling between the first primary coil and the secondary coil evolves in the opposite way to the inductive coupling between the second primary coil and the secondary coil, the total inductive coupling existing between the primary coils and the secondary coil is substantially constant regardless of the position of the secondary coil.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system including a motor vehicle door and a handle able to be deployed in relation to said door, including a wireless electric power supply device including a primary module integrated into the door and a secondary module integrated into the handle, said primary module being configured so as to form an electromagnetic field able to supply electric power to said secondary module through magnetic induction, the handle comprising a control circuit comprising sensors in order to detect presence of a hand or of a fob of a user, wherein the secondary module is able to move in relation to the primary module on a predetermined path, said primary module comprises at least two primary coils and said secondary module comprises a secondary coil, said primary coils and said secondary coil being configured such that:
the primary coils form respective magnetic fields oriented in a same direction along respective axes of said primary coils,
when the secondary module moves along the path, the secondary coil moves from a first primary coil to a second primary coil, an amplitude of a total magnetic field flux generated by the primary coils through the secondary coil is substantially constant, allowing a continuous remote supply of power to the secondary module by the primary module regardless of a position of the secondary module on the path,
the primary module includes an electronic control circuit, furthermore configured so as to modulate an amplitude of a voltage across the terminals of the primary coils on a basis of an item of information from the electronic control circuit to be transmitted to the secondary module,
the secondary module furthermore includes an electronic transmission circuit, configured so as to modulate the amplitude of a voltage across the terminals of the secondary coil on the basis of an item of information to be transmitted to the primary module.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the electronic control circuit of the primary module is configured so as to measure, for each primary coil, a parameter representative of an amplitude of the total magnetic field flux generated by the primary coil under consideration through the secondary coil, and so as to estimate the position of the secondary module on the path on a basis of said measured parameter for each primary coil.

3. The system as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the parameter representative of the amplitude of the total magnetic field flux generated by a primary coil through the secondary coil is an amplitude of a strength of a load current flowing in said primary coil.

4. The system as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the electronic control circuit of the primary module is furthermore configured so as to control, on a basis of the estimated position of the secondary module, a motor that moves said secondary module in relation to the primary module.

5. The system as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the electronic control circuit of the primary module is furthermore configured so as to control, on a basis of the estimated position of the secondary module, a motor that moves said secondary module in relation to the primary module.

6. The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the secondary module includes an electronic “remote power supply” circuit, configured so as to recover the electrical energy transmitted through magnetic induction between at least one of the primary coils and the secondary coil so as to supply the secondary module with a DC-voltage electric power supply regardless of the position of the secondary module on the path.

7. The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the path followed by the secondary module corresponds to a translational movement of said secondary module in relation to the primary module.

8. The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said primary coils and secondary coil are configured such that: when the secondary module moves along the path, the secondary coil moves from a first primary coil to a second primary coil, a surface area of the first primary coil facing the secondary coil evolving an opposite way to the surface area of the second primary coil facing the secondary coil, a sum of the surface areas of the primary coils facing the secondary coil is substantially constant regardless of the position of the secondary module on the path.

9. The system as claimed in claim 8 , wherein:
the first primary coil and the second primary coil each has an axis parallel to one another and each has an identical right-angled triangle shape in a plane orthogonal to said axes,
the first primary coil and the second primary coil are arranged such that the two right-angled triangle shapes form a rectangle, and hypotenuses of the right-angled triangle shapes being positioned facing one another and forming a diagonal of the rectangle,
the secondary coil has the shape of a rectangle in a plane orthogonal to an axis of said secondary coil, 1
the secondary module moves in a translational movement along a length or a width of the rectangle formed by the first primary coil and the second primary coil.

10. The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein, when the secondary module moves along the path, the secondary coil moves from the first primary coil to the second primary coil, a number of turns of the first primary coil facing the secondary coil evolving in an opposite way to a number of turns of the second primary coil facing the secondary coil.

11. A motor vehicle, comprising the system as claimed in claim 1 .

Assignees

• Continental Automotive France
• Continental Automotive Gmbh

Inventors

• Gerardiere Olivier
• Spick Gabriel
• Escalante Yannis

Classifications

• H02J2105/33

  exchanging power with road vehicles · CPC title

• H02J50/90

  involving detection or optimisation of position, e.g. alignment · CPC title

• H02J50/10 Primary

  using inductive coupling · CPC title

• E05B85/107

  Pop-out handles, e.g. sliding outwardly before rotation · CPC title

• E05B81/88

  using inductive energy transmission · CPC title