Method of aligning electronic circuits and electronic alignment system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11218034-B2
Application number	US-201716489053-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 28, 2017
Priority date	Feb 28, 2017
Publication date	Jan 4, 2022
Grant date	Jan 4, 2022

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method of aligning a set of objects, the method comprising the steps of: providing each object with at least one resonant circuit, the resonant circuits having at least one resonance frequency, and aligning the objects until a field coupling between the resonant circuits reaches a predetermined value. The disclosure further relates to an electronic alignment system.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of aligning a set of objects, the method comprising the steps of:
attaching at least two resonant circuits to each object through etching or printing, wherein the at least two resonant circuits are coupled with each other using a twisted line structure;
providing each object with at least two resonant circuits that are arranged in a horizontal direction, each of the resonant circuits having at least one resonance frequency, and
aligning the objects that are stacked on top of each other in a vertical direction, in the horizontal direction until a field coupling between the resonant circuits reaches a predetermined value.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein
aligning the objects is done by using a multi-dimensional error minimization method, and a largest gradient descent method.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein
aligning the objects includes moving the resonant circuits in relation to each other, until fields generated by the resonant circuits overlap in a predetermined manner, in predetermined regions of the resonant circuits.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein
at least one additional resonant circuit is provided between the resonant circuits, the additional resonant circuit having at least one resonance frequency, wherein
the additional resonant circuit is not connected to any external electronic circuit.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the objects are electronic circuits, and, before the step of aligning the electronic circuits, the method comprises the step of:
electronically connecting the resonant circuits with the electronic circuits, by a non-resonant field coupling or a galvanic coupling.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the electronic connection is removed after the step of aligning the resonant circuits.

7. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the resonant circuits are used as power transfer ports for transferring power between the electronic circuits after the step of aligning the resonant circuits has been performed.

8. An electronic alignment system for aligning a set of objects, the alignment system comprising a set of at least two resonant circuits, wherein each of the resonant circuits comprises:
attaching means configured to attach the at least two resonant circuits to each object through printing or etching, wherein the at least two resonant circuits are coupled with each other using a twisted line structure, and
electronic connection means configured to connect the resonant circuits to an external electronic circuit, each of the resonant circuits having at least one resonant frequency and being configured to create a resonant field coupling between adjacent resonant circuits, wherein the resonant circuits are moveable in relation to each other such that the resonant field coupling reaches a predetermined value,
wherein the at least two resonant circuits attached to each object are arranged in a horizontal direction, and the objects are aligned on top of each other in a vertical direction.

9. The electronic alignment system of claim 8 , wherein the resonant field coupling is at least one of a capacitive coupling and an inductive coupling.

10. The electronic alignment system according to claim 8 , further comprising at least one additional resonant circuit moveably arranged between the resonant circuits, the additional resonant circuit having at least one resonance frequency, wherein the additional resonant circuit comprises positioning means for being positioned between the resonant circuits.

11. The electronic alignment system according to claim 8 , wherein the electronic connection means is configured to connect the resonant circuits with the external electronic circuit by a non-resonant field coupling or a galvanic coupling, the non-resonant field coupling being removable.

12. The electronic alignment system according to claim 8 , wherein each of the resonant circuits comprises at least one of:
a coil system, in a form of a wire loop with a gap, in a form of dipole coils, in a form of St. Hans Cross knots or in a form of Guilloche figures,
a multiply connected system, based on Sierpinski gaskets, and an array of coils providing a Nonius scale.

13. The electronic alignment system according to claim 8 , wherein the resonant circuits comprise at least one electrical component, at least one of a capacitive and inductive element, configured to tune the resonance frequency.

14. The electronic alignment system according to claim 8 , further comprising determining means configured to determine the resonant field coupling.

15. An electronic circuit system comprising:
a set of electronic circuits, and
an electronic alignment system according to claim 8 .

16. The electronic circuit system according to claim 15 , wherein
each electronic circuit is provided with at least one resonant circuit, and
the electronic circuits are configured to be alignable until the resonant field coupling between the resonant circuits reaches the predetermined value.

17. The electronic circuit system according to claim 15 , wherein a first electronic circuit is configured to generate an electrical signal, a second electronic signal is configured to detect the electrical signal, wherein the electrical signal is transmitted by the resonant circuits.

18. The electronic circuit system of claim 15 , wherein
the electronic circuits are the objects.

19. The electronic circuit system of claim 18 , wherein
the electronic circuits are stacked and the resonant circuits are arranged on the electronic circuits to face each other.

20. The electronic circuit system of claim 15 , wherein
the at least one resonant circuit is electronically connected with at least one of the electronic circuits.

21. An object arrangement system comprising
the set of the objects that are aligned with each other, and
the electronic alignment system according to claim 8 .

22. The object arrangement system according to claim 21 , wherein
each of the objects is provided with at least one electronic circuit or at least one of the resonant circuits, and
the objects are configured to be alignable until the resonant field coupling between the resonant circuits reaches the predetermined value.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Europe
• Teade Ab

Inventors

• Othmezouri Gabriel
• Merkel Harald

Classifications

• H02J50/50

  using additional energy repeaters between transmitting devices and receiving devices · CPC title

• H02J50/12

  of the resonant type · CPC title

• H02J50/05

  using capacitive coupling · CPC title

• H02J50/90 Primary

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