Receiver unit of a wireless power transfer system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11955274-B2
Application number	US-202318321434-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 22, 2023
Priority date	Apr 19, 2018
Publication date	Apr 9, 2024
Grant date	Apr 9, 2024

Abstract

A receiver unit of a wireless power transfer system is presented. The receiver unit includes a main receiver coil, a plurality of auxiliary receiver coils disposed about a central axis of the main receiver coil, and a receiver drive subunit. The receiver drive subunit includes a main converter operatively coupled to the main receiver coil and having a main output terminal. The receiver drive subunit may include a plurality of auxiliary converters operatively coupled to the plurality of auxiliary receiver coils. The plurality of auxiliary converters may be operatively coupled to each other to form an auxiliary output terminal coupled in series to the main output terminal to form a common output terminal. In some implementations, the receiver drive unit may be formed on a substrate of an integrated electronic component. The integrated electronic component may further include a communication subunit and a controller disposed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A receiver unit of a wireless power transfer system, the receiver unit comprising:
a main receiver coil configured to receive a wireless power signal having a first voltage from a transmitter unit;
one or more auxiliary receiver coils configured to receive the wireless power signal having the first voltage from the transmitter unit; and
a receiver drive unit comprising:
a main converter operatively coupled to the main receiver coil,
one or more auxiliary converters operatively coupled to respective ones of the one or more auxiliary receiver coils, and
a common output terminal formed by a main output terminal of the main converter and an auxiliary output terminal formed by the one or more auxiliary converters; and

a controller operatively coupled to the receiver drive unit and configured to:
determine one or more circuit parameters of the receiver drive unit, and
control a first plurality of switches of the main converter and a second plurality of switches of the one or more auxiliary converters based on the one or more circuit parameters.

2. The receiver unit of claim 1 , wherein the one or more circuit parameters correspond to at least one of an alternating current terminal of the main converter, one or more alternating current terminals of the one or more auxiliary converters, or the common output terminal.

3. The receiver unit of claim 1 , wherein the controller configured to control the first plurality of switches of the main converter and the second plurality of switches of the one or more auxiliary converters comprises the controller configured to control a pattern of switching of the first plurality of switches and the second plurality of switches based on the one or more circuit parameters.

4. The receiver unit of claim 1 , further comprising:
a current sensor configured to measure a current value associated with the common output terminal; and
a voltage sensor configured to measure a voltage value associated with the common output terminal,
wherein the controller is configured to determine the one or more circuit parameters based on either or both the current value and the voltage value.

5. The receiver unit of claim 1 , wherein the circuit parameters comprise one or more of voltage, current, frequency, or power.

6. The receiver unit of claim 1 , further comprising:
a communication unit configured to communicate with the transmitter unit, wherein the controller is further configured to control at least the communication unit based on the one or more circuit parameters.

7. The receiver unit of claim 6 , wherein the controller configured to control at least the communication unit based on the one or more circuit parameters comprises the controller configured to vary a first impedance loading the main receiver coil and a second impedance loading the auxiliary receiver coils.

8. The receiver unit of claim 6 , wherein the communication unit is coupled to at least one member selected from a group consisting of an alternating current terminal of the main converter, one or more alternating current terminals of the one or more auxiliary converters, and the common output terminal.

9. The receiver unit of claim 6 , further comprising:
an integrated electronic component that includes the controller, the communication unit, and the receiver drive unit.

10. The receiver unit of claim 9 , wherein the integrated electronic component is an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a very large-scale integration (VLSI) chip, a microelectromechanical system (MEMS), or a system on chip (SoC).

11. The receiver unit of claim 1 , wherein:
the main converter is configured to generate a second voltage based on the wireless power signal and provide the second voltage at the main output terminal of the main converter,
the one or more auxiliary converters are configured to generate a third voltage based on the wireless power signal and provide the third voltage at the auxiliary output terminal, and
the common output terminal is configured to provide a combination of the second voltage and the third voltage to a load.

12. The receiver unit of claim 1 , wherein the main receiver coil and the one or more auxiliary receiver coils are resonant coils.

13. A method of a receiver unit of a wireless power transfer system, comprising:
receiving a wireless power signal having a first voltage from a transmitter unit at a main receiver coil and one or more auxiliary receiver coils, the main receiver coil operatively coupled to a main converter, the one or more auxiliary receiver coils operatively coupled to one or more auxiliary converters, wherein a common output terminal is formed by a main output terminal of the main converter and an auxiliary output terminal formed by the one or more auxiliary converters;
determining one or more circuit parameters of the receiver unit; and
controlling a first plurality of switches of the main converter and a second plurality of switches of the one or more auxiliary converters based on the one or more circuit parameters.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the one or more circuit parameters correspond to at least one of an alternating current terminal of the main converter, one or more alternating current terminals of the one or more auxiliary converters, or the common output terminal.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein controlling the first plurality of switches of the main converter and the second plurality of switches of the one or more auxiliary converters comprises controlling a pattern of switching of the first plurality of switches and the second plurality of switches based on the one or more circuit parameters.

16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
measuring, by a current sensor, a current value associated with the common output terminal;
measuring, by a voltage sensor, a voltage value associated with the common output terminal; and
determining the one or more circuit parameters based on either or both the current value and the voltage value.

17. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
generating a second voltage based on the wireless power signal at the main output terminal of the main converter;
generating a third voltage based on the wireless power signal at the auxiliary output terminal formed by the one or more auxiliary converters; and
providing a combination of the second voltage and the third voltage to a load via the common output terminal formed by the main output terminal and the auxiliary output terminal.

18. The method of claim 13 , varying a first impedance loading the main receiver coil and a second impedance loading the auxiliary receiver coils to communicate with the transmitter unit.

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Kanakasabai Viswanathan
• Aravind Deepak
• Bhat Suma Memana Narayana
• Bohori Adnan Kutubuddin

Classifications

• H01F38/14 Primary

  Inductive couplings {(for wireless supply or distribution of electric power using inductive coupling H02J50/10)} · CPC title

• H02J50/12

  of the resonant type · CPC title

• H02J50/40

  using two or more transmitting or receiving devices (H02J50/50 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H02J50/402

  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 title

• H02J50/80

  involving the exchange of data, concerning supply or distribution of electric power, between transmitting devices and receiving devices · CPC title