DYNAMIC WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER SYSTEM CONTROLLING MULTIPLE TRANSMITTER COILS

Abstract

A wireless power transfer system for a vehicle traveling along a surface is provided. The wireless power transfer system includes a receiver coil mounted to the vehicle; a plurality of transmitter units connected in series and positioned on the surface; and a controller in communication with voltage sensors of each transmitter unit. The transmitter units include inactive and active transmitter units, and the inactive transmitter units include a leading transmitter unit and a trailing transmitter unit adjacent to the active transmitter units. The controller is configured to receive voltages of the leading and trailing transmitter units, compare the voltages with data in the database, and determine a position of the receiver relative to the transmitter units in order to activate and deactivate transmitter units as needed to dynamically modify the subset of active transmitter units to provide an efficient and smooth power supply to the receiver.

Claims

1. A wireless power transfer system for a vehicle that includes an energy storage system, wherein the vehicle travels along a surface, the wireless power transfer system comprising: a receiver coil mounted to the vehicle, wherein the receiver coil has a length; a plurality of transmitter units electrically connected and positioned on the surface, each transmitter unit associated with an attached transmitter coil, the plurality of transmitter units including inactive transmitter units and a subset of active transmitter units, the inactive transmitter units including a leading transmitter unit and a trailing transmitter unit adjacent to the subset of active transmitter units, wherein the subset of active transmitter units has a length that is less than the length of the receiver coil, and wherein each transmitter unit includes a voltage sensor connected to the attached transmitter coil; and a controller in communication with the voltage sensor of each transmitter unit; a database including data related to voltages of transmitter coils; a memory coupled to the controller, wherein the memory stores program instructions executable by the controller, wherein, in response to executing the program instructions, the controller: receives a leading voltage of the voltage sensor of the leading transmitter unit; receive a trailing voltage of the voltage sensor of the trailing transmitter unit; compare the leading and trailing voltages of the leading and trailing transmitter units with data in the database; and determine a position of the receiver relative to the leading transmitter unit and the trailing transmitter unit.

2. The wireless power transfer system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to: stores or receives from the database a minimum threshold voltage differential; calculate a voltage differential between the leading and trailing voltages of the leading and trailing transmitter units; when the voltage differential is greater than the minimum threshold voltage differential, activate the leading transmitter unit.

3. The wireless power transfer system of claim 2, wherein the subset of active transmitter units includes a final active transmitter unit adjacent to the trailing transmitter unit, and wherein the controller is configured to deactivate the final active transmitter unit when the voltage differential is greater than the minimum threshold voltage differential.

4. The wireless power transfer system of claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to calculate an absolute value of the voltage differential and compare the absolute value and the minimum threshold voltage differential.

5. The wireless power transfer system of claim 2, wherein a polarity of the voltage differential indicates a direction in which the vehicle is traveling.

6. The wireless power transfer system of claim 2, wherein each transmitter coil is connected to a first power transmission line and a second power transmission line, each transmitter unit is electrically connected in series to an adjacent transmitter unit through a jumper wire, and each transmitter unit includes first and second switches at the connection of first and second ends of the attached transmitter coil to the first and second power transmission lines, respectively, and a third switch on the jumper wire, and wherein the controller is connected to the first, second, and third switches in each transmitter unit.

7. The wireless power transfer system of claim 6, wherein, in each inactive transmitter unit, the first, second, and third switches are open; wherein, in each transmitter unit in the subset of active transmitter units, the third switch is closed.

8. The wireless power transfer system of claim 7, wherein, in the first transmitter unit in the subset of active transmitter units, the first switch is closed and the second switch is open; and wherein, in the last transmitter unit in the subset of active transmitter units, the first switch is open and the second switch is closed.

9. The wireless power transfer system of claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to close the first and third switches in the leading transmitter unit when the voltage differential is greater than the minimum threshold voltage differential.

10. The wireless power transfer system of claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to open the second and third switches in the last transmitter unit in the subset of active transmitter units when the voltage differential is greater than the minimum threshold voltage differential.

11. The wireless power transfer system of claim 2, wherein each transmitter coil is connected to a first power transmission line and a second power transmission line, and each transmitter unit includes first and second switches at the connection of first and second ends, respectively, of the attached transmitter coil to the first and second power transmission lines, respectively, and wherein the controller is connected to the first and second switches in each transmitter unit.

12. The wireless power transfer system of claim 11, wherein, in each inactive transmitter unit, the first and second switches are open; wherein, in each transmitter unit in the subset of active transmitter units, the first and second switches are closed.

13. The wireless power transfer system of claim 12, wherein the controller is configured to close the first and second switches in the leading transmitter unit when the voltage differential is greater than the minimum threshold voltage differential.

14. The wireless power transfer system of claim 12, wherein the controller is configured to open the first and second switches in the last transmitter unit in the subset of active transmitter units when the voltage differential is greater than the minimum threshold voltage differential.

15. The wireless power transfer system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to: store or receive from the database a minimum threshold voltage value; when the leading voltage of the leading transmitter unit is greater than the minimum threshold voltage value, activate the leading transmitter; and when the trailing voltage of the trailing transmitter unit is less than the minimum threshold voltage value, deactivate the trailing transmitter unit.

16. The wireless power transfer system of claim 1, wherein the data on the database includes a plurality of voltages, each corresponding to a surface area of the transmitter coil covered by the receiver coil, and wherein the controller is configured to: compare the leading voltage with the plurality of voltages in the database to determine a surface area of the leading transmitter unit covered by the receiver coil; and compare the trailing voltage with the plurality of voltages in the database to determine a surface area of the trailing transmitter unit covered by the receiver coil.

17. The wireless power transfer system of claim 16, wherein the controller is configured to: monitor a voltage rise in the leading transmitter unit; monitor a voltage drop in the trailing transmitter unit; determine a velocity of the receiver based on the voltage rise and the voltage drop.

18. The wireless power transfer system of claim 17, wherein the controller is configured to: store or receive a minimum threshold voltage value; determine an amount of time until the leading voltage of the leading transmitter unit will reach the minimum threshold voltage value; and determine an amount of time until the trailing voltage of the trailing transmitter unit will reach the minimum threshold voltage value.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] The figures depict one or more embodiments of the subject matter described herein. They are provided as examples only. Within the figures, reference numbers are used to refer to elements described in the detailed description.

[0025] FIG. 1 is a diagram of a wireless power transfer topology of the present application.

[0026] FIG. 2 is a schematic of a communications system of the wireless power transfer system of FIG. 1.

[0027] FIG. 3 is a schematic of a transmitter interface module of the communications system of FIG. 2.

[0028] FIG. 4 is a schematic of a set of transmitter interface modules connected in series of the communications system of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0029] FIGS. 1-4 illustrate a wireless power transfer (WPT) system 100 that utilizes a receiver 102 mounted to a moving vehicle 104 that receives power from a set of transmitter units 106 embedded in the surface 108 on which the vehicle 104 moves. More specifically, the receiver 102 is mounted to the underside 104A of vehicle 104 which travels along a trail, track, path, or other course 108 in which the transmitter units 106 are embedded. In rail applications, the top surfaces of transmitter units 106 are flush with or below the top surface of the rail 108. For systems in use with rubber tired vehicles, the transmitters 106 could be on top of or flush with the road surface 108.

[0030] Referring to FIG. 1, the vehicle 104 is moving from right to left as indicated by the direction arrow, and the set of transmitter units 106 includes a subset of active transmitter units 106A positioned under the receiver 102 on the vehicle 104 and a remaining set of inactive transmitter units 106B. In the illustrated embodiment, the subset includes seven active transmitter units 106A, although there could also be a higher or lower number of active units depending on system design. During use, transmitter units 106 are added to and removed from the subset of active transmitter units 106A as the vehicle 104 moves along the surface 108.

[0031] In FIG. 1, the transmitter unit 106C next to be added to the subset of transmitter units 106A, the “leading” transmitter unit 106C, transitions from inactive to active as the receiver 102 moves left, approaching and passing above the leading transmitter unit 106C. The first inactive transmitter unit 106 after the subset of active transmitter units 106A in series is the “trailing” transmitter unit 106D. The WPT system 100 deactivates the active transmitter unit 106A in the subset of active transmitter units 106A farthest from the leading transmitter unit 106C, the “final” active transmitter unit 106A-f.

[0032] The receiver 102 has a length that is greater than a length of the subset of active transmitter unit 106A. In one embodiment, the receiver 102 has a length that is approximately 5.5 times the length of a single transmitter unit 106. In one example embodiment, the receiver 102 may have a length of 8 feet, a width of 33 in, and have a 4 in ground clearance while each transmitter unit 106 has a length of approximately 17.5 in and a width of 33 in. At this proportion, when the receiver coil 114 is centered on the subset of active transmitter units 106A, the receiver coil 114 covers 75% of each of the leading and trailing transmitter units 106C, 106D.

[0033] As the receiver 102 continues along the path of embedded transmitter units 106, the receiver 102 transitions to covering 100% of the leading transmitter unit 106C and 50% of the trailing transmitter unit 106D. Activating and deactivating transmitter coils 106 and movement of the receiver coil 102 can cause power oscillations, and providing for a smoothly transitioning coverage of both the leading and trailing inactive transmitter units 106C, 106D prevents or minimizes such oscillations. In other embodiments, a different ratio of receiver coil length to subset of active transmitter unit length is used and programmatic approaches to detect and prevent oscillations are utilized.

[0034] The WPT system 100 of the present application monitors the induced voltages of the leading and trailing transmitter units 106C, 106D to determine the relative position, direction of travel, and velocity of the receiver 102 along the surface 108 and to enable the system 100 to efficiently add and remove transmitter units 106 to and from the subset of active transmitter units 106A. For example, when over 60% of the trailing transmitter unit 106D is covered by the receiver 102 and only 10% of the leading transmitter unit 106C is covered, the trailing transmitter unit 106D has a greater voltage that is decreasing, and the leading transmitter unit 106C has a lower voltage that is increasing. The WPT system 100 detects voltage changes in the leading and trailing transmitter units 106C, 106D and determines the position of the receiver 102 relative thereto.

[0035] An increase in the induced voltage of a transmitter unit 106 indicates that the receiver 102 is moving towards it. The WPT system 100 can then prepare to activate the leading transmitter unit 106C and simultaneously deactivate the last active transmitter unit 106A-f in the subset of active transmitter units 106A adjacent to the trailing transmitter unit 106D, as the subset of active transmitter units 106A changes with the movement of the receiver 102.

[0036] It should be noted that in the WPT system 100 described above, the detection of the voltage changes of the transmitter units 106, the determination of the position of the receiver 102, the activating and deactivating of the transmitter units 106, and other steps described herein are carried out on a controller 110 including a memory 113. The controller 110 is in communication with the database 112, which can be located within the controller 110, connected to the controller 110 through a wired connection, or remote from the controller 110 and accessed through a wireless connection. Programmable instructions on the memory 113 enable the controller 110 to implement programs, procedures, or modules to provide the functionality of the WTP system 100 described herein.

[0037] Further, each transmitter unit 106 includes a voltage sensor 111 as described below. Over time, the WPT system 100 collects data from the voltage sensors 111 of each transmitter unit 106 and populates a database 112 in which an induced voltage of a transmitter unit 106 is correlated to a surface area of the transmitter unit 106 covered by the receiver 102. During use, the controller 110 is configured to detect the induced voltage of the leading and trailing transmitter units 106C, 106D, reference the database 112 to determine the amount of surface area covered by the receiver 102, and then determine a position of the receiver 102 over the respective transmitter unit 106.

[0038] With respect to leading transmitter unit 106C, the controller 102 is then able to determine the remaining distance that is yet to be traveled by the receiver 102 in order to cover the leading transmitter unit 106C such that the leading transmitter unit 106C is ready to be activated. Similarly, in the case of trailing transmitter units 106D, the controller 102 is able to determine the remaining distance that is yet to be traveled by the receiver 102 in order to uncover the trailing transmitter unit 106D such that the last transmitter unit 106A-f of the subset of active transmitter units 106A is ready to be deactivated.

[0039] The WPT system 100 can also monitor the rate at which the induced voltage is increasing in order to determine the speed of the receiver 102 over the transmitter units 106. Using the speed of the receiver 106 and the position of the receiver 102 relative to the leading and trailing transmitter units 106C, 106D, the WPT system 100 can anticipate when to update the subset of active transmitter units 106A.

[0040] In some embodiments, the controller 110 monitors a leading voltage of the transmitter coil 116 of the leading transmitter unit 106C and activates the unit 106C when the leading voltage reaches a minimum threshold value. Similarly, the controller 110 monitors a trailing voltage of the transmitter coil 116 of the trailing transmitter unit 106D and deactivates the last active transmitter unit 106A-f of the subset of active transmitter units 106A next to the trailing transmitter unit 106D when the trailing voltage of the trailing transmitter unit 106D drops below a minimum threshold value.

[0041] In another embodiment, the WTP system 100 may activate the leading transmitter unit 106C or deactivate the final active transmitter unit 106A-f of the subset of active transmitter units 106A when the receiver 102 covers a threshold surface area of the leading and/or trailing transmitter units 106C, 106D. For example, the WTP system 100 may deactivate the last active transmitter unit 106A-f when the receiver 102 covers less than 25%, or less than 15% in a preferred embodiment, of the surface area of the trailing transmitter unit 106D. The controller 110 receives the leading or trailing voltage, references the database 112 that correlates voltage to surface area coverage to determine a surface area of the leading or trailing transmitter unit covered by the receiver, and activates or deactivates the appropriate transmitter unit when the surface area is greater than or less than, respectively, the threshold surface area.

[0042] In still other embodiments, the WPT system 100 monitors the voltage differential between the leading and trailing transmitter units 106C, 106D. The controller 110 is preprogrammed with or receives from the database 112 a threshold voltage differential for activating and deactivating transmitter coils 116. The controller 110 receives a leading voltage from the leading transmitter unit 106C and a trailing voltage from the trailing transmitter unit 106D, and determines a voltage differential. When the absolute value of the voltage differential is above the threshold voltage differential, the controller 110 activates the leading transmitter unit 106C and deactivates the last transmitter unit 106A-f in the subset of active transmitter units 106A.

[0043] In some embodiments, the threshold voltage differential is a set value. In other embodiments, the threshold voltage differential is a percentage of a nominal voltage of an active coil.

[0044] The polarity of the voltage differential indicates the direction in which the receiver 102 is moving as well as which of the inactive transmitter units 106C, 106D next to the subset of active transmitter units 106A is the leading transmitter unit 106C and which is the trailing transmitter unit 106D.

[0045] Referring to FIGS. 2-4, the transmitter units 106 are connected in series. The subset of active transmitter units 106A together forms a single virtual coil and the active transmitter units 106A are therefore synchronized. As transmitter units 106 are added and removed from the subset, the single virtual coil effectively moves along the surface 108 with the receiver 102 mounted to the vehicle 102.

[0046] As seen in FIG. 2, the receiver 102 includes a receiver coil 114 that is mounted to the underside of the vehicle 104. A resonant tuning network 115 may be utilized to tune the receiver coil 114. The receiver coil 114 is directly or indirectly connected to an energy storage system 117, which receives power transmitted to the receiver coil 114 from the transmitter coils 116. The energy storage system 117 may be a battery, a capacitor, a mechanical flywheel, or other suitable component or load. Each transmitter coil 116 is mounted to a transmitter unit 106, which includes a transmitter interface module 118 having the electrical components to enable operation described herein. The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 shows seven transmitter units 106 connected in series, although the number of transmitter units 106 to be connected in series is unlimited.

[0047] A high frequency power supply 120 is configured to provide high frequency alternating current (AC) power of at least 20 kH to the transmitter units 106 and the respective transmitter coil 116 through first and second power transmission lines L1, L2. Direct current (DC) or AC power is supplied to the high frequency power supply 120. In one embodiment, laminated plates similar to power electronics bus bar construction provides a lower resistance than typical wire cabling made from multiple round conductors.

[0048] In a further embodiment, a second power supply 120 may provide power to the transmitter units 106, which would enable a second subset of active transmitter units 106A to be active separate and apart from the first subset. In this embodiment, the WTP system includes third and fourth power transmission lines L3, L4 running in parallel to the first and second power transmission lines L1, L2. The first and second ends of each transmitter coil 116 may be connected to the third and fourth power transmission lines L3, L4 as an alternative to the first and second power transmission lines L1, L2 through the use of additional switches. During use, a first subset of active transmitter units 106A receives power from the first transmission line L1 and returns power to the second transmission line L2 as described herein. Elsewhere along the path of embedded transmitter units, a second subset of active transmitter units 106A receives power from the third transmission line L3 and returns power to the fourth transmission line L4.

[0049] Each transmitter interface module 118 is connected to adjacent transmitter interface modules 118 using a jumper wire 122 or the like. The controller 110 communicates with each transmitter interface module 118 through a communication wire 124 that can be connected through transmitter interface modules 118 in series via a daisy chain or connected directly from the controller 118 to each transmitter interface module 118. The voltage sensor 111 is positioned between the first and second ends of the transmitter coil 116 that is connected to the respective transmitter interface module 118.

[0050] The transmitter interface module 118 includes switches to connect and disconnect the power transmission lines L1, L2 and the jumper wire 122 between transmitter units 106 connected in series. Referring to FIG. 3, first and second switches 126, 128 connect the transmitter coil 116 to the power transmission lines L1 and L2, respectively. A third switch 130 connects the jumper wire between adjacent transmitter units 106. Transistors or any mechanical switch may be used for the switches 126, 128, 130.

[0051] FIG. 4 illustrates the status of the switches 126, 128, 130 in the subset of active transmitters 106A, the leading transmitter unit 106C, and the trailing transmitter unit 106D. In the first active transmitter unit 106A-1 of the subset, the switch 126A-1 is closed, supplying power from the power transmission line L1 to the transmitter coil 116A-1. The switches 130A-1, 130A-2, 130A-3 are closed, allowing the transmitter coils 116A-1, 116A-2, 116A-3, 116A-4 to connect in series. The switch 128-4 on the last active transmitter unit 106A-4 of the subset is closed, connecting the coil 116A-4 to the power transmission line L2, thereby closing the loop.

[0052] All other switches remain open. Switches 126, 128 of active transmitter units 106A-2,106A-3 remain open so that power passes through the coil 116 and jumper wire 122 to the coil 116 of the adjacent transmitter unit 106. Switch 130 of the last active transmitter unit 106A-4 of the subset is open, preventing power from being transmitted to the trailing transmitter unit 106D.

[0053] In other embodiments, the jumper wire 122 of all transmitter units 106 remain connected, and no switches are used to connect or disconnect neighboring transmitter units 106. In this case, each coil 116 of the subset of active transmitter units 106 is connected to both of the first and second power lines L1, L2. The first and second switches remain open on inactive transmitter units 106B and are closed when the transmitter unit 106A is active.

[0054] It should be noted that various changes and modifications to the presently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention and without diminishing its attendant advantages.