COIL MODULE AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING A COIL ASSEMBLY

Abstract

A coil module comprises a carrier which has a polygonal basic shape with four to twelve corners and comprises a magnetic material. A coil is arranged on the carrier. The polygonal basic shape is rotationally symmetrical with an angle of 360°.Math.2 divided by the number of corners. To produce a coil assembly, a plurality of coil modules can be connected to each other. This makes it possible to produce an efficient coil assembly for wireless electromagnetic energy transmission in a simple and flexible manner.

Claims

1. A coil module for the production of a coil assembly having a carrier, which has a polygonal basic shape having a number N of corners wherein: 4 ≤ N ≤ 12, and which comprises a magnetic material, a coil arranged on the carrier, wherein the polygonal basic shape is rotationally symmetrical with an angle of 360°•2/N.

2. The coil module according to claim 1, wherein the number N of corners is even.

3. The coil module according to claim 1, wherein the polygonal basic shape is rotationally symmetrical with an angle of 360°/N.

4. The coil module according to claim 1, wherein the carrier is plate-shaped.

5. The coil module according to claims 1, wherein the carrier comprises side regions which are at least one of straight and flat at least in sections.

6. The coil module according to claim 1, wherein the carrier comprises side regions, wherein a respective fastening element is arranged in at least two of the side regions.

7. The coil module according to claim 1, wherein the carrier comprises side regions, wherein at least two different fastening elements are arranged in the side regions.

8. The coil module according to claim 1, wherein the coil comprises at least two windings which are arranged in one plane.

9. The coil module according to claim 1, wherein the coil comprises at least one winding which forms a number n of straight winding portions, wherein: n = N.

10. The coil module according to claim 1, wherein at least one spacer element is arranged between two adjacent windings of the coil.

11. A coil assembly for wireless electromagnetic energy transmission having at least two coil modules according to claim 1.

12. A method for producing a coil assembly, comprising the steps of: providing at least two coil modules according to claim 1, and at least one of electrically connecting the coils and mechanically connecting the carriers of the at least two coil modules.

13. The coil module according to claim 10, wherein the at least one spacer element comprises a magnetic material.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a coil assembly which is constructed from a plurality of coil modules according to a first embodiment,

[0024] FIG. 2 shows a top view onto an underside of the coil assembly in FIG. 1,

[0025] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a coil module according to a second embodiment, and

[0026] FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a coil module according to a third embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0027] A first embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. A coil assembly 1 comprises a plurality of coil modules M, which are designated individually as M.sub.1, M.sub.2 and M.sub.3 in FIG. 1. The coil modules M.sub.1, M.sub.2 and M.sub.3 are identically formed. Insofar as a distinction between the coil modules M.sub.1, M.sub.2 and M.sub.3 is not important in the following, they are generally referred to as coil module M. Insofar as a distinction is important below, the coil modules are designated as M.sub.1, M.sub.2 and M.sub.3.

[0028] One of the coil modules M is described in detail below. The coil module M comprises a carrier 2 on which a coil 3 is arranged. The carrier 2 has a polygonal basic shape P with a number of N comers. The corners are designated individually by p.sub.1 to p.sub.N. In the present embodiment, N = 8. The polygonal basic shape P is thus an octagon.

[0029] The polygonal basic shape P has an axis R. The polygonal basic shape P is rotationally symmetrical about the axis R with an angle α = 360°.Math.2/N = 90°. The polygonal basic shape P has equal interior angles β. The polygonal basic shape P has first sides with a first side length L.sub.1 and second sides with a side length L.sub.2. The first side length L.sub.1 is greater than the second side length L.sub.2. The sides with the different side lengths L.sub.1 and L.sub.2 are arranged alternately in one direction about the axis R.

[0030] The carrier 2 is configured to be plate-shaped. The carrier 2 comprises a base plate G with an upper side S.sub.O, an underside S.sub.U and side regions S.sub.1 to S.sub.N arranged in between. In the present embodiment, the carrier 2 has eight side regions S.sub.1 to S.sub.8. The side regions S.sub.1 to S.sub.8 are configured to be rectilinear and planar. The carrier 2 comprises first fastening elements B.sub.1 and second fastening elements B.sub.2 in the side regions S.sub.1 to S.sub.8. The first fastening elements B.sub.1 are arranged in the side regions S.sub.1, S.sub.3, S.sub.5 and S.sub.7, whereas the second fastening elements B.sub.2 are arranged in the side regions S.sub.2, S.sub.4, S.sub.6 and S.sub.8. The fastening elements B.sub.1 and B.sub.2 are formed differently. The fastening elements B.sub.1 are formed as a dovetail-shaped projection, whereas the second fastening elements B.sub.2 are formed as a dovetail-shaped recess. The second fastening elements B.sub.2 are shaped negatively to the first fastening elements B.sub.1. The fastening elements B.sub.1 and B.sub.2 are formed in one piece with a base plate G of the carrier 2. The fastening elements B.sub.1 and B.sub.2 are oriented in such a way that a connection is made by a movement parallel to the axis R.

[0031] The carrier 2 is made of a magnetic material, preferably a ferrite material. The ferrite material comprises in particular manganese and zinc. The carrier 2 has a thickness D in the direction of the axis R. The following applies to the thickness D: 1 mm ≤ D ≤ 12 mm. The carrier 2 has a maximum dimension A transverse to the axis R. For the maximum dimension A, the following applies 15 mm ≤ A ≤ 200 mm.

[0032] The carrier 2 comprises an outer frame 4, which is arranged on the upper side S.sub.o. The frame 4 is formed in one piece with the base plate G. The outer frame 4 is thus formed of a magnetic material, for example a ferrite material. The frame 4 is formed according to the polygonal basic shape P and is formed to be open in the side region S.sub.1.

[0033] The coil 3 is arranged inside the outer frame 4. The coil 3 is wound spirally about the axis R. The coil 3 essentially has three windings, which are designated individually as W.sub.1, W.sub.2 and W.sub.3. The windings W.sub.1 to W.sub.3 are arranged in one common plane. The cross section of the coil 3 is preferably between 1 mm.sup.2 and 10 mm.sup.2.

[0034] Each of the windings W.sub.1 to W.sub.3 is polygonally wound so that each of the windings W.sub.1 to W.sub.3 forms a number n of straight winding portions w. The following applies: n = N. This means that the windings W.sub.1 to W.sub.3 have a polygonal shape which corresponds to the polygonal basic shape P. The winding portions w run parallel to the side regions S.sub.1 to S.sub.8 or parallel to the sides of the polygonal basic shape P. The coil 3 comprises an inner terminal A.sub.1 and an outer terminal A.sub.2. The inner terminal A.sub.1 is connected to the winding .sub.1 and led to the outside below the windings W.sub.2, W.sub.3 and the outer terminal A.sub.2. The outer terminal A.sub.2 is connected to the winding W.sub.3. Terminals A.sub.1 and A.sub.2 are located in the side region S.sub.1.

[0035] The carrier 2 further comprises an inner frame 5 which is arranged on a side of the coil 3 facing the axis R. The inner frame 5 is formed in one piece with the base plate G. Thus, the inner frame 5 is formed of a magnetic material, for example a ferrite material. The inner frame 5 has a polygonal shape which corresponds to the basic polygonal shape P. The sides of the inner frame 5 run parallel to the sides of the outer frame 4. The inner frame 5 is formed to be open towards the side region S.sub.1.

[0036] One spacer element 6, 7 each is arranged between the windings W.sub.1 and W.sub.2 and the windings W.sub.2 and W.sub.3. The spacer elements 6, 7 are formed in one piece with the base plate G and are part of the carrier 2. The spacer elements 6, 7 are thus formed from a magnetic material, for example a ferrite material. The frames 4, 5 are thus formed from a magnetic material, for example a ferrite material. The spacer elements 6, 7 have a polygonal shape corresponding to the windings W.sub.1 to W.sub.3. The spacer elements 6, 7 are formed to be open towards the side region S.sub.1.

[0037] To produce the coil assembly 1, the coil modules M.sub.1, M.sub.2 and M.sub.3 are mechanically connected. For this purpose, the coil module M.sub.2 is connected to a second fastening element B.sub.2 of the coil module M.sub.1 by means of a first fastening element B.sub.1. Furthermore, the coil module M.sub.2 is connected by means of a first fastening element B.sub.1 to a second fastening element B.sub.2 of the coil module M.sub.3. As a result, the coil assembly 1 has an angular shape. Further coil modules M can be connected in a corresponding manner so that the coil assembly 1 can form a desired shape depending on the application, for example the shape of a figure eight.

[0038] The coil modules M.sub.1, M.sub.2 and M.sub.3 are further connected electrically to one another. The coils 3 of the coil modules M.sub.1, M.sub.2 and M.sub.3 are connected in series in such a way that a current can flow through the coils 3 of the adjacent coil modules M.sub.1 and M.sub.2 and of the adjacent coil modules M.sub.2 and M.sub.3 in the same directions in the respective mechanical connection regions. For this purpose, the terminal A.sub.2 of the coil module M.sub.1 is connected to the terminal A.sub.2 of the coil module M.sub.2 and the terminal A.sub.1 of the coil module M.sub.2 is connected to the terminal A.sub.1 of the coil module M.sub.3. This is illustrated in FIG. 1 by a dashed line and arrows for the current flow I.

[0039] Due to the fact that the coil modules M can be connected in a simple and flexible manner to form a coil assembly 1, the coil assembly 1 has a high efficiency in wireless electromagnetic power transmission. The coil module M can be produced in a simple and automatic manner.

[0040] A second embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to FIG. 3. In contrast to the first embodiment, the first fastening elements B.sub.1 are arranged in the side regions S.sub.2, S.sub.4, S.sub.6 and S.sub.8, whereas the second fastening elements B.sub.2 are arranged in the side regions S.sub.1, S.sub.3, S.sub.5 and S.sub.7. The first fastening elements B.sub.1 are formed as dovetail-shaped projections which are arranged on the base body G. In contrast, the second fastening elements B.sub.2 are formed as dovetail-shaped recesses. The fastening elements B.sub.1 and B.sub.2 are oriented in such a way that the mechanical connection of two coil modules M is carried out by a movement parallel to the upper side So of the base plate G. The side regions S.sub.1 to S.sub.8 have an equal length L, so that the polygonal basic shape P is regular. The terminal A.sub.1 is led to the outside above the windings W.sub.2, W.sub.3. With regard to the further construction and the broad mode of operation of the coil module M, reference is made to the preceding embodiment.

[0041] A third embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to FIG. 4. In contrast to the preceding embodiments, the first fastening elements B.sub.1 are formed as projections arranged at the bottom, whereas the second fastening elements B.sub.2 are formed as projections arranged at the top. The first fastening elements B.sub.1 are arranged laterally on the base plate G, whereas the second fastening elements B.sub.2 are arranged on the upper side S.sub.O of the base plate G and on the outer frame 4 and extend laterally outward. The outer frame 4 is formed to be open or interrupted in the side regions S.sub.1, S.sub.3, S.sub.5 and S.sub.7. For mechanical connection, a first fastening element B.sub.1 and a second fastening element B.sub.2 of adjacent coil modules M are arranged one above the other so that they overlap. In the overlap region, the fastening elements B.sub.1 and B.sub.2 are connected to each other. The connection can be made, for example, by a material bond by means of an adhesive and/or by a form fit via a profile and a counter-profile. With regard to the further construction and the further mode of operation of the coil module M, reference is made to the preceding embodiments.