Coil unit

Abstract

A coil unit (10) is provided with: a coil (13); a housing (11) that accommodates the coil (13); and an inner member (17) inserted into the hollow core region (13a) of the coil (13). The coil (13) transmits power to a power receiving device in a non-contact manner. The frame body (11) is fixed on the back surface of a cover (MC) of an inspection well (MH) buried under the ground of a traveling road. The inner member (17) penetrates through the frame body (11) and protrudes to the outside. The surface of the inner member (17) is exposed to the outside from the surface of the cover (MC).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a coil unit. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, more and more people have been conducting research and development related to charging and power supply in vehicles equipped with secondary batteries in order to ensure convenient, reliable, sustainable and advanced energy use, which contributes to energy efficiency.

[0003] Conventionally, in a system for supplying electric power to a vehicle from outside the vehicle by contactless power transmission, there is known a power supply side unit having a support platform and a power supply pad, wherein the support platform is set on a road surface and the power supply pad is suspended from a top plate covering a recessed portion formed on the support platform (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Gazette No. 2014-239168). Summary of the invention

[0004] In the technology related to the charging and supplying of a vehicle equipped with a secondary battery, it is desired to ensure the desired output and efficiency of the charging and supplying and improve the maintainability of the equipment on the power transmission side when the vehicle is non-contactedly transmitted with electric power. For example, in the power supply side unit of the above-mentioned prior art, when the support platform is buried in the driving road in order to ensure the driving safety of the vehicle on the driving road, there arises a problem that various maintenance operations on the equipment and components on the power transmission side require complicated labor and time.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a coil unit that can ensure the desired output and efficiency of charging power and improve the maintainability of equipment and components on the power transmission side. In addition, the present invention further contributes to energy efficiency.

[0006] A coil unit according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises: a coil that transmits electric power to a power receiving device in a contactless manner; and a frame that accommodates the coil, wherein the frame is fixed inside a hole formed in a travel path to a cover that closes an open end of the hole.

[0007] A second aspect is the coil unit according to the first aspect, wherein the coil unit includes an inner member inserted into the hollow region of the coil and penetrating the frame to protrude to the outside, wherein a surface of the inner member is exposed to the outside from a surface of the cover.

[0008] According to a third aspect, in the coil unit according to the first or second aspect, the hole may be formed by a cylindrical member buried underground, and the cover may close an open end of the cylindrical member.

[0009] According to the first scheme, by providing a frame fixed to the cover inside the hole of the travel path, the desired output and efficiency of the charging power can be ensured, and at the same time, the situation where a direct load is applied by, for example, vehicles on the travel path can be suppressed, thereby improving durability. Since the frame is integrally fixed to the cover, it can be removed together with the cover and easily exposed to the outside. In addition, various devices and components, for example, arranged inside the hole can be easily exposed to the outside by removing the cover. As a result, the ease of various maintenance operations can be improved.

[0010] In the second aspect, by providing the inner member exposed to the outside from the surface of the cover, it is possible to suppress a decrease in power transmission efficiency compared to, for example, a case where the coil unit is buried under a pavement such as asphalt or concrete.

[0011] In the case of the third embodiment, various devices and components such as a power transmission device constituting a contactless power transmission system can be arranged in addition to the frame and the coil inside a cylindrical member buried underground such as an existing manhole or handhole. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Figure 1 It is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of the coil unit in the embodiment of the present invention.

[0013] Figure 2 It is a perspective view showing the structure of a coil unit in the embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] Figure 3 The coil unit in the embodiment of the present invention is Figure 1 and Figure 2 The position of the line AA shown is a cross-sectional view cut through the XZ plane. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] Hereinafter, a coil unit according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0016] Figure 1 It is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of coil unit 10 in the embodiment. Figure 2 It is a perspective view showing the structure of coil unit 10 in the embodiment. Figure 3 The coil unit 10 in the embodiment is Figure 1 and Figure 2 The position of the line AA shown is a cross-sectional view cut through the XZ plane.

[0017] Hereinafter, the directions of the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis that are orthogonal to each other in three-dimensional space are directions parallel to the axes of the coil unit 10. Figure 1 to Figure 3As shown, the Z-axis direction is a direction parallel to the up-down direction of the coil unit 10 , such as a vertical direction, and the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction are directions orthogonal to the up-down direction of the coil unit 10 , such as a horizontal direction.

[0018] The coil unit 10 of the embodiment constitutes, for example, a part of a contactless power transmission system that supplies power from outside a moving body such as a vehicle to a power receiving device T of the moving body through contactless power transmission. The coil unit 10 of the embodiment is provided in, for example, a power transmission device installed on a running path of a vehicle.

[0019] The coil unit 10 of the embodiment is fixed to the cover MC of a square cylindrical inspection well MH (cylindrical member) buried underground in a travel path of a vehicle, etc., for example. The coil unit 10 is suspended on the lower surface (back side) of the cover MC, for example, by an appropriate fastening member or elastic member. The cover MC of the inspection well MH is formed of, for example, a resin material and a fiber material. The cover MC closes the upper opening end E of the inspection well MH. The internal space H (hole portion) of the inspection well MH, for example, accommodates various devices and components of a power transmission device constituting a contactless power transmission system.

[0020] like Figure 1 , Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, the coil unit 10 includes, for example, a frame 11 , a first cover 12 , a coil 13 , an insulating member 14 , a core member 15 , a back member 16 , an inner member 17 , a second cover 18 , and a support member 19 .

[0021] The outer shape of the frame 11 is formed into a rectangular frame shape, for example. The frame 11 is provided in a manner to surround the upper side in the up-down direction and the inner side and the outer side in the direction orthogonal to the up-down direction with respect to the coil 13, the insulating member 14 and the core member 15 described later, for example. The frame 11 accommodates the coil 13, the insulating member 14 and the core member 15 described later, and is integrally fixed to the back side of the cover MC of the manhole MH.

[0022] The outer shape of the first cover 12 is, for example, a rectangular plate having a through hole 12a formed in the thickness direction. The first cover 12 is provided, for example, to surround the lower side in the vertical direction with respect to the coil 13, the insulating member 14, and the core member 15 described later. The first cover 12 forms a storage space for storing the coil 13, the insulating member 14, and the core member 15 between the first cover 12 and the inner surface of the frame 11. The frame 11 and the first cover 12 sandwich the coil 13, the insulating member 14, and the core member 15 from both sides in the vertical direction.

[0023] The outer shape of the coil 13 is formed in, for example, a spiral shape along the inner surface of the frame body 11 .

[0024] The insulating member 14 has an outer shape of, for example, a rectangular sheet having through holes 14 a formed in the thickness direction. The insulating member 14 is formed of a material having electrical insulation properties.

[0025] The core member 15 has a rectangular plate shape with through holes 15a formed in the thickness direction. The core member 15 is made of an electromagnetic steel sheet such as a silicon steel sheet or a magnetic material having a relatively high magnetic permeability such as ferrite.

[0026] The coil 13 , the insulating member 14 , and the core member 15 are stacked in order in the up-down direction and are arranged inside the frame 11 .

[0027] The outer shape of the back member 16 is, for example, a rectangular plate having a through hole formed in the thickness direction. The outer shape of the inner member 17 is, for example, a box-shaped shape having a rectangular frame-shaped wall portion and a cover portion that closes the upper open end of the wall portion. The inner member 17 protrudes upward in the vertical direction from the peripheral edge portion surrounding the through hole of the back member 16. The back member 16 and the inner member 17 are, for example, integrally formed of a magnetic material such as an electromagnetic steel sheet such as a silicon steel sheet.

[0028] The back member 16 is disposed, for example, on the lower side in the up-down direction with respect to the first cover 12 .

[0029] The inner member 17 is inserted into, for example, the through holes 12a, 15a, 14a of the first cover 12, the core member 15, and the insulating member 14, the hollow region 13a of the coil 13, and the through hole 11a in the thickness direction of the frame 11. The inner member 17 protrudes upward from, for example, the upper surface 11A of the frame 11 and is inserted into the through hole in the thickness direction of the cover MC of the manhole MH. The upper surface of the inner member 17 is exposed to the outside from, for example, the surface of the cover MC of the manhole MH, forming the same plane as the surface of the cover MC and the road surface of the travel path.

[0030] The outer shape of the second cover 18 is formed into a hip roof shape, for example. The second cover 18 closes the open end of the housing portion of the housing 11 that houses electrical devices such as a substrate and a capacitor, for example.

[0031] The outer shape of the support member 19 is formed in, for example, a rectangular plate shape. The support member 19 is formed of, for example, a resin material. The support member 19 is arranged, for example, on the lower side of the back member 16 in the up-down direction.

[0032] Since the coil unit 10 is fixed to the lower surface (back side) of the cover MC of the manhole MH, the coil unit 10 is taken out from the internal space H of the manhole MH when the cover MC is removed from the upper opening end E of the manhole MH. When the internal space of the manhole MH is opened to the outside due to the removal of the cover MC, various devices and components of the power transmission device constituting the contactless power transmission system accommodated in the internal space H of the manhole MH are exposed to the outside.

[0033] As described above, according to the coil unit 10 of the embodiment, by having a frame 11 fixed to the back of the cover MC of the manhole MH, it is possible to ensure the desired output and efficiency of the charging power supply, and at the same time, it is possible to suppress the situation where a direct load is applied, such as by vehicles on the road, so that durability can be improved. Since the frame 11 is fixed to the cover MC as a whole, it can be removed together with the cover MC and easily exposed to the outside. In addition, various devices and components, such as those arranged in the internal space H of the manhole MH, can be easily exposed to the outside by removing the cover MC. As a result, the ease of various maintenance operations can be improved.

[0034] Compared to the case where the coil unit 10 is buried under a pavement such as asphalt or concrete or underground, the decrease in the so-called Q value (quality coefficient Q) can be suppressed, and the increase in the distance between the power receiving device T mounted on a moving body such as a vehicle and the coil unit 10 can be suppressed. By suppressing the increase in the magnetic path length, the output and efficiency of non-contact power transmission can be improved. By providing the inner member 17 exposed to the outside from the surface of the cover MC, the decrease in the efficiency of power transmission can be suppressed.

[0035] In the interior of a cylindrical member buried underground such as a conventional manhole MH or a hand hole, for example, various devices and members constituting a power transmission device of a contactless power transmission system can be arranged in addition to the coil unit 10 .

[0036] The embodiments of the present invention are provided as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the main purpose of the invention. These embodiments and their variations are included in the scope and main purpose of the invention, and are also included in the invention described in the technical solution and its equivalent scope.

Claims

1. A coil unit, wherein: The coil unit comprises: a coil that transmits electric power to a power receiving device in a contactless manner; and a frame housing the coil, The frame is fixed to a cover portion that closes an open end of a hole portion formed in the travel path.

2. The coil unit according to claim 1, wherein: The coil unit includes an inner member that is inserted into the hollow region of the coil and penetrates the frame to protrude to the outside. A surface of the inner member is exposed to the outside from a surface of the cover portion.

3. The coil unit according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The hole is formed by a cylindrical member buried underground. The cover portion closes the open end of the cylindrical member.

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