Non-contact power supply device and non-contact power supply method

Abstract

To maintain a transmission efficiency of power in a high state by suppressing the change of a leakage magnetic flux to the minimum.SOLUTION: A non-contact power supply device mounting a structure containing a dynamo-electric motor 21 that performs a rotational drive with power transmitted onto a rotor providing a secondary side transformer 27 of a non-contact transformer by using non-contact transformers 19 and 27, comprises: a detection part 31 that detects an amount and a distribution of a leakage magnetic flux generated in the non-contact transformers 19 and 27; an operation part 16 that calculates a relative distance and an inclination of a primary side transformer 19 and a secondary side transformer 27 of the non-contact transformer in accordance with the amount and the distribution of the leakage magnetic flux detected by a detection part 31; and each control part (17, 18, and 26) that controls an attitude position of the primary side transformer and the secondary side transformer in accordance with a distance and the inclination, calculated by the operation part 16.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] An embodiment of the present invention relates to a contactless power supply device and a contactless power supply method. [Background technology]

[0002] When using a non-contact transformer as a device for non-contact power supply, particularly when it is necessary to supply large power, the non-contact transformer must be of a suitable size. In a large non-contact transformer, the leakage magnetic flux changes due to changes in the distance and inclination between the primary and secondary transformers.

[0003] If the secondary transformer is a rotating body with a heavy structure mounted on it, the distance and inclination between the primary and secondary transformers may change due to the oscillation associated with the rotation of the structure, or, if outdoors, the structure may be subjected to external disturbances such as wind. In a power supply device using such a non-contact transformer, for example, when the rotating body is a structure including an antenna, in order to improve the analysis accuracy of the driving state of the antenna that is rotated and driven by power supplied by non-contact power supply on the secondary transformer side, a technology has been proposed in which the correlation between the amount of shift in the time direction for each rotation angle of the antenna driving axis and the antenna axis is estimated, and control is performed to make the correlation value higher. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 5869039 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In a non-contact transformer, if the distance and inclination between the primary transformer and the secondary transformer, which is part of the rotor, changes relatively, it is inevitable that the leakage flux will change. If the induced voltage fluctuates due to this change in leakage flux, it will cause a problem of reduced transmission efficiency.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a contactless power supply device and a contactless power supply method that can minimize the change in leakage magnetic flux and maintain high power transmission efficiency. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The non-contact power supply device of this embodiment uses a non-contact transformer and has a structure including an electric motor that is rotationally driven by power transmitted through the non-contact transformer mounted on a rotating body on which a secondary transformer of the non-contact transformer is provided. The non-contact power supply device is equipped with a detection unit that detects the amount and distribution of leakage magnetic flux generated in the non-contact transformer, a calculation unit that calculates the relative distance and inclination of the primary transformer and secondary transformer of the non-contact transformer in accordance with the amount and distribution of leakage magnetic flux detected by the detection unit, and a control unit that controls the attitude position of at least one of the primary transformer and secondary transformer in accordance with the distance and inclination calculated by the calculation unit. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a control system of the non-contact power supply device according to the embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a schematic structure of a non-contact transformer according to the embodiment. [Diagram 3] 6 is a flowchart showing a process for controlling a relative position of the non-contact transformer according to the embodiment; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a non-contact power supply device that supplies power in a non-contact manner to a rotating body structure including an antenna will be described. [composition] 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a control system of a non-contact power supply device according to an embodiment. The non-contact power supply device includes a control device 10, a primary side position control mechanism 18, a primary side transformer 19, a drive unit 21, a drive shaft 22, a transmission shaft 23, an antenna shaft 24, an antenna 25, a secondary side position control mechanism 26, a secondary side transformer 27, and a detection coil 31.

[0010] The control device 10 includes a first detection unit 11, a second detection unit 12, a recording unit 13, and a calculation unit 14. The calculation unit 14 includes a rotation angle calculation unit 15, a control attitude calculation unit 16, and an output unit 17.

[0011] The driving unit 21 is an electric motor, such as a servo motor, which is rotated by power obtained by smoothing the power transmitted through the secondary transformer 27. The driving shaft 22 is a rotating shaft of the electric motor. The rotation of the driving shaft 22 is transmitted to the antenna shaft 24 through the transmission shaft 23. The transmission shaft 23 may be rotated by the driving shaft 22 in any manner, and is not limited to a specific rotation. For example, the driving shaft 22 rotates the transmission shaft 23 periodically. The driving shaft 22 may also rotate the transmission shaft 23 intermittently. The driving shaft 22 may also rotate the transmission shaft 23 so as to alternately repeat forward and reverse rotations. The driving shaft 22 may also rotate the transmission shaft 23 according to the position of a predetermined target. A plurality of driving shafts 22 and transmission shafts 23 may also be used according to the rotation direction. In the following, the driving shaft 22 is described as rotating the transmission shaft 23 in a fixed direction at a predetermined fixed period.

[0012] The drive shaft 22 changes the attitude of the antenna 25 in the elevation direction via the transmission shaft 23 and the antenna shaft 24. The drive shaft 22 may also change the attitude of the antenna 25 in the azimuth direction via the transmission shaft 23 and the antenna shaft 24. In the following description, it is assumed that the drive shaft 22 changes the attitude of the antenna 25 in the azimuth direction via the transmission shaft 23 and the antenna shaft 24.

[0013] The antenna shaft 24 is a shaft that is driven by the transmission shaft 23. The attitude of the antenna 25 in the azimuth direction and the elevation direction is changed by the antenna shaft 24.

[0014] Antenna 25 transmits radio waves of a predetermined frequency in a direction determined by the attitude of antenna 25. Antenna 25 also receives radio waves reflected from a predetermined target.

[0015] The first detection unit 11 samples the rotation angle (hereinafter referred to as the "first angle") of the drive shaft 22 at a predetermined period. The first detection unit 11 causes the recording unit 13 to record the first angle information detected by the sampling.

[0016] The second detection unit 12 samples the rotation angle of the antenna axis 24 (hereinafter referred to as the "second angle") at a predetermined period asynchronously with the sampling performed by the first detection unit 11. The second detection unit 12 causes the recording unit 13 to record the second angle information detected by the sampling.

[0017] The detection coil 31 is a coil for detecting leakage magnetic flux that varies depending on the distance and inclination of the gap between the primary transformer 19 and the secondary transformer 27 that constitute the non-contact transformer. For example, a plurality of detection coils 31 (e.g., N=4) are arranged so as to be evenly distributed along the periphery vicinity of the primary transformer 19 and the secondary transformer 27. The leakage magnetic flux information detected by the detection coil 31 is sampled at a predetermined period asynchronously with the sampling performed by the first detection unit 11 and the second detection unit 12. The detection coil 31 records the leakage magnetic flux information detected by sampling in the recording unit 13.

[0018] The recording unit 13 may be a volatile memory such as a random access memory (RAM) or a register, or a non-volatile memory such as a read only memory (ROM), a flash memory, a hard disk drive, or a solid state drive. The recording unit 13 records the first angle information, the second angle information, and the leakage magnetic flux information. The recording unit 13 may also record a program for operating a processor such as a CPU, various fixed data, and the like.

[0019] Rotation angle calculation unit 15 of calculation unit 14 and a part or all of rotation angle calculation unit 15 may be configured by a hardware function unit including a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

[0020] The rotation angle calculation unit 15 reads out and acquires the first angle information and the second angle information from the recording unit 13. For example, the rotation angle calculation unit 15 shifts the first angle information by a plurality of shift amounts in the time axis direction and calculates a value indicating each correlation, for example, a correlation coefficient, for each shift amount. The rotation angle calculation unit 15 estimates a shift amount that relatively increases the correlation coefficient between the first angle information and the second angle information, and synchronizes the first angle information and the second angle information based on the estimated shift amount. The rotation angle calculation unit 15 analyzes the synchronized first angle information and the second angle information, for example, by frequency analysis, and estimates the driving state of the antenna 25. The rotation angle calculation unit 15 outputs information on the driving state of the drive shaft 22 to the drive unit 21 as the analysis result, and controls the driving state of the drive shaft 22 by the drive unit 21. The rotation angle calculation unit 15 also outputs information on the driving state of the drive shaft 22, which is the analysis result, to the control attitude calculation unit 16.

[0021] The control attitude calculation unit 16 reads out and acquires the leakage flux information from the recording unit 13. The control attitude calculation unit 16 calculates the change in the relative distance and inclination of the gap between the primary side transformer 19 and the secondary side transformer 27 that constitute the non-contact transformer from the amount and distribution of the leakage flux information corresponding to the time axis. The control attitude calculation unit 16 calculates information for controlling the position of at least one of the primary side transformer 19 and the secondary side transformer 27 based on the calculated change in the relative distance and inclination of the gap between the primary side transformer 19 and the secondary side transformer 27 so that the leakage flux is smaller and the amount of change is smaller. In this embodiment, the control attitude calculation unit 16 controls the positions of both the primary side transformer 19 and the secondary side transformer 27. The control attitude calculation unit 16 outputs the calculated position control information of the primary side transformer 19 to the primary side position control mechanism 18 by the output unit 17. The control attitude calculation unit 16 outputs the calculated position control information of the secondary side transformer 27 to the secondary side position control mechanism 26 by the output unit 17.

[0022] Primary side position control mechanism 18 includes, for example, a total of three motors, two motors for controlling the inclination of primary side transformer 19 and one motor for controlling the distance of primary side transformer 19 relative to secondary side transformer 27, as well as mechanisms such as their driver circuits, transmission mechanisms, and hydraulic actuators. Primary side position control mechanism 18 changes the attitude angle of primary side transformer 19 based on a position control signal provided from control attitude calculation unit 16 via output unit 17.

[0023] Secondary-side position control mechanism 26 includes, for example, a total of three motors, two motors for controlling the inclination of secondary-side transformer 27 and one motor for controlling the distance of secondary-side transformer 27 from primary-side transformer 19, as well as their respective driver circuits, transmission mechanisms, hydraulic actuators, and other mechanisms. Secondary-side position control mechanism 26 changes the attitude angle of secondary-side transformer 27 based on a position control signal provided from control attitude calculation unit 16 via output unit 17.

[0024] 2 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating the basic structure of a non-contact transformer that is the primary transformer 19 and the secondary transformer 27. In FIG. 2, the basic structure will be explained using a flat ring-shaped non-contact transformer as an example.

[0025] In the figure, in the primary transformer 19 at the lower side, a flat cap 19B is disposed so as to cover an upper ring-shaped case 19A with an opening at the top of a U-shaped cross section. In the ring-shaped space closed by the case 19A and the cap 19B, two concentric coils 19C and 19D are disposed near the secondary transformer 27. In the same space, a ferrite core 19E is disposed so as to fill everything except the coils 19C and 19D and fix the positions of the coils 19C and 19D. In other words, the ferrite core 19E is disposed in the space formed by the case 19A and the cap 19B, and the coils 19C and 19D are disposed so as to fit into two concentric ring-shaped grooves formed on the upper surface side of the ferrite core 19E.

[0026] Secondary transformer 27 is disposed on primary transformer 19 so as to face it. Case 27A, cap 27B, coils 27C and 27D, and ferrite core 27E are arranged symmetrically above and below primary transformer 19.

[0027] Since the secondary transformer 27 forms part of the base of a rotating structure including the drive unit 21, drive shaft 22, transmission shaft 23, antenna shaft 24, and antenna 25, the gap distance between the primary transformer 19 and the secondary transformer 27, and the inclination of the secondary transformer 27 relative to the primary transformer 19 vary.

[0028] Consider a case where the non-contact power supply device according to the present embodiment is realized by a mobile antenna vehicle, which is a mobile vehicle equipped with equipment such as an antenna as part of a structure mounted on a rotor, and a mobile power source vehicle that serves as the power source for the mobile antenna vehicle. In this case, the mobile antenna vehicle includes a drive unit 21, a second detection unit 12, a transmission shaft 23, an antenna shaft 24, an antenna 25, a secondary side position control mechanism 26, and a secondary side transformer 27.

[0029] One of the mobile power source vehicles is equipped with a first detection unit 11, a second detection unit 12, a recording unit 13, a calculation unit 14, a rotation angle calculation unit 15, a control attitude calculation unit 16, an output unit 17, a primary side position control mechanism 18, and a primary side transformer 19.

[0030] In the mobile antenna vehicle, the space directly below the antenna rotation part of the loading platform is considered to have the secondary transformer 27 exposed on the upper bottom surface. On the other hand, the mobile power source vehicle is configured such that the primary transformer 19 is arranged opposite the secondary transformer 27 on the upper surface of the terminal unit that is inserted and installed in the space.

[0031] Consider an information transmission path for outputting leakage magnetic flux information detected by the detection coil 31 to the control device 10. By arranging multiple detection coils 31, for example, near the outer periphery of the primary transformer 19 or the secondary transformer 27, information can be transmitted via wired signal lines, which is advantageous in that it can simplify the configuration and avoid the effects of noise generated during wireless transmission.

[0032] [Operation] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a series of processing steps repeatedly executed by the calculation unit 14 of the control device 10 during a power supply operation using a non-contact transformer.

[0033] At the beginning, the control posture calculation unit 16 reads and acquires the most recently recorded leakage magnetic flux information from the recording unit 13 (step S101). In parallel with this, the rotation angle calculation unit 15 reads and acquires the most recently recorded first angle information and second angle information from the recording unit 13 (step S102).

[0034] For example, the rotation angle calculation unit 15 shifts the first angle information by a plurality of shift amounts in the time axis direction and calculates a correlation coefficient indicating each correlation for each shift amount. The rotation angle calculation unit 15 estimates a shift amount that relatively increases the correlation coefficient between the first angle information and the second angle information, and synchronizes the first angle information and the second angle information based on the estimated shift amount (step S103).

[0035] The rotation angle calculation unit 15 estimates the driving state of the antenna 25 by analyzing the synchronized first angle information and second angle information. The rotation angle calculation unit 15 outputs information on the driving state of the drive shaft 22 as the analysis result, specifically information indicating the driving current of the drive shaft 22, to the drive unit 21, and controls the driving state of the drive shaft 22 by the drive unit 21. The rotation angle calculation unit 15 also outputs the information on the driving state of the drive shaft 22, which is the analysis result, to the control attitude calculation unit 16 (step S104).

[0036] The control posture calculation unit 16 calculates information indicating an estimate of how the positions of the primary side transformer 19 and the secondary side transformer 27 have changed due to the distance and inclination of the gap between them, from the amount and distribution corresponding to the time axis of the most recent leakage magnetic flux information acquired from the recording unit 13 (step S105).

[0037] The control posture calculation unit 16 takes into consideration, in addition to the information estimating the calculated changes in the positions of the primary side transformer 19 and the secondary side transformer 27, information output by the rotation angle calculation unit 15 to the drive unit 21 for controlling the drive state of the drive shaft 22 by the drive unit 21. The control posture calculation unit 16 calculates information for controlling the positions of both the primary side transformer 19 and the secondary side transformer 27 so that the leakage magnetic flux generated in the non-contact transformer is reduced overall and the amount of change is reduced (step S106).

[0038] The control posture calculation unit 16 causes the output unit 17 to output the calculated position control information of the primary side transformer 19 to the primary side position control mechanism 18. The control posture calculation unit 16 causes the output unit 17 to output the calculated position control information of the secondary side transformer 27 to the secondary side position control mechanism 26 (step S107).

[0039] In the calculation unit 14 of the control device 10, while the antenna 25 continues to operate, the processing of steps S101 to S107 is repeatedly executed, thereby continuing control so as to keep the leakage magnetic flux generated in the non-contact transformer lower and with less change, thereby maintaining the power transmission efficiency at a high level.

[0040] [Effects of the embodiment] As described above in detail, according to this embodiment, it is possible to minimize the change in leakage magnetic flux and maintain high power transmission efficiency. It becomes possible.

[0041] In this embodiment, not only is the position of primary transformer 19 and secondary transformer 27 of the non-contact transformer estimated by leakage magnetic flux, but the difference in the amount of rotation is calculated from the rotation angle of drive shaft 22 and the rotation angle of antenna shaft 24 to estimate the physical plastic deformation occurring in drive shaft 22. Then, based on the estimation result, the positions of primary transformer 19 and secondary transformer 27 are controlled by primary position control mechanism 18 and secondary position control mechanism 26. This makes it possible to suppress the deviation of the resonant frequency occurring between drive shaft 22 and antenna shaft 24.

[0042] In the present embodiment, the case has been described where the non-contact power supply target provided on the secondary side is a rotating body structure including an antenna, but the present invention does not limit the power supply target.

[0043] Although other embodiments of the present invention have been described, the embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Such novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and spirit of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents described in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0044] 10: control device, 11: first detection unit, 12: second detection unit, 13: recording unit, 14... Calculation unit, 15... Rotation angle calculation unit, 16... Control attitude calculation unit, 17... Output unit, 18...Primary side position control mechanism, 19...Primary side transformer, 19A...Case, 19B...cap, 19C, 19D...coil, 19E...ferrite core, 21: drive unit, 22: drive shaft, 23: transmission shaft, 24: antenna shaft, 25: antenna, 26... secondary side position control mechanism, 27... secondary side transformer, 27A... case, 27B...cap, 27C, 27D...coil, 27E...ferrite core, 31...Detection coil.

Claims

1. A non-contact power supply device using a non-contact transformer, in which a structure including an electric motor that is rotationally driven by electric power transmitted through the non-contact transformer is mounted on a rotor provided with a secondary transformer of the non-contact transformer, a detection unit for detecting the amount and distribution of leakage magnetic flux generated in the non-contact transformer; a calculation unit that calculates a relative distance and a tilt between a primary transformer and a secondary transformer of the non-contact transformer according to the amount and distribution of leakage magnetic flux detected by the detection unit; a control unit that controls an attitude position of at least one of the primary transformer and the secondary transformer in accordance with the distance and the inclination calculated by the calculation unit; A non-contact power supply device comprising:

2. The detection unit is installed on the side where the primary transformer of the non-contact transformer is arranged. The non-contact power supply device according to claim 1.

3. a rotation angle detection unit that detects information on a rotation angle of a rotation shaft of the structure that rotates on the rotating body and information on a rotation angle of a drive shaft of the electric motor, the calculation unit executes an estimation calculation to estimate plastic deformation occurring in the drive shaft of the electric motor from a difference between information on a rotation angle of a rotation shaft of the structure and information on a rotation angle of the drive shaft of the electric motor; the control unit controls an attitude position of at least one of the primary transformer and the secondary transformer in response to the calculated plastic deformation. The non-contact power supply device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. A non-contact power supply method for an apparatus using a non-contact transformer, the non-contact transformer having a secondary transformer provided on a rotor, the non-contact transformer having a structure including an electric motor that is rotationally driven by electric power transmitted through the non-contact transformer, comprising: a detection step of detecting an amount and distribution of leakage magnetic flux generated in the non-contact transformer; a calculation step of calculating a relative distance and a tilt between a primary transformer and a secondary transformer of the non-contact transformer according to the amount and distribution of the leakage magnetic flux detected in the detection step; a control step of controlling an attitude position of at least one of the primary transformer and the secondary transformer in accordance with the distance and the inclination calculated in the calculation step; The non-contact power supply method includes the steps of:

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