Power receiving device and non-contact power supply system

Abstract

To provide a power reception device, and a non-contact power feeding system which can suppress transmission of a beacon signal when phase adjustment is not required to suppress power consumption of the power reception device by transmission of the beacon signal.SOLUTION: A power reception device 20 comprises: an antenna 11 which receives power by non-contact power feeding from a power transmission device 10; a determination unit 310 which determines whether or not a suppression condition for suppressing transmission of a beacon signal is satisfied; and a communication unit 22 which transmits the beacon signal to the power transmission device 10 when a determination result of the determination unit 310 shows that the suppression condition is not satisfied, and suppresses the transmission of the beacon signal to the power reception device 20 when the determination result shows that the suppression condition is satisfied.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a power receiving device and a contactless power supply system. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a technique relating to contactless power supply using a power transmission signal is known (for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6725531 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, the power receiving device transmits a beacon signal to the power transmitting device at a predetermined time interval. Then, the power transmitting device transmits power to the power receiving device with the phase adjusted based on the received beacon signal. Here, when phase adjustment is not necessary, the power receiving device may need to suppress the transmission of the beacon signal. However, in the conventional technology, even when the power receiving device needs to suppress the transmission of the beacon signal, the power receiving device may transmit the beacon signal at a predetermined time interval. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] A power receiving device that achieves the above-mentioned objective is characterized in that it comprises a power receiving unit that receives power from a power transmitting device via contactless power supply, a judgment unit that judges whether or not a suppression condition for suppressing transmission of a beacon signal is satisfied, and a transmission unit that transmits the beacon signal to the power transmitting device if the judgment result of the judgment unit indicates that the suppression condition is not satisfied, and that suppresses the transmission of the beacon signal to the power transmitting device if the judgment result indicates that the suppression condition is satisfied.

[0006] According to the above configuration, when phase adjustment is not required, the transmission of the beacon signal is suppressed, and power consumption due to the transmission of the beacon signal can be suppressed. The power receiving device may further include an acceleration sensor that detects acceleration, and the suppression condition may include a condition that there is no change in the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor.

[0007] According to the above configuration, when phase adjustment is not required, the transmission of the beacon signal is suppressed, and power consumption due to the transmission of the beacon signal can be suppressed. The above-mentioned power receiving device may further include a communication unit that receives various information from the power transmitting device, and the suppression condition may include that the information received by the communication unit from the power transmitting device indicates that the charging rate of the battery provided in the power transmitting device is below a predetermined threshold.

[0008] According to the above configuration, when the power transmitting device is in an unsuitable state for power supply, the transmission of a beacon signal is suppressed, thereby making it possible to suppress power consumption due to the transmission of a beacon signal. In the above-mentioned power receiving device, the transmission unit may transmit the beacon signal to the power transmitting device at a predetermined time interval when the determination result indicates that the suppression condition is not satisfied, and may transmit the beacon signal to the power transmitting device at a time interval longer than the predetermined time interval when the determination result indicates that the suppression condition is satisfied.

[0009] According to the above configuration, when the transmission of the beacon signal is suppressed, it is possible to suppress power consumption due to the transmission of the beacon signal, compared to when the transmission of the beacon signal is not suppressed. A contactless power supply system that achieves the above object includes a plurality of power receiving devices according to any one of the above, and a power transmitting device that supplies power to the power receiving devices by contactless power supply.

[0010] According to the above configuration, when phase adjustment is not required, the transmission of the beacon signal is suppressed, and power consumption of the power receiving device due to the transmission of the beacon signal can be suppressed. Effect of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention, when phase adjustment is not required, the transmission of a beacon signal is suppressed, thereby making it possible to suppress power consumption due to the transmission of a beacon signal. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an overall configuration of a contactless power supply system. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a contactless power supply system. [Diagram 3] 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process of a determination unit based on a first suppression condition. [Figure 4] 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process of a determination unit based on a second suppression condition. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] <Embodiment> Hereinafter, specific embodiments of a power receiving device and a contactless power supply system will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0014] [Overall configuration of non-contact power supply system 1] As shown in FIG. 1, the contactless power supply system 1 includes a power transmission device 10 and a plurality of power receiving devices 20. The power transmission device 10 supplies power to the power receiving device 20 by contactless power supply using a power transmission signal, for example. More specifically, the contactless power supply system 1 performs wireless power transmission using a microwave method for contactless power supply. That is, the power transmission device 10 and the power receiving device 20 transmit and receive a power transmission signal for contactless power supply between a power receiving antenna of the power receiving device 20 and a power transmitting antenna of the power transmission device 10. Note that the wireless power transmission method (contactless power transmission method) applied to this system is not limited to the microwave method, and may be a method using an electromagnetic induction method, a magnetic field resonance method, an electric field resonance method, a laser, or the like. In addition, in this embodiment, the transmission and reception of the power transmission signal is used for contactless power supply, but the transmission and reception of the power transmission signal may be performed wirelessly for purposes other than contactless power supply. The power receiving device 20 receives the power transmission signal transmitted from the power transmitting device 10, and operates using the received power and charges a battery provided in the device itself.

[0015] Here, in order to appropriately transmit a power transmission signal to the power receiving device 20, the power transmitting device 10 is required to appropriately set the phase of the power transmission signal to be transmitted based on the orientation of the power receiving device 20 with respect to the power transmitting device 10 and the distance to the power receiving device 20. Accordingly, the power receiving device 20 transmits a beacon signal including phase change information to the power transmitting device 10 at predetermined time intervals. The power transmitting device 10 supplies power to the power receiving device 20 based on the phase change information included in the beacon received from the power receiving device 20.

[0016] On the other hand, if there is no change in the orientation of the power receiving device 20 relative to the power transmitting device 10 or in the distance to the power receiving device 20, the power receiving device 20 does not need to transmit a beacon signal including phase change information at a predetermined time interval. In this case, if the power receiving device 20 transmits a beacon signal at a predetermined time interval, power consumption due to the transmission of the beacon signal may increase.

[0017] Furthermore, when the SOC (State Of Charge) of the battery included in the power transmitting device 10 is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold, the power transmitting device 10 may not be able to supply sufficient power to the power receiving device 20. In the following description, the SOC is also referred to as the battery charging rate. The power transmitting device 10 transmits battery charging rate information indicating the battery charging rate of the battery included in the power transmitting device 10 to the power receiving device 20 included in the contactless power supply system 1. When the received battery charging rate information indicates that the battery charging rate is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold, the power receiving device 20 is unable to receive sufficient power, and therefore does not need to transmit a beacon signal including phase change information at a predetermined time interval. In this case, if the power receiving device 20 transmits a beacon signal at a predetermined time interval, power consumption due to transmission of the beacon signal may increase.

[0018] The power receiving device 20 of the present embodiment suppresses transmission of a beacon signal when the above-described phase adjustment is not necessary, thereby suppressing power consumption due to transmission of a beacon signal. Hereinafter, the configuration of the power transmitting device 10 and the configuration of the power receiving device 20 will be described in detail.

[0019] [Configuration of power transmission device 10] As shown in FIG. 2, the power transmitting device 10 includes, for example, an antenna 11, a communication unit 12, a conversion unit 13, a battery 14, and a control unit 15.

[0020] The antenna 11 is used for various types of communication with the power receiving device 20. For example, the antenna 11 is used in common for communication related to power transmission signals, communication related to beacon signals, and information communication related to battery charging rate information.

[0021] The communication unit 12 performs various controls related to communication with the power receiving device 20. For example, the communication unit 12 controls the antenna 11 to receive a beacon signal transmitted by the power receiving device 20. The communication unit 12 also controls the antenna 11 to transmit battery charging rate information to the power receiving device 20. Information communication related to the battery charging rate information is realized by, for example, Bluetooth (registered trademark), Wi-Fi, ZigBee (registered trademark), or the like.

[0022] When supplying power to the power receiving device 20, the conversion unit 13 converts power into a power transmission signal and transmits it by the antenna 11. The conversion unit 13 may convert power supplied from a power source (not shown) into a power transmission signal, or may convert power stored in a battery 14 (described later) into a power transmission signal. In the following description, a case will be described in which the conversion unit 13 converts power stored in the battery 14 into a power transmission signal.

[0023] The battery 14 stores power supplied from a power source (not shown). The power capacity of the battery 14 when fully charged is, for example, a power capacity sufficient to supply power to the multiple power receiving devices 20 included in the contactless power supply system 1.

[0024] The control unit 15 controls each unit included in the power transmitting device 10. The control unit 15 is realized by, for example, a hardware processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) executing a program (software). In addition, some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including circuitry) such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or may be realized by cooperation between software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device (not shown) including a non-transitory storage medium such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or a flash memory included in the power transmitting device 10. For example, the control unit 15 adjusts the phase of the antenna 11 based on a beacon signal received by the communication unit 12. In addition, the control unit 15 generates battery charging rate information based on the charging rate of the battery 14, and instructs the communication unit 12 to transmit the battery charging rate information to the power receiving device 20. The control unit 15 acquires the charging rate of the battery 14 at predetermined time intervals, for example, and generates battery charging rate information. The communication unit 12 transmits the battery charging rate information to the power receiving device 20 at predetermined time intervals based on an instruction from the control unit 15.

[0025] [Configuration of power receiving device 20] The power receiving device 20 includes an antenna 21, a communication unit 22, a conversion unit 23, a battery 24, an acceleration sensor 25, a control unit 30, and a storage unit 40.

[0026] The antenna 21 is used for various communications with the power receiving device 20. For example, the antenna 21 is shared for communications related to power transmission signals, communications related to beacon signals, and information communications related to battery charging rate information. The antenna 21 is an example of a "power receiving unit", and the reception by the antenna 21 of a power transmission signal transmitted by the power transmitting device 10 is an example of "receiving power from the power transmitting device 10 by contactless power supply".

[0027] The communication unit 22 performs various controls related to communication with the power transmitting device 10. For example, the communication unit 22 controls the antenna 21 to transmit a beacon signal to the power transmitting device 10. The communication unit 22 also controls the antenna 21 to receive battery charging rate information transmitted by the power transmitting device 10. The communication unit 22 is an example of a "transmitter" in the process of controlling the antenna 21 and transmitting a beacon signal to the power transmitting device 10.

[0028] The converter 23 converts the power transmission signal received by the antenna 11 into DC power. The battery 24 stores the DC power converted by the converter 23. The power receiving device 20 operates using the power stored in the battery 24. The acceleration sensor 25 detects acceleration occurring in the power receiving device 20.

[0029] The control unit 30 controls each unit included in the power receiving device 20. The control unit 30 is realized, for example, by a hardware processor such as a CPU executing a program (software). In addition, some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including a circuit unit) such as an LSI, ASIC, FPGA, or GPU, or may be realized by a combination of software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage unit 40 including a non-transitory storage medium such as an HDD or flash memory included in the power receiving device 20.

[0030] The storage unit 40 may be realized by the above-mentioned various storage devices, or an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. In addition to the above-mentioned programs, the storage unit 40 stores suppression condition information 401. The suppression condition information 401 is information indicating suppression conditions used for determining whether or not the power receiving device 20 suppresses transmission of a beacon signal.

[0031] In this example, a case will be described in which the suppression condition information 401 includes a first suppression condition CC1 and a second suppression condition CC2. The first suppression condition CC1 is, for example, that there is no change in the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 25. The second suppression condition CC2 is, for example, that the battery charging rate information received by the communication unit 22 indicates that the charging rate of the battery 14 included in the power transmitting device 10 is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold. The charging rate of the battery 14 being equal to or lower than the predetermined threshold indicates, for example, a state in which sufficient power cannot be supplied to the multiple power receiving devices 20 included in the wireless power supply system 1. The predetermined threshold is, for example, a value indicating about several [%] to several tens [%].

[0032] The control unit 30 includes, for example, a determination unit 310. The determination unit 310 determines whether or not to suppress transmission of a beacon signal based on the suppression conditions indicated in the suppression condition information 401. When the determination unit 310 determines that neither the first suppression condition CC1 nor the second suppression condition CC2 is satisfied, the determination unit 310 instructs the communication unit 22 not to suppress transmission of a beacon signal and to transmit a beacon signal to the power transmitting device 10 at a predetermined time interval. When the determination unit 310 determines that at least one of the first suppression condition CC1 or the second suppression condition CC2 is satisfied, the determination unit 310 instructs the communication unit 22 to suppress transmission of a beacon signal to the power transmitting device 10.

[0033] [Operation flow] Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 3, the details of the process of the determination unit 310 based on the first suppression condition CC1 will be described. The process of the flowchart shown in FIG. 3 is repeatedly executed at predetermined time intervals. First, the determination unit 310 determines whether the first suppression condition CC1 is satisfied based on the first suppression condition CC1 indicated in the suppression condition information 401 (step S100). In detail, the determination unit 310 determines whether there is no change in acceleration, that is, whether the power receiving device 20 is moving, based on the detection result of the acceleration sensor 25. The detection result of the acceleration sensor 25 is stored in the storage unit 40 together with a time stamp for a certain period of time, for example. The determination unit 310 refers to information indicating the stored detection result, compares the detection result used in the previous determination with the most recent detection result, and performs a determination process.

[0034] When the determination unit 310 determines that the first suppression condition CC1 is not satisfied, that is, the acceleration has changed and the power receiving device 20 has been moved, the determination unit 310 decides not to suppress the transmission of the beacon signal (step S102). In this case, the determination unit 310 does not instruct the communication unit 22 to suppress the transmission of the beacon signal. In other words, the communication unit 22 transmits a beacon signal to the power transmitting device 10 at a predetermined time interval. When the determination unit 310 determines that the first suppression condition CC1 is satisfied, that is, the acceleration has not changed and the power receiving device 20 has not been moved, the determination unit 310 decides to suppress the transmission of the beacon signal (step S104). In this case, the determination unit 310 instructs the communication unit 22 to suppress the transmission of the beacon signal. The communication unit 22 stops the transmission of the beacon signal at a predetermined time interval based on the instruction of the determination unit 310.

[0035] Hereinafter, the details of the process of the determination unit 310 based on the second suppression condition CC2 will be described with reference to Fig. 4. The process of the flowchart shown in Fig. 4 is repeatedly executed at a predetermined time interval. The process of the flowchart shown in Fig. 3 and the process of the flowchart shown in Fig. 4 are executed in parallel. First, the determination unit 310 determines whether or not the battery charging rate information has been received by the communication unit 22 (step S200). The determination unit 310 waits until the battery charging rate information is received.

[0036] When the battery charging rate information is received, the determination unit 310 determines whether or not the second suppression condition CC2 is satisfied based on the second suppression condition CC2 indicated in the suppression condition information 401 (step S202). In more detail, the determination unit 310 determines whether or not the received battery charging rate information indicates that the charging rate of the battery 14 is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold.

[0037] When the determination unit 310 determines that the second suppression condition CC2 is not satisfied, that is, that the charging rate of the battery 14 is not equal to or lower than the predetermined threshold, the determination unit 310 decides not to suppress the transmission of the beacon signal (step S204). In this case, the determination unit 310 does not instruct the communication unit 22 to suppress the transmission of the beacon signal. That is, the communication unit 22 transmits a beacon signal to the power transmitting device 10 at every predetermined time interval. When the determination unit 310 determines that the second suppression condition CC2 is satisfied, that is, that the charging rate of the battery 14 is equal to or lower than the predetermined threshold, the determination unit 310 decides to suppress the transmission of the beacon signal (step S206). In this case, the determination unit 310 instructs the communication unit 22 to suppress the transmission of the beacon signal. The communication unit 22 stops the transmission of the beacon signal at every predetermined time interval based on the instruction of the determination unit 310.

[0038] [Effects of the embodiment] According to the above embodiment, the following advantageous effects can be obtained. (1) The power receiving device 20 includes an antenna 21 that receives power from the power transmitting device 10 via contactless power supply, a determination unit 310 that determines whether a suppression condition for suppressing transmission of a beacon signal is satisfied, and a communication unit 22 that transmits a beacon signal to the power transmitting device 10 if the determination result of the determination unit 310 indicates that the suppression condition is not satisfied, and suppresses the transmission of the beacon signal to the power transmitting device 10 if the determination result indicates that the suppression condition is satisfied.

[0039] Here, under the conditions indicated by the suppression conditions, the power transmitting device 10 does not need to adjust the phase of the antenna 11. In other words, the power receiving device 20 does not need to transmit a beacon signal including phase change information at a predetermined time interval. In this case, if the power receiving device 20 transmits a beacon signal at a predetermined time interval, power consumption due to the transmission of the beacon signal may increase. In this embodiment, the power receiving device 20 transmits a beacon signal when the suppression conditions are not satisfied, while suppressing the transmission of the beacon signal when the suppression conditions are satisfied. As a result, the power receiving device 20 can suppress the transmission of the beacon signal when phase adjustment is not required, and suppress power consumption due to the transmission of the beacon signal.

[0040] (2) The power receiving device 20 includes an acceleration sensor 25 that detects acceleration. The suppression condition may include a first suppression condition CC1 indicating that the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 25 does not change. When the first suppression condition CC1 is satisfied and there is no change in the orientation of the power receiving device 20 relative to the power transmitting device 10 or the distance to the power receiving device 20, the power transmitting device 10 does not need to adjust the phase of the antenna 11. In other words, the power receiving device 20 does not need to transmit a beacon signal including phase change information at a predetermined time interval. In this embodiment, when the first suppression condition CC1 is satisfied, the power receiving device 20 suppresses the transmission of a beacon signal. As a result, the power receiving device 20 can suppress the transmission of a beacon signal when phase adjustment is not necessary, and can suppress power consumption due to the transmission of a beacon signal.

[0041] (3) The power receiving device 20 further includes a communication unit 22 that receives various information from the power transmitting device 10. The suppression condition may include a second suppression condition CC2 indicating that the battery charging rate information received by the communication unit 22 from the power transmitting device 10 indicates that the charging rate of the battery 14 is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold. When the second suppression condition CC2 is satisfied and the charging rate of the battery 14 is equal to or lower than the predetermined threshold, the power transmitting device 10 may not be able to supply sufficient power to the power receiving device 20. When the power receiving device 20 is unable to receive power from the power transmitting device 10, it is not necessary for the power receiving device 20 to transmit a beacon signal including phase change information at predetermined time intervals. In this embodiment, when the second suppression condition CC2 is satisfied, the power receiving device 20 suppresses the transmission of a beacon signal. As a result, the power receiving device 20 can suppress the transmission of a beacon signal when no phase adjustment is required, thereby suppressing power consumption due to the transmission of a beacon signal.

[0042] The above-described embodiments may be modified as follows: The above-described embodiments and the following examples may be combined with each other as long as they are not technically inconsistent. 1 shows an example in which the number of power receiving devices 20 included in the contactless power supply system 1 is two, but is not limited thereto. The number of power receiving devices 20 included in the contactless power supply system 1 may be one, or three or more. An upper limit may be set for the number of power receiving devices 20 included in the contactless power supply system 1. With this configuration, the contactless power supply system 1 can suppress transmission of a beacon signal when phase adjustment is not required, and suppress power consumption of the power receiving device 20 due to transmission of the beacon signal.

[0043] In the above description, when the determination result of the determination unit 310 indicates that the suppression condition is satisfied, the communication unit 22 stops transmitting a beacon signal to the power transmitting device 10. However, this is not limited to the above. When the determination result indicates that the suppression condition is satisfied, the communication unit 22 may transmit a beacon signal to the power transmitting device 10 at a time interval longer than a predetermined time interval for transmitting a beacon signal when the determination result does not satisfy the suppression condition. With this configuration, when the transmission of the beacon signal is suppressed, the power receiving device 20 can suppress power consumption due to the transmission of the beacon signal compared to when the transmission of the beacon signal is not suppressed.

[0044] The communication unit 22 may transmit detection result information indicating the detection result of the acceleration sensor 25 to the power transmitting device 10. In this case, when the detection result of the acceleration sensor 25 indicated by the received detection result information indicates that the power receiving device 20 is moving at a constant speed, the power transmitting device 10 predicts a predicted position to which the power receiving device 20 will move. The power transmitting device 10 adjusts the phase of the antenna 11 to match the predicted position. With this configuration, the power transmitting device 10 can accurately adjust the phase of the antenna 11 based on the detection result information in addition to the phase change information included in the beacon signal.

[0045] Furthermore, when the received detection result information indicates that the detection result of the acceleration sensor 25 indicates movement in a direction away from the power transmitting device 10, the power transmitting device 10 may stop power supply. Here, the power transmitting device 10 and the power receiving device 20 have a lower power supply efficiency as the distance between them increases. Therefore, the power transmitting device 10 can suppress power consumption of the battery 14 by stopping transmission of a power transmission signal to the power receiving device 20 with low power supply efficiency.

[0046] The power transmitting device 10 may determine whether or not an obstacle exists between the power transmitting device 10 and the power receiving device 20 based on the reception strength of a beacon signal received from the power receiving device 20. Furthermore, when the power transmitting device 10 determines that an obstacle exists between the power transmitting device 10 and the power receiving device 20, the power transmitting device 10 may specify a path of the power transmission signal that can supply power to the power receiving device 20 by reflecting the power transmission signal while avoiding the obstacle. With this configuration, the power transmitting device 10 can appropriately supply power to the power receiving device 20 even if an obstacle exists between the power transmitting device 10 and the power receiving device 20.

[0047] In the above description, the first suppression condition CC1 is, for example, a case where the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 25 does not change, but is not limited to this. The first suppression condition CC1 may be, for example, a case where the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 25 does not change for a predetermined time. Here, the power receiving device 20 may be implemented in a terminal device such as a mobile phone or a tablet. Depending on the usage situation of the user of the terminal device, even if the power receiving device 20 is not moved temporarily and there is no change in the acceleration sensor 25, it may be moved immediately thereafter. In a case where the power receiving device 20 is not moved temporarily and is moved immediately thereafter, if the communication unit 22 suppresses the transmission of the beacon signal, the power receiving device 20 may not be able to properly receive power supply from the power transmitting device 10 at the moved destination. On the other hand, if there is no change in the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 25 for a predetermined time, the power receiving device 20 may not be used by the user and may be unlikely to be moved immediately. In such a case, the power receiving device 20 does not need to transmit a beacon signal including phase change information at every predetermined time interval. According to this configuration, the power receiving device 20 can appropriately suppress the transmission of a beacon signal depending on the usage status of the power receiving device 20.

[0048] In the above description, the control unit 15 acquires the charging rate of the battery 14 at predetermined time intervals and generates the battery charging rate information, but this is not limited to the above. The control unit 15 may generate the battery charging rate information after receiving a beacon signal from the power receiving device 20.

[0049] In the above, a case has been described in which a beacon signal is unilaterally transmitted from the power receiving device 20 to the power transmitting device 10, but this is not limiting. For example, the power transmitting device 10 may transmit a beacon signal to the power receiving device 20 within a range in which the power transmitting device 10 is present at a position where the power receiving device 20 can supply power. In this case, if the power receiving device 20 cannot receive a beacon signal from the power transmitting device 10 for a predetermined period of time, the power receiving device 20 may stop transmitting a beacon signal to the power transmitting device 10, assuming that the power receiving device 20 is not present at a position where the power transmitting device 10 can supply power. With this configuration, the power receiving device 20 can suppress power consumption due to transmission of unnecessary beacon signals.

[0050] In the above description, the power transmitting device 10 is operated by power supplied from a power source (not shown), but this is not limited to the above. A plurality of contactless power supply systems 1 may be linked together, and the power transmitting device 10 may be supplied with power by a power transmission signal transmitted from a power transmitting device 10 included in another contactless power supply system 1 and operate.

[0051] In the above description, the antenna 11 and the antenna 21 are shared for the communication related to the power transmission signal, the communication related to the beacon signal, and the information communication related to the battery charging rate information. However, this is not limited to the above. The power transmitting device 10 and the power receiving device 20 may have separate antennas for the communication related to the power transmission signal, the communication related to the beacon signal, and the information communication related to the battery charging rate information. For example, if the information communication of the detection result information and the battery charging rate information is frequently performed between the power transmitting device 10 and the power receiving device 20, the antenna 11 and the antenna 21 may not be able to properly transmit and receive the power transmission signal or the beacon signal. The power transmitting device 10 and the power receiving device 20 have separate antennas for the communication related to the power transmission signal, the communication related to the beacon signal, and the information communication related to the battery charging rate information, respectively, thereby preventing one communication from interfering with the other communication.

[0052] In the above description, the suppression condition information 401 includes two suppression conditions, the first suppression condition CC1 and the second suppression condition CC2, but this is not limited to the above. The suppression condition information 401 may include one suppression condition or three or more suppression conditions.

[0053] Furthermore, when there are multiple suppression conditions, each suppression condition may be assigned a priority. For example, when the priority of the second suppression condition CC2 is set higher than the first suppression condition CC1, the determination unit 310 may determine to suppress the transmission of the beacon signal when it is determined that the second suppression condition CC2 is satisfied, regardless of whether the first suppression condition CC1 is satisfied. With this configuration, the power receiving device 20 can suppress power consumption due to the transmission of the beacon signal based on the suppression condition with a higher priority. [Explanation of symbols]

[0054] 1. Wireless power supply system 10...Power transmission device 11,21…Antenna 12,22…Communications Department 13,23…Conversion section 14,24…Battery 15,30...Control section 20, 20-1, 20-2... Power receiving device 25...Accelerometer 40...Storage section 310...Judgment section 401…Suppression condition information CC1…first suppression condition CC2...Second suppression condition.

Claims

1. a power receiving unit that receives power from a power transmitting device by wireless power supply; a determination unit that determines whether a suppression condition for suppressing transmission of a beacon signal is satisfied; a transmission unit that transmits the beacon signal to the power transmission device when the determination result of the determination unit indicates that the suppression condition is not satisfied, and suppresses transmission of the beacon signal to the power transmission device when the determination result of the determination unit indicates that the suppression condition is satisfied; A communication unit that receives various information from the power transmitting device; Equipped with The power receiving device, characterized in that the suppression condition includes information received by the communication unit from the power transmitting device indicating that a charging rate of a battery included in the power transmitting device is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold.

2. An acceleration sensor is provided to detect acceleration, The suppression condition includes that there is no change in the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor. The power receiving device according to claim 1 .

3. the transmission unit transmits the beacon signal to the power transmission device at a predetermined time interval when the determination result indicates that the suppression condition is not satisfied, and transmits the beacon signal to the power transmission device at a time interval longer than the predetermined time interval when the determination result indicates that the suppression condition is satisfied. The power receiving device according to claim 1 .

4. A plurality of power receiving devices according to any one of claims 1 to 3; a power transmitting device that supplies power to the power receiving device by wireless power supply; A non-contact power supply system comprising:

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