Inductive Power Transfer With Paired Sensor Feedback and Isolation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for providing power to electrical appliances are inconvenient due to the need for physical connections, leading to clutter, frequent unplugging, and potential overloads, highlighting the need for a system to deliver, monitor, and control wireless power.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method utilizing a secondary coil within an appliance housing, coupled with a primary coil for magnetic induction, along with sensors and controllers for feedback and control, enabling wireless power transfer with isolation and refined power management, including infrared feedback systems for efficient power delivery and control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If electrical plugs and cords are used to provide power to appliances, then reliable power delivery is achieved, but convenience deteriorates due to clutter, frequent unplugging, and restricted appliance placement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical plug-and-cord connection system with a wireless electromagnetic field-based power transfer system. A primary coil generates a time-varying magnetic field that induces current in a secondary coil within the appliance, eliminating the need for physical electrical connections and thereby improving convenience while removing mechanical complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces electromagnetic fields as an intermediary medium to transfer power between the power source and the appliance. The primary coil converts electrical energy to a magnetic field, which then induces current in the secondary coil, serving as a non-contact intermediary that replaces direct electrical contact
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple appliances are connected to power outlets, then power needs are met, but harmful factors increase due to potential overloads and safety risks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the power delivery system into independent wireless power zones, each with its own primary coil. This allows multiple appliances to be powered simultaneously in different locations without sharing a common electrical circuit, thereby eliminating overload risks while maintaining versatility
Solution Approach 2:
The electromagnetic field acts as an intermediary that isolates the power source from the appliance electrically. This isolation prevents direct electrical connection and the associated overload risks, while still enabling flexible power delivery to multiple appliances
3Ease of operation
If wireless power transfer is implemented, then convenience is improved by eliminating cords, but power control and monitoring become more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback control system where the appliance's controller monitors power reception and communicates with the base unit's controller. The base unit adjusts the primary coil's operating parameters based on this feedback to optimize power transfer efficiency and maintain stable operation, thereby solving the power control difficulty
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a universal communication protocol that allows the control system to handle multiple functions including power level adjustment, appliance identification, and operational status monitoring through a single wireless interface, simplifying the overall control complexity
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution allows for convenient, clutter-free, and efficient wireless power delivery to various appliances, enabling their use in diverse settings without physical connections, with refined power control and monitoring, and supports a wide range of power requirements from trickle charging to significant operative power.
Implementation Method 1
a secondary coil within a housing physically associated with the appliance and suitable for providing induced operative current from a primary coil magnetically proximate to, and at least partially isolated from, the secondary coil
Implementation Method 2
at least one sensor, such as an infrared transmitter, communicatively coupled to the appliance controller and suitable to receive ones of the data indicators from the appliance controller and to transmit the ones of the data indicators wirelessly
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus, system and method for wirelessly powering a device. The apparatus, system and method may include a primary coil housing that houses a primary coil; a secondary coil housed within the device and suitable for having power induced therein responsive to the primary coil; an isolator that at least partially mechanically and electrically isolates the primary coil from the secondary coil; and a plurality of paired feedback sensors respectively communicatively and physically associated with, and paired as between, the primary coil housing and the device, wherein the plurality of paired feedback sensors exchanges indications regarding performance of the secondary coil, and wherein performance of the primary coil is modified responsively to the indications.