Automatically-aligning magnetic field system

12272,967

18/179821

March 07, 2023

A wireless power transfer system includes a wireless power transfer device. The wireless power transfer device includes a first transmitting coil oriented along a first axis; a second transmitting coil on the first transmitting coil and oriented along a second axis different from the first axis; and a nonmagnetic material magnetically decoupling the first transmitting coil from the second transmitting coil in an area of overlap between the first and second transmitting coils.

The Alfred E. Mann Foundation for Scientific Research (Valencia, CA, US)

The Alfred E. Mann Foundation for Scientific Research (Valencia, CA, US)

1. A wireless power transfer system comprising a wireless power transfer device, the wireless power transfer device comprising: a coil assembly, comprising: a first transmitting coil oriented along a first axis, a second transmitting coil above the first transmitting coil in an area of overlap between the first and second transmitting coils, and oriented along a second axis different from the first axis, and a nonmagnetic material magnetically decoupling the first transmitting coil from the second transmitting coil in the area of overlap between the first and second transmitting coils; and an electronics assembly, comprising at least one electronic component.

2. The wireless power transfer system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless power transfer device comprises a cable electrically coupled between the electronics assembly and the coil assembly.

3. The wireless power transfer system of claim 2 , wherein the at least one electronic component comprises: a driver configured to provide a first current to the first transmitting coil and a second current to the second transmitting coil, and a controller configured to control the first and second currents provided by the driver.

4. The wireless power transfer system of claim 3 , wherein the cable comprises: a first twisted pair of internal wires to provide the first current from the driver to the first transmitting coil; and a second twisted pair of internal wires to provide the second current from the driver to the second transmitting coil.

5. The wireless power transfer system of claim 3 , wherein the cable comprises one or more internal wires configured to provide information about current in the first transmitting coil and/or current in the second transmitting coil from the coil assembly to the electronics assembly.

6. The wireless power transfer system of claim 3 , wherein the at least one electronic component comprises a receiver configured to wirelessly receive data and to transmit the data to the controller.

7. The wireless power transfer system of claim 3 , wherein the at least one electronic component comprises power modulation electronics configured to provide power to the driver.

8. The wireless power transfer system of claim 2 , wherein the electronics assembly comprises a battery.

9. The wireless power transfer system of claim 2 , wherein a length of the cable is equal to or greater than a length of the first transmitting coil along the first axis.

10. The wireless power transfer system of claim 1 , wherein the electronics assembly and the coil assembly are in a same container and are spaced apart from each other in the container by at least 0.25 times a length of the first transmitting coil along the first axis, wherein the at least one electronic component comprises a driver configured to provide a first current to the first transmitting coil and a second current to the second transmitting coil.

11. The wireless power transfer system of claim 2 , wherein the coil assembly comprises: a first LC resonant circuit corresponding to the first transmitting coil and a second LC resonant circuit corresponding to the second transmitting coil.

12. The wireless power transfer system of claim 2 , comprising an electronic device comprising a receiver coil.

13. A wireless power transfer system comprising a wireless power transfer device, the wireless power transfer device comprising: a first transmitting coil oriented along a first axis; a second transmitting coil on the first transmitting coil and oriented along a second axis different from the first axis; a nonmagnetic material magnetically decoupling the first transmitting coil from the second transmitting coil in an area of overlap between the first and second transmitting coils; and at least one electronic component in a magnetic field shallow zone angularly positioned in a plan view between a portion of the first transmitting coil extending in the plan view from the area of overlap and a portion of the second transmitting coil extending in the plan view from the area of overlap, wherein the magnetic field shallow zone comprises a region where, when the first and second transmitting coils are driven with in-phase AC currents of a same magnitude, a magnetic field generated by the first and second transmitting coils at any point in the region is substantially less in magnitude than the magnetic field at an end of the first transmitting coil.

14. The wireless power transfer system of claim 13 , wherein the first and second axes are perpendicular to each other in the plan view and four magnetic field shallow zones including the magnetic field shallow zone are positioned in the plan view in four quadrants defined by the first and second transmitting coils, and wherein a plurality of electronic components are in the four magnetic field shallow zones.

15. The wireless power transfer system of claim 13 , wherein the at least one electronic component comprises at least one selected from among a capacitor, a transistor, a resistor, an inductor, a diode, a transducer, a transformer, and a current sensor.

16. The wireless power transfer system of claim 13 , wherein a ratio of a first magnitude of the magnetic field at any point in the region to a second magnitude of the magnetic field at the end of the first transmitting coil is less than 0.2.

17. The wireless power transfer system of claim 13 , wherein the region has: a planar shape in the plan view of a 90 degree sector of a circle having a radius equal to or less than a distance on the first axis between a first point corresponding to the end of the first transmitting coil and a second point corresponding to an edge of the area of overlap proximal to the end of the first transmitting coil; and a thickness in a thickness direction perpendicular to the plan view that is uniform over the planar shape and less than an average thickness of the first transmitting coil, and wherein the region is centered in the thickness direction on a plane that is parallel to the plan view and equidistant between the first and second transmitting coils in the thickness direction.

18. The wireless power transfer system of claim 13 , wherein the magnetic field shallow zone comprises a portion of a low-angle magnetic field plane parallel to the plan view that is equidistant between the first and second transmitting coils in a thickness direction perpendicular to the low-angle magnetic field plane.

19. The wireless power transfer system of claim 13 , wherein the magnetic field shallow zone comprises a portion of a low-angle magnetic field plane parallel to the plan view and between the first and second transmitting coils where, when the first and second transmitting coils are driven with AC current, an angle between a magnetic field generated by the first and second transmitting coils to the low-angle magnetic field plane is less than 15 degrees.

20. The wireless power transfer system of claim 19 , wherein an electronic component of the at least one electronic component is in the low-angle magnetic field plane.

21. The wireless power transfer system of claim 13 , comprising an LC resonant circuit corresponding to the first transmitting coil and comprising a first capacitor in the magnetic field shallow zone.

22. The wireless power transfer system of claim 21 , comprising a second LC resonant circuit corresponding to the second transmitting coil and comprising a second capacitor in the magnetic field shallow zone.

23. The wireless power transfer system of claim 13 , comprising an electronic device comprising a receiver coil.

24. A wireless power transfer system comprising a wireless power transfer device, the wireless power transfer device comprising: a first transmitting coil oriented along a first axis; a second transmitting coil above the first transmitting coil in an area of overlap between the first and second transmitting coils, and oriented along a second axis different from the first axis; a nonmagnetic material magnetically decoupling the first transmitting coil from the second transmitting coil in the area of overlap between the first and second transmitting coils; a first LC resonant circuit corresponding to the first transmitting coil; and a second LC resonant circuit corresponding to the second transmitting coil.

25. The wireless power transfer system of claim 24 , wherein the first transmitting coil comprises a first rod and a first wire wound around the first rod, and the second transmitting coil comprises a second rod and a second wire wound around the second rod, and wherein the first LC resonant circuit comprises the first wire and a first capacitor coupled in parallel with the first wire, and the second LC resonant circuit comprises the second wire and a second capacitor coupled in parallel with the second wire.

26. The wireless power transfer system of claim 25 , wherein the first LC resonant circuit further comprises a third capacitor coupled in series with the first capacitor and first wire, and the second LC resonant circuit further comprises a fourth capacitor coupled in series with the second capacitor and second wire.

27. The wireless power transfer system of claim 24 , wherein the wireless power transfer device comprises: a coil assembly comprising the first transmitting coil, the second transmitting coil, the nonmagnetic material, the first LC resonant circuit, and the second LC resonant circuit; and an electronics assembly comprising a driver to provide a first current to the first LC resonant circuit and a second current to the second LC resonant circuit, and wherein the electronics assembly is spaced apart from the coil assembly.

28. The wireless power transfer system of claim 24 , comprising an electronic device comprising a receiver coil.

6504369 January 2003 Varjo et al.
7126450 October 2006 Baarman et al.
7286881 October 2007 Schommer et al.
7525283 April 2009 Cheng et al.
8138875 March 2012 Baarman et al.
8460816 June 2013 Julstrom et al.
9855436 January 2018 Dearden et al.
9962085 May 2018 Griffith
10348116 July 2019 Arendarik
10374460 August 2019 Oshima et al.
10403979 September 2019 Ryu et al.
10566853 February 2020 Chen
10650963 May 2020 Hanabusa et al.
10811186 October 2020 Hanabusa et al.
10960219 March 2021 Aghassian et al.
11192276 December 2021 Lopatin et al.
2003/0090434 May 2003 Masudaya
2011/0046438 February 2011 Iwaisako
2011/0084654 April 2011 Julstrom et al.
2012/0153893 June 2012 Schtaz et al.
2012/0169139 July 2012 Kudo
2012/0235501 September 2012 Masudaya
2012/0306282 December 2012 Tan
2013/0093253 April 2013 Norconk et al.
2013/0241308 September 2013 Bilbrey
2014/0002015 January 2014 Tripathi
2014/0111151 April 2014 Keeling
2014/0232330 August 2014 Robertson et al.
2015/0188365 July 2015 Wang et al.
2015/0326060 November 2015 Young
2016/0134126 May 2016 Tillotson et al.
2016/0365737 December 2016 Vladan
2017/0018971 January 2017 Oshima et al.
2017/0202467 July 2017 Zitnik
2017/0222483 August 2017 Feng et al.
2017/0352475 December 2017 Ishida
2017/0354344 December 2017 Schmale et al.
2018/0019624 January 2018 Chen
2018/0048177 February 2018 Huang et al.
2018/0212451 July 2018 Schmidt
2018/0254671 September 2018 Murata et al.
2018/0262037 September 2018 Meskens
2018/0286578 October 2018 Hanabusa et al.
2018/0287435 October 2018 Wilson et al.
2018/0358815 December 2018 Li et al.
2019/0089187 March 2019 Konomi
2019/0214851 July 2019 Sasaki et al.
2019/0247669 August 2019 Nielsen
2019/0263057 August 2019 Beetz
2019/0308514 October 2019 Parimi et al.
2019/0311848 October 2019 Chen et al.
2019/0331937 October 2019 Owens et al.
2019/0331938 October 2019 Owens et al.
2019/0348863 November 2019 De Masi et al.
2019/0393710 December 2019 Kim et al.
2020/0027653 January 2020 Terauchi et al.
2020/0076241 March 2020 Tandai et al.
2020/0136435 April 2020 Mitomo et al.
2020/0204013 June 2020 Chen
2021/0001131 January 2021 Lyer et al.
2021/0027928 January 2021 Patel
2021/0083634 March 2021 Aldhaher
2021/0152027 May 2021 Kanakasabai et al.
2022/0060057 February 2022 Hao et al.
2023/0077596 March 2023 Hurwitz et al.
3018797 May 2016
2014 0129930 November 2014
WO2012/166126 December 2012
WO 2021/031444 February 2021
WO 2023/177996 September 2023

International Search Report and Written Opinion from related International Application PCT/US2023/063871, dated Jun. 21, 2023, 19 pages. cited by applicant
International Search Report and Written Opinion issued in related International Application No. PCT/US2021/057772, mailed Feb. 8, 2022, 12 pages. cited by applicant
Finkenzeller, Klaus, “Battery powered tags for ISO/IEC 14443, actively emulating load Modulation”, RFID SysTech 2011 7th European Workshop on Smart Objects: Systems, Technologies and Applications(2011), retrieved from http://www.rfid-handbook.de/downloads/Active-load-modulation_Finkenzeller_20110413_final.pdf (retrieved on Mar. 7, 2022), 8 pages. cited by applicant
Written Opinion issued in related International Application No. PCT/US2021/057772, date of mailing Jun. 30, 2022, 6 pages. cited by applicant
Zhangwei Chen et al., 3D printing of ceramics: A review, Journal of the European Ceramic Society, Nov. 6, 2018, 27 pages. cited by applicant
Thomas Hanemann et al., 3D Printing of ABS Barium Ferrite Composites, Materials, Mar. 24, 2020, 13 pages. cited by applicant
Lanbing Liu et al., UV-curable Ferrite Paste for Additive Manufacturing of Power Magnetics, IEEE Magnetics Letters, 2018, 5 pages. cited by applicant
Maria Väätäjä et al., 3D printed dielectric ceramic without a sintering stage, Scientific Reports, Oct. 29, 2018, 8 pages. cited by applicant
Yunqi Wang et al., 3D Printing of NiZn ferrite/ABS Magnetic Composites for Electromagnetic Devices, Cambridge University Press, Jul. 1, 2015, 5 pages. cited by applicant
International Preliminary Report on Patentability issued in related International Application No. PCT/US2021/057772, date of mailing Mar. 6, 2023, 6 pages. cited by applicant
Final Rejection issued in U.S. Appl. No. 18/153,991 on Sep. 23, 2024. cited by applicant
International search Report and Written Opinion issued in related International Application No. PCT/US2023/060586, Apr. 21, 2023 (13 pages). cited by applicant

edspgr.12272967