A system and method for variable power transfer in an inductive charging or power system. In accordance with an embodiment the system comprises a pad or similar base unit that contains a primary, which creates an alternating magnetic field. A receiver comprises a means for receiving the energy from the alternating magnetic field from the pad and transferring it to a mobile device, battery, or other device. In accordance with various embodiments, additional features can be incorporated into the system to provide greater power transfer efficiency, and to allow the system to be easily modified for applications that have different power requirements. These include variations in the material used to manufacture the primary and/or the receiver coils; modified circuit designs to be used on the primary and/or receiver side; and additional circuits and components that perform specialized tasks, such as mobile device or battery identification, and automatic voltage or power-setting for different devices or batteries.

System and method for inductive charging of portable devices

A detection method for use in a primary unit of an inductive power transfer system, the primary unit being operable to transmit power wirelessly by electromagnetic induction to at least one secondary unit of the system located in proximity to the primary unit and/or to a foreign object located in said proximity, the method comprising: driving the primary unit so that in a driven state the magnitude of an electrical drive signal supplied to one or more primary coils of the primary unit changes from a first value to a second value; assessing the effect of such driving on an electrical characteristic of the primary unit; and detecting in dependence upon the assessed effect the presence of a said secondary unit and/or a foreign object located in proximity to said primary unit.

Inductive power transfer

A portable inductive power source, power device, or unit, for use in powering or charging electrical, electronic, battery-operated, mobile, and other devices is disclosed herein. In accordance with an embodiment the system comprises a pad or similar base unit that contains a primary, which creates an alternating magnetic field by means of applying an alternating current to a winding, coil, or any type of current carrying wire. A receiver comprises a means for receiving the energy from the alternating magnetic field from the pad and transferring it to a mobile or other device. In some embodiments the receiver can also comprise electronic components or logic to set the voltage and current to the appropriate levels required by the mobile device, or to communicate information or data to and from the pad. Embodiments may also incorporate efficiency measures that improve the efficiency of power transfer between the charger and receiver.

Inductive power source and charging system

Disclosed is an apparatus for use in wireless energy transfer, which includes a first resonator structure configured to transfer energy non-radiatively with a second resonator structure over a distance greater than a characteristic size of the second resonator structure. The non-radiative energy transfer is mediated by a coupling of a resonant field evanescent tail of the first resonator structure and a resonant field evanescent tail of the second resonator structure.

Wireless energy transfer

The electromagnetic energy transfer device includes a first resonator structure receiving energy from an external power supply. The first resonator structure has a first Q-factor. A second resonator structure is positioned distal from the first resonator structure, and supplies useful working power to an external load. The second resonator structure has a second Q-factor. The distance between the two resonators can be larger than the characteristic size of each resonator. Non-radiative energy transfer between the first resonator structure and the second resonator structure is mediated through coupling of their resonant-field evanescent tails.

Wireless non-radiative energy transfer

Novel designs for printed circuit board transformers, and in particular for coreless printed circuit board transformers designed for operation in power transfer applications, are disclosed in which shielding is provided by a combination of ferrite plates and thin copper sheets.

Planar printed-circuit-board transformers with effective electromagnetic interference (emi) shielding

This paper presents an effective shielding technique and a simple structure for printed-circuit-board (PCB) transformers. The performance of PCB transformers using the proposed shielding technique is evaluated using thin ferrite plates and copper sheets. Without affecting the transformer energy efficiency, the shielding method under investigation can achieve 28 dB shielding effectiveness (SE), which is much higher than the SE (about 4 dB) obtained by shielding the transformer windings with only two ferrite plates. The proposed PCB transformer structure is very simple and has high energy efficiency (>90%) for Megahertz operation.

Evaluation of the shielding effects on printed-circuit-board transformers using ferrite plates and copper sheets

Magnetic cores have been used in transformers for over a century. In this paper, the authors present a fundamental concept of using "coreless" printed-circuit-board (PCB) transformers. With the aid of a high-frequency equivalent circuit, the use and basic characteristics of coreless PCB transformers are described. Optimal operating conditions for minimum input power requirement and maximum efficiency operations are identified. Coreless PCB transformers have the advantages of low costs, very high power density, no limitation due to magnetic cores, no magnetic loss and ease of manufacturing. They have the potential to be developed in microcircuits. A printed planar PCB transformer with a diameter of about 1.0 cm and power capability of 19 W has been successfully tested. The power density of the PCB transformer demonstrated in this paper is 24 W/cm/sup 2/. The maximum efficiency can be greater than 90%. The analysis has been confirmed with experiments. Coreless printed transformers have great potential in applications in which stringent height and space requirements have to be met.

Coreless planar printed-circuit-board (PCB) transformers-a fundamental concept for signal and energy transfer

Gate drive circuits for modern power electronic switches, such as MOSFET and insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT), often require electrical isolation. This paper describes the modeling and experimental results of some coreless printed circuit board (PCB)-based transformers that can be used for MOSFET and IGBT devices at high-frequency (500 kHz to 2 MHz) operation. PCB-based transformers do not require the manual winding procedure and thus simplify the manufacturing process of transformer-isolated gate drive circuits. With no core loss, coreless transformers are found to have favorable characteristics at high-frequency operations. This project demonstrates an important point that the size of the magnetic core can approach zero and become zero when the frequency is sufficiently high.

Coreless printed circuit board (PCB) transformers for power MOSFET/IGBT gate drive circuits

Gate drive circuits for power MOSFETs and insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) often require electrical isolation. Coreless printed circuit board (PCB) transformers have been shown to have desirable characteristics from a few hundreds of hertz to a few megahertz and can be used for both power and signal transfer at low-power level. At low operating frequency, the magnetizing inductance has such low impedance that the driving power requirement could become excessive. This paper describes the use of a coreless PCB transformer for isolated gate drive circuits over a wide-frequency range. Based on a resonance concept, the optimal operating condition that minimizes the power consumption of the gate drive circuits is developed and verified with experiments. The coreless PCB transformer demonstrated here confirms a fundamental concept that the size and volume of a magnetic core could approach zero and become zero if the operating frequency is sufficiently high. Coreless PCB transformers do not require the manual winding procedure and thus simplify the manufacturing process of transformer-isolated gate drive circuits and low-power converters. Their sizes can be much smaller than those of typical core-based pulse transformers. The electrical isolation of a PCB is much higher than that of an optocoupler.

Sai Chun Tang

Papers

Planar printed-circuit-board transformers with effective electromagnetic interference (emi) shielding

Evaluation of the shielding effects on printed-circuit-board transformers using ferrite plates and copper sheets

Coreless planar printed-circuit-board (PCB) transformers-a fundamental concept for signal and energy transfer

Coreless printed circuit board (PCB) transformers for power MOSFET/IGBT gate drive circuits

Optimal operation of coreless PCB transformer-isolated gate drive circuits with wide switching frequency range