JP7504576B2 - Wireless power supply system and control method for wireless power supply system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a wireless power supply system and a method for controlling the wireless power supply system.

Conventionally, a mobile vehicle power supply system capable of suppressing a decrease in power supply efficiency is known. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a mobile vehicle power supply system that performs contactless power supply to a mobile vehicle located within a power supply area, which includes a power receiving coil provided on the mobile vehicle, multiple power supply coils, etc. arranged at different positions within the power supply area, a position detection means for detecting the position of the power receiving coil within the power supply area, and a control device that selects a power supply coil arranged at a position corresponding to the power receiving coil from among the multiple power supply coils, etc. based on the detection result of the position detection means, and causes the selected power supply coil to perform contactless power supply. In this mobile vehicle power supply system, multiple power supply means are prepared within the power supply area, the position of the power receiving means provided on the mobile vehicle within the power supply area is detected, and the power supply means arranged at the optimal position for contactless power supply is selected from among the multiple power supply means to supply power, thereby suppressing a decrease in power supply efficiency.

JP 2013-66291 A

However, in the mobile vehicle power supply system described in Patent Document 1, even if it is possible to prevent a decrease in power supply efficiency by selecting an optimal power supply means from multiple power supply means, there is a problem in that selecting the optimal power supply means results in a decrease in power supply efficiency per hour.

The present invention has been made in consideration of these problems, and has as its main object the provision of a wireless power supply system with high power supply efficiency, high power supply speed, and low power consumption. It also has an object to provide a control method for a wireless power supply system with high power supply efficiency.

The present invention employs the following means to achieve at least one of the above-mentioned objectives.

The wireless power supply system of the present invention comprises:
A power transmitting device having a power transmitting coil;
a power receiving device having a power receiving coil;
A position detection means for detecting a position of the power receiving device;
A control means for controlling power transmission from the power transmitting device;
Equipped with
the power receiving device is movably provided at a position facing the plurality of power transmitting devices that are successively arranged,
The control means is characterized in that, when the position detection means detects that the power transmission device is located at a position facing at least a part of the power receiving device among the plurality of power transmission devices, the control means performs power transmission from the power transmission device located at a position facing at least a part of the power receiving device.
It is something.

This wireless power supply system includes a plurality of power transmission devices arranged in succession, a power receiving device movably provided at a position opposite the plurality of power transmission devices, a position detection means for detecting the position of the power receiving device, and a control means for controlling the power transmission of the power transmission device. The control means controls the power transmission of the power transmission device located at a position opposite at least a part of the power receiving device by the position detection means. In this way, the power transmission device not located at a position opposite the power receiving device does not transmit power, so the generation of unnecessary electromagnetic waves is suppressed, and for example, even when used in a place close to the human body, exposure of the human body to electromagnetic waves can be suppressed. In addition, compared to the case of transmitting power from all of the power transmission devices, it is possible to reduce power consumption and increase power transmission efficiency. At the same time, by transmitting power from a power transmission device located at a position opposite at least a part of the power receiving device, the total amount of power transmitted to the power receiving device is increased, and high power transmission efficiency can be obtained at high speed, compared to the case of transmitting power from, for example, any one of the power transmission devices.

In the wireless power supply system of the present invention, the power receiving device may move along a rail that is arranged in parallel with the multiple power receiving coils, and the center of the power receiving coil passes directly above the center of the power transmitting coil when the power receiving device moves. In this way, when the power receiving device moves along the rail, the center of the power receiving coil passes directly above the center of the power transmitting coil, and the power receiving coil passes the position with the highest power transmission efficiency, resulting in high power transmission efficiency.

In the wireless power supply system of the present invention, the outer diameter of the power transmission coil may be 1.0 to 1.5 times the outer diameter of the power receiving coil. By doing so, the power receiving coil is always positioned opposite one or two adjacent power transmission coils, so that the power transmission to the power receiving coil can be controlled by controlling the power transmission from the two adjacent power transmission coils. In addition, since there is no need to control the power transmission from three or more power transmission coils, the effort required to control the power transmission coils can be reduced.

A method for controlling a wireless power supply system according to the present invention includes the steps of:
A control method for controlling a wireless power supply system including a power transmitting device having a power transmitting coil, a power receiving device having a power receiving coil, a position detection means for detecting a position of the power receiving device, and a control means for controlling power transmission from the power transmitting device, the power receiving device being movably provided at a position facing a plurality of the power transmitting devices arranged successively, the method comprising:
a power transmission step of transmitting power from the power transmission device located opposite at least a portion of the power receiving device when a position detection means detects that the power transmission device is located opposite at least a portion of the power receiving device among the plurality of power transmission devices;
Characterized in that it comprises
It is something.

This control method for a wireless power supply system includes a plurality of power transmission devices arranged in succession, a power receiving device that can move to a position opposite the plurality of power transmission devices, a position detection means for detecting the position of the power receiving device, and a control means for controlling the power transmission of the power transmission device, and the control means controls the power transmission of the power transmission device located at a position opposite at least a part of the power receiving device by the position detection means. By doing so, the power transmission device that is not located at a position opposite the power receiving device does not transmit power, so that the generation of unnecessary electromagnetic waves is suppressed, and for example, even when used in a place close to the human body, exposure of the human body to electromagnetic waves can be suppressed. In addition, compared to the case of transmitting power from all of the power transmission devices, it is possible to reduce power usage and increase power transmission efficiency. At the same time, by transmitting power from a power transmission device located at a position opposite at least a part of the power receiving device, the total amount of power transmitted to the power receiving device is increased, and high power transmission efficiency can be obtained at high speed, compared to the case of transmitting power from, for example, any one of the power transmission devices.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an outline of the configuration of a wireless power supply system 20. As shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the outline of the configuration of the power transmitting device 40. As shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining electrical connections in the wireless power supply system 20. As shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a power transmission control processing routine.

Next, the wireless power supply system 20 will be described in detail as an example of an embodiment of the present invention. The embodiments and drawings described below are intended to illustrate some of the embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention to these configurations. Appropriate modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. In addition, the same or similar symbols are used for corresponding components in each drawing. In addition, in the following description, the directions in which the power receiving device 30 moves, as shown in FIG. 1, are referred to as one-side direction and other-side direction. In addition, an example of a control method for the wireless power supply system 20 will be shown to clarify an example of a control method for the wireless power supply system of the present invention.

1, the wireless power supply system 20, which is an example of an embodiment of the present invention, includes a power receiving device 30 movably provided along a rail 22, a plurality of power transmitting devices 40 provided in succession at positions facing the rail 22, a position detection sensor 44 that detects the position of the power receiving device 30, and a control unit 50 (see FIG. 3) that controls the power transmission of the plurality of power transmitting devices 40 including the power transmitting device 40a, the power transmitting device 40b, the power transmitting device 40c, and the power transmitting device 40d. This wireless power supply system 20 transmits power from the power transmitting device 40 to the power receiving device 30 moving along the rail 22, and wirelessly supplies power to the power receiving device 30. At this time, the power transmission from the power transmitting device 40 is controlled by the control unit 50 based on the position of the power receiving device 30 detected by the position detection sensor 44. Specifically, power is transmitted from the power transmitting device 40 provided at a position facing at least a part of the power receiving device 30, and power is not transmitted from the power transmitting device 40 provided at a position other than the position facing the power receiving device 30. This allows power to be transmitted in a shorter time than when power is transmitted only from the power transmission device 40 located closest to the power receiving device 30, thereby improving power transmission efficiency. Also, compared to when power is transmitted from all power transmission devices 40, the total amount of power can be reduced, reducing transmission loss during power transmission and improving power transmission efficiency.

The power receiving device 30 is a box-shaped device with a power receiving coil 32 in the center, and is disposed so that the center of the power receiving coil 32 passes directly above the center of the power transmitting coil 42 when the power receiving device 30 moves along the rail 22, and is movable along the rail 22 by driving rollers (not shown). In this way, when the power receiving device 30 moves along the rail 22, the center of the power receiving coil 32 passes directly above the center of the power transmitting coil 42, thereby improving the power transmission efficiency of transmitting power from the power transmitting coil 42 to the power receiving coil 32.

As shown in FIG. 2, the power transmission device 40 is a box-shaped device with a power transmission coil 42 in the center and multiple position detection sensors 44 on the side facing the power receiving device 30. As shown in FIG. 1, multiple power transmission devices 40 are continuously provided from one side to the other. At this time, the centers of the power transmission coils 42 provided in the multiple power transmission devices 40 are arranged in a straight line from one side to the other, and this imaginary line and the rail 22 are in a parallel positional relationship with each other. By doing so, when the power receiving device 30 moves along the rail 22, the distance between the power transmission coil 42 and the power receiving coil 32 is kept constant, so that the amount of power transmitted from the power transmission device 40 can be stabilized. In addition, each of the multiple power transmission devices 40 is electrically connected to a control unit 50, and power transmission is controlled based on a control signal from the control unit 50.

In addition, at this time, the outer diameter of the power transmission coil 42 is formed to be longer than the outer diameter of the power receiving coil 32. This can improve the power transmission efficiency when transmitting power to the power receiving coil 32, which moves as the power receiving device 30 moves. Specifically, it is preferable that the outer diameter of the power transmission coil 42 is 1.0 to 1.5 times longer than the outer diameter of the power receiving coil 32. This can achieve high power transmission efficiency.

The position detection sensor 44 is a known optical sensor that corresponds to the position detection means of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the position detection sensor 44 is electrically connected to the control unit 50, and when the power receiving device 30 is present, it transmits a position detection signal indicating the presence of the power receiving device 30 to the control unit 50. In this way, the position of the power receiving device 30 can be detected. The position detection sensor 44 is provided at both ends of the surface of the power transmitting device 40 that faces the power receiving device 30. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, a position detection sensor 44aa is provided at one end of the power transmission device 40a, a position detection sensor 44ab is provided at the other end of the power transmission device 40a, a position detection sensor 44ba is provided at one end of the power transmission device 40b, a position detection sensor 44bb is provided at the other end of the power transmission device 40b, a position detection sensor 44ca is provided at one end of the power transmission device 40c, a position detection sensor 44cb is provided at the other end of the power transmission device 40a, a position detection sensor 44da is provided at one end of the power transmission device 40d, and a position detection sensor 44db is provided at the other end of the power transmission device 40a. The power receiving device 30 moves from one side to the other side (or from one side to the other side) along the rail 22. At this time, since the length of the power receiving device 30 is shorter than the length of the power transmission device 40, the position of the power receiving device 30 can be detected by determining the position detection sensor 44 that transmitted the last transmitted position detection signal.

As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 50 is configured as a microprocessor centered on a CPU 51, and includes a ROM 52 storing various control programs for controlling power transmission from the power transmission device 40, a RAM 53 for temporarily storing position information of the power reception device 30, a storage means 54 for storing position information of the power reception device 30, and an interface 55 (hereinafter referred to as "I/F 55") for transmitting and receiving various signals between the position detection sensor 44, the power reception device 30, the power transmission device 40, the storage means 54, etc., all of which are electrically connected via a bus 56. This control unit 50 corresponds to the control means of the present invention and controls the power transmission from the power transmission device 40.

Next, a power transmission control method for transmitting power from the power transmitting device 40 will be described using an example of a power transmission control processing routine executed by the control unit 50. This power transmission control processing routine is executed repeatedly when power is supplied to the wireless power supply system 20. Note that FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the power transmission control processing routine.

When the power transmission control processing routine stored in the ROM 52 is read and executed by the CPU 51, the CPU 51 receives a position detection signal from the position detection sensor 44 and detects the position of the power receiving device 30 (step S110). Specifically, the position of the power receiving device 30 is detected based on the position detection signal transmitted from the position detection sensor 44aa provided on one end side of the power transmitting device 40 and the position detection sensor 44ab provided on the other end side. For example, when the power transmitting device 40 is moving from one side to the other side, it can be determined that the receiving device 30 is located at a position facing the transmitting device 40a from the time when the position detection signal is received from the position detection sensor 44aa located at one end of the power transmitting device 40a until the position detection signal is received from the position detection sensor 44ab located at the other end. Also, when the position detection signal is received from the position detection sensor 44ba located on one end side of the power transmitting device 40b, it can be determined that the power receiving device 30 is located at a position facing both the power transmitting device 40a and the power transmitting device 40b.

Next, the CPU 51 transmits a power transmission start signal to the power transmission device 40 located opposite the power receiving device 30, and starts power transmission from the power transmission device 40 (step S120). In this way, power is transmitted from the power transmission device 40 only when the power receiving device 30 is located opposite the power receiving device 30, so that the power transmission efficiency can be improved compared to when power is transmitted from all power transmission devices 40. Also, when the power receiving device 30 is located opposite both adjacent power transmission devices 40, power is transmitted from both power transmission devices 40, so that the power transmission speed can be increased compared to when power is transmitted from a single power transmission device 40.

According to the embodiment described above in detail, when the power receiving device 30 moves along the rail 22 provided at a position opposite the power transmitting device 40, power is transmitted only from among the multiple power transmitting devices 40, that is at least partially opposite the power receiving device 30, thereby making it possible to reduce the power consumed when supplying power to the power receiving device 30 compared to the case where power is transmitted from all of the power transmitting devices 40. Furthermore, power can be supplied in a shorter time compared to the case where power is transmitted from any one of the power transmitting devices 40. In addition, high power transmission efficiency can be obtained.

In addition, when the power transmission device 40 moves along the rail 22, the center of the power receiving coil 32 passes directly above the center of the multiple power transmission coils 42, so higher power transmission efficiency can be obtained compared to when the center of the power transmission coil 42 and the center of the power receiving coil 32 are not directly above each other.

Furthermore, the length of the outer diameter of the power transmission coil 42 is formed to be 1.0 to 1.5 times longer than the length of the outer diameter of the power receiving coil 32, so that a higher power transmission efficiency can be obtained compared to a case in which the outer diameter of the power receiving coil 32 is longer than the outer diameter of the power transmission coil 42.

It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be implemented in various forms as long as they fall within the technical scope of the present invention.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the position of the power receiving device 30 is detected by the position detection sensor 44 provided in the power transmission device 40, but the position of the position detection sensor 44 is not limited to this position, and may be provided at any position on the movement path of the power receiving device 30, such as the rail 22 or the power receiving device 30, as long as the position of the power receiving device 30 can be detected. In either case, the same effect as the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

In the above-described embodiment, the position detection sensor 44 is used as a position detection means for detecting the position of the power receiving device 30, but the present invention is not limited to this as long as the means can detect the position of the power receiving device 30. For example, when the power receiving device 30 is moved by wheels that rotate by a motor, the position of the power receiving device 30 may be determined by calculating the distance moved by the power receiving device 30 from the number of rotations of the motor, the number of rotations of the wheels, the axle connecting the wheels, etc., and calculating the position of the power receiving device 30 from a value that changes as the power receiving device 30 moves. In this way, the same effect as the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

In the above-described embodiment, the power transmission device 40 includes the power transmission device 40a, the power transmission device 40b, the power transmission device 40c, and the power transmission device 40d, but the number of the power transmission devices 40 is not limited to this and may be two or more. By doing so, the same effect as the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

As shown in the above-mentioned embodiment, it can be used in the field of wireless power supply, particularly as a means of wirelessly supplying power to a moving power receiving circuit.

20...wireless power supply system, 22...rail, 30...power receiving device, 32...power receiving coil, 40...power transmitting device, 40a...power transmitting device, 40b...power transmitting device, 40c...power transmitting device, 40d...power transmitting device, 42...power transmitting coil, 44...position detection sensor, 44aa...position detection sensor, 44ab...position detection sensor, 44ba...position detection sensor, 44bb...position detection sensor, 44ca...position detection sensor, 44cb...position detection sensor, 44da...position detection sensor, 44db...position detection sensor, 50...control unit, 51...CPU, 52...ROM, 53...RAM, 54...storage means, 55...interface, 56...bus.

Claims (4)

a power transmitting device having a power transmitting coil and a position detection sensor including an optical sensor provided on one end side and the other end side;
A power receiving device having a power receiving coil and formed shorter than the power transmitting device;
A control means for controlling power transmission from the power transmitting device;
Equipped with
The power transmission device is a box-shaped device, and a plurality of power transmission devices are provided in series,
the power receiving device is movably provided at a position facing the plurality of power transmitting devices that are successively arranged,
When the power transmission device is moving from one side to the other side, the control means determines that the power receiving device is located in a position opposite the power transmission device from the time when it receives a position detection signal from a position detection sensor located at one end of the power transmission device until it receives a position detection signal from a position detection sensor located at the other end , and determines that the power receiving device is located in a position opposite both the power transmission device and the adjacent power transmission device from the time when it receives a position detection signal from a position detection sensor located on one end of the power transmission device adjacent to the other end until the position detection sensor on the other end of the power transmission device on the one end side receives the last transmitted position detection signal ;
When the position detection sensor detects that the power transmission device is located at a position facing at least a part of the power receiving device among the plurality of power transmission devices, the power transmission device at the position facing at least a part of the power receiving device is performed.
Wireless power supply system. the power receiving device moves along a rail provided in a position parallel to the power receiving coils;
When the power receiving device moves, the center of the power receiving coil passes directly above the center of the power transmitting coil.
The wireless power supply system according to claim 1 . The outer diameter of the power transmission coil is 1.0 to 1.5 times the outer diameter of the power receiving coil.
The wireless power supply system according to claim 1 . A control method for controlling the wireless power supply system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising:
a power transmission step of transmitting power from the power transmission device located opposite at least a portion of the power receiving device when the position detection sensor detects that the power transmission device is located opposite at least a portion of the power receiving device among the plurality of power transmission devices;
Characterized in that it comprises
A method for controlling a wireless power supply system.

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