FIELD

[001] The present invention relates to the field of power systems, and more particularly, to wireless power transfer.

BACKGROUND

[002] Wireless power transfer systems have been developed for a variety of different applications, including battery charging applications for vehicles, mobile electronic devices, tools, and the like. Such systems can use magnetically coupled resonant circuits to transfer energy. Examples of such wireless power transfer systems are described in U.S. Patent No. 8,531,059 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0249479.

[003] An example of control f a wireless power transfer system is described in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 14/323,436, entitled WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER

SYSTEMS USING WAD FEEDBACK, filed July 3, 2014 (Attorney Docket: 9060-346).

[004] U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 14/143,505 entitled METHODS,

CIRCUITS AND ARTICLES OF MANUFACTURE FOR CONFIGURING DC OUTPUT FILTER CIRCUITS, filed December 3Q, 2013 (Attorney Docket No. 9060-334), describes wireless power transfer systems having a transmitter including a rectifier that receives power from an AC power source, an inverter circuit that generates a higher frequency AC output voltage from a DC output produced by the rectifier, and a first resonant circuit coupled to an output of the inverter circuit. A receiver includes a second resonant circuit including a coil that is configured to be placed in close proximity to a coil of the first resonant circuit and a rectifier circuit that produces a DC output from an AC output produced by the second resonant circuit.

SUMMARY

[005] Embodiments according to the present invention can provide methods, circuits, and articles of manufacture f r controlling wireless power transfer responsive to controller circuit states. Pursuant to these embodiments, a wireless power transfer circuit can include an input port that can be configured to couple to a power source, an ac excitation circuit having a port coupled to the input port, a resonant circuit coupled to the ac excitation circuit, and a controller circuit that can be configured to operate the ac excitation circuit. The wireless power transfer circuit can operate to inductively transfer power from the resonant circuit and the controller circuit can be configured to change an operating frequency of the ac excitation circuit and change a configuration of the resonant circuit responsive a change in indicated efficiency of the wireless power transfer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[006] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a wireless power transfer apparatus in some embodiments according to the invention.

[007] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a converter circuit coupled to a transmitter resonant circuit included in the wireless power transfer apparatus shown in Figure 1 in some embodiments according to the invention.

[008] FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a resonant circuit having selectable configurations in some embodiments according to the invention.

[009] FIG.4 is a state diagram illustrating operations of a controller circuit included in the wireless power transfer apparatus shown in Figure 1 in some embodiments according to the invention.

[0010] FIG-5 is a diagram illustrating a specified operating range for a duty cycle of a control signal used tp modulate the converter circuit of Figure 2 in some embodiments according to the invention.

[0011] FIG- 6 is a graph illustrating different power mode curves followed by the wireless power transfer apparatus of Figure 1 operating in the different states provided by the controller circuit of Figure 4 in some embodiments according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS ACCORDING TO THE INVENTION

[0012] Specific exemplary embodiments of the inventive subject matter now will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. This inventive subject matter may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the inventive subject matter to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, like numbers refer to like elements. It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "coupled" to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element pr intervening elements may be present. As used herein the term "and/pr" includes any and all

combinations pf pne pr more of the associated listed items. [0013] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the inventive subject matter. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless expressly stated otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "includes," "comprises," "including" and/or "comprising," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but dp not preclude the presence pr additipn pf pne pr mpre pther features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

[0014] Unless ptherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as cpmmpnly understppd by pne pf prdinary skill in the art tp which this inventive subject matter belpngs. It will be further understppd that terms, such as thpse defined in cpmmpnly used dictipnaries, shpuld be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the cpntext pf the specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

[0015] As described herein, in some embodiments according to the invention, a wireless power transfer can be prpvided by changing an pperating frequency of an AC excitation circuit, such as a converter circuit, and changing the configuration of a resonant circuit driven by the excitation circuit in response to a change in an indicated efficiency of the wireless power transfer relative tp a specified efficiency fpr the wireless ppwer transfer. Fpr example, a wireless ppwer transfer circuit can be specified tp deliver a particular ppwer tp a lpad in resppnse tp a given input vpltage.

[0016] The wireless ppwer shpuld alsp be transferred tp the lpad at a specified efficiency, such as mpre than 96% in spme applicatipns. When, however, the spacing between the transmitter and receiver cpils changes or the load changes, the wireless transfer efficiency can be reduced. As appreciated by the present Inventors, when there is an indication that the efficiency of the wireless power transfer has changed, a controller circuit can change the operating frequency of the converter circuit, as well as change the

configuration of a resonant circuits, in prder tp increase the efficiency pf the wireless ppwer transfer.

[0017] In spme embpdiments according tp the inventipn, wireless ppwer transfer efficiency can be indicated by a duty cycle pf a contrpl signal fpr the cpnverter circuit. In resppnse, the cpntrpller circuit can change the pperating frequency pf the cpnverter circuit and change the cpnfiguratipn pf the transmitter and receiver respnant circuits (the circuits used to inductively transfer the power across the gap in the coils) so that the resonant frequencies of both circuits better match. For example, the configuration of a receiver resonant circuit included in the receiver portion can be changed to match the transmitter resonant circuit.

[0018] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a wireless power transfer apparatus 100 including a transmitter portion 105 and a receiver portion 110 in some embodiments according tp the invention. According to FIG. 1, the transmitter pprtipn 105 wirelessly transfers power frpm the input across a gap to the receiver portion 110 which drives the load. The wireless power transfer apparatus 100 can be specified to deliver a particular power to the load at a particular output voltage. For example, in some embodiments according to the invention, the wireless power transfer apparatus 100 can be specified to deliver 6kW at 400 volts to a range of loads at an efficiency of greater than about 96%, where the input voltage is about 720 volts. Accordingly, during a wide range of operations, the wireless power transfer apparatus 100 should deliver the power at the specified efficiency,

[0019] As further shown in FIG. 1, the transmitter portion 105 includes a rectifier circuit 115 that converts an AC input voltage to provide a DC voltage at an input of a converter circuit 120. The converter circuit 120 converts the DC voltage to an AC excitation which is used to inductively transfer power to the receiver portion 110.

[0020] It will be understood that although FIG. 1 shows a converter circuit 120 converting the DC voltage to an AC excitation, other types of circuits may be used. For example, the converter circuit 12Q may be any circuit which provides an AC excitation (such as an AC current) so that power may be inductively transferred to the receiver portion 110. For example, an AC excitation circuit, such as that described in U.S. Patent Application No. 14/323,436, may be used as the converter circuit 120.

[0021] The AC excitation is provided to a transmitter resonant circuit 125 for wireless power transfer. In particular, the transmitter resonant circuit 125 transmits power across the gap that separates the coils of the transmitter and receiver portions 105, 110 when both are configured to operate at or near the same resonant frequency.

[0022] It will be understood that the converter circuit 120 and transmitter resonant circuit 125 can operate responsive to a controller circuit 140, a pulse- width modulation driver circuit 145 and a loop control circuit 150. During operation, the controller circuit 140 provides a control signal to operate the converter circuit 120 at a particular operating frequency to maintain resonance with the transmitter resonant circuit 125. For example, in some embodiments according to the invention, the converter control signals provided by the pulse-width modulation driver circuit 145 have an operating frequency of about 40kHz. Furthermore, the transmitter resonant circuit 125 is configured to include components coupled to one another so that the resonant frequency for the circuit 125 is also about equal to 40kHz.

[0023] As further shown in FIG. 1 , the wireless power transmitted by the transmitter resonant circuit 125 is received by the receiver resonant circuit 130 included in the receiver portion 110. It will e understood that, in operation, the controller circuit 140 can also maintain the configuration of the receiver resonant circuit 130 to have the same resonant frequency as that provided by the transmitter resonant circuit 125. The receiver resonant circuit 130 provides an AC signal to a rectifier circuit 135 which drives the output connected to the load.

[0024] Still referring to FIG. 1, during operation of the wireless power transfer apparatus 100, the efficiency of the transfer may be reduced if, for example, the spacing or alignment between the coils in the transmitter and receiver portions 105, 1 10 changes or if the characteristics of the load were to change. For example, in some embodiments according to the invention, the efficiency of the wireless power transfer may be reduced if the coil in the transmitter portion 105 is moved away from the coil in the receiver portion 110 thereby decreasing the coupling coefficient between the transmitter resonant circuit 125 and the receiver resonant circuit 130. Still further, the alignment between the transmitter resonant circuit 125 and the receiver resonant circuit 130 may also change thereby leading to a reduction in the efficiency. Still further, if the characteristics of the load driven by the wireless power transfer changes, the efficiency of the wireless power transfer can also change. For example, if the load is a battery, the input impedance of the battery may change as the battery nears its full charge, which may be reflected by a reduction in the efficiency of the transfer.

[0025] According to FIG. 1, the efficiency of the wireless power transfer can be indicated by parameters associated with the load. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the output voltage Y _oul and the output current l _oul can be fed back to the loop control circuit 150, which can also receive the characteristics of the input, such as the input voltage V,„ and the input current I _in . These parameters can indicate a change in the efficiency of the wireless power transfer. In still further embodiments according tp the invention, the efficiency of the wireless power transfer can be measured using other indications.

[0026] When the output parameters, such as the output voltage V ₀ „,, of the wireless power transfer drops, the loop control circuit 150 may control the pulse- width modulation driver circuit 145 to change the duty cycle of the converter control signals to the converter circuit 120. Changing the duty cycle of the converter control signals can increase the amount of "on time" during which the converter circuit 120 provides the AC excitation to the transmitter resonant circuit 125 to inductively transfer additional power to the load. If, however, the duty cycle of the converter control signals are changed to outside a specified Operating range for the converter circuit 120, the efficiency of the wireless power transfer may be unacceptably reduced.

[0027] As appreciated by the present Inventors, the control circuit 140 can change the operating frequency of the control signals to the converter circuit 120 in response to the reduction in efficiency of the wireless power transfer. Still further, the controller circuit 140 can change the configuration of the transmitter resonant circuit 125 to have a new resonant frequency that substantially matches the new operating frequency of the converter circuit 120. For example, in some embodiments according to the invention, the controller circuit 140 can change the operating frequency of the converter control signals from 20kHz to 40kHz. The controller circuit can also select a different configuration for the transmitter resonant circuit 125 to change the resonant frequency from 20kHz to 40kHz, thereby maintaining resonance with the new converter circuit operating frequency of 40kHz. Still further, the controller circuit 140 also can provide the same new resonant circuit

configuration for the receiver resonant circuit 130. Accordingly, the wireless power transfer can be conducted at the new resonant frequency of 40kHz, rather than 20kHz so that the efficiency of the wireless power transfer can be increased back toward the specified wireless power transfer efficiency for the apparatus 100.

[0028] FIG. 2 is a more detailed schematic view of the converter circuit 120 shown in FIG. 1. According to FIG. 2, the pulse- width modulation driver circuit 145 provides the converter control signals to each of a plurality of electronically controlled switches Q1-Q4 arranged in an H Bridge topology. As described above with reference to FIQ. 1, the pulse- width modulation driver circuit 145 provides the control signals at a selected operating frequency and having a particular duty cycle under the control of the loop control circuit 150 and the control circuit 140. As further shown in FIG. 2, the converter circuit 120 provides the AC excitation IAC to the transmitter resonant circuit 125. The transmitter resonant circuit 125 also receives a resonant circuit configuration selection signal from the controller circuit 140 maintain resonance with the newly selected operating frequency of the converter.

[0029] FIG- 3 is a more detailed schematic illustration of the transmitter resonant circuit 125 shown in FIG. 1 in some embodiments according to the invention. According to FIG. 3, the transmitter resonant circuit 125 provides a plurality of capacitive components C as and a plurality of inductive components L each of which may have an associated set of switches so that the configuration of the transmitter resonant circuit 125 may be selected by the controller circuit 140 to maintain resonance with the operating frequency of the converter circuit 120. For example, and according to FIG. 3, the transmitter resonant circuit 125 can include a capacitor CI and an inductor LI which are included in a default configuration. Still further, capacitive elements C2 and C3 may be selectively added to (or remove from) the transmitter resonant circuit 125 by placing the switches SI and S2 in the appropriate positions.

[0030] The transmitter resonant circuit 125 also includes additional inductive components L2 and L3 and associated switches S3 and S4 which may be placed in the appropriate positions to switch L2 and L3 into/out of the transmitter resonant circuit 125. Other types of selective arrangements may also be provided by the transmitter resonant circuit 125 such as variable capacitors and variable inductors which may be controlled by the resonant circuit configuration selection signal provided by the controller circuit 140. In operation, therefore, the controller circuit 140 determines the appropriate operating frequency for the converter control signals and the matching configuration for the transmitter resonant circuit 125 to increase the efficiency of the wireless power transfer. Still further, the same type of arrangement shown in FIG. 3 may also be provided to the receiver resonant circuit 130 so that resonance may be maintained between the transmitter resonant circuit 125 and the receiver resonant circuit 130 during wireless power transfer.

[0031] FIG- 4 is a state diagram that illustrates operations of the controller circuit 140 in some embodiments according to the invention. According to FIG. 4, the controller circuit 140 may operate in a default state SI wherein a first operating frequency Έι is provided for the converter control signals and a first configuration C\ is provided to the transmitter resonant circuit 125. The controller circuit 140 may maintain operations within the state S 1 over a specified operating range for the duty cycle of the converter control signals. Although the duty cycle of the converter control signals is used herein as an indication of the efficiency of the wireless power transfer, other types of indications may also be used.

[0032] As shown in FIG. 4, the controller circuit 14Q may remain in the state SI while the duty cycle remains within the specified operating range. In other words, the wireless power transfer may be carried put over a range of duty cycles for the converter control signals that fall within the specified operating range shown in FIG. 5. When, however, the duty cycle changes to putside the specified operating range, the control circuit 140 may transition from the first state SI to a second state S2 which includes changing the operating frequency of the converter control signals and the configuration of the transmitter resonant circuit 125 as well (as the configuration of the receiver resonant circuit 130). In particular, if while operating in state SI, the duty cycle falls below a lower threshold )i _ow , the controller circuit may transition to the second state S2.

[0Q33] It will be understood that the controller circuit may operate in the second state S2 while the duty cycle stays within the specified operating range. When, however, the duty cycle again transitions to outside the specified operating range, the controller circuit may make another state change. In particular, the controller circuit 140 may transition back to the first state SI when the duty cycle exceeds an upper threshold Ohigh or may transition to a third state S3 when the duty cycle drops below the lower threshold D _/ow .

[0034] Still referring to FIG. 4, the controller circuit 140 may remain in the state S while the duty cycle remains within the specified operating range. When, the duty cycle transitions outside the specified operating range past either one of the thresholds shown in FIG- 5, the controller circuit 140 may change to a fourth state S4 or may transition back to the second state S2 as shown in FIG. 4. Still further, once in the fourth state S4, the controller circuit may remain there while the duty cycle remains within the specified operating range but may transition back to the third state S3 if the duty cycle transitions outside the specified operating range past either the lower threshold Ohw, or the high threshold Ohigh-

[Q035] Although four states are shown in FIG. 4, any number of states can be used. Still further, although the threshplds shown for each of the states S1-S4 are the same, it will be understood that the thresholds used in each of the states may be different in some embodiments according to the invention.

[0036] FIG. ^ is a graphical representation of a series of simulated exemplary power curves corresponding to operation of the wireless power transfer apparatus 100 configured using appropriate components. Referring to FIGS. 6, a power curve A corresponds to operations of the wireless power transfer apparatus 100 with a coupling coefficient of 0.33 between the transmitter and receiver coils so that the converter circuit 120 operates at 20kHz and the configurations of the transmitter resonant circuit 125 and the receiver resonant circuit 130 are both 20kHz. The operation reflected by curve A illustrates that the wireless power transfer occurs within the specified efficiency which is reflected by the output power W at the rated load R/ _oai/ . When the gap between the transmitter and receiver coils increases, the coupling ratio decreases to 0.1 resulting in an efficiency that falls below the specified efficiency at the rated load Ri _oa d.

[0037] In response, the controller circuit 140 can change the operating frequency of the converter control signals to 4QkHz, and change the configuration of the transmitter resonant circuit 125 and the receiver resonant circuit 130 to each have a configuration that has a resonant frequency of about 40kHz, which is reflected by the curve C. The change in the frequency of converter control signals to about 40kHz is responsive to the duty cycle falling below the lower threshold Di _PW while trying to reduce the power curve from power curve B back to power curve A at a coupling value of 0.1. As shown by curve C, the power curve drops relative to curve B, illustrating an increase in the efficiency of the wireless power transfer at the rated load Ri _oa d- Still further, the loop control circuit 150 can modify the duty cycle of the converter control signals to further reduce the power curve to power curve D back to the required output voltage/power at R _/0fli/ despite the coupling ratio still remaining at 0.1. It will be understood that the efficiency of the wireless power transfer apparatus 100 illustrated by FIG. 6 is increased by about 9% by carrying out the operations shown therein in some embodiments.

[0038] As described herein, in some embodiments according to the invention, a wireless power transfer can be provided by changing an operating frequency of an AC excitation circuit, such as a converter circuit, and changing the configuration of a resonant circuit in response to a change in an indicated efficiency of the wireless power transfer relative to a specified efficiency for the wireless power transfer. For example, a wireless power transfer circuit can be specified to deliver a particular power to a load in response to a given input voltage.

[0039] The wireless power should also be transferred to the load at a specified efficiency, such as more than 96% in some applications. When, however, the spacing between the transmitter and receiver coils changes or the load changes, the wireless transfer efficiency can be reduced. As appreciated by the present Inventors, when there is an indication that the efficiency of the wireless power transfer has changed, a controller circuit can change the operating frequency of the converter circuit, as well as change the

configuration of a resonant circuits, in order to increase the efficiency of the wireless power transfer.

[0040] As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present disclosure may be illustrated and described herein in any of a number of patentable classes or contexts including any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof. Accordingly, aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented entirely hardware, entirely software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or combining software and hardware implementation that may all generally be referred to herein as a "circuit," "module," "component," or "system." Furthermore, aspects of the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product comprising one or more computer readable media having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

[0041] Any combination of one or more computer readable media may be used. The computer readable media may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an appropriate optical fiber with a repeater, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0042] A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Program code embodied on a computer readable signal medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0043] Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Scala,

Smalltalk, Eiffel, JADE, Emerald, C++, C#, VB.NET, Python or the like, conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language, Visual Basic, Fortran 2003, Perl, COBOL 2002, PHP, ABAP, dynamic programming languages such as Python, Ruby and Groovy, or other programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider) or in a cloud computing environment or offered as a service such as a Software as a Service (SaaS).

[Q044] Aspects of the present disclosure are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, circuits and articles of manufacture including computer readable code according to embodiments of the disclosure. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor or controller circuit of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable instruction execution apparatus, create a mechanism for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

[0Q45] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that when executed can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions when stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which when executed, cause a computer to implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable instruction execution apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatuses or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. [0046] In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed exemplary embodiments of the inventive subject matter. Although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the inventive subject matter being defined by the following claims.