AND WIRELESS POWER SYSTEM INCLUDING THE SAME

Background

The present disclosure relates to a wireless power transmitting apparatus and a wireless power system including the same.

Summary

The wireless power transmission system refers to technology for wirelessly transmitting power in space. The wireless power transmission system is applicable not only to normal home appliances but also to handheld and portable devices or etc. When the wireless power transmission system is employed, convenience in supplying power can be enhanced.

However, the wireless power transmission system may be poorer in efficiency in power transmission than a wire power transmission system. Therefore, various technologies for enhancing efficiency in power transmission of the wireless power transmission system have been suggested.

Meanwhile, the wireless power transmission system may be applied to a portable device or etc. as described above, and the effect resulting therefrom may be enhanced as a wireless power transmitting apparatus or a wireless power receiving apparatus constituting the wireless power transmission system has a smaller volume. Therefore, various technologies for minimizing the volume of the wireless power transmitting apparatus and the wireless power receiving apparatus have been suggested.

Accordingly, one technical object to be solved by the present disclosure is to provide technology for enhancing efficiency of a wireless power transmission system. In addition, another technical object to be solved by the present disclosure is to provide technology for minimizing respective volumes of a wireless power transmitting apparatus and a wireless power receiving apparatus constituting a wireless power transmission system.

However, the objectives that are intended to be addressed by the present disclosure are not limited to those mentioned above, and other objectives that are not mentioned above may be clearly understood to those skilled in the art based on the description provided below.

According to one embodiment, a wireless power transmitting apparatus may wirelessly supply power to a wireless power receiving apparatus, and may include: a sensor unit configured to detect a magnetic force of a first magnetic substance included in the wireless power receiving apparatus; a power supply unit configured to supply power when the magnetic force of the first magnetic substance is detected; a wireless power transmitting unit configured to transmit power supplied by the power supply unit to a wireless power receiving unit of the wireless power receiving apparatus in a wireless method; and an attachment unit configured to be attached to the first magnetic substance by the magnetic force. The wireless power transmitting unit and the wireless power receiving unit may be arranged to face each other when the first magnetic substance and the attachment unit are attached to each other.

In addition, the attachment unit may include a second magnetic substance.

In addition, the sensor unit may be a hall sensor.

In addition, the power supply unit may further include a manual switch unit which is configured to control to transmit power from the power supply unit to the wireless power transmitting unit or not to transmit the power.

In addition, the power supply unit may include: a direct current power unit; and a switching circuit unit configured to, when the magnetic force of the first magnetic substance is detected by the sensor unit, perform a switching operation to convert a direct current supplied by the direct current power unit into an alternating current, and to provide the alternating current to the wireless power transmitting unit.

In addition, the wireless power transmitting unit may transmit power using any one of a magnetic induction method, a magnetic resonance method, or a capacitive method as the wireless method.

In addition, the wireless power transmitting unit may include a transmitting coil unit which is formed by winding a wire.

In addition, the wireless power transmitting unit may further include an insulator which surrounds the wire.

In addition, the wireless power transmitting apparatus may further include a transmitting side housing which is wound by the wire.

A wireless power system including a wireless power receiving apparatus and a wireless power transmitting apparatus is provided, and the wireless power receiving apparatus may include: a first magnetic substance; and a wireless power receiving unit configured to receive power from the wireless power transmitting apparatus in a wireless method. The wireless power transmitting apparatus may include: a sensor unit configured to detect a magnetic force of the first magnetic substance; a power supply unit configured to supply power when the magnetic force of the first magnetic substance is detected; a wireless power transmitting unit configured to transmit power supplied by the power supply unit to the wireless power receiving unit in the wireless method; and an attachment unit which is configured to be attached to the first magnetic substance, and the wireless power transmitting unit and the wireless power receiving unit may be arranged to face each other when the first magnetic substance and the attachment unit are attached to each other. In addition, any one of a magnetic induction method, a magnetic resonance method, or a capacitive method may be employed as the wireless method.

In addition, the attachment unit may include a second magnetic substance.

In addition, the sensor unit may be a hall sensor.

In addition, the power supply unit may further include a manual switch unit which is configured to control to transmit power from the power supply unit to the wireless power transmitting unit or not to transmit the power.

In addition, the power supply unit may include: a direct current power unit; and a switching circuit unit configured to, when the magnetic force of the first magnetic substance is detected by the sensor unit, perform a switching operation to convert a direct current supplied by the direct current power unit into an alternating current, and to provide the alternating current to the wireless power transmitting unit.

In addition, the wireless power transmitting unit may further include a transmitting coil unit which is formed by winding a wire.

In addition, the wireless power transmitting unit may further include an insulator which surrounds the wire.

In addition, the wireless power transmitting apparatus may further include a transmitting side housing which is wound by the wire.

In addition, the wireless power receiving unit may include a receiving coil unit which is formed by winding a wire.

In addition, the wireless power receiving unit may further include an insulator which surrounds the wire.

In addition, the wire may have a length in a predetermined direction longer than a length in a direction perpendicular to the direction when viewed from a cross section of the wire.

In addition, the wire may be wound around a housing of an electric device which is driven by power received from the wireless power receiving unit.

In addition, the wireless power receiving apparatus may further include a magnetic material unit which is arranged between the receiving coil unit and the housing.

In addition, the wireless power receiving apparatus may further include an adhering member which is arranged between the receiving coil unit and the magnetic material unit to make the receiving coil unit and the magnetic material unit adhere to each other.

According to one embodiment, since the wireless power transmitting apparatus transmits power when detecting the wireless power receiving apparatus, power of the wireless power transmitting apparatus can be saved. In addition, a magnetic material unit may be arranged between the receiving coil unit and the electric device. In this case, efficiency in wireless power transmission may be higher than a case in which the magnetic material unit is not arranged between the receiving coil unit and the electric device.

In addition, the switching operation of the wireless power transmitting apparatus, that is, the operation of converting direct current power into alternating current power, is performed only when the wireless power receiving apparatus approaches the wireless power transmitting apparatus. Therefore, an unnecessary switching operation of the wireless power transmitting apparatus can be prevented in advance.

In addition, the relative arrangement locations of the receiving coil unit and the transmitting coil unit may be aligned with each other by a force of magnetic attraction, and accordingly, efficiency in wireless power transmission can be enhanced.

Brief Description of the Drawings

FIG. 1 is a view conceptually showing a wireless power system according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of a circuit of the wireless power system shown in

FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a cross section of a wire and an insulator constituting a transmitting coil unit of a wireless power transmitting unit shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of a housing for an electric device shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a cross section of the housing for the electric device taken on line A-A' in FIG. 4 when a receiving coil unit, a magnetic material unit, and an adhering member are arranged in the housing for the electric device shown in FIG. 4 according to one example.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a cross section of the housing for the electric device taken on line A-A' in FIG. 4 when the receiving coil unit, the magnetic material unit, and the adhering member are arranged in the housing for the electric device shown in FIG. 4 according to an example different from that of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a view showing results of simulating efficiency in wireless power transmission according to whether the magnetic material unit is arranged between the electric device and the receiving coil unit or not.

FIG. 8 is a view conceptually showing arrangements of the transmitting coil unit of the wireless power transmitting apparatus and the receiving coil unit of the wireless power receiving apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 9 is a view showing a structure of a mask employing the wireless power system according to one embodiment when viewed from a side surface.

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of the mask shown in FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a view showing a shape of a fan module shown in FIG. 9.

FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view showing a portion of the fan module shown in

FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is a view showing the shape of the wireless power transmitting apparatus shown ^'

FIG. 9. Detailed Description

Exemplary embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings to clarify advantages and features, and achieving method thereof of the present disclosure. The exemplary embodiments may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth herein. Rather, the exemplary embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the application to those of ordinary skill in the art. The present disclosure is merely defined by the scope of the claims.

In the following description, detailed descriptions of well-known functions or

configurations will be omitted since they would unnecessarily obscure the subject matters of the present disclosure. Also, the terms used herein are defined according to the functions of the present invention. Thus, the terms may vary depending on users' or operators' intentions or practices.

Therefore, the terms used herein should be understood based on the descriptions made herein.

FIG. 1 is a view systematically showing a wireless power system according to one embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of a circuit of the wireless power system shown in FIG. 1. However, FIGS. 1 and 2 are merely exemplary drawings and the technical concept of the present disclosure should not be interpreted as being limited to the illustrations of

FIGS. 1 and 2.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the wireless power system includes a wireless power receiving apparatus 100 and a wireless power transmitting apparatus 200. In addition, an electric device 300 refers to various apparatuses that are driven by receiving power from the wireless power receiving apparatus 100.

The electric device 300 will be described first. The electric device 300 may include a housing 310 for the electric device, an operation unit 320, a power receiving unit 330, or a case 340 as its elements. From among these, the operation unit 320 may include a material such as a nonmetallic material such as copper or metal. In addition, the electric device 300 may not include at least one of the above-described elements or may further include an element which is not illustrated.

From among these, the power receiving unit 330 refers to a means for connecting the wireless power receiving apparatus 100 and the electric device 300. The electric device 300 receives power from the wireless power receiving apparatus 100 through the power receiving unit 330. The power receiving unit 330 may be a connection cable connecting the wireless power receiving apparatus 100 and the electric device 300, for example.

The operation unit 320 is configured to be driven by power, and in this case, power may be received from the wireless power receiving apparatus 100 through the power receiving unit 330. In one embodiment, the operation unit 320 may include, for example, a fan unit or a sensor unit which includes various sensors. In this case, the fan unit may include a fan and a driver for driving the fan, and in this case, the sensor unit may include a plurality of sensors and a driver for driving these sensors. From among these, the fan unit will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12.

The housing 310 for the electric device is configured to be wound by a wire. The wire is wound around the housing 310 for the electric device, thereby forming a receiving coil unit 111 which constitutes a wireless power receiving unit 110 of the wireless power receiving apparatus 100. The housing 310 for the electric device and the receiving coil unit 111 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

The case 340 refers to a configuration that has the operation unit 320, the power receiving unit 330, and the housing 310 for the electric device described above mounted therein.

Although such an electric device 300 is implemented as an independent configuration from the wireless power receiving apparatus 100 as shown in FIG. 1, the electric device 300 may be implemented to be combined with the wireless power receiving apparatus 100 according to an embodiment. A device which is implemented in the form of a combination of the electric device 300 and the wireless power receiving apparatus 100 may be referred to as a portable device. An example of the portable device may be a fan module, and this will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 13.

The wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 is configured to transmit power in a wireless method. The wireless method may employ any one of, for example, a magnetic resonance method, a magnetic induction method, or a capacitive method, but is not limited thereto. The wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 may include a wireless power transmitting unit 210 and a power supply unit 230, and according to an exemplary embodiment, may further include a transmitting side housing 220, an attachment unit 240, or a sensor unit 250 or may not include the sensor unit 250. From among these, the power supply unit 230 may include a direct current power unit 231, a switching circuit unit 232, or a manual switch unit 233.

The direct current power unit 231 may include a battery 23 lb for providing direct current power, and a charging unit (battery charging circuit) 23 la for charging the battery 23 lb. Herein, the charging unit 23 la may receive input of power from an external input power 500, and may charge the battery 23 lb. The battery 23 lb may be attachable to or detachable from the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 according to an exemplary embodiment.

The switching circuit unit 232 may include an element that is connected to the direct current power unit 231 to convert direct current power (current) provided by the direct current power unit 231 into alternating current power (current). The switching circuit unit 232 may include a switching element such as a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET), and a pulse width modulation (PWM) IC or a capacitor Ci applying a signal to the switching element. Herein, a detailed process in which the switching element is driven by the PWM IC is well-known technology and thus a detailed description thereof is omitted. Meanwhile, the switching circuit unit 232 may perform the above-described converting operation while a magnetic force is detected by the sensor unit 250, and this will be described in detail below with the sensor unit 250.

The manual switch unit 233 may include a switch which is arranged between the direct current power unit 231 and the switching circuit unit 232, and a toggle button as a button for controlling a switching operation of the switch. Herein, the toggle button is merely an example of a button. The direct current power unit 231 and the switching circuit unit 232 may be connected with each other or disconnected from each other by the above-described switch according to whether the manual switch unit 233 is turned on/off, and accordingly, power supplied by the direct current power unit 231 may be provided to the switching circuit unit 232 or may not be provided. In one embodiment, a user may control power supply to the wireless power transmitting apparatus using the manual switch unit 233.

The wireless power transmitting unit 210 may include a transmitting coil unit Li 211. The transmitting coil unit 211 is configured to receive alternating current power from the switching circuit unit 232 of the power supply unit 230 and wirelessly transmit the alternating current power. The transmitting coil unit 211 refers to a wire allowing a current to flow therethrough being wound in a circular, cylindrical, or spiral pattern one or more times. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a cross section of the wire or etc. will be described hereinafter with reference to FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a cross section of a wire 211a and an insulator 211b constituting the transmitting coil unit 211. Referring to FIG. 3, the wire 211a may be surrounded by the insulator 211b. In addition, when viewed from the cross section of the wire 211a and the insulator 21 lb, a length in a predetermined direction (for example, a width in FIG. 3) may be longer than a length in a direction perpendicular to the predetermined direction (for example, a height in FIG. 3). In one embodiment, the wire 211a may be manufactured by pressing a wire having a circular cross section to have a rectangular cross section. In this case, as shown in FIG. 3, the cross section of the wire 211a may have a rectangular shape having rounded or curved corners. Alternatively, the cross section of the wire 211a may have a rectangular shape having angular corners.

Meanwhile, the shape of the cross section of the wire 211a and the insulator 211b shown in FIG. 3 may be equally applied to the receiving coil unit 111 constituting the wireless power receiving unit 110 of the wireless power receiving apparatus 100.

Referring back to FIGS. 1 and 2, the attachment unit 240 may include a magnetic substance (which may be referred to as a second magnetic substance) or a metallic material which reacts to a magnetic force.

The sensor unit 250 may detect whether the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 and the wireless power receiving apparatus 100 are positioned within a predetermined distance. For example, the sensor unit 250 may detect whether the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 is positioned within a distance to allow power wirelessly transmitted by the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 to reach the wireless power receiving apparatus 100, and may start an operation of the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200.

In one embodiment, the sensor unit 250 may be a sensor that detects a magnetic force radiated from a magnetic substance when the magnetic substance is positioned within the predetermined distance, and may be a hall sensor, for example. For example, the sensor unit 250 may detect a magnetic force of a first magnetic substance 140 included in the wireless power receiving apparatus 100. That is, when the wireless power receiving apparatus 100 approaches the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200, the sensor unit 250 may detect the magnetic force of the first magnetic substance 140 included in the wireless power receiving apparatus 100.

The sensor unit 250 may be connected with the switching circuit unit 232 of the power supply unit 230 to provide a signal for turning on the switching circuit unit 232 to the switching circuit unit 232 while detecting the magnetic force of the first magnetic substance 140. That is, the switching circuit unit 232 may perform a switching operation while the magnetic force of the first magnetic substance 140 is detected by the sensor unit 250. According to an exemplary

embodiment, the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 may be implemented not to include the sensor unit 250. In one embodiment, the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 may be positioned within the predetermined distance from the wireless power transmitting apparatus 100, and may be controlled to supply power to the wireless power receiving apparatus 100 by operating the manual switch unit 233. For example, the switching circuit unit 232 of the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 may perform the above-described switching operation only when the manual switch unit 233 connects the switching circuit unit 232 and the direct current power unit 231.

The transmitting side housing 220 may be a case in which the wireless power transmitting unit 210, the power supply unit 230, the attachment unit 240, or the sensor unit 250 described above are mounted. According to one embodiment, the transmitting coil unit 211 of the wireless power transmitting unit 210 may be mounted inside the transmitting side housing 220 along the border of the transmitting side housing 220, and an example of this will be described in FIG. 13.

The wireless power receiving apparatus 100 may include the wireless power receiving unit

110 and a magnetic material unit 120. According to one embodiment, the wireless power receiving apparatus 100 may further include an adhering member 130 or the first magnetic substance 140.

The wireless power receiving unit 110 is configured to receive power from the transmitting coil unit 211 of the wireless power transmitting unit 210 in a wireless method. The wireless method may employ any one of, for example, a magnetic resonance method, a magnetic induction method, or a capacitive method, but is not limited thereto.

The wireless power receiving unit 110 may include the receiving coil unit 111 and a rectifying unit 112 or a capacitor C2.

The receiving coil unit 111 refers to a wire being wound in a circular, cylindrical, or spiral pattern one or more times. The receiving coil unit 111 may be configured the same as the transmitting coil unit 211 shown in FIG. 3 according to an exemplary embodiment. That is, the receiving coil unit 111 may include a wire and an insulator surrounding the wire (the wire and the insulator of the receiving coil unit are omitted in the drawings), and the cross-sectional shapes of the wire and the insulator may be the same as those illustrated in FIG. 3. The receiving coil unit

111 may receive power from the transmitting coil unit 211 constituting the wireless power transmitting unit 210 of the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 in the wireless method.

The rectifying unit 112 is configured to receive alternating current power (current) from the receiving coil unit 111 and to rectify it into direct current power (current). The direct current power rectified at the rectifying unit 112 may be provided to the electric device 300. Herein, the configuration of the rectifying unit 112 is the same as that well known and thus a detailed description is omitted.

The magnetic material unit 120 refers to a material having magnetism. In addition, the adhering member 130 refers to a member having adhesion. The magnetic material unit 120 and the adhering member 130 may be arranged in or attached to the housing 310 for the electric device with the receiving coil unit 111, and this will be described with reference to FIGS . 4 and 5.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an exemplary shape of the housing 310 for the electric device shown in FIG. 1. In addition, FIG. 5 is a view showing a cross section taken on line A-A' in FIG. 4 when the magnetic material unit 120, the adhering member 130, and the receiving coil unit 111 are arranged in the housing 310 for the electric device shown in FIG. 4.

Referring to FIG. 4, the housing 310 for the electric device may have a recess formed along an outer circumference surface 312 thereof. Referring to FIG. 5, the magnetic material unit 120, the adhering member 130, and the receiving coil unit 111 may be stacked in this recess in sequence in a vertical direction. Herein, the adhering member 130 may provide adhesion between the magnetic material unit 120 and the receiving coil unit 111. Alternatively, in one embodiment, the receiving coil unit 111 may be arranged in the housing 310 without the adhering member 130. The wire surrounded by the insulator is wound around the recess of the housing 310 for the electric device multiple times while being stacked in a vertical direction (a direction perpendicular to a surface of the recess) and/or horizontal direction as shown in FIG. 5, thereby forming the receiving coil unit 111. In this case, the cross section of the wire and the insulator may have a rectangular shape whose length in one direction is longer than a length in a direction perpendicular to the one direction as shown in FIG. 3. Accordingly, when the cross section of the wire surrounded by the insulator is rectangular, the wire may be stacked on the recess of the housing 310 for the electric device more densely without an empty space, and may be wound around the housing 310 for the electric device more times than when the cross section of the wire is circular.

FIG. 5 merely exemplarily illustrates an arrangement structure of the magnetic material unit 120, the adhering member 130, and the receiving coil unit 111 which are stacked in the housing 310 for the electric device. Referring to FIG. 6, according to an exemplary embodiment, the magnetic material unit 120 may be attached to or arranged on an inner circumference surface 313 of the housing 310 for the electric device through an adhering member 130b, and the receiving coil unit 111 may be stacked on the outer circumference surface 312 of the housing 310 for the electric device through an adhering member 130a in a vertical and/or horizontal direction.

However, according to one embodiment, unlike in FIG. 6, any one of the magnetic material unit 120 and the receiving coil unit 111 may be arranged in the housing 310 for the electric device without at least one adhering member 130a, 130b.

Meanwhile, the housing 310 for the electric device may provide an empty accommodation space 311 which is surrounded by the inner circumference surface 313. The accommodation space 311 may accommodate the electric device 300 or a portion of the elements of the electric device 300, for example, the operation unit 320 therein. The following description will be made based on the assumption that the electric device 300 is accommodated in the accommodation space 311.

When the electric device 300 including a metallic material is accommodated in the accommodation space 311 of the housing 310 for the electric device, and the receiving coil unit 111 is arranged to surround the electric device 300, efficiency in wireless power transmission may be different according to whether the magnetic material unit 120 is arranged between the electric device 300 and the receiving coil unit 111 or not. This will be described with reference to FIG. 7.

FIG. 7 is a view showing results of experimenting the efficiency in wireless power transmission in each of the above-described cases. The left view (a) of FIG. 7 illustrates the result of the experiment when the magnetic material unit 120 is not arranged between the receiving coil unit 111 and the electric device 300. In addition, the right view (b) illustrates the result of the experiment when the magnetic material unit 120 is arranged between the receiving coil unit 111 and the electric device 300.

Referring to FIG. 7, the intensity of magnetic field around the transmitting coil unit 211 and the receiving coil unit 111 is different between the left view (a) and the right view (b), and the efficiency in wireless power transmission is 3.4% in the left view (a), whereas the efficiency of wireless power transmission is 15.2% in the right view (b). Accordingly, when the receiving coil unit 111 is configured to surround the electric device 300, the arrangement of the magnetic material unit 120 between the receiving coil unit 111 and the electric device 300 may make the efficiency in wireless power transmission higher than would otherwise be the case.

Meanwhile, the right view (b) of FIG. 7 illustrates the result of the experiment when a magnetic material unit is also attached to the transmitting coil unit 211. However, the intensity of magnetic field and the efficiency in wireless power transmission when the magnetic material unit is not attached to the transmitting coil unit 211 may be the same as those illustrated in the right view (b) of FIG. 7.

The housing 310 for the electric device will be described in detail. According to an exemplary embodiment, the housing 310 for the electric device may be formed of a magnetic material or may include a magnetic material. For example, the housing 310 for the electric device may be formed by mixing resin and powder consisting of a magnetic material and then jetting this mixture. In this embodiment, the wireless power receiving apparatus 100 may not include the magnetic material unit as a separate element.

Meanwhile, since the receiving coil unit 111 is configured to surround the electric device 300, the receiving coil unit 111 does not occupy a separate space in the wireless power receiving apparatus 100. Accordingly, the wireless power receiving apparatus 100 including such receiving coil unit 111 may be implemented to have a small volume.

Referring back to FIGS. 1 and 2, the wireless power receiving apparatus 100 may include the first magnetic substance 140. The first magnetic substance 140 may include a magnetic material. A force of magnetic attraction may act between the first magnetic substance 140 and the attachment unit 240 included in the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200. That is, when the attachment unit 240 includes a magnetic substance having the opposite polarity to that of the first magnetic substance 140 or includes a metallic material reacting to the force of magnetic attraction of the first magnetic substance 140, the force of magnetic attraction formed between the first magnetic substance 140 and the attachment unit 240 may act between the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 and the wireless power receiving apparatus 100. The force of magnetic attraction may align a location of the transmitting coil unit 211 of the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 with a location of the receiving coil unit 111 of the wireless power receiving apparatus 100. This will be described in detail based on FIG. 8.

FIG. 8 is an exemplary view showing an arrangement relationship between the transmitting coil unit included in the wireless power transmitting apparatus and the receiving coil unit included in the wireless power receiving apparatus. Referring to FIG. 8, the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 may be arranged spaced from the wireless power receiving apparatus 100 by a distance d. Herein, the distance d may be a distance at which the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 and the wireless power receiving apparatus 100 can wirelessly transmit power to each other. In addition, the distance d may be maintained by the force of magnetic attraction between the first magnetic substance 140 and the attachment unit 240.

According to an exemplary embodiment, an area that the transmitting coil unit 211 of the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 occupies on a plane may be larger than an area that the receiving coil unit 111 of the wireless power receiving apparatus 100 occupies on a plane as shown in FIG. 8. In this case, let's assume that the receiving coil unit 111 included in the wireless power receiving apparatus 100 is projected toward the transmitting coil unit 211 included in the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200. In this case, the receiving coil unit 111 and the transmitting coil unit 211 may be arranged such that the border of the receiving coil unit 111 is included in the border of the transmitting coil unit 211.

Herein, the force of magnetic attraction between the first magnetic substance 140 and the attachment unit 240 may adjust or align the locations of the wireless power receiving apparatus

100 and the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 with each other. Accordingly, the receiving coil unit 111 and the transmitting coil unit 211 may be aligned to each other to face each other. For example, the receiving coil unit 111 and the transmitting coil unit 211 may be aligned such that the border of the receiving coil unit 111 is included in the border of the transmitting coil unit 211.

A comparison will be made between the case in which the border of the receiving coil unit

111 is included in the border of the transmitting coil unit 211 and the case in which the border of the receiving coil unit 111 is not included in the border of the transmitting coil unit 211. When the border of the receiving coil unit 111 is included in the border of the transmitting coil unit 211 , the efficiency in wireless power transmission may be higher than would otherwise be the case. Accordingly, for this reason, the receiving coil unit 111 and the transmitting coil unit 211 may be arranged to face each other such that one coil unit overlaps the other coil unit.

As described above, the electric device according to one embodiment may be

accommodated in the inner space which is formed by the receiving coil unit of the wireless power receiving apparatus. Therefore, the wireless power system which occupies a smaller volume than a related-art wireless power system, which requires a separate space for an electric device, can be provided.

In addition, a magnetic material unit may be arranged between the receiving coil unit and the electric device. In this case, the efficiency in wireless power transmission may be higher than the case in which a magnetic material unit is not arranged between the receiving coil unit and the electric device.

In addition, the switching operation of the wireless power transmitting apparatus, that is, the operation of converting direct current power into alternating current power, may be performed only when the wireless power receiving apparatus is positioned within the predetermined distance. Accordingly, an unnecessary switching operation of the wireless power transmitting apparatus can be prevented in advance.

Furthermore, relative arrangement locations of the receiving coil unit and the transmitting coil unit may be aligned by the force of magnetic attraction, and accordingly, the efficiency in wireless power transmission can be enhanced.

Meanwhile, the wireless power system according to one embodiment is applicable to various products or technologies. For example, the wireless power system is applicable to a mask, and hereinbelow, a mask to which the wireless power system described above is applied will be described.

FIG. 9 is a view showing a structure of a mask employing the wireless power system according to one embodiment when viewed from a side surface, and FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of the mask shown in FIG. 9.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, the mask 1000 may include a filter unit 400, a valve 400, and a valve case 430. The wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 and a fan module 100, 300 may be attached to the mask 1000. In one embodiment, the fan module 100, 300 may be a combination of the wireless power receiving apparatus 100 and the electric device 300.

The filter unit 400 shields a portion of a user's face, for example, nose, lip, or etc. from the outside. The filter unit 400 may have an opening 420 formed therein.

The valve 410 may operate to be opened or closed with reference to a hinge (not shown in the drawing) according to user's breathing as shown in FIG. 9, and may close or open the opening 420. Such valve 410 may be attached to the filter unit 400, but a structure for attaching the valve 410 to the filter unit 400 is omitted from the drawings for convenience of explanation.

The valve case 430 may provide a space in which the valve 410 is arranged. Such valve case 430 may be made of a plastic material, for example.

In FIG. 10, the illustration of the valve 410 arranged inside the valve case 430 is omitted for convenience of explanation.

The wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 may be attached to a surface of an exterior (the opposite side rather than the inside facing the face) of the filter unit 400 to provide power to the fan module 100, 300 in the wireless method. The fan module 100, 300 may be arranged in a space between the mask 1000 and the user's face, and may operate by being supplied with power from the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 in the wireless method.

FIG. 11 is a view showing the fan module 100, 300 shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, and FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view showing a portion of the fan module 100, 300 shown in FIG. 11. Referring to FIGS. 11 and 12, the fan module 100, 300 may include a portion of the configuration of the wireless power receiving apparatus 100 and the electric device 300. For example, the fan module 100, 300 may include the fan unit 320, the wire forming the receiving coil unit 111, or the housing 310 for the electric device (or referred to as the housing), and may include the case 340 and at least one first magnetic substance 140 according to an exemplary embodiment. In this case, the fan unit 320 may include a fan and a driver (not shown) for driving the fan.

The wire may be wound around the housing 310 for the electric device so as to surround the periphery of the fan unit 320, thereby forming the receiving coil unit 111. In addition, a magnetic material unit may be arranged between the receiving coil unit 111 and the fan unit 320 although it is not illustrated in the drawing. When the magnetic material unit is arranged, the efficiency in wireless power transmission may be higher than would otherwise be the case as described above.

The first magnetic substance 140 may provide a force of magnetic attraction with respect to the attachment unit 240 of the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200. Such force of magnetic attraction may attach the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 and the fan module 100, 300 to the filter unit 400, and also, may align the arrangement locations of the transmitting coil unit 211 of the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 and the receiving coil unit 111 included in the fan module 100, 300 with each other as described above.

FIG. 13 is a view showing the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. Referring to FIG. 13, the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 may include the transmitting side housing 220. The transmitting coil unit 211 may be arranged along the border of the transmitting side housing 220 to be included therein as shown in the drawing. The transmitting coil unit 211 may be arranged along the border of the transmitting side housing 220 to be included therein because the receiving coil unit 111 arranged at the opposite side with reference to the filter unit 400 is arranged along the border of the housing 310 for the electric device to be included therein. That is, the transmitting coil unit 211 may be arranged to face the receiving coil unit 111 of the wireless power receiving apparatus 100 with reference to the filter unit 400.

In addition, the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 may include the power supply unit 230, the attachment unit 240, or the sensor unit 250 although a detailed illustration thereof is omitted in FIG. 13, and their respective configurations are the same as those depicted in FIGS. 1 to 8 and thus a detailed description thereof is omitted.

Herein, the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 may be attached to the valve case

430 as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. For example, the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 may cover the valve case 430. In one embodiment, the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 and the fan module 100, 300 may be attached to the filter unit 400 by the force of magnetic attraction between the attachment unit 240 and the first magnetic substance 140 included therein, respectively. Accordingly, when the mask including the filter unit 400, the valve 410, and the valve case 430 is manufactured/sold as a single product, the wireless power transmitting apparatus 200 and the fan module 100, 300 described above may be applied to such a mask without making an additional mechanism change to the mask. That is, an electric device such as the fan module 100, 300 may be applied to a mask without changing a design of a related-art mask. In addition, since power is supplied to the electric device in the wireless method, the filter unit 400 is not required to have a separate hole for a power supply line to be connected to the electric device. The above description is merely exemplary description of the technical concept of the present disclosure, and various modifications and changes can be made by a person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, embodiments disclosed in the present disclosure are merely to describe the technical concept of the present disclosure rather than limiting it, and the scope of the technical concept of the present disclosure is not limited by these embodiments. The protection scope of the present disclosure should be defined by the appended claims, and all technical concepts included in the range equivalent thereto should be interpreted as being included in the right scope of the present disclosure.