WIRELESS ENERGY TRANSFER FOR RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES

[0001] 1. Field

[0002] This disclosure relates to wireless energy transfer to batteries and apparatus to accomplish such transfer.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] Energy or power may be transferred wirelessly using a variety of known radiative, or far-field, and non-radiative, or near-field, techniques as detailed, for example, in commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/613,686 published on May 6, 2010 as US 2010/010909445 and entitled “Wireless Energy Transfer Systems,” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/860,375 published on Dec. 9, 2010 as 2010/0308939 and entitled “Integrated Resonator-Shield Structures,” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/222,915 published on Mar. 15, 2012 as 2012/0062345 and entitled “Low Resistance Electrical Conductor,” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/283,811 published on ______ as ______ and entitled “Multi-Resonator Wireless Energy Transfer for Lighting,” the contents of which are incorporated by reference.

[0005] Resonators and electronics may be integrated or located next to batteries enabling wireless energy transfer to the batteries allowing wireless charging of the battery packs. With the addition of resonators and control circuitry, batteries and battery packs may wirelessly capture energy from a source and recharge without having to be precisely positioned in a charger. The wireless batteries and battery packs may be wirelessly recharged inside the host device from an external wireless power source without requiring that the device be physically plugged into an external energy supply.

[0006] However, resonators placed next to, near, or in close proximity to each other may interact or affect each other's parameters, characteristics, wireless energy transfer performance, and the like. When two or more batteries enabled for wireless energy transfer are placed near one another the resonators of each battery may interact reducing or affecting each batteries' ability to receive wireless energy. In a large number of devices batteries are placed in compartments that position batteries in close proximity to one another. In such devices, without special consideration the wireless enabled batteries may not be able to receive sufficient energy due to the perturbations on the resonators from other batteries. Thus what is needed is a wirelessly enabled battery that may be positioned in close proximity to other wirelessly enabled batteries.

[0007] A wireless energy transfer enabled battery includes a resonator. In one aspect the resonator is positioned asymmetrically in a battery sized enclosure such that when two wirelessly enabled batteries are placed in close proximity the resonators of the two batteries have low coupling.

[0008] In another aspect the battery enclosure may be shaped as a standard sized battery such as a AA, AAA, D and the like.

[0009] In yet another aspect the battery may include a rechargeable battery inside the battery sized package that may be recharged by the energy captured by the resonator. The resonator may be formed on a flexible substrate that wraps around the battery.

[0010] In an assembly of at least two resonator coils the resonator coils may be positioned to have week coupling between one another. The resonators coils may be integrated into separate battery structures and may be configured to receive energy wirelessly. In one specific aspect the resonators may have a quality factor Q of 100 or more.

[0011] In one specific aspect a wireless enabled battery may include a cylindrical battery sized enclosure having a first end and a second end with a positive terminal on the first end and the negative terminal on the second end. The wireless battery may include a resonator that forms loops that are coaxial with the cylindrical battery enclosure. The resonator is positioned asymmetrically in the enclosure such that the resonator has weak coupling to another resonator of another battery when the other battery is in near proximity with opposite orientation.

[0021] Resonators and electronics may be integrated or located next to batteries enabling wireless energy transfer to the batteries allowing wireless charging of the battery packs. With the addition of resonators and control circuitry, batteries and battery packs may wirelessly capture energy from a source and recharge without having to be precisely positioned in a charger. The wireless batteries and battery packs may be wirelessly recharged inside the host device from an external wireless power source without requiring that the device be physically plugged into an external energy supply.

[0022] FIG. 6 shows one example of a wireless battery comprising a magnetic resonator. The example battery comprises a resonator coil 606 wrapped around an optional block of magnetic material 608. The block of magnetic material 608 may be hollow and may house power and control circuitry (not shown) and optionally a rechargeable battery 604 which may be recharged by the energy captured by the magnetic resonator. The magnetic resonator may comprise inductors and capacitors and may comprise a coiled inductive element 606. In this example, the wireless battery is in the form factor 602 of a traditional AA battery and may be placed into devices which normally accept a traditional AA battery. The wireless AA battery may be charged from an external wireless energy source while in the device. In embodiments the wireless AA battery may capture energy from an external wireless energy source and deliver the power directly to the host device.

[0023] Wirelessly rechargeable batteries, such as the wireless AA battery shown in FIG. 6 may be placed in devices in multiple configurations. Some devices may need only a single battery while other devices may require two or more batteries which may be positioned in close proximity. Resonators in wireless batteries may therefore be required to operate individually or in close proximity to resonators in other batteries.

[0024] Resonators placed next to, near, or in close proximity to each other may interact or affect each other's parameters, characteristics, wireless energy transfer performance, and the like. Parameters such as inductance, resistance, capacitance, and the like of the resonators and components of the power and control circuitry of the resonator may be changed or affected when a resonator is placed in close proximity to another resonator. The effects on parameters of resonators and their power and control circuitry may affect the performance of the wireless energy transfer between the resonators in the wireless batteries and the external wireless energy source.

[0025] For example when a resonator is placed in close proximity to another resonator, the inductance of the resonator loop may be affected or perturbed. The change in inductance may perturb or detune the resonant frequency of the resonator compared to if the resonator was isolated or far away from any other resonator. Detuning of the resonant frequencies of resonators transferring energy may reduce the efficiency of wireless energy transfer. If the detuning of the frequencies is large enough, the efficiency of energy transfer may be degraded and may decrease by 10% or 50% or more. Although a change in inductance was used in this example, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that other changes in parameters of the resonator due to proximity of other resonators may also affect the performance of wireless energy transfer.

[0026] In applications where wireless batteries are placed in close proximity for charging or powering devices, the proximity of resonators of neighboring batteries may affect the parameters of the resonators, affecting their ability to receive energy from an external wireless energy source (i.e. reducing the amount of power or efficiency of wireless energy transfer). In embodiments it may be desirable to have a cluster or a number of resonators in near proximity without impacting or minimally impacting the parameters of wireless energy transfer to each of the individual resonators or to the resonator ensemble.

[0027] In some embodiments it may be desirable to have resonators operate and transfer energy with similar parameters when a resonator is far away from other resonators or other wireless batteries as when in close proximity with other resonators of other wireless batteries. In the case of wireless batteries, for example, some devices may use only one wireless battery while other devices may use two or more wireless batteries arranged in close proximity. In embodiments it may be preferable if the same wireless battery could receive energy from an external source with substantially the same performance and parameters when a single battery is charged as when a cluster or a pack of batteries positioned in close proximity are charged.

[0028] The inventors have discovered several methods and designs for maintaining the parameters of wireless energy transfer when a wireless battery is charged alone or in a group in close proximity with other wireless batteries. In some embodiments, the wireless batteries may include an active tuning capability to maintain their parameters and compensate for any perturbations that may be caused by other resonators in close proximity. In other embodiments the resonators in wireless batteries may be statically tuned to compensate for perturbations due to the resonators of other wireless batteries in close proximity. In another embodiment, the resonators in the wireless batteries may be positioned to reduce or minimize the perturbations on the resonators of neighboring batteries even when they are in close proximity.

[0029] In some embodiments, resonators and resonators assemblies may be designed and tuned to function in close proximity to other resonators. Resonators or resonator assemblies may be designed or tuned to have the desired parameters when in the near proximity of other resonators. For example, resonators and resonator assemblies may be designed and pre-tuned such that any perturbations due to the proximity of another resonator perturbs the parameters of the pre-tuned resonator to the desired value and/or operating point. In embodiments, a device resonator may be pre-tuned to have a resonant frequency that is lower than a source resonator when it is by itself but that may increase to match the source resonator frequency when another resonator of another wireless battery is brought close to the device resonator. The parameters of a resonator may be pre-tuned such that the parameter values are lower or higher than the desired or optimal parameters for energy transfer when the resonator is not in close proximity to other resonators. The parameters of a resonator may be pre-tuned such that a perturbation due to another resonator or another wireless battery in close proximity changes the non-optimal parameters of the resonator to the desired parameters and/or to optimal parameters.

[0030] Resonators in wireless batteries may be designed with a resonant frequency that is lower or higher than the desired operating frequency. The lower or higher frequency may be designed to differ from a desired operating frequency by the same amount that a perturbation due to another resonator is expected to cause. A resonator designed with an intrinsic resonant frequency may therefore reach a perturbed resonant frequency that is the desired operating frequency for the wireless power system.

[0031] A cluster of wireless batteries, each with its resonator detuned from the desired operating frequency when in isolation may be placed together in a pack or arranged in close proximity. The perturbations caused by the resonators of other wireless batteries may detune each resonator to the desired parameters for wireless energy transfer allowing each resonator of each wireless battery to receive energy from an external source despite the perturbation.

[0032] Static detuning of resonators, pre-tuning, or tuning of resonators to compensate for some or any perturbations due to other resonators may be advantageous in applications where the relative position and configuration of different resonators is fixed, partially fixed, or relatively static. In an environment or application where the resonators and resonator assemblies may be arranged or positioned in more than one configuration relative to other resonators, the static tuning approach may result in non-constant characteristics of performance since one configuration may perturb the resonator differently than another configuration of resonators.

[0033] In another embodiment, resonators and resonator assemblies may be designed with an active tuning capability. In embodiments the resonator or resonator assembly inside wireless batteries may include tunable components that may adjust the parameters of the resonators and wireless energy transfer to maintain the parameters of wireless energy transfer in the presence of perturbations. Tunable components may include capacitors, inductors, amplifiers, resistors, switches, and the like, which may be continuously or periodically adjusted to maintain one or more wireless energy transfer parameters. For example, the resonant frequency of a resonator may be adjusted by changing the capacitance coupled to the resonator coil. When the resonator's resonant frequency is perturbed from its nominal value due to the presence of another resonator the resonant frequency may be adjusted by adjusting the capacitor. Active tuning may be used to compensate for different perturbations that may be caused by different orientations and positioning of the resonators.

[0034] In embodiments, active tuning of resonators in wireless batteries may allow a wireless battery to have similar parameters when it is used as a single battery in a device, as when in a cluster or pack of resonators wherein the parameters of the resonators may be perturbed by other resonators of the wireless batteries.

[0035] In embodiments resonators may be located in close proximity to one another with minimal or acceptable effect on resonator parameters if the resonators are designed and positioned to have weak coupling between each other. Resonators may be in close proximity with weak coupling if the resonators are oriented and positioned within or close to positions with low mutual inductance (“null spots”) or areas with low magnetic field amplitudes.

[0036] For example, consider two capacitively loaded loop resonators comprising concentric loops of a conducting material as the inductive elements of the resonators. When two such resonator loops are brought in close proximity in orientations and positions with strong coupling they will have an effect on each other's parameters. For example, if the resonator coils 102,104 are placed in close proximity and oriented coaxially as depicted in FIG. 1, the presence of the other resonator may affect the inductance of the resonator coil and may ultimately perturb its resonant frequency. However, resonator coils may be in close proximity with decreased perturbations by positioning and orienting the resonators such that they have weak coupling. For example, when the resonator coils 102, 104 are repositioned to be off center from one another as depicted in FIG. 2, their coupling coefficient and the strength of the perturbations may decrease. In another example, the two resonator coils may be positioned orthogonally to one another to reduce coupling and/or perturbations as depicted in FIG. 3. Positioning the two resonators such that they have low coupling with one another reduces the perturbations each resonator causes to the other. In the offset configuration of FIG. 2 or the orthogonal configuration of FIG. 3, the two resonators may be used to efficiently receive energy from an external energy source (not shown) without the need for static detuning or active tuning of the resonators to compensate for perturbations.

[0037] Similar positioning techniques may be used with other types or designs of resonators such as for planar resonator coils comprising electrical conductors 402 wrapped around blocks of magnetic material 404. When two such resonators 406, 408 are placed in close proximity as depicted in FIG. 4 they will have strong coupling and may perturb each other's parameters. However if the resonators 406, 408 are misaligned as depicted in FIG. 5, the coupling between the two resonators may decrease and the perturbations on the parameters of the resonators may also decrease.

[0038] In embodiments, to reduce the effects of perturbations on resonators in near proximity, the resonators may be purposefully positioned such that they have weak coupling. Resonators may generally have weak coupling in areas with low magnetic field strengths and it areas where the directionality of the flux lines crossing the inductive elements is varying. For example, in the resonator arrangement shown in FIG. 2, there exists a null in the coupling coefficient between the two resonators when the amount of flux generated from within one inductive element and crossing the other, is equal and opposite to the amount of flux generated outside of that one inductive element and crossing the other. Resonators with this type of positioning may be referred to as being in a “null spot” or “null region”. The exact location and orientation where resonators and resonator assemblies have weak coupling may be determined experimentally, numerically, analytically, and the like.

[0039] Placement of resonators in areas of weak coupling may allow a resonator to operate with similar performance and parameters when far away from other resonators as when in close proximity with other resonators without requiring static detuning and/or active tuning In embodiments placement of resonators in areas of weak coupling may allow a resonator to operate with similar performance and parameters when far away from other resonators as when in close proximity with other resonators with a reduced or limited tuning capability.

[0040] In embodiments, the positioning technique which reduces perturbations on resonators in near proximity to each other may decrease the required tuning range of the resonators with active tuning and may reduce the cost and complexity of such systems.

[0041] In many devices, batteries are fixed or oriented in a predictable configuration and/or orientation. In devices using AA batteries for example, multiple batteries are often arranged in parallel, and positioned next to one another with alternating polarities (the antiparallel configuration) of their terminals 702, 704 as shown in FIG. 7. The resonator of a AA battery may be designed with certain sizes, positions, and orientations within the battery to reduce or minimize the perturbations on the resonators inside the batteries when two or more batteries are placed in close proximity to one another in particular orientations.

[0042] To reduce perturbations, resonators coils 706 and magnetic materials 708 in batteries may be sized and positioned asymmetrically inside a battery such that when two batteries are positioned in close proximity with reversed polarities the two resonator coils 706, 712 are misaligned. The misalignment of the resonators may be designed such that when in close proximity to each other, and in the orientation shown in FIG. 7, the neighboring misaligned resonators are in the areas of weak coupling between one another similar to the structures depicted in FIGS. 2 and 5, and therefore may have reduced or small perturbations on the parameters of the resonators.

[0043] For example, the coupling factor plot versus asymmetry of one embodiment of resonator coils in an AA battery form factor is shown in FIG. 8 for the position and configuration of batteries shown on the right of FIG. 8. The plot shows the coupling factor, k, between two resonators as the offset (or misalignment) D between the resonator coils 802 and magnetic materials 804 is varied. Note that at approximately 1.3 mm of displacement, D, the coupling factor reaches zero. At this node point, or null point, or point of zero coupling, the parameters of the resonator are practically unaffected by the presence of the resonator in the neighboring battery. In this example, the resonant frequency of the resonators stayed substantially the same when the resonators were in the configuration shown in FIG. 8 as when they were separated from each other by significant distances. Likewise, when the resonators were displaced by 1.3 mm, there was very little change in the quality factors of the resonators when the batteries were in isolation (Q˜118) and in the configuration shown in FIG. 8 respectively (Q˜108).

[0044] The relatively asymmetric alignment of the resonators in the batteries allows the resonators to function and capture energy from an external source resonator with high efficiency in the configuration of multicell packs and in independent configurations where the batteries are not in near proximity to other resonators. Therefore, a single battery design may be used in multiple configurations with similar wireless energy transfer characteristics. Such a design is advantageous as it preserves at least one of the desirable characteristics of a known battery form factor such as a AA, which is the ability to place batteries in multiple positions within their host devices, and to know that battery performance is predictable in single-battery and multi-battery arrangements.

[0045] In some embodiments, multicell battery configurations may have other configurations than the one shown in FIG. 7. For example, in some applications all the batteries may be aligned with the same polarity such that all of the positive terminals are on the same side. The position and design of the batteries may be adapted to operate in these configurations.

[0046] In one embodiment, the batteries may come in two or more configurations depending on the orientation and position of batteries in the host device battery compartment. For example, in the configuration where all the batteries are aligned with the same polarity facing in one direction, two different battery configurations may be used. One type of battery may have the resonator coil 908 and magnetic material 912 positioned asymmetrically towards its positive terminal 910 while a second type of battery may have the resonator coil 904 and magnetic material 906 positioned asymmetrically towards the negative terminal 902 of the battery as shown in FIG. 9. In such embodiments, the batteries may comprise additional markings to distinguish them. For example, the batteries may be color coded or the end terminals may be shaped to indicate whether the batteries are designed to operate as positioned in FIG. 7 or as positioned in FIG. 9. One of ordinary skill in the art will understand that a variety of marking schemes may be used to distinguish the battery types, and that a number of battery types may be desirable to address common multi-cell configurations, orientations and positions. Alternating the batteries in a multi-cell configuration may allow the resonators to be in the weak coupling regions of other resonators when in close proximity to other resonators.

[0047] In other embodiments the position of the resonator may be adjustable allowing the user to position the resonator up or down on the battery. The resonator may be mounted on a movable sleeve for example with two positions. For multi-cell configurations with alternating orientations of batteries, the sleeves with the resonator may be all positioned on one end of the battery. For multi-cell configurations with the batteries all oriented in the same direction the position may be alternated for each alternate battery.

[0048] In other embodiments, batteries may be equipped with metallic and/or magnetic shields to prevent their interaction with neighboring batteries or devices. These shields may be oriented so as to prevent the presence of another battery from changing the resonant frequency of the first battery and vice versa. These shields may be asymmetric so that the user may rotate the batteries so as to shield from neighboring batteries, but not to shield from the power source.

[0049] In yet other embodiments batteries may have configurable or switchable polarities. In embodiments the positive and negative ends or terminals of a battery may be reversed. Resonator position and orientation inside batteries may be fixed in an asymmetric position and the relative position of the resonators in close proximity to one another may be alternated by rotating the batteries. The appropriate polarity of the terminals may be chosen depending on the requirement of the application with an adaptor, switch, and the like.

[0050] In embodiments, the batteries may comprise automatic positioning mechanisms that automatically move the resonators within the battery casing so that they are positioned for maximum energy transfer efficiency when in close proximity to other resonators. For example, the resonators may comprise permanent magnets that are positioned to repel each other and move the resonators of adjacent batteries away from each other. In other embodiments, the batteries may comprise field sensors, voltage sensors, current sensors, power sensors, and the like, and these sensors may be used in positioning systems to move the magnetic resonators within the battery structure to improve wireless power transfer efficiency. In yet other embodiment, the sensors may be used to give feedback to a user installing the batteries to twist or turn the battery packs, or somehow alter the relative positions and orientations to improve wireless energy transfer performance. In embodiments, sensors may be used to indicate to a user that certain battery configurations are problematic.

[0051] The asymmetrical positioning of resonators in batteries may be used in various battery styles and sizes. Although the example described an AA battery configurations those skilled in the art will appreciate that techniques may be adapted to any number of different battery styles and may be adapted to various arrangements of battery packs comprising multiple individual batteries.

[0052] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the techniques described limiting perturbations in batteries in close proximity may be used in many other applications. The techniques may be used in any applications where multiple device resonators may be placed in close proximity or in a proximity close enough that they can affect each other's parameters.

[0053] For example, multiple devices with wireless device resonators may need to be positioned to reduce the perturbations on other like devices in near proximity when multiple devices are placed on or near a wireless energy source. In embodiments the source may be configured to have slots, channels, markers, outlines, and the like that force or position multiple devices in positions and orientations where the resonators of each device has weak coupling to other device resonators in near proximity.

[0054] It is to be understood that close proximity or close to one another is not an absolute measure of distance but depends on the relative size of resonators, the types of resonators, their power transfer levels and the like. In embodiments, resonators may be considered in close proximity when they are separated by less than one characteristic size of the largest resonator in the system. In other embodiments, resonators may be considered in close proximity when they are separated by two or by three characteristic sizes of the largest resonator in the system. In some embodiments resonators may be considered to be in close proximity when the resonators are close enough to perturb each other's parameters to affect efficiency of wireless energy transfer by at least 5%.

[0055] It is to be understood that weak coupling as used in this disclosure does not refer to an absolute coupling metric but a relative coupling value. An area of weak coupling should be understood to be an area where the coupling is at least two times smaller than the largest possible coupling for the two resonators at the fixed separation distance.

[0056] While the invention has been described in connection with certain preferred embodiments, other embodiments will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art and are intended to fall within the scope of this disclosure, which is to be interpreted in the broadest sense allowable by law. For example, designs, methods, configurations of components, etc. related to transmitting wireless power have been described above along with various specific applications and examples thereof. Those skilled in the art will appreciate where the designs, components, configurations or components described herein can be used in combination, or interchangeably, and that the above description does not limit such interchangeability or combination of components to only that which is described herein.

[0057] All documents referenced herein are hereby incorporated by reference.