JP2018191358A - Contactless power supply control method - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a non-contact power feeding control method that achieves both foreign object detection and device layout deviation tolerance in a non-contact power feeding system that performs wireless communication and non-contact power feeding between a power transmitting device and a power receiving device. To do. Power transmission between a power transmission device and a power reception device is performed by wireless communication and contactless power supply. The power transmission device and the power reception device acquire attitude information and detect antenna facing information between the power transmission device and the power reception device. The power feeding is controlled according to the antenna facing information and the feeding efficiency used for non-contact feeding. [Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a contactless power supply control method for transmitting and receiving power without contact.

  Rechargeable secondary batteries are often used for batteries of electronic devices as batteries of electronic devices have been reduced in size, increased in output, and increased in capacity.

  As a means for charging secondary batteries of electronic devices, those using a dedicated charger and those that receive power supply from an external device in a wired manner and charge inside the electronic device main body have been common, but in recent years, power supply by electromagnetic waves In general, non-contact power feeding for charging in an electronic device main body has become common.

  In non-contact power feeding, electromagnetic waves radiated from the antenna of the power transmitting device on the power transmission side are received by the antenna of the power receiving device on the power receiving side, and power is transmitted and received, but power is transmitted and received depending on the distance and position between the antennas. May change. When the power transmitted and received decreases, there is a problem that the charging time is extended when the battery of the power receiving apparatus is charged.

  When a foreign object such as metal exists between the antenna of the power transmission device and the antenna of the power reception device, the power that can be received by the power reception device is lower than the power transmitted from the power transmission device due to the influence of the foreign material. Furthermore, depending on the material of the foreign matter, there is a problem that the foreign matter generates heat upon receiving the power transmitted from the power transmission device.

  When a part of the exterior material or the constituent material of the power receiving device is metal, the power that can be received by the power receiving device is lower than the power transmitted from the power transmitting device due to the influence of the material.

  There is a problem that a decrease in power that can be received due to the material of the power receiving device as described above and a decrease in power that can be received due to the influence of foreign matter are similar to each other and are difficult to distinguish.

  For this reason, in a system that transmits and receives power in a contactless manner between the power transmission device and the power reception device, a change in power transmission / reception power due to a change in the position of the power transmission device and the power reception device and the presence of foreign matter are detected. There is a need for a method of controlling non-contact power feeding.

  Patent Document 1 calculates a reference value of transmission efficiency at a relative position detected by a position detection unit that detects a relative position between a power transmission unit and a power reception unit, and when the transmission efficiency is less than the reference value The non-contact electric power feeder which controls the said power transmission part so that power transmission is stopped is proposed.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a non-contact power that continues power transmission when the transmission efficiency between the power transmission device and the power receiving device is higher than the threshold efficiency, and stops transmission when the transmission efficiency is lower than the threshold efficiency. A power receiving device for a transmission apparatus has been proposed that changes threshold efficiency based on information about a power transmitting device.

JP 2013-150430 A JP 2013-223301 A

  The non-contact power feeding device described in Patent Literature 1 is combined with the relative position detection between the power transmission unit and the power reception unit, and stops power transmission if the power transmission efficiency is less than a reference value. Therefore, the power transmission efficiency can be kept high.

  Since the power receiving device described in Patent Document 2 stops power transmission when the power transmission efficiency between the power transmitting device and the power receiving device is lower than the threshold based on the information of the power transmission device, a plurality of types of power transmission units and Power transmission in a state where the power transmission efficiency is low can be suppressed with a threshold value that matches the performance of the power receiving unit.

  In the methods described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, it is proposed to stop power transmission when the power transmission efficiency between the power transmission apparatus and the power reception apparatus is lower than a threshold value.

  However, since the above method stops power transmission according to the decrease in power transmission efficiency, the threshold for power transmission efficiency is naturally set high for foreign object detection that causes a decrease in power transmission efficiency. There is a possibility that the frequency of occurrence of power transmission stoppage increases in the case of deviation. In addition, there is a problem that the influence of some of the exterior materials and constituent materials of the power receiving device is not taken into consideration.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a non-contact power feeding system that performs wireless communication and non-contact power feeding between a power transmission device and a power receiving device. An object is to provide a compatible non-contact power feeding control method.

  In order to achieve the above object, a first invention of the present application includes a first wireless communication unit, a wireless power receiving unit, and a first attitude detecting unit, and is a power receiving unit on which a secondary battery can be attached. An apparatus, a second wireless communication unit capable of communicating with the power receiving device, and a wireless power transmission unit. The wireless power transmission unit transmits power to the power receiving device in a contactless manner, and the power of the power receiving device is In a non-contact power feeding system including a power transmitting device capable of charging a secondary battery, the power receiving device and the power transmitting device are configured to contactlessly transmit power by the wireless power receiving unit and the wireless power transmitting unit. After starting power transmission / reception, the first attitude detection means detects attitude information of the wireless power reception means, and at least the detection is performed by the first wireless communication means and the second wireless communication means. Wireless power reception The wireless communication for repeatedly transmitting device status information including the attitude information of the means and the power information received by the wireless power receiving means is repeatedly performed, and the power transmission device is based on the detected attitude information of the wireless power receiving means. Determining whether the wireless power receiving means and the wireless power transmitting means are within a normal position range, and whether to continue power transmission / reception in a non-contact manner according to a determination result of whether the wireless power receiving means is within the normal position range Changing the threshold setting of the power supply efficiency of the power being transmitted / received to determine whether the power is being transmitted or received.

  In order to achieve the above object, a second invention of the present application includes a first wireless communication unit, a wireless power reception unit, and a first attitude detection unit, and is a power reception unit to which a secondary battery can be attached. A second wireless communication unit capable of communicating with the power reception device, a wireless power transmission unit, and a second attitude detection unit, wherein the wireless power transmission unit transmits power to the power reception device in a contactless manner. And a power transmission device configured to charge a secondary battery of the power reception device with the power, wherein the power reception device and the power transmission device include the wireless power reception unit and the wireless power transmission unit. After the power transmission / reception is started without contact, the attitude information of the wireless power receiving means and the wireless power transmitting means is detected by the first attitude detecting means and the second attitude detecting means. The first wireless communication hand And the second wireless communication unit repeatedly perform wireless communication for transmitting apparatus status information including at least the detected attitude information of the wireless power receiving unit and the power information received by the wireless power receiving unit And the power transmission device determines whether the wireless power reception unit and the wireless power transmission unit are within a normal position range based on the detected position information of the wireless power reception unit and the wireless power transmission unit. , Changing the threshold setting of the power supply efficiency of the transmitted / received power for determining whether or not to continue the transmission / reception of the power in a non-contact manner according to the determination result as to whether it is within the normal position range .

  According to the present invention, in a non-contact power feeding system that performs wireless communication and non-contact power feeding between a power transmission device and a power receiving device, power feeding is controlled according to antenna facing information and power feeding efficiency, and foreign object detection and It is possible to provide a non-contact power feeding control method that achieves both tolerance of device displacement.

The flowchart which shows in parallel the relationship of the procedure which performs non-contact electric power feeding between the power transmission apparatus and power receiving apparatus which concern on 1st Embodiment. The block diagram which shows the structural example of the power transmission apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. The block diagram which shows the structural example of the power receiving apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the example of arrangement | positioning of the power transmission apparatus and power receiving apparatus which concern on 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the definition of the three-dimensional coordinate of the power transmission apparatus and power receiving apparatus which concern on 1st Embodiment. The example of the status information transmitted between the power transmission apparatus and power receiving apparatus at the time of non-contact electric power feeding which concerns on 1st Embodiment. The diagram which shows the example of the electric power feeding efficiency which permits non-contact electric power feeding which concerns on 1st Embodiment, and VSWR. The warning display example of the power transmission apparatus and power receiving apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. The flowchart which shows in parallel the relationship of the procedure which performs non-contact electric power feeding between the power transmission apparatus and power receiving apparatus which concern on 2nd Embodiment. The flowchart which shows in parallel the relationship of the procedure which performs non-contact electric power feeding between the power transmission apparatus and power receiving apparatus which concern on 3rd Embodiment.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The technical scope of the present invention is determined by the claims, and is not limited by the following individual embodiments. In addition, all combinations of features described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the present invention.

  In addition, the dimensions, shapes, relative arrangements, and the like of the component parts exemplified in the following embodiments should be changed as appropriate according to the configuration of the apparatus to which the present invention is applied and various conditions. However, the present invention is not limited to these examples.

[First Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, wireless communication and non-contact power transmission / reception are performed between the power transmission device and the power reception device, and a threshold value of power supply efficiency for permitting transmission / reception power is set based on attitude information of the power reception device. A method will be described.

  In the present invention, the power received by the power receiving device relative to the power transmitted by the power transmitting device is referred to as transmission / reception power or power feeding power, and the ratio between the power transmitted by the power transmitting device and the power received by the power receiving device is fed. Called efficiency.

  Note that FIG. 1 is the best representation of the first embodiment, but in order to make the explanation easier to understand, the first embodiment will be described from FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the power transmission device according to the present embodiment. In the block diagram used for the description of the present embodiment, power supply connections to blocks that are not necessary for the description of the present embodiment are omitted. Also, detailed descriptions of blocks and operations that are not necessary for the description of the present embodiment are omitted.

  In FIG. 2, a power transmission device 101 is a device capable of power transmission without contact with a counterpart device. The AC / DC conversion circuit 102 converts an AC voltage input from the outside of the power transmission apparatus 101 into a DC voltage. The output converted to DC by the AC / DC conversion circuit 102 is converted by the TX constant voltage circuit 103 into a voltage that can be supplied to the circuit block at the subsequent stage. The TX power supply IC 107 is a power supply IC for converting the voltage output of the TX constant voltage circuit 103 into a voltage that can be supplied to a subsequent digital low voltage system circuit block.

  A TX-CPU (Central Processing Unit) 108 is a CPU that controls the power transmission apparatus 101. In order to distinguish from a CPU described later, the CPU on the power transmission apparatus 101 side is referred to as TX-CPU. The TX-CPU 108 includes a RAM (Random Access Memory) used as a work area and a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores the processing procedure of the TX-CPU 108.

  The TX communication unit 109 is capable of short-range wireless communication with other devices, and performs control data communication for power transmission without contact. It is assumed that short-range wireless communication performed by the TX communication unit 109 is compatible with Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy, which is a short-range wireless standard.

  The TX communication matching circuit 155 is a circuit for performing impedance matching between the TX communication unit 109 and a TX communication antenna 156 described later. The TX communication matching circuit 155 may be a circuit that can be adjusted by the control of the TX-CPU 108 or a fixed constant circuit. Further, the TX communication matching circuit 155 is provided with a protection circuit so that an excessive voltage is not generated.

  The TX communication antenna 156 is an antenna that can perform short-range wireless communication with other devices. The TX antenna 156 is assumed to be an antenna having a resonance frequency in the vicinity of 2.4 GHz that is the UHF band, for example.

  The TX posture detection unit 162 is a posture detection unit that detects the arrangement state of the power transmission apparatus 101, and includes, for example, a three-dimensional acceleration sensor that can detect gravitational acceleration.

  The TX display unit 110 is a display unit that displays the status of the power transmission apparatus 101, and includes, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or an LED (Light Emitting Diode).

  The TX sound generation unit 111 is a sound generation unit that generates an operation sound or a warning sound of the power transmission apparatus 101, and includes, for example, a sound processing IC and a speaker.

  The TX wireless communication unit 112 is a wireless communication unit for performing wireless communication, and the antenna 113 is an antenna for performing wireless communication. The TX wireless communication unit 112 is assumed to support a wireless standard different from that of the TX communication unit 109. As an example, it is assumed that IEEE 802.11, which is a WLAN standard, is supported.

  The power transmission circuit 104 is a circuit for wirelessly transmitting power to the counterpart device, and mainly includes a transistor amplifier circuit and a crystal oscillation circuit.

  The TX matching circuit 105 is a circuit for performing impedance matching between the power transmission circuit 104 and a TX antenna 106 described later. The TX matching circuit 105 is a circuit that can be adjusted by the control of the TX-CPU 108. Further, the TX matching circuit 105 is provided with a protection circuit so that an excessive voltage is not generated when power is transmitted without contact.

  The reflected power detection circuit 161 is a reflected power detection circuit that detects a traveling wave and a reflected wave of power output from the TX antenna 106 of the power transmission apparatus 101 as a traveling wave voltage VF and a reflected wave voltage VR. It is composed of a vessel. Since the CM type directional coupler is a general circuit, description thereof is omitted.

  The traveling wave voltage VF and the reflected wave voltage VR detected by the reflected power detection circuit 161 are input to the TX-CPU 108, and the voltage reflection coefficient ρ is obtained by calculating with the expression 1, and further the voltage standing wave ratio VSWR with the expression 2. Can be sought.

The TX antenna 106 is an antenna that can transmit electric power to other devices without contact. The TX antenna 106 is assumed to be an antenna having a resonance frequency in the vicinity of, for example, 6.78 MHz or 13.56 MHz which is an HF band.

  In FIG. 3, a power receiving device 201 is a device that can receive power from a partner device in a contactless manner. The RX antenna 202 is an antenna that can receive power from other devices without contact. The RX antenna 202 is assumed to be an antenna having a resonance frequency in the vicinity of, for example, 6.78 MHz or 13.56 MHz which is an HF band.

  The RX matching circuit 203 is a circuit for performing impedance matching between the RX antenna 202 and a rectifying / smoothing circuit 204 described later. The RX matching circuit 203 is a circuit that can be adjusted by the control of the RX-CPU 209 described later. Further, the RX matching circuit 203 is configured to include a protection circuit so that an excessive voltage is not generated in the circuit when receiving power without contact.

  The rectifying / smoothing circuit 204 is a rectifying / smoothing circuit that shapes an AC voltage generated by the power received from the power transmission apparatus 101 into a DC voltage. The voltage shaped into a DC voltage by the rectifying / smoothing circuit 204 is converted by the RX constant voltage circuit 205 into a voltage that can be supplied to a subsequent circuit block.

  The charge control circuit 206 is a charge control circuit that can charge the battery 207. The charge control circuit 206 has a function of outputting the voltage of the battery 207 to other circuits in addition to the function of charging the battery 207. The battery 207 is assumed to be a one-cell lithium ion battery as an example. The RX power supply IC 211 is a power supply IC for converting an input voltage into a voltage of a digital low voltage system circuit block at a subsequent stage.

  The RX-CPU 209 is a CPU that performs short-range wireless communication with the power transmission apparatus 101 using the RX communication antenna 252 and performs power reception control in a contactless manner using the RX antenna 202. In order to distinguish from a CPU described later, the CPU that performs power reception control on the power receiving apparatus 201 side is referred to as RX-CPU. It is assumed that the RX-CPU 209 includes a RAM that is used as a work area and a ROM that stores a processing procedure of the RX-CPU 209.

  The power measurement circuit A210 is a power measurement circuit for measuring the received power when receiving power from the power transmission apparatus 101 in a contactless manner. Since the power measuring circuit A is a general technique, description thereof is omitted.

  The power measurement circuit B 212 is a power measurement circuit for measuring the received power when receiving power from the power transmission apparatus 101 in a contactless manner. Since the power measuring circuit B is a general technique, description thereof is omitted.

  The difference between the power measurement circuit A210 and the power measurement circuit B212 is that the power measurement circuit A210 measures the output power of the RX constant voltage circuit 205, whereas the power measurement circuit B212 measures the output power of the RX antenna 202. It is. Depending on the operating state of the power receiving apparatus 201, the power measurement circuit A210 or the power measurement circuit B212 may be selected to measure the power received by the RX antenna 202, or the power measurement circuit A210 and the power measurement circuit You may measure with both B212.

  The RX communication unit 208 is capable of short-range wireless communication with other devices, and also performs control data communication for power transmission without contact. It is assumed that short-range wireless communication performed by the RX communication unit 208 corresponds to Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy, which is a short-range wireless standard.

  The RX communication matching circuit 253 is a circuit for performing impedance matching between the RX communication unit 208 and an RX communication antenna 252 described later. The RX communication matching circuit 253 may be a circuit that can be adjusted by the control of the RX-CPU 209 or a fixed constant circuit. Further, the RX communication matching circuit 253 is provided with a protection circuit so that an excessive voltage is not generated.

  The CPU 230 is a CPU that controls the entire power receiving apparatus 201, and is different from the above-described RX-CPU 209 that performs power receiving control of power without contact. The RAM 231 is a RAM used as a work area for the CPU 230. The ROM 232 is a ROM that stores the processing procedure of the CPU 230, and is composed of a rewritable nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory, for example.

  The RX display unit 233 is a display unit that displays images such as image data and operation information on the screen of the power receiving apparatus 201, and is configured by an LCD, for example.

  The operation input unit 234 is an operation input unit that receives various operations of the power receiving apparatus 201, and transmits operation information to the CPU 230. The memory card 235 can write and read digital data. The imaging unit 236 includes an optical unit that includes a lens and its drive system, and an imaging element.

  The RX wireless communication unit 237 is a wireless communication unit for performing wireless communication, and the antenna 238 is an antenna for performing wireless communication. The RX wireless communication unit 237 is assumed to support a wireless standard different from that of the RX communication unit 208. As an example, it is assumed that IEEE 802.11, which is a WLAN standard, is supported.

  The RX sound generation unit 239 is a sound generation unit that generates an operation sound and a warning sound of the power receiving apparatus 201, and includes, for example, a sound processing IC and a speaker.

  The RX posture detection unit 240 is a posture detection unit that detects the arrangement state of the power receiving apparatus 201, and is configured by, for example, a three-dimensional acceleration sensor that can detect gravitational acceleration.

  FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing in parallel the relationship of procedures for performing non-contact power feeding between the power transmitting apparatus 101 and the power receiving apparatus 201 according to the present embodiment.

  1 is executed by the TX-CPU 108 and the power receiving apparatus 201 is executed by the RX-CPU 209 unless otherwise specified. Since the CPU 230 of the power receiving apparatus 201 is not involved in the non-contact power supply control of this embodiment, the description of the CPU 230 and its peripheral function blocks is omitted. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an arrangement example of the power transmission device 101 and the power reception device 201 described in the flow of FIG. 1 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the definition of the three-dimensional coordinates of the power transmitting apparatus 101 and the power receiving apparatus 201 described in the flow of FIG. 1 according to the present embodiment. The TX antenna 106 of the power transmission apparatus 101 is installed in the + Y direction on the XZ plane, and the RX antenna 202 of the power reception apparatus 201 is installed in the −Y direction on the XZ plane.

  The TX posture detection unit 162 of the power transmission device 101 and the RX posture detection unit 240 of the power reception device 201 may be arranged at positions where the postures of the power transmission device 101 and the power reception device 201 can be detected from gravitational acceleration.

  FIG. 6 is an example of device status information transmitted and received between the power transmission device 101 and the power reception device 201 described in the flow of FIG. 1 according to the present embodiment in each of the arrangement examples (A) to (E) of FIG. . The arrangement examples (A) to (E) in FIG. 4 and the apparatus status information (A) to (E) in FIG. 6 will be described assuming that the same symbols correspond to each other.

  In the description of the present embodiment, first, the arrangement in FIG. 4A will be described as an example. The apparatus status information transmitted / received between the power transmission apparatus 101 and the power receiving apparatus 201 includes, for example, information listed below. “Device Name”, “Power Receivability”, “Battery Voltage”, “Battery Full Charge Voltage”, “Battery Remaining Level”, “Rated Energy Capacity”, “Maximum Received Power”, “Transmitted / Received Power Required”, “ “Transmission / reception setting power”, “Reception power”, “Attitude”, “Antenna mounting position”, “Antenna class”.

  The device status information is stored in the TX-CPU 108 for the power transmission device 101 and in the RX-CPU 209 for the power reception device 201. In the present embodiment, the power transmission device 101 transmits a polling signal, and the power transmission device 101 scans to discover devices from each other and perform connection processing to establish a short-range wireless communication connection.

  In step S101, the power transmission apparatus 101 transmits a polling signal using the short-range wireless communication of the TX communication unit 109, and determines whether there is a connection request from the power reception apparatus 201 in step S102. As an example, the short-range wireless communication in S101 is performed by transmitting a packet in the advertising mode of Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy. The Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy protocol is a general method and will not be described.

  If it is determined in S102 that there is no connection request from the power receiving apparatus 201, the power transmitting apparatus 101 returns to S101 and transmits a polling signal again. If it is determined in S102 that there is a connection request from the power receiving apparatus 201, in S103, the power transmitting apparatus 101 performs a connection process with the power receiving apparatus 201, and transmits / receives apparatus status information including “power reception availability” and information.

  In step S <b> 104, the power transmission apparatus 101 determines whether the power reception apparatus 201 can receive power based on “power reception availability” in the apparatus status information received in step S <b> 103. If it is determined in S104 that the power receiving apparatus 201 is not in a state where it can receive power, the power transmitting apparatus 101 returns to S101 and transmits a polling signal again. If it is determined in S104 that the power receiving apparatus 201 is in a state where it can receive power, the process proceeds to S105.

  In S <b> 105, the power transmitting apparatus 101 acquires a “antenna class” information of the power receiving apparatus 201 and a device including “power transmission / reception set power” and “antenna class” information, which will be described later, as a trigger for starting standby power transmission. Send and receive status information.

  Here, a flow on the power receiving apparatus 201 side will be described. In step S201, when the power receiving apparatus 201 receives the short-range wireless communication polling signal from the power transmission apparatus 101 by the RX communication unit 208, the power receiving apparatus 201 transmits a connection request in step S202. As an example, the short-distance wireless communication in S202 performs a response to the advertise packet in the Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy initiating mode.

  If the power receiving apparatus 201 does not receive the short-range wireless communication polling signal from the power transmitting apparatus 101 by the RX communication unit 208 in S201, the process returns to S201. In step S201, the power receiving apparatus 201 receives a short-range wireless communication polling signal. In step S202, the power receiving apparatus 201 transmits a connection request. In step S203, the power transmitting apparatus 101 and the power receiving apparatus 201 perform connection processing to obtain “power reception availability” information. Including device status information. When the process of S103 in the power transmitting apparatus 101 and the process of S203 in the power receiving apparatus 201 are completed, the power transmitting apparatus 101 and the power receiving apparatus 201 enter the connection mode. In step S <b> 204, the power transmission apparatus 101 transmits / receives apparatus status information including “power transmission / reception set power” and “antenna class” information to and from the power reception apparatus 201.

  Here, the description returns to the flow on the power transmission apparatus 101 side. In S106, the power transmitting apparatus 101 determines the standard VSWR of the power receiving apparatus 201 based on the “antenna class” information of the apparatus status information received in S105. The “antenna class” is information determined by the power supply efficiency and the value of VSWR when power is transmitted / received from a standard power transmission device to a power reception device 201 defined by an arbitrary standard for wireless power feeding, for example. It's okay. For example, for a 1 W output of a standard power transmission device, if the power feeding efficiency of the power receiving device is 80% and the VSWR is 1.5, the “antenna class” information is CLASS1, the power feeding efficiency of the power receiving device is 70%, If VSWR is 2.5, “antenna class” information may be defined to be CLASS2.

  CLASS of “antenna class” information is not limited to CLASS1 and CLASS2, but may be further classified into a plurality of CLASSes. The power receiving apparatus 201 of the present embodiment will be described assuming that the antenna class “information” is CLASS1.

  If the power receiving apparatus 201 determines that there is “antenna class” information in S106, the power transmitting apparatus 101 determines in S107 according to the first power supply efficiency and VSWR diagram shown in FIG. 7A corresponding to antenna class “information CLASS1, which will be described later. , The threshold value of VSWR is set to 2.5 which is the first threshold value.

  If the power receiving apparatus 201 determines that there is no “antenna class” information in S106, the power transmitting apparatus 101 in S108 follows the third power supply efficiency and VSWR diagram corresponding to FIG. The threshold value of VSWR is set to the third threshold value 1.5, and if the power receiving apparatus 201 has “antenna class” information CLASS2, the power transmitting apparatus 101 corresponds to antenna class “information CLASS2” described later in S107. In accordance with the second power supply efficiency and VSWR diagram shown in FIG. 7B, the threshold value of VSWR is set to 3.0, which is the second threshold value.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of power supply efficiency and VSWR that permit non-contact power supply according to the present embodiment. FIG. 7A is an example of a diagram of power supply efficiency and VSWR in which the power transmission apparatus 101 permits non-contact power supply to a power reception apparatus whose “antenna class” information is CLASS1. Similarly, in FIG. 7B, the power transmission apparatus 101 is connected to a power receiving apparatus whose “antenna class” information is CLASS2, and FIG. 7C is a contactless power supply to a power receiving apparatus where there is no “antenna class” information. It is an example of a diagram of power supply efficiency and VSWR permitting

  A power receiving device whose “antenna class” information is CLASS1 has a high power supply efficiency with a standard power transmission device and a low value of VSWR. Therefore, a threshold value of VSWR that permits non-contact power supply is set to a low value. And The power receiving device whose “antenna class” information is CLASS 2 is lower in power supply efficiency than the power receiving device of antenna class “information CLASS 1 and has a high VSWR, and thus allows non-contact power feeding. It is assumed that the threshold value of VSWR is set to a high value.

  For power receiving devices without “antenna class” information, the values of power supply efficiency and VSWR with standard power transmitting devices are unknown, and other capacity values related to non-contact power feeding of power receiving devices may be unknown Then, it is assumed that the threshold value of VSWR that permits non-contact power feeding is set to a low value.

  The power transmission device 101 is connected to the power transmission efficiency between the power transmission device and the power receiving device and the threshold value of the VSWR according to the diagram of power supply efficiency and VSWR permitting non-contact power supply in FIG. A region where non-contact power feeding with 201 is permitted and a region where permission is not permitted are set.

  In FIG. 7A to FIG. 7C, the threshold value of VSWR that permits contact power supply varies depending on the “antenna class”, but the threshold value of VSWR that permits contactless power supply may be a constant value regardless of the power supply efficiency. .

  Control of whether or not to allow non-contact power feeding between the power transmitting apparatus 101 and the power receiving apparatus 201 according to the diagram of FIG. 7 will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  Note that the threshold setting of the VSWR based on the “antenna class” information in S106 is not essential, and may or may not be implemented depending on the configuration of the non-contact power feeding system. In that case, S106 and S108 are omitted, and in S107, the threshold value of VSWR is set to any one of the first to third values in the power supply efficiency and VSWR diagrams of FIGS. 7A to 7C. The threshold value may be set as a fixed value.

  In step S <b> 109, the power transmission device 101 controls the power transmission circuit 104 to transmit standby power to the power reception device 201 in a contactless manner. In S109, when the standby power is transmitted without contact, the power transmitting apparatus 101 sets the TX matching circuit 105 to a circuit suitable for the standby power transmission from the power transmission circuit 104. For example, the reserve power “transmission / reception setting power” may be set to an arbitrary value predetermined in the non-contact power feeding system, such as 0.5 W.

  In S110, the power transmission apparatus 101 has a VSWR during power transmission to the power reception apparatus 201 obtained from the traveling wave voltage VF and the reflected wave voltage VR detected by the reflected power detection circuit 161 is equal to or less than the threshold value of VSWR set in S107 or S108. Determine whether.

  If the power transmission apparatus 101 determines in S110 that the VSWR during power transmission to the power reception apparatus 201 is not less than or equal to the threshold value, in S121, the power transmission apparatus 101 and the power reception apparatus 201 indicate whether or not “power transmission is possible”. "Transfer device status information including information.

In step S122, the power transmission apparatus 101 performs a warning display to notify that the non-contact power supply is stopped using the TX display unit 110 as illustrated in FIG. 8A, for example.
If the warning display in S122 is performed, the power transmission apparatus 101 stops the transmission of non-contact power in S123, and the process of this flowchart ends.

  If the power transmission apparatus 101 determines that the VSWR during power transmission to the power reception apparatus 201 is equal to or less than the threshold value in S110, the power transmission apparatus 101 determines that the power reception apparatus 201 and the "power transmission / reception required power", "power reception power", and "posture" in S111. Device status information including “,“ antenna mounting position ”and information is transmitted and received. For example, if the arrangement state of the power transmitting apparatus 101 and the power receiving apparatus 201 is VSWR in FIG. 4A of 1.1, it is determined in S110 that the SWR is equal to or less than the threshold value.

  Here, a flow on the power receiving apparatus 201 side will be described. In step S <b> 205, the power receiving apparatus 201 uses the power measurement circuit A <b> 210 connected to the RX constant voltage circuit 205 or the power measurement circuit B <b> 212 connected to the RX antenna 202 to transmit the power transmitted from the power transmission apparatus 101 in a contactless manner. Use to measure. And it memorize | stores as "received power" information of apparatus status information.

  The arrangement state illustrated in FIG. 4A can be said to be a state in which there is little misalignment between the power transmission device 101 and the power reception device 201 and power supply efficiency of power transmitted and received without contact is high. For example, assuming that the power supply efficiency in the arrangement state of FIG. 4A is 80%, if the “power transmission / reception setting power” of the power transmitted from the power transmission device 101 in a contactless manner is 0.5 W, the power reception device 201 Since the received power being received is 0.4 W, the “received power” information is 0.4 W.

  In another example, assuming that the power supply efficiency in the arrangement state of FIG. 4A is 80%, if the “transmission / reception setting power” of the power transmitted from the power transmission device 101 in a contactless manner is 2.8 W, the power is received. Since the received power received by the apparatus 201 is 2.24 W, the “received power” information is 2.24 W.

In step S <b> 206, the power receiving apparatus 201 acquires the arrangement state of the power receiving apparatus 201 using the RX attitude detection unit 240 and stores it as “attitude” information of the apparatus status information. For example, if the arrangement state of the power transmission apparatus 101 and the power reception apparatus 201 is the arrangement state illustrated in FIG. 4A, the acceleration of the RX attitude detection unit 240 is X: 0G, Y: + 1G, and Z: 0G. G is the gravitational acceleration, and 1G≈9.8 m / S ² .

  In step S207, the power receiving apparatus 201 transmits the latest “attitude” information acquired in step S206 and the “power receiving power” information acquired in step S205 to the power transmitting apparatus 101, “power transmission / reception required power”, “power receiving power”, Device status information including “posture” and “antenna mounting position” information is transmitted and received.

  Here, the description returns to the flow on the power transmission apparatus 101 side.

  In step S112, the power transmission apparatus 101 determines whether “attitude” information is included in the apparatus status information received in step S111. The power transmission apparatus 101 determines whether the apparatus status information includes “posture” information when the “posture” information includes a normal numerical value indicating the acceleration of the three-dimensional coordinates X, Y, and Z. Judge that information is included. If the “posture” information does not include a normal numerical value or an abnormal numerical value in the acceleration of the three-dimensional coordinates X, Y, Z, it is determined that the “posture” information is not included. The normal value range of acceleration is assumed to be, for example, 0G to 1.0G. For example, it is assumed that all the accelerations of X, Y, and Z are zero.

  If the power transmission apparatus 101 determines in S112 that the “posture” information is included, the process proceeds to S113. If the power transmission apparatus 101 determines in S112 that the “posture” information is not included, the process proceeds to S114. In S113, the power transmitting apparatus 101 determines that the antenna plane between the TX antenna 106 of the power transmitting apparatus 101 and the RX antenna 202 of the power receiving apparatus 201 is a normal position based on the “posture” and “antenna mounting position” information of the apparatus status information received in S111. Determine whether it is in The normal position of the antenna surface indicates that the mounting surface of the TX antenna 106 of the power transmission apparatus 101 and the RX antenna 202 of the power reception apparatus 201 are in a position facing each other. For example, if the arrangement state of the power transmission apparatus 101 and the power reception apparatus 201 is the arrangement state illustrated in FIG. 4A, the “attitude” of the apparatus status information of the power reception apparatus 201 is X: 0G, Y: + 1G, Z: 0G. Since the “antenna mounting position” of the device status information is the XZ plane, the RX antenna 202 of the power receiving apparatus 201 is on the XZ plane, and the XZ plane faces the gravitational acceleration direction. Therefore, if the TX antenna 106 of the power transmission apparatus 101 is on the XZ plane, and the XZ plane faces the gravitational acceleration direction as in the power reception apparatus 201, the TX antenna 106 of the power transmission apparatus 101 and the RX antenna 202 of the power reception apparatus 201. It is determined that the antenna surface is opposite and is in a normal position.

  The determination of whether the antenna surface is in the normal position in S113 takes into account some inclination and error, for example, the “attitude” of the device status information of the power receiving device 201 is X: 0 ± 0.1 G, Y: + 1 ± 0 .1G, Z: 0 ± 0.1G, the antenna surface may be determined to be the normal position.

  In the present embodiment, the power transmission apparatus 101 is configured so that the “posture” of the apparatus status information of the power receiving apparatus 201 is limited so that non-contact power supply can be performed only in a state where the XZ plane faces the gravitational acceleration direction by structure or control. It may be determined whether or not the antenna surface is in the normal position. In S113, when the power transmitting apparatus 101 determines that the RX antenna 202 of the power receiving apparatus 201 is in the normal position, in S114, the power transmitting apparatus 101 performs power transmission in the first power supply efficiency and VSWR diagram of FIG. It is determined whether the power supply efficiency is equal to or higher than the first threshold value.

  In FIG. 7A, the first threshold value of the power supply efficiency is 60% in the first power supply efficiency and VSWR diagram.

  In S114, when the power transmitting apparatus 101 determines that the “received power” information of the apparatus status information received in S111 is equal to or more than 60%, which is the first threshold value of power supply efficiency, the process proceeds to S116. In S114, when the power transmitting apparatus 101 determines that the “received power” information of the apparatus status information received in S111 is less than 60%, which is the first threshold value of power supply efficiency, the process proceeds to S121. Since the description from S121 to the end of this flowchart is the same as described above, the description is omitted. In S113, when the power transmitting apparatus 101 determines that the RX antenna 202 of the power receiving apparatus 201 is not in the normal position, in S115, the power transmitting apparatus 101 performs power transmission in the first power supply efficiency and VSWR diagram of FIG. It is determined whether the power supply efficiency is equal to or higher than the second threshold value.

  In the graph of FIG. 7A, the first power supply efficiency and the VSWR, the second threshold value of the power supply efficiency is 20%.

In S115, when the power transmitting apparatus 101 determines that the “received power” information of the apparatus status information received in S111 is 20% or more, which is the second threshold value of power supply efficiency, the process proceeds to S116.
In S115, when the power transmitting apparatus 101 determines that the “received power” information of the apparatus status information received in S111 is less than 20%, which is the second threshold value of power supply efficiency, the process proceeds to S121. Since the description from S121 to the end of this flowchart is the same as described above, the description is omitted.

  In step S <b> 116, the power transmission apparatus 101 transmits and receives apparatus status information including “power transmission / reception set power” and “power transmission availability” information with the power reception apparatus 201 in order to start power transmission without contact.

  In step S117, the power transmission apparatus 101 sets “power transmission / reception setting power” in accordance with “battery voltage”, “maximum power reception power”, and “power transmission / reception request power” of the apparatus status information of the power reception apparatus 201 received in step S116. The “power transmission / reception setting power” set in S117 is set to 2.8 W in accordance with the “power transmission / reception required power” of the power receiving apparatus 201. The “transmission / reception set power” set in S109 is set to a power that does not exceed the “maximum received power”.

  In step S <b> 118, the power transmission device 101 controls the power transmission circuit 104 to transmit power to the power reception device 201 in a contactless manner. When power is transmitted in a contactless manner in S118, the TX matching circuit 105 is set to a circuit suitable for contactless power transmission from the power transmission circuit 104.

  In the following description of the present invention, when the power transmission circuit 104 is controlled to transmit power, the TX matching circuit 105 is set as a circuit suitable for non-contact power transmission from the power transmission circuit 104. Omitted.

  In step S <b> 119, the power transmission apparatus 101 transmits and receives status information including “battery voltage”, “battery full charge voltage”, and “remaining battery level” information to the power reception apparatus 201 in order to determine the battery state of the power reception apparatus 201. .

  In S120, the power transmitting apparatus 101 determines whether the battery 207 of the power receiving apparatus 201 is at the full charge level based on the “battery voltage”, “battery full charge voltage”, or “remaining battery level” in the apparatus status information received in S119. To do.

  If the power transmission apparatus 101 determines in step S120 that the battery 207 of the power reception apparatus 201 is at the full charge level, in step S123, the power transmission apparatus 101 stops the transmission of non-contact power and ends the processing of this flowchart.

  If the power transmitting apparatus 101 determines that the battery 207 is not at the fully charged level in S120, the power transmitting apparatus 101 returns to S110, and the next time, the VSWR that is transmitting power to the power receiving apparatus 201 is equal to or less than the threshold value of VSWR set in S107 or S108. Determine if there is.

  Here, a flow on the power receiving apparatus 201 side will be described. In step S <b> 208, the power receiving apparatus 201 performs transmission / reception of apparatus status information including “power transmission / reception set power” and “power transmission permission / inhibition” information with the power transmission apparatus 101 in order to start receiving power without contact.

  In step S209, the power receiving apparatus 201 determines whether the power transmission apparatus 101 can transmit power based on “power transmission availability” of the apparatus status information received in step S208. If it is determined in S209 that the power transmitting apparatus 101 is not in a state capable of transmitting power, in S214, the power receiving apparatus 201 uses the RX display unit 233, for example, as shown in FIG. A warning is displayed and the process returns to S201.

  If it is determined in S209 that the power transmitting apparatus 101 is in a state where power can be transmitted, in S210, the power receiving apparatus 201 sends the charging control circuit 206 to the RX constant voltage circuit 205 in accordance with “power transmission / reception set power” of the apparatus status information transmitted and received in S208. Connect and set the received power. In step S <b> 211, the power receiving apparatus 201 receives power from the power transmitting apparatus 101 in a contactless manner.

  In S210, the RX matching circuit 203 is set to a circuit suitable for receiving non-contact power from the power transmission circuit 104 of the power transmission apparatus 101 at the same time as the charging control circuit 206 is connected.

  In the following description of the present invention, when receiving contactless power, the RX matching circuit 203 is set to a circuit suitable for receiving contactless power from the power transmission circuit 104, and the description is omitted.

  When the process of S118 in the power transmission apparatus 101 and the process of S211 in the power reception apparatus 201 are completed, the power transmission apparatus 101 and the power reception apparatus 201 are in a state of transmitting and receiving power without contact. For example, if the power supply efficiency in the arrangement state of FIG. 4A is 80%, if the “power transmission / reception setting power” of the power transmitted from the power transmission device 101 in a contactless manner is 2.8 W, the power reception device 201 The received power being received is 2.24W.

  In step S212, the power receiving apparatus 201 determines whether the battery 207 is fully charged. If the power receiving apparatus 201 determines that the battery 207 is fully charged in S212, in S213, the power receiving apparatus 201 transmits “battery voltage”, “battery” to the power transmitting apparatus 101 in order to transmit that the battery is fully charged. Status information including “full charge voltage” and “battery level” information is transmitted and received. And the power receiving apparatus 201 complete | finishes the process of this flowchart. If the power receiving apparatus 201 determines in step S212 that the battery 207 is not fully charged, in step S214, the power receiving apparatus 201 communicates with the power transmitting apparatus 101 “battery voltage” and “battery full charge” in order to transmit that the battery is not fully charged. Status information including “voltage” and “battery level” information is transmitted and received. Then, the process returns to S205.

  In the above, this embodiment was demonstrated taking the arrangement | positioning of FIG. 4 (A) as an example. Hereinafter, in the case of the arrangement examples of FIGS. 4B to 4E, numerical examples and determination results in the main processing of FIG. 1 are collectively described in Tables 1 and 2 below.

  The arrangement state shown in FIG. 4B is a state in which the power transmission device 101 and the power reception device 201 are largely misaligned, and a large metal foreign object 301 is also in close proximity. It can be said that the efficiency is low. For example, if the power supply efficiency in the arrangement state of FIG. 4B is 5%, if the “power transmission / reception setting power” of the power transmitted from the power transmission device 101 in a contactless manner is 0.5 W, the power reception device 201 Since the received power being received is 0.025 W, the “received power” information is 0.025 W. The acceleration of the RX posture detection unit 240 is assumed to be X: 0G, Y: + 1G, Z: 0G, and VSWR is 5.0.

  The arrangement state shown in FIG. 4C is a state where the power transmission device 101 and the power reception device 201 are 90 ° apart from each other, and thus the power supply efficiency of power transmitted and received in a non-contact manner is not good. For example, when the power supply efficiency in the arrangement state of FIG. 4C is 25%, if the “power transmission / reception setting power” of the power transmitted from the power transmission device 101 in a contactless manner is 0.5 W, the power reception device 201 Since the received power being received is 0.125 W, the “received power” information is 0.125 W. The acceleration of the RX posture detection unit 240 is assumed to be X: + 1G, Y: 0G, Z: 0G, and VSWR is 1.7.

  In the arrangement state illustrated in FIG. 4D, the power transmission device 101 and the power reception device 201 are less misaligned, but a small metal foreign object 302 is close to the power transmission efficiency. Is not good. For example, when the power supply efficiency in the arrangement state of FIG. 4D is 25%, if the “power transmission / reception setting power” of the power transmitted from the power transmission device 101 in a contactless manner is 0.5 W, the power reception device 201 Since the received power being received is 0.125 W, the “received power” information is 0.125 W. The acceleration of the RX posture detection unit 240 is assumed to be X: + 0.05G, Y: + 0.95G, Z: 0G, and VSWR is 1.7.

  The arrangement state illustrated in FIG. 4E is a state in which the power transmission apparatus 101 and the power reception apparatus 201 are 180 degrees out of position, and thus it can be said that the power supply efficiency of power transmitted and received in a non-contact manner is not good. For example, if the power supply efficiency in the arrangement state of FIG. 4E is 1%, if the “power transmission / reception setting power” of the power transmitted from the power transmission device 101 in a contactless manner is 0.005 W, the power reception device 201 Since the received power being received is 0.005 W, the “received power” information is 0.005 W. It is assumed that the acceleration of the RX posture detection unit 240 is X: 0G, Y: -1G, Z: 0G, and VSWR is 4.0.

  From Tables 1 and 2, the arrangement examples of the power transmitting apparatus 101 and the power receiving apparatus 201 that permit power feeding are only FIGS. 4A and 4C. In the arrangement examples of FIGS. 4B and 4E, it is determined that the VSWR is not less than or equal to the threshold value in the determination of S110, so non-contact power feeding is not permitted.

  In the arrangement example of FIG. 4D, the antenna surface is determined to be a normal position in the determination of S113. However, the determination of the power supply efficiency is based on the power supply efficiency and the VSWR diagram of FIG. Since it is determined that it is not equal to or greater than the first threshold value, non-contact power feeding is not permitted.

  In the arrangement states shown in FIGS. 4A to 4E, an arrangement example in which a metallic foreign object that generates heat exists in the non-contact power feeding system of the power transmission apparatus 101 and the power reception apparatus 201 is shown in FIGS. 4B and 4D. ).

  In the arrangement example of FIG. 4 (B), it is possible to disallow non-contact power supply by a method using only the detection of VSWR and prevent the heat generation of the metal foreign matter, but the arrangement example of FIG. 4 (D). However, the method using only the detection of VSWR has a problem that the difference in arrangement state from FIG. 4C cannot be determined.

  In addition, in the method for determining permission / non-permission of non-contact power feeding only by the power feeding efficiency between the power transmitting apparatus 101 and the power receiving apparatus 201, the arrangement example in FIG. 4C and a little of the power transmitting apparatus 101 and the power receiving apparatus 201 Even if a misalignment occurs, there is a high possibility that non-contact power supply is not permitted, which reduces convenience.

  According to this embodiment, it is possible to determine the difference in the arrangement state as in the example of FIG. 4C and FIG. 4D that could not be determined only by detecting the VSWR, thereby preventing the heat generation of the metal foreign matter. In addition, non-contact charging that allows a displacement between the power transmission device 101 and the power reception device 201 can be realized.

[Second Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, wireless communication and non-contact power transmission / reception are performed between the power transmission device and the power reception device, and a threshold value of power supply efficiency for permitting transmission / reception power is set based on attitude information of the power reception device. Explained the method.

  In the second embodiment, a threshold value of power supply efficiency that performs power transmission and reception between a power transmission device and a power reception device in a non-contact manner and permits transmission / reception power based on attitude information of the power transmission device and the power reception device. A method of setting is described.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating in parallel the relationship of procedures for performing contactless charging between the power transmitting apparatus 101 and the power receiving apparatus 201 according to the present embodiment. 9, the same reference numerals are given to perform the same or similar processing as in FIG. 1, and the description will be omitted.

  Since the power transmission apparatus 101 and the power receiving apparatus 201 according to the present embodiment have the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, description of the apparatus configuration is omitted.

If the power transmission apparatus 101 determines that the VSWR during power transmission to the power reception apparatus 201 is equal to or less than the threshold value in S110, the power transmission apparatus 101 acquires the arrangement state of the power transmission apparatus 101 using the TX attitude detection unit 162 in S151. For example, if the arrangement state of the power transmission apparatus 101 and the power reception apparatus 201 is the arrangement state illustrated in FIG. 4A, the acceleration of the TX posture detection unit 162 is X: 0G, Y: + 1G, and Z: 0G. G is the gravitational acceleration, and 1G≈9.8 m / S ² .

  In S112, the power transmitting apparatus 101 determines whether the apparatus status information received in S111 includes “attitude” information. If the power transmitting apparatus 101 determines that “attitude" information is included, the process proceeds to S152. In S152, the power transmission apparatus 101 determines the antenna plane between the TX antenna 106 and the RX antenna 202 based on the arrangement state of the power transmission apparatus 101 acquired in S151 and the “posture” and “antenna mounting position” information of the apparatus status information received in S111. Is in the normal facing position.

  The normal facing position of the antenna surface indicates that the mounting surface of the TX antenna 106 of the power transmitting apparatus 101 and the RX antenna 202 of the power receiving apparatus 201 is opposed to each other. For example, if the arrangement state of the power transmission device 101 and the power reception device 201 is the arrangement state illustrated in FIG. 4A, the arrangement state of the power transmission device 101 is X: 0G, Y: + 1G, and Z: 0G. The TX antenna 106 of the power transmission apparatus 101 is on the XZ plane, and the XZ plane faces the gravitational acceleration direction.

  The “posture” of the device status information of the power receiving device 201 is X: 0G, Y: + 1G, and Z: 0G. Since the “antenna mounting position” of the device status information is the XZ plane, the RX antenna 202 of the power receiving apparatus 201 is on the XZ plane, and the XZ plane faces the gravitational acceleration direction.

  In S152, the antenna surfaces of the TX antenna 106 of the power transmitting apparatus 101 and the RX antenna 202 of the power receiving apparatus 201 are determined based on the arrangement state of the power transmitting apparatus 101 and the “posture” information of the apparatus status information of the power receiving apparatus 201 as described above. It is determined that they are facing each other and are in a normal facing position. The determination of whether the antenna surface is in the normal facing position in S152 takes into account some inclination and error, for example, the tolerance of the “posture” information of the arrangement state of the power transmission apparatus 101 and the apparatus status information of the power reception apparatus 201 is X : ± 0.2G, Y: ± 0.2G, Z: ± 0.2G may be determined as the normal facing position.

  In the present embodiment, the power transmission apparatus 101 is configured so that the “posture” of the apparatus status information of the power receiving apparatus 201 is limited so that non-contact power supply can be performed only in a state where the XZ plane faces the gravitational acceleration direction by structure or control. It may be determined whether or not the antenna surface is in the normal position.

  According to the present embodiment, the power transmission device 101 and the power reception device 201 are not limited by the structure or control of the power transmission device 101 and the power reception device 201 even if the power transmission device 101 is restricted so that non-contact power feeding can be performed only in a state where the XZ plane faces the gravitational acceleration direction. It can be determined whether or not the antenna surface for contactless power feeding is in the normal facing position.

  Therefore, the degree of freedom of arrangement of the power transmitting apparatus 101 and the power receiving apparatus 201 can be expanded as compared with the first embodiment, and non-contact charging can be realized.

[Third Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, wireless communication and non-contact power transmission / reception are performed between the power transmission device and the power reception device, and a threshold value of power supply efficiency for permitting transmission / reception power is set based on attitude information of the power reception device. Explained the method. In the second embodiment, a threshold value of power supply efficiency that performs power transmission and reception between a power transmission device and a power reception device in a non-contact manner and permits transmission / reception power based on attitude information of the power transmission device and the power reception device. Explained how to set.

  In the third embodiment, wireless communication and non-contact power transmission / reception are performed between the power transmission device and the power reception device, and the power supply efficiency of the power transmission device and the power reception device is determined based on the first threshold value. A method of acquiring information and determining the power supply efficiency for permitting transmission / reception power based on the second threshold will be described.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating in parallel the relationship of procedures for performing contactless charging between the power transmitting apparatus 101 and the power receiving apparatus 201 according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 10, the same reference numerals are given to perform the same or similar processing as in FIG. 1, and description thereof is omitted. Since the power transmission apparatus 101 and the power receiving apparatus 201 according to the present embodiment have the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, description of the apparatus configuration is omitted.

  If the power transmission apparatus 101 determines in S110 that the VSWR during power transmission to the power reception apparatus 201 is equal to or less than the threshold value, in S161, the power transmission apparatus 101 receives the “power transmission / reception required power”, “power reception power”, and information. Including device status information.

  In S162, the power transmission apparatus 101 determines whether the power transmission efficiency of power transmission is equal to or higher than the first threshold in the diagram of the first power supply efficiency and VSWR in FIG.

  In FIG. 7A, the first threshold value of the power supply efficiency is 60% in the first power supply efficiency and VSWR diagram.

  In S162, when the power transmitting apparatus 101 determines that the “received power” information of the apparatus status information received in S161 indicates that the first threshold value of power supply efficiency is 60% or more, the process proceeds to S116. In S162, when the power receiving apparatus 101 determines that the “received power” information of the apparatus status information received in S161 indicates that the first threshold value of power supply efficiency is less than 60%, the process proceeds to S163.

  In step S <b> 163, the power transmission apparatus 101 transmits and receives apparatus status information to and from the power receiving apparatus 201 as a trigger for starting acquisition of “attitude” information of the power receiving apparatus 201. In S163, a “posture” information acquisition request may be included as trigger information for starting acquisition of “posture” information of the power receiving apparatus 201 in a part of information to be transmitted and received.

  In step S164, the power transmission apparatus 101 transmits / receives apparatus status information including “posture”, “antenna mounting position”, and information to the power reception apparatus 201.

  In step S165, the power transmission apparatus 101 determines whether “apparatus” information is included in the apparatus status information received in step S164. The power transmission apparatus 101 determines whether the apparatus status information includes “posture” information when the “posture” information includes a normal numerical value indicating the acceleration of the three-dimensional coordinates X, Y, and Z. Judge that information is included. If the “posture” information does not include a normal numerical value or an abnormal numerical value in the acceleration of the three-dimensional coordinates X, Y, Z, it is determined that the “posture” information is not included. The normal value range of acceleration is assumed to be, for example, 0G to 1.0G. For example, it is assumed that all the accelerations of X, Y, and Z are zero.

  If the power transmission apparatus 101 determines in S165 that the “posture” information is included, the process proceeds to S166. If the power receiving apparatus 201 determines in step S165 that “posture” information is not included, the process advances to step S121.

  In S166, the power transmission apparatus 101 determines that the antenna plane between the TX antenna 106 of the power transmission apparatus 101 and the RX antenna 202 of the power reception apparatus 201 is a normal position based on the “posture” and “antenna mounting position” information of the apparatus status information received in S164. Determine whether it is in The normal position of the antenna surface indicates that the mounting surface of the TX antenna 106 of the power transmission apparatus 101 and the RX antenna 202 of the power reception apparatus 201 are in a position facing each other. For example, if the arrangement state of the power transmission apparatus 101 and the power reception apparatus 201 is the arrangement state illustrated in FIG. 4A, the “attitude” of the apparatus status information of the power reception apparatus 201 is X: 0G, Y: + 1G, Z: 0G. Since the “antenna mounting position” of the device status information is the XZ plane, the RX antenna 202 of the power receiving apparatus 201 is on the XZ plane, and the XZ plane faces the gravitational acceleration direction. Therefore, if the TX antenna 106 of the power transmission apparatus 101 is on the XZ plane, and the XZ plane faces the gravitational acceleration direction as in the power reception apparatus 201, the TX antenna 106 of the power transmission apparatus 101 and the RX antenna 202 of the power reception apparatus 201. It is determined that the antenna surface is opposite and is in a normal position.

  The determination of whether the antenna surface is in the normal position in S166 takes into account some inclination and error, for example, the “attitude” of the device status information of the power receiving device 201 is X: 0 ± 0.1 G, Y: + 1 ± 0 .1G, Z: 0 ± 0.1G, the antenna surface may be determined to be the normal position.

  In the present embodiment, the power transmission apparatus 101 is configured so that the “posture” of the apparatus status information of the power receiving apparatus 201 is limited so that non-contact power supply can be performed only in a state where the XZ plane faces the gravitational acceleration direction by structure or control. It may be determined whether or not the antenna surface is in the normal position.

  If the power transmitting apparatus 101 determines in step S166 that the RX antenna 202 of the power receiving apparatus 201 is in the normal position, the process proceeds to step S121. Since the description from S121 to the end of this flowchart is the same as described above, the description is omitted.

  In S166, when the power transmitting apparatus 101 determines that the RX antenna 202 of the power receiving apparatus 201 is not in the normal position, in S167, the power transmitting apparatus 101 performs power transmission in the first power supply efficiency and VSWR diagram of FIG. It is determined whether the power supply efficiency is equal to or higher than the second threshold value.

  In the graph of FIG. 7A, the first power supply efficiency and the VSWR, the second threshold value of the power supply efficiency is 20%.

  In S167, when the power transmitting apparatus 101 determines that the “received power” information of the apparatus status information received in S161 is equal to or greater than 20%, which is the second threshold value of power supply efficiency, the process proceeds to S116. In S167, when the power transmitting apparatus 101 determines that the “received power” information of the apparatus status information received in S161 is less than 20%, which is the second threshold value of power supply efficiency, the process proceeds to S121. Since the description from S121 to the end of this flowchart is the same as described above, the description is omitted.

  Here, a flow on the power receiving apparatus 201 side will be described. In step S261, the power receiving apparatus 201 transmits / receives apparatus status information including “power transmission / reception request power” and “power reception power” information to and from the power transmission apparatus 101 in order to transmit the “power reception power” information acquired in step S205.

  In step S <b> 262, the power receiving apparatus 201 transmits / receives apparatus status information to / from the power transmitting apparatus 101 as a trigger for starting acquisition of “attitude” information of the power receiving apparatus 201. In S262, a part of information to be transmitted and received may include trigger information for starting acquisition of “attitude” information of the power receiving apparatus 201.

  In step S <b> 263, the power receiving apparatus 201 determines whether there is a “posture” information acquisition request from the power transmission apparatus 101 as trigger information for starting acquisition of the “posture” information of the power receiving apparatus 201 in part of the information received in step S <b> 262. .

If the power receiving apparatus 201 determines that there is a “posture” information acquisition request from the power transmitting apparatus 101 in S263, the power receiving apparatus 201 acquires the arrangement state of the power receiving apparatus 201 using the RX attitude detection unit 240 in S264, and the apparatus status Information is stored as “attitude” information. For example, if the arrangement state of the power transmission apparatus 101 and the power reception apparatus 201 is the arrangement state illustrated in FIG. 4A, the acceleration of the RX attitude detection unit 240 is X: 0G, Y: + 1G, and Z: 0G. G is the gravitational acceleration, and 1G≈9.8 m / S ² .

  In step S <b> 265, the power receiving apparatus 201 transmits / receives apparatus status information including “posture” and “antenna mounting position” information to and from the power transmission apparatus 101 in order to transmit the latest “posture” information acquired in step S <b> 264.

  If the power receiving apparatus 201 determines in S263 that there is no “attitude” information acquisition request from the power transmitting apparatus 101, the process proceeds to S208.

  According to the present embodiment, it is possible to determine a difference in arrangement state between the power transmitting apparatus 101 and the power receiving apparatus 201 that could not be determined only by detecting the VSWR, and while preventing the heat generation of the metal foreign object, the power transmitting apparatus 101 and the power receiving apparatus. It is possible to realize non-contact charging that allows a displacement with respect to 201.

  Further, when determining the difference in the arrangement state, by determining the threshold value of the power supply efficiency between the power transmission apparatus 101 and the power reception apparatus 201, the acquisition timing of the “posture” information in the power reception apparatus 201 is performed not regularly but in a timely manner. Can do. Therefore, it is possible to omit part of the operation and power related to the acquisition of “attitude” information in the power receiving apparatus 201.

[Other Embodiments]
In the first to third embodiments, the wireless communication means that performs control for transmitting and receiving power in a non-contact manner is described as an example in which communication is performed using the Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy protocol. did. However, the wireless communication protocol to which the present invention is applicable is not limited to Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy.

  For example, the present invention can be applied even if wireless communication is performed using protocols of ISO / IEC21481, ISO / IEC14443, and ISO / IEC15693. When the protocol is supported, the power transmission device 101 has a non-contact IC reader / writer device, and the power reception device 201 has a non-contact IC function.

  Furthermore, the wireless communication means that performs control for transmitting and receiving power in a contactless manner according to the present invention may be IEEE 802.11 that is a WLAN standard and IEEE 802.15.1 that is a short-range wireless standard. Instead of the Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy protocol, which is a wireless communication unit of the power transmission device and the power reception device, a wireless communication unit corresponding to the WLAN standard or the short-range wireless standard may be provided. That is, according to the present invention, what is the wireless communication means for performing control for transmitting and receiving power in a contactless manner as long as the device configuration performs wireless communication between the power transmitting device and the power receiving device and transmits and receives power without contact. It doesn't matter.

  In the first to third embodiments, a power receiving device that transmits a polling signal from a power transmitting device and receives the polling signal for a wireless communication connection that performs control for transmitting and receiving power in a contactless manner. The configuration for transmitting a connection request has been described. However, the wireless communication to which the present invention is applicable is not limited to the above configuration. For example, the present invention can be applied to a configuration in which a polling signal is transmitted from a power receiving apparatus, and the power transmitting apparatus that has received the polling signal transmits a connection request.

  In the third embodiment, it has been described that the posture information is acquired only by the power receiving apparatus 201. However, according to the present invention, in the third embodiment, as in the second embodiment, the power transmission apparatus 101 also acquires the attitude information and sets the threshold value of the power supply efficiency that permits the transmission / reception power. Also good. That is, the present invention is applied if it is determined from the attitude information of the power transmission device 101 and the power reception device 201 whether the antenna surfaces are in the normal position and the threshold value of the power supply efficiency permitting the transmission / reception power is set. Is possible.

  In the first to third embodiments, the three-dimensional acceleration sensor capable of detecting the gravitational acceleration has been described as an example of the posture information detection unit. However, the posture information detecting means of the present invention is not limited to the three-dimensional acceleration sensor. For example, the present invention can be applied to any detection means that can detect the posture of the apparatus, such as a mechanical switch, a strain sensor, and an optical sensor.

  In the first to third embodiments, FIG. 7 has been described as an example of a diagram of power supply efficiency and VSWR permitting non-contact power supply. However, the diagram of power supply efficiency and VSWR to which the present invention is applicable is not limited to the example of FIG. For example, the threshold used for the threshold determination of VSWR and the threshold determination of power supply efficiency in the flows of FIGS. 1, 9, and 10 may not be a value determined by the diagram of power supply efficiency and VSWR. For example, the first threshold value of the power supply efficiency may be offset based on the amount of deviation from the position where the antenna surfaces are the normal positions based on the posture information of the power transmission apparatus 101 and the power reception apparatus 201.

  When offsetting the first threshold value of the power feeding efficiency, from the posture information of the power transmitting apparatus 101 and the power receiving apparatus 201, the offset amount is smaller as the deviation amount between the antenna surfaces from the normal position is smaller, and the deviation amount from the normal position. The larger the value, the larger the offset amount.

  Various forms without departing from the gist of the present invention are also included in the present invention, and a part of the above-described embodiments may be appropriately combined. Also, a software program that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied from a recording medium directly to a communication system or an electronic device having a computer that can execute the program using wired / wireless communication, and the program is executed. This case is also included in the present invention. Accordingly, the program code itself supplied and installed in the computer in order to implement the functional processing of the present invention by the computer also realizes the present invention. That is, the computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention is also included in the present invention. In this case, the program may be in any form as long as it has a program function, such as an object code, a program executed by an interpreter, or script data supplied to the OS. The recording medium for supplying the program may be, for example, a magnetic recording medium such as a hard disk or a magnetic tape, an optical / magnetomagnetic recording medium, or a nonvolatile semiconductor memory. As a program supply method, a method of recording a computer program forming the present invention on a server on a computer network and downloading a computer program by a connected client computer is also conceivable.

  When the present invention is applied to the recording medium, program codes corresponding to the flows shown in FIGS. 1, 9, and 10 are stored in the recording medium.

101 power transmission device, 201 power receiving device, 301 metal foreign object, 302 metal foreign object

Claims (14)

A first wireless communication unit, a wireless power receiving unit, a first attitude detection unit, a power receiving device capable of mounting a secondary battery, and a second wireless communication unit capable of communicating with the power receiving device; Wireless power transmission means, and a power transmission device configured to transmit power to the power reception device in a contactless manner by the wireless power transmission means, and to charge a secondary battery of the power reception device with the power. In the system,
The power reception device and the power transmission device start the power transmission / reception in a contactless manner by the wireless power reception unit and the wireless power transmission unit, and then the first posture detection unit performs the wireless power reception unit. Attitude information, and at least the detected attitude information of the wireless power receiving means and the power information received by the wireless power receiving means by the first wireless communication means and the second wireless communication means, The wireless power transmission apparatus repeatedly performs wireless communication for transmitting device status information, and the power transmission device is configured so that the wireless power reception unit and the wireless power transmission unit are in a normal position range based on the detected attitude information of the wireless power reception unit. The power transmission / reception for determining whether or not to continue power transmission / reception in a non-contact manner according to a result of determination as to whether it is within the normal position range. Non-contact power supply control method characterized by changing the threshold setting of the power feeding efficiency you are. A first wireless communication unit, a wireless power receiving unit, a first attitude detection unit, a power receiving device capable of mounting a secondary battery, and a second wireless communication unit capable of communicating with the power receiving device; A power transmission device comprising: a wireless power transmission unit; and a second attitude detection unit, wherein the wireless power transmission unit transmits power to the power reception device in a contactless manner, and can charge a secondary battery of the power reception device with the power. In a non-contact power feeding system composed of
The power receiving device and the power transmitting device are configured to start the power transmission / reception in a non-contact manner by the wireless power receiving unit and the wireless power transmitting unit, and then perform the first posture detection unit and the second posture detection. Means for detecting attitude information of the wireless power receiving means and the wireless power transmitting means, and at least the detected wireless power receiving means is detected by the first wireless communication means and the second wireless communication means. Repeatedly performs wireless communication for transmitting device status information including posture information and power information received by the wireless power receiving unit, and the power transmission device detects the detected wireless power reception unit and the wireless power transmission. From the attitude information of the means, it is determined whether the wireless power receiving means and the wireless power transmitting means are within the normal position range. According sectional result, the non-contact power supply control method characterized by changing the transmission power reception to and threshold setting of the power supply efficiency of the power to determine whether to continue the power transmitting and receiving electric power in a non-contact manner.   When it is determined that the wireless power receiving means and the wireless power transmitting means are within the normal position range, the power of the power being transmitted / received for determining whether to continue power transmission / reception in a contactless manner. Whether or not to continue power transmission and reception in a non-contact manner when the threshold of power supply efficiency is set to the first threshold and it is determined that the wireless power receiving means and the wireless power transmitting means are not within the normal position range The non-contact power supply control method according to claim 2, wherein a threshold value of power supply efficiency of the power being transmitted / received for determining the power is set to a second threshold value.   When it is determined that the wireless power receiving means and the wireless power transmitting means are within the normal position range, the power of the power being transmitted / received for determining whether to continue power transmission / reception in a contactless manner. A power supply efficiency threshold value is set to a first threshold value, and the first threshold value of the power supply efficiency of the set power is offset by an amount of deviation from a reference value of the normal position. The offset amount is larger as the deviation amount from the reference value is larger, and the offset amount is smaller as the deviation amount from the reference value of the normal position is smaller. The contactless power feeding control method described. A first wireless communication unit, a wireless power receiving unit, a first attitude detection unit, a power receiving device capable of mounting a secondary battery, and a second wireless communication unit capable of communicating with the power receiving device; Wireless power transmission means, and a power transmission device configured to transmit power to the power reception device in a contactless manner by the wireless power transmission means, and to charge a secondary battery of the power reception device with the power. In the system,
The power reception device and the power transmission device start power transmission / reception in a contactless manner by the wireless power reception unit and the wireless power transmission unit, and then the first wireless communication unit and the second wireless communication And wireless communication for transmitting device status information including at least the power information received by the wireless power receiving device, and the power transmission device performs the transmission according to the power information acquired by the wireless communication. It is determined whether the power supply efficiency of the power being received is less than a first threshold, and when the power supply efficiency is less than the first threshold, the power reception device and the power transmission device are in the first posture. The detecting means detects posture information of the wireless power receiving means, and at least the detected wireless power is detected by the first wireless communication means and the second wireless communication means. Wireless communication for transmitting device status information including attitude information of the power means is performed, and the power transmission device is configured to detect the wireless power reception means and the wireless power transmission means based on the detected attitude information of the wireless power reception means. Is within the normal position range, and if it is not within the normal position range, the power supply efficiency of the power being transmitted / received for determining whether to continue power transmission / reception in a non-contact manner is determined. A contactless power supply control method, wherein the threshold value is set to a second threshold value. A first wireless communication unit, a wireless power receiving unit, a first attitude detection unit, a power receiving device capable of mounting a secondary battery, and a second wireless communication unit capable of communicating with the power receiving device; Power transmission means and second attitude detection means, wherein the wireless power transmission means transmits power to the power receiving device in a contactless manner, and the power can be charged with a secondary battery of the power receiving device. In a non-contact power feeding system composed of a device,
The power reception device and the power transmission device start power transmission / reception in a contactless manner by the wireless power reception unit and the wireless power transmission unit, and then the first wireless communication unit and the second wireless communication And wireless communication for transmitting device status information including at least the power information received by the wireless power receiving device, and the power transmission device performs the transmission according to the power information acquired by the wireless communication. It is determined whether the power supply efficiency of the power being received is less than a first threshold, and when the power supply efficiency is less than the first threshold, the power reception device and the power transmission device are in the first posture. The detection means and the second attitude detection means detect attitude information of the wireless power receiving means, and at least the first wireless communication means and the second wireless communication means Wireless communication is performed for transmitting device status information including the detected posture information of the wireless power receiving unit, and the power transmission device is based on the detected posture information of the wireless power receiving unit and the wireless power transmitting unit. In order to determine whether the wireless power receiving means and the wireless power transmitting means are within the normal position range, and if not within the normal position range, to determine whether to continue power transmission and reception in a non-contact manner A non-contact power supply control method, wherein a threshold value of power supply efficiency of the power being transmitted / received is set to a second threshold value.   In the determination as to whether or not the power transmission device continues to transmit and receive power in the contactless manner, the threshold value of the voltage standing wave ratio between the wireless power receiving means and the wireless power transmitting means is also determined in the contactless manner. 7. The non-contact power supply control method according to claim 1, wherein the method is used for determining whether or not to continue power transmission / reception.   The power receiving device and the power transmitting device perform wireless communication for transmitting device status information including at least capability information of the wireless power receiving unit by the first wireless communication unit and the second wireless communication unit. The contactless device according to claim 7, wherein the power transmission device changes a threshold setting of the voltage standing wave ratio according to capability information of the wireless power receiving unit acquired by the wireless communication. Power supply control method.   When the power transmission device determines that the contactless power transmission / reception is continued, the power reception device and the power transmission device are obtained by the first wireless communication unit and the second wireless communication unit, respectively. Wireless communication is performed to transmit device status information including at least information that denies continuation of power transmission / reception in the contactless manner, and the power receiving device and the power transmission device transmit and receive power in the contactless manner. The contactless power feeding control method according to claim 1, wherein information that denies continuation of the information is notified to the user.   The non-contact power feeding control method according to claim 1, wherein the first posture detection unit is an acceleration sensor or a mechanical sensor capable of detecting gravitational acceleration.   10. The non-contact power feeding control method according to claim 1, wherein the second attitude detection unit is an acceleration sensor or a mechanical sensor capable of detecting gravitational acceleration. 11.   A wireless communication apparatus using the non-contact power feeding control method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.   A wireless communication apparatus using the non-contact power supply control method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 in combination.   A computer-readable program for causing a wireless communication device according to claim 12 or 13 to function.