Contact-less power supply, contact-less charger systems and method for charging rechargeable battery cell

The present invention relates to a charging device for a portable electronic device, and more particularly to a non-contact charging system using inductive coupling.

Rechargeable secondary batteries are installed in portable electronic devices such as mobile communication terminals and PDAs. In order to charge a secondary battery (battery), a separate charging device that uses a commercial power source for home use to provide electric energy to the battery of a portable electronic device is required. Normally, the charging device and the battery are externally configured with separate contact terminals, and the charging device and the battery are electrically connected by connecting the two contact terminals to each other.

However, if the contact terminal is projected to the outside in this way, there is a problem that it is not aesthetically pleasing and the contact terminal is contaminated with external foreign matter and the contact state tends to be poor. In addition, if the battery is inadvertently short-circuited by the user or exposed in a humid atmosphere, the charging energy is likely to be lost.

In order to solve such a problem of the contact type charging method, a wireless charging system for charging the charging device and the battery in a non-contact method has been proposed.

Korean Published Patent No. 2002-57468, Korean Published Patent No. 2002-57469, Korean Registered Patent No. 363,439, Korean Registered Patent No. 428,713, Korean Published Patent No. 2002-35242, Korean Registered Utility Model No. 217,303, UK Utility models No. 2,314,470, US Patent No. 2003 / 0,210,106, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-209344, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-233706, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-258182, and US Pat. No. 6,316,909 are the primary coils of the charging base. Disclosed is a non-contact charging system that uses an inductive coupling with a secondary coil of a battery pack to charge a battery without a contact terminal.

However, the conventional non-contact charging system described above has a disadvantage that the charging efficiency depends on the positional relationship between the primary coil and the secondary coil. That is, if there is a positional offset between the primary coil and the secondary coil, the induced electromotive force is not sufficiently induced (induced, excited) in the secondary coil, so charging is performed compared to the contact charging system. Very low efficiency. Therefore, the user must be careful to place the portable electronic device or battery pack with the built-in secondary coil in the optimum position on the charging base.

In order to solve such a problem, efforts have been made to change the arrangement pattern of the primary coil so that high charging efficiency can be guaranteed regardless of the position and direction of the secondary coil.

Korean registered patent No. 524,254 (hereinafter abbreviated as No. 254'patent) is fixed on a flat plate core with many small cores made of cobalt series or ferrite material on a wireless charging pad (primary charging base). A non-contact charging system in which a core block forming a coil having the above pattern is arranged is disclosed.

In order to compensate for the misalignment between the primary coil and the secondary coil as in the above patent No. 254', it is only possible to arrange a large number of coils alternately or in parallel on the same plane of the charging base. There is a problem that energy consumption is too large as compared with the case of using one coil.

<p> An object of the present invention is to provide a non-contact charging device capable of efficiently transmitting an induced electromotive force to the secondary side regardless of the position between the primary coil and the secondary coil.</p><p> Another object of the present invention is to provide a non-contact charging device capable of simultaneously charging a large number of portable electronic devices.</p><p> Another object of the present invention is to provide a non-contact charging device capable of minimizing waste of energy while having high charging efficiency.</p>

<p> In order to achieve the above object, the device that is magnetically coupled to the battery device incorporating the receiving coil according to the first aspect of the present invention and charges the battery without contact provides charging power to the receiving coil. With a transmit coil array in which a large number of transmit coils are arranged to induce; to detect a transmit coil that is magnetically coupled to the receive coil and selectively drive only the detected transmit coil. Means and include.</p><p> At this time, the drive means is characterized in that only the transmission coil having a feedback response is selected from the battery device. In particular, the drive means determines whether or not there is a feedback response from the battery device within a predetermined time while sequentially driving the transmission coils of the transmission coil array, and feeds back from the battery device within the specified time. Only the transmission coil in which the response exists is selected, or only the transmission coil in which the feedback response exists from the battery device within a predetermined time is selected while simultaneously driving the transmission coil of the transmission coil array.</p><p> A second aspect of the present invention is a battery device including a secondary coil for inductive coupling, a wireless transmission module for wirelessly transmitting data, a charge control circuit for adjusting the charge state of the battery, and a rechargeable battery. A primary coil array that is magnetically coupled to the above secondary coil and has a large number of primary coils arranged to induce charging power in the secondary coil; it converts an external AC voltage into a DC voltage. With a rectifier circuit; with a coil drive circuit that generates drive power to drive the primary coil based on the DC voltage; with a wireless reception module for receiving a feedback signal from the wireless transmission module; with the coil drive circuit The primary coil is controlled and pre-driven, only the primary coil to which the feedback signal is responded from the battery device is selected according to the pre-driving of the primary coil, and only the selected primary coil is driven. It includes a drive control circuit for charging the battery.</p><p> At this time, the drive control circuit determines whether or not there is a feedback response from the battery device within the specified time while sequentially pre-driving the primary coil, and feeds back from the battery device within the specified time. Only the primary coil in which the response exists is selected, or only the primary coil in which the feedback response exists from the battery device within a specified time while pre-driving the primary coil at the same time is selected.</p><p> Further, in the primary coil array, a large number of primary coils can be arranged in a matrix or arranged so as to be displaced in a zigzag shape.</p><p> A third aspect of the present invention includes a primary coil array including a primary coil array in which a large number of primary coils are arranged and a wireless reception module, a primary coil, and a secondary coil that is magnetically coupled to the primary coil. It relates to a battery charging method in a non-contact charging system including a wireless transmission module and a secondary battery device including a battery, and (A) any one of the above primary coils is selected and selected. The stage of pre-driving the primary coil for a relatively short time; (B) the stage of waiting for the feedback response from the battery device for a predetermined time; (C) the corresponding 1 if the feedback response exists. The step of temporarily storing the identification information of the next coil in the memory; (D) the step of selecting another primary coil from the above primary coil array and repeating the steps (A) to (C) above; (E) The above (D) step is sequentially performed for all the primary coils constituting the above primary coil array; (F) The identification information of the primary coil is read from the above memory, and the corresponding primary coil is subjected to. This includes the stage of selectively supplying charging power only to the coil.</p><p> A fourth aspect of the present invention is a primary side charging device including a primary coil array in which a large number of primary coils are arranged and a wireless reception module, and a secondary that is magnetically coupled to the primary coil. A battery charging method in a non-contact charging system consisting of a secondary battery device including a coil, a wireless transmission module and a battery, in which (A) the primary coil is sequentially pre-driven for a relatively short period of time; (B). ) The stage of waiting for the feedback response from the battery device for a predetermined time; (C) the stage of selecting at least one primary coil in which the feedback response exists; (D) the selected primary This includes a step of charging the battery device by applying charging power to the coil.</p><p> A fifth aspect of the present invention is a primary coil array including a primary coil array in which a large number of primary coils are arranged and a wireless receiving module, and a secondary coil magnetically coupled to the primary coil. It is a battery charging method in a non-contact charging system consisting of a secondary battery device including a wireless transmission module and a battery. (A) All the primary coils constituting the above primary coil array are simultaneously reserved for a relatively short time. The stage of driving; (B) the stage of waiting for the feedback response from the battery device for a predetermined time; (C) the stage of selecting at least one primary coil in which the feedback response exists; (D) ) The step of charging the battery device by applying charging power to the selected primary coil is included.</p><p> A sixth aspect of the present invention is a first charging unit including a primary coil array in which a large number of primary coils are arranged and a wireless reception module, and a secondary coil that is magnetically coupled to the primary coil. The present invention relates to a non-contact charging system including a second charging unit including a wireless transmission module and a battery provided with a charging voltage from the second charging unit, and the first charging unit charges the secondary coil. With a primary coil array in which a large number of primary coils are arranged to induce power; after driving the primary coil in standby mode, select the primary coil that has a feedback response from the second charging unit. However, the second charging unit includes means for driving only the selected primary coil in the charging mode, provided that the secondary coil is induced with a voltage sufficient to drive the internal circuit. , A means for generating a feedback signal notifying the start of charging and transmitting the feedback signal to the first charging unit.</p>

Hereinafter, desirable embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Prior to this, the terms and words used herein and in the scope of the claims should not be construed in a general or lexicographical sense and the inventor describes his invention in the best possible way. Therefore, in accordance with the principle that the concept of terms can be properly defined, it must be interpreted as a meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention. Therefore, the examples described herein are only one of the most desirable examples of the present invention and do not represent all of the technical ideas of the present invention, and therefore, various alternatives can be made at the time of filing the present application. It must be understood that there can be equivalents and variants.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a normal non-contact charging system for explaining a non-contact charging principle using an electromagnetic induction phenomenon.

As shown in the drawing, the non-contact charging system uses a charging device 10 that generates charging power to be supplied to a battery by using an external power source, and a non-contact charging power supplied from the charging device 10 by using the charging device 10. It consists of a battery device 20 that charges an internal battery (not shown).

The battery device 20 indicates a battery pack having a built-in battery or a portable electronic device having a built-in battery. Desirable portable electronic devices include cellular phones, PDAs, MP3 players and the like. The battery built in the battery device 20 is a rechargeable battery cell and includes a lithium ion battery, a lithium polymer battery, and the like.

The charging device 10 is a device that is supplied with electric energy from an external power source and generates charging power to be supplied to the battery device 20, and is configured in a pad form so that the battery device 20 can be easily settled. Is desirable. Further, as the external power supply supplied to the charging device 10, a commercial AC power supply for home use (60Hz, 220V / 100V) is most desirable, but other DC power supplies can also be adopted.

The charging device 10 and the battery device 20 include a primary coil 11 and a secondary coil 21 and antennas 12, 22 corresponding to each other.

The primary and secondary coils 11 and 21 are magnetically coupled to each other by inductive coupling. Therefore, when the secondary coil is juxtaposed on the primary coil, the magnetic field generated by the primary coil induces an induced current in the secondary coil. The primary and secondary coils 11 and 21 are surrounded by antennas 12 and 22, respectively.

Further, the charging device 10 has a built-in charging power supply circuit 15 for driving the primary coil 11 to generate a magnetic field, and the battery device 20 uses the induced electromotive force induced by the secondary coil 21. It has a built-in charging circuit 25 for charging the battery.

2 (a) and 2 (b) show a schematic phase diagram of the charging device according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2A, unlike the charging device 10 of FIG. 1 above, the charging device 100 of the present invention does not have a single coil 11 built in the charging pad, but has a large number of coils 110 built-in. It is characterized by forming a coil array. Further, the coil array 110 is surrounded by an antenna coil 120. One antenna coil 120 may be provided so as to surround the coil array 110, and a plurality of antenna coils 120 may be provided so as to surround each of the primary coils or, for example, 4 to 6 primary coils.

Thus, when a large number of coils 100 form a coil array 110, it is easier to achieve positional conformation between the primary and secondary coils than when they consist of a single coil. Become. As shown in FIG. 2A, even if the battery device 200 is tilted onto the charging device 100, no positional offset occurs between the primary coil and the secondary coil. That is, no matter where the battery device 200 is placed at a predetermined position on the charging device 100, there will be at least one primary coil that forms a match with the secondary coil arranged in the battery device 100.

Therefore, if the charging device of the present invention is used, the user does not have to consciously pay attention to the positional relationship between the primary coil and the secondary coil, so that the convenience of use can be improved. Further, in the coil array 110 of the present invention, not only a large number of coils can be arranged in a matrix as shown in FIG. 2 (a), but also a large number of coils can be arranged so as to be displaced in a zigzag shape as shown in FIG. 2 (b). Is.

FIG. 3 shows another phase diagram of the charging device according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, one or more battery devices 200a, 200b, 200c are placed on the charging device 100 provided with the coil array 110. Therefore, the charging device 100 of the present invention can charge several battery devices 200a, 200b, 200c at the same time.

However, the charging device 100 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 has an advantage that stable charging efficiency is guaranteed regardless of the positional relationship between the primary coil and the secondary coil, and a large number of battery devices can be charged at the same time. Nevertheless, it has the disadvantage of consuming too much energy.

Therefore, we can reduce energy consumption by driving only the primary coil, which is at least partially coupled to the secondary coil of the battery device, among the many primary coils that make up the coil array. It was found that it can be significantly reduced.

Hereinafter, the configuration of a desirable embodiment of the charging device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

First, FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of a non-contact charging system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the non-contact charging system according to the present embodiment includes a charging device 100 and a battery device 200.

The charging device 100 includes a transmitting coil array 110, a rectifier 152, a power distribution circuit 153, a coil driving circuit 154, a control circuit 155, a charging mode adjusting circuit 156, and wireless receiving modules 157 and 158.

The transmission coil array 110 includes at least one transmission coil (TC).₁, TC₂... TC_n) Consists of this transmit coil (TC)₁, TC₂... TC_n) Are preferably arranged in a matrix as shown in Fig. 2 or Fig. 3.

The rectifier 152 rectifies the AC voltage from the commercial AC power supply (60Hz, 220V) 151 to DC, and then transmits the AC voltage to the power distribution circuit 153.

The power distribution circuit 153 transmits the DC voltage rectified by the rectifier 152 to the selected coil drive circuit 154. That is, the power distribution circuit 153 transmits a selection command from the control circuit 155, and transmits the rectified DC voltage to the coil drive circuit 154 instructed by the selection command. For example, the power distribution circuit 153 is a kind of switching circuit located between the rectifier 152 and the coil drive circuit 154, and is connected between the coil drive circuit 154 and the rectifier 152 selected by the control circuit 155. Connect

The charge mode adjustment circuit 156 adjusts the drive mode of the corresponding power transmission coil 110 by controlling the coil drive circuit 154 selected by the control circuit 155. For example, the drive mode can include a standby mode, a charging mode, and a buffering mode.

With reference to FIG. 5, the standby mode is a mode for confirming the coupling state between the primary coil and the secondary coil, and is, for example, 50 msec (w).₁) Driven for 1 sec (t)₁) It is a mode that is stopped for a while. The charging mode has a longer time (w) than the standby mode for the primary coil that is aligned with the secondary coil.₂) In this mode, the battery device is charged by driving the primary coil. Further, in the above buffer mode, when the battery device is fully charged, the drive time of the primary coil (w) is used to reduce power consumption.₃) Is a mode to reduce.

In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 5, the drive mode of the power transmission coil is described as an example having a standby mode, a charging mode, and a buffering mode, but the present invention is not necessarily limited to such an example. Absent.

The coil drive circuit 154 oscillates a DC voltage from a rectifier into an AC voltage having a constant level and frequency (for example, 80 kHz) in order to drive each of a large number of transmission coils. In particular, the coil drive circuit 154 of this embodiment generates a predetermined AC pulse voltage for each mode (for example, standby mode, charge mode, buffer mode) as shown in FIG. 5 under the control of the charge mode adjustment circuit 156. ..

The wireless receiving modules 157 and 158 are composed of an antenna coil 158 and a receiving circuit 157, and a charging start signal (FR) fed back from the battery device 200.₁, FR₂Etc.) and charge status signal (CS)₁, CS₂Etc.) is received wirelessly, then demodulated and transmitted to the control circuit 155.

The control circuit 155 transmits a feedback signal of the battery device 200 from the reception circuit 157, analyzes the feedback signal, and controls the power distribution circuit 153 and the charge mode adjustment circuit 156. In particular, it is desirable that the control circuit 155 be connected to a pulse generator (not shown) and a timer (not shown). That is, the timer counts the pulses transmitted from the pulse generator and transmits the counted values to the control circuit 155. As a result, the control circuit 155 has a predetermined period (T = w).₁+ t₁), The coil drive circuit 154 is sequentially oscillated by controlling the power distribution circuit 153.

That is, the control circuit 155 has a predetermined time (w).₁, t₁), The transmission coil (TC) that sequentially drives the coil drive circuit 154, receives a feedback signal from the battery device 200, and switches to the charging mode.₁, TC₂... TC_n) Is selected.

The battery device 200 includes a secondary coil 210, a rectifier 251, a constant voltage / constant current circuit 252, a charge state detection circuit 253, a control circuit 255, and wireless transmission modules 220 and 256.

The secondary coil 210 is a receiving coil that is magnetically coupled to the primary coil (or transmitting coil) 110 to generate an induced electromotive force. The power signal applied to the primary coil 110 is a pulse train signal (width w) as shown in FIG.₁Since it is a pulse), the induced electromotive force induced in the secondary coil 210 is also an AC voltage pulse train. Further, the AC voltage pulse induced in the secondary coil 210 according to the drive mode of the primary coil 110 also takes one of the standby mode, the charging mode, and the buffering mode as shown in FIG.

The rectifier 251 is connected to the output end of the secondary coil 210 and flattens the AC voltage pulse induced by the secondary coil 210 to a constant level of direct current.

The constant voltage / constant current circuit 252 uses a predetermined level of DC voltage to generate a constant voltage and a constant current for charging the battery. That is, the constant current mode is maintained at the time of initial charging of the battery, and when the charging voltage of the battery becomes saturated, the mode is switched to the constant voltage mode.

The charge state detection circuit 253 is a device that detects a charge state such as an electric state induced at the output end of a secondary coil, an electric state at the output end of a rectifier, or a voltage across a constant voltage / constant current circuit. .. The charge state detection signal detected in this way is input to the control circuit 255.

The control circuit 255 is a kind of microprocessor, and inputs a monitoring signal such as the charge state detection signal, and controls the constant voltage / constant current circuit 252 and the wireless transmission modules 220, 256 based on the monitoring signal.

That is, the control circuit 255 determines whether or not the primary coil and the secondary coil can be coupled based on the charge state detection signal input from the charge state detection circuit 253, and the positional relationship between the primary coil and the secondary coil. Understand the charging status of the battery (constant current mode, constant voltage mode, charging degree, etc.) and the voltage status across the constant voltage / constant current circuit. In particular, the control circuit 255 grasps the drop time of the AC voltage pulse induced in the secondary coil, and synchronizes the transmission time of the feedback response signal transmitted to the charging device 150 with the drop time of the pulse.

Further, the control circuit 255 sends a charging start signal (FR) to the charging device 100 on the primary side when there is a minimum level current capable of driving the control circuit 255 from the output end of the secondary coil 210.₁, FR₂Etc.) (see Figure 5). As a result, the control circuit 155 of the charging device 100 determines that the currently driven transmission coil 110 is at least partially coupled to the secondary coil 210, and temporarily stores this information in an internal memory (not shown).

Further, the control circuit 255 on the secondary side constantly monitors the charging current and charging voltage of the battery 262, and temporarily stores the monitoring values in an internal memory (not shown). The memory (not shown) stores not only battery charge status information such as monitored charging current and charging voltage, but also battery specification information (product code, rating, etc.).

Further, the control circuit 255 appropriately selects and switches between the constant voltage mode and the constant current mode according to the state of charge of the battery.

The wireless transmission modules 256 and 220 modulate and feed back an antenna 220 that transmits a feedback response signal (charge start signal or charge status signal) to be transmitted to the charging device 100 on the primary side and a baseband signal such as charge status information. Includes a transmit circuit 256 that produces a response signal.

A protection circuit (PCM) 261 for preventing an overvoltage or overcurrent from being applied to the battery is arranged between the constant voltage / constant current circuit 252 and the battery 262. The protection circuit 261 and the battery 262 constitute one single battery unit 260.

The functional configuration of the non-contact charging system of FIG. 4 described above is only one embodiment for explaining the principle of the present invention, and various modifications can be made without damaging the technical principle of the present invention. ..

Next, the operation of the non-contact charging system according to the desired embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

First, for convenience of explanation, the charging device 100 of this embodiment has a coil array structure (a form in which 15 primary coils are arranged in a matrix structure inside the antenna coil) as shown in FIG. 2 (a). It is assumed that a battery device (for example, a cellular phone) is placed on the charging device 100 as shown in FIG. 2 (a). That is, as shown in FIG. 2A, it is assumed that the battery device 200 is placed in the transmission coil of the charging device 100 over # 7, # 8, # 9, # 12, # 13, # 14.

When an external power source such as the commercial AC power source 151 is applied to the charging device 100, the charging device control circuit 155 wakes up and controls the power distribution circuit 153 and the coil drive circuit 154 to transmit. Drive the coils 110 and others in sequence (S10). At this time, the timer counts a predetermined pulse input from a pulse generator (not shown), and inputs this count information to the control circuit 155 (S15).

First, the control circuit 155 controls the power distribution circuit 153 and applies the DC voltage rectified by the rectifier 152 for a predetermined time (w).₁) Apply to the first coil drive circuit 154. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the transmission coil TC is oscillated by the first coil drive circuit 154.₁W₁Drive for hours (eg 50msec) and t₁Wait for an hour (eg 1 sec) (S20). At this time, the control circuit 155 is t₁It is determined whether or not a feedback response signal (charging start signal) is present from the secondary battery device 200 within the time (S25).

At this time, if no response is received from the battery device 200 on the secondary side, the control circuit 155 is the transmission coil TC.₁It is determined that there is no secondary coil coupled to the power distribution circuit 153, and the power distribution circuit 153 is controlled so that the second coil drive circuit 154 oscillates. That is, the control circuit 155 determines whether or not the number n of the transmission coil (or coil drive circuit) has reached 15 (S35), and if it does not reach it, the n value is incremented by 1 (S40). As a result, the selection signal output from the control circuit 155 indicates the second coil drive circuit 154, and the second coil drive circuit 154 oscillates in the same manner as in the above S20.

On the other hand, in the above S25, when the feedback response signal is present from the secondary battery device 200, the transmission coil TC₁It is determined that there is a secondary coil 210 that is at least partially coupled with, and the corresponding transmission coil number (# 1) is temporarily stored in the internal memory, and the process proceeds to S35 (S30).

In the case of this embodiment, the transmission coil TC is shown as shown in FIG.₁Or transmission coil TC₆Is not magnetically coupled to the secondary coil. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 5, the transmission coil TC₁Or transmission coil TC₆No feedback response signal is received by the antenna coil 158 during the time it is driven. On the other hand, the transmission coil TC₇, TC₈, TC₁₂, TC₁₃In the case of, it is magnetically coupled with the secondary coil 210 of the battery device 200. Therefore, an induced electromotive force is generated in the secondary coil 210 of the battery device, and the control circuit 255 of the battery device is driven by this induced electromotive force. On the other hand, the induced electromotive force generated at the output end of the secondary coil 210 also becomes an AC pulse as shown in FIG. 5, and the charge state detection circuit 253 detects the falling point of the AC pulse and reports it to the control circuit 255. As a result, the control circuit 255 receives a feedback response signal (FR).₁, FR₂, FR₃Etc.) are transmitted to the wireless receiving modules 157,158 of the charging device 100 through the wireless transmitting modules 220 and 256. Figure 5 shows the transmission coil TC₇, TC₈, TC₁₃Wait time (t)₁) To the antenna coil 158 of the charging device respectively FR₁, FR₂And FR₃Indicates that the feedback response signal of is received.

Transmit coil TC₁₄In the case of, the battery device is physically coupled, but the secondary coil 210 of the battery device is not magnetically coupled. Therefore, the transmission coil TC in the standby mode state.₁₄No feedback response signal is received by the antenna coil even if is driven. Also, the transmission coil TC₁₂In the case of, it is partially magnetically coupled with the secondary coil 210, but the voltage induced in the secondary coil due to misalignment is very low.<u style="single">With things</u>There is only. Therefore, even though the induced electromotive force is generated, the feedback response signal is not received by the antenna coil as usual because the control circuit 255 of the battery device cannot be driven.

In this way, the control circuit 255 is the transmission coil TC.₁Or TC₁₄Waits for the feedback response signal from the battery device 200 while sequentially driving the batteries. At this time, if a feedback response signal is received while driving a specific transmission coil, the number (#) of the corresponding transmission coil is temporarily stored in the internal memory.

On the other hand, when the value of n reaches 15 in the above step S35, the process proceeds to S45 to wait for the feedback response signal. At this time, if the feedback response signal exists, the corresponding transmission coil number # 15 is temporarily stored in the internal memory (S50) as in the above S30, and if the feedback response signal does not exist, the standby mode is interrupted. Switch to charging mode.

That is, the control circuit 155 refers to the internal memory and interprets the transmission coil numbers (# 7, # 8, # 13) that are temporarily stored, and based on the interpretation result, the power distribution circuit 153 and the charging mode. Transmission coil (TC) by controlling the adjustment circuit 156₇, TC₈, TC₁₃) Is switched to the charging mode, and the remaining transmission coils interrupt the drive (S55, S60).

This allows the transmit coil (TC)₇, TC₈, TC₁₃) Has a width w₂The drive pulse of is applied, and the corresponding charging power pulse is induced in the secondary coil 210 that is magnetically coupled with this transmission coil. The charging power thus induced is converted to direct current via the rectifier 251 and then charged to the battery 262 via the constant voltage / constant current circuit 252. At this time, the charge state detection circuit 253 detects the charge current and charge voltage applied to the battery 262 and transmits them to the control circuit 255. The control circuit 255 receives a charge status signal (CS) as shown in FIG. 5 at the time when the charge power pulse drops.₁, CS₂Etc.) are fed back to the charging device 100.

Charge status signal (CS) from battery device 200₁, CS₂The control circuit 155 of the charging device that received feedback (such as) is the transmission coil (TC) according to the charging state of the battery.₇, TC₈, TC₁₃) Is adjusted. Further, if the battery reaches a fully charged state during the charging mode, the control circuit 155 controls the charging mode adjusting circuit 156 to control the transmission coil (TC).₇, TC₈, TC₁₃) Is switched to the buffer mode as shown in Fig. 5. Buffer mode drive pulse (w)₃) Is the drive pulse in charge mode (w)₂) Compared to its pulse width (w)₃) Is very small and the drive pulse in standby mode (w)₁) Approximately.

As described above, the non-contact charging system of the present invention does not drive all the transmitting coils that make up the transmitting coil array, but only the transmitting coil that is magnetically coupled to the receiving coil of the battery device. Therefore, the energy consumption can be significantly reduced as compared with the conventional system. In addition, in order to detect the transmitting coil that is magnetically coupled with the receiving coil of the battery device, a preliminary standby mode having a relatively low power consumption as compared with the charging mode is operated. Further, since a large number of transmission coils are included in the transmission coil array, a large number of battery devices can be charged at the same time.

In the embodiment of the present invention described above, the power distribution circuit 153 is arranged between the rectifier 152 and the coil drive circuit 154, but the power distribution circuit is located between a single coil drive circuit and a large number of transmission coils. It can also be placed in.

Further, in the case of the embodiment of the present invention, pulse width modulation is used to adjust the drive level of the transmission coil, but other methods such as frequency modulation can also be adopted.

In the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 above, the single antenna coil 120 has a structure that surrounds the coil array 110 as a whole, but the transmission coil (TC)₁, TC₂~ TC_n) It is also possible to arrange antenna coils separately for each.

In this way, if a coil block is formed while the transmitter coil and the antenna coil form a pair, it is necessary to search for the transmitter coil coupled with the secondary coil one by one while driving the transmitter coil in sequence as shown in FIG. It disappears. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, it is possible to drive all the transmission coils at the same time and receive the feedback signal only to the transmission coil that magnetically couples with the secondary coil. In this case, different frequencies can be used or different codes can be used to separate the feedback signals received by the different antenna coils.

Other embodiments of the present invention will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.

When an external power source 151 is applied to the charging device 100 (S200), the control circuit 155 controls the power distribution circuit 153 and the charging mode adjusting circuit 156 to control all the transmitting coils (TC) constituting the transmitting coil array 110.₁ ~ TC₁₅) Simultaneously in standby mode (S202). Transmit coil (TC₁ ~ TC₁₅The magnetic field generated from) is radiated to the outside and is magnetically coupled to the secondary coil 210 (for example, TC).₂, TC₈) Generates an induced electromotive force at the output end of the secondary coil 210. At this time, the secondary battery device 200 is the transmission coil (TC).₁ ~ TC₁₅Transmit coils (TC) so that they can be separated from each other₁ ~ TC₁₅) Should have different frequencies or different codes.

The battery device 200 on the secondary side analyzes the standby mode power pulse induced at the output end of the secondary coil 210 to determine the number (#) of the transmission coil that generated the induced electromotive force, and provides information for this number. It is transmitted to the primary charging device 100 as a feedback response signal.

At this time, the control circuit 155 of the primary charging device is the transmission coil (TC).₁~ TC₁₅) Is oscillated in the standby mode, and then it is determined whether or not the predetermined time (for example, 50 msec) has been exceeded while waiting for the feedback response signal (S204, S206).

At this time, if a feedback response signal is received from the battery device 200 on the secondary side within a predetermined time, this response signal is analyzed to magnetically couple (or position match) with the secondary coil 210. Transmit coil (eg TC₂, TC₈) Is selected (S208).

The control circuit 155 controls the power distribution circuit 153 and the charge mode control circuit 156 to control the transmission coil (eg, TC) selected above.₂, TC₈) Is switched from standby mode to charging mode (S210).

As described above, if all the transmission coils constituting the transmission coil array are driven at the same time, the time for operating in the standby mode can be shortened and wasteful power consumption can be reduced.

As described above, the present invention has been described by the limited examples and drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the present invention is described by a person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention belongs. It goes without saying that various modifications and modifications can be made within the equal range of the technical idea and the claims.

As described above, in the present invention, since a large number of transmission coils are arranged in a matrix on the charging pad, misalignment with the secondary coil is prevented in advance, and a large number of portable electronic devices are simultaneously non-contact. It can be charged.

In addition, since it is possible to select and drive only the primary coil that is in position matching with the secondary coil on the portable electronic device side, it is possible to dramatically reduce the waste of energy.

<figref num="1">FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a general non-contact charging system.</figref><figref num="2">2 (a) and 2 (b) are phase diagrams of a non-contact charging device according to a desirable embodiment of the present invention.</figref><figref num="3">FIG. 3 is another phase diagram of the non-contact charging device according to the desired embodiment of the present invention.</figref><figref num="4">FIG. 4 is an internal functional block diagram of a non-contact charging system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.</figref><figref num="5">FIG. 5 is a timing chart for explaining the interrelationship between the sequential drive of the transmission coil and the feedback response signal according to the embodiment of the present invention.</figref><figref num="6">FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the procedure of the non-contact charging method according to the embodiment of the present invention.</figref><figref num="7">FIG. 7 is a timing chart for explaining the interrelationship between the simultaneous drive of the transmission coil and the feedback response signal according to another embodiment of the present invention.</figref><figref num="8">FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the procedure of the non-contact charging method according to another embodiment of the present invention.</figref>