Inductive Power Transmitter

Abstract

An inductive power transmitter comprising: at least one power transmitting coil configured to generate an inductive power transfer (IPT) field; and an object detection system configured to detect objects in or adjacent a space occupied by the IPT field when generated; wherein the object detection system is configured to detect a receiver object based on a tag associated with the receiver object.

1 . An inductive power transmitter comprising:
 a power transmitting coil configured to generate an inductive power transfer (IPT) field; and   an object detection system configured to detect objects in or adjacent a space occupied by the IPT field when generated;   wherein the inductive power transmitter is configured to:
 perform detection of a potential receiver object using the object detection system by correlating a shape of a voltage versus time waveform or a current versus time waveform with a reference waveform shape, wherein the voltage versus time or current versus time waveform is magnetically induced by the potential receiver object; 
 in response to detecting the potential receiver object, attempt to communicate with the potential receiver object; and 
 in response to a failure to communicate with the potential receiver object, perform further detection of a potential receiver object. 
   
     
     
         2 . The inductive power transmitter of  claim 1  wherein the inductive power transmitter is further configured to energize the power transmitting coil in response to a successful attempt to communicate with the potential receiver object. 
     
     
         3 . The inductive power transmitter of  claim 2  wherein the inductive power transmitter is further configured to energize the power transmitting coil in response to a detection of the potential receiver object. 
     
     
         4 . The inductive power transmitter of  claim 2  or  3  wherein the inductive power transmitter is further configured to de-energize the power transmitting coil in response to a failure to communicate with the potential receiver object. 
     
     
         5 . The inductive power transmitter in  claim 1 , wherein the object detection system comprises at least one magnetic switch. 
     
     
         6 . The inductive power transmitter in  claim 5 , wherein the at least one magnetic switch comprises a component selected from the group consisting of: a Hall Effect switch, a Reed switch, and a 3D hall effect sensor. 
     
     
         7 . The inductive power transmitter in  claim 1 , comprising a plurality of power transmitting coils, wherein the object detection system is located about each power transmitting coil, and the inductive power transmitter is configured to energise the respective power transmitting coil based on activation of the respective object detector through interaction with the potential receiver object. 
     
     
         8 . The inductive power transmitter in  claim 7 , wherein a plurality of object detectors are located between respective power transmitting coils, and the inductive power transmitter is configured to energise one or more of the power transmitting coils based on activation of the respective detectors through interaction with the potential receiver object. 
     
     
         9 . The inductive power transmitter in  claim 8 , wherein all the object detectors for a respective power transmitting coil are connected in parallel. 
     
     
         10 . The inductive power transmitter in  claim 7 , wherein the power transmitting coils are not energised unless a potential receiver object is detected by the object detectors associated therewith under control of a controller of the inductive power transmitter. 
     
     
         11 . The inductive power transmitter in  claim 1  wherein the object detection system is configured to detect an adjacent non receiver object simultaneously with a receiver object. 
     
     
         12 . The inductive power transmitter of  claim 1 , wherein the object detection system is configured to determine whether a response of the object detection system to detecting an object has a correlation with a reference response which is less than a threshold.