Transmission-guard system and method for an inductive power supply

Abstract

An inductive power outlet operable to transfer power to an inductive power receiver includes a driver wired to a primary inductive coil and operable to provide a driving voltage across the primary inductive coil. The primary inductive coil is configured to form an inductive couple having a characteristic resonant frequency with at least one secondary inductive coil wired to an electric load, the secondary inductive coil being associated with the inductive power receiver. The driving voltage oscillates at a transmission frequency substantially different from the characteristic resonant frequency of the inductive couple.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . An inductive power outlet configured to be coupled with at least one secondary inductive coil, the inductive power outlet comprising:
 at least one primary inductive coil inductively coupling at a resonant frequency with the at least one secondary inductive coil and receiving a driving voltage that oscillates at a transmission frequency higher than the resonant frequency; and   a reception circuit detecting control signals originated at the at least one secondary inductive coil, the control signals comprising a set of first signals or a set of second signals,   wherein the inductive power outlet continually adjusts the driving voltage for regulating power across an electric load based on the detection of the control signals by incrementally increasing the transmission frequency upon receipt of each first signal and incrementally decreasing the transmission frequency upon receipt of each second signal.   
     
     
         22 . The inductive power outlet of  claim 21 , wherein the driving voltage is received from a power supply via a driver wired to the at least one primary inductive coil. 
     
     
         23 . The inductive power outlet of  claim 22 , wherein the driver comprises a switching unit for intermittently connecting the at least one primary inductive coil to the power supply. 
     
     
         24 . The inductive power outlet of  claim 21 , wherein the transmission frequency lies within a range in which induced voltage varies approximately linearly with the resonant frequency. 
     
     
         25 . The inductive power outlet of  claim 21 , wherein the control signals are used for transferring one or more feedback signals originated at the at least one secondary inductive coil to the at least one primary inductive coil for regulating power transfer across the coupling. 
     
     
         26 . The inductive power outlet of  claim 25 , wherein a driver is configured to adjust the transmission frequency in response to the one or more feedback signals. 
     
     
         27 . The inductive power outlet of  claim 25 , wherein the control signals are configured to transfer the set of first signals and the set of second signals. 
     
     
         28 . The inductive power outlet of  claim 25 , wherein the one or more feedback signals carries data pertaining to operational parameters of the electric load. 
     
     
         29 . The inductive power outlet of  claim 21 , wherein the reception circuit comprises a voltage monitor for monitoring amplitude across the at least one primary inductive coil. 
     
     
         30 . The inductive power outlet of  claim 29 , wherein the voltage monitor is configured to detect increases in a primary voltage. 
     
     
         31 . The inductive power outlet of  claim 29 , wherein the voltage monitor comprises a voltage peak detector configured to detect increases in a transmission voltage between the at least one primary inductive coil and the at least one secondary inductive coil. 
     
     
         32 . The inductive power outlet of  claim 21 , comprising a power converter selected from the group consisting of a transformer, a DC-to-DC converter, an AC-to-DC converter, an AC-to-AC converter, a fly-back transformer, a fly-back converter, a full-bridge converter, a half-bridge converter; a forward converter; and a combination thereof. 
     
     
         33 . The inductive power outlet of  claim 21 , wherein the at least one secondary inductive coil is wired to two inputs of a bridge rectifier and the electric load being wired to two outputs of the bridge rectifier. 
     
     
         34 . The inductive power outlet of  claim 21 , wherein the inductive power outlet is incorporated into at least one application selected from the group consisting of inductive chargers, inductive power adaptors, power tools, kitchen appliances, bathroom appliances, computers, media players, office equipment, implanted devices, pacemakers, trackers, and RFID tags. 
     
     
         35 . The inductive power outlet of  claim 21 , wherein the reception circuit is adapted to detect control signals originated at the at least one secondary inductive coil by connecting at least one electric element to at least one secondary inductive coil so as to increase the resonant frequency. 
     
     
         36 . The inductive power outlet of  claim 21 , wherein a resistor of the inductive power outlet draws power during one half of an alternating current (AC) cycle to reduce power loss. 
     
     
         37 . The inductive power outlet of  claim 21 , wherein the reception circuit comprises a demodulator configured to produce an output signal. 
     
     
         38 . The inductive power outlet of  claim 21 , wherein the reception circuit is configured to receive from a transmission circuit one or more signal pulses or one or more coded signals. 
     
     
         39 . The inductive power outlet of  claim 21 , wherein the reception circuit is in communication with a transmission circuit. 
     
     
         40 . The inductive power outlet of  claim 39 , wherein a transmission circuit is wired to an input of a bridge rectifier and an output of the bridge rectifier.