# US 11,451,089 B2 · Charger antenna unit, charger device, and device to be charged > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,451,089 B2 - Document ID: US11451089B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/408,048 - Filed: 2019-05-09 - Published: 2019-11-14 - Granted: 2022-09-20 - Earliest claimed: 2018-05-09 - Assignees: Oticon A/S - Applicants: Oticon A/S - Inventors: Alessandro De Masi; Lars Pinnerup Frederiksen; Jens Troelsen; Lars Riemer - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11451089B2 ## CPC - H01F 38/14: Inductive couplings - H01F 3/14: Constrictions; Gaps, e.g. air-gaps (in magnetic shunt paths H01F3/12) - H01F 27/006: {with special arrangement or spacing of turns of the winding(s), e.g. to produce desired self-resonance} - H01F 27/022: {Encapsulation} - H01F 27/2828: {Construction of conductive connections, of leads} - H01F 27/36: Electric or magnetic shields or screens (movable for varying inductance H01F21/10) - H01F 27/363: {made of electrically conductive material} - H01F 27/366: {made of ferromagnetic material} - H01Q 1/24: with receiving set - H02J 7/70: characterised by the mechanical construction - H02J 50/10: using inductive coupling - H02J 50/70: involving the reduction of electric, magnetic or electromagnetic leakage fields - H04R 1/1025: Accumulators specially adapted for earpieces; Arrangements specially adapted for charging thereof - H01F 27/2895: {Windings disposed upon ring cores} - H01F 30/16: Toroidal transformers - H04R 25/554: {using a wireless connection, e.g. between microphone and amplifier or using Tcoils} - H04R 2225/31: Aspects of the use of accumulators in hearing aids, e.g. rechargeable batteries or fuel cells - H01F: MAGNETS; INDUCTANCES; TRANSFORMERS; SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR THEIR MAGNETIC PROPERTIES - H01Q: ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS (radiators or antennas for microwave heating H05B6/72) - H02J: ELECTRIC POWER NETWORKS; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY - H04R: LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; ELECTRIC HEARING AIDS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS (producing sounds with frequency not determined by supply frequency G10K) ## Abstract A charger for charging a device to be inductively charged is described, comprising an excitation coil made of an electrical conductor wound around a toroidal core to excite a magnetic field inside the toroidal core, the toroidal core having an air-gap between two end-faces of the toroidal core, wherein the two end-faces are facing each other, and the winding density of the excitation coil along the toroidal length of the toroidal core is higher in the vicinity of the respective end-faces as compared to the remaining parts of the toroidal core. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A charger configured to charge a device to be wirelessly charged, the charger comprising: an antenna unit for charging a device to be inductively charged, the antenna unit including: an excitation coil made of an electrical conductor wound around a toroidal core to excite a magnetic field inside the toroidal core, the toroidal core having an air-gap between two end-faces of the toroidal core, wherein the two end-faces are facing each other, wherein the end-faces of the antenna unit are configured to be parallel to each other, and the winding density of the excitation coil along the toroidal length of the toroidal core is higher in the vicinity of the respective end-faces as compared to the remaining parts of the toroidal core, and a housing having an opening adapted to be aligned with the device to be inductively charged, such that a receiving antenna of the device to be inductively charged can at least partially be inserted into the air-gap of the toroidal core of the charger antenna unit, wherein a magnetic shield is provided in the housing at the toroidal core, wherein the magnetic shield is at least partly provided as a coating or plating on a carrier medium. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The charger according to claim 1, wherein the toroidal core of the antenna unit is composed of one or more core parts, adjoining each other. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The charger according to claim 2, wherein the one or more core parts are arranged with respect to each other, so that the air-gap can be adjusted in terms of its gap width. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The charger according to claim 1, wherein the carrier medium is made from a thermoplastic resin, such as ABS, such as ABS resin, such as PVC, or the like. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The charger according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic shield is made out of at least one material selected from copper, copper-alloy, aluminum, or a material having high electrical conductivity allowing the occurrence of eddy currents in the material, or the magnetic shielding is made out of at least one material selected from mu-metal, permalloy, supermalloy, soft ferromagnetic alloy, or a material having a high magnetic permeability and low magnetic coercitivity. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The charger according to claim 5, wherein the magnetic shielding is composed of a first magnetic shielding part and a second magnetic shielding part, and the first magnetic shielding part and the second magnetic shielding part are separated from each other by slits having a toroidal shape in a plane parallel to the plane of the toroidal core of the charger antenna unit. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The charger according to claim 6, wherein the first magnetic shielding part and the second magnetic shielding part are galvanically connected. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The charger according to claim 1, further comprising: detector, configured to detect the presence and/or absence of the device to be inductively charged, receiver, configured to receive information relating to a charge state of a rechargeable battery of the device to be inductively charged, driver, configured to supply power to the charger antenna unit of the charger unit, controller, configured to control the driver in response to received information received by the receiver, wherein the controller is configured to control the driver to supply power to the charger antenna unit only in case the detector has detected the presence of the device to be inductively charged. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The charger according to claim 8, further comprising: transmitter, configured to transmit information to the device to be inductively charged, and wherein the receiver is configured to receive information from the device to be inductively charged. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The charger according to claim 9, wherein the transmitter and the receiver are configured to transmit and to receive information using the charger antenna unit. ### Claim 11 A charger configured with an opening to receive a device to be wirelessly charged, the charger comprising: an excitation coil made of an electrical conductor wound around a toroidal core to excite a magnetic field inside the toroidal core, the toroidal core having an air-gap between two end-faces of the toroidal core, wherein the air-gap is shaped to receive the device to be wirelessly charged including a receiving antenna, and a housing having an opening adapted to be aligned with the device to be inductively charged, such that a receiving antenna of the device to be inductively charged can at least partially be inserted into the air-gap of the toroidal core of the charger, wherein a magnetic shield is provided in the housing at the toroidal core, wherein the magnetic shield is provided as an encapsulating unit configured to encapsulate the toroidal core, wherein a slit is formed in the encapsulating unit apart from a location of the opening. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The charger according to claim 11, wherein winding density of the excitation coil along the toroidal length of the toroidal core is higher in a section at the respective end-faces as compared to the remaining parts of the toroidal core. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) A system comprising a charger according to claim 1, and a device to be inductively charged, wherein the device to be inductively charged comprises: a rechargeable battery for storing power used to operate the device to be inductively charged, charge state detector to detect the charge state of the rechargeable battery, a receiving antenna, configured to receive electromagnetic energy from a charger device for charging the rechargeable battery, receiver, configured to receive information from a charger device, a transmitter configured to transmit information to the charger device, and a controller configured to control the transmitter to transmit the charge state detected by the rechargeable battery charge state detector to the charger device. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The system according to claim 13, herein the device to be inductively charged further comprises: a shielding unit, configured to magnetically shield the rechargeable battery from external electromagnetic fields from the charger during the charging process. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The system according to claim 14, wherein the shielding unit in the device to be inductively charged is provided directly on the rechargeable battery. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The system according to claim 13, wherein the device to be inductively charged further comprises a coil for high-frequency communication, wherein the coil is used as the receiving antenna of the device to be inductively charged.