Power feeding apparatus, power receiving apparatus, power transfer system, power transfer method, portable apparatus, and timepiece
AssigneeSeiko Epson Corporation
InventorOsamu Miyazawa
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In a power feeding apparatus A1, a drive circuit 11 receives electrical power supplied from a power supply 10 and generates a driving signal V. In response to this, an actuator 12 vibrates, and this vibration is transmitted through vibration transmission members 14 and 20 to a converter 21 of a power receiving apparatus B1. The converter 21 includes a piezoelectric device. Accordingly, vibration is converted into voltage, thus generating an electromotive voltage Vg. The electromotive voltage Vg is rectified by a rectification circuit 23, and a large-capacitance capacitor 24 is charged with rectified voltage. A clock circuit 25 receives power from the large-capacitance capacitor 24 and measures time.
Claims28
A power feeding apparatus for converting electrical energy into mechanical energy in the form of vibrations that are adapted to be input to a power receiving apparatus, the power feeding apparatus comprising:
- an electrical power supply;
- a drive circuit, in electrical communication with the electrical power supply, that outputs a drive signal;
- a vibration exciter including
- an excitation surface in which vibrations are induced,
- a contact surface that is in communication with the excitation surface and that is adapted to mechanically contact and transmit at least some of the induced vibrations to the power receiving apparatus to thereby transfer mechanical energy to the power receiving apparatus, and
- an actuator in electrode-less contact with the excitation surface, wherein the actuator receives the drive signal and induces the vibrations in the excitation surface in response to the drive signal.
A power receiving apparatus adapted to convert mechanical energy in the form of vibrations, adapted to be received from a power feeding apparatus, into electrical energy, the power receiving apparatus comprising:
- a vibrator having a contact surface that is adapted to mechanically contact and receive vibrations from the power feeding apparatus and to vibrate in response to the received vibrations;
- a converter, in electrode-less mechanical contact with the vibrator, that converts the vibrations of the vibrator into electrical energy, the converter also being in communication with an external circuit through which the electrical energy is transmitted;
- and
- a secondary battery for storing electrical energy converted by the converter.
A power transfer system, comprising:
- a power feeding apparatus comprising
- an electrical power supply;
- a drive circuit, in electrical communication with the electrical power supply, that outputs a drive signal;
- a vibration exciter including an excitation surface in which vibrations are induced, and a first contact surface that is in communication with the excitation surface and that vibrates in response to vibration of the excitation surface;
- and
- an actuator in electrode-less contact with the excitation surface, wherein the actuator receives the drive signal and induces the vibrations in the excitation surface in response to the drive signal;
- and
- a power receiving apparatus comprising
- a vibrator including a second contact surface that is in mechanical contact with the first contact surface, that receives vibrations from the first contact surface, and that vibrates in response to the received vibrations;
- a converter, in electrode-less mechanical contact with the vibrator, that converts the vibrations of the vibrator into electrical energy, the converter also being in communication with an external circuit through which the electrical energy is transmitted;
- and
- a secondary battery for storing electrical energy converted by the converter;
- wherein electrical energy is transferred from the power feeding apparatus to the power receiving apparatus by transmitting vibrations of the vibration exciter to the vibrator.
A power transfer method for transferring electrical energy from a power feeding apparatus including a power supply, an actuator, and a vibration exciter to a power receiving apparatus including a vibrator, the power transfer method comprising the steps of:
- generating an electrical driving signal with electrical energy from the power supply;
- supplying the electrical driving signal to the actuator which is in electrode-less contact with the vibration exciter;
- driving the actuator in response to the electrical driving signal to induce vibrations in the vibration exciter;
- transferring the vibrations in the vibration exciter to the vibrator through direct mechanical contact between the vibration exciter and the vibrator, and converting vibrations in the vibrator into electrical energy.
A power transfer method for transferring electrical energy and data between a power feeding apparatus, including a first piezoelectric device in communication with a drive circuit, and a first vibration transmission member in electrode-less contact with the first piezoelectric device;
- and a power receiving apparatus, including a second piezoelectric device in communication with an external circuit, and a second vibration transmission member in electrode-less contact with the second piezoelectric device, the power transfer method comprising the steps of:
- bringing the first vibration transmission member into contact with the second vibration transmission member;
- transferring electrical energy from the power feeding apparatus to the power receiving apparatus during a first predetermined time period;
- transmitting first data from the power feeding apparatus to the power receiving apparatus during a second predetermined time period;
- and
- transmitting second data from the power receiving apparatus to the power feeding apparatus during a third predetermined time period.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.