Patent Application
20150162766
The present invention relates to a portable terminal charging apparatus for charging a portable terminal such as a mobile phone, and a vehicle.
As faculties of a portable terminal such as a mobile phone are enhanced, consumption of electric power of the portable terminal has been increased.
Therefore, it is required to charge the portable terminal in many places including an interior of a vehicle. As a recent tendency, a so-called non-contact charge without using a cable has been in the limelight.
A portable terminal charging apparatus capable of performing the non-contact charge complying with the request is disclosed, for example, in Patent Document 1.
A charging table described in Patent Document 1 includes a power supply coil which is connected to an alternating current supply for inducing an electromotive force to an induction coil, a case which incorporates this power supply coil and has an upper surface plate for carrying a battery containing apparatus thereon, a moving mechanism which is incorporated in this case and moves the power supply coil along an inner face of the upper surface plate, and a position detecting controller which detects a position of the battery containing apparatus placed on the upper surface plate, and controls the moving mechanism thereby to move the power supply coil close to the induction coil of the battery containing apparatus.
In the charging table disclosed in the above described Patent Document 1, it is possible to perform efficient charge, because the charge is conducted in a state where the power supply coil has been moved to the position of the battery containing apparatus which is placed on the upper surface plate.
In a portable terminal charging apparatus which is so specified as to place a portable terminal on an upper face of the portable terminal mounting plate, like the charging table in Patent Document 1, the position on the upper face of the portable terminal mounting plate where the portable terminal is placed is not constant. For this reason, it is necessary for the portable terminal charging apparatus which is so specified to be provided with driving unit for moving a charging coil so as to correspond to the position where the portable terminal is placed.
However, in such a structure that the driving unit is provided on a lower face of the portable terminal mounting plate, a space for installing the driving unit is required below the portable terminal mounting plate. In the structure having such space, rigidity of the portable terminal mounting plate is deteriorated, and therefore, there is such anxiety that the portable terminal mounting plate and the driving unit provided below may be damaged, when an excessive load is applied, by mistake, to the portable terminal mounting plate.
Further, the portable terminal mounting plate cannot be formed of a metal plate having rigidity, because it is necessary to pass a magnetic flux from the charging coil. Moreover, although the portable terminal mounting plate may be formed of synthetic resin or ceramic, the portable terminal mounting plate cannot be formed thick, for enabling a distance between the charging coil and the portable terminal to be short. Consequently, it is impossible to enhance the rigidity of the portable terminal mounting plate, and hence, the portable terminal mounting plate and the charging coil provided below may be damaged, in some cases, when an excessive load is applied, by mistake, to the portable terminal mounting plate.
An object of the invention is to provide a portable terminal charging apparatus in which damage of a portable terminal mounting plate can be restrained, and a vehicle.
According to the invention, there is provided a portable terminal charging apparatus including a body case which has a portable terminal mounting plate and is disposed on an upper face thereof, a charging coil which is movably provided in the body case opposed to a lower face side of the portable terminal mounting plate, driving unit for moving the charging coil so as to be opposed to the lower face side of the portable terminal mounting plate, and controller which is connected to the driving unit and the charging coil, wherein the charging coil is provided with a support leg which is extended downward.
According to the invention, it is possible to restrain damage of the portable terminal mounting plate, because the invention includes the body case having the portable terminal mounting plate disposed on the upper face thereof, the charging coil which is movably provided in the body case opposed to the lower face side of the portable terminal mounting plate, the driving unit for moving the charging coil so as to be opposed to the lower face side of the portable terminal mounting plate, and the controller which is connected to the driving unit and the charging coil, wherein the charging coil is provided with the support leg which is extended downward.
Specifically, because the charging coil is provided with the support leg which is extended downward, the excessive load applied to the portable terminal mounting plate is supported by the support leg. As the results, it is possible to restrain the damage of the portable terminal mounting plate.
Now, an embodiment of the invention will be described referring to the attached drawings.
Moreover, an electronic apparatus 4 for reproducing music or image, and for displaying image for car navigation is provided at a lateral side of the handle 3.
Further, a portable terminal charging apparatus 5 is provided in rear of the electronic apparatus 4 in the vehicle room 2.
Respective constituent elements of the portable terminal charging apparatus 5 will be specifically described below.
The portable terminal mounting plate 6 will be described.
As shown in
The surface plate 11 and the backside plate 13 are formed of synthetic resin. The middle plate 12 is formed of ceramic. Therefore, a magnetic flux from the charging coil 8 can penetrate the portable terminal mounting plate 6 in a direction of a portable terminal 15.
Moreover, a position detecting coil 14 which is shown in
The position detecting coil 14 is a constituent element similar to the position detecting coil which is provided on the charging table in the above described Patent Document 1 (JP-A-2009-247194). Specifically, the position detecting coil 14 is provided for the purpose of detecting at which position on an upper face of the portable terminal mounting plate 6 the portable terminal 15 is placed, when the portable terminal 15 is placed on the portable terminal mounting plate 6, as shown in
In this embodiment, detection is made, using the position detecting coil 14, as to at which position on the upper face of the portable terminal mounting plate 6 the portable terminal 15 is placed, and then, the driving unit 9 moves the charging coil 8 to a position of an induction coil (not shown) of the portable terminal 15. Structure and operation similar to the above are described in detail in Patent Document 1 (JP-A-2009-247194).
Then, the charging coil 8 and its related parts will be described.
As can be understood from
Moreover, as shown in
Moreover, a gap of 0.3 mm is provided between a lower face of the support leg 17 and an upper face of a support plate 18 which is formed of metal and disposed below the support leg 17, as shown in
As described above, the support leg 17 is provided below the charging coil 8, in this embodiment.
Further, as shown in
Then, the driving unit 9 will be described.
As shown in
Specifically, the holding body 16 is provided with a through hole (not shown) which the X-axis direction driving shaft 22 passes through, and a through hole 24 which the Y-axis direction driving shaft 23 passes through. The X-axis direction driving shaft 22 and the Y-axis direction driving shaft 23 which pass through the respective through holes are provided in a state crossed with each other having a predetermined distance in a vertical direction thereby to be engaged with the holding body 16.
The X-axis direction driving shaft 22 is provided with a worm wheel 25 and a gear 26 at its one end, and another gear 26 at the other end.
The worm wheel 25 is engaged with a worm 27, and the worm 27 is connected to a motor 28.
Moreover, the gears 26 at both ends are respectively engaged with gear plates 29.
Accordingly, when the motor 28 is driven, the worm 27 rotates, and along with the rotation of the worm 27, the worm wheel 25 moves in the X-axis direction together with the X-axis direction driving shaft 22. In this manner, the charging coil 8 moves in the X-axis direction.
The Y-axis direction driving shaft 23 is provided with a worm wheel 30 and a gear 31 at its one end, and another gear 31 at the other end.
The worm wheel 30 is engaged with a worm 32, and the worm 32 is connected to a motor 33.
Moreover, the gears 31 at both ends are respectively engaged with gear plates 34.
Accordingly, when the motor 33 is driven, the worm 32 rotates, and along with the rotation of the worm 32, the worm wheel 30 moves in the Y-axis direction together with the Y-axis direction driving shaft 23. In this manner, the charging coil 8 moves in the Y-axis direction.
Denoted with reference numeral 35 in
Moreover, as shown in
Moreover, the charging coil 8 is connected to the controller 10 by way of a charging coil control part 38, and the position detecting coil 14 is connected to the controller 10 by way of a detecting coil control part 39.
In the structure as described above, in this embodiment, when a power supply switch 40 is turned off (S1 in
Specifically, in a state where the portable terminal 15 is not placed on the portable terminal mounting plate 6 of the body case 7, as shown in
For this reason, it may sometimes happen that a user erroneously puts his hand on the portable terminal mounting plate 6. On such occasion, the portable terminal mounting plate 6 is subjected to an excessive load.
In view of the above, in this embodiment, the charging coil 8 is moved to the center of the body case 7, as shown in
In a state where the portable terminal mounting plate 6 is subjected to the excessive load, as described above, the portable terminal mounting plate 6 is curved downward although a little. In this state, the charging coil 8, the holding body 16, and the support leg 17 are also moved downward, and the lower face of the support leg 17 comes into contact with the upper face of the support plate 18.
As the results, the above described excessive load is supported by the support plate 18 through the portable terminal mounting plate 6, the charging coil 8, the holding body 16, and the support leg 17. In this manner, it is possible to restrain damage of the portable terminal mounting plate 6 and the charging coil 8.
Moreover, in this embodiment, for the purpose of enhancing rigidity against the excessive load, the lower face side of the support plate 18 is supported by the lower plate 20 of the body case 7 by way of the support body 21.
When the excessive load is removed, the portable terminal mounting plate 6 is resiliently restored upward, and the charging coil 8 and the holding body 16 are also restored upward by resilience of the X-axis direction driving shaft 22 and the Y-axis direction driving shaft 23. Consequently, the lower face of the support leg 17 is brought into a state disposed on the upper face of the support plate 18 having a gap between them.
As the results, the movement of the charging coil 8 will not be hindered after the restoration.
Moreover, when the portable terminal 15 is charged, the power supply switch 40 is turned on (S4 in
In this embodiment, even under such condition, whether or not the charging coil 8 is present at the A point is first confirmed by the controller 10 (S5 in
This confirmation can be judged from respective driving amounts of the motors 28 and 33 which are stored in the X-axis motor control part 36 and the Y-axis motor control part 37.
In case where it is judged that the charging coil 8 is not present at the A point, the charging coil 8 is moved to the A point (S6 in
Then, the controller 10 detects at which position on the upper face of the portable terminal mounting plate 6 the portable terminal 15 is placed, by the same operation as disclosed in the above described Patent Document 1 (JP-A-2009-247194), using the position detecting coil 14 (S8 to S9 in
It is to be noted that the position where the portable terminal 15 is placed is, in fact, a position of an induction coil (not shown) which is contained in the portable terminal 15.
Thereafter, the controller 10 drives the motors 28 and 33 by way of the X-axis motor control part 36 and/or the Y-axis motor control part 37 thereby to move the charging coil 8 to the detected position of the induction coil (not shown) which is contained in the portable terminal 15 (S10 in
During the charge, the controller 10 judges whether or not the charge must be continued (whether or not the charge has been completed), by the same operation as disclosed in the above described Patent Document 1 (JP-A-2009-247194) (S13 in
After the charging operation has been completed, the controller 10 confirms whether or not the charging coil 8 is present at the A point (S15 in
This confirmation can be judged from the respective driving amounts of the motors 28 and 33 which are stored in the X-axis motor control part 36 and the Y-axis motor control part 37.
In case where the charging coil 8 cannot be returned to the A point by the controller 10, for example, in case where the position which is calculated from the respective driving amounts of the motors 28 and 33 which are stored in the X-axis motor control part 36 and the Y-axis motor control part 37 is deviated from an actual position which is measured by the position detecting coil 14, the controller 10 conducts such operation as bringing the charging coil 8 into the states as shown in
Specifically, the controller 10 drives the motors 28 and 33 by way of the X-axis motor control part 36 and the Y-axis motor control part 37 thereby to move the charging coil 8 to a corner part in the body case 7, as shown in
Switches 41, 42 are provided in this corner part. When the charging coil 8 has moved to this corner part in the body case 7, the switches 41, 42 are operated. On this occasion, the controller 10 judges that the charging coil 8 has moved to the initial position.
In this state, the respective driving amounts of the motors 28 and 33 by the X-axis motor control part 36 and the Y-axis motor control part 37 are set at initial values. The controller 10 controls again the position of the charging coil 8 from this state.
Although the invention has been described in detail and referring to a specified embodiment, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and amendments can be added within a scope not deviating from the spirit of the invention.
This application is based on Japanese Patent Application (Application No. 2012-113265) filed on May 17, 2012, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
In this invention, the charging coil is provided with the support leg which is extended downward, and therefore, the excessive load applied to the portable terminal mounting plate can be supported by way of the support leg. As the results, it is possible to restrain damage of the portable terminal mounting plate.
Therefore, the invention is useful as the portable terminal charging apparatus for use at home or on vehicle.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-113265 | May 2012 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2013/003059 | 5/13/2013 | WO | 00 |
