Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.

Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, Inc.

Jongwon Shin

Jae Seung Lee

Masanori Ishigaki

Ercan Mehment Dede

Yanghe Liu

Chi-Ming Wang

Ercan Mehmet Dede

Shailesh N Joshi

Khai Ngo

George C Bucsan

Chung Chih Chou

Core-coil devices operate by electromagnetic induction and include inductors, transformers, and electromagnets. Cooled core-coil devices include a magnetic core having a channel through it, and a coil wound around the core. Cooled core-coil devices additionally include a coolant loop that carries ferrofluid coolant through the channel and forms a loop with the channel that extends outside the core. Ferrofluid coolant circulates in the loop without a pump due to a thermo-magnetic response to the device's thermal and magnetic field gradients and thereby cools the core while simultaneously adding to the device's inductance.

Cooling magnetic cores with ferrofluid and magnetic cores so cooled

Methods, systems, and apparatus for wirelessly providing power to a vehicle. The system includes a plurality of ground-side wireless power transfer devices each configured to automatically provide power to a counterpart vehicle-side wireless power transfer device. The system includes a switch connecting a power source to the plurality of ground-side wireless power transfer devices and configured to be in an open position or a closed position. The system includes a vehicle position sensor configured to detect the vehicle being within a range of the plurality of ground-side wireless power transfer devices. The system includes a switch driver configured to move the switch from the open position to the closed position when the vehicle position sensor detects the vehicle being within the range, and move the switch from the closed position to the open position when the vehicle position sensor does not detect the vehicle being within the range.

Interleaved hybrid switch network of ground side coils for dynamic wireless power transfer

Embodiments described herein generally relate to an assembly including a manifold structure. The manifold structure includes a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet. The fluid inlet is for receiving a cooling fluid into the manifold structure and the fluid outlet is for removing the cooling fluid from the manifold structure. The manifold structure also includes a first cooling surface and an opposite second cooling surface. The first cooling surface includes a cooling chip inlet opening fluidly coupled to a cooling chip outlet opening. The fluid inlet is fluidly coupled to the cooling chip inlet opening. The second cooling surface includes a cavity. A first integrated fluid channel fluidly couples the cooling chip outlet opening to the cavity and a second integrated fluid channel fluidly couples the cavity to the fluid outlet. A cooling chip includes a plurality of microchannels, which fluidly couple the cooling chip to the first cooling surface.

Manifold structures having an integrated fluid channel system and assemblies comprising the same

Transformers having a plurality of windings from a single Litz wire, as well as systems including such transformers and methods of providing such transformers are disclosed. A transformer includes a core and a single Litz wire having a plurality of individual strands of conductive material. The plurality of individual strands of conductive material are separated into a plurality of groups, each one of the plurality of groups being a winding of the transformer such that the transformer comprises a plurality of windings.

Single litz wire transformers

Methods, systems, and apparatus for an electric vehicle. The system includes a battery control unit configured to be in a grid-connected mode or a stand-alone mode. The system includes a shared boost converter connected to a battery. The shared boost converter receives alternating current (AC) power, steps up voltage and converts the AC power to direct current (DC) power when the battery control unit is in the grid-connected mode. The shared boost converter receives DC power from the battery and steps up voltage when the battery control unit is in the stand-alone mode. The system also includes an inverter configured to receive the stepped up DC power when the battery control unit is in the stand-alone mode and convert the DC power to AC power. The system also includes a motor/generator connected to the inverter and configured to receive AC power for powering a drivetrain of the electric vehicle.

Electric vehicle power system with shared converter

An electronics control system includes a power control unit disposed above a graphics processing unit and thermally connected to a cooling assembly inside. The system also includes a graphics processing unit disposed below the power control unit and thermally connected to the cooling assembly, an auxiliary DC-DC converter disposed below the power control unit and thermally connected to the cooling assembly, and a cooling assembly disposed at a predetermined location and configured to simultaneously transfer heat away from a power control unit, graphics processing unit, and auxiliary DC-DC converter via fluid circulation are presented.

Integrated PCU and GPU cooling system

A capacitive wireless charging system having a charging circuit and the operating characteristics of the charging circuit can be adjusted. The charging circuit includes two coupling capacitors formed by two electrode plates at least partially overlapping two other electrode plates, where the coupling characteristics of the coupling capacitors can be adjusted by moving at least one of the electrodes. When the coupling characteristics of the coupling capacitors reach a pre-determined threshold, the operating characteristics of the charging circuit can be adjusted to optimize the power transfer efficiency of the capacitive wireless charging system.

System, apparatus, and method for capacitive wireless charging

A transformer includes a magnetic core assembly including a cylindrical bobbin around which transformer windings are wrapped. Primary transformer windings are wrapped around the cylindrical bobbin of the magnetic core assembly with additional primary transformer windings that are extended to come in contact with one or more external surfaces of the magnetic core assembly. Secondary transformer windings are wrapped around the cylindrical bobbin of the magnetic core assembly with additional secondary transformer windings that are extended to come in contact with the one or more external surfaces of the magnetic core assembly.

Transformer with integrated leakage inductance

A power conversion system for a vehicle includes a power conditioning device, a boost converter, an inverter coupled to the boost converter, a transformer, a second rectifier coupled to the transformer, an electric motor, a battery coupled to the second rectifier, a first switch configured to selectively connect the boost converter with the power conditioning device or the battery, and a second switch configured to selectively connect the inverter with the transformer or the electric motor. The first switch connects the power conditioning device with the boost converter and the second switch connects the inverter with the transformer in response to the vehicle being in a grid-connected mode, and the first switch connects the battery with the boost converter and the second switch connects the inverter with the electric motor in response to the vehicle being in a stand-alone mode.

Simplified power conversion systems for vehicles

A system includes energy modules configured to output power to electrical loads based on load demands. The system also includes control circuitry configured to control an amount of power transferred from each of the energy modules to the at least one load based on received sensor data from the energy modules, detect failure of at least one source cell of the energy modules based on the received sensor data from the energy modules, and control a voltage supplied by the energy modules to the at least one load within a predetermined operating band when the failure is detected.

System and method for controlling a modular energy management system that controls an amount of power transferred from each of the energy modules to at least one load

An integrated thermal management assembly, device or system for a power conversion device having a driver board and a power board. The integrated thermal management assembly includes a double-sided cooler. The double-sided cooler has a first layer that includes a first surface that is positioned below an inner surface of the power board. The double-sided cooler has a second surface positioned above an inner surface of the driver board. The double-sided cooler includes a first coolant channel in between the first surface and the second surface. The thermal integrated assembly includes a coolant that flows within the first coolant channel and that is configured to dissipate heat projected through the double-sided cooler.

Integrated thermal management assembly for gate drivers and power components

Methods, systems, and apparatus for eliminating gate voltage oscillation without increasing switching power loss in paralleled power semiconductor switches at high current turn-off. The damping circuit includes a switch for driving voltage and multiple resistors and multiple inductors. The damping circuit includes multiple capacitors connected to the multiple inductors. The damping circuit includes multiple power semiconductor switches that are connected to the multiple inductors at gate terminals. The damping circuit includes multiple gate terminal resistors connected in parallel to the multiple power semiconductor switches at the gate terminals and multiple gate terminal switches connected to the multiple gate terminal resistors.

System and method for eliminating gate voltage oscillation in paralleled power semiconductor switches

A device includes a first circuit assembly with first circuitry configured on a first upper surface of a first circuit board that includes a first side of power conversion circuit. A first magnetic core is also configured on the first upper surface of the first circuit board. The device also includes a second circuit assembly with second circuitry configured on a second upper surface of a second circuit board that includes a second side of the power conversion circuit. A second magnetic core is also configured on the second upper surface of the second circuit board. The first circuitry of the first circuit assembly is connected to the second circuitry of the second circuit assembly to form the power conversion circuit via at least one of an electrical connection or a magnetic coupling between the first magnetic core and the second magnetic core.

Packaging of a power conversion circuit

A power system includes power conversion circuitry that has a first switch and a second switch on either side of a transformer. The system also includes gate driver circuitry that operates the first switch and the second switch. Power transfer in a normal operating mode from a primary side to secondary side of the DC-DC power conversion circuitry is controlled by operating the first switch. The system can recover voltage from the secondary side to the primary side by reversing a direction of power transfer when a voltage on the primary side of the DC-DC power conversion circuitry is less than an operating voltage of the gate driver circuitry. The system can resume the normal operating mode when the voltage on the primary is greater than the operating voltage of the gate driver circuitry.

Growing community of inventors

Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America

Jongwon Shin