Hughes Aircraft Company

Delco Electronics Corporation

William Quon

Herbert J Tanzer

John T Hall

Sergio Ramos

Russell Mistretta Abbott

Inductive charging systems comprising improved charging wands that are coupled between a source of power and a charging port that is coupled to a battery of an electric vehicle. The improvement provided by the present invention is that the charging wand has its magnetic core molded into its body. In one embodiment, a magnetic core is directly molded into the body of the charging wand. In another embodiment, the magnetic core is molded into a plastic ring that surrounds the core which in turn is secured into the body of the charging wand. The present invention improves the assembly process for charging wands by eliminating the wide tolerance range associated with core fabrication. Molding magnetic cores into the inductive charge wand eliminates the requirement for machining the side walls of the cores. By molding the cores directly into the wand or by molding the ring around the core and securing the molded assembly into the wand results in substantial cost savings by eliminating the need to machine the cores to exact tolerances.

Inductive coupling wand having a molded magnetic core

An inductive charging coupler for use in inductive charging apparatus for charging a battery. The charging coupler is insertable into a charge port that is coupled to the battery. The charge port comprises a housing, an opening into which the charging coupler is inserted, and a secondary core surrounded by secondary windings. The charging coupler comprises a housing, a primary core, a primary winding having an even number of primary turns disposed around the core, and a hollow coolant conducting heat exchanger symmetrically disposed between the primary turns of the primary winding. The heat exchanger is typically them tally bonded to the primary turns of the primary winding by means of heat conducting adhesive or epoxy. The coolant flow passages of the heat exchanger may be configured in several ways. One approach is to construct thin, flat, self-contained flexible bladders made of metal, such as copper. Adjacent turns of the primary winding are bonded directly to the heat exchanger in order to provide good thermal contact, a large heat transfer area, and a very thin profile. Inlet and outlet coolant passages transition from a very thin rectangular cross sectional shape under the turns to a round tube shape, for attachment to a coolant lines within a flexible hose. The metallic heat exchanger is located at the center of a magnetic field created by the windings, which produces no extra loss in the heat exchanger due to induced eddy currents. The present invention is specifically designed for rapid, high rate charging of electric vehicle batteries.

Liquid cooled metallic inductive probe for high power charging

The inductive charge coupler carrying the transformer primary is supplied with coolant fluid. The inductive charge receptacle mounted on the automobile has interior cooling fluid passages and there is a duct to transfer the cooling fluid from the inductive charge coupler to the cooling fluid passages in the inductive charge receptacle.

Ducted air-cooled secondary of automobile battery charging transformer

An inductive charge probe having a composite magnetic core for use in inductive battery charging apparatus for charging a battery. The charge probe is insertable into a charge port of the battery charging apparatus that is coupled to the battery. The charge probe comprises the composite magnetic core and a primary winding. The composite magnetic core includes first and second magnetic core halves comprising a high loss magnetic material that are disposed adjacent to each other and that contact each other at predetermined surfaces. First and second thermally conducting members are disposed through the first and second magnetic core halves and a gap is formed between adjacent proximal ends thereof. First and second magnetic center posts comprising low loss magnetic material abut the first and second magnetic core halves. The first and second thermal conducting members are disposed through the first and second magnetic core halves and center posts, respectively. The thermal conducting members are coupled to external heat exchangers. A gap is formed between adjacent proximal ends of the thermal conducting members and the magnetic center posts. The heat exchangers are thermally secured to peripheries of the respective magnetic center posts, and adjacent surfaces thereof are separated from each other. First and second insulators are disposed between the heat exchangers and the magnetic core halves. A magnetic disk comprising low loss magnetic material is disposed between the first and second magnetic center posts and thermally conducting members. The primary winding disposed around the magnetic disk.

Composite core designed for inductive coupled transformer probes

Semiconductor wafer (22) and substrate (20) are enclosed in housing (12) on heat extracting base (14) . The space within the housing is filled with a phase change material (28) which absorbs heat at a transitional temperature below the critical temperature of the semiconductor wafer to absorb heat during peak loads. Wires (44) thermally couple the wafer (22) to the phase change material (28). Heat is extracted from both the semiconductor wafer and the phase change material through the base (14).

Phase change cooling of semiconductor power modules

Semiconductor dies (30-40) are mounted on a printed wiring board (28) to be vertically oriented. They are enclosed in a housing (12) which is supplied with an upwardly flowing dielectric liquid coolant. Nozzles (18,20) direct the dielectric liquid coolant to flow upward over the dies and printed wiring board. Heat is directly extracted from the dies.

Cooling of semiconductor power modules by flushing with dielectric liquid

A transformer is used to charge the battery of an electric automobile. The primary of the transformer is connected to a fixed power supply and is separable from a secondary mounted in the automobile. The secondary is cooled by cooling structure mounted on the secondary, particularly a heat pipe.

Cooled secondary coils of electric automobile charging transformer

The cold plate is a multiple layer structure with an inlet manifold for pressurized coolant liquid. The manifold is covered by a nozzle plate which directs liquid coolant jets against the mounting plate. The mounting plate carries the device to be cooled. The high velocity liquid jets impinge directly on the mounting plate to minimize the boundary layer to enhance heat transfer from the mounting plate to the liquid coolant.

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Alhambra, CA, United States of America

William Quon