JP2006163609A - Luminous sign system and radio power delivery device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a light emitting element on an infrastructure side emit light by radio power transmitted from a vehicle side. <P>SOLUTION: This system comprises a radio power delivery device 100 on the vehicle side 10 comprising a power generator 121 generating high-frequency power and a delivery antenna 130 radiating the generated high-frequency power as radio power; and a luminous sign device 300 on an infrastructure side 30 comprising a rectenna 310 including a power receiving antenna 320 receiving the radiated radio power and a rectifying device 340 rectifying the received radio power to DC power, and the light emitting element 360 emits light by a rectified DC current. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a luminescent sign system, and more particularly, to a luminescent sign system that emits a luminescent sign by supplying electric power from a vehicle side by microwave power transmission to a luminescent sign device provided on an infrastructure side.

  As a guide light system provided on the infrastructure side, the one described in Patent Document 1 is known. Patent Document 1 discloses a plurality of light emitting elements arranged along the road traveling direction, a control unit capable of individually controlling the light emission state, and a detection unit for detecting the presence of a vehicle arranged along the road. For example, there is shown a guide light system in which the control unit sequentially causes the light emitting elements to emit light according to a signal from the detection unit when a vehicle approaches a curve. According to this system, information on a curve, information on an oncoming vehicle, and a preceding vehicle can be obtained by turning on a guide light.

However, in this guide light system, the vehicle detection unit on the infrastructure side, the control unit, and all the light emitting elements must be connected to each other with cables and power must be supplied. There was a problem of being big. Although this type of guide light system is expected to be demanded especially on mountain roads, there is a problem that the burden of infrastructure maintenance and running cost is large and it is difficult to realize.
JP 2001-283393 A

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to reduce the equipment cost of the entire system.
According to the present invention, a wireless power transmission device on the vehicle side that irradiates the generated high-frequency power as wireless power, and the wireless power irradiated from the vehicle side is received, and this wireless power is rectified to DC power and rectified. There is provided a light-emitting labeling system including an infrastructure-side light-emitting labeling device that causes a light-emitting element to emit light by a direct current.

  In the luminescent sign system of the present invention, since the vehicle side detects an infrastructure device provided on a road or the like and supplies power to the detected infrastructure device from the vehicle side, the facility cost on the infrastructure side is greatly reduced. be able to.

<First Embodiment>
Hereinafter, a luminescent marker system 1000 according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The luminescent sign system 1000 of the present embodiment has a microwave power transmission function for supplying power between road vehicles. FIG. 1 shows an overall schematic diagram of the luminescent sign system. As shown in FIG. 1, a wireless power transmission device 100 that is mounted on a vehicle side 10 and transmits electromagnetic wave wireless power toward the front, and a plurality of infrastructures 30 a to 30 e provided along a road. And a light emitting labeling device 300 that emits light upon receiving the light. The light emitting sign device 300 according to the present embodiment includes, for example, a self light emitting guidance sign installed on a guardrail, a self light emitting cat's eye embedded in a road center line, and the like. For example, a road sign.

  FIG. 2 shows a block configuration of the wireless power transmission device 100 on the vehicle side 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the in-vehicle device on the vehicle side 10 includes a wireless power transmission device 100 and a switch 190. The wireless power transmission device 100 includes a power generator 120 that functions as a high-frequency power generation unit that generates high-frequency power, a transmission antenna 130 that radiates high-frequency power generated by the power generator 120 as wireless power, and generated wireless power. And a control device 110 for controlling the transmission of. In response to an activation (ON) command input from the switch 190, the control device 110 of the wireless power transmission device 100 activates the system, generates high-frequency power in the power generator 120, and performs transmission with a desired directivity. Wireless power is emitted from the antenna 130. The wireless power of this embodiment is an electromagnetic wave with a frequency of 2.45 GHz, for example. Here, the transmission antenna 130 may be a one-element antenna or an array antenna using a plurality of elements. The switch 190 accepts ON / OFF input of the wireless power transmission apparatus 100. In the present embodiment, a switch of a vehicle lighting device such as a headlamp, a small lamp, or a fog lamp is used as the switch 190.

  FIG. 3 shows a block configuration of the light emitting sign device 300 on the infrastructure side 30. As shown in FIG. 3, the light emitting labeling device 300 includes a rectenna 310 and a light emitting element 360. The light emitting element 360 is an element that emits light by a direct current rectified by the rectifying element 340 of the rectenna 310, and is, for example, an LED.

  The rectenna 310 includes at least a power receiving antenna 320 that receives wireless power emitted from the wireless power transmitting device 100 on the vehicle side 10 and a rectifying element 340 that rectifies the wireless power transmitted from the received wireless power into DC power. . Specifically, the rectenna 310 of the present embodiment includes a power receiving antenna 320 that receives wireless power and takes in the circuit as high frequency power, a low-pass or band-pass input filter 330, a rectifier element 340 such as a diode, And a low-pass output filter (rectifying filter) 350.

  The high frequency power received by the power receiving antenna 320 passes through the input filter 330 and is input to the rectifying element 340. In the rectifying element 340, for example, half-wave rectification using one diode is performed, and a DC component is extracted. Note that when a diode is used as the rectifying element 340, a harmonic component indicating a frequency that is an integral multiple of the frequency of the input high-frequency power is generated, but is cut by the input filter 330, so that harmonic re-radiation is suppressed. Is done. The power rectified by the rectifying element 340 is further rectified by the output filter 350 and output as DC power. The light emitting element 360 is caused to emit light using this direct current.

  In the present embodiment, a storage element 370 such as a capacitor or a secondary battery is provided. The power storage element 370 may be installed as necessary. By providing the power storage element 370, the received power can be stored, and the light emitting element 370 can emit light for a while after the wireless power is interrupted.

  The operation of the luminescent marker system 1000 according to the present embodiment will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. When an activation command is input to the switch 190 (Y in S110), the system is activated (S111). The power generator 120 of the wireless power transmission device 100 on the vehicle side 10 generates high-frequency power, and the transmission antenna 320 irradiates the generated harmonic power toward the infrastructure side 30 as wireless power (S130). The irradiation intensity of the wireless power is preferably an intensity that drives the luminescent marker device 300 on the infrastructure side 30. The light emitting labeling device 300 on the infrastructure side 30 causes the light emitting element 360 to emit light using the received wireless power (S140).

  In the light emitting sign system 1000 of the present embodiment, the vehicle side detects an infrastructure side device provided on a road or the like, and supplies power to the detected device. For this reason, it is not necessary to provide a vehicle detection device, a control device, and a power source on the infrastructure side 30, the configuration can be simplified, and the infrastructure maintenance cost and the management operation cost can be reduced. Since the light emitting element is operated with wireless power, it is not necessary to provide a power source, and can be easily and additionally installed on an existing guardrail or the like. Especially in mountainous areas where demand is expected, infrastructure can be established at low cost.

Second Embodiment
The light emitting sign system 1100 of the second embodiment is characterized in that the wireless power transmission device 101 on the vehicle side 10 controls the irradiation of wireless power based on the detection result of the harmonics radiated from the rectenna 311 on the infrastructure side 30. And Since the basic configuration of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, only the differences will be described here.

  FIG. 5 shows a block configuration of the wireless power transmission device 101 on the vehicle side 11 of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, in addition to the configuration of the first embodiment, the wireless power transmission apparatus 101 of the present embodiment includes a harmonic detection unit 140 that detects a harmonic component emitted from the rectenna 311 on the infrastructure side 31. And a second antenna 132 for receiving harmonics. Further, the control device 111 of the present embodiment controls the irradiation of wireless power based on the detection result by the harmonic detection means 140. Although the control method is not particularly limited, the control device 111 starts transmission of wireless power when the harmonic component is detected, and stops transmission of wireless power when the harmonic component is not detected to detect harmonics. The on / off of wireless power transmission may be controlled according to the presence or absence. When the harmonic component is detected, the control means increases the output intensity of the wireless power. When the harmonic component is not detected, the control means weakens the output intensity of the wireless power, and controls the output intensity of the wireless power according to the presence or absence of the harmonic detection. May be. When the harmonic component is detected, the control device 111 sets the wireless power output interval to a short time, and when the harmonic component is not detected, the control device 111 increases the wireless power output interval to determine whether the wireless power is detected. The output timing may be controlled.

  First, the control device 111 according to the present embodiment radiates wireless power with low strength, and increases the output strength of wireless power when a harmonic component radiated from the infrastructure rectenna is detected.

  FIG. 6 shows a block configuration of the light emitting labeling device 301 on the infrastructure side 31. The luminescent labeling apparatus 301 of the present embodiment receives a wireless power, and an input filter 331 that passes a harmonic component that is approximately twice the frequency of the wireless power to be received and has a different pass characteristic from that of the first embodiment. A first antenna 321 to be taken into the circuit as high-frequency power and a second antenna 322 that re-radiates harmonics generated by the rectifying element 340 are provided. These two antennas may be composed of one antenna. In the present embodiment, the circulator 380 is provided to operate the two antennas efficiently.

  The first antenna 321 of the light emitting label device 301 receives wireless power and takes it into the circuit as high frequency power. The high-frequency power is fed to a rectifier element 340 such as a Schottky barrier diode and rectified to DC power, and part of the high-frequency power becomes a harmonic by the rectifier element. A harmonic component having a frequency twice the frequency of the received high-frequency power passes through the input filter 331 and is radiated again from the second antenna 322.

  In general, a rectenna used in a wireless power transmission system includes a low-pass or band-pass input filter to prevent re-radiation of harmonics generated by a rectifier diode. On the other hand, the luminescent labeling device 301 of the present embodiment includes an input filter 331 having a characteristic of allowing a harmonic component having a frequency twice the frequency of wireless power to be received to pass. Thus, since the rectenna 311 of this embodiment dares to reradiate the harmonics, the presence of the rectenna 311 or the luminescent label device 301 having the rectenna 311 can be detected by detecting the harmonics.

  The operation procedure of the luminescent marker system of this embodiment will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. Steps S100 to S111 are common to the processing shown in FIG. After the system is started, the control device 111 first transmits wireless power with low strength (S120). The intensity of the wireless power is sufficient for detecting the rectenna, but weak enough not to drive the luminescent sign. When the rectenna 311 of this embodiment receives wireless power, a harmonic component that is approximately twice the frequency of the wireless power passes through the input filter 331 and is re-radiated, and the harmonic detection means 140 of the wireless power transmission apparatus 101 This is detected.

  In S121, when the harmonic detection means 140 detects the harmonic via the second antenna 132 (Y in S121), the control device 111 determines that the luminescent label device 301 of the present system exists and the luminescent label device. The power generator 121 generates high-frequency power that is strong enough to drive 301, and transmits the generated power as wireless power through the first antenna 131 (S130). On the other hand, when harmonics cannot be detected (N in S121), it is determined that the light emitting label device 301 of the present embodiment does not exist, and the process returns to S120, and wireless power with low intensity is transmitted (S120). The transmitted wireless power cannot drive the light emitting label device 301, but is weak enough to enable the harmonic detection means 140 to detect the harmonic component. If harmonics are detected, strong wireless power is transmitted (S130). The light emitting element on the infrastructure side 31 is caused to emit light using the transmitted wireless power.

  The harmonic detection means 140 continuously monitors whether or not the harmonic component is detected via the second antenna 132 (S131), and while the harmonic component is detected (during Yes in S131). Continues transmitting strong wireless power, and returns to S120 when harmonic components are no longer detected (131 becomes No). Although the end is not described in this flowchart, the process ends at any stage when the switch 190 is turned off or the vehicle side 10 is powered off.

  According to the present embodiment, the vehicle side 10 can confirm whether or not the light emitting label device 301 that is the power supply target exists within the wireless power transmission range based on the detection result of the harmonics. As a result, the wireless power transmission device 101 on the vehicle side 10 does not always need to transmit strong wireless power, and can emit wireless power for light emission only when there is a power supply target.

  In this embodiment, after activation, when weak wireless power is transmitted and a harmonic re-radiated from the rectenna 311 that has received this wireless power is detected (when it can be assumed that the light emitting label device 301 of this system exists) However, since the strong wireless power is transmitted only in (), unnecessary energy emission can be suppressed and the energy efficiency of the system can be improved.

<Third Embodiment>
The third embodiment is characterized in that the irradiation pattern of wireless power irradiated from the wireless power transmission device 100 is switched. In the present embodiment, the transmission range of the wireless power is switched in two stages of the first wireless power irradiation pattern 200 and the second wireless power irradiation pattern 210 shown in FIG. Since the basic configuration and operation are the same as those in the first embodiment or the second embodiment, only the differences will be described here.

  FIG. 8 shows a first wireless power irradiation pattern 200 with reduced directivity and a wireless power irradiation pattern 210 with relatively less directivity. In order to transmit an electromagnetic wave that supplies desired power to a power receiving antenna on the infrastructure side that is separated (distant) from the host vehicle 100, the first wireless power irradiation pattern 200 with reduced directivity is suitable. However, in the first wireless power irradiation pattern, the light emitting label device 31 located near the vehicle 10 is out of the irradiation range, cannot be supplied with power, and the light emitting label device 31 cannot emit light. In the present embodiment, the first wireless power irradiation pattern 200 having a sharp directivity and the second wireless power irradiation pattern 210 having a relatively low directivity are sequentially switched to thereby emit a light emitting sign at a position separated from the own vehicle. Power can be supplied to both the devices 30a to 30d and the luminescent marker device 31 existing near the periphery of the host vehicle, and the luminescent marker devices 300 and 301 existing in a wide range can be operated.

  FIG. 9 shows a block configuration of the wireless power transmission apparatus 102 of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 9, the wireless power transmission apparatus 102 irradiates wireless power with a first antenna 131 that irradiates wireless power with a first wireless power irradiation pattern 200 and a second wireless power irradiation pattern 210. Two antennas 132 and irradiation pattern switching means 150 for switching the two antennas to switch the irradiation pattern. The irradiation pattern switching means 150 switches the two antennas 131 and 132 based on the irradiation pattern switching command of the control device 110 and transmits wireless power. Thereby, wireless power can be transmitted to a range that covers the two irradiation patterns 200 and 210.

  The processing procedure of this embodiment is shown in FIG. 10 are common to S100 to S130 shown in FIG. After sending out the harmonics, the irradiation pattern switching means 150 switches the antenna and returns to S212 in accordance with a command from the control device 110.

  According to this embodiment, since it is possible to radiate wireless power over a wide range, it is possible to supply power to many luminescent label devices 300, and it is possible to show a highly convenient sign to the user.

<Fourth embodiment>
As in the third embodiment, the fourth embodiment is characterized in that the irradiation pattern of wireless power irradiated from the wireless power transmission device 100 is switched. In the present embodiment, by scanning wireless power with reduced directivity, power is supplied to both the light emitting marker device 30 located at a position separated from the own vehicle and the light emitting marker device 31 near the periphery of the own vehicle, To expand the wireless power transmission range. Since the basic configuration and operation are the same as those in the first embodiment or the second embodiment, only the differences will be described here.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the transmission antenna 133 according to the present embodiment sequentially scans the irradiation range of the sharply focused wireless power irradiation pattern 220 like 220a, 220b, 220c, 220d, 220e, 220f, and 220g. By scanning the irradiation range in this way, it is possible to irradiate both the luminescent marker device 30 located at a position separated from the own vehicle and the luminescent marker device 31 positioned around the own vehicle.

  The wireless power transmission apparatus 103 according to the present embodiment includes one or more transmission antennas 133 and includes an antenna scanning unit 160 that causes the transmission antenna 133 to scan the irradiation range.

  FIG. 12 shows a block configuration of the two wireless power transmission devices 103a and 103b of the present embodiment. The wireless power output apparatus 103a shown in FIG. 12A includes an antenna 133 having a sharp directivity, a drive mechanism that mechanically changes the direction of the antenna 133, and a drive control unit that controls the drive mechanism. Scanning means 160a. The antenna scanning unit 160a sequentially scans the wireless power irradiation patterns 220a to 220g by mechanically changing the direction of the antenna 133 like a rotator in accordance with a signal from the control device 110. The wireless power transmission apparatus 103b shown in FIG. 12B electronically changes the phase of the high-frequency power output to each antenna element with respect to the array antenna composed of the antenna elements 133a to 133g and electronically emits the wireless power irradiation pattern 220a. It has antenna scanning means 150b for scanning ~ 220g. Note that a desired number of antennas having sharp directivity may be provided, and each antenna may be switched for irradiation.

  The processing procedure of this embodiment is shown in FIG. 13 are common to S100 to S130 shown in FIG. After sending the harmonics, the antenna scanning means 160a, 160b scans the antenna in accordance with a command from the control device 110 and repeats S212 and subsequent steps.

  According to this embodiment, since it is possible to radiate wireless power over a wide range, it is possible to supply power to many luminescent label devices 300, and it is possible to show a highly convenient sign to the user.

  The embodiment described above is described for facilitating the understanding of the present invention, and is not described for limiting the present invention. Therefore, each element disclosed in the above embodiment is intended to include all design changes and equivalents belonging to the technical scope of the present invention.

It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the light emission label | marker system of 1st Embodiment. It is a block block diagram of the radio | wireless power transmission apparatus by the side of the vehicle of 1st Embodiment. It is a block block diagram of the light emission marker apparatus of the infrastructure side of 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the control procedure of the light emission label | marker system in 1st Embodiment. It is a block block diagram of the wireless power transmission apparatus by the side of the vehicle of 2nd Embodiment. It is a block block diagram of the light emission marker apparatus by the side of the infrastructure of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the control procedure of the light emission label | marker system in 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the light emission label | marker system of 3rd Embodiment. It is a block block diagram of the wireless power transmission apparatus by the side of the vehicle of 3rd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the control procedure of the light emission label | marker system in 3rd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the light emission label | marker system of 4th Embodiment. (A) is the 1st block block diagram of the wireless power transmission device by the side of vehicles of a 4th embodiment, (B) is the 2nd block block diagram of the wireless power transmission device by the side of vehicles of a 4th embodiment. It is a figure which shows the control procedure of the light emission label | marker system in 4th Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Vehicle 100, 101, 102, 102a, 103b ... Wireless power transmission device 110 ... Control device 120 ... High frequency power generator 130, 131, 132, 133a-g ... Transmission antenna 140 ... harmonic detection means 150 ... irradiation pattern switching means 160a, 160b ... antenna scanning means 30 ... infrared light emitting labeling device 310 ... rectenna 320 ... power receiving antenna 330 ... input Filter 340 ... Rectifier element 350 ... Output filter 360 ... Light emitting element 380 ... Circulator

Claims (12)

A vehicle-side wireless power transmission device having high-frequency power generation means for generating high-frequency power and a transmission antenna for irradiating the generated high-frequency power as wireless power;
A rectenna including a power receiving antenna for receiving wireless power irradiated from the wireless power transmitting device; a rectifier for rectifying the received wireless power into direct current power; and a light emitting element for emitting light by direct current rectified by the rectifying element; A luminescent sign system comprising an infrastructure-side luminescent sign device.   The vehicle-side wireless power transmission device includes a harmonic detection unit that detects a harmonic component emitted from the infrastructure-side rectenna, and a control that controls the irradiation of the wireless power based on a detection result by the harmonic detection unit. The luminescent sign system according to claim 1, further comprising means.   The luminescent labeling system according to claim 2, wherein the rectenna of the luminescent labeling device includes a filter that allows a harmonic component approximately twice the frequency of the wireless power to be received to pass therethrough.   The luminescent marker system according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the control unit controls an output intensity of the wireless power based on a detection result by the harmonic detection unit.   5. The luminescent sign system according to claim 4, wherein the control unit first irradiates wireless power with low intensity, and increases the output intensity of wireless power when a harmonic component radiated from the rectenna on the infrastructure side is detected.   The luminescent labeling system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the infrastructure-side luminescent labeling device further includes a capacitor.   The luminescent sign system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the vehicle-side wireless power transmission device further includes an irradiation pattern switching means for switching an irradiation range pattern of wireless power.   The luminescent sign system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the vehicle-side wireless power transmission device includes one or more transmission antennas, and has antenna scanning means for causing the transmission antenna to scan an irradiation range.   The luminescent sign system according to claim 8, wherein the antenna scanning unit includes a drive mechanism that changes the direction of the transmission antenna and a drive control unit that controls the drive mechanism.   The luminescent sign system according to claim 8, wherein the antenna scanning unit scans an irradiation range by controlling a phase of wireless power applied to the two or more scanning antennas. A wireless power transmission device mounted on a vehicle,
High-frequency power generating means for generating high-frequency power;
A transmission antenna that radiates the generated high-frequency power as wireless power; and
Harmonic detection means for receiving the wireless power irradiated from the transmitting antenna and detecting the harmonic component radiated from the infrastructure side having a rectenna including a rectifier that rectifies the received wireless power into DC power;
Control means for controlling output intensity of wireless power based on a detection result by the harmonic detection means. 12. The wireless power transmission device according to claim 11, wherein the control means first irradiates wireless power having a low intensity and increases the output intensity of the wireless power when a harmonic component radiated from the rectenna on the infrastructure side is detected.