JP2019071576A - Hearing aid charging system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a hearing aid charging system that can be easily set to a charging unit without worrying about the direction of the hearing aid when a secondary battery of the hearing aid is charged.SOLUTION: A hearing aid charging system according to the present invention includes a secondary battery 1 charged by a power receiving coil 1b, a hearing aid 2 operated by the secondary battery 1, and a charging device 3 having transmitting coils 3b and 3c for transmitting power to the receiving coil 1b by electromagnetic induction, and the charging device 3 has a plurality of power transmission coils, and detects a power transmission coil capable of charging the secondary battery 1 or a power transmission coil with the best charging efficiency to the secondary battery 1 from among the plurality of power transmission coils while transmitting power to the power receiving coil 1b only from the detected power transmitting coil.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a charging system for a hearing aid, and more particularly to a charging system for a hearing aid that charges a secondary battery of the hearing aid by electromagnetic induction.

  Hearing aids are known which are operated by rechargeable secondary batteries. As a technology for charging such a hearing aid contactlessly, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a charging system for a hearing aid that charges the secondary battery of the hearing aid using the principle of magnetic field resonance. There is. In Patent Document 2, a power transmission coil is disposed in a drying case for storing a hearing aid, power is transmitted from the power transmission coil to a power reception coil provided in the hearing aid by utilizing the principle of electromagnetic induction, and the hearing aid is stored. A hearing aid charging system is shown which charges the secondary battery as it is being

JP, 2015-159664, A JP 2008-278329 A

  By the way, although the charging method using the principle of magnetic field resonance has the merit that power can be transmitted even if the distance between the power transmission coil and the power reception coil is several meters apart, the configuration is complicated because a resonant circuit is required. The problem is that it is difficult to miniaturize the charger and the hearing aid. In addition, there is also a disadvantage that the charging efficiency is generally inferior to the charging method using the principle of electromagnetic induction. On the other hand, although the charging method by electromagnetic induction has the advantage of being easier to miniaturize the charger and the hearing aid than the charging method by magnetic field resonance and also having the excellent charging efficiency, the distance between the transmitting coil and the receiving coil is short. If there is no power transmission can not be performed.

  Here, the problem of the charging method by electromagnetic induction will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4A shows a hearing aid 13 including a power receiving coil 11 and a secondary battery 12 connected to the power receiving coil 11. 4 (a) is a side view of the hearing aid 13, and FIG. 4 (a) is a front view of the hearing aid 13. As shown in FIG. And when this hearing aid 13 is mounted in the recessed part 15 of the charger 14 shown in FIG.4 (b), and it charges, the power transmission coil 16 and the receiving coil 11 which were provided in the charger 14 opposed as shown in figure. While power can be transmitted from the power transmission coil 16 to the power receiving coil 11 in the state where the power transmission coil 16 is used, as shown in FIG. 11 is separated from the power transmission coil 16 and out of the power transmittable range, and the secondary battery 12 can not be charged. For this reason, conventionally, the direction in which the hearing aid 13 is placed is displayed on the charger 14 or the shape can be placed on the charger 14 only in a structurally fixed direction, and the hearing aid 13 is charged in the correct direction. It was made to be set in the container 14. However, in the case where the direction in which the hearing aid 13 is placed is displayed, the user must pay attention to the display and set the hearing aid 13, resulting in the loss of convenience. In addition, when it is possible to set only in a fixed direction, the charger 14 must be prepared according to the shape of the hearing aid 13, and there are difficulties in versatility because the types of the charger 14 increase.

  An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem, and when charging a secondary battery of a hearing aid, it can be easily set in a charger without worrying about the orientation of the hearing aid, Another object of the present invention is to provide a charging system for a hearing aid, which makes it possible to miniaturize the charger by making use of the advantage of the charging method by electromagnetic induction, and which is excellent in charging efficiency.

  The charging system for a hearing aid in the present invention includes a secondary battery charged by a receiving coil, a hearing aid operated by the secondary battery, and a charger having a power transmission coil transmitting power to the receiving coil by electromagnetic induction; And the charger includes a plurality of the power transmission coils, and among the plurality of power transmission coils, the power transmission coil chargeable to the secondary battery, or the charging efficiency to the secondary battery While detecting the best power transmission coil, power is transmitted to the power reception coil only from the detected power transmission coil.

  In such a charging system for a hearing aid, the power receiving coil is provided to the secondary battery, and the hearing aid holds the secondary battery in a removable manner, and the secondary battery is arranged in any polarity direction. Preferably, the attachment is also configured to operate.

  According to such a charging system for a hearing aid of the present invention, when charging the secondary battery of the hearing aid, the charging system can be easily set in the charger without worrying about the direction of the hearing aid, and the charging method by electromagnetic induction Therefore, the charger can be miniaturized, and high charging efficiency can be obtained.

FIG. 1 schematically shows an embodiment of a hearing aid and a secondary battery constituting a charging system for a hearing aid according to the present invention. It is a figure explaining the condition which transmits electricity by electromagnetic induction from the power transmission coil which can charge to a receiving coil among a plurality of power transmission coils in the state where the hearing aid shown in Drawing 1 was set as a charger. FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of a charging system for a hearing aid according to the present invention. It is a figure explaining the charge system for the conventional hearing aids which charge by electromagnetic induction.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a charging system for a hearing aid according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The hearing aid charging system of the present embodiment is configured of a secondary battery 1, a hearing aid 2, and a charger 3 (see FIG. 2). The left figure in FIG. 1A is a side view of the hearing aid 2, the center figure is a front view of the hearing aid 2, and the right figure is a cross-sectional view of the secondary battery 1. Further, the illustrated hearing aid 2 is of the ear hook type, but the hook and the like are omitted.

  The secondary battery 1 includes a chargeable / dischargeable battery body 1a. In this embodiment, a lithium ion battery is used as the battery body 1a, but various other batteries such as a lithium ion polymer battery, a nickel-cadmium storage battery, a nickel-hydrogen storage battery, a lead storage battery, etc. may be adopted. it can.

  The secondary battery 1 also includes a power receiving coil 1 b connected to the battery body 1 a. As the power receiving coil 1b, for example, a coil of a spiral type, a solenoid type, or the like can be employed. Moreover, the coil of various structures, such as a coil formed with a metal wire with an insulating film other than the coil formed on FPC (flexible substrate), is employable.

  The secondary battery 1 further includes a control circuit 1c disposed between the battery body 1a and the power receiving coil 1b. The control circuit 1c is connected to the battery body 1a and the power receiving coil 1b. The detailed description of the control circuit 1c will be described later.

  The secondary battery 1 of the present embodiment has a substantially cylindrical shape, and is formed in substantially the same shape as a button type air battery. Moreover, as for the polarity of the secondary battery 1, the side where the battery main body 1a is located is a negative electrode, and the side where the power receiving coil 1b is located is a positive electrode.

  The hearing aid 2 is operated by the secondary battery 1. The hearing aid 2 of the present embodiment includes a hearing aid body 2a and a battery cover 2b that can be opened and closed with respect to the hearing aid body 2a, and the secondary battery 1 is attached to the hearing aid body 2a by opening the battery cover 2b. It is designed to be removable. Moreover, the hearing aid 2 of the present embodiment is configured to operate even if the secondary battery 1 is attached in any polarity direction. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1 (a), even if the positive electrode (the power receiving coil 1b side) of the secondary battery 1 is located on the left side of the side of the hearing aid 2, as shown in FIG. Is also located on the right side of the side of the hearing aid 2. As described above, in order to be able to operate even if the secondary battery 1 is attached in any polarity direction, the hearing aid 2 can be operated according to the difference in polarity as disclosed in, for example, JP-A-9-98540. This can be realized by providing a circuit or the like in which the current path changes. Further, the hearing aid 2 of the present embodiment can also be operated by a button type air battery, and the air battery can operate regardless of the polarity direction.

  The charger 3 (see FIG. 2) includes a recess 3 a on which the hearing aid 2 is placed when the secondary battery 1 is charged. Two power transmission coils (a first power transmission coil 3b and a second power transmission coil 3c) that transmit power to the power reception coil 1b by electromagnetic induction are provided outside the concave portion 3a so as to sandwich the concave portion 3a. Similar to the power receiving coil 1b, the first power transmitting coil 3b and the second power transmitting coil 3c can adopt various coils such as a spiral type and a solenoid type, and besides the coils formed on the FPC (flexible substrate), Coils of various configurations such as a coil formed of a metal wire with an insulating film can be employed.

  Next, a method of charging the secondary battery 1 by the charging system for a hearing aid in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 2 (a). FIG. 2A shows a state in which the hearing aid 2 is set in the normal direction with respect to the recess 3 a of the charger 3.

  First, in a state before the hearing aid 2 is set in the charger 3, the charger 3 periodically transmits power from both the first power transmission coil 3b and the second power transmission coil 3c. The power at this time is preferably set lower than the power when charging the battery main body 1a described later (step 1).

  And if the hearing aid 2 is mounted with respect to the recessed part 3a of the charger 3 as shown to Fig.2 (a), the receiving coil 1b will receive electric power from the 1st power transmission coil 3b which adjoins, and electric power will be transmitted to the control circuit 1c. Supply. At that time, the control circuit 1c to which power is supplied operates to fluctuate the load of the power receiving coil 1b and the power receiving efficiency (step 2).

  When the load of the power receiving coil 1b or the power receiving efficiency fluctuates, the voltage, frequency, and standing wave ratio of the first power transmitting coil 3b for supplying power to the power receiving coil 1b also change. On the other hand, since the second power transmission coil 3c apart from the power reception coil 1b is not affected by the load of the power reception coil 1b or the fluctuation of the power reception efficiency, the voltage, frequency and standing wave ratio of the second power transmission coil 3c are the hearing aid 2 It does not change before and after placing the Therefore, the charger 3 has the hearing aid 2 mounted on the recess 3 a due to the voltage, frequency, and standing wave ratio fluctuation in the first power transmission coil 3 b, and the power receiving coil 1 b on the first power transmission coil 3 b side. Can be detected. Here, the control circuit 1c can transmit the state of the secondary battery 1 to the charger 3 as a digital signal by discretely changing the load of the power receiving coil 1b and the power receiving efficiency. Alternatively, the load and the power receiving efficiency of the power receiving coil 1b may be continuously changed to transmit as an analog signal (step 3).

  And the charger 3 is power which can charge the battery main body 1a, and starts power transmission from the 1st power transmission coil 3b. Thus, the power is received by the power receiving coil 1b, and the battery body 1a can be charged. In addition, after detecting that the receiving coil 1b is located in the 1st power transmission coil 3b side, periodical power transmission from the 2nd power transmission coil 3c is stopped (step 4).

  When power transmission from the first power transmission coil 3b proceeds and the battery body 1a is fully charged, the control circuit 1c can detect this from the voltage or the like of the battery body 1a. Then, the control circuit 1c transmits the fact that the battery body 1a is fully charged to the charger 3 by the digital signal or the analog signal as described in step 3. Thereby, the charger 3 stops the power transmission from the 1st power transmission coil 3b, and charge of the battery main body 1a is completed (step 5).

  The charger 3 of the present embodiment can place the hearing aid 2 in the opposite direction to that of FIG. 2 (a) as shown in FIG. 2 (b). In this case, in steps 2 and 3 described above, the control circuit 1c operates to change the load and the power reception efficiency of the power receiving coil 1b, whereby the voltage and frequency at the second power transmitting coil 3c close to the power receiving coil 1b. Because the standing wave ratio fluctuates, the charger 3 detects that the hearing aid 2 is placed on the recess 3 a and that the power receiving coil 1 b is positioned on the second power transmission coil 3 c side. Then, in steps 4 and 5, the charger 3 starts power transmission from the second power transmission coil 3c with power that can charge the battery body 1a, while periodic power transmission from the first power transmission coil 3b is stopped. Then, when it is transmitted from the control circuit 1c that the battery body 1a is fully charged, power transmission by the second power transmission coil 3c is stopped, and charging of the battery body 1a is ended.

  As described above, according to the charging system for a hearing aid of the present embodiment, even if the hearing aid 2 is set in the normal direction with respect to the charger 3 or is set in the opposite direction, charging of the secondary battery 1 is performed. It is possible.

  By the way, as described above, the hearing aid 2 of the present embodiment is configured to operate even if the secondary battery 1 is attached in any polarity direction. Therefore, even if the shape of the hearing aid 2 and the charger 3 can be set only in a fixed direction with respect to the hearing aid 2 with respect to the charger 3, as shown in FIG. 2 (c), The secondary battery 1 may be attached in the reverse direction. Even in this case, the charger 3 can charge the secondary battery 1 in the same procedure as in the case of FIG. 2 (b) described above.

  Although one embodiment of the charging system for a hearing aid according to the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and includes various modifications within the scope of the claims. For example, although the secondary battery 1 is detachably held with respect to the above-described hearing aid 2, the present invention also includes one in which the secondary battery 1 is not removed from the hearing aid 2. Moreover, while the receiving coil 1b is provided in the hearing aid 2 so that it can not be removed, the battery body 1a may be removable.

  Moreover, although the charger 3 mentioned above provided the two power transmission coils so that the recessed part 3a might be pinched | interposed, like the charger 4 shown to Fig.3 (a), the two power transmission coils (the 1st The power transmission coil 4b and the second power transmission coil 4c may be provided. Fig.3 (a) is the top view which showed the charger 4 partially, Comprising: As for the 1st power transmission coil 4b and the 2nd power transmission coil 4c, all at least one part opposes the receiving coil 1b. It is provided. For this reason, when the load and the power receiving efficiency of the power receiving coil 1b fluctuate, the voltage, the frequency, and the standing wave ratio of each of the first power transmitting coil 4b and the second power transmitting coil 4c change. The two power transmission coils are both formed with the same specifications. Therefore, the second power transmission coil 4c facing the power reception coil 1b with a larger area can transmit power more efficiently than the first power transmission coil 4b, and charging of the secondary battery 1 can be performed. The efficiency is higher in the second power transmission coil 4c. In addition, the amount of fluctuation of the voltage, frequency, and standing wave ratio accompanying the fluctuation of the load of the power reception coil 1b and the power reception efficiency is also larger in the second power transmission coil 4c. Therefore, in the present embodiment, when charging the secondary battery 1 according to the above-described steps 1 to 5, the charger 4 is not affected by the load of the power receiving coil 1b or the fluctuation of the power receiving efficiency. The second power transmission coil 4c having a larger ratio fluctuation amount is detected, and power transmission is performed only from the second power transmission coil 4c. As described above, when the voltage or the like of the plurality of power transmission coils fluctuate due to the load of the power reception coil or the fluctuation of the power reception efficiency, it is possible to charge the secondary battery efficiently by specifying the power transmission coil having a larger fluctuation amount. It can be done well.

  Moreover, although the charger 3 mentioned above is provided with two power transmission coils, you may increase the number further like the charger 5 shown in FIG.3 (b). FIG. 3 (b) is a plan view of the charger 5. This charger 5 has four power transmission coils (a first power transmission coil 5 b, a second power transmission coil 5 c, a second power transmission coil 5 c around the recess 5 a on which the hearing aid is placed). 3) A power transmission coil 5d and a fourth power transmission coil 5e are provided. According to such a charger 5, it is possible to charge the secondary battery regardless of which of the four directions the hearing aid is set. In addition, when there are two types of hearing aids of different shapes, the shape of the recess 4a can be placed in the vertical direction in FIG. 3B for one hearing aid, and in the horizontal direction for the other hearing aids. It is preferable to be able to mount it. Thereby, one hearing aid can be charged by the first power transmission coil 5b or the second power transmission coil 5c, and the other hearing aid can be charged by the third power transmission coil 5d or the fourth power transmission coil 5e. That is, when such a configuration is adopted, it is not necessary to prepare a charger for each shape of the hearing aid, and there is an advantage that the versatility is excellent.

1: Secondary battery 1b: Receiving coil 2: Hearing aid 3: Charger 3b: First power transmission coil (power transmission coil)
3c: Second power transmission coil (power transmission coil)

Claims (2)

A secondary battery charged by the receiving coil,
A hearing aid operated by the secondary battery;
A charger having a power transmission coil for transmitting power to the power reception coil by electromagnetic induction;
The charger has a plurality of the power transmission coils, and among the plurality of power transmission coils, the power transmission coil capable of charging the secondary battery or the charge efficiency is the best for the secondary battery. A charging system for a hearing aid, configured to detect a power transmission coil and to transmit power to the power reception coil only from the detected power transmission coil. The receiving coil is provided to the secondary battery,
The hearing aid according to claim 1, characterized in that the hearing aid holds the secondary battery in a removable manner, and is configured to operate even if the secondary battery is attached in any polarity direction. Charging system.

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