WO2014175851A1 - Self-organizing inductors - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention enables the investment of a large flat inductive source surface with the capability to deliver large inductive power at any point on the surface, and with perfect alignment with the receiving secondary inductor, without having multiple layers of inductors, or without having large and complete mobile inductor units between the upper and lower surface of a flat housing, wherein there must be columns and spacers to hold these surfaces apart at the proper spacing so that the mobile inductors can slide/move around, to align with a secondary inductor set upon the housing by using a magnet.

Description

"SELF-ORGANIZING INDUCTORS"

The purpose of this invention is to enable the investment of a large flat inductive source surface with the capability to deliver large inductive power at any point on the surface, and with perfect alignment with the receiving secondary inductor, without having to have multiple layers of inductors(each frame shifted ½ or 1/3 or ¼ or 1/9 of a unit cell dimension depending on how many layers of inductors and in how directions they are shifted, or without having large and complete mobile inductor units between the upper and lower surface of a flat housing, wherein there must be columns/spacers to hold these surfaces apart at the proper spacing so that the mobile inductors can slide/move around, to align with a secondary inductor set upon the housing. The spacers will blank out certain positions which the mobile inductors can not occupy.

However, if the the secondary inductor is allowed to move within the receiving device, then in theory alignment could occur even when the primary inductor was humping into a spacer. But this adds a big burden to the receiver inductor system, which is often affixed into the back door of a cellphone or similar small and thin area.

And what if you try to charge a big power user such as a laptop or power saw, which due to its large bottom surface area could be invested with a lot of receiver inductor capability ....The problems continue if you try to use a lot of small Z axis inductors (either spiral or coil). Both in terms of alignment and because the magnetic field reverses at the periphery of each coil relative to its center, and thus you get a lot of net cancellation of the primary magnetic field vectors (which precludes getting more power transfer by simply using a larger secondary (receiver) coil to mate with multiple primary inductors simultaneously.

l SIMPLEST EMBODIMENT:

a this first and simplest embodiment the Inductor segments each include their conductive segment, switching), brushes and orthogonal orienting magnet(or other orienting system),as described in the rest of this patent application but are only free to rotate and are in fixed locations within the overall housing or pad. They may be located in numerous regularly placed cavities molded or printed into the housing. Each cavity contains one of said Inductive Segments which freely rotates on its vertical axis for inductive alignment This first embodiment is so simple it could almost be in production the day after tomorrow. See Fig 1.

Figure 2 shows the Inductor Segments 201 oriented by the placement of a secondary inductor 202 with its orienting magnet 203, onto the housing upper surface 204. The electrical vectors are not shown with arrows, but by the plus and minus signs, which it can be seen by the orientation of all signs being consistently counterclockwise relative to the ^tt-^it signs of each Inductor Segment, and which indicate the upper and lower energized ends of the conductor within it which may be respectively (ratably) connected to the upper and lower inner surfaces of the housing (which are conductive) to receive power of the corresponding polarity, are aligned into a circular Z axis inductor due to the influence of central orienting magnet 203.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT:

Therefore, see Fig 3, in the present invention, we employ numerous small inductive elements 301 which are essentially segments of conductor 302 in the space between the upper and lower surface of the inductor housing 303, and parallel to the plane of this space. Each of these conductive segments is free to move about in this space, and may be in a low friction insulative capsule with a contact or brush on it's upper and lower side to connect said conductor to the conductive inner surfaces of the housing, which are connected to the power supply. Fig.4 shows a powerful inductor 401 formed under the influence of center orienting magnet 402 of device with mated inductor 403

Each Inductor segment 501 in Fig 5, within its capsule 502 has attached to it a small magnet (or electromagnet) 503, arranged with it poles orthogonal to the length of the

(conductor/inductor) segment and with the same magnetic pole of each magnet always in the same orientation to a segment vis a vis which of the segment's end's contacts which surface of the housing, i.e. so that segment to segment polarity is maintained in both the electrical and the magnetic realm. It can now be readily anticipated hat if a magnet( such as will be associated with a secondary inductor and at the center of its optimal flux axis) 504 is placed upon the outside Le. mating surface of the Self Organizing Inductor, this magnet will cause all of the poles of the orienting magnets which are dis-similar to its pole which is closest to the housing, to make all of the conductor segments rotate so that they form an inductor with its principle flux axis aligned with that of the mated secondary inductor. See Fig . 5.

Fig. 5a is a close up of one such "Inductor Segment". One end of the conductor therein contacts 505 one of the inner parallel surfaces of the housing 506 directly or via a brush, which said surface is connected to one of the supply lines, and the other end of each segment is connected through a switch responsive to the presence of a secondary receiver inductor, (and perhaps also to its other power requirements), the other end of this switch also connected to a brush 508 which contacts the other parallel inner housing surface 509, which is connected to the other side of the supply circuit.

This "switch" can be a simple MOSFET or magnetic relay which responds to presence of the orienting magnet associated with a mated secondary, and/or it may be a more complex type of switch such as a power transistor controlled by a discriminator which picks up a signal from the secondary, which would allow regulation by based on other parameters (such as battery overcharge prevention) by secondary associated circuitry. This could also be achieved by reducing the power of the orienting magnet, or shielding it or moving it away from the mating surface (so as to for example allow the MOSFET or magnetic relay to revert to "open." Any switching functions( such as overcharge selection, frequency and/or phase selection or adjustment, etc.) other than the individual selection of power to each Inductor Segment in the presence of a mated secondary inductor, can be relegated to a power trimming switch interposed between the conductive inner surface of one of the housing sides and the power source, or to the receiving device. The word "switch" shall include any type of circuit or device which controls power.

Each Inductive segment capsule assembly may incorporate magnetic shielding 601 in Fig. 6, such as a Mumetal or Permalloy etc. shell which encloses most of the back-side and mating side of the orienting magnet (although it should go under, and not enclose the inductive conductor segment i.e. not block its fluxes from going towards the mating surface) and directs the flux (of the orienting magnet) away from the mating surface of the housing, so that it will not become hopelessly attracted to the front-pole of the magnet of another capsule and that capsule's backside of its magnet to the front-side of the magnet of another capsule, ad infinitum, thus making a congested clot of Inductive segment capsule which can not self form into an inductor in response to the magnetic field associated with a mated (secondary) inductor, nor properly support the opposing sides of the housing.

In fact, the orienting magnets could be skewed by rotation about the long axis of the segment 701 in Fig.7, so as to further direct the backside flux away, and to also by thus somewhat concentrating the N flux on one side of the housing plane, and the S flux on the other, create a modicum of repulsive force to keep the Inductor capsule segments, dispersed, until the influence of an organizing magnet(associated with an inductor placed on the housing, attracts them and organizes them into an inductor. Fig 8 shows a variant Inductor Segment in which it has a soft spring, leafspring, springy, elastomeric, foam elastomeric, and or feathery outer perimeter 801 which approximates a rounder shape when the Inductor Segments are not engaged by a mated secondary inductor into being a self-formed inductor, so as to prevent intermagnetic bonding by segment magnets 503,701.This outer margin is designed to collapse or compress when the Inductor Segment is engaged as part of a self formed to allow tight spacing of inductors elements. Fig 9 shows it compressed by proximity to other Inductor Segments, or by a signal which causes it to do so.

In a variation of this invention, the response of the inductor segments to the organizing magnet of a mated secondary, could be not by the direct exertion of magnetic force which itself moves and steers the segments (i.e. provides both information and force), but rather which provides only the information, to a magnetic receptor element associated with each segment more or less as described in the preceding text, but operates by controlling a movement producing means, which could include micro-flexors, mini-motors, directionally biased vibrators, directionally biased vibrating or oscillating mini-legs, etc. A constant magnetic field will not interfere with the rapidly varying magnetic field of the inductive power transfer.

The primary inductor organizing signal which emanates from a secondary placed upon a primary infested charging mat may be something other than magnetic, such as a proprietary characteristic electric signal, or a vibrational, sonic, ultrasonic, optical, infrared, UV, radioactive or other signal, and/ or a momentary and perhaps periodic energization of the secondary, but it should be appreciated that magnetic (especially as taught above, wherein the magnet is centered on the center of a Z-axis secondary inductor has) a unique advantage in that since according to laws of physics a magnetic field or flux is always orthogonal and in constant geometric relation to an associated electric current or field respectively, it i.e. a magnetic source associated with the secondary inductor can be most advantageously employed to automatically elegantly and inherently provide the organizing influence over the primary inductor segments. Since the present inventor now has the podium, he will take this opportunity to draw contrast with the quasi-idiotic profusion of trivial mega-lines of code which would be required to duplicate such an elegant organizing effect as is given by a simple principle of nature as is described in the preferred embodiment herein.

The inductor segments can be endowed with some additional capabilities. For example, their conductors can be made to lengthen once they are energized, as inductive power radiated increases proportionally to length of inductor. This can be achieved by forming slow bends or a long slow helix into the conductor, which straightens out once it is properly organized i.e.

positioned into an inductive configuration with a mated secondary inductor. This

straightening/lengthening could occur through an inherent property of the conductor or of material associated with it, such as piezoelectric, shape memory (including Nitinol), in which the long, straight, extended shape exists at an elevated temperature associated with and produced by the waste heat segment electrical conduction during inductive operation. Presumably the housing would change its shape during conductor lengthening, from more rounded to longer and thinner (ellipse etc), which would allow tighter packing of inductor segments and cause the inductive coupling to strengthen the first several minutes as it "fully refines the form of its self formed self." The outer insulation of each segment could be an elastomer so as to naturally accommodate this shape change, and cause its reversion to round or rounder (speaking always of course [especially in this paragraph] of its 2D shape in the plane of the flat housing within which they slide and rotate). This can be a highly important aspect, as a round(er) shape can rotate and move about more easily within the housing, so as to initially self-form the inductor under the influence of the signal (magnetic or otherwise) from a secondary inductor placed on the housing of the charging mat The heating (of shape memory substance) piezoelectric of other shape- changing functionality may be energized by (being) a high(er) resistance (and thus lower current) circuit in parallel to the primary conductive element, or it may be a mildly conductive sheath (which could be an elastomer)of the conductor or be energized by a leakage current through such a semiconductive sheath.

It should be appreciated that several or many orthogonal magnets or other orienting devices and active positioning devices or structures (which they may control) may be dispersed along the length of an Inductive Segment which itself can be flexible, so that it may curve itself around the inductive axis established by the center of a mated secondary inductor. These flexible Inductor Segments may be an elongating shape changer as in the above paragraph, so they can be round or rounder in their non energized state, so as to facilitate their initial approximate rotational alignment-

Electrical polarities (+/-) and magnetic or orienting polarities (N/S), as discussed or illustrated, may be arbitrary, as the electric supply may be AC, and the orienting principle may be other than magnetic, or S instead of N, etc.

The conductors of these Inductor Segments could carry high currents, which would produce high magnetic flux and thus enable large inductive power transfer.

The brushes could comprise the entire upper and lower surfaces of the Inductor

Segments, and could be or include some forms of Carbon.

An Inductor Segment with multiple orienting magnets or other orienting devices system along its length will naturally assume an efficient coil-curve under influence of the magnet or other geometric signaler associated with a mated secondary inductor due to the vector

orthogonality principle outline in the PPA. See Fig 10. "OUTLET BASED MULTI VOLTAGE TRANSFORMER POWER UNITS"

INVENTOR: ANTHONY SABO

The purpose of this invention is to provide transformer means for powering low voltage (or non- household AC standard voltage) devices, wherein said transformers can be semipermanently attached i.e. plugged into standard household outlets without negating their functionality by occupying outlets without providing at least as many more outlet positions at standard outlet voltage.

A further result of this invention, is that it makes possible for the average homeowner etc. to readily equip their house etc. with a low-voltage wiring system without tearing open the walls, especially if they use the known technology of flat-adhesive backed taper edged wires (pairs) (which may have clear, translucent and or matte surfaced and highly paintable insulation so as to totally blend into the wall surface), to connect these multi-voltage power source units to the various low voltage devices, such as inductive charging arrays which can be incorporated into trim section shelves and window-sills as in another section of this PP A, or be any other form , or to connect to other electronic devices, or as the basis for an enormous cost breakthrough in LED lighting, wherein a transformer no longer has to be incorporated into every 110-120 V. light socket, but the low voltage LED^" s can now be hooked up with these said low voltage wires... which is safe and easy.

The simplest preferred embodiment of this invention is shown in Fig. 1 which shows an annular step down transformer 101 in housing 102 wherein is also receptacle 103 which receives appliance plugs 104 and wherein transformer and receptacle are powered by plugs 105 which are plugged into standard outlet 106, so as to provide power of presumably a lower voltage through conductors 107 to inductive charging mats, electronic devices, low voltage lights, etc., but in an manner which does not negate the useability of an outlet position, and thus becomes an acceptable household/office feature which does not contribute to wire-mess.

Fig.2 show a duplex transformer outlet with multi-tap Le. multi voltage transformer.

Fig. 2a is annotated 2

Fig. 3 includes 4 inductive charging coils 31. Magnets may be used to retain charges.

Fig.4 shows low voltage flat wires, as described above, with flat receptacle slot 1 with polarized upper and lower electrical contact surfaces, so that any number of flat wires can be plugged in, if they are skinned alternate sides on each conductor, as shown 42. Fig. 5 is a variant in which the flat low voltage receptacle-slot 51 is hemi-ciicular so that the flat (taper edged adhesive backed) wires, which will not bend sideways, can be made to radiate i.e. extend in any needed direction along the wall. 53 is a button i.e molded in spot on the housing which causes the lip 54 of the slot to open for insertion of the (flat or indeed other) wires.

Fig. 6 is a variant of 4 which shows how many permutations of voltage can be obtained by having several parallel slots each at a different voltage, connected to multiple taps of the transformer, voltage splitters/steppers, etc. The conductors can be laminated onto the surfaces of insulative parallel flat springy plastic sheet, such as of Mylar, which would have concentric outlines, and be stacked as shown. Each slot is between a pair of the laminates. Each conductor 65 pair 64 is shown with a different spacing of it two conductors relative to its reference guide 63 which engages lip 62 to ensure that each conductor aligns and goes into the correct voltage slot, 66.

"INDUCTIVE CHARGING SOURCES WITH HOUSE TRIM OR SHELF PROFILES"

The goal of this PPA is to provide embodiments/forms for the housing* or structure of an inductive charging array, which provide an alternative to putting the inductive chargers on scarce table and shelf space, and from which the expensive electronic devices being recharged are prone to being knocked off of. and furthermore the extension cords of which present another hazard by occupying common space. In addition to providing an alternative to occupying table and shelf space, the novel embodiments/ forms of primary inductor array which are the topic of the present invention are capable of readily and simply integrating into the existing architectural schemes of most houses and offices. *(The term "housing" can refer to a hollow housing containing the primary inductor(s) and their control circuits and power connections, or a solid molded, extruded and or laminated structure likewise containing embedded primary inductor(s) and their control circuits and power connections, or a structural foam, a foam with a hard skin, etc.)

These forms of Inductive Charging may be thought of as the "stamping rigging" of a house with the inductive charging capability, i.e. semi-permanent and built-in, as opposed to current inductive charging devices, which may be seen as 'Running rigging,^ for those familiar with nautical terminology. This distinction should help to highlight the next important direction in the field of inductive charging, which is to make it an important, accepted and expected part of every house, office, etc....a built in part of modem life...a standard utility like water, internet or electricity. Eventually, permanent inductive charging units (or arrays) may be built into many of the flat surfaces of buildings, such as the walls, countertops, floors etc. However, the installation for these types of inductive charging arrays would be part of the construction process and require skilled labor and organization, and the painful process of remodeling if and when installed into an existing building. In contrast, the inductive charging units/arrays of the present invention are designed to be readily installed by the average person in a matter of minutes and with no damage to or intervention into the existing building structure, and then to function as if a permanent part of the house office etc.

Figure 100 shows the cross-section of an Inductive Charger Unit (ICU) which is a long thin profiled mat 1001 which duplicates the standard window-sill profile and is designed to fit convienently on and exactly cover the window-sill 1002. It may be held in place by peel-and- stick or other adhesive on its back bottom side 1003. The inductors and associated circuitry are in a long thin pad 1004 which is adhered/attached to the bottom of window-sill profiled shell housing 1005. The portions of the "Window-sill ICU" which do not have inductor array may be filled with foam 1006 so as to provide continuous mechanical support for the window- sill profiled shell 1005. The front of the ""Window-sill ICU" preferably is curved downwards in a semi-circular profile portion 1007, which matches the bull-nose portion of almost every standard window-sill profile variant (1010,1011 in Fig 101). and which may be installed on a larger nonstandard bull-nose llllin Fig 1 by slight stretching of its radius during installation 1112 using finger 1113. Alternatively this portion of the upper shell housing 1005 may be made of a single axis selective heat shrink material, perhaps disposed only on the bottom surface of the upper housing shell in the front portion 1007 which is desired to assume bullnose curvature, when heated with a hair dryer etc.

It should be appreciated that the downward curved profile section 1007 allows the 'Window-sill ICU" to blend in with the existing window-sill in an almost un-noticeable manner, and deals with the sharp edge of the upper housing shell 1005 thus creating an esthetically pleasing, safe and useable item. The continuous upper housing shell may be easily manufactured by continuous profiled roller bending (possibly with preheating) from rolls of plastic sheets ock .0l0"-.050" thick by 3.5"-5.5" wide. There may also be a down-tapered portion 1008 facing die window, so that any condensation will tend to roll off the ICU surface. Fig. 1002 shows how a "Window-sill ICU" will blend nicely on an overly wide window-sill.

The problem of various windows having varying widths, which means that their window sills have varying lengths, can be dealt with by making the "Window-sill ICU's ** in different lengths to match different the lengths of window-sills of standard window sizes, or making a few different lengths which will occupy only most of the window-sill's lengths, or by providing extra length to the upper housing shell on each end beyond the portion which has inductor units attached in Fig 103. Since these portions do not have inductors, they may be cut to length with shears or a knife. This procedure could be idiot-prooofed by instructions to "only cut while looking at the bottom of the "Window-sill ICU", whereon a "Do not cut!" warning can be printed in the inductor invested center portion 1115. Also, the inductor units could be laminated to a metal or formica or other bottom sheet to protect against cutting in these sensitive areas. Another useful form of inductive charger which is conveniently installable by the homeowner etc as a semi-permanent appurtenance, Le. part of the "standing rigging of the house, office etc. is "Chair Rail ICU's". Figure 104 shows a plain "Chair Rail ICIT 1116 which has charging inductors 1117 and associated circuits in the smooth lower portion of the chair rail profile 1118. A magnetic retention stripe 1119 may be needed to male with a magnet 1120 in the device to be charged 1121 to hold it in place.

Figure 105 shows how an unconventional "Upside-down" chair rail configuration may work better for retaining devices to be charged, due to the force of gravity 1122 tending to hold the device being charged 1121 against the projecting main ridge 1123 of the "Chair Rail ICU"

Figure 106 show a "Chair Rail ICU" 1124 with a profile modified to have an exaggerated projecting rail lip portion 1125 which is displaced sufficiently far in relation to the inductor invested angled charging portion 1126 from wall 1127 on which the ICU is mounted, that an angle of repose is established for devices to be charged thereon 1128 so mat no attachment mechanism is required, when they are positioned so as to be resting on lip 1125 with their inductor invested charge receiving region against inductor invested angled charging portion 1126. As with all the other '"Chair Rail ICU" variations, it may be adhered to the wall with such as with a peel-and-stick adhesive pad 1130 provided on its back side. An extension cord 1129 is shown, which may be a flaUwide and tapered edged extension cord which is adhered to the wall with peel-and-stick adhesive so that it does not intrude into the living space, and tends to disappear.

Figure 107 shows the cross-section of a "Chair Rail With Tablature ICLP 1131 which has an inductor invested fiat upper portion 1132 on which any inductor equipped device may be set for charging, 107 A is frontal view of same, which also shows decorative end return sections 1132.

The ~Chair Rail With Tablature ICU" or other "Chair Rail ICLP forms such as in previous paragraphs, may be continued to meet a wall or other architecturally desirable endpoint, by providing additional sections which are of the same profile but without inductors. These sections may in fact be a min plastic continuously roller formed shell, which can be the same pieces as for the shell of the exposed housing of the inductor invested sections, i.e which have the attractive trim profile. " Return End Caps", "Outside Corners" and "Inside Comers" of the same profile can also be made available, for people who want a complete architectural treatment, Le. to wrap the Chair Rail Tablature completely around a room, or a section of it, but only have ICU^*s (Inductor Charging Units) along certain portions of the wall(s). Ideally all of these pieces can be attached to the walls by peel-and-stick or other adhesive. Slotted holes may also be provided along the top edge of the backs, To fit over and hang on screw or nail heads or other mechanical attachments. But it is perhaps excessive fastening, as even cheap adhesives readily achieve strengths of several hundred pounds per square inch, and there are at least 40 square inches per foot of length of these various "Chair Rail ICU's." It is the chair rail section 1133 which due to its vertical dimension functions as a continuous shelf bracket to provide enough of a moment in conjunction with the adhesive or screws at the top edge of the back, to prevent the unit from getting ripped off the wall whenever anyone leans on iL The bulk and form of these trim cross- section shelf inductive charging units could be cast or extruded in a lightweight plastic foam with a integral skin surface, much like Fypon and other high quality decorative plastic foam trim.

There could also be modernistic designs such as Fig. 108, 109.

An Inductive Shelf ICU could also be cranked out by the mile, i.e. the inductors and their supply lines and switching and support circuits directly adhered to or embedded in the surface of shelf planks, which could be (painted?) wood or extruded plastic or plastic foam with integral plastic skin (and perhaps FRP layers for rigidity), and produced in standard plank/shelf sizes, such as 1x8 (3/4" x 7 ½") 1x12 , 1x4, 1x6, 1x16, 5/4 x 4-16 etc. so as to be ready for any carpenter or homeowner to incorporate into a set of shelves, or set on some decorative brackets attached to the wall.

Or, mats containing a plurality (in 1 or 2 dimensional array) could be dispensed in a form similar to shelf paper, wall paper or place mats, so as to cover any existing shelf or any other surface. These mats could be adhesive backed.

2013/000064

"GRAVmONAI Y-GEOMETMCALLY ENABLED INDUCTIVELY

RECHARGEABLE INTEGRAL BATTERY INDUCTOR UNITS"

The topic of mis provisional patent application is Electric Battery Units with an Integral (secondary/receiver) Charging Inductor (and possible standard associated supporting circuitry such as rectifier, primary inductor triggering, overcharge and charge management, feedback, signalling and indication,) which is either affixed to the battery or contained in the battery case and which is electrically connected to the battery so as to charge said battery whenever it is placed on / mated with a (primary/source) inductor through which electrical power is allowed to flow. (The battery may comprise one of more separate battery cells.) The present invention most specifically relates to said "Batteries with Charging Inductors" or Integral Battery Inductor Units (=IBIU's) which are removable from the appliances which they may power, and which employ the force of gravity in conjunction with a unique shape of the Integral Battery Inductor Unit (= IBRJ) to ensure correct vertical orientation of the IBIU for charging when placed (perhaps quite carelessly) on a substantially flat charging surface which is itself invested with energizable (primary/source) inductors, i.e. wherein the inductor invested surface of the IBIU is oriented substantially downwards.

A review of the prior art shows several examples of batteries (and battery cases) with built in inductors, such as US 3,675,108; US 4,611,161; US 4,912391; US 5,959,433;

US 6,208,115 and US 6,803,744 which is by the present inventor. Of these patents the most notable and relevant is 5,959,433, which describes an essentially flat IBIU (such as a cell phone battery if it was to be removed for recharging) which will lay upon an essentially flat source inductor housing. The present invention is distinguishable over the teaching of 5,959,433 in that it addresses the problem of IBIU's which due to design constraints imposed by the appliance they must fit into can not be configured in such a simple flat shape.

The specific goal of the present invention is to elucidate several specific geometrical physical forms of Integral Battery Inductor Units which thereby achieve uniquely advantageous usefulness in light of the tact that the form of (primary/source) Inductive Charging housing which is by far the most convenient and which is therefore coming to predominate in the field, is a flat pad with a flat upper surface for the inductive power transfers, and which being flat can reside upon a table, shelf etc. Therefore the following forms for Integral Battery Inductor Units (IBIU's) are designed to be conveniently and casually placed upon flat inductive charging pads and be recharged thereby, while their shapes confer unique advantages for the user. In the first preferred embodiment (see Fig. 1) the design challenge is to achieve a form for the standard cylindrical battery such as the "D", "C, "AA~ and "AAA" cells which so many consumer devices are designed to accept and which has an inductor on its outer cylindrical surface so as to be an IBIU, wherein said form will insure that the IBIU when placed upon an essentially flat inductive charger surface will always come to rest with regard to rotation about its long axis, with the (one of the at least one) receiver inductors which is plastered upon it's outer surface oriented down i.e. towards the upper surface of the flat inductive charger, so that the respective inductors are not disaligned. Clearly, with a cylindrical battery formed with its currently round cross-sectional form, it is matter of chance as to whether or not the inductor will wind up in the correct orientation for mating with the flat upper surface of the inductive charger housing, and the odds of the correct side of the battery being oriented down are not good, as a cylinder has an infinite number of sides, out of which only a small % will produce correct alignment with the charger. And furthermore these infinite number of sides form a circle, a form which is know in the prior art which predates the Patent Office as being the key feature of one of mankind's greatest inventions: the wheel...and therefore cylindrical shaped batteries and EBIU's like to roll, like a wheel, thus destroying the aspect of inductor-inductor alignment which requires the inductor on the battery (i.e. IBIU) to face downwards and thus towards the flat upper surface of the charger, and thereby preventing inductive power transfer.

This invention teaches Several approaches to solving the cylindrical battery long axis rotational orientation problem (explained in the previous paragraph);

The first is to have one or more relatively flat sides on the battery / IBIU with the inductor(s) placed or centered on the flat side(s), so that the battery IBIU will tend to orient itself with the flat inductor laden side down and thus mated with the upper side of the inductive charging surface in order to statistically minimize the gravitational potential energy of the battery/LBIU. It should be appreciated that the small decrement in batter}' volume caused by slightly flattening one or more sides, can be more than made up for by the convienent inductive rechargeabil y which this will facilitate, and by recent advances in battery chemistry which increase power density, while by maintaining the overall dimensions of the existing standard Battery/ Cell sizes, these EBIU's will fit the innumerable existing appliances designed to receive them. Several variants are described below:

An IBIU (Integral Battery Inductor Unit) with one flattened inductor covered side. This form has an advantage in cost (only one inductor) and least cross-sectional loss of volume. It is mathematically demonstrable that a cylindroid with one flat side and of uniform density cross- section does not exist which will always self rotate so as to come to rest with the one (inductor laden) side down (i.e. towards the inductive charger charging surface). However, this does not rule out the one-sided cylindroid due to the three following possibilities: A) Fig 1 a shows a one sided cylindroid EMU in which the weight of the irtdnctive coil apparatus being of a heavier material, metal or alloy such as Fe-Ni-Cu means that the density cross section is biased towards this heavier side, and thus it will always come to rest thereon. This is an especially valid possibility when a very low density battery cell material such as lithium is used.

B) Fig lb shows a one sided cylindroid IBIU with a magnet in or on the flat inductor invested side. This magnet would be attracted to and/or by magnetic or ferrous or magnetically attracted material in the inductive charger surface so as to insure long axis rotational alignmenl. This magnet could also attach the BBIU to the inductive charger surface, which in this case would not need to be horizontal could also be attached to a wall (or ceilingXmagnetic attachment by itself is old art, such in attaching external microphones to cochlear implants). Last but not least, the magnet associated with the IBIU can act to turn on charge inductors, summons charger inductors if they are mobile, and/or orient them if they rotatable within the inductive charging device.

C) Figure Ic shows a one-sided cylindroid D3IU modified with softened comers, and which thus may, by setting it on the flat charging matt with a gentle rolling motion, be caused to most probably come to rest with the flattened inductor invested "side" down.

Fig. 2 shows an IBIU with two flattened inductor covered sides. It is mathematically demonstrable that this is the minimum number of flat sides which a rotatable cylindroid may have wherein it will always come to rest on a flat side regardless of it's rotational orientation when put on a flat surface (i.e. the inductive charger surface).

Fig. 3 shows an IBIU with three flattened inductor covered sides.

It should be appreciated that the flattening of the inductor invested side(s) of the IBIU's has the additional virtue of greatly increasing inductive magnetic flux transfer by bringing the inductor of the IBIU into a more parallel engagement with the flat source charger inductor(s). This is an additional improvement over the perfectly round IBIU's of US 3,675,108. Other advantages of the present invention over 3,675,108 are that a different sized charger is not required for every size of battery lBIU (such as ~D~, "C, "AA", "AAA" etc.), and that the charger does not require a highly complicated mechanical feed mechanism. 13 000064

Last but not least, it should be appreciated that if these IBlU's are placed in an appliance such as a flashlight wherein their flat inductor laden sides face out towards the appliance surface, which itself may be flattened on that side or have longitudinal ridges to prevent roiling when placed on a charging surface, but yet not indent the inner surface of the battery space within the housing, the entire flashlight or other appliance may be inductively recharged by being casually laid on the charging surface, and yet still may be operated with "old-fashioned" not-inductively- rechargeable batteries in a pinch. See Fig. 4.

In a separate but related IBIU (Integral Battery Inductor Unit), see Fig. 5 design which has particular utility for hand held electric power tools for construction, manufacturing, plumbing, even cooking and sewing(i.e. a hand held sewing machine), in fact any device which is hand held and which due to the ergonomic factor wherein the axis of the grip of the human hand operates best at an angle of 65-90 degees to the forward pushing force delivery axis of the human forearm(visualize an electric drill for example), wherein the motor and other effector mechanisms of the tool/apparatus must for reasons of efficient design be arranged along the forearm force axis, Therefore power tools etc are generally designed with what is called a "Pistol Grip"(see Fig rjgnpd) It is desirable to be able to set the tool down and have it remain in an upright orientation so that it is convenient to pick it up again and again as is the general pattern in most of tasks which these tools are used for. To this end, the battery which is generally a separable, rechargeable(by conductance contact recharger) and replaceable, is disposed on the bottom of the pistol grip, so as to provide a mass to counterbalance the motor thus lowering the combined center of gravity, and said battery is shaped to be broad and with a flat bottom surface, so that when the tool is set down upright and on this flat bottom surface, it will remain upright

What is specifically taught in this preferred embodiment of the invention, is that

(secondary/receiver) inductors may very advantageously be disposed in or on the bottom surface of such a battery, (a battery)which is specifically designed to function as the counterweight which keeps the tool upright when set down for inductive charging on a substantially flat charging surface...and thus allowing the proper proximity and alignment of inductors which is required for inductive charging to occur...and conveniently so an time the tool is set down between operations. Meaning that a battery powered tool can now be as powerful as a corded plug-in tool, because it can almost constantly get recharged during its duty cycle. This preferred embodiment claims priority to issued US Patent 6,803,744 by the present inventor (Sabo) where in column 10 lines 3-6, it discloses "Secondary coils are positioned in the sides or bottom of the tool, or may be located in the bottom of a battery pack which itself may be detached and replaced."

An additional novel feature, is that if the battery is of a light material such as Lithium, which therefore might not be sufficiently heavy to counterbalance the motor and effectors of the tool in its upper portion, the inductive apparatus to be put in or on the bottom of the battery may be intentionally allowed to be heavy by increasing the mass of its coils and of its iron, lerrite or other core material. This will enable a much higher rate of inductive power transfer, as is appropriate for power tools, which typically require 5 kw. and may require up to 15 kw. or more at peak load, which would suggest that charging at a rale of 25— lkw. is required and that even 2.5 kw. would be useful. Current flat inductive charging pads and matts do not have such extensive coils and no core, and are rated for .005kw.

In an additional feature, which may or may not be novel, but may be novel in or in combination with the above application of the inductive receiver inductor systems may be made and sold as a separate unit which may be adhered via an adhesive pad (peel and stick)to the bottom of any existing power tool battery, or attached by some other means. The inductor unit could connect to the existing electrical contacts in the power tool by means of insulated flat-tape conductors which would be adhered (peel and stick) to the sides of the existing battery shaft portion, and either make electrical contact via the existing contacts on the battery, to which they could be soldered or crimped, or a new set of electrical contacts could be provided which are in a cap which fits over the existing contact end of the battery and has the identical contact pattern.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED:

Claim 1) An inductor array which is self organizing f om smaller inductor elements which are comprised of a conductive element connected to a power supply and a magnet attached orthogonally to each said inductor element so as to move and rotate it under the influence of an orienting magnet associated with a particular point of another inductor, in order to cause said inductor elements to form a larger inductor aligned about said particular point of another inductor and thus inductively mated with it..

Clainy^) Inductive charging sources which are incorporated into housings which are sufficiently similar to normal household trim cross-sections so as to be capable of being semi-permanently affixed to the interior of a house or other interior, and not be readily perceived to be an electronic device.