Safety system, a method of operating a safety system and a method of building a safety system

1. A safety system for an inductive power transfer system for transferring power to a vehicle on a surface of a route, comprising:

a primary unit of at least one primary winding for generating an electromagnetic primary field for the inductive power transfer,

a charging surface of the route assigned to the primary winding, and

at least one inductive sensing system, wherein the inductive sensing system comprises multiple detection windings, wherein

the multiple detection windings are arranged in an array structure, wherein the array structure covers the charging surface at least partially, and wherein the inductive sensing system comprises at least one excitation winding for generating an excitation field which is received by at least one of the multiple detection windings.

2. The safety system of claim 1 , wherein a detection winding of the multiple detection windings is part of an LC oscillating circuit.

3. The safety system of claim 2 , wherein a predetermined number of LC oscillating circuits are connected parallel to each other, wherein an inductive element of each LC oscillating circuit is at least partially provided by one detection winding.

4. The safety system of claim 1 , wherein the inductive sensing system is designed as a primary field or total field compensating sensing system and each detection winding is designed as a primary field or total field compensating winding.

5. The safety system of claim 4 , wherein at least one of the detection windings comprises an even number of counter-oriented subwindings.

6. The safety system according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one excitation winding is part of a LC oscillating circuit.

7. The safety system according to claim 6 , wherein the at least one excitation winding and the detection windings are arranged such that a foreign object located on or in a proximity of the charging surface is arranged in between the at least one excitation winding and the detection windings.

8. The safety system according to claim 6 , wherein the at least one excitation winding and the detection windings are arranged such that a foreign object located on or in a proximity of the charging surface is arranged above the at least one excitation winding and above the detection windings.

9. The safety system according to claim 6 , wherein at least one excitation winding is provided by the primary winding.

10. The safety system according to claim 6 , wherein the at least one excitation winding is provided by a winding structure different from the primary winding.

11. The safety system according to claim 10 , wherein the at least one excitation winding is designed and arranged such that an excitation field is generated such that a magnetic flux received by corresponding detection winding(s) is zero in a normal operating mode.

12. The safety system according to claim 11 , wherein the at least one excitation winding is designed such that an even number of poles is provided, wherein the at least one excitation winding and a corresponding detection winding are arranged and/or designed such that the magnetic flux generated by different poles extends through the detection surface of the detection winding.

13. The safety system according to claim 1 , wherein the safety system comprises an acoustic sensor and a current impulse generating means.

14. The safety system according to claim 1 , wherein the safety system comprises a microwave transmitting device and a microwave receiving device.

15. The safety system according to claim 14 , wherein at least one of the detection windings is designed as the microwave receiving device and one excitation winding is designed as the microwave transmitting device.

16. The safety system according to claim 1 , wherein the detection windings are designed as circular detection windings.

17. The safety system according to claim 16 , wherein the circular detection surfaces of at least two circular detection windings at least partly overlap.

18. The safety system according to claim 1 , wherein the detection windings are designed as hexagonal-shaped or rectangular-shaped detection windings.

19. The safety system according to claim 1 , wherein the safety system comprises at least one primary field or total field cancellation means for generating a cancellation field, wherein the cancellation means is designed and/or arranged such that the primary field or total field can be at least partially cancelled by the cancellation field.

20. A method of operating a safety system comprising a primary unit of at least one primary winding for generating an electromagnetic primary field for the inductive power transfer, a charging surface of the route assigned to the primary winding, and at least one inductive sensing system, wherein the inductive sensing system comprises multiple detection windings, wherein the multiple detection windings are arranged in an array structure, wherein the array structure covers the charging surface at least partially, and wherein the inductive sensing system comprises at least one excitation winding for generating an excitation field which is received by at least one of the multiple detection windings, the method comprising:

measuring an output signal of each of the multiple detection windings,

determining an electrical characteristic or parameter depending on the measured output signal, and

comparing the electrical characteristic or parameter to a reference value.

21. The method of claim 20 , further comprising the steps of:

generating an excitation field by at least one excitation winding,

receiving the excitation field by at least one corresponding detection winding, and

evaluating an output voltage of the at least one detection winding.

22. The method according to claim 20 , further comprising the steps of:

capturing by an acoustic sensor, sound waves after the excitation field has been generated, and

evaluating an output signal of the acoustic sensor.

23. The method according to claim 20 , further comprising the steps of:

emitting a radar or microwave signal along the charging surface,

receiving the reflected radar or microwave signal with at least one microwave receiving device,

conducting a radar- or microwave-based object detection based on the received signal.

24. The method according to claim 20 , further comprising the steps of:

generating a cancellation field by at least one primary field or total field cancellation means if a foreign object has been detected.

25. A method of building a safety system comprising a primary unit of at least one primary winding for generating an electromagnetic primary field for the inductive power transfer, a charging surface of the route assigned to the primary winding, and at least one inductive sensing system, wherein the inductive sensing system comprises multiple detection windings, wherein the multiple detection windings are arranged in an array structure, wherein the array structure covers the charging surface at least partially, and wherein the inductive sensing system comprises at least one excitation winding for generating an excitation field which is received by at least one of the multiple detection windings, the method comprising:

providing the multiple detection windings, and

arranging the multiple detection windings in the array structure, wherein the array structure covers the charging surface at least partially.