Energy transmission device and energy transmission method

1. An energy transmission device ( 1 , 10 ) for a contactless transmission of electrical energy, the energy transmission device comprising a plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) and a plurality of receiving coils ( 4 , 5 , 14 , 15 ), and a controller ( 6 , 16 ) which is configured to activate a predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) sequentially in an energy transmission mode, wherein in a case of sequential activation of the predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ), the controller ( 6 , 16 ) is configured to next activate a respective transmitting coil ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) which has a greatest spacing from a last-activated transmitting coil ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ).

2. The energy transmission device ( 1 , 10 ) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the controller ( 6 , 16 ) is configured to identify a respective coupling factor between each of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) and each of the plurality of receiving coils ( 4 , 5 , 14 , 15 ) for each of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) in an identification mode, and to select, according to the respective coupling factors, the predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) which are activated in the energy transmission mode based on a greatest coupling factor of the identified respective coupling factors.

3. The energy transmission device ( 1 , 10 ) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein in the case of sequential activation of the predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ), the controller ( 6 , 16 ) is configured to activate each of the predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) for a period of less than one second.

4. The energy transmission device ( 1 , 10 ) as claimed in claim 1 , comprising an alternating-current source ( 19 ) which is configured to generate an alternating current for activating the predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ), and a toggle switch ( 20 ) which is configured to couple the alternating-current source ( 19 ) electrically to one of the predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) in a controllable manner, wherein the controller ( 6 , 16 ) is configured to activate the toggle switch ( 20 ) in order to activate one of the respective transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ).

5. The energy transmission device ( 1 , 10 ) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the controller ( 6 , 16 ) is configured to determine the predetermined number dynamically, based on a limit value for a coupling factor between the respective transmitting coil ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) and one of the plurality of receiving coils ( 4 , 5 , 14 , 15 ), wherein the controller ( 6 , 16 ) is configured to sequentially control only coil pairs of the respective transmitting coil ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) and the plurality of receiving coils ( 4 , 5 , 14 , 15 ) with coupling factors above the limit value.

6. The energy transmission device ( 1 , 10 ) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein in the case of sequential activation of the predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ), the controller ( 6 , 16 ) is configured to activate each of the predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) for a period of less than 500 milliseconds.

7. The energy transmission device ( 1 , 10 ) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein in the case of sequential activation of the predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ), the controller ( 6 , 16 ) is configured to activate each of the predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) for a period of less than 250 milliseconds.

8. The energy transmission device ( 1 , 10 ) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein in the case of sequential activation of the predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ), the controller ( 6 , 16 ) is configured to activate each of the predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) for a period of less than 100 milliseconds.

9. An energy transmission method for a contactless transmission of electrical energy, the method comprising:

providing (S 1 ) a plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) and a plurality of receiving coils ( 4 , 5 , 14 , 15 ), and

sequentially activating (S 2 ) a predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) in an energy transmission mode,

wherein in a case of the sequential activation of the predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) a respective transmitting coil ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) which has a greatest spacing from a last-activated transmitting coil ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) is activated next.

10. The energy transmission method as claimed in claim 9 , wherein a respective coupling factor to one of the individual receiving coils ( 4 , 5 , 14 , 15 ) is identified for each of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) in an identification mode, and the predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) which are activated in the energy transmission mode are selected according to the respective coupling factor, based on a greatest coupling factor among the identified respective coupling factors.

11. The energy transmission method as claimed in claim 9 , wherein in the case of sequential activation of the predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ), each of the predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) is activated for a period of less than one second.

12. The energy transmission method as claimed in claim 9 , comprising generating an alternating current for activating the predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ), and respectively electrically coupling the alternating current to a corresponding one of the predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ).

13. The energy transmission method as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the predetermined number is determined dynamically, based on a limit value for a coupling factor between a respective transmitting coil ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) and one of the plurality of receiving coils, wherein only coil pairs of the respective transmitting coil ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) and the plurality of receiving coils ( 4 , 5 , 14 , 15 ) with coupling factors above the limit value are controlled sequentially.

14. The energy transmission method as claimed in claim 9 , wherein in the case of sequential activation of the predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ), each of the predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) is activated for a period of less than 500 milliseconds.

15. The energy transmission method as claimed in claim 9 , wherein in the case of sequential activation of the predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ), each of the predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) is activated for a period of less than 250 milliseconds.

16. The energy transmission method as claimed in claim 9 , wherein in the case of sequential activation of the predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ), each of the predetermined number of the plurality of transmitting coils ( 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 30 , 31 , 32 ) is activated for a period of less than 100 milliseconds.