eCoupled is a proprietary

near-field Near field may refer to: * Near-field (mathematics), an algebraic structure * Near-field region, part of an electromagnetic field * Near field (electromagnetism) ** Magnetoquasistatic field, the magnetic component of the electromagnetic near f ...

wireless energy transfer Wireless power transfer (WPT), wireless power transmission, wireless energy transmission (WET), or electromagnetic power transfer is the transmission of electrical energy without wires as a physical link. In a wireless power transmission syste ...

technology developed by

Fulton Innovation Fulton may refer to: People * Robert Fulton (1765–1815), American engineer and inventor who developed the first commercially successful steam-powered ship * Fulton (surname) Given name * Fulton Allem (born 1957), South African golfer * Fult ...

, a division of

Alticor Alticor is a privately owned American corporation which is run by the DeVos family and the Van Andel family. It was established in 1999 to serve as the parent company for a handful of business ventures, most notably the multi-level marketing c ...

. It provides wireless power transfer via

inductive coupling In electrical engineering, two conductors are said to be inductively coupled or magnetically coupled when they are configured in a way such that change in current through one wire induces a voltage across the ends of the other wire through el ...

between a primary transmission coil and a secondary receiving coil. A single primary coil can provide power to multiple secondary coils at the same time. eCoupled technology uses its wireless data transfer and authentication capabilities to automatically identify compatible products that need to be charged, the products' charge states, and the most efficient level at which to power the device(s) in question. It also stops power transmission when the device with the receiving electricity is turned off or fully charged. Power can be transferred at up to 98 percent efficiency. eCoupled is designed to provide wireless power transfer for products ranging from low-power devices such as cell phones and media players to laptop computers and power tools. Fulton Innovation has over 220 patents filed and pending on the eCoupled system.

History

eCoupled technology is not the first system developed to transmit energy wirelessly.

Transformer A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...

s use inductively coupled circuits to transmit electrical energy. Energy transmission without wires was pioneered by researchers such as

Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla ( ; ,"Tesla"
'' Heinrich Rudolf Hertz Heinrich Rudolf Hertz ( ; ; 22 February 1857 – 1 January 1894) was a German physicist who first conclusively proved the existence of the electromagnetic waves predicted by James Clerk Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism. The unit o ...

, and

Guglielmo Marconi Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marquis of Marconi (; 25 April 187420 July 1937) was an Italian inventor and electrical engineer, known for his creation of a practical radio wave-based wireless telegraph system. This led to Marconi b ...

. eCoupled was developed by researchers at sister company

Amway Amway (short for "American Way") is an American multi-level marketing (MLM) company that sells health, beauty, and home care products. The company was founded in 1959 by Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos and is based in Ada, Michigan. Amway a ...

roughly ten years ago, and first sold as part of

's eSpring water purification system in 2001. Previously, the design team had experienced issues with the durability and corrosion of electrical connections inside the device. By replacing the wired power supply with an inductively coupled one, the eSpring design team was able to hermetically seal the electrical components, improve reliability, and simplify the overall product design. In 2008, it was announced that

was forming the world's first

Wireless Power Consortium The Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) is a multinational technology consortium formed on December 17, 2008, and based in Piscataway, New Jersey. Its mission is to create and promote wide market adoption of its interface standards Qi, Ki Cordless ...

with other companies such as

Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American technology company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that designs and manufactures semiconductors and various integrated circuits, which it sells to electronics designers and manufacturers globa ...

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters is ...

, and

Sanyo , stylized as SANYO, is a Japanese electronics company and formerly a member of the ''Fortune'' Global 500 whose headquarters was located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo had over 230 subsidiaries and affiliates, and was founded b ...

to establish a global standard for wireless power delivery.

References

External links

Fulton Innovation LLC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ecoupled Wireless energy transfer

History

See also

References

External links