Surgical instrument wireless charging system
Inventors
Novorita, James • Puvogel, Thomas • Judson, Burton • Dalrymple, Ian
Assignees
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Publication Number
US-12431742-B2
Publication Date
2025-09-30
Expiration Date
Abstract
Wireless charging systems and methods for wirelessly charging batteries for powering surgical instruments. A wireless charging device includes a housing defining wireless charging bays for receiving and charging multiple surgical instrument batteries simultaneously. Power transfer coils and RF antennas are disposed in the housing, with each of the wireless charging bays being associated with a different power transfer coil for wirelessly charging a received battery and with a different RF antenna for wirelessly communicating with the received battery. The RF antennas are each configured to communicate in a same frequency band. The wireless charging device is configured to communicate with a battery received by a first of the wireless charging bays using the RF antenna associated with the first wireless charging bay during a first period while preventing the RF antenna associated with a second of the wireless charging bays from communicating with a battery received by the second wireless charging bay. Responsive to the first period elapsing, the wireless charging device is configured to communicate with the battery received by the second wireless charging bay using the RF antenna associated with the second wireless charging bay during a second period while preventing the RF antenna associated with the first wireless charging bay from communicating with the battery received by the first wireless charging bay.
Core Innovation
The invention provides a wireless charging system that includes a plurality of wirelessly chargeable batteries for powering surgical instruments, and a medical package holding the batteries in a sterilized state. A wireless charging device is configured to receive the medical package holding the batteries in the sterilized state for charging the batteries without the batteries exiting the sterilized state.
The wireless charging device includes a housing with a plurality of wireless charging bays arranged so that each battery aligns with a different wireless charging bay when the medical package is received. The housing further includes a plurality of power transfer coils disposed in the housing, with each wireless charging bay associated with a different power transfer coil for wirelessly charging the battery aligned with the bay, and a plurality of RF antennas disposed in the housing, where each wireless charging bay is associated with a different RF antenna for wirelessly communicating with the battery aligned with the bay according to a proximity-based wireless communications protocol.
The problem being solved is co-channel interference and electromagnetic interference arising from multiple RF antennas operating in a same frequency band in proximity to multiple wireless charging bays. The invention mitigates such interference by dynamically scheduling RF communications so only permitted RF antennas communicate during respective non-overlapping periods, including a token/time-slice allocation approach with initiating permission tokens corresponding to available RF communication slots, assigning and revoking permission tokens for time-limited periods, and subsequently charging the batteries received by the wireless charging bays whose permissions have been revoked.
Claims Coverage
The document includes two independent claims directed to a wireless charging system and a wireless charging device that alternate RF communications between bays while charging sterilized batteries; additional dependent claims refine these concepts with permission-token slot management and timing constraints.
Sterilized medical package receiving without batteries exiting sterilized state
A wireless charging system comprising a plurality of wirelessly chargeable batteries for powering surgical instruments; a medical package holding the batteries in a sterilized state; and a wireless charging device configured to receive the medical package holding the batteries in the sterilized state for charging the batteries without the batteries exiting the sterilized state.
Bay-aligned charging coils and proximity-based RF antennas in same frequency band
A housing defining a plurality of wireless charging bays arranged so each battery aligns with a different wireless charging bay; a plurality of power transfer coils disposed in the housing with each bay associated with a different power transfer coil; and a plurality of RF antennas disposed in the housing with each bay associated with a different RF antenna for proximity-based wireless communications in a same frequency band.
Preventing cross-bay RF communication via first and second non-overlapping periods
Communicate with the battery aligned with a first wireless charging bay using the RF antenna associated with the first wireless charging bay during a first period while preventing the RF antenna associated with a second wireless charging bay from communicating with the battery aligned with the second wireless charging bay, and responsive to the first period elapsing, communicate with the battery aligned with the second wireless charging bay during a second period while preventing the RF antenna associated with the first wireless charging bay from communicating with the battery aligned with the first wireless charging bay.
Permission-token scheduling for RF communication slots across bays
Initiating a plurality of permission tokens corresponding to available RF communication slots for the wireless charging bays, the number of permission tokens being less than the number of wireless charging bays; assigning a first permission token to a first wireless charging bay for a first period granting permission for a corresponding RF antenna to communicate; revoking the first permission token after the first period has elapsed; and responsive to revoking the first permission token, charging the battery received by the first wireless charging bay and assigning the first permission token to a third wireless charging bay for granting permission for a third period.
Controller granting and preventing RF antenna communication in first and second periods
A main controller disposed in the housing configured to grant permission for the RF antenna associated with a first of the wireless charging bays to communicate for a first period while preventing the RF antenna associated with a second of the wireless charging bays from communicating, and responsive to the first period elapsing, grant permission for the RF antenna associated with the second wireless charging bay for a second period while preventing the RF antenna associated with the first wireless charging bay.
Across the independent claims, the coverage centers on aligning sterilized-battery bays with dedicated charging coils and dedicated proximity-based RF antennas operating in a same frequency band, while preventing cross-bay RF communication by time-slicing RF communications between bays via first and second periods; dependent claims further support managing RF access using permission tokens fewer than the number of bays and coordinating token revocation with charging.
Stated Advantages
Mitigates co-channel and electromagnetic interference by dynamically scheduling RF communications so only permitted RF antennas communicate during respective non-overlapping time periods.
Documented Applications
Charging a plurality of wirelessly chargeable batteries for powering surgical instruments while the batteries are held in a sterilized medical package, using a wireless charging device with bay-aligned inductive charging and time-scheduled proximity-based RF communication.
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