For more than 100 years man has wanted to transfer energy to appliances through thin air. Now it is possible or at least almost. It is possible to charge laptops and mobile phones without having to connect them to a charger. However the distance the power can travel through air is quite limited for the products available in the shops today.
In the 1890’s Nikola Tesla invented the Tesla Coil. One of the intended purposes was to transfer electric energy from the coil to a device. Some experiments were done and it was possible to light up a luminescent tube without any wires connected to it. The system was never became a commercial success. Today Tesla coils is mostly used for entertainment and educational displays. They can produce impressive arcs. If you want to see it, there are many available videos on YouTube.
The principles used in today’s product is a bit different. The principle is the same as in a transformer. Two wire coils are used. One is used to transform the electric current into a magnetic field and the other transforms the magnetic field back to an electric current. In a normal transformer the magnetic field is flowing through an ion or ferrite core. In the wireless charger the magnetic field is going through plastic encapsulation and air. The disadvantage is a lower efficiency. However the power needed to charge a mobile is small, so the losses are also small and acceptable.
Dell computers has produced a laptop that comes with a wireless charger. It has the form of a pad on which you place the PC to power or charge it. This is available on the Latitude Z series. Charging time should be the same as with a normal cable charger.
Even on your existing devices it is possible to get a charging system without the wires. Duracell has developed a system they call myGrid. It consists of a charger pad, which is connected to a power socket. For each mobile you want to use with the system you have to put a so called Power Clip. It connects to the normal charger plug on the phone and is fixed to the phone. When you come home and want to charge your phone you just place it on the charger pad. There is no cables to connect. The system is compatible with many types of phones from makes like Motorola, Nokia and BlackBerry.
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