A slow trickle of wireless power is all that’s needed to charge the battery in a mobile device, but kitchen appliances that are chopping, cooking, and blending need significantly more.

You might be reading this on a wireless Internet connection, and whether you're on a laptop or an iPhone, you're most likely relying on a battery or plugged into a wall outlet.

As opposed to a fluid coupling, which is a simple power-transfer device, a torque converter is, under certain operating conditions, a power-enhancing device. Although the mechanics of the power ...