Smart wheel energy harvester
AssigneeTDK Corporation
InventorsRyan Griswold, John Sze, Vibhu Vivek
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods for an energy harvester coupled to a rotatable component of a vehicle are disclosed. In some embodiments, an energy harvester system includes at least one energy harvesting component configured to be attached to a wheel of a vehicle, wherein the at least one energy harvesting component includes a piezoelectric component configured to be directly attached to a staging surface of the wheel, wherein the piezoelectric component is configured to deform in response to a mechanical strain imparted on the piezoelectric component as the wheel rotates and generate an electric signal.
Claims18
An energy harvesting system, comprising:
- at least one energy harvesting component configured to be attached to a wheel of a vehicle, wherein the at least one energy harvesting component comprises:
- a piezoelectric component configured to be directly attached to a staging surface of a rim portion of the wheel, wherein the rim portion of the wheel has a concave shape, and the staging surface comprises a two-dimensional convex surface;
- and
- wherein the piezoelectric component is configured to generate an electric signal, as the wheel rotates, by deforming to conform with the two-dimensional convex surface in response to a mechanical strain imparted on the piezoelectric component by a tire mounted on the rim portion of the wheel.
An energy harvesting system, comprising:
- a plurality of piezoelectric components configured to be directly attached to respective staging surfaces of a rim of a wheel of a vehicle, wherein the rim of the wheel has a concave shape, and wherein each of the respective staging surfaces is located at a respective rim portion of the wheel and comprises a respective two-dimensional convex surface, and wherein each piezoelectric component is configured to generate an electric signal, as the wheel rotates, by deforming to confirm with the two-dimensional convex surface in response to a mechanical strain imparted on the piezoelectric component by a tire mounted on the rim of the wheel;
- and
- at least one device coupled to the wheel, wherein each device of the at least one device is configured to receive a respective electric signal generated by the plurality of piezoelectric components.
An energy harvesting system, comprising:
- a wheel of a vehicle;
- a plurality of energy harvesting components coupled to each other in a ring formation along a circumference of the wheel, wherein each of the plurality of energy harvesting components comprises:
- a piezoelectric component directly attached to a respective staging surface of a rim portion of the wheel, wherein:
- the rim portion of the wheel has a concave shape,
- the respective staging surface comprises a two-dimensional convex surface, and
- the piezoelectric component is configured to generate an electric signal, as the wheel rotates, by deforming to conform with the two-dimensional convex surface as a result of a mechanical strain imparted on the piezoelectric component by a tire mounted on the rim portion of the wheel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.