Door assembly having rechargeable battery, methods and system for charging the battery
AssigneeMasonite Corporation
InventorAlex Bodurka
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention relates to exterior or interior doors for residential or commercial buildings, such as for a home, apartment, condominium, hotel room or business, and, more particularly, to a door provided with a rechargeable battery as a source of electrical power that may be used to operate electric devices mounted to the door. The door has electric devices attached thereto. The electric devices which. are powered by one or more rechargeable batteries that are charged by one or more energy harvester systems and/or by direct connection to a power source. A system for distributing the power collected from the energy harvester system and/or the wired connection are also provided.
Claims34
A door assembly, comprising:
- a door frame mounted with an opening;
- a door pivotally mounted on the door frame;
- a plurality of DC electrical devices mounted to the door on at least a first side thereof;
- a rechargeable primary battery mounted inside the door and electrically connected to the electrical devices;
- a first battery charger system that charges the primary battery;
- a rechargeable storage battery mounted inside the door and electrically connected to the electrical devices and the first battery charger system;
- a second battery charger system that charges the storage battery;
- an energy harvester system comprising one or more of:
- an RF and electromagnetic wave energy harvester, a solar energy harvester, and a mechanical energy harvester;
- and
- an energy source selector module disposed within the door and electrically connected to the energy harvester system, the first battery charger system, and the second battery charger system,
- wherein the energy source selector module is configured to route energy from the energy harvester system to one or both of the first battery charger system and the second battery charger system based on battery condition,
- wherein the energy harvester system is configured to charge the storage battery via the second battery charger system and wherein the first battery charger system and the second battery charger system each comprises a charging circuit configured to regulate charging current and report battery status to a controller.
A door, comprising:
- a frame;
- door skins mounted to opposing sides of the frame;
- a plurality of DC electrical devices mounted to the door skins or the frame;
- a rechargeable primary battery mounted between the door skins and connected to the electrical devices;
- a first battery charger system that charges the primary battery;
- a rechargeable storage battery mounted between the door skins and electrically connected to the electrical devices and the first battery charger system;
- a second battery charger system that charges the storage battery;
- an energy harvester system comprising one or more of:
- an RF and electromagnetic wave energy harvester, a solar energy harvester, and a mechanical energy harvester;
- and
- an energy source selector module disposed within the door skins and electrically connected to the energy harvester system, the first battery charger system, and the second battery charger system,
- wherein the energy source selector module is configured to route energy from the energy harvester system to one or both of the first battery charger system and the second battery charger system based on battery condition,
- wherein the energy harvester system is configured to charge the storage battery via the second battery charger system and wherein the first battery charger system and the second battery charger system each comprises a charging circuit configured to regulate charging current and report battery status to a controller.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.