Apparatus and method for energy generation within a tire

A device, adapted to be mounted on a vehicle tire, for obtaining energy from the load-induced tire deflections of at least one tire inner wall while rotating upon a load-bearing surface, the device comprising:

• a substrate;
• an energy converter, mounted on the substrate, coupled to said deflections and converting said deflections into pulsed electrical output energy;
• capture electronics for capturing said pulsed electrical output energy, wherein said capture electronics maximizes the captured energy by adaptation to at least one characteristic of the pulsed electrical energy;
• at least one capacitor where the said at least one characteristic is the voltage captured on the at least one capacitor from the pulsed electrical energy;
• and
• the adaptation is to select the at least one capacitor value based on said voltage.

In a tire adapted to be mounted on a vehicle wheel, a device for obtaining energy from the tire while said tire is rotating upon a load-bearing surface, the device comprising:

• a substrate attached to the tire at a selected radial and circumferential location;
• an energy converter mounted on the substrate, the converter being disposed to respond to the load induced deflections of at least one tire inner wall to convert said deflections to pulsed electrical output energy;
• capture electronics for capturing said pulsed electrical output energy, wherein said capture electronics further determines at least one feature of the pulsed electrical energy and adaptively changes its configuration so as to maximize the energy captured;
• and
• at least one capacitor for capturing the said pulsed electrical energy and wherein the said at least one feature is the electrical energy pulse width and said configuration is adapted by selecting the capacitor value based on said pulse width.

In a tire adapted to be mounted on a vehicle wheel, a device for obtaining energy from the tire while said tire is rotating upon a load-bearing surface, the device comprising:

• a substrate attached to the tire at a selected radial and circumferential location;
• an energy converter mounted on the substrate, the converter being disposed to respond to the load induced deflections of at least one tire inner wall to convert said deflections to pulsed electrical output energy;
• capture electronics for capturing said pulsed electrical output energy, wherein said capture electronics further determines at least one feature of the pulsed electrical energy and adaptively changes its configuration so as to maximize the energy captured;
• and
• at least one capacitor for capturing the said pulsed electrical energy and wherein the said at least one feature is the voltage captured on the at least one capacitor from the pulsed electrical energy and said configuration is adapted by selecting the at least capacitor value based on said voltage.

A device, adapted to be mounted on a vehicle tire, for obtaining energy from the load-induced tire deflections of at least one tire inner wall while rotating upon a load-bearing surface, the device comprising:

• an energy converter coupled to said deflections and converting said deflections into pulsed electrical energy, and
• capture electronics for capturing said pulsed electrical energy, wherein said capture electronics maximizes the captured energy by adaptation to at least one characteristic of the pulsed electrical energy, and wherein said capture electronics comprises:
• at least two capacitors where the said at least one characteristic is the pulse width of the pulsed electrical energy;
• and
• the adaptation is to enable the combination of said at least two capacitors based on the pulse width.

A device, adapted to be mounted on a vehicle tire, for obtaining energy from the load-induced tire deflections of at least one tire inner wall while rotating upon a load-bearing surface, the device comprising:

• an energy converter coupled to said deflections and converting said deflections into pulsed electrical energy, and
• capture electronics for capturing said pulsed electrical energy, wherein said capture electronics maximizes the captured energy by adaptation to at least one characteristic of the pulsed electrical energy, and wherein said capture electronics comprises:
• at least two capacitors where the said at least one characteristic is the voltage captured on the at least two capacitors from the pulsed electrical energy;
• and
• the adaptation is to enable the combination of said at least two capacitors based on the voltage.

A method for obtaining electrical energy from a vehicle tire while said tire is rotating upon a load-bearing surface, the method comprising the steps of:

• coupling an electrical energy converting device to the load-induced deflections of at least one tire inner wall, wherein the source resistance of the energy converting device is known;
• determining at least one feature of the electrical energy pulses;
• capturing the electrical energy pulses on a capturing mechanism;
• adapting the capturing mechanism to maximize the electrical energy capture based on at least one feature of the pulses and said at least one feature comprises the ratio of the pulse width to the resistance;
• and
• outputting the captured electrical energy;

A method to maximize the captured electrical pulsed energy generated by an energy source coupled to the load-induced tire deflections, the method comprising the steps of:

• causing the tire to rotate on a load-bearing surface such that the energy source generates at least one energy pulse per rotation;
• capturing the incoming energy pulses on a mechanism;
• monitoring at least one feature of the incoming energy pulses;
• adapting the capturing mechanism to maximize the energy capture based on said at least one feature wherein the adaptation is to select a combination from at least two energy storage capacitors;
• and
• outputting the captured electrical energy.