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US 7,649,305 B2Granted
Piezoelectric energy harvester
AssigneeBoard of Regents, The University of Texas System
InventorsShashank Priya, Robert D. Myers
Life of this patent
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AssigneeBoard of Regents, The University of Texas System
InventorsShashank Priya, Robert D. Myers
Estimating the term…
A mechanism for capturing mechanical energy and converting it to electrical energy for use continually charging or providing emergency power to mobile, battery-powered devices comprises a plurality of elongated piezoelectric elements mounted at one or support points to one or more support structures. The plurality of piezoelectric elements are preferably structured and arranged so that at least each three-dimensional coordinate axis has at least one element with a dominant mode of deflection in a plane normal to the axis, in order to permit harvesting energy from forces applied in any direction without regard to the orientation of the energy harvesting mechanism to the source of forces. This results in improved coupling of the transducer with the random movements or vibrations that may not confined to any particular plane or in a plane that is not necessarily aligned with the plane in which a piezoelectric element is designed to bend, thus improving the efficiency of energy capture.
An energy harvesting apparatus comprising at least three elongated piezoelectric elements for generating a voltage when strained, each element having an axis extending along its length;
A portable device comprising a circuit and a battery for powering at least the circuit, the device electrically coupled with an energy harvester for charging the battery, the energy harvester comprising at least three elongated piezoelectric elements for generating a voltage when strained, each element having an axis extending along its length;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.