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US 8,803,341 B2Granted
Energy harvesting roadway panel
AssigneeKinetic Energy Corporation
InventorBrian S. Hendrickson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle energy harvesting roadway is provided. The vehicle energy harvesting roadway includes a deformable driving surface that is longitudinally flexible and transversely stiff. The deformable driving surface is disposed between a passing vehicle and one or more transducers or one or more compressible hoses.
Claims22
An energy harvesting roadway comprising:
- an energy conversion device disposed lengthwise along a direction of vehicle travel along the energy harvesting roadway;
- a deformable surface disposed between the energy conversion device and the one or more wheels of a passing vehicle, wherein the deformable surface is one of longitudinally flexible and transversely stiff, the deformable surface having a longitudinal length in the direction of vehicle travel and a transverse width in a direction transverse to the direction of vehicle travel and substantially in a plane of the energy harvesting roadway;
- and
- one or more members interposing the deformable surface and the energy conversion device, the one or more members having a member transverse width in the direction of vehicle travel and a member longitudinal length in the direction transverse to the direction of vehicle travel, wherein the one or more members transmit one of a force and a displacement between the deformable surface and the energy conversion device,
- wherein the energy conversion device includes at least one of:
- one or more compressible hoses, the one or more compressible hoses having a hose length in the direction of vehicle travel and a hose width in the direction transverse to the direction of vehicle travel;
- and
- one or more transducers, the one or more transducers having a transducer length in the direction of vehicle travel and a transducer width in the direction transverse to the direction of vehicle travel,
- wherein the transducers include at least one of:
- a piezoelectric transducer;
- and
- a capacitive transducer.
9 more elements
An energy harvesting roadway comprising:
- one or more compressible hoses disposed lengthwise along a direction of vehicle travel along the energy harvesting roadway, the one or more compressible hoses disposed such that a fluid therein is configured to move in the direction of vehicle travel along a length of the one or more compressible hoses;
- a deformable surface disposed between the one or more compressible hoses and the one or more wheels of a passing vehicle, wherein the deformable surface is longitudinally flexible and transversely stiff, such that the one or more compressible hoses are compressed by a depression of the deformable surface;
- one or more rods having a width in the direction of vehicle travel and a length in the direction transverse to the direction of vehicle travel;
- and
- one or more supports that support and guide the rods to the one or more compressible hoses, a portion of the one or more supports being disposed between each of the one or more compressible hoses.
2 more elements
An energy harvesting roadway comprising:
- one or more compressible hoses disposed lengthwise along a direction of vehicle travel along the energy harvesting roadway, the one or more compressible hoses having a hose length in the direction of vehicle travel and a hose width in a direction transverse to the direction of vehicle travel;
- a deformable surface disposed between the one or more compressible hoses and the one or more wheels of a passing vehicle, the deformable surface having a length in the direction of vehicle travel and a width in the direction transverse to the direction of vehicle travel and substantially in a plane of the energy harvesting roadway;
- and
- one or more members interposing the deformable surface and the one or more compressible hoses, the one or more members having a member transverse width in the direction of vehicle travel and a member longitudinal length in the direction transverse to the direction of vehicle travel,
- wherein the deformable surface transmits compression forces to the one or more members by one of bending along the length and bending along the width of the deformable surface, and
- wherein the one or more members transmit one of a force and a displacement to the one or more compressible hoses.
3 more elements
An energy harvesting roadway comprising:
- one or more compressible hoses disposed lengthwise along a direction of vehicle travel along the energy harvesting roadway, the one or more compressible hoses having a hose length in the direction of vehicle travel and a hose width in the direction transverse to the direction of vehicle travel;
- and
- a deformable surface disposed between the one or more compressible hoses and the one or more wheels of a passing vehicle, wherein the deformable surface is one of longitudinally flexible and transversely stiff;
- and
- one or more members interposing the deformable surface and the one or more compressible hoses, the one or more members having a member transverse width in the direction of vehicle travel and a member longitudinal length in the direction transverse to the direction of vehicle travel, wherein the one or more members transmit one of a force and a displacement between the deformable surface and the one or more compressible hoses.
2 more elements
An energy harvesting roadway comprising:
- one or more transducers disposed lengthwise along a direction of vehicle travel along the roadway, the one or more transducers having a transducer length in the direction of vehicle travel and a transducer width in the direction transverse to the direction of vehicle travel;
- a deformable surface disposed between the one or more transducers and one or more wheels of a passing vehicle, wherein the deformable surface is one of longitudinally flexible and transversely stiff;
- and
- one or more members interposing the deformable surface and the one or more transducers, the one or more members having a member transverse width in the direction of vehicle travel and a member longitudinal length in the direction transverse to the direction of vehicle travel, wherein the one or more members transmit one of a force and a displacement between the deformable surface and the one or more transducers,
- wherein the transducers include at least one of:
- a piezoelectric transducer, and
- a capacitive transducer.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.