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AssigneeCommissariat A L'energie Atomique Et Aux Energies Alternatives
InventorsEmmanuel Defay, Ghislain Despesse, Neil Mathur
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A module for warming and, alternately, for cooling, this module comprising an electrocaloric capacitor, an electrical energy storage device and a controllable circuit for transferring electrical energy between the electrocaloric capacitor and the energy storage device. The controllable circuit comprising an inductor connected between the electrocaloric capacitor and the storage device and at least one controllable switch. There is further included a unit programmed to control the switch so as to cause the transfer circuit to toggle successively into the following states and in the following order: an energy recovery state, a disabled state in which it electrically isolates the electrocaloric capacitor and the energy storage device, an energy release state and the disabled state, and each time to maintain the transfer circuit in the disabled state for a duration greater than a predetermined threshold.
An apparatus comprising a module for warming and, alternately, for cooling, said module comprising an electrocaloric capacitor, a storage device, a transfer circuit, and a control unit, wherein the transfer circuit comprises an inductor and a first switch, wherein the storage device is an electrical-energy storage device that stores electrical energy, wherein the first switch is a controllable switch, wherein the transfer circuit is controllable, wherein the transfer circuit transfers electrical energy between the electrocaloric capacitor and the storage device, wherein the inductor is connected between the electrocaloric capacitor and the storage device, wherein the first switch is configured to toggle the transfer circuit between an energy-recovery state, a disabled state, and an energy-release state, wherein, in the energy-recovery state, the first switch permits current to flow from the electrocaloric capacitor to the storage device through the inductor, thereby decreasing a voltage between electrodes of the electrocaloric capacitor and transferring at least some electrical energy stored by the electrocaloric capacitor to the storage device, wherein, in the disabled state, the first switch electrically isolates the electrocaloric capacitor from the storage device, wherein, in the energy-release state, the first switch permits current from the storage device to flow to the electrocaloric capacitor through the inductor so as to increase the voltage between the electrodes of the electrocaloric capacitor by transferring electrical energy stored in the storage device to the electrocaloric capacitor, wherein the control unit is programmed to control the first switch so as to cause the transfer circuit to toggle successively into the following states and in the following order:
A method for operating a module for warming and, alternately, for cooling, said module comprising an electrocaloric capacitor, a storage device that stores electrical energy, and a controllable transfer circuit having a switch and an inductor, said method comprising:
A manufacture comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having encoded thereon instructions for operating a module for warming and, alternately, for cooling, said module comprising an electrocaloric capacitor, a storage device that stores electrical energy, and a controllable transfer circuit having a switch and an inductor, wherein said instructions cause said module to execute a method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.