The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 03, 1996
Filed:
Feb. 14, 1995
Michael Y Epstein, Belle Mead, NJ (US);
George W Taylor, Princeton, NJ (US);
Ocean Power Technologies, Inc., West Trenton, NJ (US);
Abstract
Disposed within a float on the surface of a body of water is a vertically suspended, resilient piezoelectric element provided with a preselected strain by a hanging weight. The piezoelectric system functions as a weighted coiled spring which is driven into oscillation in response to movements of the float in response to passing surface waves. Preferably, the natural frequency of the system is selected in correspondence with the frequency of the passing waves for causing the system to oscillate in resonance with the passing waves. Additionally, a mechanism is provided for automatically adjusting the natural frequency of the system in response to changing wave conditions for maintaining the system in resonance with the waves.