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:
Dec. 30, 1997
Filed:
Oct. 23, 1995
Paul Smalser, Hamilton Twsp., NJ (US);
Ocean Power Technologies, West Trenton, NJ (US);
Abstract
The electric energy generated by a piezoelectric device (PEG), when mechanically stressed, is transferred from the PEG to a storage element (e.g., a capacitor or a battery) by selectively coupling an inductor in the conduction path between the PEG and the storage element. In one embodiment, the transfer of energy is optimized by allowing the amplitude of the electric signal to reach a peak value before transferring the electrical energy via an inductive network to a capacitor or a battery for storage. Electrically, the PEG is operated without a significant loading (e.g., essentially open circuited) when the amplitude of the voltage generated by the PEG is increasing. When the amplitude of the voltage has peaked, or reached a predetermined value, the electrical energy generated by the PEG is coupled to an inductive-capacitive network for absorbing and storing the energy produced by the PEG.