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:
Jan. 19, 2010
Filed:
Mar. 27, 2008
Shashank Priya, Arlington, TX (US);
Robert D. Myers, Arlington, TX (US);
Shashank Priya, Arlington, TX (US);
Robert D. Myers, Arlington, TX (US);
Board of Regents, the University of Texas System, Austin, TX (US);
Abstract
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.