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:
Mar. 06, 2012
Filed:
Jan. 30, 2009
Shahab Mehraeen, Rolla, MO (US);
Jagannathan Sarangapani, Rolla, MO (US);
Shahab Mehraeen, Rolla, MO (US);
Jagannathan Sarangapani, Rolla, MO (US);
The Curators of the University of Missouri, Columbia, MO (US);
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention provide a system and a method for increasing the harvested energy from a piezoelectric element exposed to environmental vibrations via a two-prong system. In a first prong, a cantilever beam is tapered and shaped so as to increase and provide an approximately uniform strain on and along the beam, thus resulting in increased voltage. In a second prong of the system and method, a voltage compensating circuit, when used with a voltage inversion circuit of the prior art, increases the harvested power by injecting current to the piezoelectric element after each voltage inversion so as to increase the voltage level.