U.S. patent application number 12/839305 was filed with the patent office on 2010-11-11 for impact powered devices.
This patent application is currently assigned to OMNITEK PARTNERS LLC. Invention is credited to Jahangir S. Rastegar, Thomas Spinelli.
Application Number | 20100283264 12/839305 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38789281 |
Filed Date | 2010-11-11 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100283264 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Rastegar; Jahangir S. ; et
al. |
November 11, 2010 |
Impact Powered Devices
Abstract
A device including: a housing; a powered element disposed on or
in the housing; and an impact power producing element housed on or
in the housing and operatively connected to the powered element,
the impact power producing element producing power upon an impact
of at least a portion of the housing with another surface; wherein
the impact power producing element comprises a mass and one or more
spring elements connected at a first end to the mass and at a
second end directly or indirectly to the housing and the impact
power producing element further comprises one or more magnet
elements and a coil, wherein the impact causes a relative motion
between the one or more magnet elements and the coil.
Inventors: |
Rastegar; Jahangir S.;
(Stony Brook, NY) ; Spinelli; Thomas; (Northport,
NY) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Thomas Spinelli, Esq.
14 Mystic Lane
Northprot
NY
11768
US
|
Assignee: |
OMNITEK PARTNERS LLC
Bayshore
NY
|
Family ID: |
38789281 |
Appl. No.: |
12/839305 |
Filed: |
July 19, 2010 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
11447788 |
Jun 6, 2006 |
7777396 |
|
|
12839305 |
|
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
290/1R |
Current CPC
Class: |
H02N 2/183 20130101;
F21Y 2115/10 20160801; H02K 7/1876 20130101; F21L 13/00 20130101;
H01L 41/1136 20130101; H02K 35/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
290/1.R |
International
Class: |
H02K 7/18 20060101
H02K007/18 |
Claims
1. A device comprising: a housing; a powered element disposed on or
in the housing; and an impact power producing element housed on or
in the housing and operatively connected to the powered element,
the impact power producing element producing power upon an impact
of at least a portion of the housing with another surface; wherein
the impact power producing element comprises a mass and one or more
spring elements connected at a first end to the mass and at a
second end directly or indirectly to the housing and the impact
power producing element further comprises one or more magnet
elements and a coil, wherein the impact causes a relative motion
between the one or more magnet elements and the coil.
2. The device of claim 1, wherein the one or more magnet elements
is at least the mass.
3. The device of claim 1, wherein the one or more spring elements
comprises one or more cantilever beams and the impact power
producing element comprises a piezoelectric element disposed on one
or more surfaces of the one or more cantilever beams.
4. A device comprising: a housing; a powered element disposed on or
in the housing; and an impulsive motion producing element housed on
or in the housing and operatively connected to the powered element,
the impulsive motion producing element producing power upon an
application of an impulsive motion to the housing; wherein the
impulsive motion producing element comprises one or more masses
operatively connected to one or more transition elements for
storing potential energy from the impulsive motion; wherein the
impulsive motion producing element further comprises a power
producing element operatively connected to the one or more
transition elements for converting the stored potential energy to
electrical energy and the power producing element comprises a
magnet and coil.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a Divisional Application of U.S.
application Ser. No. 11/447,788 filed on Jun. 6, 2006, now U.S.
Pat. No. 7,___,___, the entire contents of which is incorporated
herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates generally to devices powered
by energy generated by impacts and, more particularly, to consumer
devices, such as a flashlight powered by an impact.
[0004] 2. Prior Art
[0005] In general, all chemical batteries contain hazardous and/or
corrosive chemicals, have a relatively short shelf life, are
relatively expensive and introduce waste disposal problems, with
the latter being particularly the case for lithium based batteries
and most rechargeable batteries. To satisfy the need for
alternative power source solutions for various devices in general
and for flashlights in particular, products have been developed
that utilize coil and magnets to generate electrical energy.
Bicycle dynamo and cranking type of dynamos have long been used to
generate electrical energy. Similar coil and magnet generators have
also been used in flashlights in the form of rotary crank type and
sliding shaking type generators. The crank type generators are
relatively heavy and bulky and when designed to be small as is
needed for flashlights, they are cumbersome and tiring to crank.
The shake type linear motion generators generate very small amounts
of electrical energy during each shaking cycle, and are also
relatively heavy. Each of such cranking and shaking devices are
limited by the physical ability of the person providing the energy
to crank or shake the device. In addition, the availability of low
cost LED (Light Emitting Diode) lights that consume significantly
less electrical energy than conventional light bulbs have made
flashlights that harvest energy from the environment, including the
user induced actions, much more practical. This is particularly the
case for flashlights that are to be used in emergency situations
and/or for use in locations where electricity is not available such
as in the beach, during hiking, and the like, where flashlights
with rechargeable batteries are not practical.
[0006] The only source of energy that is available to humans that
could be harvested is mechanical energy. The energy to be harvested
by any energy harvesting power source is mechanical in nature. The
difference between any such energy harvesting power sources is: 1)
in the method of transferring mechanical energy to the energy
harvesting device; and 2) in the method of transforming mechanical
energy to electrical energy.
[0007] A superior method of transferring mechanical energy to the
energy harvesting device is ergonomic and does not put undue stress
on the user limbs and joints. The method must also be efficient in
making available the work done by the human subject to mechanical
energy that can be harvested. In addition, the transferred
mechanical energy is preferably stored in an intermediate medium to
lengthen the period of time available for its conversion to
electrical energy since it is generally easier and more efficient
to convert mechanical energy to electrical energy and store it in
electrical storage devices such as capacitors and rechargeable
batteries. The means of transforming mechanical energy to
electrical energy is also desired to produce high enough voltage to
make the process of charging rechargeable batteries and/or
capacitors more efficient.
[0008] A need therefore exists for methods and related devices for
efficient transfer of the work done by human muscles to mechanical
energy that can be harvested efficiently and transformed into
electrical energy.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] Accordingly, a device is provided. The device comprising: a
housing; a powered element disposed on or in the housing; and an
impact power producing element housed on or in the housing and
operatively connected to the powered element, the impact power
producing element producing power upon an impact of at least a
portion of the housing with another surface; wherein the impact
power producing element comprises a mass and one or more spring
elements connected at a first end to the mass and at a second end
directly or indirectly to the housing and the impact power
producing element further comprises one or more magnet elements and
a coil, wherein the impact causes a relative motion between the one
or more magnet elements and the coil.
[0010] The one or more magnet elements can be at least the
mass.
[0011] The one or more spring elements can comprise one or more
cantilever beams and the impact power producing element can
comprise a piezoelectric element disposed on one or more surfaces
of the one or more cantilever beams.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the
apparatus of the present invention will become better understood
with regard to the following description, appended claims, and
accompanying drawings where:
[0013] FIG. 1 illustrates a cross sectional schematic view of a
first embodiment of an impact powered flashlight.
[0014] FIG. 2 illustrates a variation of the mass-spring unit of
the embodiment of FIG. 1.
[0015] FIG. 3 illustrates a cross sectional schematic view of a
second embodiment of an impact powered flashlight.
[0016] FIG. 4 illustrates a cross sectional schematic view of a
third embodiment of an impact powered flashlight.
[0017] FIG. 5 illustrates a cross sectional schematic view of a
fourth embodiment of an impact powered flashlight.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0018] Although the present invention is applicable to numerous
types of devices, it is particularly useful in the environment of a
flashlight. Therefore, without limiting the applicability of the
present invention to a flashlight, it will be described in such
environment. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the
methods of the present invention can be utilized for other devices,
such as cell phones, PDA's, cameras, laptop computers and the like.
Where the device includes interior electronics, such as circuit
substrates, which may be prone to breakage, the device can also be
designed such that the interior electronics are less prone to
breakage from impacts. Designing electronic devices to be impact
resistant, such as from dropping, are well known in the art.
[0019] The primary method of mechanical energy transfer to the
generator mechanism described herein is an impulsive motion, such
as an impact force. The user is intended to provide the impact
(impulsive) force to the device by hitting it on some relatively
hard object, hitting it on some relatively hard surface, dropping
it repeatedly onto some relatively hard surface, or through other
impact inducing actions. The user action results in the storage of
certain amount of mechanical energy in the device in the form of
potential energy, or kinetic energy, or their combination. The
stored potential energy is then transformed into electrical energy
through the vibration of the system, which generates varying force
on at least one piezoelectric element or the like, which in turn
generates varying charges (an AC voltage), which is then harvested
by the system electronics using well known techniques, and used to
charge a capacitor and/or rechargeable battery and/or directly to
provide power, such as to provide light, preferably through an LED
or other low power light source. The induced vibration may be
axial, in bending, in torsion, or their combination.
[0020] Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a first embodiment
of a device using such an impact (or other impulsive motion) to
provide power for at least one powered element associated with the
device, in the form of a flashlight shown schematically in FIG. 1.
The flashlight 10 has a powered element in the form of a light
source 11, which can be one or a plurality of LEDs or other low
power light source (collectively referred to as the light source
11). The light source 11 can be mounted in a housing 12 that
contains the energy harvesting electronics and the electrical
energy storage device(s), collectively indicated as element 25.
Such energy storage devices are well known in the art, such as low
leakage capacitors and/or rechargeable batteries and a detailed
description thereof will be omitted for the sake of brevity. The
impact force or vibration motion to mechanical energy storage
mechanism is preferably positioned in a handle 13, away from the
more sensitive electronics 25 and light source 11. The impact force
or vibration motion to mechanical energy storage mechanism can
comprise an impact power producing element, such as at least one
mass-spring unit 20, with at least one relatively rigid mass 14 and
at least one transition elements, such as one or more spring
elements 15. As discussed below, the impact power producing element
also functions with the application of other impulsive motions,
such as shaking, either directly or incidental. The housing 21 of
the handle and preferably the light source housing 12 are
constructed strong enough to resist moderate impact and drops, such
as with plastic. A bottom surface 22 of the flashlight can be
constructed of a durable material that can withstand repeated
impacts, such as one or more high-strength plastics. When the user
hits the bottom surface 22 of the handle housing on a relatively
rigid surface, the mass 14 is accelerated downwards in the
direction of arrow 23 during the duration of the impact. Simply,
this occurs since once the handle housing is stopped suddenly
during a small period of time .DELTA.t (usually a few milliseconds
depending on the physical characteristics of the impacting surfaces
and on how rigid the impacted structure behaves), then the mass 14,
which is free to accelerate, begins to accelerate and continues to
accelerate during nearly the same period of time .DELTA.t. At the
completion of this acceleration period, the mass 14 has reached a
certain velocity V.sub.0 and has traveled a certain distance
D.sub.0. If the effective mass 14 of the mass-spring unit 20 is m
and the effective spring rate of the mass-spring unit 20 is K, then
the total mechanical energy E.sub.m stored in the mass-spring unit
20 as a result of the aforementioned impact (impulse) force is:
E.sub.m=0.5 m V.sub.0.sup.2+0.5 k D.sub.0.sup.2 (1)
[0021] Following the impact, the mass-spring unit 20 will begin to
vibrate. The spring element(s) 15 will then exert a varying force
on the piezoelectric elements 24 positioned on at least one end of
the spring elements 15, which in turn generate a varying charge
with a certain voltage that is harvested by the harvesting and
storage electronics 25 and made available to power the light source
11 or other powered element associated with the device. As is known
in the art, the piezoelectric elements can be made in stacked form,
which are widely available commercially, for low voltage
applications. As shown in FIG. 1, the mass 14 can be positioned in
between two spring elements 15, each of which can exert a varying
force on a corresponding piezoelectric element 24 positioned at two
ends of the handle 13. The piezoelectric elements 24 can be
electrically connected to the storage electronics 25 or directly to
the light source 11 through appropriate wiring in the housing
12.
[0022] The mass 14 can be an integral part of the spring element(s)
15 as shown in FIG. 2. In this configuration, the entire
mass-spring unit 20 can be constructed with a single spring wire
helically wound with at least one compressed coil section 26, which
acts as the relatively rigid mass 14 of the mass-spring unit
20.
[0023] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that coil
and magnet type of mechanical to electrical energy generators may
also be used instead of the aforementioned piezoelectric elements
with the above method of storing mechanical energy due to impact
(impulsive) forces for relatively slow transformation into
electrical energy. The schematics of one such embodiment is shown
in FIG. 3. All elements of this embodiment may be identical to that
of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 with the difference that the
piezoelectric elements 24 are replaced with the coil 27 and magnet
28 elements. The magnet 28 can be the mass 14 of the mass-spring
unit 20 (and not the coil 27), to eliminate the need to attach
wires to the vibrating mass 14. Following the impact or other
impulsive motion, the magnet 28 vibrates inside the coil, therefore
causing it to generate an AC current, which is then harvested by
the harvesting and storage electronics 25.
[0024] It is appreciated by those familiar with the art that one or
more mass-spring elements can also be mounted perpendicular to the
long axis of the flashlight handle to be responsive mostly to an
impact or other impulsive motion to the side of the flashlight. The
schematic of such an embodiment is shown in FIG. 4. The at least
one mass-spring unit 40 (in the schematic of FIG. 4, two of the
mass-spring units shown in FIG. 1 or 2 are used) is similarly
attached to piezoelectric elements 41 to harvest the stored
mechanical energy during vibration of the mass-spring unit 40 as
previously described by the harvesting and storage electronics 25.
The lateral impact can be to the more rigid end 22 of the handle 13
in the direction of arrow 43. However, any lateral and/or axial
impact or their combination will accelerate the mass 26 of the
mass-spring unit 40. It is appreciated by those skilled in the art
that the mass-spring unit 40 would similarly respond to an axial
impact in the direction of the arrow 42 by vibrating in the axial
direction, and the lateral component of the spring force on the
piezoelectric element would similarly produce charges that can be
harvested by the harvesting and storage electronics 25.
[0025] As was previously described, the impact or other impulsive
motion induced vibration may be axial (i.e., in the direction of
the length of the flashlight), in bending, in torsion, or their
combination. When the impact is essentially in the axial direction
35 and generated by hitting the bottom surface of the flashlight on
a relatively hard surface, bending deflection can be readily
induced as shown schematically in FIG. 5 by at least one cantilever
beam generator assembly 30, consisting of a beam 34 that is
attached to the housing 21 of the handle 13 of the flashlight,
preferably aided by at least one tip mounted mass 31 (the mass can
be an integral part of the beam). At least one piezoelectric
element 33 is attached to the surface of the beam 34, preferably
close to its base (the end attached to the flashlight) so that it
is subjected to high tensile strain on one side of the beam 34 and
compressive strain on the other side of the beam 34. The varying
charge generated due to the applied compressive and tensile strains
on the piezoelectric elements is then supplied to and harvested by
the harvesting and storage electronics 25. It is appreciated by
those familiar with the art that the piezoelectric elements 33 can
be pre-stressed in compression so that during the aforementioned
vibration they are not subjected to tensile stress since
piezoelectric elements can be very brittle and can withstand only
small tensile strains.
[0026] It is noted that since the disclosed methods and embodiments
rely on vibration of mass-spring units, mechanical energy is
transferred to the mass-spring units during other flashlight
acceleration and deceleration cycles other than those due to impact
(impulsive) forces imparted somewhere on the flashlight body. For
example, if the flashlight is placed inside a car, the vibration of
the car will induce vibration of the flashlight mass-spring unit
and thereby generate electrical energy that is stored, preferably
in rechargeable batteries, for later use. The same process occurs
if a person carries the flashlight in his/her pocket or purse or
briefcase, etc., while walking or otherwise moving and would have a
charged flashlight for use when needed.
[0027] Although the embodiments disclosed herein are discussed as
providing electrical energy upon an impact of the device against a
surface, then can also provide electrical power upon the
application of any other impulsive motion, such as by shaking,
which can be directly applied (such as by a person shaking the
device with his or her hand) or incidentally applied (such as due
to movement while being stored in a car, pocketbook etc.). However,
unlike the shaking apparatus of the prior art, transition elements,
such as the spring elements are provided for storing potential
energy, which is in turn converted to electrical power, such as by
the piezoelectric elements or magnet/coil arrangements. A shaking
impulsive motion working solely on a movable mass, has limitations
as to the frequency by which the mass can vibrate (less than 10
Hz), while the addition of the transition elements, such as the
spring elements, can produce much higher frequencies, such as
between 10-300 Hz and possibly higher, with the impact impulsive
motion generally providing the higher frequencies in the range.
[0028] While there has been shown and described what is considered
to be preferred embodiments of the invention, it will, of course,
be understood that various modifications and changes in form or
detail could readily be made without departing from the spirit of
the invention. It is therefore intended that the invention be not
limited to the exact forms described and illustrated, but should be
constructed to cover all modifications that may fall within the
scope of the appended claims.
* * * * *