Apparatus and method of charging mobile terminal using energy harvesting device

• US 10,326,312 B2
• Filed: 11/15/2016
• Issued: 06/18/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, Chosun University (Chosun University)
• Original Assignee: Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, Chosun University (Chosun University)
• Inventors: Kim, Youn Tae, Jeong, Min Joo, Park, Kun Ho, Baek, Jong Jin, Lee, Jang Hyun, Kim, Se Woong
• Primary Examiner(s): Grant, Robert J
• Assistant Examiner(s): Trischler, John T
• Application Number:
  US15/351,651
• Publication Number:
  US 20170271922A1
• Time in Patent Office: 945 Days
• Field of Search: 320108
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 3/34 with electrical or electronic arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 3/38 with power sources
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/001 Energy harvesting or scavenging
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/12 of the resonant type
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/35 with light sensitive cells
• CPC Class Codes: H02N 2/186 Vibration harvesters
• CPC Class Codes: H02N 2/188 adapted for resonant operation
• CPC Class Codes: H10N 10/10 operating with only the Peltier or Seebeck effects

Abstract

An apparatus for charging a mobile terminal includes an energy harvesting device provided in shoes and generating energy generated by a movement of a human body, a charge control module attached to trousers and controlling charging of a mobile terminal using energy harvested by the energy harvesting device, and a resonant coil module wirelessly transmitting energy harvested by the energy harvesting device to the charge control module, wherein the resonant coil module includes a transmission resonant coil unit provided in the shoes and a reception resonant coil unit provided in the trousers, spaced apart from the transmission resonant coil unit by a predetermined distance, and magnetically coupled to the transmission resonant coil unit.

Claims

1. An apparatus for charging a mobile terminal, the apparatus comprising:

an energy harvesting device provided in shoes and generating energy generated by a movement of a human body;

a charge control module attached to trousers and controlling charging of a mobile terminal using energy harvested by the energy harvesting device; and

a resonant coil module wirelessly transmitting energy harvested by the energy harvesting device to the charge control module,

wherein the resonant coil module includes a transmission resonant coil unit provided in the shoes and a reception resonant coil unit provided in the trousers, spaced apart from the transmission resonant coil unit, and magnetically coupled to the transmission resonant coil unit, and

wherein the transmission resonant coil unit is wound along a circumference of the topline of the shoes;

wherein the reception resonant coil unit is wound along a circumference of the cuffs of the trousers;

wherein the transmission resonant coil is wound in at least one of a spiral shape, an up/down zigzag shape, and a helical shape; and

wherein the reception resonant coil is wound in at least one of a spiral shape, an up/down zigzag shape, and a helical shape.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a conductive thread transmitting energy wirelessly received by the reception resonant coil unit to the charge control module,

wherein the conductive thread is formed by doubling and twisting a copper wire and thread, and woven in the trousers in fabric form.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a rectifying unit converting energy harvested by the energy harvesting device into direct current (DC) power; and

an oscillation unit oscillating the DC power rectified by the rectifying unit to have the same frequency as a resonant frequency of the transmission resonant coil unit.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the energy harvesting device includes at least one of a piezoelectric device converting pressure applied according to a movement of the human body into energy and a capacitive device converting state electricity generated according to a movement of the human body into energy.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transmission resonant coil unit and the reception resonant coil unit include a conductive thread obtained by doubling and twisting a copper wire and thread and woven in the shoes or the trousers in fabric form.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a resonant frequency of the transmission resonant coil unit is in inverse proportion to a length of the transmission resonant coil unit.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transmission resonant coil unit includes a primary coil having one winding and a transmission resonant coil disposed to be spaced apart from the primary coil by a predetermined distance and having at least two windings, and the reception resonant coil unit includes a reception resonant coil having at least two windings and a secondary coil disposed to be spaced apart from the reception resonant coil by a predetermined distance and having one winding.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the charge control module comprises:

a controller controlling charging of the mobile terminal using energy harvested by the energy harvesting device; and

a sensing unit sensing contact with the human body,

wherein the controller starts or stops charging according to a sensing result from the sensing unit.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the sensing unit senses a change in a resistance value due to contact with the human body or a change in capacitance due to contact with the human body.

10. A method of charging a mobile terminal, the method comprising:

generating, by an energy harvesting device provided in shoes, energy generated by a movement of a human body;

wirelessly transmitting, by a resonant coil module, energy harvested by the energy harvesting device, to a charge control module; and

controlling, by the charge control module attached to trousers, charging of a mobile terminal using energy harvested by the energy harvesting device,

wherein the resonant coil module includes a transmission resonant coil unit provided in the shoes and a reception resonant coil unit provided in the trousers, spaced apart from the transmission resonant coil unit, and magnetically coupled to the transmission resonant coil unit,

a conductive thread is provided between the resonant coil module and the wireless charge module,

the conductive thread is obtained by doubling and twisting a copper wire and thread, and woven in the trousers in fabric form, and

wherein the transmission resonant coil unit is wound along a circumference of the topline of the shoes;

wherein the reception resonant coil unit is wound along a circumference of the cuffs of the trousers;

wherein the transmission resonant coil is wound in at least one of a spiral shape, an up/down zigzag shape, and a helical shape; and

wherein the reception resonant coil is wound in at least one of a spiral shape, an up/down zigzag shape, and a helical shape.