Vibration induced perpetual energy resource
First Claim
1. A bimorph piezoelectric device comprising:
- a plurality of micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) piezoelectric beams, said plurality of MEMS beams arranged as pairs of MEMS beams, each pair having a connecting end and a weighted end;
each of said pairs of MEMS beams being electrically and mechanically joined through its connecting end to at least one flexible sheath having a plurality of electrically conductive traces to form a joined array of MEMS beams each having its weighted end free to deflect; and
each weighted end of said pairs of MEMS beams of said joined array being deflectable to produce an electric current proportional to a quantity of said pairs of MEMS beams, said electric current collectable from each of said at least one flexible sheath.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A piezoelectric device connected to a vibration source converts vibration energy to electrical current. A plurality of pairs of oppositely polarized piezoelectric wafers deflect to produce an electrical current. Each pair of wafers are arranged back-to-back and electrically joined together. The plurality of pairs of wafers are each connected to a set of micro-machined parts. Each pair of wafers form a bimorph, configured as a cantilevered beam attached to a set of parts to form an element. Each cantilevered beam has a mass weighted first end and is fixedly attached to one or more flexible sheaths on a second end. A plurality of elements form a cell unit. A plurality of cell units form an array. The electrical current produced varies by the number of elements per cell unit, and/or with the number of cell units per array.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A bimorph piezoelectric device comprising:
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a plurality of micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) piezoelectric beams, said plurality of MEMS beams arranged as pairs of MEMS beams, each pair having a connecting end and a weighted end;
each of said pairs of MEMS beams being electrically and mechanically joined through its connecting end to at least one flexible sheath having a plurality of electrically conductive traces to form a joined array of MEMS beams each having its weighted end free to deflect; and
each weighted end of said pairs of MEMS beams of said joined array being deflectable to produce an electric current proportional to a quantity of said pairs of MEMS beams, said electric current collectable from each of said at least one flexible sheath. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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- 3. The device of claim 3, wherein each pair of MEMS beams is formed by joining an inner adjoining electrically conductive layer of one beam of each beam pair to an inner adjoining electrically conductive layer of an alternate beam of each beam pair.
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11. A piezoelectric device for converting vibration energy to electric current comprising:
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a plurality of pairs of oppositely polarized piezoelectric layers deflectable to produce an electrical current;
said plurality of pairs of layers each connected to a set of micro-machined elements;
each said set of elements with said pairs of layers forming a bimorph, said bimorph configured as a cantilevered beam;
each said cantilevered beam being mass weighted on a first beam end and fixedly attached to at least one protective sheath on a second beam end; and
a plurality of said bimorphs on said at least one protective sheath forming an array. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for forming a horizontally configured piezoelectric electrical current generating device which comprises the steps of:
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creating an initial sub-assembly by;
joining paired piezoelectric material plates to an upper surface of a micromachining a lower surface of said substrate to both form a plurality of masses supported by said piezoelectric material plates and retain a plurality of non-machined lower surface areas;
electrically bonding said plurality of non-machined lower surface areas to a protective sheath having electrical traces; and
cutting through said piezoelectric material to separate a plurality of individual cantilevered piezoelectric material beam lengths; and
constructing a mirror-image sub-assembly to said initial sub-assembly; and
connecting said mirror image sub-assembly to said initial sub-assembly. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method for forming a vertically configured piezoelectric electrical current generating device which comprises the steps of:
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filling until dry a sacrificial plastic replica mold with a ceramic piezoelectric slurry to form a piezoceramic green body;
bonding a piezoceramic wafer to said piezoceramic green body;
heat curing said piezoceramic wafer and piezoceramic green body to both remove said plastic mold and expose a plurality of piezoceramic vertical beams;
casting a resist over said beams along a top surface thereof;
aligning an X-ray exposure to create a plurality of recesses for an electrode structure;
flood exposing a remaining portion of said vertical beams;
spin-coating a metal filled, negative X-ray resist on said top surface to provide a cantilevered mass; and
stripping both a remaining portion of said negative resist and said flood exposed resist to form a plurality of said cantilevered piezoceramic vertical beams each having one of a plurality of cantilevered masses. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification