Energy Scavenging Power Supply
First Claim
1. An energy scavenging power system, comprising:
- an energy conversion system having at least one transducer configured to harvest energy;
an energy management and storage system configured to store said harvested energy; and
a load regulation system configured to provide said stored energy to power one or more loads;
wherein said energy management and storage system comprises a start-up capacitor, a short term capacitor and a long term capacitor, said short term capacitor having a larger capacitance than said start-up capacitor and said long term capacitor having a larger capacitance than said short term capacitor.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An energy scavenging power system and method may include an energy conversion system having at least one transducer configured to harvest energy, an energy management and storage system configured to store harvested energy; and a load regulation system configured to provide stored energy to power one or more low power-consumption loads. The energy management and storage system may include a start-up capacitor having a small capacitance to allow for quick charging and fast turn-on, a short term capacitor to provide energy to the load or loads once turned-on, and a long term capacitor having a large capacitance to provide for sustained energy delivery to the loads. The system also may include a common charging bus that receives energy from each transducer, conditioned if necessary, and which then determines the capacitor to which the energy should be delivered.
262 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. An energy scavenging power system, comprising:
-
an energy conversion system having at least one transducer configured to harvest energy; an energy management and storage system configured to store said harvested energy; and a load regulation system configured to provide said stored energy to power one or more loads; wherein said energy management and storage system comprises a start-up capacitor, a short term capacitor and a long term capacitor, said short term capacitor having a larger capacitance than said start-up capacitor and said long term capacitor having a larger capacitance than said short term capacitor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A low power energy scavenging system, comprising:
-
a plurality of transducers configured to scavenge energy from one or more sources; a plurality of charging stages, each stage comprising at least one capacitor and at least one switching circuit; and a charging bus configured to receive energy from said plurality of transducers and route said energy to said plurality of charging stages; wherein only one charging stage at a time receives energy from said charging bus; wherein each switching circuit includes a hysteresis to establish different turn on and turn off voltage points for said switching circuit; and wherein said system is configured to provide power to one or more low power consumption loads. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A process for scavenging and distributing small amounts of energy to one or more loads, comprising:
-
harvesting energy using a plurality of transducers; conditioning said harvested energy to substantially match input requirements for a charging bus; and distributing energy from said charging bus to a start-up capacitor, a short term capacitor, and a long term capacitor; wherein said start-up capacitor is charged until substantially fully charged; wherein said short term capacitor is charged until either substantially fully charged or until a charge level of said start-up capacitor drops below a predetermined value; and wherein said long term capacitor is charged until either substantially fully charged or until said start-up capacitor charge level drops below said predetermined value or until a charge level of said short term capacitor drops below a second predetermined value. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification