Electrical apparatus supplied by a photo-voltaic power source
First Claim
1. An autonomous low power consumption electrical apparatus capable of being connected to a load, this apparatus having a supply device comprising a power source operating by photo-voltaic conversion, an electrical accumulator connected to said load, and a voltage booster connected between said power source and said accumulator for charging said accumulator, said source supplying a voltage which is not sufficient for operating said load, said voltage booster being controlled by a pulse signal having a predetermined frequency supplied by a first generator when the voltage of the accumulator is not sufficient, said first generator being connected to said power source, wherein said first pulse signal generator comprises an oscillator directly connected to said power source and arranged so as to operate at a voltage equal to or less than the voltage supplied by said photo-voltaic source.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An autonomous low power consumption electrical apparatus that has a supply device (8) comprising a single photo-voltaic cell, an electrical accumulator (7), and a voltage booster (10, 11, TR1, TR3) connected between the power source (9) and the accumulator for charging the accumulator. The voltage booster is controlled by a pulse signal having a predetermined frequency. To allow the apparatus to start when the accumulator is completely discharged, the pulse signal can be generated, at least temporarily, by an oscillator that can operate at a very low voltage, that is, the voltage of the single photo-voltaic cell. When the apparatus is a timepiece, the oscillator (2) can be replaced by the oscillator of the time-keeping circuit (1) of the timepiece as soon as the accumulator (9) is sufficiently charged.
24 Citations
20 Claims
- 1. An autonomous low power consumption electrical apparatus capable of being connected to a load, this apparatus having a supply device comprising a power source operating by photo-voltaic conversion, an electrical accumulator connected to said load, and a voltage booster connected between said power source and said accumulator for charging said accumulator, said source supplying a voltage which is not sufficient for operating said load, said voltage booster being controlled by a pulse signal having a predetermined frequency supplied by a first generator when the voltage of the accumulator is not sufficient, said first generator being connected to said power source, wherein said first pulse signal generator comprises an oscillator directly connected to said power source and arranged so as to operate at a voltage equal to or less than the voltage supplied by said photo-voltaic source.
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14. An autonomous low power consumption electrical apparatus capable of being connected to a load, said apparatus having
a supply device comprising a power source operating between 0.3V and 0.5V by photo-voltaic conversion, said source supplying a voltage which is not sufficient for operating said load, an electrical accumulator connected to said load, and a voltage booster for charging said accumulator connected between the power source and the accumulator, the voltage booster being controlled by a pulse signal of predetermined frequency supplied by a first generator connected thereto, wherein the first pulse signal generator comprises an oscillator arranged so as to operate at a voltage equal to or less than the voltage supplied by the photo-voltaic source.
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15. An autonomous low power consumption electrical apparatus capable of being connected to a load, said apparatus having
a supply device comprising a power source constituted by a single solar cell, said source supplying a voltage which is not sufficient for operating said load, an electrical accumulator connected to said load, and a voltage booster for charging said accumulator connected between the power source and the accumulator, the voltage booster being controlled by a pulse signal of predetermined frequency supplied by a first generator connected thereto, wherein the first pulse signal generator comprises an oscillator arranged so as to operate at a voltage equal to or less than the voltage supplied by the photo-voltaic source.
Specification