Structural vibration damping device
First Claim
1. A structural vibration damping device comprising:
- a piezoelectric element adapted to be mounted on a structure;
a shunt circuit inserted between two electrodes of said piezoelectric element; and
an electric circuit for selectively opening and closing said shunt circuit, wherein;
said electric circuit is operable, when a voltage between the electrodes of said piezoelectric element has a positive or negative extreme value due to a vibration of said structure, to close said shunt circuit so as to allow a current to flow between the electrodes of said piezoelectric element, and, when said current is reduced to zero, to open said shunt circuit so as to preclude the current flow until a voltage between the electrodes of said piezoelectric element subsequently has the extreme value; and
each of said shunt circuit and said electric circuit is designed to be operated using only a power generated by said piezoelectric element, wherein said electric circuit includes an extreme-value detection circuit using a peak hold circuit, and a circuit having a function of selectively opening and closing said shunt circuit in response to an output of said extreme-value detection circuit.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is a structural vibration damping device, which comprises a piezoelectric element adapted to be mounted on a structure, a shunt circuit inserted between two electrodes of the piezoelectric element, and an electric circuit for selectively opening and closing the shunt circuit. In this damping device, the electric circuit is operable, when a voltage between the electrodes of the piezoelectric element has a positive or negative extreme value due to a vibration of the structure, to close the shunt circuit so as to allow a current to flow between the electrodes of the piezoelectric element, and, when the current is reduced to zero, to open the shunt circuit so as to preclude the current flow until a voltage between the electrodes of the piezoelectric element subsequently has the extreme value. Further, each of the shunt circuit and the electric circuit is designed to be operated using only a power generated by the piezoelectric element. The damping device of the present invention makes it possible to achieve high-performance power-free damping with enhanced reliability and maintainability.
17 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A structural vibration damping device comprising:
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a piezoelectric element adapted to be mounted on a structure; a shunt circuit inserted between two electrodes of said piezoelectric element; and an electric circuit for selectively opening and closing said shunt circuit, wherein; said electric circuit is operable, when a voltage between the electrodes of said piezoelectric element has a positive or negative extreme value due to a vibration of said structure, to close said shunt circuit so as to allow a current to flow between the electrodes of said piezoelectric element, and, when said current is reduced to zero, to open said shunt circuit so as to preclude the current flow until a voltage between the electrodes of said piezoelectric element subsequently has the extreme value; and each of said shunt circuit and said electric circuit is designed to be operated using only a power generated by said piezoelectric element, wherein said electric circuit includes an extreme-value detection circuit using a peak hold circuit, and a circuit having a function of selectively opening and closing said shunt circuit in response to an output of said extreme-value detection circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 6, 7)
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4. A structural vibration damping device comprising:
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a piezoelectric element adapted to be mounted on a structure; a shunt circuit inserted between two electrodes of said piezoelectric element; and an electric circuit for selectively opening and closing said shunt circuit, wherein; said electric circuit is operable, when a voltage between the electrodes of said piezoelectric element has a positive or negative extreme value due to a vibration of said structure, to close said shunt circuit so as to allow a current to flow between the electrodes of said piezoelectric element, and, when said current is reduced to zero, to open said shunt circuit so as to preclude the current flow until a voltage between the electrodes of said piezoelectric element subsequently has the extreme value; and each of said shunt circuit and said electric circuit is designed to be operated using only a rower generated by said piezoelectric element, wherein said electric circuit includes an extreme-value detection circuit using a differentiation circuit, and a circuit having a function of selectively opening and closing said shunt circuit in response to an output of said extreme-value detection circuit. - View Dependent Claims (5)
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8. A structural vibration damping device comprising:
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a first piezoelectric element adapted to be mounted on a vibrating structure; a shunt circuit inserted between two electrodes of said first piezoelectric element; one or more second piezoelectric elements adapted to be mounted on said structure; and an electric circuit for selectively opening and closing said shunt circuit, wherein; said electric circuit is operable, when a voltage between two electrodes of said one or more second piezoelectric elements have a positive or negative extreme value, to close said shunt circuit so as to allow a current to flow between the electrodes of said first piezoelectric element, and, when said current is reduced to zero, to open said shunt circuit so as to preclude the current flow until a voltage between the electrodes of said one or more second piezoelectric elements subsequently have the extreme value; and each of said shunt circuit and said electric circuit is designed to be operated using only a power generated by said first and second piezoelectric elements. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification