Wireless acoustic-electric feed-through for power and signal transmission

• US 7,902,943 B2
• Filed: 04/10/2008
• Issued: 03/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/23/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: California Institute of Technology
• Original Assignee: California Institute of Technology
• Inventors: Bao, Xiaoqi, Doty, Benjamin, Badescu, Mircea, Bar-Cohen, Yoseph, Chang, Zensheu, Sherrit, Stewart
• Primary Examiner(s): Takaoka; Dean O
• Application Number:
  US12/082,300
• Publication Number:
  US 20080258841A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,062 Days
• Field of Search: 333/133, 333/186, 333/193, 333/194, 333/195, 333/196, 333/201, 310/335
• US Class Current: 333/186
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 11/00 Transmission systems employing sonic, ultrasonic or infrasonic waves
• CPC Class Codes: H10N 30/40 with electrical input and electrical output, e.g. functioning as transformers

Abstract

An embodiment provides electrical energy from a source on one side of a medium to a load on the other side of the medium, the embodiment including a first piezoelectric to generate acoustic energy in response to electrical energy from the source, and a second piezoelectric to convert the received acoustic energy to electrical energy used by the load. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a medium;

a piezoelectric acoustically coupled to the medium;

a reflector in contact with the medium to reflect Lamb waves toward the piezoelectric; and

an acoustic transformer coupled to the piezoelectric and acoustically coupled to the medium, so that the acoustic transformer is positioned in between the piezoelectric and the medium.

2. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the reflector is formed on the medium and about the acoustic transformer.

3. An apparatus comprising:

a medium;

a piezoelectric acoustically coupled to the medium; and

a reflector in contact with the medium to reflect Lamb waves toward the piezoelectric;

the apparatus having a set of resonant frequencies, the apparatus further comprising;

a source to modulate the piezoelectric at one or more frequencies belonging to the set of resonant frequencies.

4. An apparatus comprising:

a medium;

a reflector in contact with the medium to reflect Lamb waves propagating in the medium;

a piezoelectric;

a coupling structure coupled to the piezoelectric, where the coupling structure is coupled to the reflector to acoustically couple the piezoelectric to the medium; and

an acoustic transformer coupled to the piezoelectric and acoustically coupled to the medium, so that the acoustic transformer is positioned in between the piezoelectric and the medium.

5. The apparatus as set forth in claim 4, the apparatus having a set of resonant frequencies, the apparatus further comprising:

a source to modulate the piezoelectric at one or more frequencies belonging to the set of resonant frequencies.

6. An apparatus comprising:

a medium having a first side and a second side;

a first piezoelectric proximal to the first side of the medium;

a second piezoelectric proximal to the second side of the medium; and

a magnet coupled to the first piezoelectric so that the first piezoelectric may be acoustically coupled to the medium by placing the magnet on the medium.

7. The apparatus as set forth in claim 6, further comprising:

an acoustic transformer coupled to the first piezoelectric and coupled to the magnet.

8. The apparatus as set forth in claim 6, further comprising:

a reflector in contact with the medium to reflect Lamb waves propagating in the medium.

9. The apparatus as set forth in claim 6, the apparatus having a set of resonant frequencies, the apparatus further comprising:

a source to modulate the first piezoelectric at one or more frequencies belonging to the set of resonant frequencies.

10. The apparatus as set forth in claim 6, the apparatus having a set of resonant frequencies, the apparatus further comprising:

a set of bandpass filters, each bandpass filter tuned to a frequency belonging to the set of resonant frequencies.

11. An apparatus comprising:

a medium having a first side and a second side;

a first piezoelectric acoustically coupled to the first side of the medium;

a second piezoelectric, where the first piezoelectric and the second piezoelectric when acoustically coupled to the first and second sides of the medium, respectively, provide a transfer function for an input electrical signal applied to the second piezoelectric and an output electrical signal generated by the first piezoelectric, the transfer function having a set of resonant frequencies;

a set of bandpass filters coupled to the first piezoelectric, each bandpass filter tuned to a frequency belonging to the set of resonant frequencies;

a source coupled to the second piezoelectric to modulate the second piezoelectric at one or more frequencies belonging to the set of resonant frequencies; and

a surface wave reflector in contact with the first side of the medium to reflect surface waves.

12. An apparatus comprising:

a medium having a first side and a second side;

a first piezoelectric acoustically coupled to the first side of the medium;

a second piezoelectric, where the first piezoelectric and the second piezoelectric when acoustically coupled to the first and second sides of the medium, respectively, provide a transfer function for an input electrical signal applied to the second piezoelectric and an output electrical signal generated by the first piezoelectric, the transfer function having a set of resonant frequencies;

a set of bandpass filters coupled to the first piezoelectric, each bandpass filter tuned to a frequency belonging to the set of resonant frequencies;

a source coupled to the second piezoelectric to modulate the second piezoelectric at one or more frequencies belonging to the set of resonant frequencies; and

an acoustic transformer coupled to the first piezoelectric so that the acoustic transformer is in between the first piezoelectric and the first side of the medium.

13. An apparatus comprising:

a medium having a first side and a second side;

a first piezoelectric acoustically coupled to the first side of the medium;

a second piezoelectric, where the first piezoelectric and the second piezoelectric when acoustically coupled to the first and second sides of the medium, respectively, provide a transfer function for an input electrical signal applied to the second piezoelectric and an output electrical signal generated by the first piezoelectric, the transfer function having a set of resonant frequencies;

a set of bandpass filters coupled to the first piezoelectric, each bandpass filter tuned to a frequency belonging to the set of resonant frequencies; and

a magnet coupled to the second piezoelectric to acoustically couple the second piezoelectric to the second side of the medium.

14. An apparatus comprising:

a medium having a first side and a second side;

a first piezoelectric acoustically coupled to the first side of the medium;

a second piezoelectric, where the first piezoelectric and the second piezoelectric when acoustically coupled to the first and second sides of the medium, respectively, provide a transfer function for an input electrical signal applied to the second piezoelectric and an output electrical signal generated by the first piezoelectric, the transfer function having a set of resonant frequencies;

a set of bandpass filters coupled to the first piezoelectric, each bandpass filter tuned to a frequency belonging to the set of resonant frequencies; and

a surface wave reflector in contact with the second side of the medium to reflect surface waves.