Energy device with integral collector surface for electromagnetic energy harvesting and method thereof
First Claim
1. An energy device comprising:
- an energy storage component comprising an electrochemical cell having a plurality of component layers;
at least one electrically conductive surface layer that is provided by an anode current collector of said energy storage component,wherein said at least one electrically conductive surface layer is adapted to collect electromagnetic energy thereby enabling a current to be induced within the at least one electrically conductive surface layer, and wherein the energy storage component is adapted to collect and store at least a portion of the current, wherein said at least one electrically conductive surface layer comprises an electrically conductive protrusion extending in a direction parallel to the plurality of component layers of the electrochemical cell and said at least one electrically conductive surface layer extends beyond a dimension of the plurality of component layers of the electrochemical cell; and
a substrate that is provided by a cathode current collector of said energy storage component, wherein the substrate extends beyond a dimension of said at least one electrically conductive surface layer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus, method, and system to harvest and store electromagnetic energy is disclosed. The present invention uses, for example, conductive surfaces within the energy storage component itself as a means of electromagnetic energy collection. The surface may be an integral portion of the energy device, such as a charge collection surface within a battery or a capacitor that mainly provides the battery or a capacitor with a necessary function. In another embodiment of the invention a metallic or conductive surface is added to and specifically built into the energy device during manufacturing for the main purpose of collecting electromagnetic energy for the energy device but is otherwise not necessary for the energy storage component. Once the energy is collected, it can be rectified either via rectification components that were built directly into the energy storage component during its manufacture or connected external to the energy storage component but within the energy device. The so-designed energy device may represent a self-sustaining, autonomous electromagnetic energy harvesting—energy storage device.
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Citations
42 Claims
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1. An energy device comprising:
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an energy storage component comprising an electrochemical cell having a plurality of component layers; at least one electrically conductive surface layer that is provided by an anode current collector of said energy storage component, wherein said at least one electrically conductive surface layer is adapted to collect electromagnetic energy thereby enabling a current to be induced within the at least one electrically conductive surface layer, and wherein the energy storage component is adapted to collect and store at least a portion of the current, wherein said at least one electrically conductive surface layer comprises an electrically conductive protrusion extending in a direction parallel to the plurality of component layers of the electrochemical cell and said at least one electrically conductive surface layer extends beyond a dimension of the plurality of component layers of the electrochemical cell; and a substrate that is provided by a cathode current collector of said energy storage component, wherein the substrate extends beyond a dimension of said at least one electrically conductive surface layer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A method of collecting electromagnetic energy within an environment containing electromagnetic energy comprising:
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providing at least one energy harvesting device within the environment, said device comprising an electrically conductive surface, a substrate, and an energy storage component, wherein the electrically conductive surface is provided by an anode current collector of the energy storage component, wherein the electrically conductive surface is adapted to collect the electromagnetic energy thereby enabling a current to be induced within the electrically conductive surface, wherein the energy storage component comprises and electrochemical cell having a plurality of component layers, wherein the electrically conductive surface comprises an electrically conductive protrusion extending in a direction parallel to the plurality of component layers of the electrochemical cell and the electrically conductive surface extends beyond a dimension of the plurality of component layers of the electrochemical cell, wherein the substrate is provided by a cathode current collector of the energy storage component and extends beyond a dimension of the electrically conductive surface; collecting the electromagnetic energy from the environment across said electrically conductive surface; and
storing the energy in said energy storage component. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42)
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Specification