Multistage force amplification of piezoelectric stacks
First Claim
1. An apparatus for harvesting mechanical vibration/motion energy from a piezoelectric device, the apparatus comprising:
- an outer flextensional casing;
a first cell and a last cell serially coupled to each other and coupled to the outer flextensional casing, each cell having a flextensional cell structure and wherein each cell receives an input force from the outer flextensional casing and provides an output force that is amplified based on the input force; and
a piezoelectric stack coupled to each flextensional cell structure of each cell wherein the piezoelectric stack is comprised of multiple piezoelectric layers each connected serially to an electrode and wherein the piezoelectric stack of each flextensional cell structure provides the energy as electrical charges to the electrodes based on the output force received from each cell,wherein the last cell receives an input force that is the output force from the first cell and the last cell provides a first output apparatus force that is the product of the input apparatus force, the output force of the first cell, and the output force of the last cell,wherein the flextensional casing is arranged orthogonally with respect to the first cell and the last cell.
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Abstract
Embodiments of the disclosure include an apparatus and methods for using a piezoelectric device, that includes an outer flextensional casing, a first cell and a last cell serially coupled to each other and coupled to the outer flextensional casing such that each cell having a flextensional cell structure and each cell receives an input force and provides an output force that is amplified based on the input force. The apparatus further includes a piezoelectric stack coupled to each cell such that the piezoelectric stack of each cell provides piezoelectric energy based on the output force for each cell. Further, the last cell receives an input force that is the output force from the first cell and the last cell provides an output apparatus force In addition, the piezoelectric energy harvested is based on the output apparatus force. Moreover, the apparatus provides displacement based on the output apparatus force.
49 Citations
27 Claims
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1. An apparatus for harvesting mechanical vibration/motion energy from a piezoelectric device, the apparatus comprising:
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an outer flextensional casing; a first cell and a last cell serially coupled to each other and coupled to the outer flextensional casing, each cell having a flextensional cell structure and wherein each cell receives an input force from the outer flextensional casing and provides an output force that is amplified based on the input force; and a piezoelectric stack coupled to each flextensional cell structure of each cell wherein the piezoelectric stack is comprised of multiple piezoelectric layers each connected serially to an electrode and wherein the piezoelectric stack of each flextensional cell structure provides the energy as electrical charges to the electrodes based on the output force received from each cell, wherein the last cell receives an input force that is the output force from the first cell and the last cell provides a first output apparatus force that is the product of the input apparatus force, the output force of the first cell, and the output force of the last cell, wherein the flextensional casing is arranged orthogonally with respect to the first cell and the last cell. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for harvesting mechanical vibration/motion from a piezoelectric device, the method comprising:
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providing an outer flextensional casing and a first cell and a last cell of a transducer coupled to the outer flextensional casing, each cell having a flextensional cell structure that includes a piezoelectric stack coupled to each flextensional cell structure of each cell, wherein the piezoelectric stack comprises multiple piezoelectric layers each connected to an electrode and the flextensional casing is arranged orthogonally with respect to the first cell and the last cell; receiving an input force from the outer flextensional casing at the first cell; amplifying the input force at the first cell to provide an output force for the first cell; receiving the output force of the first cell as the input force of the last cell; amplifying the input force at the last cell to provide an output force for the last cell; and harvesting the energy as electrical charges at the electrodes, wherein a first transducer output force is product of the input force of the first cell, the output force of the first cell, and the output force of the last cell and the energy is harvested based on the first transducer output force. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. An apparatus for harvesting mechanical vibration/motion energy through a piezoelectric device, the apparatus comprising:
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an outer flextensional casing; a first cell and a last cell serially coupled to each other and the outer flextensional casing, each cell having a flextensional cell structure and wherein each cell receives an input force from the outer flextensional casing and provides an output force that is amplified based on the input force; and a relaxor piezoelectric single crystal-based multilayer stack (piezoelectric stack) coupled to each flextensional cell structure of each cell wherein the piezoelectric stack is comprised of multiple piezoelectric layers each connected to an electrode and wherein the piezoelectric stack of each flextensional cell structure provides the piezoelectric energy as electrical charges to the electrodes based on the output force received from each cell, wherein the last cell receives an input force that is the output force from the first cell and the last cell provides a first output apparatus force that is the product of the input apparatus force, the output force of the first cell, and the output force of the last cell, wherein the piezoelectric energy harvested is based on the first output apparatus force, and wherein the flextensional casing is arranged orthogonally with respect to the first cell and the last cell. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27)
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Specification