Energy harvesting mechanism
First Claim
1. An energy harvesting mechanism comprising:
- a central conductive element;
a plurality piezoelectric (PZT) fibers, each PZT fiber being positioned to be in contact with a corresponding peripheral length segment of the central conductive element, each PZT fiber deformable in a characteristic radial direction to convert its deformation into a corresponding electrical signal, each PZT fiber including a plurality of peripheral conductive elements provided on a periphery of the fiber, each conductive element including an insulative layer that is layered on a periphery of the conductive element to partially expose regions of the conductive element, wherein each PZT fiber is positioned relative to the central conductive element so that individual peripheral conductive elements of the PZT fiber align with a corresponding exposed region of the conductive element; and
wherein the plurality of PZT fibers are arranged so that any one of the plurality of PZT fibers is capable of being deformed in the characteristic radial direction to trigger the corresponding electrical signal.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments of the invention provide an energy harvesting mechanism comprising a central conductive element and a plurality of transductive elements. Each transductive element is positioned to be in contact with a corresponding peripheral length segment of the central conductive element. Also each transductive element is deformable in a characteristic radial direction to convert its deformation into a corresponding electrical signal. The plurality of transductive elements are arranged so that any one of the plurality of transductive elements is capable of being deformed in the characteristic radial direction to trigger the corresponding electrical signal. Embodiments of the mechanism can be used for harvesting energy from a variety of bio-kinetic events such as a heartbeat, respiration, muscle contraction or other movement. Such embodiments can be used for powering a variety of implanted medical devices such as pacemakers, defibrillators and various monitoring devices.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. An energy harvesting mechanism comprising:
-
a central conductive element; a plurality piezoelectric (PZT) fibers, each PZT fiber being positioned to be in contact with a corresponding peripheral length segment of the central conductive element, each PZT fiber deformable in a characteristic radial direction to convert its deformation into a corresponding electrical signal, each PZT fiber including a plurality of peripheral conductive elements provided on a periphery of the fiber, each conductive element including an insulative layer that is layered on a periphery of the conductive element to partially expose regions of the conductive element, wherein each PZT fiber is positioned relative to the central conductive element so that individual peripheral conductive elements of the PZT fiber align with a corresponding exposed region of the conductive element; and wherein the plurality of PZT fibers are arranged so that any one of the plurality of PZT fibers is capable of being deformed in the characteristic radial direction to trigger the corresponding electrical signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. An energy harvesting mechanism comprising:
-
a central conductive element; a plurality piezoelectric (PZT) fibers, each PZT fiber being positioned to be in contact with a corresponding peripheral length segment of the central conductive element, each PZT fiber deformable in a characteristic radial direction to convert its deformation into a corresponding electrical signal, each PZT fiber including a plurality of peripheral conductive elements provided on a periphery of the fiber, each conductive element including an insulative layer that is layered on a periphery of the conductive element to partially expose regions of the conductive element, wherein each PZT fiber is positioned relative to the central conductive element so that individual peripheral conductive elements of the PZT fiber align with a corresponding exposed region of the conductive element, wherein the plurality of PZT fibers are arranged so that any one of the plurality of PZT fibers is capable of being deformed in the characteristic radial direction to trigger the corresponding electrical signal; and wherein each peripheral conductive element of each PZT fiber is aligned in a substantially parallel fashion with spatially corresponding peripheral conductive elements of other PZT fibers in the plurality to form a group of peripheral conductive elements so that the electrical signal developed from deformation of any of the PZT fibers in the plurality of PZT fibers can be conducted through any of the peripheral conductive elements of the group.
-
Specification