System for Converting Vibrations, in Particular Sound Vibrations into Usable Electric Energy

Abstract

The present invention is related to a harvesting module for converting vibrations, in particular sound vibrations, into electric energy, comprising a substrate, having a surface for holding electronic components a plurality of parallel and/or serially connected transducers placed on the surface of the substrate, for receiving vibrations, in particular sound vibrations, and converting said vibrations into electric energy, a cover unit, positioned at least partially over the transducers, configured for passing on/transmit-ting/catching sound waves to the transducers, and blocking contaminants from the environment, such as dust or moisture, electric connector, for delivering the converted electric energy. The invention is further related to a harvesting device comprising said modules.

Claims

1. Harvesting module for converting vibrations, in particular sound vibrations, into electric energy, comprising; a substrate, having a surface for holding electronic components; a plurality of parallel and/or serially connected transducers placed on the surface of the substrate, for receiving vibrations, in particular sound vibrations, and converting said vibrations into electric energy, an electric connector, for delivering the converted electric energy.

2. Harvesting module according to claim 1, comprising a cover unit, positioned at least partially over the transducers, configured for transmitting sound waves to the transducers, and blocking contaminants from the environment, such as dust or moisture.

3. Harvesting module according to claim 2, wherein the substrate is a printed circuit board, and wherein the cover unit is mounted on the printed circuit board.

4. Harvesting module according to claim 2, wherein the cover unit is mounted on the printed circuit board on flexible mounts.

5. Harvesting module according to claim 1, wherein the printed circuit board is in particular a double sided printed board, wherein the transducers are placed on both sides of the circuit board, and wherein the cover unit is positioned at least partially over the transducers on both sides.

6. Harvesting module according to claim 5, wherein the module comprises a housing, said housing substantially enclosing the entire module, wherein the module is at least partially flexible moving.

7. Harvesting module according to claim 1, wherein the cover unit is connected directly to the plurality of transducers, such that the transducers are moved simultaneously by the cover unit.

8. Harvesting module according to claim 1, wherein the cover unit is a flexible silicone and/or epoxy gel, wherein the transducers are enclosed by the silicone and/or epoxy gel

9. Harvesting module according to claim 1, wherein the cover unit is formed by a foamed material, wherein the cavities in the foamed material are configured for receiving and transmitting multiple sound waves to the transducers.

10. Harvesting module according to claim 1, wherein the harvesting module is configured for loud areas, wherein a sound level is above 65 dB, preferably above 80 dB, more preferably above 95 dB.

11. Harvesting module according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of diodes and capacitors are used to stabilize the converted electric energy flow into a usable electric energy flow.

12. Harvesting module according to claim 1, wherein the transducers are in particular electret transducers.

13. Harvesting module according to claim 1, wherein the module comprises at least 600 transducers, preferably at least 1000 transducers, more preferably at least 1400 transducers.

14. Harvesting module according to claim 1, wherein the module comprises at least one switching array, wherein at least two, preferably all transducers are electrically connected to said switching array, wherein the switching array is configured for selectively parallelly and/or serially connecting a number of transducers.

15. Harvesting module according to claim 14, wherein the switching array is configured to select, based on a sound level and/or pressure level, the amount of transducers connected serially and/or the amount of transducers connected parallelly.

16. Harvesting module according to claim 14, wherein the harvesting module further comprising a pressure measurement component, for determining a sound level and/or a pressure level.

17. Harvesting device for converting vibrations, in particular sound vibrations, into electric energy, comprising, a module holder frame, said holder frame comprising; a plurality of module connectors, each module connector configured to receive an electric connector of the harvesting module according to claim 1, electrical connections, for mutually serially and/or parallelly mutually electrically connecting the plurality of harvesting modules connected to the module connectors, a power connector, configured for; receiving, from the electrical connections, electric energy from the one or more connected harvesting modules, delivering the accumulated electric energy of the one or more harvesting modules.

18. Harvesting device according to claim 17, wherein the harvesting field comprises at least 10 harvesting modules, preferably 15 modules, more preferably at least 25 modules.

19. Harvesting device according to claim 17, wherein the device further comprises; one or more energy storage cells, such as batteries, for temporarily storing the accumulated electric energy of the one or more harvesting modules.

20. Harvesting device according to claim 19, wherein the harvesting field is integrated into or onto a product, such as a speaker, windmill, transport device or the like, for powering at least a portion of the product.

Description

[0053] The present invention will hereinafter be further elucidated based on the following drawings, wherein:

[0054] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a segment of transducers of a harvesting module according to an embodiment;

[0055] FIG. 2 shows a laid open view of a harvesting module according to the present invention;

[0056] FIG. 3 shows a closed view of the harvesting module shown in FIG. 2, and

[0057] FIG. 4 a-c shows schematic representations of various embodiments of the harvesting module.

[0058] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a segment 7 of transducers 3. The harvesting module 1 may comprise a plurality of such segments 7. The segment 7 in this particular embodiment comprises 3 times 12 transducers 3, mutually parallelly and serially connected. Each transducer 3 is housed inside a compression chamber 8, which is about 25 square millimeters. The transducers 3 are able to resonate inside the compression chamber 8. On the bottom side, the transducers are placed on a silicone cover unit 4, which serves to protect the transducers 3 but also to simultaneously activate all transducers 3 at the same time.

[0059] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a different harvesting module 1. The harvesting module 1 may comprise a plurality of segments 7 as shown in FIG. 1. In this particular embodiment the segments 7 are placed inside a cover unit 4, which seals substantially the entire exposed surface of the segments 7. All of the segments 7 are connected to a printed circuit board 2, which serves as the substrate 2. In this embodiment the printed circuit board 2 is in particular double sided. That is, also the bottom surface of the printed circuit board 2 comprises a plurality of the segments 7. This increases the amount of transducers 3 per square meter, and hence the potential energy to be harvested. The module 1 further shows an electric connector 5, for delivering the converted electric energy. Or, in case a plurality of modules are used, for coupling with a connector. All components are housed inside a housing 6, which protects the components. This in particular would be a module 1 suitable for harsh environments, since the housing 6 makes a water tight seal around the components, as such the module 1 can be used for example inside a waterfall, or other location that desires a high degree of water tightness. FIG. 3 shows the module 1 according to the present invention as a whole, wherein also the top half of the housing 6 is assembled. The central part of the top surface of the housing 6 is in particular rigid. The top surface is configured to move by means of resonance of the sound vibrations, or by means of a high volume stream of water over the surface. The surfaces passes the vibrations to the transducers placed inside and is able to generate an electric energy.

[0060] Lastly, FIG. 4a-4c show schematic illustrations of embodiments of the module 1. FIG. 4a shows a schematic perspective of the module 1 wherein transducers 3 (for illustrative purposes only 3) are placed on the substrate 2, which is in particular a printed circuit board 2. The cover unit 4 is placed on the substrate 2 by means of flexible mounts 9. Flexible mounts 9 could be formed out of any flexible material, such as silicone. The cover unit 4 is directly positioned over the top surfaces of the transducers 3, such that it can transmit as many waves in a constant frequency as possible to the transducers 3. Enclosing everything is a rigid housing 6, which protects the interior system against the environment. This makes this embodiment in particular suitable for use in for example transportation such as cars, trucks, trains, subways, busses and the like. To this end, the housing 6 can be either flexible in order to pass on the sound waves to the transducers or rigid if the sound is too loud for the transducers 3.

[0061] In another embodiment, displayed in FIG. 4b, the cover unit 4 is placed directly on the printed circuit board 2, without the flexible mounts 9. The transducers 3 are individually able to capture vibrations from the sound waves.

[0062] The embodiments shown in FIGS. 4a and 4b can be made in an electronic component for easy placement on large scale. This can for example be realized by means of a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS), however a micro-PCB can also be used to this end.

[0063] The last embodiment shows an cover unit 4 formed out of a foamed material, such as foamed aluminum. Which is mounted to the printed circuit board 2 by means of flexible mounts 9. The foamed material 4 is positioned directly onto the transducers and captures as many frequency waves as possible. This embodiment is in particular suitable for installation on a panel inside a speaker cabinet, since it can receive various frequencies efficiently.