KR101735483B1 - Energy harvesting device using thermoelectric element, system and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

An energy harvesting apparatus includes a thermoelectric element including a first junction portion connected to a high temperature side and a second junction portion connected to a low temperature side, the thermoelectric element producing power using the temperature difference between the high temperature side and the low temperature side, A receiving device for receiving the transmitted power in a self-resonant radio transmission system; a sensing device for sensing the presence and position of the receiving device; and a receiving device for receiving the transmitted And an alarm device for notifying the detection of the presence and position of the device.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to an energy harvesting apparatus, system, and method using a thermoelectric element,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an energy harvesting apparatus, a system and a method thereof, and more particularly, to an energy harvesting apparatus capable of producing electric power using a thermoelectric element and delivering the produced electric power to a receiving apparatus wirelessly, System and method.

Energy harvesting (environmental power generation) technology refers to the conversion of environmental energy such as kinetic energy, light energy, and thermal energy into electric power by using piezoelectric elements, solar cells, thermoelectric elements, and electromagnetic induction. The electric power thus obtained is stored and used as a power source for various power consumption devices.

Among the devices used in energy harvesting, thermoelectric devices can produce power using the temperature difference between the two stages. The larger the temperature difference, the more power the thermoelectric device produces. Therefore, in the past, research has been carried out in order to increase the temperature difference between both ends of a thermoelectric element. In this case, in the case of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2010-0030434, a housing is formed on a thermoelectric element, and the temperature inside the housing is increased by using heat or light energy incident from the outside to the housing, Thereby increasing the temperature difference.

However, in order for energy harvesting to be more effective, it is also important to increase the amount of power produced by the thermoelectric elements, but it is also important to easily acquire the temperature difference necessary for power generation in the vicinity and to transmit the produced power to the receiving apparatus It is necessary to consider a more efficient energy harvesting. However, conventional energy harvesting has been overlooked, and energy harvesting has been inefficient.

In order to solve such a problem, there is a need for an energy harvesting apparatus, system, and method for efficiently generating electric power by using a thermoelectric element in the vicinity and transmitting electric power produced by a thermoelectric element to a receiving apparatus efficiently .

An object of the present invention is to provide an energy harvesting apparatus, system, and method that enables a thermoelectric element to easily acquire a temperature difference required for electric power generation and to transmit generated electric power to a receiving apparatus more efficiently I have to.

The problems to be solved by the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned problems, and other matters not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an energy harvesting apparatus including a first junction portion connected to a high temperature side and a second junction portion connected to a low temperature side, wherein the temperature difference between the high temperature side and the low temperature side A transmission device for transmitting power generated by the thermoelectric device by a self-resonant wireless transmission method, a reception device for receiving the transmitted power by a self-resonant wireless transmission method, And an alarm device for notifying the detection of the presence and position of the receiving device when the sensing device detects the presence of the receiving device.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an energy harvesting system including a human body junction unit for detecting a temperature of a human body and an external junction unit for detecting an external temperature, An energy harvester unit which is based on an output signal of the human body part and the external junction part and generates electric power using a temperature difference between the human body part and the external junction part; And a wireless transmitting unit for transmitting the power generated by the energy harvester unit in a self-resonant wireless transmission mode, wherein the energy harvesting unit detects the presence and position of a wireless receiving unit that receives the power transmitted from the wireless transmitting unit, And a sensing unit for sensing the presence or absence of the wireless receiver And an alarm unit for informing the detection of the value.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an energy harvesting method including a thermoelectric element including a first junction portion connected to a high temperature side and a second junction portion connected to a low temperature side, Generating a power by using a temperature difference of the thermoelectric transducer, transmitting a power generated by the thermoelectric transducer to a receiving device by a self-resonant wireless transmission method, and transmitting the transmitted power by a self- The method of energy harvesting according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of sensing the presence and location of the receiving device and notifying the sensing result before the transmitting device transmits the power to the receiving device.

Other specific details of the invention are included in the detailed description and drawings.

According to the present invention, there is provided an energy harvesting apparatus, system, and method capable of easily acquiring a temperature difference required for a thermoelectric element to produce electric power in the vicinity and transmitting the produced electric power to a receiving apparatus more efficiently .

1 is a schematic diagram of a thermoelectric device used in an energy harvesting apparatus, system and method according to the present invention.
2 is a schematic diagram of a transmitting apparatus and a receiving apparatus used in an energy harvesting apparatus, system and method according to the present invention.
3 is a schematic diagram of an energy harvesting system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a conceptual diagram of an energy harvester portion of an energy harvesting system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a flowchart of an energy harvesting method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The advantages and features of the present invention and the manner of achieving them will become apparent with reference to the embodiments described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Is provided to fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the invention is only defined by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of illustrating embodiments and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. In the present specification, the singular form includes plural forms unless otherwise specified in the specification. It is noted that the terms " comprises "and / or" comprising ", as used herein, do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other elements, steps and operations.

1 and 2, an energy harvesting apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. 1 is a schematic diagram of a thermoelectric device used in an energy harvesting apparatus, system and method according to the present invention. 2 is a schematic diagram of a transmitting apparatus and a receiving apparatus used in an energy harvesting apparatus, system and method according to the present invention.

1 and 2, an energy harvesting apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention may include a thermoelectric element 50, a transmitting apparatus 70, a receiving apparatus 90, a sensing apparatus, and an alarm apparatus .

The thermoelectric element 50 is a device that generates electric power using the Seebeck effect (a seebeck effect in which a current flows when the temperature of the contact point is different in a closed circuit formed by different metal junctions). The thermoelectric element 50 is composed of two different kinds of metals or semiconductors. The two different kinds of semiconductors are the n-type semiconductor 10 and the p-type semiconductor 20.

Both ends of each of two different kinds of metals of the thermoelectric element 50 or both ends of two kinds of different semiconductors form a first junction 30 and a second junction 40 , The first junction portion 30 can be connected to the high temperature side, the second junction portion 40 can be connected to the low temperature side, and the thermoelectric element can have a closed circuit between two metals or semiconductors due to the temperature difference between the high temperature side and the low temperature side So that current can flow and thus produce power.

For example, when the temperature of the first junction portion 30 is 'T + ΔT' and the temperature of the second junction portion 40 is 'T', the first junction portion 30 and the second junction portion 40 generates a temperature difference by ΔT, and a voltage corresponding to the temperature difference ΔT is generated, and the thermoelectric power generated at this time is as follows.

V _ab = α _ab ΔT

Of course, if the temperature difference between the first junction part 30 and the second junction part 40 is made larger, more voltage will be generated accordingly.

The transmitting device 70 is a device for transmitting the power produced by the thermoelectric element 50 to the receiving device 90 by a self-resonant radio transmission method. The transmitting device 70 includes a source coil 60 and a transmission- (65). The source coil 60 may be connected to the thermoelectric element 50 through a wire and may receive the power produced by the thermoelectric element 50 and provide it to the transmission side resonant coil 65 through magnetic induction. Further, the transmission-side resonance coil 65 can resonate the power induced through the source coil 60 through self-resonance and transmit it to the reception device 90.

On the other hand, the radio transmission system includes a magnetic induction system in a short distance, a self resonance system, and an electromagnetic wave transmission system. The self-resonant radio power transmission technology used in the present invention is capable of transmitting energy at a greater distance than the conventional magnetic induction system and has a higher transmission efficiency than the microwave electromagnetic radiation system.

Such a self-resonant wireless power transmission technology is a technique of transmitting power using an attenuator wave phenomenon in which electromagnetic waves are generated when two media (resonant coils) resonate at the same frequency, to be.

The receiving apparatus 90 is an apparatus for receiving power transmitted by the transmitting apparatus 70 in a self-resonant radio transmission system. The receiving apparatus 90 includes a receiving-side resonant coil 75 and a load coil 80 . The receiving-side resonant coil 75 receives the electric power transmitted through the self resonance from the transmitting device 70, and can have a helical or spiral structure. Further, the load coil 80 can be supplied with electric power from the receiving-side resonant coil 75 through magnetic induction, and can supply the supplied electric power to at least one of the load device 100 or the charging device, (100) may include a tablet PC, a mobile phone, and a notebook.

The sensing device is a device for sensing the presence and position of the receiving device 90. The power produced by the thermoelectric device 50 as described above is transmitted through the transmitting device 70 to the receiving device 90 In order for the power to be transmitted, the presence and the position of the receiving device 90 must be prioritized, and the sensing device performs such a role. The sensing device may include a sensor for sensing a change in capacitance or a change in resonance frequency and sensing the presence and position of the nearby receiving device 90 through the sensor.

The alarm device is a device for notifying the detection result when the sensing device senses the presence and position of the receiving device 90, .

As described above, the energy harvesting apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention has been described. Hereinafter, the energy harvesting apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, Explain.

Referring to Figures 3 and 4, an energy harvesting system according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. 3 is a schematic diagram of an energy harvesting system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a conceptual diagram of an energy harvester portion of an energy harvesting system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the energy harvesting system according to the first embodiment of the present invention may include an energy harvester unit 120, a wireless transmitting unit, and a wireless receiving unit.

The energy harvester unit 120 generates electric power through the thermoelectric element 115 or rectifies and charges the generated electric power. The energy harvester unit 120 includes a harvesting unit 117, a rectifying unit 118, a battery unit 119, An alarm unit 123, a display unit 121, and a control unit 116. The display unit 121 may include a display unit 122, an alarm unit 123, a display unit 121,

The harvesting part 117 includes a thermoelectric element 115 having a human body part for detecting the temperature of the human body and an external junction part for detecting the temperature of the outside, (117) can generate electric power based on the output signals of the human body part and the external junction part of the thermoelectric element (115) and using the temperature difference between the human body part and the external junction part.

In particular, when the energy harvester portion 120 is in the form of a band or a belt, the energy harvester portion 120 is worn on the arm 110 of the human body, The external junction unit measures an external temperature (for example, an ambient temperature) other than the human body and measures the temperature of the arm 110 using the difference between the temperature of the arm 110 and the external temperature Power can be produced. In this way, power is produced by using the body temperature of the body and the temperature of the atmosphere, so that it is easy and easy to produce electric power using the thermoelectric element 115.

The rectifying part 118 serves to rectify the electric power produced by the thermoelectric element 115 and the battery part 119 may serve to charge the rectified electric power by the rectifying part 118. [

The sensing unit 122 senses the presence and position of the wireless receiving unit that receives the power transmitted from the wireless transmitting unit to be described later. As described above, the power generated by the harvesting unit 117 is transmitted through the wireless transmitting unit In order to transmit the power, the presence and position of the wireless receiver must be prioritized, and the sensing unit 122 performs this role.

The sensing unit 122 may include a sensor for sensing a change in capacitance or a change in resonance frequency and sensing the presence and position of a nearby wireless receiver through the sensor.

The alarm unit 123 informs the detection result when the detection unit 122 detects the presence and position of the wireless reception unit. The alarm unit 123 may be a buzzer or a vibration in a manner of notifying the detection result, These two methods can be used together. For example, the alarm unit 123 generates an alarm sound to the wearer wearing the energy harvester unit 120, and the wearer recognizes that the radio receiver unit has come close to the wearer, It is possible to perceive the proximity of the wireless receiver as a feeling.

Thus, the wearer is aware that it is necessary to keep the distance between the constituent parts of the energy harvesting system constant so that the wireless power transmission can be performed well, Attention can be paid so that the distance between the respective components can be a distance at which the wireless power transmission can be performed without interruption while the power charged in the power supply unit 119 is transmitted to the wireless reception unit through the wireless transmission unit.

The display unit 121 displays the amount of power charged in the battery unit 119, the presence and position information of the wireless receiver sensed by the sensing unit 122, and the power transmission status information to the wireless receiver, A display portion is formed on the energy harvester portion 120 to function as the display portion 121. The amount of power charged in the display screen, the distance between the energy harvester portion 120 and the wireless receiving portion, Can be displayed. Therefore, the wearer can quickly and easily confirm the information related to the wireless power transmission through the display unit 121. [

The control unit 116 controls the overall relationship of the harvesting unit 117, the rectifying unit 118, the battery unit 119, the sensing unit 122, the alarm unit 123, and the display unit 121 constituting the energy harvester unit 120 Specifically, the harvesting unit 117 generates electric power, the rectifying unit 118 controls the generated electric power to be rectified, allows the rectified DC power to be charged by the battery unit 119, (122) to sense the proximity of the receiving device (90), and to let the alarm part (123) inform the wearer of an alarm sound or vibration.

The energy harvesting unit 120 of the energy harvesting system has been described above. Hereinafter, the wireless transmitting unit and the wireless receiving unit will be described.

The wireless transmitting unit may transmit the power generated by the energy harvester unit 120 to the wireless receiving unit through a self resonant wireless transmission scheme. The wireless transmitting unit may be worn on the human body, and the energy harvesting unit 117 It can be connected by wire.

In addition, the radio transmission unit may include a source coil 125 and a transmission-side resonant coil 130 for wireless transmission. The source coil may be connected to the energy harvesting part 117 by wire, and the power produced by the harvesting part 117 may be received and provided to the transmission-side resonance coil 130 through magnetic induction. After that, the transmission-side resonance coil 130 can resonate the power induced through the source coil 125 through self-resonance and transmit it to the radio reception unit.

The radio receiving unit receives the power transmitted by the self-resonant radio transmission system. The radio receiving unit includes the receiving-side resonant coil 75 and the load coil 80. The receiving-side resonant coil 75 receives the power transmitted through the self-resonance from the radio transmitting unit, and may have a helical or spiral structure. Further, the load coil 80 can be supplied with electric power from the receiving-side resonant coil 75 through magnetic induction, and can supply the supplied electric power to at least one of the load device 100 or the charging device, (100) may include a tablet PC, a mobile phone, and a notebook.

Referring to FIG. 5, an energy harvesting method according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. 5 is a flowchart of an energy harvesting method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the energy harvesting method according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes the steps of generating electric power using a thermoelectric element (S10), rectifying and charging the produced electric power (S20) A step S30 of detecting the presence and position of the self-resonant radio transmission system, a step S40 of notifying the detection, a step S50 of transmitting power by the self-resonant radio transmission system, .

1 and 5, a step S10 of producing power using a thermoelectric element is performed by using a temperature difference between a first junction portion 30 connected to a high temperature side and a second junction portion 40 connected to a low temperature side A closed circuit is formed between the two metals or semiconductors to allow the current to flow, so that the thermoelectric element 50 can produce electric power.

Referring to FIG. 5, the step S20 of rectifying and charging the produced electric power may rectify the AC power to rectify the DC power after the thermoelectric element 50 generates electric power. The rectified DC power is charged into the battery.

5, the step S30 of detecting the presence and the position of the receiving device is performed in order to transmit the charged power to the receiving device 90 after the battery is charged with electric power. And the position of the receiving device 90 needs to be detected. To this end, the sensing device may include a sensor for sensing a change in capacitance or a change in resonance frequency, can do.

Referring to FIG. 5, in step S40, the detection device senses the presence of the reception device 90, and then the alarm device notifies the user that the reception device 90 is close to the user Can be informed. In this way, the alarm device informs the wearer that the receiving device has come close, so that the user can be careful so that the wireless power transmission can be done smoothly.

5, the step S60 of receiving the power in the self-resonant wireless transmission mode is performed when the sensing device senses the reception device 90 and the distance between the transmission device 70 and the reception device 90 is the wireless power When the transmittable distance is reached, power can be transmitted from the transmitting device 70 to the receiving device 90 in a self-resonant radio power scheme. The power received by the receiving device 90 may be supplied to one or more of the load device 100 or the charging device.

As described above, the energy harvesting method of the present invention uses a thermoelectric element that can easily produce electric power using the temperature difference of a person's body temperature and the atmospheric temperature, and also uses a self-resonant radio power transmission And there is an alarm step for notifying that the receiving device 90 is close to the transmitting device 70, so that the wearer or the user can smoothly transmit the wireless power There is an advantage of being able to pay attention to this.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, You will understand. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive.

10: n-type semiconductor 20: p-type semiconductor
30: first junction section 40: second junction section
50, 115: thermoelectric element 60, 125: source coil
65, 130: transmission side resonance coil 70: transmission device
75: receiving-side resonance coil 80: load coil
90: Receiving device 100: Load device
110: arm 116:
117: Harvesting 118: Rectification view
119: Battery unit 120: Energy harvester unit
121: Display section 122:
123: Alarm section

Claims (20)

A thermoelectric element including a first junction portion connected to the high temperature side and a second junction portion connected to the low temperature side, the thermoelectric element producing power using the temperature difference between the high temperature side and the low temperature side;
Wherein the source coil receives the power produced by the thermoelectric element and provides the power to the transmission-side resonance coil through magnetic induction, the transmission-side resonance coil generates the induced power A transmission device that resonates and transmits by resonance;
A receiving device for receiving the transmitted power in a self-resonant wireless transmission scheme;
A sensing device for sensing the presence and position of the receiver according to a change in resonant frequency; And
When the sensing device senses the presence and position of the receiving device and the receiving device is located at a distance where power can be received from the transmitting device, the sensing device informs the user of an alarm sound or vibration Harvesting device. delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the thermoelectric element and the source coil are connected by wire. The method according to claim 1,
The receiving apparatus includes a receiving-side resonant coil and a load coil,
Wherein the receiving-side resonant coil receives the power from the transmitting apparatus through self-resonance,
And the load coil receives the electric power from the receiving-side resonant coil through magnetic induction. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the receiving-side resonant coil has a helical or spiral structure. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the power received by the receiving device is supplied to at least one of a load device and a charging device. The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the load device comprises a tablet PC, a mobile phone, and a notebook. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the thermoelectric element is formed of two different kinds of metals or semiconductors, and both ends of each of the two different types of metals, or both ends of the two kinds of semiconductors, form the first and second junction portions An energy harvesting device. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the two different types of semiconductors are an n-type semiconductor and a p-type semiconductor. delete delete A human body part provided on the inside of the band or the band for detecting the temperature of the human body and an external junction part provided on the outside of the band or band for detecting the temperature of the external body, Comprising a thermoelectric element,
And a control unit that starts operation based on the output signals of the human body movement unit and the external movement unit and controls the operation of the human body movement unit based on the temperature difference between the temperature of the humanjunction unit generated by the contact with the human body and the external junction unit generated by the external temperature Energy harvester parts to produce; And
And a wireless transmission unit that is provided in the form of a band or band so as to be worn on the human body and transmits the power produced by the energy harvesting unit in a self resonant wireless transmission scheme,
Wherein the energy harvester unit comprises: a sensing unit that senses the presence and position of a wireless receiver capable of receiving the power transmitted by the wireless transmitter according to a change in a resonant frequency; And
And an alarm unit for informing a user of an alarm or vibration when the sensing unit is in a state capable of sensing the presence and position of the wireless receiver and transmitting power. delete 13. The method of claim 12,
Wherein the energy harvesting unit includes a rectifying unit for rectifying power produced by the thermoelectric element. 15. The method of claim 14,
And the energy harvester unit includes a battery unit for charging the rectified power. 16. The method of claim 15,
Wherein the energy harvester unit includes an energy harvesting system including a display unit for displaying an amount of power charged in the battery unit, presence and position information of the radio receiver unit sensed by the sensing unit, and power transmission status information to the radio receiver unit, . delete A thermoelectric element including a first junction portion connected to a high temperature side and a second junction portion connected to a low temperature side, the method comprising the steps of: producing electric power using a temperature difference between the high temperature side and the low temperature side;
A transmission apparatus including a source coil and a transmission side resonance coil, wherein the source coil receives power generated by the thermoelectric element and provides the transmission side resonance coil through magnetic induction, Resonating the generated power through self resonance and transmitting the resonated power;
And a receiving device receiving the transmitted power in a self-resonant radio transmission scheme, the method comprising:
Before the transmitting device transmits the power to the receiving device, sensing the presence and position of the receiving device according to a change in the resonant frequency; And
Further comprising the step of notifying the user of the detection result by an alarm sound or vibration when the receiving apparatus is located at a distance capable of receiving power from the transmitting apparatus. delete 19. The method of claim 18,
Further comprising the step of rectifying the electric power produced by the thermoelectric element and charging the rectified electric power.

Images