JP6162527B2 - Power generator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a power generation device that generates power based on the movement of charged particles.

In recent years, due to consideration for the global environment or concerns about depletion of fossil fuels, efforts have been made to secure an energy source to replace fossil fuels. For this reason, so-called energy harvesting technology that generates weak electric power from light, heat, electromagnetic waves, vibration, human action, etc. has attracted attention.
As one of this type of energy harvesting technology, a power generation device including a piezoelectric element that generates electric power by vibration and a rectifier circuit that rectifies electric power obtained from the piezoelectric element is known (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 09-2111151 A

  By the way, since the electric power obtained from this kind of vibration is very small, it is desired to improve the power generation efficiency. However, in the conventional configuration, the generated power is rectified through a rectifier circuit, thereby increasing the loss and reducing the power generation efficiency.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a power generator that improves power generation efficiency.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a pair of electrodes disposed in a motion region in which charged particles move, and the movement when the charged particles move between the electrodes connected to the electrodes. An output circuit that outputs to the load as the output circuit, and the output circuit includes opening / closing means connected in series with the load, and the position of the charged particles moving in the moving region is observed in the vicinity of each electrode Observation means is provided, and this observation means opens and closes the opening and closing means according to the position of the charged particles.

In this configuration, the output circuits are connected in parallel to each other, and include a first output circuit including a first switching means and a first load, and a second output circuit including a second switching means and a second load. The first output circuit closes the first opening / closing means and outputs power to the first load when the charged particles approach one electrode, and the second output circuit has the charged particles When approaching the other electrode, the second opening / closing means may be closed to output power to the second load.
Moreover, the said movement area | region is an airtight container in which the said charged particle is accommodated, The said electrode may be arrange | positioned facing both ends of this airtight container.

  The opening / closing means may be formed of a transistor element. Moreover, you may provide the vibration provision means which gives a vibration to the said charged particle from the outer side of the said movement area | region. The charged particles may be formed in a size of 100 micrometers or less.

  According to the present invention, the observation means arranged in the vicinity of the electrode opens and closes the opening / closing means provided in the output circuit according to the position of the charged particles, so that the electric power generated by the movement of the charged particles can be efficiently transferred to the output circuit. The load can be output, and therefore the power generation efficiency can be improved.

It is a circuit diagram showing a power generator concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the state in which the charged particle approached one electrode. It is a figure which shows the state which the charged particle returned to the approximate center of the container. It is a figure which shows the state which the charged particle approached the other electrode. It is a figure which shows the state which the charged particle returned to the approximate center of the container again.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing a power generator according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, the power generation device 10 includes a container (motion region) 12 that contains charged particles 11, a pair of electrodes 13 and 14 that are disposed to face the container 12 in the longitudinal direction, and each of these electrodes. 13 and 14, and an output circuit 15 that outputs the movement of the charged particles 11 between the electrodes 13 and 14 as electric power.

The charged particles 11 are, for example, particles obtained by charging a resin (polystyrene) particle having a diameter of several micrometers (μm) with a positive charge. The charged particles 11 freely move in the container 12 by vibrations transmitted to the container 12. In this configuration, the size of the charged particles 11 is preferably set to a diameter of 100 micrometers or less, and more preferably set to 30 micrometers or less.
When the charged particle 11 is set to a size of 100 micrometers or less, the charged particle 11 is caused to move inside the container 12 by minute vibration such as thermal vibration (thermal fluctuation) or sound vibration transmitted into the container 12. You can exercise freely.

  The container 12 is a cylindrical hermetic container formed of a material having a low heat insulation coefficient (so-called isothermal wall), and transmits fine vibrations outside the container 12 to the charged particles 11. Electrodes 13 and 14 are disposed opposite to each other in the longitudinal direction of the container 12, and an electromotive force is generated between the electrodes 13 and 14 as the charged particles move between the electrodes 13 and 14.

The output circuit 15 includes a first output circuit 15A and a second output circuit 15B that are connected in parallel to the electrodes 13 and 14 described above. The first output circuit 15A and the second output circuit 15B play a role of complementing each other, and the electric power when the charged particles 11 move from one electrode 13 to the other electrode 14 is supplied to the first output circuit 15A. The electric power when the charged particles 11 move from the other electrode 14 to the one electrode 13 is output to the second output circuit 15B. This prevents the charge from being biased and accumulated on one of the electrodes, so that the reciprocating motion of the charged particles 11 can be efficiently output as electric power.
Since the first output circuit 15A and the second output circuit 15B have the same configuration, only the first output circuit 15A will be described, and the second output circuit 15B will be denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

The first output circuit 15A has an LED (Light Emitting Diode) element (first load) 16A connected in series between the electrodes 13 and 14, and a state memory that opens and closes to output power to the LED element 16A. A semiconductor switch (first opening / closing means) 17A is provided.
In the present embodiment, in the first output circuit 15A, the LED element 16A is disposed between one electrode 13 and the state memory semiconductor switch 17A, and in the second output circuit 15B, the LED element 16B (second load). Is disposed between the other electrode 14 and the state memory semiconductor switch 17B (second opening / closing means).
The state storage semiconductor switches 17A and 17B are electric elements that are opened and closed according to the position of the charged particles 11 moving between the electrodes 13 and 14 and that hold the opened and closed state. In this embodiment, the ferroelectric memory is used. (Transistor type FeRAM) is used.

The power generation apparatus 10 includes an observation unit (observation unit) 20 that observes the position of the charged particle 11 in the container 12 and operates the opening and closing of the state storage semiconductor switch 17A based on the observed position of the charged particle 11.
The observation unit 20 includes observation electrodes 21 and 22 disposed in the vicinity of the electrodes 13 and 14 in the container 12, respectively, and a first observation circuit that connects the observation electrodes 21 and 22 and the state memory semiconductor switch 17A. 23A and a second observation circuit 23B that connects the observation electrodes 21 and 22 and the state memory semiconductor switch 17B. Here, since the first observation circuit 23A and the second observation circuit 23B have the same configuration, the first observation circuit 23A will be described, and the second observation circuit 23B will be denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

The observation electrodes 21 and 22 are formed in an annular shape (cylindrical shape) like the container 12. The observation electrode 21 is disposed near the inside of the electrode 13 in the longitudinal direction of the container 12, and the observation electrode 22 is disposed near the inside of the electrode 14 in the longitudinal direction of the container 12.
The observation electrodes 21 and 22 detect a potential change in the container 12, and the position of the charged particle 11 in the container 12 can be known from the potential change.

The first observation circuit 23A includes semiconductor switches 24A and 25A that open and close according to potential changes detected by the observation electrodes 21 and 22, and are connected in series to the semiconductor switches 24A and 25A to supply power to the first observation circuit 23A. A battery 26A to be supplied.
The first observation circuit 23A includes LED elements 31A and 32A (loads) connected in series with the semiconductor switches 24A and 25A between the semiconductor switches 24A and 25A.
The semiconductor switches 24A and 25A are electric elements that open and close in accordance with the potentials of the observation electrodes 21 and 22 to be detected, and field effect transistors are used in this embodiment. Specifically, the observation electrodes 21 and 22 are connected to the gate terminals of the semiconductor switches 24A and 25A (field effect transistors), respectively, and conduction between the drain and the source is controlled according to the gate potential.

The first observation circuit 23A includes a control wiring 27A extending from between the LED elements 31A and 32A to the state storage semiconductor switch 17A. When one of the semiconductor switches 24A and 25A is closed, the potential of the battery 26A is controlled. The voltage is applied to the state memory semiconductor switch 17A through the wiring 27A, and the state memory semiconductor switch 17A is closed.
In this configuration, the battery 26A not only provides a potential for opening and closing the state storage semiconductor switch 17A, but also functions as a power source for lighting the LED elements 31A and 32A.

  Further, in this configuration, all the semiconductor switches provided in the output circuit 15 and the observation unit 20 of the power generation apparatus 10 are formed of transistor elements. Since the transistor element that is a switching element has a characteristic that loss such as friction is less than that of the rectifying element, it is possible in principle to achieve high power generation efficiency.

Next, operation | movement of the electric power generating apparatus 10 is demonstrated.
2 to 5 are diagrams showing the operation of the output circuit 15 and the observation unit 20 when the charged particle 11 moves in the container 12, where a solid line is shown when current flows, and a current does not flow. Is indicated by a broken line.
First, when the charged particle 11 moves inside the container 12 toward, for example, one electrode 13 and reaches this electrode 13, the potential of the observation electrode 21 increases as shown in FIG. The semiconductor switch 24A connected to the observation electrode 21 in the observation circuit 23A is closed. As a result, the potential of the battery 26A is applied to the state memory semiconductor switch 17A through the semiconductor switch 24A, the LED element 31A, and the control wiring 27A, so that the state memory semiconductor switch 17A is closed and the first output circuit 15A is turned on. Is done. In this case, since the power of the battery 26A is supplied to the LED element 31A, the LED element 31A is lit.
Also in the second observation circuit 23B, since the potential of the observation electrode 21 increases, the semiconductor switch 24B connected to the observation electrode 21 is closed. In this case, since the state memory semiconductor switch 17B is connected to the negative electrode (0V) of the battery 26B via the LED element 31B, the state memory semiconductor switch 17B is opened and the conduction of the second output circuit 15B is released. The

As described above, since the state memory semiconductor switch 17A has a function of maintaining the open / close state, as shown in FIG. 3, the charged particles 11 pass through the container 12 from one electrode 13 toward the other electrode 14. Even when the charged particle 11 moves and is separated from the observation electrode 21, the state memory semiconductor switch 17A maintains the closed state. For this reason, the electric power generated by the movement of the charged particles 11 is supplied to the LED element 16A, and the LED element 16A is turned on.
On the other hand, when the charged particles 11 are separated from the observation electrode 21, the semiconductor switch 24A is opened, and the LED element 16A is turned off.

Subsequently, when the charged particle 11 reaches the other electrode 14, as shown in FIG. 4, the potential of the observation electrode 22 increases, so that the semiconductor connected to the observation electrode 22 in the first observation circuit 23A. The switch 25A is closed. In this case, when the semiconductor switch 25A is closed, the state memory semiconductor switch 17A is connected to the negative electrode (0 V) of the battery 26A via the LED element 32A. Thereby, the state memory semiconductor switch 17A is opened, the conduction of the first output circuit 15A is released, and the LED element 32A has no potential difference between the gate potential of the state memory semiconductor switch 17A and the negative potential of the battery 26A ( Until it reaches 0).
On the other hand, also in the second observation circuit 23B, the potential of the observation electrode 22 increases, so that the semiconductor switch 25B connected to the observation electrode 22 is closed. As a result, the potential of the battery 26B is applied to the state memory semiconductor switch 17B through the semiconductor switch 25B, the LED element 32B, and the control wiring 27B, so that the state memory semiconductor switch 17B is closed and the second output circuit 15B is turned on. The In this case, since the power of the battery 26B is supplied to the LED element 32B, the LED element 32B is lit.

As shown in FIG. 5, even when the charged particle 11 moves in the container 12 from the other electrode 14 toward the one electrode 13 and the charged particle 11 is separated from the observation electrode 22, The memory semiconductor switch 17B is kept closed. For this reason, the electric power generated by the movement of the charged particles 11 is supplied to the LED element 16B, and the LED element 16B is turned on.
In this configuration, as long as the charged particles 11 continue to reciprocate based on vibration such as thermal vibration, the power generated based on this motion is supplied to the LED element 16A or the LED element 16B.
Here, since the power generation apparatus 10 according to this configuration performs power generation based on the motion of the charged particles 11, it cannot predict when the charged particles 11 will reach the electrodes 13 and 14, and the power output is indefinite. It becomes.
In this configuration, since the power generation apparatus 10 includes the observation unit 20, the observation unit 20 can detect whether or not the charged particles 11 have reached the electrodes 13 and 14 even if the power output is indefinite. Further, since the observation unit 20 opens and closes the state storage semiconductor switches 17A and 17B provided in the output circuit 15 in accordance with the position of the charged particle 11, the power generated by the movement of the charged particle 11 is efficiently transferred to the LED of the output circuit 15. The power can be output to the elements 16A and 16B, and therefore the power generation efficiency can be improved.
Further, in this configuration, the first observation circuit 23A and the second observation circuit 23B that constitute the observation unit 20 include the LED elements 31A, 31B, 32A, and 32B as loads, so the power consumption of the batteries 26A and 26B is It becomes an output of LED element 31A, 31B, 32A, 32B. For this reason, since the power consumption of the batteries 26A and 26B does not become a loss, it is possible to improve the energy efficiency of the entire power generation apparatus 10 described above.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the charged particles 11 are connected to the pair of electrodes 13 and 14 disposed in the container 12 in which the charged particles 11 move and the electrodes 13 and 14, and the charged particles 11 are connected to the electrodes 13. , 14, and a first output circuit 15A that outputs the movement when moving between the LED elements 16A to the LED element 16A. The first output circuit 15A includes a state memory semiconductor switch 17A connected in series with the LED element 16A. The observation unit 20 for observing the position of the charged particle 11 moving in the container 12 is provided in the vicinity of each of the electrodes 13 and 14, and the observation unit 20 sets the state memory semiconductor switch 17 A according to the position of the charged particle 11. Since it opens and closes, the electric power generated by the movement of the charged particles 11 can be efficiently output to the LED element 16A of the output circuit 15, so that the power generation efficiency can be improved. Can.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the output circuit 15 is connected to the electrodes 13 and 14 in parallel with each other, the first output circuit 15A including the state memory semiconductor switch 17A and the LED element 16A, the state memory semiconductor switch 17B and the LED. And the second output circuit 15B including the element 16B. When the charged particle 11 approaches the one electrode 13, the first output circuit 15A closes the state memory semiconductor switch 17A and outputs power to the LED element 16A. The second output circuit 15B closes the state memory semiconductor switch 17B and outputs power to the LED element 16B when the charged particle 11 approaches the other electrode 14, so that the charge is biased and accumulated on one electrode. Therefore, the reciprocating motion of the charged particles 11 can be efficiently output as electric power.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the container 12 is a sealed container in which the charged particles 11 are accommodated, and the electrodes 13 and 14 are arranged to face both ends of the sealed container. It is possible to prevent scattering of the charged particles 11 between the electrodes 13 and 14 and to efficiently output the movement of the charged particles 11 as electric power.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, since the state storage semiconductor switches 17A and 17B and the semiconductor switches 24A and 25A are all formed by transistor elements that are switching elements, losses such as friction are suppressed compared to the rectifier elements. And high power generation efficiency can be achieved.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, the charged particles 11 are formed to have a size of 100 micrometers or less, and therefore, due to fine vibrations such as thermal vibration (thermal fluctuation) and sound vibration transmitted into the container 12. It becomes possible to move the charged particles 11 freely in the container 12, and it is possible to output electric power due to minute vibrations.

As mentioned above, although this invention was concretely demonstrated based on one Embodiment, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, It can change in the range which does not deviate from the summary.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the container 12 is described as an example of a cylindrical sealed container. However, the container 12 is not limited to this, and may be a partially opened container. Further, in the present embodiment, the charged particles 11 are described as having positive charges, but it is needless to say that negative charges can be used.
In the present embodiment, the configuration using the ferroelectric memory (transistor type FeRAM) as the state memory semiconductor switches 17A and 17B has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an element in which a capacitor is connected to the gate terminal of the field effect transistor. Can be used instead.
In the present embodiment, the charged particle 11 has been described with respect to a configuration that moves by minute vibration such as thermal vibration (thermal fluctuation) or sound vibration transmitted into the container 12, but the present invention is not limited to this. Further, a vibration applying means (not shown) that vibrates the charged particles 11 from the outside of the container 12 by moving the container 12 back and forth in the longitudinal direction may be provided.

10, 50 Power generation device 11 Charged particle 12 Container (movement area)
13, 14 Electrode 15 Output circuit 15A First output circuit 15B Second output circuit 16A LED element (first load)
16B LED element (second load)
17A state memory semiconductor switch (first opening / closing means)
17B State memory semiconductor switch (second opening / closing means)
20 Observation section (observation means)
21, 22 Observation electrode 23A First observation circuit 23B Second observation circuit 24A, 24B, 25A, 25B Semiconductor switch 26A, 26B Battery 31A, 31B, 32A, 32B LED element

Claims (6)

A pair of electrodes arranged in a movement region where the charged particles move, and an output circuit connected to the electrodes and outputting the movement when the charged particles move between the electrodes to the load as electric power,
The output circuit includes an opening / closing means connected in series with the load, and an observation means for observing the position of the charged particle moving in the moving region in the vicinity of each electrode, the observation means, A power generation apparatus that opens and closes the opening / closing means according to a position of a charged particle.   The output circuit includes a first output circuit that is connected in parallel to each other and includes a first switching means and a first load, and a second output circuit that includes a second switching means and a second load, One output circuit closes the first opening / closing means and outputs power to the first load when the charged particles approach one electrode, and the second output circuit outputs the charged particles to the other electrode. 2. The power generator according to claim 1, wherein when approaching, the second opening / closing means is closed to output electric power to the second load.   The power generation device according to claim 1, wherein the movement region is a sealed container in which the charged particles are accommodated, and the electrodes are arranged to face both ends of the sealed container.   The power generator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the opening / closing means is formed of a transistor element.   5. The power generation device according to claim 1, further comprising: a vibration applying unit that applies vibration to the charged particles from the outside of the movement region.   The power generation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the charged particles are formed to have a size of 100 micrometers or less.

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