KR20120036751A - Apparatus for harvesting from electromagnetic field - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An energy obtaining apparatus is provided to obtain necessary electricity without additional exposure of electro-magnetic waves to a human body or around the human body. CONSTITUTION: An interface unit(120) obtains a signal induced in a human body(100). The human body has high dielectric permittivity in a low frequency band. A rectifier circuit(130) rectifies an AC signal inputted in the interface unit and changes the AC signal into DC power supply. A filter(140) is installed in the front end of the interface unit and filters the AC signal inputted from the interface unit. The filter comprises one or more filters among a low band passing filter, a band passing filter, and a high band passing filter. An antenna unit receives electro-magnetic waves generated in electronic equipment.

Description

Energy acquisition device using electromagnetic waves {APPARATUS FOR HARVESTING FROM ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD}

The present invention relates to an energy obtaining apparatus using electromagnetic waves, and more particularly, to an energy obtaining apparatus using electromagnetic waves for obtaining electrical energy from a signal induced by the human body.

The energy harvesting field is a field for obtaining energy by using the surrounding environment and converting the surrounding energy into electrical energy that can be used for circuit operation.

This technology is applied to wireless personal area networks (WPAN) and radio-frequency identification (RFID), which allows the circuit to operate without battery or without additional charging of the battery.

It is also a future industry that allows the efficient operation of energy for all personal communications, giving a clean natural environment to descendants.

As the energy harvesting method, a method of obtaining energy from light of a natural environment known as a conventional solar cell is most known. However, this method is not suitable as a moving material for RFID and WPAN, and there is a limit in obtaining electric energy that can be driven because the required area is small to be applied to a small transmission / reception circuit.

To this end, researches are being conducted to obtain energy in various ways around the world. Among them, a method of obtaining energy through vibration, a method of obtaining energy by temperature difference, and an antenna of mm-size The method of obtaining energy by receiving a radio frequency (RF) signal through the size has been studied.

Background art of the present invention is disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2011-0066645 (June 17, 2011).

An object of the present invention is to provide an energy obtaining device using an electromagnetic wave to obtain energy from the electromagnetic waves induced by the human body in various electronic devices existing around the user so that the user can obtain energy while acting without being restricted by behavior. The purpose is.

In addition, in the conventional method of acquiring energy by receiving electromagnetic waves through the human body, power is converted by using a tuning means to match specific frequencies such as various broadcast radio waves in the tens of MHz bands that the human body can use as an antenna. The purpose is to obtain power without using tuning means.

An energy obtaining apparatus using electromagnetic waves according to an aspect of the present invention includes an interface unit for obtaining a signal induced from the electronic device to the human body; And a rectifying circuit rectifying the AC signal input from the interface unit and converting the AC signal into a DC power source.

The interface unit of the present invention is characterized in that it is formed of a conductive material including a metal, a flexible substrate and a conductive fiber or a conductive gel such as an ECG electrode.

It is characterized in that it further comprises a filter installed at the front end of the rectifier circuit of the present invention to filter the signal input from the interface unit.

The filter of the present invention is characterized in that it comprises at least one of a low pass filter, a band pass filter and a high pass filter.

The interface unit of the present invention is characterized in that each is installed for each frequency band of the signal induced by the human body.

The rectifier circuit of the present invention is characterized in that each is installed for each frequency band of the signal induced by the human body.

An energy obtaining apparatus using electromagnetic waves according to another aspect of the present invention includes an antenna unit for receiving electromagnetic waves generated from an electronic device; An interface unit for acquiring a signal induced by the antenna unit; And a rectifying circuit rectifying the AC signal input from the interface unit and converting the AC signal into a DC power source.

The antenna unit of the present invention is characterized in that it is formed of a conductive material.

The interface unit of the present invention is characterized in that it is formed of a conductive material including a metal, a flexible substrate and a conductive fiber or a conductive gel such as an ECG electrode.

It is characterized in that it further comprises a filter installed at the front end of the rectifier circuit of the present invention to filter the signal input from the interface unit.

The filter of the present invention is characterized in that it comprises at least one of a low pass filter, a band pass filter and a high pass filter.

The interface unit of the present invention is characterized in that each is installed for each frequency band of the signal induced by the antenna unit.

The rectifier circuit of the present invention is characterized in that each is provided for each frequency band of the signal induced by the antenna unit.

The present invention does not require an energy source for providing energy, and can obtain necessary power without exposure of additional electromagnetic waves to or around the human body.

The present invention does not require an antenna for receiving electromagnetic waves from the outside, thereby generating the required power in a small area. In addition, since the antenna is not required, signals of various bands induced by the human body can be simultaneously used.

1 is a block diagram of an energy obtaining apparatus using electromagnetic waves according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a diagram illustrating an electromagnetic wave environment induced from an electronic device to a human body.
3 is a block diagram of an energy obtaining apparatus using electromagnetic waves according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a block diagram of an energy obtaining apparatus using electromagnetic waves according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a block diagram of an energy obtaining apparatus using electromagnetic waves according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, an energy obtaining apparatus using electromagnetic waves according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this process, the thickness of the lines or the size of the components shown in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity and convenience of description. In addition, terms to be described later are terms defined in consideration of functions in the present invention, which may vary according to the intention or convention of a user or an operator. Therefore, the definitions of these terms should be made based on the contents throughout the specification.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an energy acquisition apparatus using electromagnetic waves according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an electromagnetic wave environment induced from an electronic device to a human body.

An energy obtaining apparatus using electromagnetic waves according to an embodiment of the present invention generates power from electromagnetic energy of low frequency induced in the human body 100, and the human body 100 in various electronic devices 10 existing around the user. Energy is obtained from electromagnetic waves induced by.

To this end, the energy obtaining device using electromagnetic waves according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in Figure 1, input from the interface unit 120, the interface unit 120 for obtaining a signal induced in the human body 100 It includes a rectifier circuit 130 for rectifying the AC signal to be converted to a DC power source and a filter 140 installed in the front end of the interface unit 120 to filter the signal input from the interface unit 120.

The human body 100 has a very high dielectric constant in the low frequency band. Thus, more power is released to the human body 100 at low frequencies.

Referring to FIG. 2, various electronic devices 10, for example, an electromagnetic wave environment induced to a human body 100 from a mobile device, a lighting device, a computer, an electrical outlet, and the like are displayed.

As shown, the energy obtaining device using the electromagnetic wave according to the first embodiment of the present invention is a material having conductivity, unlike the energy obtaining device using the conventional wireless (RF), the human body 100 in contact with or close to the human body 100. It is possible to obtain energy by receiving a signal from).

The interface unit 120 is disposed in contact with or close to the human body 100 to acquire a signal induced from the electronic device 10 to the human body 100.

The interface unit 120 is not limited by a physical size for receiving a signal of a band to be acquired.

The interface unit 120 is formed of a conductive material. The conductive material may be a flexible substrate or a conductive fiber that can reduce the heterogeneity caused by the action and contact of the user as well as the metal. In addition, forms such as conductive gels such as ECG electrodes may be included, and may be configured in a form for receiving an electrical signal from a human body in which electromagnetic waves are organic together with an adhesive material.

The AC signal input through the interface unit 120 is converted into DC power through the rectifier circuit 130.

The rectifier circuit 130 rectifies an AC signal input from the interface unit 120 to generate a DC power. The rectifier circuit 130 operates by receiving an AC signal having a predetermined period. For this purpose, a filter for filtering the signal input from the interface unit 120 may be employed in front of the rectifier circuit 130. At least one of a band pass filter (not shown), a low pass filter (not shown), and a high pass filter (not shown) may be employed as the filter.

That is, the filter 140 is installed at the front end of the rectifier circuit 130 and used to efficiently rectify the signal input from the interface unit 120. Instead of a tuning means for tuning to a broadcast frequency, a constant period required for rectification is required. It is used to get the signal.

Electromagnetic waves induced by the human body 100 may exist in various bands, and when the filter 140 is not used, rectification efficiency may decrease due to destructive interference.

In order to obtain power from a 60 Hz signal output from a fluorescent lamp having a power line and a magnetic ballast, not only a band pass filter but also a low pass filter may be configured.

Very large inductors and capacitors are needed to achieve the 60 Hz band tuning means. Inductors are especially bulky and costly compared to resistors and capacitors.

Lowpass filters can be implemented with only resistors and capacitors.

In addition, in order to obtain power from a signal of several tens of kHz bands output from a fluorescent lamp having an electronic ballast, a band pass filter is required.

In this case, when electromagnetic waves having corresponding electric power are not induced to the human body in the frequency region of several tens of kHz band or more, it is possible to configure only the configuration of the high pass filter. The filter 140 used at this time is composed of passive elements that do not require power as elements necessary for energy harvesting, and may be replaced with other elements having such a function.

Currently used fluorescent lamps are largely divided into a magnetic ballast and an electronic ballast driving method, and gradually changed to an electronic ballast driving method. In consideration of this, the electromagnetic waves induced by the human body can be configured to obtain power by dividing the electromagnetic waves in the tens of kHz band output from the electronic ballast and the 60 Hz electromagnetic waves output from the power line and the magnetic ballast fluorescent lamp.

On the other hand, current CMOS technology is down-scaled to 45-65nm and the required driving voltage of the circuit has dropped to 0.8V or less, and the required power consumption is significantly lowered. You can build a sensor network.

However, the voltage obtained by energy harvesting is usually constrained to getting enough voltage to drive the circuit. It is necessary to increase the voltage to make the required voltage, in which case a DC / DC conversion circuit (not shown) may additionally be used.

Meanwhile, signals of various frequency bands may be induced from the electronic device 10 through the human body 100. Accordingly, the structure of the interface unit 120 and the rectifier circuit 130 may be improved according to each frequency band induced by the human body.

This will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

3 is a block diagram of an energy obtaining apparatus using electromagnetic waves according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In the energy obtaining apparatus using the electromagnetic wave according to the second embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, the interface unit 220-1, 220-2,. ) Are provided for each frequency band, and rectification circuits 230-1, 230-2, .., 230-n for rectifying signals of each frequency band are corresponding interface units 220-1, 220-2, .., 220-. It is installed corresponding to n). In addition, the filter 240 is installed to correspond to the rectifier circuits 230-1, 230-2, ..., 230-n, respectively, and filters the signal input from the interface units 220-1, 220-2, .., 220-n. -1,240-2, ..., 240-n). Such filters 240-1, 240-2,..., 240-n may be employed in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

That is, in the energy obtaining apparatus using electromagnetic waves according to the second embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of interface units 220-1, 220-2,..., 220-n corresponding to frequency bands of signals induced in the human body 100 are provided. And rectification circuits 230-1, 230-2,..., 230-n, to simultaneously obtain energy from signals of various bands induced in the human body 100.

4 is a block diagram of an energy obtaining apparatus using electromagnetic waves according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, the energy obtaining apparatus using the electromagnetic wave according to the third embodiment of the present invention is organically induced by one interface unit 320 and the human body 100 to obtain a signal induced by the human body 100. It includes a plurality of rectifier circuits (330-1, 330-2, ..., 330-n) corresponding to the frequency band of the signal. In addition, a filter 340 installed to correspond to the rectifier circuits 330-1, 330-2,. -1,340-2, ..., 340-n). Such filters 340-1, 340-2,..., 340-n may be employed in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

As such, the acquisition of signals of various frequency bands through one interface unit 320 is because the interface unit 320 does not have frequency dependency.

As described above, the energy obtaining apparatus using the electromagnetic wave according to the third embodiment of the present invention enables to obtain signals of various frequency bands through one interface unit 320.

Meanwhile, the energy obtaining apparatus using electromagnetic waves according to the first to third embodiments of the present invention has been described to obtain energy from electromagnetic waves received through the human body 100 acting as an antenna, but instead of the human body 100. It is also possible to obtain energy using a conductive material that can act as an antenna. This will be described with reference to FIG. 5.

5 is a block diagram of an energy obtaining apparatus using electromagnetic waves according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

An energy obtaining apparatus using electromagnetic waves according to a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes an antenna unit 410 for receiving electromagnetic waves generated by the electronic device 10 and an interface unit for acquiring signals induced by the antenna unit 410 ( 420 and a rectifier circuit 430 for rectifying an AC signal input from the interface unit 420 and outputting a DC signal. In addition, a filter 430 is installed to correspond to the rectifier circuit 430 to filter a signal input from the interface unit 420. This filter 430 may be employed in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

The antenna unit 410 may be formed of a conductive material. For example, the antenna unit 410 may be applied to a garment having conductive fibers. The clothing having the conductive fibers may use the conductive fibers as an antenna and obtain energy from electromagnetic waves input to the antenna on behalf of the human body 100.

In the case of implantable devices, very small size is required, and in the case of the wireless method, a considerable size antenna is required.

On the other hand, the energy acquisition device using electromagnetic waves according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention does not require an antenna, so the required space is very small and thus can be used as an auxiliary power source.

For example, in a device making direct contact with the human body 100 such as a hearing aid, it may be utilized as an auxiliary means of a conventional battery.

Here, since the interface unit 420, the rectifier circuit 430, and the filter 440 are the same as those of the first to third embodiments, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, it is merely exemplary and various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible to those skilled in the art. Will understand. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention will be defined by the claims below.

10: electronics
100: human body
120, 220-1 to 220-n, 320, 420: interface unit
130, 230-1 ~ 230-n, 330, 430: rectifier circuit
410: antenna unit

Claims (13)

An interface unit for acquiring a signal induced from the electronic device to the human body; And
And an rectifying circuit for rectifying the AC signal input from the interface unit and converting the AC signal into a DC power source. The method of claim 1, wherein the interface unit
Energy-using device using electromagnetic waves, characterized in that formed of a conductive material, such as a metal, a flexible substrate and a conductive fiber or a conductive gel such as ECG electrode. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a filter installed at a front end of the rectifier circuit to filter a signal input from the interface unit. 4. The filter of claim 3, wherein the filter is
An energy acquisition device using electromagnetic waves, characterized in that it comprises at least one of a low pass filter, a band pass filter, and a high pass filter. The method of claim 1, wherein the interface unit
Energy acquisition device using electromagnetic waves, characterized in that each is installed for each frequency band of the signal induced by the human body. The method of claim 1, wherein the rectifier circuit
Energy acquisition device using electromagnetic waves, characterized in that each is installed for each frequency band of the signal induced by the human body. An antenna unit for receiving electromagnetic waves generated from an electronic device;
An interface unit for acquiring a signal induced by the antenna unit; And
And an rectifying circuit for rectifying the AC signal input from the interface unit and converting the AC signal into a DC power source. The method of claim 7, wherein the antenna unit
Energy acquisition device using electromagnetic waves, characterized in that formed of a conductive material. The method of claim 7, wherein the interface unit
Energy-using device using electromagnetic waves, characterized in that formed of a conductive material, such as a metal, a flexible substrate and a conductive fiber or a conductive gel such as ECG electrode. The energy obtaining device using electromagnetic waves according to claim 7, further comprising a filter installed at the front end of the rectifying circuit to filter a signal input from the interface unit. The method of claim 10, wherein the filter
An energy acquisition device using electromagnetic waves, characterized in that it comprises at least one of a low pass filter, a band pass filter, and a high pass filter. The method of claim 7, wherein the interface unit
Energy acquisition device using electromagnetic waves, characterized in that each is installed for each frequency band of the signal induced by the antenna unit. The method of claim 7, wherein the rectifier circuit
Energy acquisition device using electromagnetic waves, characterized in that each is installed for each frequency band of the signal induced by the antenna unit.

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