KR20210136955A - Energy harvesting system using more than two kinds of ambient energy - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an energy harvesting system using at least two types of energy, which comprises: a plurality of energy converters separately connected to a plurality of different energy sources, and receiving energy from the energy sources to convert the same into electrical energy; an electrical energy buffer for receiving and collecting the electrical energy from the energy converters to sum the collected electrical energy to a set power level; a constant voltage converter for receiving the electrical energy from the electrical energy buffer to convert the same into driving power at a power level usable by a load; and an electrical energy storage device for receiving the driving power from the constant voltage converter to store the same, and providing the driving power stored as a load. Therefore, more energy can be collected in various environments.

Description

Energy harvesting system using more than two kinds of ambient energy

The present invention relates to an energy harvesting system, and more particularly, to collect more energy using two or more ambient energy sources instead of collecting only one ambient energy source, and It relates to an energy harvesting system using different types of ambient energy for operating an electronic device.

As Internet of Things (IoT) technology spreads in a wide range of fields, it is predicted that the market for ultra-small/low-power IoT devices will grow explosively. However, the limitation of power supply methods such as battery replacement or power cord connection of IoT devices is one of the obstacles to the spread of IoT services.

Energy harvesting technology is attracting attention as a power supply technology for IoT devices, and through the convergence of energy harvesting and IoT technology, research on powerless driving technology of IoT devices or battery usage time extension technology is being actively conducted, and Demand is also increasing.

Representative energy harvesting energy sources include sunlight, vibration, heat, and wind, and there are devices that operate using the energy source. Since this conventional energy harvesting technology uses only one energy source within a limited environment, there is a problem in that it is difficult to utilize in an environment where the amount of the corresponding energy is insufficient.

Korean Patent Publication No. 2017-0101756 (published on Sep. 6, 2017)

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an energy harvesting system using two or more types of ambient energy that can collect more energy in various environments using two or more ambient energy sources, rather than using only one energy source. have.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a plurality of energy converters each connected to a plurality of different ambient energy sources, receiving energy from the plurality of ambient energy sources and converting them into electrical energy; an electrical energy buffer that receives and collects electrical energy from the plurality of energy converters and sums the collected electrical energy to a set power level; a constant voltage converter that receives electric energy from the electric energy buffer and converts it into driving power of a power level usable by a load; and an electric energy storage device that receives and stores driving power from the constant voltage converter and provides driving power stored as a load.

The plurality of different ambient energy sources include at least two ambient energy sources selected from the group consisting of sunlight, vibration, heat and wind.

The electric energy buffer may include: a first switching unit capable of selectively connecting all of the plurality of energy converters to a plurality of buffer blocks; a plurality of buffer blocks for receiving and temporarily storing electric energy from an energy converter connected among the plurality of energy converters by the first switching unit; and a second switching unit that connects the plurality of buffer blocks in series to add the electrical energy collected in the plurality of buffer blocks to a set electrical energy level and transfers the electrical energy to the constant voltage converter.

The first switching unit connects the plurality of energy converters to one of the plurality of buffer blocks, respectively.

The second switching unit connects one node of the buffer block to the ground when the buffer block receives and stores electrical energy from the energy converter.

The second switching unit releases the connection between the buffer block and the energy converter when the specific buffer block collects electrical energy up to the set individual electrical energy level, and when the electrical energy fails to collect up to the set individual electrical energy level, another buffer block that is not connected and switch to connect the energy converter.

When the total electric energy level of the collected buffer blocks reaches the set summed electric energy, the second switching unit connects the collected buffer blocks in series to add the electric energy, and then transfers the collected electric energy to the constant voltage converter.

The present invention also includes a first switching unit capable of selectively connecting all of the plurality of energy converters to the plurality of buffer blocks, respectively; the plurality of buffer blocks for receiving and temporarily storing electrical energy from an energy converter connected among the plurality of energy converters by the first switching unit; and a second switching unit that connects the plurality of buffer blocks in series to add the electrical energy collected in the plurality of buffer blocks to a set electrical energy level and transfers it to a constant voltage converter. Provides an electrical energy buffer for the system.

The energy harvesting system according to the present invention may collect more energy using two or more surrounding energy sources instead of collecting only one energy source, and operate an electronic device based on the energy.

The energy harvesting system according to the present invention converts a small amount of electrical energy collected from each surrounding energy source into a usable electrical energy level.

Since the energy harvesting system according to the present invention can collect more ambient energy in the same environment, it is possible to expand the types of operable electronic devices by utilizing the energy harvesting technology. For this reason, when using the energy harvesting system according to the present invention, it can be utilized in the development of sensors and devices that can operate using a surrounding energy source without a battery.

1 is a block diagram showing an energy harvesting system using different types of energy according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the electric energy buffer of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of summing electrical energy collected in buffer blocks of the electrical energy buffer of FIG. 2 .

It should be noted that, in the following description, only the parts necessary for understanding the embodiments of the present invention will be described, and descriptions of other parts will be omitted in the scope not disturbing the gist of the present invention.

The terms or words used in the present specification and claims described below should not be construed as being limited to their ordinary or dictionary meanings, and the inventors have appropriate concepts of terms in order to best describe their inventions. It should be interpreted as meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention based on the principle that it can be defined in Accordingly, the embodiments described in this specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and do not represent all of the technical spirit of the present invention, so various equivalents that can be substituted for them at the time of the present application It should be understood that there may be variations and variations.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram showing an energy harvesting system using different types of energy according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the energy harvesting system 100 according to the present embodiment collects more energy using two or more surrounding energy sources instead of collecting only one surrounding energy source, and based on the energy It is a system for operating a load 80 (electronic device).

The energy harvesting system 100 according to this embodiment includes a plurality of energy converters (10), electrical energy buffers (20; Electrical Energy Buffers), constant voltage converters (60; Constant Voltage Converters), and electrical energy storage devices. (70; Electrical Energy Storage). The plurality of energy converters 10 are respectively connected to a plurality of different ambient energy sources, and receive energy from the plurality of ambient energy sources and convert them into electrical energy. The electrical energy buffer 20 receives and collects electrical energy from the plurality of energy converters 10 , and sums the collected electrical energy to a set power level. The constant voltage converter 60 receives the combined electric energy from the electric energy buffer 20 and converts it into driving power of a power level usable by the load 80 . In addition, the electrical energy storage 70 receives and stores the driving power from the constant voltage converter 60 , and provides the stored driving power to the load 80 .

Here, the plurality of different ambient energy sources include first to n-th ambient energy sources (hereinafter, n is a natural number equal to or greater than 2). The plurality of different ambient energy sources may be, but are not limited to, sunlight, vibration, heat, and wind.

The plurality of energy converters 10 are connected one-to-one to a plurality of different surrounding energy sources, and receive energy from each of the surrounding energy sources and convert them into electrical energy. The plurality of energy converters 10 includes first to n-th energy converters 11 , 12 , and 13 . Converting the energy input from the surrounding energy source to which the energy converter 10 is connected into electrical energy generally uses a known technique.

The electric energy buffer 20 temporarily stores electric energy converted by the plurality of energy converters 10 and includes a passive element capable of storing electric energy, such as a capacitor. The electric energy buffer 20 converts the electric energy collected from the plurality of energy converters 10 into a set power level and transmits it to the constant voltage converter 60 .

The constant voltage converter 60 receives the electric energy stored in the electric energy buffer 20 and converts it into driving power of a power level usable by the load 80 .

In addition, the electrical energy storage 70 is an energy storage device for storing driving power for operating the load 80 , for example, a capacitor, a secondary battery, or the like may be used. The electrical energy storage 70 provides the stored driving power to the load 80 .

The operation principle of the energy harvesting system 100 according to this embodiment will be described as follows.

First, the energy converter 10 receives one or more ambient energy sources and converts them into electrical energy.

Next, the electrical energy converted by the energy converter 10 is accumulated in the electrical energy buffer 20 . At this time, since the type and intensity of the surrounding energy source is different according to the surrounding environment, the amount of electrical energy converted in each energy converter 10 and accumulated in the electrical energy buffer 20 is also different. Therefore, the electric energy buffer 20 sums up the accumulated electric energy.

In the case of the load 80 such as an ordinary electronic device, since the operable power level (voltage and current level) is determined, the electrical energy accumulated in the electrical energy buffer 20 cannot be used for the load 80 as it is.

Therefore, the electric energy accumulated in the electric energy buffer 20 is transferred to the constant voltage converter 60 to convert the driving power that the load 80 can use, that is, to a constant voltage/current, and convert the converted driving power to the constant voltage converter 60 . is delivered to and stored in the electrical energy storage 70 .

In addition, the electrical energy storage 70 stores the driving power received from the constant voltage converter 60 , and provides the driving power required to the load 80 from among the stored driving power.

The electric energy buffer 20 of the energy harvesting system 100 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 as follows. Here, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the electric energy buffer 20 of FIG. 1 . And FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of summing the electrical energy collected in the buffer blocks 40 of FIG. 2 .

The electrical energy buffer 20 includes a first switching unit 30 , a plurality of buffer blocks 40 , and a second switching unit 50 . The first switching unit 30 may selectively connect all of the plurality of energy converters 10 to the plurality of buffer blocks 40 , respectively. The plurality of buffer blocks 40 receive electrical energy from the energy converters 10 connected among the plurality of energy converters 10 by the first switching unit 30 and temporarily store them. In addition, the second switching unit 50 connects the plurality of buffer blocks 40 in series, adds the electrical energy collected in the plurality of buffer blocks 40 to a set electrical energy level, and transmits it to the constant voltage converter 60 .

where EC#1, EC#2,… , EC#N denote electrical energy output from the first to n-th energy converters 11, 12, and 13, respectively.

The first switching unit 30 connects the plurality of energy converters 10 to one of the plurality of buffer blocks 40 , respectively. The first switching unit 30 is a 1-1 switching unit 31, a 1-2 switching unit 32, ... , including a 1-n-th switching unit 33 .

The 1-1 to 1-n-th switching units 31 , 32 , and 33 include n switches corresponding to the number of the first to n-th energy converters 11 , 12 and 13 , respectively.

The plurality of buffer blocks 40 include first to n-th buffer blocks 41.42.43. One end of the first to n-th buffer blocks 41, 42, and 43 is connected to the 1-1 to 1-n-th switches 31, 32, and 33, respectively.

In addition, the second switching unit 50 stores electrical energy in the first to n-th buffer blocks 41 , 42 , 43 in conjunction with the first switching unit 30 , or adds the stored electrical energy to the constant voltage converter 60 . forward to

The second switching unit 50 is a 2-1 th switching unit 51 , a 2-2 th switching unit 52 , ... , a 2-(n-1)-th switching unit 53 , and a 2-n-th switching unit 54 . 2-1 switching unit 51 , 2-2 switching unit 52 , . . . , the 2-(n-1) switching unit 53 is provided between the first to n-th buffer blocks 41, 42, and 43, respectively, and the 2-n-th switching unit 54 is the n-th buffer block ( 43) is connected. 2-1 switching unit 51 , 2-2 switching unit 52 , . . . , the 2-(n-1)-th switching unit 53 includes a switch connected to two adjacent buffer blocks 40, respectively.

That is, the first buffer block 41 is connected to one of a ground node and a series node by a 1-1 switching unit 31 connected at one end and a 2-1 switching unit 51 at the other end.

The second buffer block 42 is connected to one of the 1-2-th switching unit 32, a serial node, and a connection node by a 2-1-th switching unit 51 at one end. Here, the connection node is a node connected to the constant voltage converter 60 . The second buffer block 42 is connected to one of a ground node and a series node by a 2-2 second switching unit 52 at the other end thereof.

In addition, the third buffer block to the nth buffer block 33 are connected in the same manner as the second buffer block 42 . In this case, one end of the n-th buffer block 43 is connected to the 2-(n-1)-th switching unit 53 , and the other end is connected to the 2-n-th switching unit 54 .

The second switching unit 50 connects the other end of the buffer block 40 to a ground node when the buffer block 40 receives and stores electrical energy from the energy converter 10 . One end of the buffer block 40 receives and stores electrical energy from the energy converter 10 connected through the first switching unit 30 or the second switching unit 50 .

When the buffer block 40 collects electrical energy up to the set individual electrical energy level, the second switching unit 50 disconnects the energy converter 10 connected to the buffer block 40 . That is, when the charging of the electrical energy set in the buffer block 40 is completed, the second switching unit 50 cuts off the connection between the charged buffer block 40 and the energy converter 10 . The plurality of energy converters 10 switch to another buffer block 40 that is not charged by the first and second switching units 30 and 50 to store electrical energy.

And when the summed electric energy level of the collected buffer blocks 40 reaches the set summed electric energy, the second switching unit 50 serially transfers the collected buffer blocks 40 as shown in FIG. 3 . It is connected to add electrical energy and then transferred to the constant voltage converter 60 . At this time, when the second switching unit 50 connects the plurality of buffer blocks 40 in series after accumulating the electrical energy to a set level in the plurality of buffer blocks 40 , at least one buffer block 40 ) is connected to ground. For example, as shown in FIG. 3 , when the first to n-th buffer blocks 41 , 42 , and 43 are connected in series, the first buffer block 41 , the second buffer block 42 to the n-1th buffer The 2-1 to 2-(n-1) switching units 51 , 52 and 53 of the block are connected by switching from a ground node to a serial node, and a 2-n-th switching unit of the n-th buffer block 43 . (54) remains connected to the ground node.

At this time, the summed electrical energy is transferred to the constant voltage converter 60 of the rear stage through the VB node. In order for the constant voltage converter 60 to operate, it is possible to operate only when electrical energy is collected above a specific voltage level. The electrical energy buffer 20 may connect the buffer blocks 40 in which a small amount of electrical energy is collected in series to increase the instantaneous VB voltage to a level at which the constant voltage converter 60 is operable, which is a small amount of electrical energy each collected. This is a way to raise the electrical energy level to the desired level.

Meanwhile, in the present embodiment, an example of electrically connecting all of the first to nth buffer blocks 41 , 42 , and 43 in series is disclosed, but the present invention is not limited thereto. If the summed electrical energy level reaches the set summed electric energy with only a partial number of the buffer blocks 40 among the plurality of buffer blocks 40 , only the corresponding number of the buffer blocks 40 may be selectively connected in series.

As described above, the energy harvesting system 100 according to the present embodiment collects more energy using two or more surrounding energy sources, rather than collecting only one energy source, and uses the load 80 based on the energy. can make it work

The energy harvesting system 100 according to the present embodiment converts a small amount of electrical energy collected from each surrounding energy source into a usable electrical energy level.

In addition, since the energy harvesting system 100 according to the present embodiment can collect more ambient energy in the same environment, it is possible to expand the types of operable loads 80 by utilizing the energy harvesting technology. For this reason, when the energy harvesting system 100 according to the present embodiment is used, it can be utilized in the development of a load 80 , for example, a sensor, a device that can be operated using a surrounding energy source without a battery.

On the other hand, the embodiments disclosed in the present specification and drawings are merely presented as specific examples to aid understanding, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. It is apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains that other modifications based on the technical spirit of the present invention can be implemented in addition to the embodiments disclosed herein.

10 : energy converter
20: electric energy buffer
30: first switching unit
31, 32, 33: 1-1 to 1-n-th unit switching unit
40 : buffer block
41, 42, 43: first to n-th buffer blocks
50: second switching unit
51,52,53,54: 2-1 to 2-n-th unit switching unit
60: constant voltage converter
70: electrical energy storage
80: load
100: energy harvesting system

Claims (9)

a plurality of energy converters connected to a plurality of different ambient energy sources, respectively, receiving energy from the plurality of ambient energy sources and converting them into electrical energy;
an electrical energy buffer that receives and collects electrical energy from the plurality of energy converters and sums the collected electrical energy to a set power level;
a constant voltage converter that receives electric energy from the electric energy buffer and converts it into driving power of a power level usable by a load; and
and an electric energy storage unit that receives and stores driving power from the constant voltage converter and provides driving power stored as a load;
The electrical energy buffer,
a first switching unit capable of selectively connecting all of the plurality of energy converters to a plurality of buffer blocks;
a plurality of buffer blocks for receiving and temporarily storing electric energy from an energy converter connected among the plurality of energy converters by the first switching unit; and
a second switching unit connecting the plurality of buffer blocks in parallel to add the electrical energy collected in the plurality of buffer blocks to a set electrical energy level and transferring the combined electrical energy to the constant voltage converter;
Energy harvesting system using more than heterogeneous ambient energy comprising a. According to claim 1,
The plurality of different ambient energy sources include at least two ambient energy sources selected from the group consisting of sunlight, vibration, heat and wind. An energy harvesting system using more than one type of ambient energy. According to claim 1,
The second switching unit connects some of the plurality of buffer blocks in parallel and connects the rest in series, summing the electrical energy collected in the plurality of buffer blocks to a set electrical energy level and transferring different kinds of ambient energy to the constant voltage converter energy harvesting system using According to claim 1,
The first switching unit is an energy harvesting system using different types of ambient energy for connecting the plurality of energy converters to one of the plurality of buffer blocks, respectively. 5. The method of claim 4,
The second switching unit connects one node of the buffer block to the ground when the buffer block receives and stores the electrical energy from the energy converter. 6. The method of claim 5,
The second switching unit releases the connection between the buffer block and the energy converter when the specific buffer block collects electrical energy up to the set individual electrical energy level, and when the electrical energy fails to collect up to the set individual electrical energy level, another buffer block that is not connected Energy harvesting system using heterogeneous ambient energy that switches to connect the energy converter and the energy converter. 7. The method of claim 6,
When the summed electrical energy level of the collected buffer blocks reaches the set summed electrical energy, the second switching unit connects the collected buffer blocks in parallel to combine the electrical energy and then transfers the different types of ambient energy to the constant voltage converter energy harvesting system using 7. The method of claim 6,
When the total electric energy level of the collected buffer blocks reaches the set summed electric energy, the second switching unit connects the collected buffer blocks in parallel and connects the rest in series to add the electric energy to the constant voltage converter. An energy harvesting system that uses more than one type of ambient energy to transmit. a first switching unit capable of selectively connecting all of the plurality of energy converters to the plurality of buffer blocks;
the plurality of buffer blocks for receiving and temporarily storing electrical energy from an energy converter connected among the plurality of energy converters by the first switching unit; and
a second switching unit connecting the plurality of buffer blocks in parallel to add the electrical energy collected in the plurality of buffer blocks to a set electrical energy level and transferring the combined electrical energy to the constant voltage converter;
An electrical energy buffer for an energy harvesting system using more than one type of ambient energy comprising a.

Images