Smart wheel energy harvester

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12456935-B2
Application number	US-202418586324-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 23, 2024
Priority date	Jul 24, 2019
Publication date	Oct 28, 2025
Grant date	Oct 28, 2025

Abstract

Systems and methods for an energy harvester coupled to a rotatable component of a vehicle are disclosed. In some embodiments, an energy harvester system includes at least one energy harvesting component configured to be attached to a wheel of a vehicle, wherein the at least one energy harvesting component includes a piezoelectric component configured to be directly attached to a staging surface of the wheel, wherein the piezoelectric component is configured to deform in response to a mechanical strain imparted on the piezoelectric component as the wheel rotates and generate an electric signal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An energy harvesting system, comprising:
at least one energy harvesting component configured to be attached to a wheel of a vehicle, wherein the at least one energy harvesting component comprises:
a piezoelectric component configured to be directly attached to a staging surface of a rim portion of the wheel, wherein the rim portion of the wheel has a concave shape, and the staging surface comprises a two-dimensional convex surface; and
wherein the piezoelectric component is configured to generate an electric signal, as the wheel rotates, by deforming to conform with the two-dimensional convex surface in response to a mechanical strain imparted on the piezoelectric component by a tire mounted on the rim portion of the wheel.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the piezoelectric component comprises multiple layers, and wherein the multiple layers comprise: a tensile load backing layer, a piezoelectric material layer, and an electrode layer.

3. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a device configured to be coupled to the wheel, wherein the device is configured to receive the electric signal generated by the piezoelectric component.

4. The system of claim 3 , further comprising an electrical conduction component coupled to the piezoelectric component and configured to conduct the electrical signal generated by the piezoelectric component to the device.

5. An energy harvesting system, comprising:
a plurality of piezoelectric components configured to be directly attached to respective staging surfaces of a rim of a wheel of a vehicle, wherein the rim of the wheel has a concave shape, and wherein each of the respective staging surfaces is located at a respective rim portion of the wheel and comprises a respective two-dimensional convex surface, and wherein each piezoelectric component is configured to generate an electric signal, as the wheel rotates, by deforming to confirm with the two-dimensional convex surface in response to a mechanical strain imparted on the piezoelectric component by a tire mounted on the rim of the wheel; and
at least one device coupled to the wheel, wherein each device of the at least one device is configured to receive a respective electric signal generated by the plurality of piezoelectric components.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of piezoelectric components are attached to the respective staging surfaces of the wheel in a ring formation along a circumference of the wheel.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein each of the plurality of piezoelectric components are spaced at equal intervals along a circumference of the wheel.

8. The system of claim 5 , wherein each of the plurality of piezoelectric components comprises multiple layers, and the multiple layers comprise: a tensile load backing layer, a piezoelectric material layer, and an electrode layer.

9. The system of claim 5 , further comprising a plurality of interconnects each coupled to a respective one of the plurality of piezoelectric components and configured to conduct a respective electric signal from the respective piezoelectric component to the at least one device coupled to the wheel.

10. An energy harvesting system, comprising:
a wheel of a vehicle;
a plurality of energy harvesting components coupled to each other in a ring formation along a circumference of the wheel, wherein each of the plurality of energy harvesting components comprises:
a piezoelectric component directly attached to a respective staging surface of a rim portion of the wheel, wherein:
the rim portion of the wheel has a concave shape,
the respective staging surface comprises a two-dimensional convex surface, and
the piezoelectric component is configured to generate an electric signal, as the wheel rotates, by deforming to conform with the two-dimensional convex surface as a result of a mechanical strain imparted on the piezoelectric component by a tire mounted on the rim portion of the wheel.

11. The system of claim 10 , further comprising a plurality of interconnects each coupled to a respective one of the plurality of piezoelectric components and configured to conduct a respective electric signal from the respective piezoelectric component to at least one device coupled to the wheel.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein each of the plurality of piezoelectric components comprises multiple layers, and wherein the multiple layers comprise: a tensile load backing layer, a piezoelectric material layer, and an electrode layer.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the staging surface is a sidewall of the rim portion of the wheel.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the piezoelectric component is configured to have a flat shape that contacts only a portion of the two-dimensional convex surface in the absence of the mechanical strain.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the piezoelectric component comprises a tensile load backing layer configured to maintain the piezoelectric component in the flat shape in the absence of the mechanical strain.

16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the piezoelectric component is integrated with the rim portion of the wheel.

17. The system of claim 1 , wherein the two-dimensional convex surface is configured to limit an amount of deformation of the piezoelectric component caused by the mechanical strain.

18. The system of claim 1 , wherein the staging surface is located on the concave shape of the rim portion of the wheel, and wherein the two-dimensional convex surface of the staging surface is within the concave shape of the rim portion.

Assignees

• Tdk Corp

Inventors

• Griswold Ryan
• Sze John
• Vivek Vibhu

Classifications

• B60C23/0486

  comprising additional sensors in the wheel or tyre mounted monitoring device, e.g. movement sensors, microphones or earth magnetic field sensors · CPC title

• B60C23/0411

  Piezoelectric generators · CPC title

• B60R16/0307

  using generators driven by a machine different from the vehicle motor · CPC title

• B60C7/00

  Non-inflatable or solid tyres (B60C1/00 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H10N30/30

  with mechanical input and electrical output, e.g. functioning as generators or sensors · CPC title