Harvesting energy from interaction with papers

Number: 9899939
Published: 2018-02-20
Filed: 2014-01-02
Assignee: Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Inventors: Karagozler; Mustafa Emre; Poupyrev; Ivan; Fedder; Gary K.
CPC: H02N1/00; H02N1/08
Verdict: Medium Hardware
Source: Google Patents · FreePatentsOnline

The keeper's note

Energy harvesting from paper interaction.

Abstract

There is provided a system and method for harvesting electrical energy from interaction with papers. The system comprising an electret disposed between a first electrode and a second electrode, and an interactive device connected to one end of the first electrode and one end of the second electrode to provide an electrical potential, the interactive device configured to receive the electrical potential by moving the second electrode relative to the electret for generating electrical energy. Interactive devices that can be activated by the generator can include a light-emitting diode, an electronic paper display, an infrared communication, and a buzzer.

Background

BACKGROUND(1) Generating power from human motion requires designing devices that convert the motion of the human body into other forms of energy. The central element in any energy generation device is the generator, a device that converts one form of energy into another form of energy. Numerous generators for human power generation have been explored, such as piezo-based devices that produce power from vibration, electrostatic vibration generators, thermal converters, magnetic induction-based generators, and RF-based electrical generators. However, these devices require complex and expensive structures. Furthermore, these devices are big and bulky, and do not work well in situations where construction space is limited.SUMMARY(2) The present disclosure is directed to harvesting energy from interaction with papers, such as by a user touching, rubbing and sliding a paper, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

Claims

1. A paper book comprising: a plurality of papers including a first paper; a first electrode having a first conductive ink on the first paper; a second electrode having a second conductive ink on the first paper; an electret disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode; a rectifier connected to at a first end to the first electrode and at a second end to the second electrode; and an infrared (IR) communication device attached to the paper book and connected at one end to a third end of the rectifier and at another end to a fourth end of the rectifier, the IR communication device configured to receive a direct current (DC) from the rectifier caused by moving the second electrode relative to the electret to generate an alternating current (AC) provided to the rectifier, the IR communication device configured to transmit an IR signal to a separate device, in response to receiving the DC, causing the separate device to produce images. 10. A method of creating a paper book, the method comprising: providing a plurality of papers including a first paper; printing a first conductive ink on the first paper to provide a first electrode; printing a second conductive ink on the first paper to provide a second electrode; disposing an electret disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode; disposing a rectifier between the first electrode and the second electrode connected to at a first end to the first electrode and at a second end to the second electrode; and attaching an infrared (IR) communication device to the paper book, wherein the IR communication device is connected at one end to a third end of the rectifier and at another end to a fourth end of the rectifier, the IR communication device configured to receive a direct current (DC) from the rectifier caused by moving the second electrode relative to the electret to generate an alternating current (AC) provided to the rectifier, the IR communication device configured to transmit an IR signal to a separate device, in response to receiving the DC, causing the separate device to produce images.