Air-motion powered devices may be attached to vehicle wheels to harvest energy from the air through which the vehicle passes. One illustrative energy harvester embodiment includes a body that attaches to a wheel of a vehicle to move with the wheel as the wheel rotates. An action member attached to the body is acted upon by air through which the vehicle moves, causing the action member to move relative to the body. The motion of the action member optionally drives a generator to generate electrical power. An illustrative method embodiment which may be implemented by a wheel-attached energy harvester includes: receiving with the action member an aerodynamic force from air through which the vehicle moves; deriving from the aerodynamic force motion of the action member relative to the body; and converting said motion into electrical power. The electrical power may be supplied to sensors, lights, or motors.
AIR MOTION POWERED ENERGY HARVESTERS FOR VEHICLE WHEELS
2018-11-15
Patent
Electronic Resource
English
IPC: | B60R Fahrzeuge, Fahrzeugausstattung oder Fahrzeugteile, soweit nicht anderweitig vorgesehen , VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR / H02K Dynamoelektrische Maschinen , DYNAMO-ELECTRIC MACHINES / H02N Elektrische Maschinen, soweit nicht anderweitig vorgesehen , ELECTRIC MACHINES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR |