An energy harvester for terminal screens

Abstract

This application discloses an energy harvester for terminal screens, comprising: a triboelectric energy harvesting component, mounted on the outside of the terminal screen, for harvesting triboelectric energy generated by manipulating the terminal screen and storing it in the terminal's battery; and a pressure-electric energy harvesting component, mounted on the inside of the terminal screen, for harvesting pressure-electric energy generated by manipulating the terminal screen and storing it in the battery. This technical solution can simultaneously generate triboelectric energy and pressure-electric energy while the user is manipulating the terminal screen, and promptly harvest and store them in the terminal's battery, effectively improving battery life while maximizing the terminal's limited space and without reducing the terminal's power consumption.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of energy harvesting technology, and in particular to an energy harvester for a terminal screen. Background Art

[0002] As devices like mobile phones become increasingly powerful, their power consumption is also increasing. This results in poor battery life, requiring frequent charging to maintain proper function, which creates significant user inconvenience. Currently, two approaches are commonly used to improve battery life: using larger batteries, which increases the size and weight of the device, impacting the user experience; and reducing power consumption, which reduces performance and contradicts the current development philosophy of faster, smarter devices, also impacting the user experience. Summary of the Invention

[0003] An embodiment of the present application provides an energy harvester for a terminal screen to improve the technical problem that existing terminals cannot simultaneously take into account both terminal power consumption and terminal battery life within the existing battery size.

[0004] To this end, the present application provides an energy harvester for a terminal screen, comprising:

[0005] A triboelectric energy harvesting component, mounted on the outside of the terminal screen, for harvesting triboelectric energy generated by operating the terminal screen and storing it in a battery of the terminal;

[0006] The pressure electric energy collection component is installed on the inner side of the terminal screen, and is used to collect the pressure electric energy generated by operating the terminal screen and store it in the battery.

[0007] Optionally, in some embodiments, the triboelectric energy harvesting component includes a transparent triboelectric negative electrode material layer and a transparent electrode layer, the transparent electrode layer is sandwiched between the outer surface of the terminal screen and the transparent triboelectric negative electrode material layer, and the transparent electrode layer is electrically connected to the power management module of the terminal.

[0008] Optionally, in some embodiments, the material of the transparent friction negative electrode material layer is selected from polytetrafluoroethylene material or perfluoroethylene propylene copolymer material, and / or the transparent electrode layer is a transparent ITO interdigital electrode.

[0009] Optionally, in some embodiments, the pressure electric energy collection component includes a plurality of elastic piezoelectric plates, the fixed ends of the elastic piezoelectric plates are fixed on the shell of the terminal, the movable ends of the elastic piezoelectric plates abut the inner surface of the terminal screen, and the plurality of elastic piezoelectric plates are electrically connected to the power management module of the terminal.

[0010] Optionally, in some embodiments, the elastic piezoelectric plate includes a first plate, a second plate and a third plate; the first plate is parallel to the side surface of the shell facing the terminal screen, and the first plate is fixed on the side surface of the shell facing the terminal screen; the second plate is parallel to the inner surface of the terminal screen, and the second plate abuts the inner surface of the terminal screen; the third plate is obliquely connected between the first plate and the second plate.

[0011] Optionally, in some embodiments, the length of a side where the first plate body is connected to the third plate body is greater than the length of a side where the second plate body is connected to the third plate body.

[0012] Optionally, in some embodiments, the third plate includes an elastic base layer and a piezoelectric material layer, and the piezoelectric material layer is laid on the upper surface and / or lower surface of the elastic base layer.

[0013] Optionally, in some embodiments, the elastic base layer is an elastic metal sheet or an elastic plastic sheet.

[0014] Optionally, in some embodiments, the material of the piezoelectric material layer is selected from any one or any combination of PZT (lead zirconate titanate piezoelectric ceramic), ZnO, BTO (barium strontium titanate film) and PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride).

[0015] Optionally, in some embodiments, the multiple elastic piezoelectric plates are symmetrically distributed between the terminal screen and the housing.

[0016] In the present application, the energy harvester, on the one hand, installs a triboelectric energy harvesting component on the outside of the terminal screen to collect the triboelectric energy generated by operating the terminal screen and store it in the terminal's battery. On the other hand, a pressure electric energy harvesting component is installed on the inside of the terminal screen to collect the pressure electric energy generated by operating the terminal screen and store it in the battery. In this way, the present technical solution can simultaneously generate triboelectric energy and pressure electric energy while the user is operating the terminal screen, and collect and store them in the terminal's battery in a timely manner, so as to effectively improve its battery life while maximizing the use of the terminal's limited space and without reducing the terminal's power consumption. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] The following detailed description of the specific embodiments of the present application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings will make the technical solutions and beneficial effects of the present application apparent.

[0018] Figure 1 It is a structural diagram of an energy harvester for a terminal screen provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0019] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the structure of the transparent electrode layer of the energy harvester shown.

[0020] Figure 3 yes Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the partial structure of the energy harvester shown.

[0021] Figure 4 yes Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the structure of the elastic piezoelectric plate of the energy harvester shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] The following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, clearly and completely describes the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without making creative work are within the scope of protection of this application. In the absence of conflict, the following embodiments and their technical features can be combined with each other.

[0023] As devices like mobile phones become increasingly powerful, their power consumption is also increasing. This results in poor battery life, requiring frequent charging to maintain proper function, which creates significant user inconvenience. Currently, two approaches are commonly used to improve battery life: using larger batteries, which increases the size and weight of the device, impacting the user experience; and reducing power consumption, which reduces performance and contradicts the current development philosophy of faster, smarter devices, also impacting the user experience.

[0024] Based on this, it is necessary to provide a new solution for improving the battery life of a terminal, so as to improve the technical problem that the existing terminal cannot well improve the battery life.

[0025] In one embodiment, Figure 1 As shown, this embodiment provides an energy harvester 20 facing the terminal screen 10. The energy harvester 20 may specifically include a triboelectric energy harvesting component 21 and a pressure electric energy harvesting component 22. The triboelectric energy harvesting component 21 may be specifically installed on the outside of the terminal screen 10 to harvest the triboelectric energy generated by operating the terminal screen 10 and store it in the terminal's battery (not shown). The pressure electric energy harvesting component 22 may be specifically installed on the inside of the terminal screen 10 to harvest the pressure electric energy generated by operating the terminal screen 10 and store it in the above-mentioned battery.

[0026] It should be noted that the terminal may be a smartphone, tablet computer, laptop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), or the like. The terminal screen 10 may be a touch screen, and the touch screen may use any touch screen technology, and there are no special requirements for this in the embodiments of the present application. Similarly, the battery may be a lithium battery or other battery product capable of storing electrical energy.

[0027] In the embodiment of the present application, the energy harvester 20, on the one hand, is provided with a triboelectric energy harvesting component 21 on the outside of the terminal screen 10 for harvesting the triboelectric energy generated by operating the terminal screen 10 and storing it in the battery of the terminal. On the other hand, a pressure electric energy harvesting component 22 is provided on the inside of the terminal screen 10 for harvesting the pressure electric energy generated by operating the terminal screen 10 and storing it in the battery. In this way, the present technical solution can simultaneously generate triboelectric energy and pressure electric energy while the user is operating the terminal screen 10, and collect and store them in the battery of the terminal in a timely manner, so as to effectively improve the battery life of the terminal while maximizing the use of the limited space of the terminal and without reducing the power consumption of the terminal.

[0028] In some examples, such as Figure 1 And such as Figure 2As shown, the triboelectric energy harvesting component 21 may specifically include a transparent triboelectric negative electrode material layer 211 and a transparent electrode layer 212. The transparent electrode layer 212 is sandwiched between the outer surface of the terminal screen 10 and the transparent triboelectric negative electrode material layer 211, and the transparent electrode layer 212 is electrically connected to the terminal's power management module (not shown). In this way, when the user manipulates the terminal screen 20, their finger will simultaneously touch the surface of the transparent triboelectric negative electrode material layer 211, causing the transfer of charge on the contact surface, which in turn induces the transfer of charge within the transparent electrode layer 212 (i.e., generating triboelectric energy). The transparent electrode layer 212 may specifically lead to two poles to electrically connect to the terminal's power management module, and then the power management module stores the above-mentioned triboelectric energy in the terminal's battery. Furthermore, the material of the transparent triboelectric negative electrode material layer 211 is selected from polytetrafluoroethylene material or perfluoroethylene propylene copolymer material, and / or the transparent electrode layer 212 is a transparent ITO interdigital electrode. Polytetrafluoroethylene or perfluoroethylene-propylene copolymer materials are both strong cathode materials with a low coefficient of friction, making them well-suited for use on the outer surface of the terminal screen 10 in conjunction with the transparent electrode layer 212 for triboelectric power generation. The transparent ITO interdigital electrodes are made of transparent indium tin oxide and may include a plurality of staggered electrode fingers 2121, with odd-numbered and even-numbered electrode fingers connected to electrode conductors 2122 at either end. During implementation, the length of each electrode finger 2121 and the spacing between adjacent electrode fingers 2121 can be optimized based on actual needs to achieve optimal power generation without affecting the normal touch functionality of the terminal screen 20.

[0029] In some examples, such as Figure 1 and Figure 3As shown, the pressure electric energy harvesting assembly 22 includes multiple elastic piezoelectric plates 221. The fixed ends of the elastic piezoelectric plates 221 are fixed to the terminal housing 30, and the movable ends of the elastic piezoelectric plates 221 abut the inner surface of the terminal screen 10. The multiple elastic piezoelectric plates 221 are electrically connected to the terminal's power management module. In this way, the multiple elastic piezoelectric plates 221 can form multiple slender elastic cantilever beam structures between the inner surface of the terminal screen 10 and the terminal housing 30. This structure is more suitable for weak excitation than the method of directly compressing the piezoelectric material. According to the piezoelectric equation, we know that the voltage output is proportional to the elastic strain exerted on the material. Piezoelectric ceramics are very hard, and the force of a finger touching the terminal screen 10 cannot produce large strain on the piezoelectric ceramics. Therefore, the embodiments of the present application cleverly utilize slender elastic cantilever beam structures to effectively amplify bending strain and increase the output of pressure electric energy. When used, the multiple slender elastic cantilever beam structures can not only convert mechanical deformation into electrical displacement for power generation, but also provide a rebound force after the terminal screen 10 is touched or pressed. That is, when the user manipulates the terminal screen 10, his fingers will touch or press on the terminal screen 10, causing it to deform to a certain extent. The deformation will be transmitted to at least one or more elastic piezoelectric plates 221 abutting the inner surface of the terminal screen 10, causing at least one or more elastic piezoelectric plates 221 to deform accordingly, thereby inducing the generation of pressure electric energy. Since the multiple elastic piezoelectric plates 221 are all electrically connected to the power management module of the terminal, the above-mentioned pressure electric energy is stored in the battery of the terminal through the power management module.

[0030] In some examples, such as Figure 1 、 Figure 3 and Figure 4As shown, the elastic piezoelectric plate 221 may specifically include a first plate 2211, a second plate 2212, and a third plate 2213. The first plate 2211 is parallel to the side surface of the housing 30 facing the terminal screen 10 and is fixed to the side surface of the housing 30 facing the terminal screen 10. The second plate 2212 is parallel to the inner surface of the terminal screen 10 and abuts the inner surface of the terminal screen 10. In this way, the first plate 2211 is the fixed end of the elastic piezoelectric plate 221 mentioned above, and the connection between it and the housing 30 is a fixed connection, such as welding, riveting, gluing, and fastener connection. The second plate 2212 is the movable end of the elastic piezoelectric plate 221 mentioned above. Its connection to the inner surface of the terminal screen 10 is a non-fixed connection, such as an abutment connection or a pin connection. This connection avoids a fixed connection, allowing the movable end of the elastic piezoelectric plate 221 to move inwardly along the terminal screen 10. The third plate 2213 is connected at an angle between the first plate 2211 and the second plate 2212, so that a preset angle is formed between the third plate 2213 and the inner surface of the terminal screen 10. This angle has a significant impact on the performance of the entire pressure electric energy harvesting assembly 22. Specifically, the larger the angle, the greater the allowable deformation, the greater the power generation, and the greater the overall equivalent stiffness. Therefore, in product design, a variety of factors should be comprehensively considered to determine the parameters of this angle.

[0031] Furthermore, because the multiple elastic piezoelectric plates 221 are located in a sealed space formed between the inner surface of the terminal screen 10 and the terminal housing 30, their movement is limited. This prevents drastic changes in the deformation of the multiple elastic piezoelectric plates 221 due to fluctuating external excitations. This effectively protects the overall structure and the piezoelectric material used, avoiding overload, fatigue, and breakage. Furthermore, the movement amplitude can be pre-set, and different amplitudes can be set based on the terminal thickness to maximize the movement amplitude within the allowable size range of the terminal application, thereby improving its piezoelectric energy output.

[0032] In some examples, such as Figure 1 、 Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown, the length of the side where the first plate 2211 meets the third plate 2213 is greater than the length of the side where the second plate 2212 meets the third plate 2213, resulting in a trapezoidal geometry for the third plate 2213. The third plate 2213 serves as the primary component of the elastic piezoelectric plate 221 for generating pressure and electrical energy. This design maximizes the bending strain of the third plate 2213 and avoids excessive stress concentration at the fixed end (i.e., the first plate 2211).

[0033] In some examples, such as Figure 1、 Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown, in order to enable the third plate 2213 to induce pressure electric energy when deformed, the third plate 2213 may specifically include an elastic base layer and a piezoelectric material layer, with the piezoelectric material layer being laid on the upper surface and / or lower surface of the elastic base layer. That is, the third plate 2213 may be a piezoelectric unimorph structure, including an elastic base layer (to ensure that it can elastically deform) and a piezoelectric material layer (to ensure that it can induce pressure electric energy when deformed), with the piezoelectric material layer being laid on either the upper surface or the lower surface of the elastic base layer. It may also be a piezoelectric bimorph structure, including an elastic base layer (to ensure that it can elastically deform) and two piezoelectric material layers (to ensure that it can induce pressure electric energy when deformed), with the elastic base layer being sandwiched between the two piezoelectric material layers. To better ensure elastic deformation, the elastic base layer can be a resilient metal sheet or a resilient plastic sheet. Specifically, the resilient metal sheet can be a steel sheet, a copper sheet, or a beryllium bronze sheet. Specifically, the resilient plastic sheet can be a TPE sheet or a TPU sheet. To better generate pressure-electric energy when deformed, the piezoelectric material layer can be made of any one or more of PZT, ZnO, BTO, and PVDF.

[0034] In some examples, such as Figure 1 and Figure 3 As shown, a plurality of elastic piezoelectric plates 221 are symmetrically distributed between the terminal screen 10 and the housing 30. The symmetrical distribution may include Figure 3 The left and right symmetrical distribution shown in FIG, that is, the four elastic piezoelectric plates 221 on the left and the four elastic piezoelectric plates 221 on the right are symmetrically arranged along the longitudinal midline of the housing 30, and the length of each elastic piezoelectric plate 221 is approximately equal to half the width of the housing 30. Also included Figure 3 The upper and lower symmetrical distribution shown in , that is, the upper four elastic piezoelectric plates 221 and the lower four elastic piezoelectric plates 221 are symmetrically arranged along the transverse center line of the shell 30. In this way, through the symmetrical distribution of multiple elastic piezoelectric plates 221, it can be ensured that when the user touches or presses any position of the terminal screen 10, the deformation can be quickly and promptly transferred to the corresponding elastic piezoelectric plate 221 to form corresponding pressure electric energy and store it in the battery of the terminal. For those skilled in the art, the number of the above-mentioned elastic piezoelectric plates 221 can be increased according to actual needs. The more the number of elastic piezoelectric plates 221, the greater the equivalent stiffness of the structure, and the maximum power generation under the same degree of compression. Therefore, the number of elastic piezoelectric plates 221 should be determined based on a comprehensive consideration of power generation requirements and costs. Figure 1As shown, the fixed end of the elastic piezoelectric plate 221 is fixed to the longitudinal midline of the housing 30, and the movable end of the elastic piezoelectric plate 221 contacts the extended area of ​​the inner surface of the terminal screen 10. When a finger presses the terminal screen 10, the third plate 2213 of at least one or more elastic piezoelectric plates 221 is compressed and bent. The bending strain generates electric displacement in the piezoelectric material of the third plate 2213, generating corresponding pressure and electric energy.

[0035] Although the present application has been shown and described with respect to one or more implementations, equivalent variations and modifications will occur to those skilled in the art based on reading and understanding this specification and the accompanying drawings. The present application includes all such modifications and variations and is limited only by the scope of the appended claims. In particular, with respect to the various functions performed by the above-mentioned components, the terms used to describe such components are intended to correspond to any component (unless otherwise indicated) that performs the specified function of the component (e.g., it is functionally equivalent), even if it is not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure that performs the function in the exemplary implementation of this specification shown herein.

[0036] That is, the above description is merely an embodiment of the present application and does not limit the patent scope of the present application. Any equivalent structural or equivalent process transformations made using the contents of the description and drawings of this application, such as the mutual combination of technical features between the various embodiments, or direct or indirect application in other related technical fields, are also included in the patent protection scope of the present application.

[0037] In addition, in the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside" and the like indicate positions or positional relationships based on the positions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present application. In addition, for structural elements with the same or similar characteristics, the present application may use the same or different reference numerals to identify them. In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the technical features indicated. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more features. In the description of the present application, "multiple" means two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0038] In this application, the word "exemplary" is used to mean "serving as an example, illustration or description". Any embodiment described in this application as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments. The above description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to implement and use the present application. In the above description, various details are listed for the purpose of explanation. It should be understood that a person of ordinary skill in the art can recognize that the present application can be implemented without using these specific details. In other embodiments, well-known structures and processes will not be elaborated in detail to avoid obscuring the description of the present application with unnecessary details. Therefore, the present application is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is consistent with the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed in this application.

Claims

1. An energy harvester for a terminal screen, characterized in that: include: A triboelectric energy harvesting component is installed on the outside of the terminal screen, and is used to harvest the triboelectric energy generated by operating the terminal screen and store it in the terminal's battery. The triboelectric energy harvesting component includes a transparent triboelectric negative electrode material layer and a transparent electrode layer provided between the outer surface of the terminal screen and the transparent triboelectric negative electrode material layer. The transparent electrode layer is a transparent ITO interdigital electrode, and the transparent ITO interdigital electrode includes a plurality of electrode fingers distributed in a staggered manner. A pressure electric energy collection component is installed on the inner side of the terminal screen, and is used to collect the pressure electric energy generated by manipulating the terminal screen and store it in the battery. The pressure electric energy collection component includes a plurality of elastic piezoelectric plates, the fixed ends of the elastic piezoelectric plates are fixed on the shell of the terminal, and the movable ends of the elastic piezoelectric plates abut the inner surface of the terminal screen, wherein the elastic piezoelectric plates include a first plate body, a second plate body and a third plate body, the first plate body is fixed on the side surface of the shell facing the terminal screen, the second plate body abuts the inner surface of the terminal screen, and the third plate body is obliquely connected between the first plate body and the second plate body.

2. The energy harvester according to claim 1, characterized in that The transparent electrode layer is electrically connected to the power management module of the terminal.

3. The energy harvester according to claim 2, characterized in that: The material of the transparent friction negative electrode material layer is selected from polytetrafluoroethylene material or perfluoroethylene propylene copolymer material.

4. The energy harvester according to claim 1, characterized in that The multiple elastic piezoelectric plates are all electrically connected to the power management module of the terminal.

5. The energy harvester according to claim 1, characterized in that The first plate is parallel to a side surface of the housing facing the terminal screen; the second plate is parallel to an inner surface of the terminal screen.

6. The energy harvester according to claim 5, characterized in that: The length of a side where the first plate body is connected to the third plate body is greater than the length of a side where the second plate body is connected to the third plate body.

7. The energy harvester according to claim 5, characterized in that The third plate includes an elastic base layer and a piezoelectric material layer, and the piezoelectric material layer is laid on the upper surface and / or the lower surface of the elastic base layer.

8. The energy harvester according to claim 7, characterized in that: The elastic base layer is an elastic metal sheet or an elastic plastic sheet.

9. The energy harvester according to claim 7, characterized in that: The material of the piezoelectric material layer is selected from any one or any combination of PZT, ZnO, BTO and PVDF.

10. The energy harvester according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The multiple elastic piezoelectric plates are symmetrically distributed between the terminal screen and the housing.

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