Battery-free GPS positioner

Abstract

The utility model provides a battery-free GPS positioner, which comprises an air guide channel S1, a micro impeller S2, a micro generator S3, a micro electric energy acquisition and storage unit and a GPS and wireless communication unit, wherein the micro impeller S2 and the micro generator S3 are connected through a metal bearing, and the air guide channel S1 is characterized in that the upper surface and the lower surface are flat, the two sides are narrowed in a streamline mode, the cross section of an inlet is rectangular, and an outlet is contracted to be circular in diameter. The positioner further comprises an air outlet guiding structure which wraps the periphery of the metal bearing and the micro generator S3, the micro generator S3 is wrapped and fixed between the inner layer and the outer layer through a supporting structure, a hollow structure is arranged between the inner layer and the outer layer and used for guiding air to flow out, and the cross section of an air outlet guiding channel is of a streamline gradually-enlarged structure.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The utility model relates to GPS locator especially relates to the vehicle-mounted battery-free GPS locator realized by utilizing environmental energy collection technology, electronic technology and micro electric energy storage technology. BACKGROUND

[0002] In recent years, with the continuous expansion of the logistics industry and the vehicle scale of enterprises, the vehicle management is also facing more and more challenges. The vehicle-mounted hidden GPS locator can help enterprises to monitor the vehicle position, driving track, fuel consumption and other information in real time, realize the fine management of vehicles, improve the operation efficiency and reduce the management cost. On the other hand, vehicle theft and abuse of rental vehicles have always been a difficult problem for vehicle owners. The traditional anti-theft measures such as steering wheel lock, alarm and the like have been difficult to effectively prevent the criminal acts. The vehicle-mounted hidden GPS locator can track the vehicle position in real time, provide the police with clues for solving the case, effectively improve the vehicle recovery rate, and therefore is favored by the majority of vehicle owners.

[0003] The vehicle-mounted hidden GPS locator usually has the following functions: real-time positioning, track playback, electronic fence and remote control, and needs to have concealment and long enough endurance time. Among them, the endurance time has always been a user demand pain point. The more complete the function of the locator is, the more precise the vehicle management is, and the more power needs to be consumed, and the concealment requirement makes the battery of the locator cannot be too large. Therefore, the hidden locator used in the current market needs to be regularly removed for charging or battery replacement. This is a big trouble for users, which additionally increases a large amount of management and time cost, especially for the users of vehicle management and rental vehicle management. Therefore, the market demand for super-long endurance of the hidden GPS locator is particularly urgent.

[0004] The Chinese patent CN201963489 U proposes a vehicle-mounted wind power generation device, which envisages that the wind power generated during the driving of the vehicle is used to generate electricity for use in the vehicle. But from the principle of physics, it can be inferred that the scheme will inevitably increase the wind resistance of the automobile, which will lead to the increase of the fuel consumption of the vehicle. Moreover, the patent does not mention the specific structure of the power generation device, and therefore is not helpful to solve the market demand for long-term power supply of the hidden GPS locator.

[0005] The utility model proposes a battery-free GPS locator according to the current market demand. Through the special wind guide structure design, as well as the environmental energy collection technology and the micro-power collection and storage technology, the vehicle-mounted hidden battery-free GPS locator can be provided for the user. CONTENT OF THE UTILITY MODEL

[0006] The utility model provides a battery -free GPS locator, including air guide channel S1, micro impeller S2, micro generator S3, micro electric energy collection storage unit and GPS and wireless communication unit, wherein micro impeller S2 and micro generator S3 are connected through metal bearing, the appearance feature of air guide channel S1 is even on the upper and lower surfaces, both sides are streamline narrowing, the inlet cross section is rectangle, and the outlet is contracted as circular.

[0007] The battery-free GPS locator further includes an air outlet guide structure for guiding the air flow through the impeller, which is wrapped around the metal bearing and the micro generator S3. The inner layer of the air outlet guide structure is fixed in the middle by a support structure, and the space between the inner and outer layers is hollow to guide the air flow out. The cross section of the air outlet guide channel is a streamline gradually enlarged structure.

[0008] The micro electric energy collection storage unit includes a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) circuit, a low-power management circuit, and a secondary buffer storage circuit. The secondary buffer storage circuit uses a combination of electrolytic capacitors and supercapacitors.

[0009] The air guide channel S1 and the air outlet guide structure are made of lightweight and high-strength materials, including carbon fiber or 3D printed resin.

[0010] The hardware unit of the locator is assembled in a waterproof sealed housing.

[0011] The implementation of the utility model can provide a battery-free positioning solution for vehicle positioning applications, greatly saving the time and management cost of periodic battery charging or replacement in vehicle management application scenarios.

[0012] Other features and advantages of the utility model will become more apparent after reading the detailed description of the utility model embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0013] To clearly illustrate the technical solutions and embodiments of the utility model, the following briefly introduces the drawings involved in the specification. It should be noted that the main purpose of the drawings is to illustrate the relationship between the components of the device, structural features, and the advantages brought by them. The drawings are not drawn to scale according to the actual size of the device. Obviously, the drawings only involve limited embodiments and cannot be understood as a limitation of the utility model. Those skilled in the art can easily obtain new embodiments through formal changes based on these drawings.

[0014] Figure 1 is the air guide channel structure schematic diagram of an embodiment of the utility model;

[0015] Figure 2 is the top view of the air outlet guide structure of an embodiment of the utility model.

[0016] Figure 3 is a hardware functional unit logic block diagram of an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] The specific embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0018] The present application provides a battery-free GPS locator, which is applied to a vehicle-mounted hidden deployment scene. The core structure of the locator includes a wind guide channel S1, a micro impeller S2 and a micro generator S3, and a micro electric energy collection and storage unit as shown in the drawings. Figure 1 The wind guide channel S1 is made of lightweight high-strength materials, such as carbon fiber or 3D printing resin, so as to reduce weight and improve durability. The outer shape features are flat upper and lower surfaces, streamlined narrowing on both sides, rectangular cross-section of WxH at the inlet, and rounded corners on the periphery; the outlet is contracted into a circular shape with a diameter of H.

[0019] The outlet of the above-mentioned wind guide channel S1 is connected to the above-mentioned micro impeller S2 through a threaded structure. The impeller has a multi-blade structure, and the number and inclination angle of the blades are designed by comprehensively considering factors such as fluid mechanics characteristics, energy conversion efficiency, structural strength and cost, and are determined after simulation calculation by a fluid mechanics simulation tool. The micro impeller designed in the present application uses 5 propeller blades.

[0020] The above-mentioned micro impeller S2 and micro generator S3 are connected through a metal bearing, and the bearing and the micro generator S3 are wrapped with an air outlet guide structure for guiding the air flow through the impeller. Figure 2 A top view of the air outlet guide structure is shown. The inner layer wraps and fixes the micro generator S3 in the middle through a support structure, the outer layer has a similar shape structure as the wind guide channel S1, and the inner and outer layers are hollow structures for guiding air out, as shown by the dashed line in the figure. The cross-section of the air outlet guide channel is also designed as a streamlined enlarged structure.

[0021] The battery-free GPS locator proposed in this invention further includes a micro-energy harvesting and storage unit and a GPS positioning unit. The GPS positioning unit includes a GPS module and a wireless communication module. The former includes a satellite positioning chip and its peripheral circuitry, obtaining its own position coordinates by receiving and calculating positioning information transmitted by multiple navigation satellites. The wireless communication module includes a wireless communication chipset with an embedded microprocessor, connecting to a service platform via a wireless network. Its embedded microprocessor also serves as the main control processor of the locator. The micro-energy harvesting and storage unit includes a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) circuit, a low-power management circuit, and a secondary buffer storage circuit. The MPPT circuit dynamically matches the load impedance through a DC-DC converter to maximize energy capture. The low-power management circuit uses a micro-energy harvesting and processing chip, such as the LTC3588-1 chip, to rectify and regulate the electrical energy output from the micro-generator before outputting it to the secondary buffer storage circuit. The secondary buffer storage circuit uses a combination of electrolytic capacitors and supercapacitors. It utilizes the instantaneous charge and discharge characteristics of the electrolytic capacitors to store the weak and fluctuating electrical energy output from the micro-energy harvesting chip. After the electrolytic capacitors are fully charged, they charge the supercapacitors through a charging management circuit. The supercapacitors then provide a stable DC power output through a voltage regulation circuit, providing the operating power for the entire positioner.

[0022] All of the above hardware modules are assembled in a sealed, waterproof housing, with the micro-energy harvesting and storage unit and GPS positioning unit integrated on a single PCB circuit board. Figure 1 and Figure 2 The recessed area in the middle of the side of the airflow guiding structure shown. Figure 3 A functional unit logic block diagram of the GPS locator is provided.

[0023] The application scenario of this utility model is a vehicle-mounted concealed application. The locator described in this utility model is attached to a concealed location on the bottom of the vehicle using a strong magnet. When the vehicle is in motion, the structure of this utility model can collect wind energy to generate electricity for the locator. The faster the vehicle speed, the more electrical energy can be collected, enabling higher-density location update services. Because the supercapacitor can store a certain amount of electrical energy, the positioning frequency can be reduced when the vehicle is parked, and the locator's battery life can be extended through low-power management methods such as sleep / wake-up. Prolonged parking will deplete the energy in the supercapacitor, preventing further positioning. However, from a business perspective, the system already knows the vehicle's last parking location, so continuous location tracking is not necessary. Once the vehicle restarts, the locator can be reactivated and resume normal operation.

[0024] Assuming the inlet cross-sectional area of ​​the locator air guide structure described in this utility model is A0, the outlet cross-sectional area is A1, the inlet air velocity is V0, the outlet air velocity is V1, and ρ is the air density, then according to fluid mechanics:

[0025] PA0V0 = PA1V1, get

[0026] The kinetic energy power captured by the impeller is:

[0027]

[0028] The actual power generation after considering the efficiency (air guide structure, impeller, generator) is:

[0029] (wherein η 总 = η 导风筒 · η 叶轮 · η 发电机 )

[0030] V1 can be obtained by:

[0031]

[0032] It can be seen that the actual power generation is proportional to the third power of the inlet wind speed, the square of the area ratio and the total efficiency. Through simulation measurement and actual test, the utility model can obtain stable output power of dozens to hundreds of milliwatts when the automobile is running, which can support the work of the GPS locator optimized by low power consumption.

[0033] The design idea of the utility model is based on the Venturi effect in fluid mechanics, similar to the air guide channel of a horn, the cross-sectional area (A0) of the inlet is larger than the cross-sectional area (A1) of the outlet. When the wind enters the horn-shaped structure, the air flows along the pipeline to the outlet, and the decrease of the cross-sectional area of the pipeline will cause the increase of the flow rate, so that the wind speed is improved at the outlet, thereby improving the kinetic energy of the impeller and driving the generator to generate electricity.

[0034] The utility model realizes micro wind power generation by accelerating airflow through the streamlined contraction air guide structure, combining with high-efficiency impeller and generator. The core idea is that: the air guide structure adopts the design of streamlined gradual cross section, avoids the airflow separation and energy loss caused by the sudden change of cross-sectional area, ensures the smooth flow of airflow, reduces turbulence and resistance, the best contraction ratio improves the flow rate at the outlet and thereby improves the kinetic energy output to the impeller, while ensuring the stability of the airflow; MPPT and two-stage buffer energy storage design well cope with the wind speed fluctuation caused by the change of vehicle speed, and guarantee the power supply stability.

[0035] The description of the utility model is given for example, is not exhaustive or limit the utility model to the disclosed form. The selection and description of the embodiments are to better illustrate the principle and practical application of the utility model, and enable those skilled in the art to understand the utility model so as to design various embodiments with various modifications suitable for specific purposes. Any new embodiment realized by simple deformation, modification, equivalent replacement, improvement within the basic concept, construction principle and spiritual framework of the utility model should be included in the protection scope of the utility model. For example, the article takes GPS positioning as an example to illustrate the design idea of the utility model, and the Beidou positioning scheme is also applicable. The scope of the utility model is determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A battery-free GPS locator, characterized in that, The battery-free GPS locator comprises a wind guide channel (S1), a micro impeller (S2), a micro generator (S3), a micro electric energy collection and storage unit, and a GPS and wireless communication unit; wherein the micro impeller (S2) and the micro generator (S3) are connected through a metal bearing, the wind guide channel (S1) has the features of flat upper and lower surfaces, streamlined sides, a rectangular inlet cross section, and a circular outlet with a diameter.

2. The battery-free GPS locator of claim 1, wherein, The battery-free GPS locator further comprises an air outlet guide structure for guiding the air flow through the impeller, which is wrapped around the metal bearing and the micro generator (S3), the inner layer of which is fixed to the middle by a support structure, and the inner and outer layers are hollow structures for guiding the air flow out, and the cross section of the air outlet guide channel is a streamlined gradually enlarged structure.

3. The battery-free GPS locator of claim 1, wherein, The micro electric energy collection and storage unit comprises a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) circuit, a low-power management circuit, and a two-stage buffer storage circuit, and the two-stage buffer storage circuit adopts a combination of electrolytic capacitors and super capacitors.

4. The battery-free GPS locator of claim 3, wherein, The wind guide channel (S1) and the air outlet guide structure are made of lightweight and high-strength materials, including carbon fiber or 3D printed resin.

5. The battery-free GPS locator of any one of claims 1-4, wherein, The hardware units of the locator are assembled in a waterproof sealed shell.

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