Power generation equipment

Abstract

The present invention provides a power generation device that generates electricity through the opening of a door without requiring a battery or other energy storage device, and can continue generating electricity for a certain period of time even after the door opening operation has stopped. [Solution] A power generation device 10 that generates electricity by the opening operation of a door 1, comprising: a rack and pinion mechanism 2 connected to the door 1 and having a pinion 22 that rotates in conjunction with the opening and closing operation of the door 1; a freewheel 3 that transmits the torque acting on the pinion 22 only in the rotational direction of the pinion 22 that is linked to the opening operation of the door 1; a rotor 41 that rotates by the torque transmitted by the freewheel 3; and a generator 42 on which a coil is wound.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a power generation device that generates electricity by the opening operation of a door.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, the number of vehicle models equipped with lighting lamps that light up when the door is opened has increased, such as lighting for illuminating the foot area near the door when the door is opened and warning lamps for notifying the following vehicle that the door is open. In vehicle models that supply power for lighting such lighting lamps from the in-vehicle battery, the life of the in-vehicle battery may be shortened by unnecessarily consuming the in-vehicle battery, or gasoline or other fuels may be unnecessarily consumed, imposing a burden on the environment.

[0003] As a solution to prevent such adverse effects, it is conceivable to mount a generator on a vehicle that generates electricity by the opening operation of a manually opened door, and light a lighting lamp with the electricity generated by this generator. Patent Document 1 discloses a lighting device that illuminates the foot area near an opened hinged door using the electricity generated by the rotational movement of opening the hinged door. This lighting device includes a rack and pinion mechanism connected to the hinged door, a generator connected to the pinion of the rack and pinion mechanism, and a lighting lamp. In this lighting device, the lighting lamp is lit with the electricity generated by the generator by the rotation of the pinion interlocked with the rotational movement of opening the hinged door.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] When passengers board or alight from a vehicle using the doors, the area around the doors must remain illuminated until boarding or alighting is complete. Therefore, the lights must remain on for several seconds after the door opening mechanism stops. However, if the lights are powered by electricity generated by the door opening mechanism, they will stay on while the doors are operating, but will turn off once the doors are fully opened and the opening mechanism stops. Therefore, to keep the lights on after the door opening mechanism stops, a power storage device such as a battery is required. However, adding a power storage device such as a battery increases costs.

[0006] Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a power generation device that generates electricity through the opening of a door without requiring a battery or other energy storage device, and that can continue generating electricity for a certain period of time even after the door opening operation has stopped. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present invention relates to a power generation device that generates electricity by the opening of a door, and is characterized by comprising: a rack and pinion mechanism connected to the door and having a pinion that rotates in conjunction with the opening and closing operation of the door; a freewheel that transmits the torque acting on the pinion only in the direction of rotation of the pinion in conjunction with the opening operation of the door; a rotor that rotates by the torque transmitted by the freewheel; and a stator around which a coil is wound. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] The present invention provides a power generation device that generates electricity through the opening of a door without requiring a battery or other energy storage device, and can continue generating electricity for a certain period of time even after the door opening operation has stopped. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This figure shows the configuration of the power generation device according to the disclosed embodiment. [Figure 2] This diagram illustrates the operation of the power generation device of this embodiment during the operation of opening a hinged door. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] The power generation device 10 of this embodiment will be described below with reference to Figures 1 and 2. Figure 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of the power generation device 10. Figure 1 shows the state of the power generation device 10 when the hinged door 1 provided on the side of the vehicle is closed. As shown in Figure 1, the power generation device 10 comprises a rack and pinion mechanism 2 connected to the hinged door 1, a freewheel 3, and a generator 4. The generator 4 comprises a rotor 41 and a stator 42 around which a coil (not shown) is wound.

[0011] The rack and pinion mechanism 2 comprises a rack 21, one end of which is connected to the hinged door 1, and a pinion 22, the pinion having teeth formed on its outer circumference that mesh with the teeth of the rack 21. The rack 21 and pinion 22 are engaged such that the teeth of the rack 21 and the teeth of the pinion 22 are always meshed. Therefore, when the rack 21 moves due to the opening and closing operation of the hinged door 1, the pinion 22 rotates in conjunction with the movement of the rack 21. In other words, the pinion 22 rotates in conjunction with the opening and closing operation of the hinged door 1. Note that the teeth of the rack 21 and the pinion 22 are not shown in Figures 1 and 2.

[0012] The freewheel 3 transmits the torque acting on the pinion 22 only in the direction of rotation of the pinion 22, which is linked to the opening operation of the hinged door 1. The rotor 41 then rotates due to the torque transmitted by the freewheel 3. The generator 4 generates electricity as the rotor 41 rotates, and current flows through the coil wound on the stator 42. The light fixture 5 is electrically connected to the coil wound on the stator 42. Therefore, when the rotor 41 rotates, the light fixture 5 lights up and illuminates the area around the hinged door 1.

[0013] Figure 2 illustrates the operation of the power generator 10 during the opening of the hinged door 1. In Figure 2, the hinged door 1 in the closed position is shown by a dashed line, and the hinged door 1 in the opening position is shown by a solid line. As indicated by the arrows in Figure 2, when the hinged door 1 is manually rotated from the closed position to the open position, the rack 21 moves to the right side of Figure 2 in conjunction with the rotational movement of the hinged door 1. Then, in conjunction with the movement of the rack 21, the pinion 22 rotates clockwise when viewed from the top of Figure 2. The torque acting on the pinion 22 is then transmitted by the freewheel 3 to the rotor 41, causing the rotor 41 to rotate clockwise when viewed from the top of Figure 2. Therefore, the generator 4 continues to generate electricity and the lighting lamp 5 continues to emit light while the hinged door 1 is being opened.

[0014] When the hinged door 1 is fully opened and the opening operation stops, the rack 21 and pinion 22 stop, but the rotor 41 is disengaged from the pinion 22 by the freewheel 3, and the rotor 41 continues to rotate for a certain period of time due to inertia. Therefore, the power generator 10 does not require a battery or other energy storage device, generates electricity through the opening operation of the hinged door 1, and can continue generating electricity for a certain period of time even after the opening operation of the hinged door 1 has stopped. This certain period refers to a period longer than the standard time it takes from opening the hinged door 1 until boarding and alighting are completed, for example, it could be 5 seconds or 10 seconds. In this way, because the power generator 10 continues to generate electricity for a certain period of time even after the opening operation of the hinged door 1 has stopped, the lighting lamp 5 can continue to illuminate the area around the hinged door 1 until boarding and alighting are completed.

[0015] When closing the hinged door 1, the rack 21 moves to the left side of Figure 2 in conjunction with the rotational movement of the hinged door 1. Then, in conjunction with the movement of the rack 21, the pinion 22 rotates counterclockwise when viewed from the top of Figure 2. However, even though the pinion 22 rotates counterclockwise when viewed from the top of Figure 2, the freewheel 3 spins freely, so torque is not transmitted from the pinion 22 to the rotor 41. Therefore, if the rotor 41 was rotating clockwise when viewed from the top of Figure 2 at the start of the closing operation of the hinged door 1, the rotor 41 will continue to rotate clockwise when viewed from the top of Figure 2 even after the hinged door 1 is closed. Also, if the rotor 41 was stopped when the closing operation of the hinged door 1 was started, the rotor 41 will remain stopped even after the hinged door 1 is closed.

[0016] <Supplement to the embodiment> The power generation device described herein is not limited to the above-described form and can be implemented in various forms within the scope of the gist of this disclosure. For example, the door is not limited to a hinged door but may be a sliding door. Also, the door is not limited to a vehicle door but may be a door used in a building or the like. [Explanation of symbols]

[0017] 1 Hinged door, 2 Rack and pinion mechanism, 3 Freewheel, 4 Generator, 5 Lighting, 10 Generator unit, 21 Rack, 22 Pinion, 41 Rotor, 42 Stator.

Claims

[Claim 1] A power generation device that generates electricity through the opening of a door, A rack and pinion mechanism having a pinion connected to the door and rotating in conjunction with the opening and closing operation of the door, A freewheel that transmits the torque acting on the pinion only in the rotational direction of the pinion, which is linked to the opening operation of the door, A generator having a rotor that rotates by the torque transmitted by the freewheel, and a stator around which coils are wound, A power generation device characterized by being equipped with the following features.

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