Flexible Energy Storage Device With Patterned Grooves
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing energy storage devices are expensive and inefficient, limiting the adoption of renewable energy sources, as they struggle to balance cost and efficiency effectively.
Innovation Solution
A flexible energy storage device with patterned regions on a substrate, where grooves are coated with conductor material to store electrical potential energy, allowing for series and parallel electrical connections without direct communication between conductors on opposite faces, preventing short circuits and enabling variable voltage and capacitance configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing energy storage devices use conventional structures, then they can store electrical energy, but they are expensive and have high risk of short circuits
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate is divided into multiple isolated patterned regions, each containing grooves with conductive coatings. The regions are electrically isolated from each other, preventing short circuits while maintaining structural integrity. This segmentation allows independent operation of each region and reduces the risk of system-wide failure.
Solution Approach 2:
The substrate acts as an intermediary medium that provides both mechanical support and electrical isolation between patterned regions. The conductive material coating on groove surfaces serves as an intermediary that enables controlled electrical connections while preventing direct contact between conductors on opposite faces.
2Reliability
If existing energy storage devices use conventional structures, then they can store electrical energy, but their cost is high
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate serves multiple functions simultaneously: mechanical support, electrical isolation, and pattern formation. The grooves provide both structural definition and conductive pathways when coated. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional components and manufacturing steps, lowering overall cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The conductive properties are changed by coating the groove surfaces rather than using bulk conductive materials. This parameter change from bulk to surface conduction reduces material costs and allows for more precise control of electrical properties, improving energy storage efficiency while reducing manufacturing complexity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If conductors are coated on both faces of grooves, then electrical connection flexibility is improved, but direct electrical communication between faces must be prevented
Solution Approach 1:
The patterned regions are segmented and isolated from each other on the substrate, with each region containing grooves that can be independently configured. This segmentation allows flexible electrical connections within each region while preventing unwanted connections between regions, enabling series and parallel configurations without short circuit risk.
Solution Approach 2:
The substrate material acts as an intermediary that provides electrical isolation between the conductive coatings on opposite faces of grooves. This intermediary prevents direct electrical communication while allowing the conductive coatings to perform their intended function of storing and releasing electrical energy.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device provides reliable energy storage with reduced short circuit risks and the ability to configure voltage and capacitance, enhancing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of energy storage, thus supporting the integration of renewable energy sources.
Implementation Method 1
each groove contains a material for storing electrical potential energy (e.g. capacitor material)
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to an energy storage device comprising a flexible substrate comprising at least two patterned regions spaced apart from one another along the length of the flexible substrate. Each patterned region comprises at least one groove extending in the longitudinal direction of the substrate (web direction) having a first and a second face, wherein the first and second faces are each coated with a conductor such that there is no direct electrical communication between the conductor on the first and second faces, the at least one groove contains a material for storing electrical potential energy (e.g. capacitive material), the first and the second face of the at least one groove of each patterned region are each in electrical connection with an electrical conductor at opposing edges of the flexible substrate, and the first and the second patterned region are electrically connectable to one another.