Mechanical design and optimization of ubiquitous power generator suited for mechanical input

Abstract

There are many electric power generators employing dynamos. However, most of them require large mechanical energy input at a time to get large electric power output. This task is not easy for elders because of heavy load. Therefore, we aimed to develop a new ubiquitous power generator suited for light power input. In order to generate large electric energy with light force, we propose a new generator mechanism to store mechanical energy using a spiral spring and gears. Large mechanical energy is stored in the spring by iteration of light force input. We designed a mechanism which can store mechanical energy in the spring by rotating an input lever several times with light force. The energy is restored to rotate the dynamo at high speed to generate electric energy efficiently. While restoring the mechanical energy, reverse rotation of the input lever is avoided by the clutch. Analysis as well as experiment of the proposed mechanism was performed here for optimal design of gear train. As an application, a power generation device which generates energy from door motion is shown to see effectiveness of this mechanism.