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8434303 Driving device made of shape-memory alloy  
A storing section (70) stores a second initial contact instruction value, which is predefined as an instruction value for positioning a movable portion (5) to a second contact position where the...
8427030 Thermomagnetic generator  
A thermomagnetic generator which converts thermal energy to electrical energy without intermediate conversion to mechanical work and which works at temperatures in the range from −20° C. to 20...
8378207 System and method for using pre-equilibrium ballistic charge carrier refraction  
A method and system for using a method of pre-equilibrium ballistic charge carrier refraction comprises fabricating one or more solid-state electric generators. The solid-state electric generators...
8350444 Method and apparatus for conversion of heat to electrical energy using polarizable materials and an internally generated poling field  
A method for converting heat to electricity by exploiting changes in spontaneous polarization that occur in electrically polarizable materials is described. The method uses an internally generated...
8344585 Method and apparatus for conversion of heat to electrical energy using a new thermodynamic cycle  
A method for converting heat to electricity is described. The method can be used to efficiently and economically generate electricity from thermal energy directly through ferroelectric or other...
8339073 Shape memory alloy driver  
A shape memory alloy driver comprises a displacement detection portion, a drive control portion, and a compensation calculation portion. The displacement detection portion detects displacement of a...
8330323 Thermal-mechanical signal processing  
A source signal is converted into a time-variant temperature field with transduction into mechanical motion. In one embodiment, the conversion of a source signal into the time-variant temperature...
8324783 Non-decaying electric power generation from pyroelectric materials  
A method, an apparatus and/or a system of non-decaying electric power generation from pyroelectric materials is disclosed. In one aspect, a method includes generating a substantially continuous...
8310127 Connected energy converter, generator provided therewith and method for the manufacture thereof  
A high-output energy converter of an output-improving thermionic generator, thermally connected to other generators without moving parts that utilize the residual energy from the thermionic...
8304957 Thermomagnetic generator device and energy converting method  
A generator device for converting thermal energy to electric energy. A magnetic circuit includes at least a portion made of a magnetic material. A temperature-varying device varies the temperature...
8286424 Thermoelectric generator cooling system and method of control  
An apparatus is provided that includes a thermoelectric generator and an exhaust gas system operatively connected to the thermoelectric generator to heat a portion of the thermoelectric generator...
8269097 Thin film thermoelectric element including stress releasing elements  
A thermoelectric element has a first substrate at a high temperature side, a second substrate at a low temperature side facing the first substrate, a thermoelectric material placed on the second...
8258672 Composite structure gap-diode thermopower generator or heat pump  
A thermionic or thermotunneling generator or heat pump is disclosed, comprising electrodes substantially facing one another and separated by spacers disposed between the electrodes, wherein the...
8242662 Special thermo magnetic motor device  
A special thermo magnetic motor which is an electromagnetic heat engine used for directly converting power between heat and electrical forms using magnetism. It is comprised of a unique combination...
8237324 Bistable electroactive polymers  
A bistable electroactive polymer transducer is provided for electrically actuated deformation of rigid electroactive polymer members. The polymers have glass transition temperatures (Tg) above...
8234951 Bistable aerial platform  
A bistable MEMS platform. The bistable MEMS platform converts a rotational input into an ortho-planar displacement and can maintain either it's up or down position without an input force due to...
8227681 Active material apparatus with activating thermoelectric device thereon and method of fabrication  
An active material assembly is provided having a thermally-activated active material apparatus with an elongated, non-planar shape and a thermoelectric device in thermal contact therewith. The...
8220259 Shape-memory alloy actuator  
An actuator includes a shape memory element formed from a shape memory alloy. The shape memory element is configured such that the actuator is actuated by a change in shape of the shape memory...
8183736 Device and method for converting energy  
A device for transforming thermal energy to electric energy including a magnetic circuit including at least a portion made of a magnetic material, a temperature-varying device for varying the...
8174245 Device and method for converting thermal energy into electrical energy  
A device and method for using a field-responsive material that changes temperature when subjected to a respective field in combination with a thermal to electrical energy converter to accomplish...
8159108 Integrated thermoelectric/ thermionic energy converter  
A device for converting heat into electrical energy that is an integrated combination of thermionic and thermoelectric energy converters in a single device, or “TITE”. The electron output of the...
8159107 Micro rotary machine and methods for using same  
A micro rotary machine may include a micro actuator and a micro shaft coupled to the micro actuator. The micro shaft comprises a horizontal shaft and is operable to be rotated by the micro...
8134276 Methods and systems for positioning micro elements  
A micro device may comprise a substrate, a first micro structure coupled to the substrate, a second micro structure coupled to the substrate, and port configured to receive an input. The first...
8129882 Thermoelectric generator and method of generating electricity  
A generator device for converting thermal energy to electric energy. A magnetic circuit includes at least a portion made of a magnetic material. A temperature-varying device varied the temperature...
8115579 MEMS actuators with stress releasing design  
The micro-electromechanical (MEMS) actuator comprises a hot arm member and a cold arm member. The cold arm member comprises at least two longitudinally spaced-apart flexors. The actuators may also...
8102096 Closely spaced electrodes with a uniform gap  
An improved design for maintaining separation between electrodes in tunneling, resonant tunneling, diode, thermionic, thermo-photovoltaic and other devices is disclosed. At least one electrode 1 is...
8072117 Thermal-mechanical signal processing  
A source signal is converted into a time-variant temperature field with transduction into mechanical motion. In one embodiment, the conversion of a source signal into the time-variant temperature...
8065877 Solar energy converting device and power supply system including the same  
A solar energy converting device includes a frame, a container, a thermal expansion member, a connecting rod, an inductor and magnetic members. The frame defines an opening. The container is...
8053947 Device for converting thermal energy into electrical energy  
A current source and method of producing the current source are provided. The current source includes a metal source, a buffer layer, a filter and a collector. An electrical connection is provided...
8046994 Precision method and apparatus for controlling the shape memory alloy  
The invention discloses a method and apparatus to control the shaping change of Shape-Memory-Alloy (SMA). The piece-wised current drain control device is designed to independently deliver current...
8035274 Apparatus and method for ferroelectric conversion of heat to electrical energy  
The present invention relates to a new method and apparatus for converting heat to electric energy. The invention exploits the rapid changes in spontaneous polarization that occur in ferroelectric...
8018117 Closely spaced electrodes with a uniform gap  
An improved design for maintaining separation between electrodes in tunneling, diode, thermionic, thermophotovoltaic and other devices is disclosed. At least one electrode is made from flexible...
7982360 Apparatus and method for ferroelectric conversion of heat to electrical energy  
The present invention relates to a new method and apparatus for converting heat to electric energy. The invention exploits the rapid changes in spontaneous polarization that occur in ferroelectric...
7975477 Driving device and method of manufacturing the same  
A driving device and driving device manufacturing method that ensure stable fixing of an SMA, without causing difficulties in downsizing the device, and without adversely affecting the performance...
7972865 Sensor for detecting and differentiating chemical analytes  
A sensor for detecting and differentiating chemical analytes includes a microscale body having a first end and a second end and a surface between the ends for adsorbing a chemical analyte. The...
7969062 Energy converting apparatus, generator and heat pump provided therewith and method of production thereof  
A high-efficiency thermionic energy converter comprises a multilayer vacuum diode, the layers of which are very thin and the intermediate spaces between the layers are several nanometers thick. The...
7928630 Monolithic thermionic converter  
A thermionic converter is disclosed comprising a single or multiple hot (emitter) and cold (collector) electrodes mounted side-by-side on a single substrate and a static electrostatic field for...
7919709 Temperature power generation device and temperature power generation method  
A temperature power generation device includes a temperature reactive layer made of high thermal energy absorbing material and a thermal electron generation layer made of low work function...
7919901 Low-voltage, large displacement stepping actuator and method for fabricating the same  
The current invention provides a stepping actuator, achieving large range up to ±35 μm with low operating voltages of 15V or lower and large output forces of up to ±110 μN. The actuator has an in-...
7908856 In-line stirling energy system  
A high efficiency generator is provided using a Stirling engine to amplify an acoustic wave by heating the gas in the engine in a forward mode. The engine is coupled to an alternator to convert...
7906887 Microsystem and method for positioning a second element with respect to a first element in a microsystem  
A microsystem, comprising a first static element (1), a second, movable and unattached element (2), an actuator (3) for effecting a force between the first and the second element (1, 2), which...
7882701 Microfabricated mechanical frequency multiplier  
A high-bandwidth MEMS actuation system includes actuator pairs coupled in parallel to a stage, each actuator energizable in a drive direction against a bias to an energized position, and movable...
7880079 Dual gap thermo-tunneling apparatus and methods  
Method and apparatus for improved thermal isolation for thermoelectric devices are disclosed. In one embodiment, a thermoelectric device includes a first substrate portion having a first p-type...
7872432 MEMS thermal device with slideably engaged tether and method of manufacture  
A MEMS thermal switch is disclosed which couples a hot, expanding beam to a cool flexor beam using a slideably engaged tether, and bends the cool, flexor beam by the expansion of the hot beam. A...
7859154 Thermally operated rotatable component restraint system  
A turboalternator system includes a turboalternator having a rotatable member operatively engaged to a bearing set, a radial support element, and a contact structure engaged with the radial support...
7816601 Device and method for converting thermal energy into electrical energy  
A device and method for using a field-responsive material that changes temperature when subjected to a respective field in combination with a thermal to electrical energy converter to accomplish...
7812502 Shell type actuator  
A micromechanical resonator is formed on a substrate. The resonator has a partial spherical shell clamped on an outside portion of the shell to the substrate. In other embodiments, a flat disc or...
7800278 Energy harvesting by means of thermo-mechanical device utilizing bistable ferromagnets  
An inventive energy harvesting apparatus may include a ferromagnetic material and/or a shape memory alloys to convert thermal energy to mechanical energy to electrical energy. The apparatus is...
7800279 Thermo-buckled micro actuation unit made of polymer of high thermal expansion coefficient  
Disclosed is a thermo-buckled micro actuation unit made of parylene, which is a polymer having high thermal expansion coefficient, for delivering liquid from a source liquid section to a target...
7796847 Electrical stimuli of MEMS devices  
Methods for applying electrical stimuli to optical micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) devices are disclosed. Electrical stimuli may be applied to one or more released current carrying elements...