PIEZO BASED ENERGY HARVESTING FOR E-LATCH SYSTEMS

摘要

A vehicle door includes an electrically-powered latch and a user input feature that can be actuated by a user to cause the electrically-powered latch to unlatch. An electrical energy storage device is operably connected to the electrically-powered latch, and a piezoelectric device is mounted to the door. The piezoelectric device can be manually actuated by a user to charge the electrical energy storage device, and electrical energy from the electrical energy storage device can be utilized to actuate the electrically-powered latch to thereby unlatch the latch. The user input feature may comprise a switch or sensor located adjacent a door handle/latch release on an inside and/or an outside of the vehicle door. The electrical energy storage device may comprise an emergency battery, capacitor, or other electrical device.

主权项

1. A vehicle door, comprising:
a door structure; a handle fixed to the door structure; an electrically-powered latch defining latched and unlatched states; a user input feature comprising a sensor actuated by a user and causing the electrically-powered latch assembly to change from the latched state to the unlatched state in order to unlatch the door such that the door can be unlatched without movement of the handle relative to the door structure; an electrical energy storage device that is operably connected to the electrically-powered latch; a piezoelectric device operably connected to the electrical energy storage device such that the piezoelectric device is manually actuated by a user to charge the electrical energy storage device; and wherein: electrical energy from the electrical energy storage device is utilized to actuate the electrically-powered latch to thereby unlatch the electronically-powered latch without movement of the handle relative to the door structure.