APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR HEAT-TO-ELECTRICAL ENERGY CONVERSION FROM A MOLDING PROCESS

摘要

The disclosed technology may include a waste energy harvesting system for recapturing and converting excess heat from the manufacturing process, such as a molding process, to electricity. The recaptured energy may replace or supplement existing cooling equipment and reduce overall energy consumption for the molding process. The disclosed technology may include an augmentation device for heating a portion of a manufacturing machine, such as a barrel of an injection molding machine, while also generating a cold exterior surface temperature used to cool a portion of the machine. This may reduce the amount of time required to warm the material inside the barrel of the molding machine and/or cool the mold after it is injected with hot material from the barrel.

主权项

1. A harvesting apparatus for converting waste energy from a barrel of a molding machine from heat to electricity, the system comprising:
an inner component core for capturing heat from a barrel of a molding machine; one or more thermal-to-electric converters coupled to the inner component core for converting heat to electrical energy; and an outer component surrounding at least a portion of the inner component core and the one or more thermal-to-electric converters, wherein the outer component is an insulator and assists in heat conduction from the barrel of the molding machine to the one or more thermal-to-electric converters and in containing thermal waste energy.