The present invention relates to the configurations of an access point having a self-sustained power supply apparatus and a wireless audio having a self-sustained power supply apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to the configurations of the access point and the wireless audio both having the self-sustained power supply apparatus, in which the self-sustained power supply apparatus includes an autogenic energy generating apparatus providing the power supply required by the access point and the wireless audio.
Electronic equipment would depend on an external power supply unless a battery is employed. For electronic equipment using a battery, the use time of the electronic equipment would be limited by the battery life time, thus the power status of the battery needs to be checked and a bad/dead battery needs to be changed repeatedly. Right now, the waste batteries are not properly handled and causing the globally environmental pollution concerns. Since the totally recovery and reuse of the waste battery so as to prevent further environmental pollution is not well taken, using the disposable battery is not a good alternative from the environmental protection point of view. Besides, even if the rechargeable battery is employed, still the use time of the electronic equipment is still limited by the battery life time. Each time when the rechargeable battery is used and dead, the battery needs to be recharged by a charger for a relatively longer charging time before it can be reused. Thus, at least two sets of rechargeable batteries needs to be prepared to keep the electronic equipment handy not to mention that changing the battery repeatedly is quite inconvenient. Therefore, using the rechargeable battery is not a good alternative too. On the other hand, the installation location of the electronic equipment, which depends on an external power supply, would be limited by where the external power supply is located. For example, when an access point is installed, the location of the AC power supply must be considered (where is the socket? it is usually an indoor AC power supply). However, the base station needs to be installed in the central location among the plurality of computers each having a wireless network device and served by the access point such that the access point could have a relatively better effectiveness. Thus, the access point does have its limits on choosing the proper installation locations. Please refer to
Currently, a device generating an autogenic energy continuously, which could be employed in driving a generator so as to generate an AC/DC output voltage, is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,731,035. In the '035 Patent, the provided device is driving a flywheel via the interactions between two permanent magnets to generate a kinetic energy continuously. However, the preferred embodiment and the relative contents of the '035 Patent are focused on expressing how a proposed configuration of the proposed device could be employed to generate the autogenic energy continuously (see
Since the DC generator has an extra commutator than the AC generator, thus relatively the DC generator has a more complex configuration and a higher manufacturing cost than those of the AC generator. Therefore, a self-sustained power supply apparatus includes an autogenic energy generating apparatus having the autogenic energy generating device and an AC generator, a rectifier, a regulator, and one of a DC/DC converter and a DC/AC inverter is provided in the present invention. In which, the AC generator receives the kinetic energy generated by the autogenic energy generating device so as to generate an AC output voltage firstly. The AC output voltage is rectified via a rectifier into a DC output voltage secondly. The DC output voltage is regulated by a voltage regulator thirdly. The regulated DC output voltage is input to one of a DC/DC converter and a DC/AC inverter to generate the DC/AC input voltage of the electronic equipment lastly. The DC/DC converter (or the DC/AC inverter) is employed to either boost or convert the regulated DC output voltage into the DC/AC input voltage. Both of the access point and the wireless audio receive the required DC/AC power supply continuously from the self-sustained power supply apparatus. The self-sustained power supply apparatus includes a switch, which turns off the apparatus when it is necessary to cut off the power supply of the access point or the wireless audio, for the maintenance or saving the energy resources.
Keeping the drawbacks of the prior arts in mind, and employing experiments and research full-heartily and persistently, the access point and the wireless audio both having the self-sustained power supply apparatus are finally conceived by the applicant.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an access point and a wireless audio to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art such that the installation location of one of the access point and the wireless audio is not limited by the location of the external power supply, there is no need of using the disposable and rechargeable batteries, and there is no waste battery generated so as to protect the global environment.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, an access point having a self-sustained power supply apparatus for a network having a plurality of computers includes a base station coupled to the apparatus and receiving a power supply from the apparatus and an antenna set coupled to the base station, in which the base station maintains a first linking status with the computers via a first wireless transmission.
Preferably, the power supply is a first DC power supply.
Preferably, the self-sustained power supply apparatus further includes an autogenic energy generating apparatus generating an AC power supply, a switch determining one of a turn-on and a turn-off states of the generating apparatus, a rectifier rectifying the AC power supply into a second DC power supply, a regulator regulating the second DC power supply and generating a third DC power supply and a DC/DC converter receiving the third DC power supply and generating the first DC power supply through one of a step-up and a step-down.
Preferably, the DC/DC converter is one selected from a group consisting of a boost converter, a buck-boost converter and a flyback converter when the DC/DC converter is going through the step-up.
Preferably, the DC/DC converter is one selected from a group consisting of a buck converter, a buck-boost converter, a forward converter, a flyback converter, a half-bridge converter and a full-bridge converter when the DC/DC converter is going through the step-down.
Preferably, the base station is further coupled to a LAN switch of a wired local area network (LAN), and the LAN switch is one of a switch and a hub.
Preferably, the first power supply is a first DC power supply.
Preferably, each of the plurality of computers is one of a desktop computer and a notebook computer, and has a wireless network device.
Preferably, the self-sustained power supply apparatus is one of a built-in apparatus and a plug-in apparatus.
Preferably, the built-in apparatus is installed in a specific location inside the access point, and the plug-in apparatus includes a case and a fixing device fixing the case at a surrounding location of the access point.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, a wireless audio system includes a main unit having a first self-sustained power supply apparatus and a loudspeaker enclosure having a second self-sustained power supply apparatus, in which the main unit wirelessly communicates with the loudspeaker enclosure.
Preferably, the main unit further includes a power amplifier receiving a first power supply from the first self-sustained power supply apparatus coupled thereto, receiving an input audio signal from an external audio signal source coupled thereto and amplifying the input audio signal to generate a first output audio signal and a wireless transmission apparatus receiving the first power supply from the first self-sustained power supply apparatus coupled thereto and receiving the first output audio signal from the power amplifier coupled thereto to generate a radio frequency signal.
Preferably, the external audio signal source is one selected from a group consisting of a television, a radio, a DVD apparatus, a VCD apparatus, a CD player, a computer and a game console.
Preferably, the first power supply is a first DC power supply.
Preferably, the first self-sustained power supply apparatus includes an autogenic energy generating apparatus generating an AC power supply, a switch determining one of a turn-on and a turn-off states of the generating apparatus, a rectifier rectifying the AC power supply into a second DC power supply, a regulator regulating the second DC power supply and generating a third DC power supply and a DC/DC converter receiving the third DC power supply and generating the first DC power supply through one of a step-up and a step-down.
Preferably, the loudspeaker enclosure further includes a wireless receiving apparatus receiving a second power supply from the second self-sustained power supply apparatus coupled thereto, receiving the radio frequency signal and generating a second audio signal and a loudspeaker receiving the second power supply from the second self-sustained power supply apparatus coupled thereto, coupled to the wireless receiving apparatus, and receiving and outputting the second audio signal.
Preferably, the second power supply is a first DC power supply.
Preferably, the second self-sustained power supply apparatus includes an autogenic energy generating apparatus generating an AC power supply, a switch determining one of a turn-on and a turn-off states of the generating apparatus, a rectifier rectifying the AC power supply into a second DC power supply, a regulator regulating the second DC power supply and generating a third DC power supply and a DC/DC converter receiving the third DC power supply and generating the first DC power supply through one of a step-up and a step-down.
Preferably, the main unit further includes a remote control for turning on and turning off the main unit, selecting a channel and adjusting a volume.
The present invention may be best understood through the following descriptions with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) are the schematic circuit diagrams of an access point having a plug-in self-sustained power supply apparatus and a built-in self-sustained power supply apparatus according to the first and the second preferred embodiments of the access point of the present invention respectively;
FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b) are showing the circuit diagrams of a half-wave bridge rectifier and a full-wave bridge rectifier, and employed in the preferred embodiments of the present invention respectively;
FIGS. 6(a) to 6(c) are showing the circuit diagrams of a NPN voltage regulator, a LDO voltage regulator and a Quasi LDO voltage regulator, which are linear voltage regulators, and employed in the preferred embodiments of the present invention respectively;
FIGS. 7(a) to 7(c) are showing the circuit diagrams of a buck converter, a boost converter and a buck-boost converter, which are DC/DC converters, and employed in the preferred embodiments of the present invention respectively
Please refer to
Referring to
As for the rectifier 413 of the first and the second preferred embodiments of the access point of the present invention as shown in FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b), it could be one of a half-wave bridge rectifier and a full-wave bridge rectifier. FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b) are the schematic circuit diagrams of the half-wave bridge rectifier and the full-wave bridge rectifier. In
As for the regulator 414 of the first and the second preferred embodiments of the access point of the present invention as shown in FIGS. 4(a) to 4(b), it could be a linear voltage regulator, that is to say it could be one selected from a group consisting of an NPN voltage regulator, a LDO voltage regulator and a Quasi LDO voltage regulator. FIGS. 6(a) to 6(c) are the schematic circuit diagrams of the NPN voltage regulator, the LDO voltage regulator and the Quasi LDO voltage regulator. In
As for the DC/DC converter 415 of the first and the second preferred embodiments of the access point of the present invention as shown in FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b), it could be one of a boost converter and a buck-boost converter (for boosting). FIGS. 7(a) to 7(c) are the schematic circuit diagrams of the buck converter, the boost converter and the buck-boost converter. In
Please refer to
Please refer to
From the above descriptions, the present invention provides an access point and a wireless audio to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art such that the installation location of one of the access point and the wireless audio could not be limited by the location of the external power supply, there is no need of the disposable and rechargeable batteries, and there is no waste battery generated so as to protect the global environment.
Although the invention has been shown and described in terms of specific embodiments, it will be evident that changes and modifications are possible which do not in fact depart from the inventive concepts taught herein. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various omissions, additions and modifications may be made to the processes described above without departing from the scope of the invention, and all such modifications and changes are intended to fall within the scope of the invention, as defined in appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
094146865 | Dec 2005 | TW | national |