Patent Application
20170070050
This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201520685698.5 filed in the Chinese Patent Office on Sep. 7, 2015, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
In today's economic environment, global energy demands are extremely high. As energy usage increases, energy production must meet market demands, and many of the sources of energy used in the production of electricity generate a great deal of pollution. In view of environmental considerations, a decline in usage of fossil fuels and other polluting sources of energy is required. Traditionally, the alternatives to fossil fuel for energy have come from geothermal power, hydroelectric power, solar power, wind power, or nuclear power.
In spite of the wide range of alternative sources of energy, fossil fuel derived power still accounts for a large proportion of the generated electricity, and thus still poses a challenge to the environment. In view of the threat of pollution and environmental harm, governments and business interests have begun searching for other means of generating power without increasing the existing levels of pollution.
On a smaller scale, there have been strides made in the development of small human-powered generators to produce electricity in order to power small devices. If this technology could be integrated with the electrical grid, in populous regions there will be great economic and environmental advantage to doing so. Fossil energy will eventually exhaust; therefore, only this set of systems can supply human generation inexhaustible supply of energy.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a distributed power generation system integrating individual identification technology.
According to an aspect of the present invention, individual identification technology is integrated with a power generation apparatus comprising a data transmission circuit, an identification circuit, and a power transmission circuit. The data transmission circuit and the power transmission circuit are connected to a smart electrical grid. The smart electrical grid is integrated with a processor and memory to retrieve user identification and assign financial compensation.
The power generation apparatus can comprise a stationary bicycle, hand-powered generator, a treadmill, or a foot-powered generator. The power generation apparatus can be any form of exercise equipment coupled to a personal generator.
In the above embodiment, the power generation apparatus determines the identity of the user via manual entry, Near-Field Communication (NFC), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), magnetic stripe card, or other methods of providing a user identity. The identification information is transmitted via the data transmission circuit to the smart grid and informs the smart grid to register the power generated by the power generation apparatus to the user's financial identification, when the power generation apparatus is being operated by the user.
The smart grid will register the inputted electrical energy generated by the user to the user's financial information, so that payment or other financial compensation can be assigned to the user for the electricity generated. The smart grid will automatically assign financial compensation to the user accordingly.
The smart grid will be connected to a financial institution to automatically and directly transfer financial compensation to the user. Payment can be done by wire transfer, by debit card, by check, or other means of transferring money known in the art.
The power transmission circuit can be electrically coupled to the smart grid by wire for maximum transmission efficiency.
The data transmission circuit can be implemented by wired or wireless communication.
The identification circuit can be implemented by RFID, NFC, manual entry, magnetic stripe card, or other identification techniques known in the art. The identification circuit sends identification information via the data transmission circuit.
In order to further improve power generation efficiency, small generators via the power transmission cable with the device is connected, the identification device over the wireless communication apparatus communicating with the data transmission.
The above system will allow an individual user to generate electricity for a smart grid, which provides the user with exercise, reduce the electrical demands of the smart grid, and enable the user to be financially compensated.
The objects and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims.
It is to be understood that both the forgoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.
The above embodiments become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which:
Aspects, features and advantages of several exemplary embodiments of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings. It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the described embodiments of the present invention provided herein are illustrative only and not limiting, having been presented by way of example only. All features disclosed in this description may be replaced by alternative features serving the same or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Therefore, numerous other embodiments of the modifications thereof are contemplated as falling within the scope of the present invention as defined herein and equivalents thereto. Hence, use of absolute terms, such as, for example, “will,” “will not,” “shall,” “shall not” “must,” and “must not,” are not meant to limit the scope of the present invention as the embodiments disclosed herein are merely exemplary.
Referring to
Referring to
The user, employing NFC, RFID, magnetic stripe, or manual entry enters the user's identification information into the identification circuit 9, and begins exercising by physically working the hand pedals and/or foot pedals. The physical work imparted by the user is transmitted to the personal generator 10 by way of belt drive, chain drive, or other means of transmitting physical work as known in the art. The physical work transmitted to the personal generator is converted into electricity and transmitted to the smart grid, and the identity information is also transmitted to the smart grid.
Referring to
The user's identification information is sent via the data transmission circuit 7 to the smart grid 3. The user's identification information can comprise the user's name, billing information, billing address, physical address, social security number, account number, or other personally identifying information. The data transmission circuit 7 can be implemented by wired or wireless communication such as cellular transmission, WiFi, internet, or other means of data transmission.
The smart grid 3, upon receiving the identification information will determine that electricity will be transmitted to the smart grid 3 by the power generation apparatus 1.
The user imparts physical work on the power generation apparatus 1, and the electricity generated by the personal generator will be transmitted to the smart grid 3 via the power transmission circuit 2. The power transmission circuit 2 can be implemented by wires or other techniques to transmit electricity as known in the art.
In
The smart grid 3, upon receiving the transmitted electricity from the power transmission circuit 2, will determine the amount of electricity received from the power generation apparatus 1. This can be measured in watt-hours. Upon receiving electricity from the power generation apparatus 1, the calculated amount of electricity generated by the power generation apparatus 1 will be calculated as a corresponding financial compensation amount. The value of the electricity can be set by market price, by contractual agreement, or by the power company.
The financial compensation amount will be transmitted to the user's bank 5 by the smart grid 3 according to the user's identification information, and the bank will issue financial compensation 6 to the user. The financial compensation amount calculated by the smart grid 3 can be transmitted to the bank 5 by wire transfer, direct deposit, check, or other means of transmitting money. In the above embodiment, this money transfer will be completed automatically.
The financial compensation 6 issued to the user can be paid by debit card, wire transfer, direct deposit, check, or other means of transmitting money.
The smart grid 3 can transmit the received electricity to other electrical customers 4. The transmission of electricity can be done by wire or other techniques of transmitting electricity as known in the art.
Referring to
The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments is presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or limit the invention to the precise form of the exemplary embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. The embodiments are chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its best mode practical application, thereby to enable persons skilled in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use or implementation contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents in which all terms are meant in their broadest reasonable sense unless otherwise indicated. Therefore, the term “the invention”, “the present invention” or the like does not necessarily limit the claim scope to a specific embodiment, and the reference to particularly preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention does not imply a limitation on the invention, and no such limitation is to be inferred. The invention is limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201520685698.5 | Sep 2015 | CN | national |
