Patent Grant
12206343
This disclosure relates to the general field of motion-powered electronics, and more specifically toward kinetic regenerative batteries for use in musical instruments.
Many guitars and other musical instruments employ onboard electronics, including preamps, electronic tuners as well as digital sound processors that provide delay, distortion, etc. These are commonly powered by batteries that have a finite charge and can fail before or during use. They are also often difficult to check, access, or replace, and having spare batteries is an unpredictable problem. The present invention is directed at overcoming, or at least reducing, the problems of prior art techniques for powering onboard electronics for musical instruments.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art in a variety of manners, including but not limited to the following. In one aspect, a kinetic-powered battery system is provided that can build a charge based on some or all of the physical motion exerted upon the musical instrument. This physical motion can arise from any conceivable activity, including (but not limited to) handling, travel activity, playing the musical instrument and/or intentionally shaking the musical instrument to build a charge prior to use.
The kinetic rechargeable power system for musical instruments of the present invention has application in any conceivable musical instrument, including (but not limited to) acoustic and electric instruments, wireless transmitters or microphones or any related sound reinforcement equipment currently using batteries and subject to movement in travel, setup, use, or intentional movement to create sufficient charge.
In so doing, the present invention is advantageous over the prior art for a host of reasons. It overcomes the prior art by exploiting and capturing the movement of a musical instrument and utilizing energy previously unavailable to the native or aftermarket electronics. By capitalizing on the kinetic energy from the movement of the instrument, the systems of the present invention can recharge batteries or otherwise power the onboard electronics. In so doing, the present invention avoids or minimizes the need to use or change-out standard batteries that are typically used to power onboard electronics. This, in turn, minimizes or eliminates the oftentimes tedious take of battery replacement, which can be extremely inopportune especially if the batteries fail while playing or performing on the musical instrument.
Many advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art with a reading of this specification in conjunction with the attached drawings, wherein like reference numerals are applied to like elements and wherein:
Illustrative embodiments of the invention are described below. In the interest of clarity, not all features of an actual implementation are described in this specification. It will of course be appreciated that in the development of any such actual embodiment, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which will vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. The kinetic-powered battery systems and methods for musical instruments disclosed herein boasts a variety of inventive features and components that warrant patent protection, both individually and in combination.
The kinetic-powered battery systems of the present invention can come in a variety of forms, including but not limited to those shown in
The kinetic-powered battery systems 10, 20 of the present invention operate based on Faraday's Law of Induction. By way of example only, this may be accomplished using an induction-based current generator 25 as illustrated generally in
The motion between the conductor(s) and the magnetic field (coils) is relative, so the resulting current can be generated by: a) moving the conductor(s) while the associated magnetic coil(s) are maintained in a stationary or otherwise static position; and/or b) moving the magnetic coil(s) while the associated electrical conductor(s) is/are maintained in a stationary or otherwise static position. The motion may be active or passive without departing from the scope of the present invention. Active motion may be accomplished by adding a crank or other mechanical means to actively move the conductor 30 and/or coil 32 to create the relative motion sufficient to generate the desired electrical current. Passive motion may be accomplished by simply moving the overall musical instrument (e.g. via travel, shaking the instrument, playing the instrument, etc. . . . ) to create the relative motion sufficient to generate the desired electrical current.
For the “OEM” version of
For the “Replacement Battery” version of
For both the “OEM” version and “Replacement Battery” version, the kinetic-powered battery systems 10, 20 will include the necessary electrical connections to establish (directly or indirectly) the required electrical connectivity to the rechargeable battery or storage device 16 and electrical storage unit 22, respectively. For example, in the “Battery Replacement” version shown in
While shown within the context of a 9-volt battery replacement in
As shown in
Terms and phrases used in this document, and variations thereof, unless otherwise expressly stated, should be construed as open ended as opposed to limiting. As examples of the foregoing: the term “including” should be read as meaning “including, without limitation” or the like; the term “example” is used to provide exemplary instances of the item in discussion, not an exhaustive or limiting list thereof; the terms “a” or “an” should be read as meaning “at least one,” “one or more” or the like; and adjectives such as “conventional,” “traditional,” “normal,” “standard,” “known” and terms of similar meaning should not be construed as limiting the item described to a given time period or to an item available as of a given time, but instead should be read to encompass conventional, traditional, normal, or standard technologies that may be available or known now or at any time in the future. Likewise, where this document refers to technologies that would be apparent or known to one of ordinary skill in the art, such technologies encompass those apparent or known to the skilled artisan now or at any time in the future. Furthermore, the use of plurals can also refer to the singular, including without limitation when a term refers to one or more of a particular item; likewise, the use of a singular term can also include the plural, unless the context dictates otherwise.
The presence of broadening words and phrases such as “one or more,” “at least,” “but not limited to” or other like phrases in some instances shall not be read to mean that the narrower case is intended or required in instances where such broadening phrases may be absent. Additionally, the various embodiments set forth herein are described in terms of exemplary block diagrams, flow charts and other illustrations. As will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art after reading this document, the illustrated embodiments and their various alternatives can be implemented without confinement to the illustrated examples. For example, block diagrams and their accompanying description should not be construed as mandating a particular architecture or configuration.
Any of the features or attributes of the above the above-described embodiments and variations can be used in combination with any of the other features and attributes of the above-described embodiments and variations as desired. From the foregoing disclosure and detailed description of certain preferred embodiments, it is also apparent that various modifications, additions and other alternative embodiments are possible without departing from the true scope and spirit. The embodiments discussed were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the present invention and its practical application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the present invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the benefit to which they are fairly, legally, and equitably entitled.
This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S. Patent Application No. 63/151,626 entitled “KINETIC-POWERED BATTERY SYSTEMS FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND RELATED METHODS,” filed Feb. 19, 2021, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 63151626 | Feb 2021 | US |
