Patent ID: 8896139

Claim:
A meta-mass mechanical/electrical energy converter MMMEEC for converting mechanical energy to an electrical current, comprising a rigid housing element having a mass M adapted for communication with an external mechanical energy source, the housing element comprising a base system having a resonance equal to ω 0 when grounded, the housing element encapsulating N oscillators each being of substantially equal mass that sum to m s and having resonances that are substantially uniformly distributed across a band of width Ω centered at ω c , each oscillator causing a time varying internal force to act on the housing element in response to mechanical energy transferred from the external energy source, the sum of the internal forces determining a net internal force NIF that quantifies the internal transfer of energy between the housing element and the encapsulated oscillators, the NIF having a history that is determined as a convolution of a history of an external force that represents the external mechanical energy source and a time series that has the form of a sequence of pulses, each pulse having a width approximately equal to Ω −1 and each separated from its neighbors by an interval approximately equal to NΩ −1 , so that the pulses appear well separated when measured in units of Ω −1 for N substantially larger than 1, the first of such pulses causing a transfer of some portion of mechanical energy entering the MMMEEC via the housing element during the action time of said first pulse, from said housing element to the encapsulated oscillators, while the time interval between the first and a second pulse assures the energy arriving in the encapsulated oscillators remains trapped therein, said portion of energy entering the housing element being transferred to the encapsulated oscillators being determined by the value of a mass ratio m s /M, such that for a determinable value substantially all of the energy entering the housing element is transferred to the encapsulated oscillators, wherein the energy remains trapped, the MMMEEC therefore acting as a “one-way mechanical energy valve” such that energy transfers into but not out-from the MMMEEC via the housing element, and the MMMEEC acting as a “mechanical battery” such that the energy arriving in the encapsulated oscillators accumulates, the value of m s /M that assures substantially all of the energy arriving in the housing element being transferred to the encapsulated oscillators, which depends on Ω/ω c , ω 0 /ω c and N, being determined by numerical simulations, each oscillator being combined with a converter element for converting mechanical to electrical energy, such that the converter elements await the accumulation of mechanical energy arriving in each of the oscillator/converter elements before converting the mechanical energy to an electrical current, and electrical circuitry for collecting and combining each of the electrical currents and outputting the sum of the currents via the housing element.