Ever since mobile phones shed off their image as basic communications devices to become multimedia powerhouses, battery life has been a cause of concern. Now Nokia has managed to lay claims to a patent that could result in a self charging mobile phone (or gadget). The Finnish giant has filed a patent for a “Piezoelectric Kinetic Energy Harvester”. This patent is for a mobile phone that charges itself not by solar energy, but by simple movement. In other words, our cell phone batteries would generate clean power through movement – much like what you find in many kinetic watches these days.
Nokia envisages a phone in which the heavier components, such as the radio transmitter circuit and battery, are supported on a sturdy frame. This frame can move along two sets of rails, one allows it travel up and down, the other side to side.
Strips of piezoelectric crystals sit at the end of each rail and generate a current when compressed by the frame. So as the user walks, or otherwise moves the phone, the motion generates electricity.
