[Tech] Nuovi alimentatori, piu' leggeri, per laptop e personal devices

La Penn State University ha messo a punto - in collaborazione con Face Electronics of Virginia e Taiheiyo Cement Corporation, Japan - un nuovo tipo di alimentatore piezoelettrico molto meno ingombrante dei classici alimentatori/caricabatteria elettromagnetici usati attualmente.

The original piezoelectric devices were rectangular, but they could not produce sufficient power, so the researchers switched to a circular configuration.



"Smaller, less complex piezoelectric devices are already in use as step up transformers in some laptops to light the monitors which can take 700 volts to turn on and 50 to 150 volts to continue their operations," says Uchino.



One advantage of piezoelectric PC power adapters is that they do not produce the heat that conventional electromagnetic transformers produce. Electromagnetic power adapters not only produce heat, but also noise and interference. Piezoelectric power adapters operate in the ultrasonic range so humans cannot hear any sound produced and they do not produce electromagnetic interference.



"These power adapters were developed for the American and Japanese market where the line voltage is 100 to 125volts and 50 to 60 cycles," says Uchino. "Eventually, we also developed power adapters that convert 220 volts and 50 cycles so they can be used in the European market."



Other devices that could use these smaller, lighter power converters include printers, CD and DVD players, tape recorders and other appliances that operate on both battery and wall plugs.

Gli alimentatori piezoelettrici potranno avere peso e dimensioni almeno quattro volte inferiori a quelli degli alimentatori attuali.



Taiheiyo Cement Corporation ha in programma di avviare la produzione in massa di questi dispositivi nel corso del 2004.



Fonte: Penn State Live.