ABSTRACT

An electrical generator that uses a standard pulley/hammock system to convert the movement of one’s digits into electrical current.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Imagine the following ad in your local newspaper: Help Wanted: Experienced secretary with energetic personality and muscular hands. Minimum typing speed of 60 microwatts per minute. Within years this ad will be a reality.  As far back as the industrial revolution, scientists have used treadmills fitted with coils and magnets to generate small electrical currents. In the 1960s and ‘70s, when our country was heady with The Fitness Craze, many U.S. companies developed portable electrical generators. When fastened to the legs and/or feet of an individual, these devices could generate significant electricity during exercise. Many Americans viewed this moment as the new dawn of clean electricity. But with the growth of personal computing in the 1990s, people began sitting more and walking less. Today, many of America’s workers spends 100% of their workday in front of personal computers. According to one study, many office workers travel farther with their fingers across keyboards and smart phones than they travel with their legs to and from the office. Isn’t it time to let your fingers do the walking to a clean energy future?   The current invention employs generators, geared like hand-crank radios, to capture the motion of keystrokes and finger gestures. These nanoelectrical generators can be modified for use in other digit-intensive activities.