Patent DE 10 2012 215 600

Capacitive energy converter for micro- and precision engineering systems for converting kinetic energy from a vibration present in an environment into electrical energy in an electrostatic field, comprising a capacitive arrangement of electrodes movable relative to one another in an out-of-plane configuration, consisting of a stator electrode (1) with a frame and a vibrating electrode (2) suspended so as to be capable of vibrating, the body of the vibrating electrode being orientated parallel to the plane of the body of the stator electrode, the capacitive arrangement is formed by a contour of the vibrating electrode and a corresponding contour of the stator electrode, and the relative movement of the two electrodes takes place perpendicular to the plane of the electrode arrangement, it being possible for the vibrating electrode to perform vibrating movements through the frame of the stator electrode, the capacitively effective area between the opposing contours of the stator electrode and the vibrating electrode changing in the process.

The method of operating this capacitive energy converter enables the time characteristic of the converter capacitance to be measured precisely with minimum measurement effort and the work converted into electrical energy to be effectively extracted.