A meta-mass one-way vibration energy valve and battery---A key to vibration energy harvesting

A meta-mass comprised of a rigid housing element densely filled by a multiplicity of oscillators, is designed to act, when attached to a vibrating structure, as one-way valve and a battery. When the oscillators are joined with mechanical/electrical converters, the meta-mass becomes a vibration energy harvester that has a capacity that far exceeds harvesters comprised of a limited number of Newtonian mass elements. When viewed from the structure side of its attachment, the meta-mass device action as a one-way valve appears as an energy sink, such that when sufficiently strong initiates a transport process drawing energy from remote locations, thereby solving a fundamental aperture problem to energy harvesting, occasioned by the spatial diffuseness of the energy source. When viewed from the device side of the attachment, the meta-mass device action as a battery provides for the accumulation of mechanical energy, thereby solving a second fundamental problem to energy harvesting, occasioned by the arrival of ...