1. An apparatus comprising:
a) a hand crank attached to a main spring;
b) the main spring attached to a first chain of gears;
c) the first chain of gears attached to a generator;
d) the generator attached with wires to an electronic circuit;
e) the first chain of gears attached to a second chain of gears;
f) the second chain of gears attached to a clutch wheel;
g) the clutch wheel attached to a clutch mechanism, the clutch mechanism comprising a clutch latching mechanism and a bi-directional solenoid;
h) the clutch latching mechanism linked to the hand crank by the action of removing the winding handle from the clutch mechanism when unfolding the hand crank into the winding position;
i) the bi-directional solenoid attached with wires to an electronic circuit controlling the activation of the clutch mechanism;
j) the electronic circuit controlling the activation of the bi-directional solenoid, storing electricity, and providing multiple output voltages;
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said hand crank is attached to the main spring with two gears to reduce the amount of force required to wind the main spring.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said clutch latching mechanism is engaged by the action of unfolding the hand crank into the winding position by the movement of the winding handle having an incorporated detent to push a roller setting a latch that un-locks the clutch allowing the main spring and generator to rotate when there is no stored power available to activate the bi-directional solenoid to un-lock the clutch.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said main spring stores kinetic energy provided by an external winding force to generate electricity on demand.
5. An apparatus of claim 1 wherein said electronic circuit comprises:
a) a storage capacitor;
b) a first under-voltage detector to detect a low voltage condition in the storage capacitor;
c) a second under-voltage detector to detect a load on the 3 Volt Positive Battery Terminal and to detect the load created by turning on the LED light;
d) a third under-voltage detector to detect a load on the 5 Volt USB power output connector;
e) an over-voltage detector to protect the electronic components;
f) a 5 Volt USB power output connector;
g) a 3 Volt Positive Battery Terminal attached to the electronic circuit;
h) an LED light attached to the electronic circuit;
i) a negative battery terminal attached to the electronic circuit;
j) a generator attached to the electronic circuit;
k) a voltage reversing switching matrix attached to the bi-directional solenoid;
l) a 5 Volt voltage regulator to power external devices;
m) a 3 Volt voltage regulator to power external devices and the LED light;
n) an AC adaptor power input jack with an internal switch;
o) a switch for turning on and off the LED light;
6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said electronic circuit additionally uses the voltage reversing switching matrix to reverse the function of said generator using it as a motor with the use of the internal switch contained within the AC adapter power input jack activated by plugging in an external AC adaptor controlling the bi-directional solenoid and clutch mechanism to un-lock the clutch allowing the motorgenerator to rewind the mainspring without the need to use the hand crank or clutch latching mechanism.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first chain of gears increases the rotation ratio between the main spring and generator optimizing the power generating efficiency.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said second chain of gears further increases the rotation ratio from the first chain of gears to the clutch mechanism allowing a minimal force provided by a clutch locking band and spring to lock the clutch preventing the main spring and generator from turning.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said bi-directional solenoid and clutch mechanism maintains its ability to provide electricity from a main spring for extended periods of time when not in use by locking the main spring and generator when no power is applied to the bi-directional solenoid and clutch.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said electronic circuit detects an over-voltage condition with the over-voltage detector activating the voltage reversing switching matrix to activate the bi-directional solenoid releasing the clutch latching mechanism locking the clutch and stopping the main spring and generator from turning preventing over-charging of the storage capacitor and protecting the other electronic components.
11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said electronic circuit detects a low voltage condition in the storage capacitor with the first under-voltage detector activating the voltage reversing switching matrix to activate the bi-directional solenoid and clutch mechanism periodically un-locking the clutch allowing the main spring and generator to rotate providing power to maintain the standby voltage.
12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said electronic circuit incorporates independent second and third under-voltage detectors respectively to activate the 3 Volt voltage regulator or the 5 Volt voltage regulator for the 3 Volt positive and negative battery terminals or the 5 Volt USB power output connector only when an external load is detected reducing the drain on the storage capacitor extending the time the apparatus can provide electricity before re-winding.
13. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said electronic circuit incorporates the second under-voltage detector to regulate the periodic activation of the generator to supply power when needed to power external devices and to additionally power an internal LED flashlight turned on and off with a switch.
14. An apparatus for generating electricity by electro-mechanical means packaged in the form and dimensions of two standard C or D sized batteries stacked one on top of the other allowing the apparatus to be installed into and power devices currently using electro-chemical batteries.
15. The apparatus of claim 14 further comprising the exterior housing, exterior top plate, 3 volt positive battery terminal, beveled plastic insulator, lower plastic insert, and negative battery terminal.
16. An apparatus for generating electricity by electro-mechanical means comprising a winding handle to wind a mainspring, the mainspring to store energy and turn a chain of gears attached to a generator and a clutch mechanism, the generator to produce electricity from the mainspring, the clutch mechanism to regulate the operation of the generator and an electronic circuit to control the activation of the clutch mechanism, store electricity, and provide multiple output voltages for external devices.
17. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein said electronic circuit will additionally provide power to an internal LED light allowing the apparatus to be used as a self-contained flashlight.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method comprising:
selecting, by a computer-based system for performance assessment, a member of an entity;
importing, by the computer-based system and from an external database, performance data for the member;
importing, by the computer-based system, journal data for the member;
facilitating, by the computer-based system, an appraisal of the performance data for the member and the journal data for the member;
receiving, by the computer-based system, periodic performance feedback data for the member in response to the facilitating;
storing, by the computer-based system, the periodic performance feedback data for the member;
receiving, by the computer-based system, a mid-year self-assessment completed by the member in response to an assessment by the member of the periodic performance feedback data; and
receiving, by the computer-based system, a mid-year appraisal of the member in response to an appraisal of the mid-year self-assessment and the member’s performance.
2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising generating, by the computer-based system, a report.
3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising receiving, by the computer-based system, an acknowledgement that the report was received.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the acknowledgement comprises a questionnaire.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the computer-based system, competency feedback for the member, wherein the competency feedback is at least one of: selected from a standard set of comments and customized to address specific behaviors of the member.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating, by the computer-based system, a preview of the periodic performance feedback data.
7. A system, comprising:
a processor for performance management;
a tangible, non-transitory memory configured to communicate with the processor,
the tangible, non-transitory memory having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
selecting, by the processor, a member of an entity;
importing, by the processor and from an external database, performance data for the member;
importing, by the processor, journal data for the member;
facilitating, by the processor, an appraisal of the performance data for the member and the journal data for the member;
receiving, by the processor, periodic performance feedback data for the member in response to the facilitating;
storing, by the processor, the periodic performance feedback data for the member;
receiving, by the processor, a mid-year self-assessment completed by the member in response to an assessment by the member of the periodic performance feedback data; and
receiving, by the processor, a mid-year appraisal of the member in response to an appraisal of the mid-year self-assessment and the member’s performance.
8. The system according to claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to generate a report.
9. The system according to claim 8, further comprising receiving, by the processor, an acknowledgement that the report was received.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein the acknowledgement comprises a questionnaire.
11. The system of claim 7, further comprising receiving, by the processor, competency feedback for the member, wherein the competency feedback is at least one of: selected from a standard set of comments and customized to address specific behaviors of the member.
12. The system of claim 7, further comprising generating, by the computer-based system, a preview of the periodic performance feedback data.
13. An article of manufacture including a non-transitory, tangible computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by a computer-based system for performance management, cause the computer-based system to perform operations comprising:
selecting, by the computer-based system, a member of an entity;
importing, by the computer-based system and from an external database, performance data for the member;
importing, by the computer-based system, journal data for the member;
facilitating, by the computer-based system, an appraisal of the performance data for the member and the journal data for the member;
receiving, by the computer-based system, periodic performance feedback data for the member in response to the facilitating;
storing, by the computer-based system, the periodic performance feedback data for the member;
receiving, by the computer-based system, a mid-year self-assessment completed by the member in response to an assessment by the member of the periodic performance feedback data; and
receiving, by the computer-based system, a mid-year appraisal of the member in response to an appraisal of the mid-year self-assessment and the member’s performance.
14. The article according to claim 13, further comprising generating, by the computer-based system, a report.
15. The article according to claim 14, further comprising receiving, by the computer-based system, an acknowledgement that the report was received.
16. The article of claim 15, wherein the acknowledgement comprises a questionnaire.
17. The article of claim 13, further comprising receiving, by the computer-based system, competency feedback for the member, wherein the competency feedback is at least one of: selected from a standard set of comments and customized to address specific behaviors of the member.
18. The article of claim 13, further comprising generating, by the computer-based system, a preview of the periodic performance feedback data.