BENDING DEVICE FOR BENDING A PIEZOELECTRIC BENDER, PIEZOELECTRIC CONVERTER FOR CONVERTING MECHANICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY BY USING THE BENDING DEVICE, AND METHOD FOR CONVERTING MECHANICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY

A workpiece having a bearing surface with at least one convex curvature and an opposing workpiece having an opposing bearing surface with a concave curvature essentially inverse to the convex curvature of the bearing surface are moved by a device relative to each other in such a manner that the convex curvature of the bearing surface can be guided into the concave curvature of the opposing bearing surface. To convert energy, a bending element, such as a disk bender, is located in a space between the bearing surface and the opposing bearing surface so that the movement of the workpiece and the opposing workpiece relative to each other results in the bending of the bending element. Mechanical energy can be converted into electrical energy with higher efficiency by using a disk bender. The workpieces and the bearing surfaces thereof are formed to provide overload protection.