CA1287660C - Electric field machine - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A microgeometric electric field machine includes arrays of conductors formed on or carried by a plurality of substrates.
The conductors on a first group of substrates carry electical charges, with alternate conductors being charged positively and the other conductors being charged negatively. A second group of substrates are interleaved with the first group in close proximity therewith. Also included is a voltage source for successively supplying alternate positive and negative electrical charges to the conductors of the second group of substrates. Effectively a pattern of alternate positively and negatively charged conductors is established for the second group of substrates and these patterns are caused to move, relative to the substrates, along the arrays of conductors to produce "moving" electric force fields which cause one group of substrates to move with respect to the other group. The substrates may be in the form of stacked discs with the conductors being radially positioned thereon, where one group of discs is caused to rotate with respect to another group. Alternatively, the substrates may be in the form of stacked planes with the conductors positioned in parallel thereon, where one group of planes is caused to move linearly with respect to the other group, and in a direction perpendicular to the conductors. The configuration of the substrates, positioning of the conductors, and inter-leaving of the substrates and conductors could take a variety of forms.

Description

l!
l I BACKGROU~D OF TH~ INVEr1TION

2 This invc-ntion relates to an electric field machine

3 characterized by a multiplicity of small scale force-generating

4 elements positioned in close proximity to one another to take advantage of the increased force of electric fields 6 with reduced distance of separation.
7 Conventional electric motors typically include various 8 combinations and arrangements of electrical conductors, 9 magnetic field containment structures, electroma~nets, 10 ¦ permanent magnets, slip rings, commutators and other mechanical 11 and electromechanical components. These electric motors can 12 ~e ~C powered, nc powered, or powered in a type of stepper 13 operation. For certain usc-s, conventional electric motors 14 exhibit various desirable characteristics such as efficient operation at design speed, controllability, noncontaminating 16 operation, high output speed~ etc. HoweveL-, there exist a 17 number of problems with conventional electric motors which 18 limit their effectiveness in cc-rtain areas of use such as 19 servo control and robot control.
Conventional electric motors ~evelop relatively low 21 field stren~ths and as a result the output torques are low relative to other types of ~ctuation syst~ms suc~ as hydraulic 23 and pneumatic systems. But, as already mentioned, high 24 output sp~eds can be achieved and so the combination of low output torques and_hi9h speed make electric motors well 26 suited for such thinqs as fans, disc drives, pumps, etc.--l' " ~

, ~ 2~37~i6~

1 ~but not ~or applications where high torque and low output 2 1 speed are r~quired. Of course, transmission systems can be 3 utilize~ with the motors to develop a higher torque/lower 4 speed operation, but when a transmission is add~d, not only is the output torque of the motor increased, a number of 6 undesirable dynamic characteristics of the motor resulting 7 from armature inertia and damping are also increased even 8 more. In other words, the use of transmission systems with 9 electric motor~ compromises the dynamic per~ormance of the motors. In addition, the use of transmission systems introduces 12 a power loss in motors with a resulting decrease in operating eficiency and increases the weight and cost of the motors.
13 Another disadvantage of conventional electric motors 14 arises from the use of high mass density ma~netic materials and e~ectric conductors which give-s a ~ ry poor power-to-16 wc-ight ratio for the motors; This problem is most apparent 17 when convention~1 e1cctric motors are compare~ with hydraulic, 18 pnematic, and combustion based power systems.
19 Finally, the magnitude of magnetic eield forces developed in conventional electric motors is dependent upon the current 21 carryin~ capabilities of the conductors which, in turn, is dependent upon the size (cross-section) o~ the conductors.
23 Any attempt at reducing the scale of such magneeic-field based motors would result in a significant reduction of the i 25 forces and thus a diminishment of the utility of the motors.

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! l ~ 37~60 2 It is an object of the invention to provide a new, 3 improved and more efficient electric machine or motor.
4 It is a~so an object of the invention to provide an electric motor which utilizes the forces generated by ~lectric 6 fields.
7 It is a further object of the invention to provi~e an 8 electric field machine or motor which can be scaled with 9 j microgeometric dimensions.
10 1 It is an additional object of the invention to provide 11 an electric motor which generates relatively high torque at 12 low speed.
13 It is anotheL object o the invention to provicle an 14 elc-ctric motor which has a high power-to-weight ratio.
It is still another object of the invention to provide 16 an electric motor which can be readily manufactured utilizing 17 semiconductor technology and materials.
18 The above and other objects are realized in a specific 19 illustrativc- embodiment of an electric field machine which includes a first plurality of elements disposed in an array 21 and capable of being charged with an electrical charge, and 22 a second plurality of elem~nts also disposed in an array in 23 close proximity to the first array and movable with respect 24 thereto. The second plurality of elements is also capable of being charged with an electrical charge. Selected ones ~7 of the elements of the first plurality are charged positively ~ ~376~iO

1 and other elements of the first plurality, interleaved with 2 the selected elements, are charged negatively. Also included 3 is a voltage source for successively applying electrical 4 charges to the elements of the second plurality with positive charges being applied to certain ones of the elements and 6 negative charges being applied to other of the elements so 7 that a pattern of alternate positive and negative charges is 8 applied to the elements of the second plurality and so that 9 the pattern i5 caused to move, relative to the second plurality, along the array.~ Application of this moving pattern of 11 alternate positive an~ negative charges to the second plurality 12 of elements results in electric force fields being produced 13 which interact with the electric force fields produced by 14 th~ alternate positively ancl negatively charqed elc-ments of the first plurality to thereby cause the second plurality of 16 elements to move relativ~ to the first plurality.
17 Advantaqeously, the elements comprise elongate conductors 18¦ disposed on substrates or other bases which are formed into 19 discs, planes, or other shapes. Alternatively, nonconductive material which contain immobilized charges may be used, 21 e.g., electrets. Such material can be fabricated to produce 22 the desired electric ~ields. Su~strates caLrying the static 23 electrical charges are interleaved with substrates carryinq 24 the dynamic electric charges. The substrates advantageously contain numerous electrical conductors and substrates are 27 dimensioned ~or placem~nt in close proximity with the other " -5-J~ f~6~:;t`) 6g912-116 substrates. Such positioning of electrical charge carrying elements results in the production of strong electric force fields and these fields interact to produce motion in cer~ain of the elements relative to other elements.
The strong electric fields resulting from the close proximity of charge carrying elements can be understood by recognizing that for point charges the field force is inversely propor~ional to the distance squared (F~ ~ ), and for line charges the field force is inversely proportional to the distance (F~k- ). Although reductlon of scale for electromagnetic components of motors will not provide the forces desired, for the reasons given earlier, reduction of scale for electric field producing components will allow placement of the components in close proximity to produce the desired forces. Also, with reduced scale, there is less mobility of charges and so less opportunity for the forces to be neutralized by shifting charges. Finally, reducing ~he scale while increasing the number of charge carrying elements tends to "bundle~ the charges into smaller volumes so no part (or charge) of any element is very far from any part (or charge) of an adjacent element--thus, forces cumulate to produce a large overall force.
Accordlng to a broad aspect of the invention there is provided an electric field machine comprising a movable elongate rod and a plurality of other elongate rods arranged parallel with and spaced about the movable rod, ~-~ 6 69gl2-116 a first plurality of elongate elements capable of being charged with an electrical charge, each helically wound about a different one of the plurality of rods, a second plurality of elongate elements capable of being charged with an electrical charge, and helically wound about and spaced apart along the movable rod, wherein the first plurality of elements is electrically charged with a certain polarity, and means for successively applying electrical charges to the second plurality of elements to produce electrical force fields which cause the second plurality of elements and movable rod to move wlth respect to the first plurality of elements and plurality of other rods.
According to another broad aspect of the invention there ls provided an electrlc ileld machine comprising a first set of movable elongate rods arranged generally in parallel with one another, a second set of stationary elonyate rods arranged generally ln parallel with and interspersed among the movable rods, each movable rod having a plurality of elongate electrical conductors helically wound thereabout and spaced-apart therealong, each stationary rod having a plurality of elongate electrical conductors hellcally wound thereabout and spaced-apart therealong, wherein the conductors of one set of rods are electrically charged with a certain polarity, and means for applying electrical charges of the other polarity 6a 7~60 su~cessively to alternate ones of the conductors of the other set of rods to thereby propagate and move the pattern of charges along the rod of the other set and cause the movable rods to move.
According to another broad aspect of the invention there is provided an electric field machine comprising a first plurality of elongate, generally parallel elements capable of being charged with an electrical charge and arranged in a multiplicity of planes stacked one above another in a spaced-apart relationship, a second plurality of elongate, generally parallel element~
capable of being charged with an electrical charge and arranged in a multiplicity of planes interleaved among the planes of the first plurality, generally parallel therewith and movable in a direction parallel with the planes, either the first or second plurality of elements being electrically charged, with certain elements being charged negatlvely and other elements, interspersed among the certain elements, being charged positively, and means for gucces6ively applying electrical charges to the other plurality of elements to produce electrical force fields which cause the second plurality of elements to move with respect to the first plurality of elements.
According to another broad aspect of the invention there is provlded an electric field machine comprising a first plurality of generally planar, parallel substrates stacked one above another in a spaced-apart relationship, 6b ~!.2~37~60 a first multiplicity of generally elongate, spaced-apart, parallel conductors carried by the first substrates, a second plurality of generally planar, parallel substrates stacked one above another and interleaved with the first plurality of substrates ~o be generally parallel therewi~h, said second substrates being movable in a reciprocating manner, in a direction parallel with the first substrates, a second multiplicity of generally elongate, spaced-apart, parallel conductors carried by the second substrates, whereln alternate ones of the first conductors are charged positlvely, with the remaining first conductors being charged negatively, and means for applying alternate positive and negative charges to successive ones of the second conductors to thereby propagate and move the pattern of positive and negative charges along the second conductors and thus cause the second substrates to move linearly wlth respect to the first substrates.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the lnvention wlll become apparent from a conslderatlon of the followlng detalled descrlption presented in connection 6c ~.2~ ;60 1 with the accompanying drawings in which:
2 FIG. l is a perspective, exploded view of an electric 3 field machine made in accordance with the principles of the 4 pr~sent invention to include a plurality of discs carrying

5 ¦ electric field producing conductors;

6 ¦ FIG. 2 is a side, cross-sectional view of the machine

7 of FIG. l;

8 FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another embodiment of

9 an electric field machine in which one set of electric field producing elc-~c-nts reciprocates linearly with respect to 11 another set;
12 FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of the voltage 13 source and some of the electric field producing elements of 14 the machine of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of sti]l another embodiment 16 of the invention in which arrays of electric ~ield producing 17 elements are disposed in cylinders arranged concentrically 18 with respect to one another; and 19 FIGS. 6A and 6B show, respectively, a perspective, partially cut away vic-w and a side, partially fragmented 21 view of an additional embodiment of the invention which 22 utilizes helically wound rods.

24 Referring to FIGS. l and 2, there is shown one illustrative embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment includes 26 a plurality of substrates or base members 4, formed into 3~
.

l discs and stacked one above the other. Disposed on each 2 substrate are a plurality of ~longate, ~nera]ly radially 3 positioned conductors 8. Although only four conductors are 4 shown on each of substrat~s 4A and 4C, it should be understood that thc-re would be a much gLeater number than this. ~ternate 6 or,es of tl~e cor-luctors on substrates 4A and 4C are charged 7 positively and the remaining conductors are charged negatively.
8 1I Like charged conductors of substrates 4A and 4C are align~d 9 in the vertical direction as shown. Advantageously, the substrat~s woulcl be constructed oE an ~lectrical insulative 11 mat~rial such as silicone, and the conductors would b~
12 de~osit~d or ~ormed thereon using conventional semi-conductor 13 fabrication tc-chniquc-s. The conductors might be copp~r, 14 gold, or a variety of other metal~, alloys or semiconductors.
Alternatively, electrets (nonconductiv~ material containing 16 immobilized charges) made, for example, of polypropylene, 17 polyethylene, etc., could be utilizc~d in place of the conductors 18 8.
19 The cc-nter substrate 4~ also carries a plurality of radially positioned confluctors which extend from near the 222 center oE the substrate to the outer edge tllereoE. Substrate 4B contains three times the number of conductors as do 23 substrates 4A and 4C. Contact pa~s 12 are disposed on the 24 edge of the substrate 4n in contact with each of the conductors.
Substrates 4A and 4C are static whereas substrate 4~ is 2d mounted to tste relative to the substrates 4A and 4C, as _ ~, :

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1 best seen in FIG. 2. In particular, substrate 4~ is mounted 2 on the end of a shaft 16 which, in turn, is rotatably mounted 3 ¦ in bearings 20. The shaft 16 exten~s through an opening 24 4 1 in substrate 4A as shown. As mentioned earlier, the electric field machine of FIGS. l and 2 would advantageously contain 6 many more substrates than the three shown, in which event 7 each of the rotatable substrates would be mounted on a 8 single sha~t and each would be disposed between a different 9 pair of static substrates in an interleaved fashion.
Disposc-d to contact the contact pads 12 of the substrate 11 4B are two pair of electrical contact brushes 28 and 32.
12 ~rufih 28A is coupled to a negative volta~e source 36 and 13 brush 28B is coupled to ground. 8rush 32A is coupled to a 14 ~ositive voltage source 40 and brush 32B is coupled to ground. Brushes 28A and 32A are positioned to simultaneously 16 contact every third conductor contact pad on substrate 4B so 17 that, for example, as conductor 8B ~which extends diametrically-18 on the substrate 4B) i8 contacted by brush 28A to receive a 19 negative charge, conductor 8~ ~which also extends diametrically on the substrate 4~) is in contact with brush 32A to receive 21 a positiv~ charge. The two conductors positioned at this 22 time between brushes 28A and 32A are uncharged. This is 2~ because these conductors' contact pads would have contacted 24 brush 28B which would have discharged the conductors. Thus, every third conductor of substrate 48 is charged alternately 26 with a po5itiv~ charge and a negative charge.
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2 28A, 28B, 82~ and 32B which perform a commutation function 3 in the FIG. l embodiment ~and in other embodiments of the 4 present invention to be described momentarily). That is, the brushes serve to change the charge on selected conductors 6 at sc-lected timc-s. This function, one of sensing the location 7 of certain conductors and controlling the charge thereon, 8 mi~ht be carried out by a variety of other mechanisms including 9 solid state devices which sense conductor locations and control application of charges thereto. Additionally, 11 various charge carrying elements of an electric ield machine 12 ma~1c- in accoi^dancc with the presc-nt invention could be 13 com~utated locally, for example, by solid state devices 14 integrated with the conductors and adapted to sense the location of the conductors and control the application of 16 charges. Hereinafter, when the usc- of "brushes" is discussed, 17 it should be understood that such terminology represents 18 commutation in general and that various other specific 19 implementations cou]d be utilized.
As conductor 8~ becomes negatively charged, an electric 21 force field is produced which interacts with the electric 22 force fields produced by the aligned conductors on substrates 23 4A and 4C. Since these aligned conductors are also neqatively 24 charged, the resulting force field produced by conductor 8B
causes the conductor to be repelled and this, in turn, 26 causes the substrate 4B to rotate in the clockwise direction ~ ~ .
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1 (when looking ~30wn on the stac~) as in~icated by the arrow.
2 Similarly, when conductor 8A contacts brush 32A via its 3 contact pad, it becomes positively charged and the resulting 4 electric force fie]d interacts with the force field of the aligned conductors of substrates 4A and 4C so that it also 6 is repelled. As the substrate 4B lotates, the conductors 8 just previously char~ed contact brushes 28B and 32B and are thus discharged.

The positioning and dimensions of the pairs of brushes 28 and 32 ar~ selected so that for any position of the 11 substrate 4B, at least one of its conductors is in contact 12 with either brush 28~ or brush 32A. The reason for this is 3 so that when powc-r is turned on, the substrate 4B will begin 14 to rotate regardless of its position. The pairs of brushes 28 and 32 may be of conventional design to include, for 16 example, a multiplicity of wire ~onductors dispos~d to contact the contact pads 12 as the substrate 4B is rotated.
18 The voltage sources 36 and 40, of course, are conventional 19 and could include switching devices to allow selective coupling and uncoupling of the voltage sources from their respective brushes.
22 As already discussed, there would be a far greater number of conductors than the number shown in FIG. l. For 24 exa~ple, for a substrate 4C having a diameter of one-eighth 26 of an inch, illustratively sixteen conductors could be provided thereon. Then, substrate 4B, which would have , I ~.2~`3'~6~iU
~ ~, .

1 substantially the same ~iameter, would include forty-eight 2 ¦ conductors. Also, electrical contact brushes would be 3 provided so that every third conductor on substrate 4B would 4 be successively charged either positiv~ly or neqativ~;ly as tl1e substrate rotated. Generally, the width for the conductors 6 would be ahout 200 to 5000 angstroms, the spacing between 7 ¦ conductors a~out 200 to S000 an~stroms, and the spacing 8 ! between the substrates about 200 to S000 angstroms.
9 In order to reduce the chance of arcing between conductors on the different substrates, the substrates could be housed 11 in a container 44 holding a dielectric oil such as mineral 12 oil. In ef~cct, thc centeL substrat~ 4~ would rotate in the 13 oil which would serve both to prev~nt arcing and as a luhricant 14 and preservative for the plates and conductors. To further enhance the electric force fields produced by the charged 16 conductors, the dielectric oil mi~ht advantageously include 17 polymeric dipoles, other dipoles or multi-poles. Exemplary 18 dipoles could include electron impregnated nylon, polypropylene 19 or poly~st~r particles. Th~ effect of including the dipoles would be to promote and enhance tl~e interaction of electric 21 force fields betwec-n conductors on one substrate contiguouS
Z with conductors of an adjacent substrate.
23 Also shown in FIG. 2 is a packin9 element 48 through 24 which the shaft 16 extends out of the housing 44. The packing element 48 is provided to prevent leakage of the 26 dielectric oil from the entry and exit location of the shaft ~7 ,., .

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1 16 in the housing. The end of the sha~t 16 opposite that on 2 which the substrat~ 4B is mounted is coupled to some typ~ of 3 load 52.
4 As is evident from the description of the FIGS. 1 and 2 machir.~, the conductors on alternate ones of th~ substrates 6 are chargêd in such a way that patterns of alternate positive 7 and n~gative char~es are caused to move r~lative to those 8 substrates. In the FI(;S. 1 and 2 embodiment, it is actually 9 the substrate 4B which moves while the patt~rn of alternately charged conductors remain static. That is, the general 11 ].ocationS of the positively charged conductors and negativêly 12 chargêd conductors of substrate 4B remain static while the 13 substrate is causc-d to move. Of course, by appropriate 14 elc-ctrical switching, patterns o~ alternate positive and negative charges could be made to "rotate" on a set oE
16 static substrates and ther~by caus~ rotatable substrates containing conductors witll fixc-~ charges to rotate. This 18 latter approach to producing the electric force fields is adopted in the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4.
The embodiment oE FIG~. 3 and 4 includes a stack of 21 genc-rally rectangular substrates 64 on which are positioned Z a plurality of generally elongate, parallel conductors 68.
23 Each conductor on the topmost substrate 64 is ali~ned vertically 24 with a correspondin9 conductor on each of the lower substrates.
A sc-cond stack of generally rectangular substrates 72 is 26 interleavêd with the substrate 64 of the first stack as .

-37~i60 'l l 1 ger.erally s~own in ~IG. 3. A plurality of conductors 76 are 2 also Eormed on the substrate 72 in a generally parallel 3 relationship both with the remaining conductors on the 4 substrate 72 and with the conductors 68 of the substrates 5 64. A5 with the emhodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, in the embodiment 6 of FIGS. 3 and 4, substrates 64 contain three times the 7 number of conductors as do substrates 7~.
8 The 3ubstrates 64 are coupled together by a plate 80 9 which, in turn, is fixed in place by a support rod 84. The substrates 72 are similarly held in place by a plate 88 11 which is mounted on a rod 92. The rod is slidably mounted 12 in fixed bearings 96. The end of the rod 92 opposite the 14 end on which thc plate 8~ is mounted is mechanically coupled to a utilization unit 100.
Each of the conductors 68 of the substrates 64 are 16 coupled to a switching device 104 and the switching device, 17 in turn, is coupled to a negativc- voltage source 108, a 18 positive voltage source 112 and ground potential. As will 19 be described mom~ntarily, th~ switching ~evice 104 applies alternate positive- and neqative charges to the conductors of 21 substrates 64. ~lthough L~IG. 3 shows coupling of the switching 22 device 104 only to the conductors of the bottommost substrate 23 64, it should be understood that each line from the switching 24 device is coupled to a selected conductor on the bottommost substrate and to each of the vertically ali9ned conductors 26 of the other substrates.
~7 Alternate ones of the conductors 76 of the substrate 72 ., ' '.

~ 37~60 1 are charged negatively, with the remaining conductors being 2 charged positively. Aqain, vertically aligned conductors of 3 the substrate 74 contain like charges. Application of 4 alternate patterns of positive and negative charges to the conductors 6~ of the substrates 64 results in force fields 6 bein~ produced which causes the conductors 76 an~ thus the 7 su~strate 74 to move linearly. In other words, the substrates 8 72 may be caused to move to the right, to the left, or back 9 and forth between the substrates 64 and this causes the rod 92 to move simi]arly.
11 ¦ lIG. 4 shows a schematic representation of the switching 12 device 104, the bottommost substrate 64 and the next upper 13 adjacent substrate 72. Conductors on the substrate 72 are 14 represented by circles with either a positive or negative sign therein represc-nting the charge contained on the conductor.
16 Similarly, the conductors of substrate 64 are represented by 17 circles. Switching device 104 includes two ganged rotary 18 switches 116 and 120. The wipers of switches 116 and 120 19 arc- caused to rotate by an actuator 124 which could be a small conventional motor. The actuator 124 operates to 21 cause the wipers to rotate first in the clockwise direction 22 until the wipers reach the respective rightmost stationary 23 contacts, and then counterclockwise until the wipers reach 24 the respective leftmost stationary contacts, and then counter-clockwise again, etc. ~s the wipers rotate clockwise, a 26 pattern of alternate negative and positive charges on the ~ 3~ ~;O

1 conductors of substrate 64 is caused to mo ~ toward the right in FIG. 4 and thereby produce a moving force field 3 which causes the substrate 72 to also move to the right.
4 When the wipers reach the respective rightmost contacts, the direction of movelnent of the wipers may be reversed by the 6 actuator 124 so that the pattern of alternate negative and 7 positive charges is caused to mo ~ alon~ the conductors of 8 substrate 64 toward the left and this, in turn, would cause 3 the substrate 72 to mov~ to the left. In this manner, the substrate 72 may be caused to move in either direction in a 11 linear fashion. (Groundin~ wipers would also be provided to 12 ground the conductors of substrate 6~ just after the conductors 13 are charged.) 14 As with the c-mbodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, the embodiment 15 of FIGS. 3 and 4 could include ~rovision of a dielectric oil 16 about the substrates 64 and 72. Again, the substrates would 17 simply be contained in a housing which included the dielectric 18 oil.
19 FIG. 5 shows still another embodiment which includes a pair of cylindrical substrates 150 and 154. with substrate 21 150 disposed concentrically about substrate 154. The inner 22 cylindrical substrate 154 is fixed to a stationary support 23 158 and the outer cylindrical substrate 150 is rotably 24 mounted on and carried by the inner substrate 54. A pulley 162 is mounted to the exterior of the substrate 150 to allow 26 mechanically coupling the substrate to a load. Substrate Il -16-7~0 .

1 150 inc]udes a p]urallty of elongate conductors 166 arranged 2 in parallel around the inner periphery of the substrate.
3 Substrate 154 similarly includes a plurality of conductors 4 170 arranged in parallel on the outer periphery of the substrate. Substrate 150 includes three ti~es the nu~ber o 6 conductors as does substrate 154. Each of the conductors on 7 substrate 150 includes a contact element 174, each o~ which extends from its respective conductor to the outer periphery 9 of the substrate 150. There, the contact elements 174 successively contact two pairs of electrical contact brushes 11 17~ and 182, as the substrate 150 rotates. Contact brush 12 178A is coupled to a negative voltage source 186 and contact 13 brush 182~ is coupled to a positive voltage source 190.
14 Contact brushes 178B and 182B are each coupled to ground.
The c-mbodiment of FIG. 5 operates in a fashion similar 16 to that of FIG. 1 in which a pattern of alternate positive 17 and negative charges are ~roduced on the con<luctors of 18 substrate 150 and this pattern produces electric force 19 fields which interact with the electric force ~ields produced by conductors 170 to cause the substrate 150 to rotate in 21 the counterclockwise direction. At any given time, every 22 third conductor 166 of the substrate 150 is charged alternately 23 positively or negatively. ~Although not specifically shown 24 in FIG. 5, dia~etrically opposite conductors on substrate 150 are electrically coupled together.) After a conductor 26 on substrate 150 is charged, it is thereafter discharged ', ' ' ~ ' , .

~ ~ 3 1 upon encounterin9 brush 178B or brush 182B. ~s the substrate 2 150 cortinues to rotate, that conductor encounters either 3 b-rush 178A or 182A where it receives a charge opposite that 4 to which it was previously charged.
Although only four conductors are shown for the substrate 6 154 an~ twe]vc conductors shown for substrate 150, it should 7 be understood that many more conductors would typically be 8 provided to enable placement of the conductors on one substrate 9 in close proximity with those of the other substrate. The conducto-cs shown in FIG. 5 are embedded within the corr~sponding 11 substrate but near either the inner periphery of substrate 12 150 or the outer periphery of substrate 154. With this 13 configuration, the substrate itself serves both to carry the 14 conductors and also as a dielectric to prev~nt arcing between conductors. Some type of lubricant such as conventional 16 machine oil could be placed between substrates 150 and 154 17 to reduce friction and facilitate rotation of substrate 150.
18 FIGS. 6~ and 6B show a further embodiment of the invention 19 to include a plurality of rods 204, about which are helically wound conductors 20~. The rods 204 are arranged in a closely 21 packed configuration consisting of one movable rod for every 22 two stationary rods. The movable rods are shown with cross 23 hatching in FIG. 6~ and, as there indicated, each movable 24 rod is surrounded by six nonmovable rods in a type of hexagonal configuration.

~ o 1 Th~ conductor windings on the rods are schematically 2 illustrated by symbols drawn on the tops ther~of and these 3 ¦ symbols can be understood by referring to FIG. 6B. Thus, 4 ¦ for example, the leftmost rod 204a indicates that the conductor 5 ¦ 2~a begins on the top, l~ft side of the rod and is wound 6 clockwise into the page. The conductor 208b for rod 204b 7 begins on the top, right side o~ the rod an~ is also wound 8 clockwise into the page. 204c, which is a movable rod, is 9 wound with a I~Iurality of conductors which are spaced apart along the lenqth of the rod, with each conductor being wound 11 counterclockwise into the page. As can be seen in FIG. 6A, 12 the conductors on each pair of adjacent nonmovable rods 13 which are spaced about a movable rod are wound in opposite 14 directions.
The helix angles of the conductors wound about the i6 nonmovable rods are about twice the helix angles of the 17 conductors wound about the movable rods, as best seen in 18 FIG. 6B. That is, the conductors on the nonmovable rods 19 make two revolutions for every one revolution of the conductors on the movable rocls.
21 In operation, the conductors on each of the nonmovable 22 rods are charged with a certain charge polarity, such as 23 negative, and the conductors on the movable rods are charged 24 with a "moving pattern" of charges of the opposite polarity.
That is, one or more conductors on the movable rods is first 26 charged positively and then discharged, with the next adjacent ' ' . ' , ' ' ' ' . , .' S.2~37660 1 conductor or con~uctoLs then bein~ ch~rg~d positively and 2 discharged, etc., so that a pattern of positively charged 3 conductors is caused to move lengthwise along the movable 4 rods. This may be accomplished, for example, by contact brushes 212 and 216 which are coupled to a switch 220 which, 6 in turn, is coupled to a positive voltage source 224, negative 7 voltage source 22~, and a neutral or ground voltage source 8 232. One o~ the contact brushes would be supplied with a 9 positive voltage to energize conductors in contact therewith

10 ¦ whereas the other brush would be connected to neutral or

11 j groun~ potentia] 232 to discharge previously charged conductors.

12 ! Upon supplying a positive charge to the conductors by one of

13 ¦ the brushes, tllose conductors are attracted to the negatively

14 charged conductors wound on the nonmovable rods to cause the movable rod to mov~ linearly. As the positively charged 16 conductors on the movable rod approach the negatively charged 17 conductors on the nonmovable rods, the positively charged 18 conductors would be discharged and successive adjacent 19 conductors would be charged positively to continue the attrac~ing process o~ the conductors. When the movable rods reach the fartherest excursion of linear movement, the 22 switch 220 would reverse the sequence of charging and discharging 23 of conductors to Ca-15e the movable rods to be moved in the 24 reverse direction.
It will be understood that rather than simply discharqing 2~ ¦ ¦ t he pos i t i Iy cl~s r~e d cond u c to rs on t he mo vs o le rods, 1 1 negative charges may be applied thereto to provide both an 2 ¦ attraction mode and a repelling mode of operation in the 3 FI~S. 6A and 6B assembly. That is, alternate ones of the 4 conductors on the movable rods may be charged negatively so as to repel from the negatively charged conductors of the 6 nor,movable rods. Such repelling force would serv~ to move 7 the movable rods in the same Eashion tl1at the attraction8 force of the positive charged conductors do.
9 In the manner described, movement of the movable rods is achievc-d with a fairly simple anfl compact assembly o~
11 ¦helically wound rods. Of course, the nonmovable rods would 12 ¦be joined together and held in place, for example at their 13 lends, and the movable rods could be likewise joined together 14 to help maintain the spaced relationship therebetween. It can be demonstrated that for hexagonal arrays, such as shown 16 in FIG. 6A, the rods can be helically wound and charged so 17 that the movable rods can be held in place, out of contact 18 with the six surrounding rods simply by the ~orces of the 19 electric fields. Also, some of the interior nonmovable rods could also be held in place in the same fashion. Also, as 21 with the other embodiments, the entire assembly could be 22 immersed in some type of dielectric oil which included 23 polymeric dipoles or multipoles. The rods 204 would advan-24 tageously be constructed of a nonconducting material such as silicone.

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1 Although four specific embodiments of the present 2 invention ha ~ been shown and described, it should be understood 3 that the shape and configuration of the substrates and 4 charge holding elements carried thereby could take a variety of forms. The common feature of all of these embodiments is 6 the utili~ation of a plurality of small scale charge carrying 7 element.s interleaved in close proximity to one another. The 8 elements either carry a charge or are periodically charged g and discharged to produce electric force fields which interact to cause movement of some of the elements relative to the 11 others. Because of the small scale, the elements can be 12 placed in close proximity to utilize the increased electric 13 field forces resulting from the close proximity.
14 It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are only illustrative of the application of the principles 16 of the present invention. Numerous modifications and alternative 17 arrangements may be devised by those skilled in the art 18 without departing from the spirit and scope of the present 19 invention and the appended claims are intended to cover such modifications and aLLange1nents.

Claims (15)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. An electric field machine comprising a movable elongate rod and a plurality of other elongate rods arranged parallel with and spaced about the movable rod, a first plurality of elongate elements capable of being charged with an electrical charge, each helically wound about a different one of the plurality of rods, a second plurality of elongate elements capable of being charged with an electrical charge, and helically wound about and spaced apart along the movable rod, wherein the first plurality of elements is electrically charged with a certain polarity, and means for successively applying electrical charges to the second plurality of elements to produce electrical force fields which cause the second plurality of elements and movable rod to move with respect to the first plurality of elements and plurality of other rods.

2. An electric field machine as in claim 1 wherein the first plurality of elements are charged with a certain charge polarity, and wherein said electrical charge applying means includes means for applying charges of the other polarity successively to alternate one of the second plurality of elements to thereby propagate and move the pattern of charges along the movable rod to thereby cause the movable rod to move longitudinally relative to the plurality of rods.

3. An electric field machine as in claim 2 wherein said electrical charge applying means further includes means for alternately applying charges of said certain polarity and said other polarity successively to alternate ones of the second plurality of elements.

4. An electric field machine as in claim 2 wherein the plurality of rods comprises six rods surrounding the movable rod.

S. An electric field machine as in claim 4 wherein the helix angle of the first plurality of elements is about twice the helix angle of the second plurality of elements.

6. An electric field machine as in claim 5 wherein the elements on adjacent ones of the plurality of rods are wound in opposite directions.

7. An electric field machine as in claim 1 wherein the spacing between the elements wound about the movable rod are from about 200 to 5000 angstroms.

8. An electric field machine comprising a first set of movable elongate rods arranged generally in parallel with one another, a second set of stationary elongate rods arranged generally in parallel with and interspersed among the movable rods, each movable rod having a plurality of elongate electrical conductors helically wound thereabout and spaced-apart therealong, each stationary rod having a plurality of elongate electrical conductors helically wound thereabout and spaced-apart therealong, wherein the conductors of one set of rods are electrically charged with a certain polarity, and means for applying electrical charges of the other polarity successively to alternate ones of the conductors of the other set of rods to thereby propagate and move the pattern of charges along the rod of the other set and cause the movable rods to move.

9. An electric field machine as in claim 8 wherein the conductors of the stationary rods are charged with said certain polarity, and wherein said electrical charge applying means is coupled to the conductors of the movable rods to apply charges thereto.

10. An electric field machine comprising a first plurality of elongate, generally parallel elements capable of being charged with an electrical charge and arranged in a multiplicity of planes stacked one above another in a spaced-apart relationship, a second plurality of elongate, generally parallel elements capable of being charged with an electrical charge and arranged in a multiplicity of planes interleaved among the planes of the first plurality, generally parallel therewith and movable in a direction parallel with the planes, either the first or second plurality of elements being electrically charged, with certain elements being charged negatively and other elements, interspersed among the certain elements, being charged positively, and means for successively applying electrical charges to the other plurality of elements to produce electrical force fields which cause the second plurality of elements to move with respect to the first plurality of elements.

11. An electric field machine as in claim 10 wherein for each pair of adjacent planes, alternate elements of one of the planes are charged positively with the other elements of that plane being charged negatively, and wherein said electrical charge applying means includes means for applying alternate positive and negative charges to successive ones of the elements of the other plane to thereby propagate and move the pattern of positive and negative charges along the array of elements of the other plane and thus cause the one plane to move therewith.

12. An electric field machine as in claim 11 wherein the spacing of elements in said one plane is two or more times the spacing of elements in said other plane, and wherein the alternate positive and negative charges applied to and moved along the array of elements in said other plane are spaced substantially the same as the spacing of elements in said one plane.

13. An electric field machine as in claim 10 wherein said elements are from about 200 to 5000 angstroms in width, wherein the spacing of elements of said other plane is from about 200 to 5000 angstroms, and wherein the spacing between planes is from about 200 to 5000 angstroms.

14. An electric field machine comprising a first plurality of generally planar, parallel substrates stacked one above another in a spaced-apart relationship, a first multiplicity of generally elongate, spaced-apart, parallel conductors carried by the first substrates, a second plurality of generally planar, parallel substrates stacked one above another and interleaved with the first plurality of substrates to be generally parallel therewith, said second substrates being movable in a reciprocating manner, in a direction parallel with the first substrates, a second multiplicity of generally elongate, spaced-apart, parallel conductors carried by the second substrates, wherein alternate ones of the first conductors are charged positively, with the remaining first conductors being charged negatively, and means for applying alternate positive and negative charges to successive ones of the second conductors to thereby propagate and move the pattern of positive and negative charges along the second conductors and thus cause the second substrates to move linearly with respect to the first substrates.

15. An electric field machine as in claim 14 wherein the spacing of the first conductors from one another is two or more times the spacing of the second conductors from one another, and wherein the alternate positive and negative charges applied to and moved along the second conductors are spaced substantially the same as the spacing of the first conductors.