GB2403077A - Mechanical to electrical energy conversion system - Google Patents

Abstract

A mechanical to electrical energy conversion system utilises a clockwork motor or a flywheel mechanism to provide the mechanical energy for driving an electric generator. The output of the electric generator can be connected to the engine of a toy or model electric train set or electric model car, or the like, or to any other electrically driven device. The system is especially intended to be safe and easy to operate by a child who, for instance, would otherwise have difficulty placing the clockwork engine, and winding up the clockwork motor of the clockwork engine, of a conventional clockwork train set. The child can thus easily wind up the clockwork motor of the electric generator which can be remote from the railway track of a conventional electric train set which can be disconnected from the electrical supply in a house for the purposes of ensuring safety, and can thereby, conveniently, and safely, control the movement of the engine.

Description

MECIIANICAL TO ELECTRICAL ENERGY CONVERSION SYSTEM

This invention relates to a mechanical to electrical energy conversion system.

Toy/model train sets, which utilise a clockwork mechanism for driving the engine, possess a number of inconvenient features, which are worthy of improvement. These are: lo 1. The engine has to be frequently wound up for continual use.

2. The key may get lost if not fixed permanently in place.

3. The torque required for winding up the spring of the clockwork mechanism may be too high for a young child to do the winding up.

4. The engine may have to be uncoupled in order to allow more convenient winding up of the spring which is situated inside the engine.

5. The engine may stop at an inaccessible location such that the child has to negotiate the track in order to pick it up, and so, may stand on the track and damage it.

Those train sets which utilise electric power for driving the engine via an electric 2s motor situated inside the engine, do not suffer from these disadvantages because the power is available to the train, either directly, via batteries (for example; placed in the train) or indirectly, via the rails, from an external power supply.

However, the use of batteries does take away some of the fun gained from the direct involvement of the child with the train set, via the clockwork mechanism which characterises clockwork driven toys, and, whilst power supplies are designed to be safe by utilising a step-down isolation transformer, there is a natural desire not to use them in a toy intended for use by young children. AISO, the avoidance of mains electricity by the use of batteries means that there is a continual need to replace the batteries, as unless they are rechargeable, and the latter are expensive.

It will be shown, in the following account, how many of the above disadvantages are overcome in a system based on the use of the conversion of mechanical energy to electrical energy.

According to the present invention, electric power for the engine of an electric train set is provided from a convenient location, and in an enjoyable way, for a child (for example, alongside the track) by arranging for a clockwork motor coupled to an electric generator via speed-up gearing, to produce the electricity.

lo The enjoyment and simplicity of winding up a clockwork motor is thus conveniently retained, but applied remotely from the electric engine. Of course, a clockwork motor still has to be wound up when its energy has been expended but the length of time between rewinds will be longer than that for a stand-alone engine having its own, built-in clockwork motor, because the physical size and weight of the track-side generator is not limited, as it is for a clockwork engine per se. Also, the clockwork motor can be wound up without having to disturb the engine, which can already be in motion; this cannot be done if the clockwork motor is in the engine.

A permanent or removable handle can be used to wind up a track-side clockwork motor, and there is the potential for achieving much greater torque via the greater length of the handle and via gearing, in a unit which can be custom-designed for easy, and safe, operation by a young child.

Provided that the working parts are designed for safety and are safely enclosed, the proposed system can be more easily used by a young child.

The system also lends itself to application in a self-contained portable form, for example, in a briefcase or suitcase, where the associated train set is smaller and could even be in miniature. Various scales of railway train set are currently available and these could be powered by means of appropriately designed clockwork motor driven generators based on the principles of the invention.

As an alternative to using a clockwork motor as the mechanical means for generating the electricity, the mechanical energy can, instead, be supplied from a flywheel system in which a handle and gears are utilised in driving the flywheel, and wherein the flywheel continues to rotate when the handle is no longer turned. This is implemented by means of a mechanism similar to that used in bicycles, wherein the pedals drive a crank-wheel when rotated in the forward direction, but wherein the pedals can remain in a rest position without impeding the motion of the crankwheel. The shaft of the flywheel is made to rotate a pinion, which drives a train of gears having diameters such that the shaft of the driven generator is rotating at a higher speed than that carrying the lo flywheel. A mechanical governor can be utilised for limiting the speed of the flywheel.

It is pointed out, with reference to the foregoing methods involving either a clockwork motor or a flywheel, for providing the motive power for driving an electric generator, that a suitable diode and regulating/conditioning circuitry, would be utilised for maintaining a constant voltage, and that a suitable polarity reversing, and on/off switching arrangement, respectively, would be used for reversing the direction of motion of the associated engine of the train set and for starting and stopping it, respectively.

In order to describe the invention in more detail, reference will now be made to the accompanying diagrams in which: Figure 1 shows, in schematic form, one, two-dimensional, and two three-dimensional, diagrams of a mechanical to electrical energy conversion system.

With reference to Figure 1, which contains one side elevation, and two three- dimensional views, of the basic elements of the invention, a clockwork generator system, 1, comprises various self-contained units which are coupled together mechanically and electrically, so that the input of mechanical energy at the "input end" of the system, gives rise to the output of electrical energy at the "output end" of the system.

Thus, a gearbox, GXI, having winding-up, handle, Hi, is coupled to a clockwork motor, CM1, so that a child can easily wind up the clockwork motor to a safe degree, without over winding. Although GX1 and CM1 are shown as separate units, they could be incorporated into one selfcontained unit.

The output shaft, 01, of clockwork motor, CM1, is coupled, by means of a conventional mechanical coupling (not shown in the diagram) to the input shaft, It, of a speed-up gearbox, GX2, whose own output shaft, 02, is coupled to the input shaft, I2, of electrical generator, EG1, by means of a conventional, mechanical coupling (not lo shown in the diagram).

It is pointed out, with reference to Figure 1, that electrical connections are shown only in the two-dimensional side elevation of the system, and not in either of the two, three- dimensional diagrams.

Provision is made, in the equipment, to allow a child to move an easy-tooperate lever (not shown in the diagram) in order to cause the clockwork motor, CM1, to unwind, and hence to deliver electric current to the conditioning circuitry, CC I, which produces direct current at a voltage compatible with the requirements of the driven electric engine. Further control of the current delivered to the rails of the railway track, RT1, and of the polarity of the supply to them, respectively, is achieved via an on/off switch and a polarity reversing switch, respectively (not shown in the diagram) either situated externally, in the circuit between CC1, and the rails, or incorporated within the enclosure containing, CC1. The said on/off and polarity reversing switches can be situated close to, or even on, the casing of clockwork motor CM1, so that they are conveniently accessible to the child. When the said switches are situated on the said casing of the clockwork motor, CM1, suitable cabling and plug/sockets are utilised to distribute the electrical supply accordingly.

With further reference to Figure 1, electric engine, E1, is shown on a schematic representation of a section of railway track, RT1.

The generator, EGI, delivers power to the railway track, RT1, at a rating suited to the requirements of the electric engine and the rolling stock which it pulls. The various parts of the system already described can be free-standing, as shown, or combined in one self-contained unit. Whether in separate parts or in one unit, the system can be s designed so that it, or its component parts, can be conveniently clamped to a table or other suitable base. The handle, Hi, can be designed in different sizes and shapes, to suit the user. The height of the system above surface of the ground or a table, will dictate the length of the handle, H1.

lo It is pointed out, with reference to the foregoing, that an electric engine which utilises a direct current motor will need to be supplied with direct current at the designated operating voltage of that motor. The generator, EG1, can either be designed to supply this directly by use of a commutator as part of its internal design, or it can be an alternating current generator that is used in conjunction with suitable rectifying circuitry to produce the desired direct current voltage.

The speed of the train would be controlled by controlling the electric power delivered to the track. This control of power could be purely mechanical, via a governor, and/or by selection of gears associated with the clockwork motor and gearbox "train of gears". Alternatively, it could be purely electrical, via circuitry placed between the electric generator, EG1, and the track, RTI. If desired, both forms of control could be made available to the user.

At fixed voltage, the power could be controlled by controlling the size of the current, and there are many standard ways to do this; the most simple, uses resistive control of the current by means of a rheostat, but this wastes energy through heat losses. More elaborate speed controllers use pulse control with feedback to the controlling circuitry.

Transformer driven model engines are usually operated at about 12 volts with a power rating of about 9 volt-amps; whilst battery driven engines are operated at about 1.5 volts at quite low currents. Variants of the invention would therefore be designed so as to be able to cater for these requirements.

The train can be stopped at any time by placing a mechanical constraint within the mechanical parts of the system in the same way that a mechanical "elapsed time", or "alarm", clock, is stopped. Alternatively, the current supply to the rails can be disengaged by means of a switch.

For the purposes of safety, the electrical supply should be separable from the mechanical one, so that when the system is led unattended, no current can be generated which could cause a fire or present a hazard Alternatively, or additionally, short circuit protection should be provided in order to make the system safe.

Since the system can be used with any devices that can utilise the electric power generated in the way already described in the foregoing account, all of the ancillary features of such devices can be utilised Thus, for instance, a radio, cassette player, or any electrically powered device could be operated by means of the electricity produced by the system.

It is further pointed out, with reference to the foregoing, that the electrical generators could be used for driving model electric vehicles of various types e.g. cars, on any track to which electricity can be supplied.

It is still further pointed out, with reference to the foregoing, that the principles of radio control could be utilised in the said system.

Claims (5)

1 A mechanical to electrical energy conversion system, wherein an electrically driven toy, or model, or train set, or other electrical device, is powered by means of the electricity generated by coupling the mechanical output shaft of a rotating mechanism, to the mechanical input shaft of an electric generator.

2. A mechanical to electrical energy conversion system, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said system utilises a clockwork motor for providing mechanical lo energy to the said electric generator, wherein the said output shaft is that of a speed-up gearbox whose input shaft is mechanically coupled to the said output shaft of the clockwork motor and whose output shaft is mechanically coupled to the said input shaft of the said electric generator, and wherein the said generator, generates electricity for driving the said toy, or model, or train set, or the like, or other electrical device.

3. A mechanical to electrical energy conversion system, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said system utilises a flywheel assisted rotating mechanism, whose mechanical output shaft is coupled to the said input shaft of the said electric generator.

4 A mechanical to electrical energy conversion system, as claimed in claims, 1, 2, and 3, wherein the said system is at least designed to be safely and easily operated by a child, and wherein the said system allows the user to control any toy, or model, or train set, or the like, from a location which is remote from the said toy, or model, or train set, or the like.

5. A mechanical to electrical energy conversion system, as claimed in claims 1, 2, 3, and 4, wherein the difficulty experienced by a young child in winding up the so clockwork motor of a clockwork-driven engine and placing it on a railway track, is replaced by the convenience of winding up the mechanism of a clockwork driven electric generator, or the convenience of operating a flywheel-driven electric generator, which can be remote from the said track.