GB2521615A

GB2521615A - A device

Info

Publication number: GB2521615A
Application number: GB1322877.0A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Christopher William Barlow
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2013-12-23
Filing date: 2013-12-23
Publication date: 2015-07-01
Anticipated expiration: 2033-12-23
Also published as: GB201322877D0; GB2521615B

Abstract

A device 10 comprises a frame, e.g. cuboid box12, a first rectangular plate 14a located 5 in a vertical slot 16a in the frame 12 and free to move up and down in the slot 16a, a second rectangular plate 14b, parallel to the first plate 14a, and located in a second vertical slot16b in the frame 12 and free to move up and down in the second slot 16b. A rotating shaft 18 passes through the frame 12 and through respective holes 20a, 20b in the plates 14a, 14b. A central body 22, mounted on the shaft 18, comprises a pair of cavities 24a, 24b, which are 180 degrees out of phrase, located in line with the respective holes 20a, 20b in the plates 14a, 14b, and a pair of weights 26a, 26b, such as rollers or balls, are located in a respective cavity 24a, 24b of the central body 22. Rotation of the shaft 18 results in reciprocation of the plates 14a, 14 and thereby the reciprocation of shafts 28a, 28b mounted on the plates 14a, 14b.

Description

DESCRIPTION

A DEVICE

This invention relates to a device. In particular, the invention relates to a device that can translate a rotational movement into a reciprocating movement.

In many mechanical engineering systems, it is necessary to translate one type of movement into a different type of movement. This is well-known in arrangements such as a piston connected to a wheel, which is usually used to translate the reciprocating movement of the piston into rotational movement of the wheel as used in vehicle engines, for example. In other mechanical systems, the opposite arrangement is required, so that a rotational movement must be translated into a reciprocating movement. With all such systems, it is essentially that as much of the energy on the input side is conserved on the output side. Energy loss within the arrangement that is translating the movement is often a fundamental aspect of the design and keeping energy loss to a minimum is a key design objective.

It is therefore an object of the invention to improve upon the known ad.

According to the present invention, there is provided a device comprising a frame, a first plate located in a vertical slot in the frame and free to move up and down in the slot, a second plate, parallel to the first plate, and located in a vertical slot in the frame and free to move up and down in the slot, a horizontal rotating shaft passing through the frame and through respective holes in the plates, a central body mounted on the shaft and comprising a pair of cavities located in line with the respective holes in the plates, and a pair of weights, each weight located in a respective cavity of the central body.

Owing to the invention, it is possible to provide a device that will translate rotational movement (of the shaft) into reciprocating movement (of the two parallel plates), without any significant energy loss and as the shaft speed increases the efficiency of the device increases. The weights within the cavities of the central body mounted on the shaft provide centrifugal force as the shaft rotates. This centrifugal force drives the plates upwards in the vertical slots in the frame in the first half turn of the shaft, which then drives the plates downwards in the second half turn of the shaft. Once the shaft is turning with sufficient speed, then a weight is in constant contact with its respective plate and the plate is driven up and down as the weight provides the centrifugal force from the rotating shaft to the reciprocating plate.

Preferably, the cavities are positioned in the central body so that they are 180 degrees out of phase. The location of the cavities in the central body is preferably arranged so that one weight is driving its plate upwards at the same time as the other plate is being driven downwards by its weight. Each turn of the shaft by 360 degrees will raise each plate once, with the plates rising and falling 180 degrees out of phase with each other. One plate will be at the top of its vertical movement at the same time as the other plate is at the bottom of its vertical movement.

Advantageously, the device further comprises a pair of vertical shafts each located on an upper surface of respective first and second plates. The vertical shafts can be used to drive whatever is requiring the reciprocating motion provided by the shafts which will rise and fall with the plates to which they are connected. If the cavities in the central body are positioned 180 degrees out of phase, as in the preferred embodiment, then the two vertical shafts will rise and fall out of phase, in the same manner as the actions of the plates that are driving the vertical shafts.

Although the preferred embodiment of the device uses two weights and two plates, any number of such arrangements can be used, with additional weights and plates being driven off the same shaft.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-Figure 1 is a side view of a device, Figure 2 is a front view of the device of Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a top plan view of the device of Figure 1.

As shown in the Figures, the device 10 comprises a frame 12 with a first plate 14a located in a vertical slot 16a in the frame 12 and free to move up and down in the slot 16a and a second plate 14b, parallel to and spaced apart from the first plate 14a, and also located in a vertical slot 16b in the frame 12 and free to move up and down in the slot 16b. The two plates 14 are substantially rectangular. A horizontal rotating shaft 18 passes through the frame 12 and through respective holes 20a and 20b in the plates 14a and 14b. A central body 22 is mounted on the shaft 18 and has a pair of cavities 24a and 24b located in line with the respective holes 20a and 20b in the plates 14a and 1 4b.

The device 10 also comprises a pair of identical weights 26a and 26b, each weight 26 being located in a respective cavity 24a and 24b of the central body 22. Preferably the weights 26 are balls or rollers that can rotate as they turn. The preferred embodiment shown in the Figures uses rollers, which are short cylindrical elements. The cavities 24 are slightly wider than the diameter of the rollers 26 and the rollers 26 can freely move up and down in their respective cavity and also rotate. The cavities 24a and 24b are positioned in the central body 22 so that they are 180 degrees out of phase, as can be seen most clearly in Figure 2. A pair of vertical shafts 28a and 28b are each located on an upper surface of the respective first and second plates 14a and 14b.

The device 10 operates by translating a rotation of the shaft 18 into an up and down reciprocating movement of the plates 14, which drive the shafts 26 up and down in correspondence to the movement of the plates 14. As the shaft 18 turns, then so does the central body 22, which is mounted on the shaft 18. As the central body 22 rotates, centrifugal force will tend to push the rollers 26 outwards away from the shaft 18. The rollers 26 are able to move up and down in their respective cavities 24 and will try and move away from the shaft 18 under centrifugal force, as the central body 22 rotates on the shaft 18.

Each roller 26 pushes against the edge of the respective plate 14 that is defined by the large central hole 20. The starting position of a single plate 14 cycle (in terms of a 360 rotation of the shaft 18) can be considered as being at rest at the bottom of the frame 12. As the shaft 18 turns (clockwise in Figure 1), the roller 26 will press against the plate 14, but no movement of the plate 14 occurs as the frame 12 is holding the plate 14 in position. However, once the shaft 18 has turned 90 degrees the roller 26 will (under centrifugal force) start to push the plate 14 upwards, as the plate 14 is free to move upwards in the slot 16 of the frame 14.

As the shaft 18 continues to turn and has fully turned 180 degrees, then the roller 26 will have pushed the plate 14 upwards to the fullest extent possible (its vertical movement being constrained by the length of the slot in which it moves). Once the shaft 18 has passed the 270 degrees point, the roller 26 in the cavity 24 will start to push the plate 14 downwards and the centrifugal force will now be causing the roller 26 to push the plate 14 downwards. As the shaft 18 completes a single full rotation in the second half of the cycle, the plate 14 will be pushed by the roller 26 to its lowest possible position. In a complete turn of the shaft 18 (once the shaft is up to speed), the roller 26 will be in direct contact with the plate 14 throughout the cycle.

While this is taking place, the second roller 26 and second plate 14 are also performing the same cycle of movement, but 180 degrees out of phase.

Figure 1 shows the two rollers 26, 180 degrees out of phase, but it should be understood that this Figure shows the device 10 at rest, with no rotational force being applied to the shaft 18. If the Figure showed the device in operation, the top-most roller 26 would be driven by the centrifugal force away from the shaft 18 and pushing the respective plate 14 up and away from the shaft 18. In general, in operation, each roller 26 is directly opposite in position as the shaft 18 rotates.

The energy provided by the shaft 18 is very efficiently transferred from the rotational energy of the shaft 18 to the reciprocating motion of the two plates 14, which drive the two vertical shafts 28. As the shaft speed increases, the efficiency of the energy transfer is also increased. There are only a small number of moving components and the two rollers 26 are the elements within the device 10 that transfer the energy from the rotational motion of the horizontal shaft 18 to the reciprocating motion of the two vertical shafts 28, thereby harnessing the centrifugal force from the rotation of the shaft 18.

These rollers 26 are driven by the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the central body 22 that is mounted on the shaft 18, which push upwards the plates 14 in the first half of the operational cycle, in turn, with the each roller 26 pushing their respective plate 14 downwards in the second half of their operational cycle.

The frame 12 that contains the moving components can be in the form of a cuboid box essentially completely enclosing the moving parts. Lubrication can be provided internally using oil. The box 12 can then be provided with one horizontal hole on one side through which the horizontal shaft 18 extends and two vertical holes on the top surface thereof through which the vertical shafts 28 extend. The size of the components will depend entirely on the specific application on which the device 10 is being used. The device 10 can be used in any mechanical environment in which it is desired to transfer rotational energy to a reciprocating (piston-like) motion, with the minimum possible energy loss. The efficiency of the device 10 increases as the shaft speed increases. The device 10 is very robust and will suffer from little wear and tear as there are no elements within the device 10 that are likely to fail.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A device (10) comprising: a frame (12), * a first plate (14a) located in a vertical slot (16a) in the frame (12) and free to move up and down in the slot (16a), * a second plate (14b), parallel to the first plate (14a), and located in a vertical slot (16b) in the frame (12) and free to move up and down in the slot (16b), * a horizontal rotating shaft (18) passing through the frame (12) and through respective holes (20a, 20b) in the plates (14a, 14b), * a central body (22) mounted on the shaft (18) and comprising a pair of cavities (24a, 24b) located in line with the respective holes (20a, 20b) in the plates (14a, 14b), and * a pair of weights (26a, 26b), each weight (26a, 26b) located in a respective cavity (24a, 24b) of the central body (22).
2. A device according to claim 1, wherein the cavities (24a, 24b) are positioned in the central body (22) so that they are 180 degrees out of phase.
3. A device according to claim 1 or 2, and further comprising a pair of vertical shafts (28a, 28b) each located on an upper surface of respective first and second plates (14a, 14b).
4. A device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the frame (12) comprises a cuboid box (12).
5. A device according to any preceding claim, wherein each plate (14a, 14b) is substantially rectangular.
6. A device according to any preceding claim, wherein the weights (26a, 26b) comprise balls or rollers.