GB2570966A

GB2570966A - Using floats in water for energy conversion

Info

Publication number: GB2570966A
Application number: GB1817775.8A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Greer Kieran
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2018-10-31
Filing date: 2018-10-31
Publication date: 2019-08-14
Also published as: GB201817775D0

Abstract

Apparatus for generating power comprising a plurality of floats 22,23 that are attached at regular intervals to a looped string that is positioned within a vertical tubular structure. The tubular structure forms a circuit through which the floats may circulate due the floats buoyancy. The tubular structure may be sealed 1d and filled with a fluid such as water, or may be made from an open wire or mesh and positioned within a body of water; and top of the structure 1c may be open. The floats have flexible fingers (18, fig 5) that open and close, and have a membrane (19, fig 5) attached between the fingers. The floats fingers open 22 when they move downwards and close 23 when they move upwards. The floats may have magnets placed close to the sides of the structure to generate electricity. Alternatively the floats may push a flap or wheel around to generate electricity.

Description

Statement of Invention

This patent relates to a new design for an energy-generating device that makes use of fluid forces on a system of buoyant floats, to move them in a constant circular motion around a fluid canal route. This would be a very useful invention for generating energy and while perpetual motion is not believed to be possible, this invention outlines some new ideas in that area that may be patentable. Essential to the new design is a new float design that behaves differently depending on its vertical orientation. That can produce a set of asymmetric forces over the whole system and not a balanced set of forces. While the differences may be small, it may be enough to produce a preferred direction of motion. Another essential feature may be a new design for the containing water tube that allows the water forces to originate from a larger and more uniform body of water, and may also allow a longer upwards path in the canal route.

Summary

This patent relates to a new design for an energy-generating device that makes use of fluid forces on a system of buoyant floats, to move them in a constant circular motion around a fluid canal route. The fluid might typically be water, but the purpose is to move the float with maximum force and so any fluid can be considered. For the rest of this description, water will be used as the fluid. The water canal is typically a narrow and elongate tube that is circular, ushaped, or rectangular with rounded corners and may have the top section exposed. The tube may therefore be filled completely, or filled close to the top with water, where the unfilled area can be exposed to the outside. A different idea would be to build the tube from a wire or mesh framework and contain it in a basin of water. In that case, the framework defines a route for the floats to travel, in the larger basin of water. Further descriptions of the water tube also apply to the wire or mesh framework. The floats are attached to a string, ribbon or similar material, at regular intervals to form a system and all in the same direction and orientation. The term string will be used to describe any possibility for the joining material (ribbon, rope, thread, etc.). The string is placed inside the tube and the string ends are joined together, so that it forms a continuous circular structure that is the length of the water canal and can move freely around the water canal. The water tube must be wide enough for this structure with the floats to be able to move freely in it.

11 18

The floats can also have a new design that tries to maximise the upward forces on it. The preferred new design is to have a central core with fingers that extend from it. The fingers are designed to open and close in one vertical direction only, rather like a human hand. They would also have a non-porous membrane attached between them, so that when they open there is a larger horizontal surface area than when they close. Floats on opposite vertical sides of the canal will be in opposite orientations to each other and so they will try to open or close in opposite vertical directions as well. With floats that move upwards, the buoyancy will push the core and fingers upwards, where the fingers are free to try to close themselves. If the float is oriented in the opposite vertical direction, the buoyancy hits against locks on each finger joint, preventing the fingers from moving upwards and so the fingers stay more open. When one side of the water tube is therefore encouraging the floats to move upwards, this will generate enough energy through velocity, to force the floats on the other side to move downwards. The continuous circular movement of the float system will cause the floats to change position and role as they transfer along the bottom and top of the canal to the other vertical side of the tube. At the top, the floats can move out of the water and even interact with another body, before reentering the water at the other side of the tube. The gravity forces can balance themselves out, or even favour the upwards motion, but friction along the more horizontal top or bottom canals of the tube is the main force against the movement, as is the requirement for the float to change shape as it crosses over. The floats could therefore be kept in the middle of the canal through a position fixing groove. This would remove a lot of the friction forces on the float body, where the fingers that span further horizontally can still be encouraged to close, through a light interaction with a solid body. The horizontal cross-over areas in the tube should be as narrow as possible. If a wider top area is required, then the long tube sides can slope outwards, before being joined at the top area. The forces acting against movement (friction, gravity, etc) can be further countered, by having a curved vertical tube side where the floats move upwards. The floats would therefore have more canal length to move upwards in, resulting in yet more force in that direction. A spiral shape to the tube on this side would be another option.

Description of the Model Components

Following are the main components that make up the new invention.

2.1 Water Tube

The water tube should be elongate in shape, with long sides and a narrow base and top. If the top needs to be wider, then the sides can slope outwards slightly. The top of the tube can be removed if interaction with an external device is required. The water is then contained in a ushaped region comprising the rest of the tube. The canal size must be large enough to allow the floats to open outwards fully and move freely. Every effort must be made to reduce friction forces, particularly at the top and bottom, so that the work required by the floats that pull all of the other floats along, is reduced to a minimum. To give the upwards moving floats the

11 18 maximum advantage, the tube side where the floats move upwards can be curved, with the side where the floats move downwards still being straight. There is therefore more length in the canal where the floats move upwards, allowing for more power to emanate from more movement on that side of the system. A spiral shape to the tube on this side would be another option. This could also simply allow more floats to be on that side, but the more sloped canal route reduces the water forces on the floats. Another embodiment of the water tube would therefore build it from a wire or mesh framework. It would then be placed in a basin of water for it to contain water. The basin can be filled to the top part of the wire tube and can be set at a level that would give some buoyancy to the floats moving across the top of the canal route as well, for example. It may cover the whole of the float in the top area, or it may leave some of the floats exposed as they pass over horizontally. With a wire framework, the tube is now just a canal path in the basin of water. The water pressure and forces that would act on any floats moving in the canal route would come from the larger body of water now and would not be local to any part of the tube.

2.2 Water Floats

There are different embodiments of the floats that would work. One embodiment is to have a buoyant core with buoyant fingers extending from it. The floats would be designed to open and close like a hand - in one direction only. The fingers are designed to move up or down from a horizontal plane at the middle core region, in one direction only and are locked from moving on the other side of that plane. The joints are loose, through using a pivot for example, so that the movement is completely free. There can be a non-porous membrane between the fingers that produces a wide surface area when extended. A preferable design might be to have narrow fingers closest to the centre that get larger, moving along the finger structure from the centre. The fingers could also have a particularly buoyant end to help them to move quickly into the desired shape. Another embodiment can be a buoyant core with buoyant flaps extending from it, that are wider than the fingers. These flaps can try to cover a similar surface area to the membrane. They would similarly be designed to move in one direction only and be locked from moving in the opposite direction. To prevent the fingers or flaps from folding inwards completely, an optional light hollow or wire frame can be attached to the central core that will block this action. If hollow, it can also be sealed, when it can be used for buoyancy.

When the fingers are fully open, the float has a wide horizontal surface area and is relatively shallow in the vertical plane. When the fingers close, the float is much longer in the vertical plane, but also much narrower in the horizontal plane and the membrane should easily fold-up in-between the folded fingers. For the rest of the description, an ‘open’ float defines a float with the fingers extended, and a ‘closed’ float defines a float with the fingers folded in. Water forces acting on the float system will apply a pressure to the whole body, but always in the same direction. With one float orientation, upward forces on the flexible fingers should encourage them to fold inwards. Downward forces are countered by the buoyancy of the float material. If the float is in the opposite vertical orientation, then the same upward force would in fact encourage the fingers to stay open as they would be locked from closing. The downward force would encourage the fingers to close, but this is again countered by the buoyancy.

11 18

Therefore, the float can be encouraged to open or close, depending on which side of the water tube it is situated. This will cause a difference to the shapes of the floats on either vertical side of the water tube, resulting in a different set of total water forces. That will allow floats on one side of the canal to move upwards more easily, where the floats are more closed. This will also give the floats on that vertical side of the canal enough energy through greater velocity, to force the floats on the opposite vertical side of the canal downwards, where the floats are open.

2.3 Float System

For the floats to be a system, they need to be attached in sequence so that when one float moves they all move together. The joining structure needs to be completely flexible, so that it can move around the water tube unhindered. It should also be as light as possible so that the forces of the floats acting against each other is the only concern. It may be made of string, ribbon, or any other suitable material. The water forces on the system as a whole are asymmetric and so it is the force difference that can be used to generate the motion. One thing that should be prevented is a float flipping upside-down and so the string should be sturdy enough to prevent this. The string might therefore be a ribbon that can be broader in one dimension, or the float can use a small stabilising fastener to make sure that it does not flip upside-down easily.

If the string runs only through the centre of the float from one float to the next, then there might be a crash at the bottom when the float hits the tube wall as the other more buoyant floats force the whole system to be taut and force it upwards. A relatively simple mechanism can fix the float in the middle of the canal channel however. The float can have a bar attached that also runs in two grooves, one on either side of the tube wall. The bar can be safely and loosely fastened inside the groove that runs along the whole of the canal route. The bar cannot move up or down in the plane it sits on and cannot move sideways as it is set by the grooves and walls. The float can rotate along the third plane, but if they are still all attached to each other through a string, then this rotation is a standard problem that should not occur.

2.4 Energy Conversion Possibilities

The float system is contained inside of the tube and needs to be free-moving and so it cannot be attached to anything else. One problem therefore is how to convert its motion into energy that can be used for something. One option is to try to interact with the float system when it is exposed at the top of the tube. A light interaction might be possible to push a flap or wheel around, to convert the motion into mechanical energy in another device. If the tube is sealed, then it can be filled completely with water, but then interaction with the floats must be through some type of transference. A second option could therefore be to place magnets inside of the floats. Wire coils would then be placed close to the tube sides, where a magnetic field moving in a wire coil generates electricity.

2.5 Simple Float Test

To state again, the floats that move upwards are encouraged to close their fingers, while the floats that move downwards are encouraged to open their fingers. This would be consistent with theory, as the floats moving downwards cover a wider horizontal surface area, producing more force against the water surface and its resistance to the float movement. Turbulence below the open float surface can also create a small pressure difference to encourage a counter downwards movement as the float will still try to rise. The closed float has a more compact shape and has to deal with less resistance in the horizontal plane from fewer surface area forces from the water in that plane. It can therefore move with greater velocity, and with enough power to force the slower moving open floats, to move downwards. A simple test can demonstrate this theory. Two floats can be built, attached to a balance and placed in water in opposite vertical orientations. The float that is allowed to close upwards will move upwards and will force the float that stays open, downwards. Note that the level of buoyancy must balance against the effect of the open membrane and so it is not necessarily the maximum possible, which may be too strong.

11 18

Detailed Description of the Figures

A description of the invention by way of a set of figures, shown in the figures document, is as follows. This repeats the description given in the previous sections, with some new information.

Figure 1.

This figure describes three embodiments of the fluid (hereafter described as water) tube la, lb and lc, and the water canal route 2. This description also applies to the wire framework. The tube is elongate, with a narrow top and base and long sides. The vertical tube sides allow the floats to move downwards 3 and upwards 4. The tube top can be covered and then also filled with water 5, or open and not filled 6. If open, then an external device can interact with the floats 7 to cause movement in it, or if covered then some other type of transference, such as electromagnetism with wire coils 8, might be tried.

Figure 2.

This figure shows two further examples and embodiments of the water tube Id and le that also show the floats 22, 23 as part of a float system 9, that may move around it. The floats are attached in sequence by something like a string. The direction of movement is as indicated in figure lb, where the open floats 22 move downwards and the closed floats 23 move upwards. Tube Id is sealed and filled completely with fluid, while tube le is open at the top. The main impedance to the movement is therefore at the bottom and top, where the floats cross over.

11 18

This can still be balanced with respect to gravity, where a float moving downwards is countered by a float moving upwards, so the main problem is friction, where the float will rub against the top and bottom tube sides. The floats also need to change shape as they transfer from one side to the other. This could be helped by the tube shape, but a float moving downwards needs to close the extended finger shape on the curve, just before reaching the bottom. Tube le is also curved on the vertical side 10, 4 where the floats would move upwards. This gives a longer canal route for the floats to move upwards in, but at a reduced slope gradient. The increase in water volume on that side of the canal could also simply allow more floats to be on that side.

Figure 3.

This figure shows a slightly different embodiment of the water tube If and how the floats 22, 23 as part of a float system 9, may move around it. This water tube embodiment is more interesting by the fact that it is made from a wire or mesh framework. It then needs to be placed in a basin of water 11 for it to contain water. The basin can be filled to the top part of the wire tube and can be set at a level that would give some buoyancy to the floats moving across the top of the canal route, so as to reduce some friction there. It may cover the whole of the float in the top area, or it may leave some of the floats exposed as they pass over horizontally. With a wire framework, the tube is now just a canal path in the basin of water. The water pressure and forces that would act on any floats moving in the canal route would now come from the larger body of water and would not be local to any part of the tube.

Figure 4.

This figure describes a groove for fixing the floats in the middle of the canal, which would help to remove a lot of the friction forces. This is a schematic diagram only, where the fixing should be secure but still loose. Figure 12a is a view of the water tube from below on the downwards side and figure 12b is a view of the tube from the vertical upwards side. The tube (or wire framework) may add grooves to each side 13 and attach a light bar 14 to the float (22, 23). The bar and groove fix the float in the middle of the canal route. The floats are still attached by a string 9, but for further stability, similar strings can be attached to the bar on each side 15.

Figure 5.

This is one embodiment of a float 16 that is a favoured design. The float is in its open state, where the fingers are extended and this is a 3-D view from the top and side. There is a central core 17 from which fingers 18 extend. There is a non-porous membrane 19 attached between the fingers and the fingers can move freely through the joint pivots that link them 20. The fingers are designed to move up or down from a horizontal plane at the middle core region, in one direction only and are locked from moving on the other side of that plane. The finger end may have a more buoyant body attached 21 that also gives it extra weight. In other diagrams, a reduced representation of this float, when shown as part of the float system 9, is shown as 22.

11 18

Figure 6.

This figure shows the same float of Figure 5, 16, but in plain 2-D overhead view, simply to show the geometric layout of the core 17 and fingers 18 when fully extended.

Figure 7.

This figure shows the same float 16, but in its closed state. This is a 3-D view from the side and the same items are similarly numbered. The fingers 18 are able to close inwards and upwards and the membrane 19 is able to fold inwards or outwards with them. The membrane covers the same exterior area as the closed fingers and has folded inwards between the fingers. It is still open at the top and has also moved from a horizontal plane only, to a horizontal and vertical one. The buoyant ends to the fingers 21 are intended to help them to move upwards more quickly and therefore help the float to close. In other diagrams, a reduced representation of this float, when shown as part of the float system 9, is shown as 23.

Figure 8.

This figure gives a closer view of the finger 18 and float core 17. The finger can be prevented from moving in one direction by something as simple as a lock 24 on the joint pivot 20. This can be as basic as extending the bottom part of a finger end with a bar 24, so that when the next finger part hits against it, that finger part is blocked from moving further. The happy face is where the finger can move up and down freely, but the cross is where it is blocked from moving. In the second part of figure 8, it might be an option to add a light hollow or wire frame 25 to the float core. When the fingers close, they may close together completely. Then as the float moves around the system, they need to open up again and eventually open up fully again. This needs to be done as quickly as possible and so it should be a smooth operation without any parts getting tangled up. The fingers are more likely to tangle if they close completely, especially if there is also a membrane and so to prevent this, a light hollow or wire frame 25 can restrict the fingers from closing completely. It can also be used for buoyancy if it is a sealed hollow extension of the core 17. It might also be a useful part to hit against at the exposed top of a tube, to generate mechanical movement in an external device, or place a magnet in.

Figure 9.

This figure shows a new embodiment of the float 16 that uses flaps 26 instead of the fingers 18. It works in exactly the same way, where the flaps are encouraged to open in one direction and are blocked from closing in the opposite direction. The flaps cover more surface area than fingers and can be buoyant, but they will not cover the whole surface area that a membrane can and so the membrane may be preferred.

Claims

1 Claims

1. A system of floats that move in a fluid canal, hereafter called water, around a water container, where the floats are all attached through a string-like material, so that they move together as a single system, where the water canal route is elongate with longer vertical sides, where one novelty is to use a wire or mesh framework that sits inside a water basin to define the canal route instead of a solid tube, where a second novelty is to have a longer but more sloping upwards route in the canal, where a third novelty is the design of the floats, where the main novel feature of the floats is fingers that extend from a buoyant core and can move freely but only in one vertical orientation, in the same way as a human hand, where the fingers can have a non-porous membrane between them that also extends and closes when the fingers do, which means that when the floats are in the water canal, the water forces will act differently upon them depending on their vertical orientation and thereby generate an asymmetric set of forces over the whole float system with a net upwards force that can be the source of continuous motion, where a second embodiment of the floats uses flaps instead of fingers, where there are different ways to interact with the floats to convert their motion into energy.

2. A water tube as claimed in claim 1 that is made from a wire framework or coarse mesh and then placed in a basin of water to contain water itself, where the basin can fill the canal route area to any level required and will be responsible for any of the water pressures or forces that act on the floats.

3. A water tube/framework as claimed in claim 1 that is elongate and narrow in shape, but may be circular, u-shaped, or rectangular with rounded corners, to give the least hindrance to the floats moving around it.

4. A water tube/framework as claimed in claim 1 where the vertical side on which the floats move upwards may be curved or spiral to increase its length, so that more float velocity emanates from that side and may even simply allow more floats to be on that side.

5. A water tube/framework as claimed in claim 1 that is exposed at the top so that an external device can interact with the moving float system.

6. A water tube/framework as claimed in claim 1, that is closed to the outside, when interaction with the floats inside must be done through some type of transference, for example, electromagnetism.

7. A float system as claimed in claim 1 that is a series of floats attached to a string-like material, all in the same orientation, where the float system is placed into the water tube/framework and the string ends joined to form a continuous circular structure that is the length of the water canal and can move freely around the water canal.

23 11 18

8. A float system as claimed in claim 1 where the floats on opposite vertical sides of the water canal are in the opposite vertical orientation and have different forces acting on them, based on their shape, meaning that they can in fact act differently to the same water force and thereby generate a net upwards force that can cause continuous motion for the float system.

9. A float as claimed in claim 1 that comprises a buoyant central core from which buoyant fingers can extend, where a non-porous membrane is attached between the fingers to increase the horizontal surface area, where the fingers are designed to move up or down from a horizontal plane at the middle core region, in one direction only and are locked from moving on the other side of that plane.

10. A float as claimed in claim 9, where the fingers and membrane are replaced by wider flaps.

11. A float as claimed in claim 1 where one vertical orientation in the water tube would encourage it to close its fingers, resulting in an increased upwards force and velocity, but if in the opposite vertical orientation, it would be encouraged to keep the fingers open, resulting in more resistance to the upwards motion and therefore a reduced velocity.

12. A float as claimed in claim 1 where the upwards and faster moving closed floats have enough energy to force the slower moving open floats downwards.

13. A float system as claimed in claim 1 where the continuous circular movement of the system will cause the floats to switch vertical sides, in which case their orientation and role will also switch to what is relevant to that canal route side and allow the motion to continue.

14. A float system as claimed in claim 1 where the floats can be kept in the centre of the canal channel and away from the tube edges by fixing it with a bar that also travels in two grooves at either side of the tube/framework structure.