OA17413A - Horizontally rotating driving device. - Google Patents

Abstract

A driving device (1) for driving a rotating shaft (21) includes an annular frame (11), a magnetic pendulum unit (12), a plurality of electromagnetic units (13) and a plurality of control units (14). The magnetic pendulum unit (12) is rotatable about a center (112) of the annular frame (11) through which a rotating shaft (21) extends and is connected co-rotatably to the rotating shaft (21). The electromagnetic units (13) and the control units (14) are alternatively and equiangularly arranged along a circumference of the annular frame (11). The control units (14) are configured to turn on and off the respective electromagnetic units (13) to generate a magnetic force between the magnetic pendulum unit (12) and the respective electromagnetic units (13) for facilitating rotation of the magnetic pendulum unit (12) and allow the magnetic pendulum unit (12) to pass by the respective electromagnetic units (13), respectively.

Description

This disclosure relates to a driving device, more particularly to a driving device for driving a rotating shaft.

2. Description of Related Art

A generator is usually driven by a conventional driving device, such as a windmill, a waterwheel, a steam turbine driven by fossil fuels (e.g., coal), for converting mechanical energy to electric power. However, since naturel energy sources, such as wind power and water power, are unstable, the conventional driving device using such energy sources (e.g., the windmill and the waterwheel) cannot generate electric power stably. Further, due to the recent rise in environmental awareness, the conventional driving device driven by fossil fuels is unable to support environmental protection.

To overcome the shortcomings of the conventional driving apparatus, the présent invention provides a horizontally rotating driving apparatus to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the présent disclosure is to provide a driving device for driving a rotating shaft. The driving device includes an annular frame, a magnetic pendulum unit, a plurality of electromagnetic units and a plurality of control units. The annular frame defines a center that allows the rotating shaft to extend therethrough. The magnetic pendulum unit is rotatable about the center of the annular frame and is configured to be connected co-rotatably to the rotating shaft. The electromagnetic units are mounted on the annular frame, and are isogonally spaced-apart from each other along a circumference of the annular frame. The control units are mounted at the annular frame corresponding to the electromagnetic units, respectively. Each of the control units is spaced apart from a corresponding one of the electromagnetic units. Each of the control units is configured to turn on the corresponding one of the electromagnetic units to generate a magnetic force for attracting the magnetic pendulum unit so as to facilitate rotation of the magnetic pendulum unit, and to turn off the corresponding one of the electromagnetic units to stop generating the magnetic force so as to allow the magnetic pendulum unit to pass by the corresponding one of the electromagnetic units.

Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a front view of a first embodiment of an electric generating system in accordance with the présent invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the first embodiment of the electric generating system, illustrating a magnetic pendulum unit that includes two levers connected to a rotating shaft and two magnetic éléments connected to the levers, respectively;

Fig. 3 is a top view of a second embodiment of the electric generating system according to the présent disclosure, illustrating the magnetic pendulum unit including three levers and three magnetic éléments;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the electric generating system in accordance with the présent invention;

Fig. 5 is a top view of the third embodiment of the electric generating system in accordance with the présent invention;

Fig. 6 is a side view of the third embodiment of the electric generating system;

Fig. 7 is a side view of the third embodiment of the electric generating system, illustrating an interconnecting unit connected to and driven by the rotating shaft, a main gear and a plurality of driven gears;

Fig. 8 is a top view of the third embodiment of the electric generating system, illustrating the main gear connected to the interconnecting unit and meshing with the driven gears;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the third embodiment of the electric generating System, in which the main gear is an internai gear and the driven gears are extemal gears; and

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a modification of the third embodiment of the electric generating system, in which the main gear is an extemal gear and the driven gears are internai gears.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to Figs. 1 and 2, the first embodiment of the electric generating system 10 according to the présent disclosure is shown. The electric generating system 10 includes a driving device 1 and a generator unit 2. The driving device 1 is configured for driving a rotating shaft 21, and includes an annular frame 11, a magnetic pendulum unit 12, four electromagnetic units 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D and four control units 14A, 14B, 14C, 14D.

The driving device 1 is provided with an activating device 22 as shown in Fig. 2 for driving the rotating shaft 21 and the magnetic pendulum unit 12 to rotate. The activating device 22 may be a hand-driven tool, an electrical mechanism or a combination thereof. The generator unit 2 is configured to be connected directly to the driving shaft 21 for converting kinetic energy into electric power.

The annular frame 11 includes a center 112 that allows the rotating shaft 21 to extend therethrough. The magnetic pendulum unit 12 is rotatable about the center 112 of the annular frame 11, and includes two levers 121 and two magnetic éléments 122. The levers 121 radially and equiangularly extend from the center 112 of the annular frame 11. Each of the levers 121 has two opposite ends, one of the opposite ends is configured to be connected co-rotatably to the rotating shaft 21, and the other one of the opposite ends is mounted with a respective one of the magnetic éléments 122.

The electromagnetic units 13 A, 13B, 13C, 13D are mounted on the annular frame

11, and are equiangularly arranged along a circumference of the annular frame 11. In this embodiment, the electromagnetic units 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D are disposed within an inner space 111 that is defined by the annular frame 11 and that extends in a circumferential direction of the annular frame 11. Each of the electromagnetic units 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D includes a core 131 and a winding coil 132 wound around the core 131. The winding coil 132 of each of the electromagnetic units 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D is electrically connected to a power source for providing electricity to the winding coil 132. The power source may be a solar cell or other power supplies.

Each of the magnetic éléments 122 of the magnetic pendulum unit 12 is attractable by a magnetic force generated by each of the electromagnetic units 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D when each of the electromagnetic units 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D is turned on.

Each of the control units 14A, 14B, 14C, 14D is mounted at the annular frame 11, and is spaced apart from a corresponding one of the electromagnetic units 13A, 13B, 13C,

13D. In this embodiment, the control units 14A, 14B, 14C, 14D are disposed within the inner space 111 of the annular frame 11. It should be appreciated that the electromagnetic units 13A, 13B, 13C, 13Dandthe control units 14A, 14B, 14C, 14D may be disposed at the outside of the annular frame 11.

Each of the control unit 14A, 14B, 14C, 14D includes a first sensor 141 A, 141 B, 141C, 141D and a second sensor 142A, 142B, 142C, 142D. Since the structures of the control units 14A, 14B, 14C, 14D are the same, only one of the control units 14A, 14B, 14C, 14D will be described in the following descriptions for the sake of brevity. The first sensor 141A, 141B, 141C, 141D is electrically connected to the corresponding electromagnetic unit 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D, and is configured for enabling the power source to provide electricity to the coil 132 so as to turn on the corresponding electromagnetic unit 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D upon detecting the magnetic element 122 of the magnetic pendulum unit 12. The second sensor 142A, 142B, 142C, 142D is spaced apart from the first sensor 141 A, 141 B, 141 C, 141Dina rotation direction of the magnetic pendulum unit 12 (indicated by an arrow in Fig. 1, i.e., a counterclockwise direction in this embodiment), is disposed between the first sensor 141 A, 141 B, 141 C, 141D and the corresponding electromagnetic unit 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D, and is electrically connected to the corresponding electromagnetic unit 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D. The second sensor 142A, 142B, 142C, 142D is configured for disabling the power source that provides electricity to the coil 132 so as to turn off the electromagnetic unit 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D upon detecting the magnetic element 122. By this way, the control unit 14A, 14B, 14C, 14D can turn on the corresponding electromagnetic unit 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D to generate the magnetic force for attracting the magnetic element 122 of the magnetic pendulum unit 12 so as to facilitate rotation of the magnetic pendulum 12, and can turn off the corresponding electromagnetic unit 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D to stop generating the magnetic force to thereby allow the magnetic pendulum unit 12 to pass by the corresponding electromagnetic unit 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D. For example, the first and second sensors 141 A, 141B, 141C, 141D, 142A, 142B, 142C, 142D are infrared sensors.

It should be noted that, as shown in Fig. 2, the rotating shaft 21 is disposed vertically to the ground and the annular frame 111 is disposed horizontally to the ground.

With reference to Figs. 1 and 2, the operational process of the driving device 1 of the présent disclosure is illustrated. First, the activating device 22 drives the rotating shaft 21 and the magnetic pendulum unit 12 to rotate in the counterclockwise direction (indicated by an arrow in Fig. 1). The magnetic pendulum unit 12 is then released and rotâtes in the counterclockwise direction due to inertia thereof. When any one of the magnetic éléments 122 rotâtes to a position where the first sensor 141 A, 141 B, 141C, 141D is located, the first sensor 141 A, 141 B, 141 C, 141D detects said magnetic element 122 and turns on the corresponding electromagnetic unit 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D to generate the magnetic force. In this embodiment, the first sensors 141 A, 14IC respectively detect the magnetic éléments 122 at the same time and respectively turn on the electromagnetic units 13A, 13C for respectively attracting the magnetic éléments 122 to facilitate rotation of the magnetic pendulum unit 12. Thus, rotation of the magnetic pendulum unit 12 toward the corresponding electromagnetic unit 13A, 13B, 13C, 13Dis facilitated owing to the magnetic force generated by the corresponding electromagnetic unit 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D. Similarly, the first sensors 14 IB, 141D respectively turn on the electromagnetic units 13B, 13D at the same time when detecting the magnetic éléments 122.

Said one of the magnetic éléments 12 then rotâtes to a position where the second sensor 142A, 142B, 142C, 142D is located, and the second sensor 142A, 142B, 142C,

142D detects said magnetic element 122 and tums off the corresponding electromagnetic unit 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D. In this embodiment, the second sensors 142A, 142C respectively detect the magnetic éléments 122 and respectively turn off the electromagnetic units 13 A, 13C at the same time. Thus, the electromagnetic units 13A, 13C stop generating the magnetic force so as to allow the magnetic éléments 122 to pass by the corresponding electromagnetic units 13A, 13C. Similarly, the second sensors 142B, 142D respectively turn off the electromagnetic units 13B, 13D at the same time when detecting the magnetic éléments 122.

Hereafter, the magnetic pendulum unit 12 continues to rotate in the counterclockwise direction, and the control units 14A, 14B, 14C, 14D repeat détection of the magnetic éléments 122 to turn on and off the corresponding electromagnetic units 13 A, 13B, 13C, 13D as described above.

By virtue of the control units 14A, 14B, 14C, 14D that are arranged on the annular frame 11 and that timely tums on and off the electromagnetic units 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D, the electromagnetic units 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D interacts with the magnetic éléments 122 to facilitate continuous rotation of the magnetic pendulum unit 12 and the rotation shaft 21 to thereby generate kinetic energy to be converted to electric power by the generator unit 2. By this way, the driving device 1 of this embodiment can generate kinetic energy from the little electricity provided to the electromagnetic units 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D in this embodiment.

With reference to Fig. 3, the second embodiment of the electric generating system 10 of the présent disclosure is shown to be similar to the first embodiment. The différence between the first embodiment and this embodiment résides in the following. The magnetic pendulum unit 12 includes three levers 121, and three magnetic éléments 122 mounted respectively to the levers 121. In particular, the levers 121 radially and equiangularly extend from the center 112 of the annular frame 11, that is to say, each two of the levers form an included angle of 120° therebetween. The driving device 1 includes six electromagnetic units 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D, 13E, 13F, and six control units 14A, 14B, 14C, 14D, 14E, 14F corresponding to the electromagnetic units 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D, 13E, 13F, respectively. The electromagnetic units 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D, 13E, 13F are arranged on the circumference of the annular frame 11 within the inner space 111, and are spaced apart from each other along the circumference. In this embodiment, the rotation speed of the magnetic pendulum unit 12 is increased. It can be appreciated that the number of the levers 121, the magnetic éléments 122, the electromagnetic units 13, and the control units 14 may be varied in other embodiments.

With reference to Figs. 4 to 6, the third embodiment of this disclosure, which is similar to the first embodiment, is shown. The différence between the first embodiment and the third embodiment résides in that, in the third embodiment, the driving device 2 includes six electromagnetic units 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D, 13E, 13F and six control units 14A, 14B, 14C, 14D, 14E, 14F. Further, for each lever 121 of the magnetic pendulum unit 12, the magnetic element 122 includes two magnetic blocks 122A, 122B that are fixedly mounted on the lever 121 at an end opposite to the rotating shaft 21, spaced apart from each other in a direction parallel to the rotating shaft 21, and attractable by the magnetic force generated by each of the electromagnetic units 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D, 13E, 13F. Note that the orientations of the electromagnetic units 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D, 13E, 13F are modified in accordance with magnetic pôles of the magnetic blocks 122A, 122B.

With reference to Figs. 7 to 10, the fourth embodiment of the electric generating system 10 of the présent disclosure is similar to the third embodiment, except that the electric generating System 10 of this embodiment further includes an interconnecting component 31, a main gear 32, a plurality of driven gears 331 and a plurality of generator units 2’. The interconnecting component 31 is connected to and driven by the rotating shaft to rotate. The main gear 32 is connected to and driven by the interconnecting component 5 31. The driven gears 331 are meshed with and driven by the main gear 32. The generator units 2’ are respectively connected to and driven by the driven gears 331 for converting kinetic energy into electric power. In this embodiment, the main gear 32 is an internai gear and the driven gears 32 are extemal gears. It should be noted that, with reference to Fig. 10, the main gear 32 may be an extemal gear and the driven gears 331 may be internai gears;

the disclosure is not limited in this respect.

Claims (8)

1. A driving device (1) for driving a rotating shaft (21), said driving device (1) being characterized by:

an annular frame (11) defining a center (112) that allows the rotating shaft (21) to extend therethrough;

a magnetic pendulum unit (12) being rotatable about said center (112) of said annular frame (11) and configured to be connected co-rotatably to the rotating shaft (21);

a plurality of electromagnetic units (13) mounted on said annular frame (11), and equiangularly arranged along a circumference of said annular frame (11); and a plurality of control units (14) mounted at said annular frame (11) corresponding to said electromagnetic units (13), respectively, each of said control units being spaced apart from a corresponding one of said electromagnetic units (13), each of said control units (14) being configured to turn on the corresponding one of said electromagnetic units (13) to generate a magnetic force for attracting the magnetic pendulum unit (12) so as to facilitate rotation of said magnetic pendulum unit (12), and turn off the corresponding one of said electromagnetic units (13) to stop generating the magnetic force so as to allow said magnetic pendulum unit (12) to pass by the corresponding one of said electromagnetic units (13).

2. The driving device (1) as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said magnetic pendulum unit (12) includes:

a plurality of levers (121) that radially and equiangularly extend from said center (112) of said annular frame (11), each of said levers (121) having two opposite ends, one of said opposite ends of each of said levers (121) being configured to be connected co-rotatably to the rotating shaft (21); and a plurality of magnetic éléments (122), each of said magnetic éléments (122) being mounted on the other one of said opposite ends of a respective one of said levers (121) and being attractable by the magnetic force.

3. The driving device (1) as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that each of said control units (14) includes:

a first sensor (141) electrically connected to the corresponding one of said electromagnetic units (13) for turning on the corresponding one of said electromagnetic units (13) upon detecting said magnetic pendulum unit (12); and a second sensor (142) spaced apart from said first sensor (141) in a rotation direction of said magnetic pendulum unit (12), disposed between said first sensor (141) and the corresponding one of said electromagnetic units (13), and electrically connected to the corresponding one of said electromagnetic units (13) for turning off the corresponding one of said electromagnetic units (13) upon detecting said magnetic pendulum unit (12).

4. The driving device (1) as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that each of said electromagnetic units (13) includes a core (131) and a winding coil (132) wound around said core (131).

5. The driving device (1) as claimed in claim 2, further characterized in that said pendulum unit (12) includes:

ach of the magnetic éléments (122) including two magnetic blocks (122A, 122B) mounted on the other one of said opposite ends of said lever (121), being attractable by the magnetic force, spaced apart from each other in a direction parallel to the rotating shaft (21).

6. An electric generating System (10), characterized by the driving device (1) as il claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, and at least one generator unit (2, 2’) configured to be connected to the driving shaft (21) for converting kinetic energy generated by said magnetic pendulum unit (12) into electric power.

7. The electric generating system (10) as claimed in claim 6, further characterized 5 by:

an interconnecting component (31) configured to be connected to and driven by the rotating shaft (21) to rotate;

a main gear (32) connected to and driven by said interconnecting component (31); a plurality of driven gears (331) meshing with and driven by said main gear (32);

10 and a plurality of said generator units (2’) respectively connected to and driven by said driven gears (331) for converting kinetic energy into electric power.

8. The electric generating system (10) as claimed in claim 7, further characterized in that said main gear (32) is one of an extemal gear and an internai gear.