RU1830110C - Device for converting pressure or potential energy of liquid into mechanical work - Google Patents

Abstract

A machine for converting pressure energy of a fluid into mechanical work comprises a working chamber (27, 28) the volume of which is cyclically variable in response to reciprocatory motion of a wall (20) which defines the working chamber; a reciprocatory power member (15, 16) which is displaceable by said wall under action of the pressure of the fluid on the wall during expansion of the working chamber; an inlet conduit (12) communicating with the working chamber; an outlet conduit (13) communicating with the working chamber (13); and outlet valve (22) which is closable to prevent fluid flow in the outlet conduit in the direction away from the working chamber; and a driven member (17) operatively connected with the power member. The outlet conduit comprises a gap-like passage (26) which substantially surrounds the working chamber (27, 28) and extends along the periphery thereof and which is open or openable to permit fluid flow therethrough from the working chamber substantially without any pressure drop.

Description

The invention relates to a device for converting the pressure or potential energy of a liquid into mechanical work,

The device is intended to be used as a hydraulic motor, especially to drive an electric generator using water with a low drop height. However, it is also adapted to a gaseous working fluid, especially air.

An object of the invention is to provide a device by which a low-level hydrostatic or gas pressure can be converted, with low energy loss, into the movement of a driven or output link, such as a shaft. The need for such a device exists, for example, if it is necessary to use the wave motion of water, the tidal motion or the flow of water with a low drop height to generate electrical energy.

From this point of view, the device according to the invention is presented hereinafter as a set in an independent clause.

Based on such an embodiment of the device according to the invention, the inlet passage can easily be constructed so that it can be open and, therefore,

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with about

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provided a sufficiently large cross-sectional area for the flow of the working fluid, whereby the working chamber can be filled very quickly through the passage with virtually no pressure drop and corresponding energy loss. The design of the device according to the invention also implies the possibility of ensuring the construction of a flow-passing part of the device, which facilitates a smooth, with little loss, flow of the working fluid through the device.

In FIG. 1 and 2 show a central vertical section through a device according to the invention in two different positions or phases of a duty cycle.

In the depicted embodiment, which is a hydraulic motor, the device comprises a fixed or stationary upper part, generally made as 11, which is equipped with a central inlet for the liquid (water) supporting part, which includes many movable elements that convert the hydrostatic or pressure pressure of the incoming fluid , in the rotational movement of the driven or output link. A fluid outlet is located between the support portion and the lower side of the upper portion.

The upper part 11 forms a tubular inlet 12 for liquid - water for practical purposes - continuously filling the inlet to a certain level. Behind the circular peripheral outer edge of the upper part is an outlet 13, generally on the side of the working chamber described below.

The support portion includes a power link comprising two vertically movable members, called a central or internal round member 15 in plan view and an annular outer member 16. concentric with the inner member. Through the connecting rods 18 and 19, the elements of the two power links 15 and 16 are connected to the output or driven link in the form of a crankshaft 17 connected to a generator or other (not shown) driven device.

Over two elements 15 and 16 of the power links, a very flexible film or plate 20 is impervious to the working fluid, hermetically attached to the stationary wall 29 of the supporting part and bridging the gap between this wall and the element 16 of the external power link; as well as the overlapping gap between this element 16 and the element 15 of the internal power link.

Below the plate 20, the described gaps are provided with valves in the form of a pair of vertically movable thrust rings, called internal

thrust ring 21 and outer thrust ring 22, moved up and down due to motion transmitting mechanisms 23 and 24, respectively, such as external cams mounted on the crank

the shaft 17, in accordance with the movement of the elements 15 and 16 of the power links. During their upward movement, the thrust rings 21, 22 cause the plate 20 to reach the upper part 11 and thus close the peripherally arranged continuous gap-groove passages of the flow 25 and 26, respectively, and therefore prevent liquid from flowing through the passages. A cavity which is in the radial direction inside the outer thrust ring 22 and the flow passage 26 and which is bounded in the upper direction by the upper direction by the upper part 11 and bounded in the lower direction by the plate 20,

constitutes a working chamber containing an internal compartment or part 27, the horizontal space of which corresponds to the extension of a circular gap inside the internal thrust ring 21, and an annular

external compartment or part 28, the horizontal extension of which corresponds to the extension of the annular gap between the two thrust rings 21 and 22. The surface area of the inner part 27 of the working chamber

makes up about half the surface area of the outer part 28.

The operation of the device is as follows.

In the duty cycle phase shown in Fig. 1, the inner thrust ring 21 is in the lowered position so that the annular passage 25 between the part 27 of the working chamber is fully open.

while the outer thrust ring 22 is in a raised position to keep the annular passage between the outer part 28 of the working chamber and the outlet 13 closed.

Under the influence of gravity of the water pressure in the outer portion 28, the external power link member 16 moves downward so that it exerts momentum on the crankshaft 17. At the same time, the internal power link member 15 is pushed upward by the crankshaft, thereby raising water in the inner part 27 of the working chamber, so that water can flow through the passage 25 into the outer part 28 of the working chamber. However, an equal amount of additional water comes directly from the inlet 12 to the outer part 28 of the working chamber.

The area of the horizontal surface through which the weight or pressure of water in the inner part 27 of the working chamber acts on the element 16 of the external power link is significantly larger (two or more times) than the area of the horizontal surface through which the weight or pressure of water in the inner part 27 of the working chamber acts on the element 15 of the internal power link. Hence, the moment applied to the crankshaft 17 by the power link member 16 is significantly greater than the moment required to move the power link member 15 upward. The difference in moments can be derived in the form of useful work from the crankshaft 17.

When the external power link member 16 reaches its lowest position or bottom dead center position, and the internal power link member 15 reaches its highest position or top dead center position, the inner thrust ring 21 is moved to the raised position to close passage 25, while as the outer thrust ring 22 moves to the lowered position to open the passage 26 (see figure 2) and therefore, water in the outer part 28 of the working chamber can flow freely through the outlet 13, such a flow almost horizontal.

The element 15 of the internal power link is still subjected to the pressure of the working fluid in the inlet 12. At the same time, due to the closure of the passage 25, the external element 16 is subjected to pressure corresponding to the weight or height of the water column supported by this element. Through its connecting rod 18, the inner element 15 acts on the crankshaft 17 with a moment which is resisted, although only to a small extent, due to the fact that the crankshaft 17 and the connecting rod 19 push up the element 16 of the external power link and so Thus, the volume of the outer part 28 of the working chamber is reduced. Excess area or differential torque is converted by the crankshaft 17 in the driven machine into useful work. If necessary, the inertia of the moving system can be increased, for example, by using a flywheel mounted on the crankshaft to make the operation smoother and to allow the transition of power link elements through the dead center positions.

When the power link member 16 reaches the top dead center position, and 5 the power link member 15 reaches the dead center point, the positions of the thrust rings 21, 22 are reversed and the first phase of the duty cycle described is repeated.

0 The invention is by no means limited to the embodiment shown in the drawings. Several modifications may be made within the scope of the invention. For example, the inner member of the power link 5, which is round as shown in the figure, may be annular, similar to the outer member, and the water hole may likewise be annular. Especially if the device works when

Due to the very low pressure, it may be useful to divide the power unit into more than two ring elements, which operate in phases that differ from each other and depend on the number of elements. whereby conversion to mechanical work is carried out in more than two stages. In this case, the valve corresponding to the valve 21 of the illustrated embodiment is provided between adjacent power link elements or stages. Since each such valve, with the exception of the latter, also represents both an outlet valve of a subsequent internal stage and an outlet

5 valve of the subsequent external stage, an increase in the number of stages does not require more than one additional valve for each additional stage.

It is easy to see4, the magnitude of the periphery

0 or the length of the blocked passages increase with increasing distance from the passage to the center of the device, and therefore, the cross-sectional area of the flow that the passages can provide for a certain

5, the vertical movement of the valves also increases with increasing distance from the passage to the center. The corresponding considerations apply to the horizontal surface area of the elements of the force link defining the chamber, as a result of which the force links can absorb an increased volume of liquid without increasing their required radial width. Accordingly, the time required for a fluid to pass from one stage to another is very short, even though the stages external to the radius can absorb quite significant volumes of liquid.

It must also be emphasized that it is in principle possible to carry out the conversion in one step, even if this implies undesirable losses and a significant fluctuation in the resulting mechanical work. Such a conversion to one stage can be achieved using the device shown in the drawings by locking one of the elements, the power link, namely, the inner element 15 in the top dead center position, or in any other suitable position, due to which only the remaining element, or by attaching both elements to the crankshaft so that they work synchronously (parallel movement). Although in this case it is useful to provide an inlet 12 with a valve that would prevent direct flow from the inlet to the outlet when the outlet valve is open, this is not absolutely necessary because of the large cross-sectional area provided for flow through the outlet valve, the outflow from the working chamber occurs so quickly when the outlet valve is fully open that the power through the inlet corresponds to the partial filling of the working chamber during open Phase outlet valve.

Other changes are also possible. For example, instead of using a flexible plate that partially or completely forms the wall of the working chamber, the walls of the working chamber may be solid, forming a relatively movable piston and cylindrical surfaces. In addition, it is obvious that the output of the driven link does not have to be a crankshaft; it is permissible to use a slave located linearly or in some other way, such as a hydraulic system

pistons.

Claims (3)

1. A device for converting the pressure or potential energy of a liquid into mechanical work, comprising a working chamber with cyclically varying in accordance with the reciprocating movement of the volume bounding wall, a power link installed to interact with the chamber wall and move under the influence of the pressure of the working fluid; the input and output channels in communication with the working chamber, the output valve located in the output channel, and the driven link kinematically connected to the power link, distinguish - more so that the output channel in the cross section is made gap-like and placed on the periphery of the working chamber. 2. The device according to claim 1, with the fact that it is equipped with an additional valve installed in the area of the working chamber with the possibility of blocking the flow of the working fluid through the chamber and the formation of the inner and outer parts in the radial direction working chamber. 3. The device according to claim 2, with the proviso that the power link contains at least two elements, one of which is located in the radial direction outside the other, installed with the possibility of movement in phases other than one from the other, with this. the radial external element of the power link is placed in the vertical direction opposite the external part of the working chamber, and the internal opposite the radially internal working chamber. Figure 1 27 2622 18 21 25 JL In // / Z vifi / L t iX i & i 26 thirteen FIG. I