US1209975A - Tide-motor. - Google Patents

Description

. of which is provided TIDE-MOTOR.

.Application le April 7, 192s,

Y0 all whom t may concern Be it known that 1, Jouw A. livowLToN, a citizen of the United States of America, ai. d a resident of Dorchester, in thecounty of Sudolk and State of lvlassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful lmprovements in Tide-Motors, of which the foll( wing is a specification.

This invention is an improvement in tide motors, and the object of the invention is to provide a tide motor which will deliver power continuously, be simple in structure and etlicient in operation.

T he features of the invention employed to the accomplishment of this object and such `others as may hereinafter appear, will best be understood from the following description and accompanying drawings.

Of the drawings: Figure 1 isa plan view of the improved tide motor. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal section of the motor shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail view on an enlarged scale showing the power transmission mechanism, and Fig. 4 is a section on the line `5-5 of Fig. 8.

Similar characters throughout the several figures of ings.

designate like parts the drawln order that a tide motor shall deliver continuous power, it is necessary to-provide power delivering means which act during the fall of the tide as well as during the'rise. rllhe present invention contemplates the provision of a motor A which delivers power on each tide and two motors B and C which alternate in delivering power during the ebb and slack tide periods.

1n the drawings, 10 indicates a wall structure of cement or other suitable material set in the water'and having its base below the low water level indicated by the line X X. rEhe structure is arranged to form three tanks or wells, one well 11 always open to the tide through the opening 12, and two closed wells 13 and 14. The well 11 forms a part of the motor A, and as the motors B and C are exactly similar in form except that the last two wells are not always 'open to the tide, a description of one motor will suffice for all.

rlhe motor A comprises a float 15 having attached thereto a vertical bar 16, one face with a rack 17 (Fig. The rack is in mesh with a gear 18 loosely mounted on a shaft 19 carried in specification of Letters Eatent.

Serial No. 830,543.

the shaft 19, at

Patented Dec.. 2d, '1916.

Renewed lay 11, 1916. Serial No. 96,946.

journals 20. lvllhen, the float 15 is rising with the flood-tide, the gear 18 is rotated and its motion is imparted to the shaft 19 through a pawl 21, mounted on the gear, which engages a tooth in the ratchet wheel Z2 fixed on the shaft 19. r1`his drives the shaft during the rise of the tide and permits the float to drop with the fall.

1n order that the energy of the falling weight may not be wasted, provision is made for utilizing the weight to aid in driving the shaft 19. This is done by providing a gearl 25 in mesh with the rack 17, rotatably mounted on a counter shaft 26. The counter shaft is supported at each end by a yoke 27 depending from the shaft 19. The.. upper ends of the yokes may surround the hubs 2S of the ratchet wheels QQ if desired. The yokrs have arms 29 which extend on each side of the har 1G and carry rolls 30 to retain the rack in engagement with the gears. The gea r 27S is rigidly connected with a larger gear ill hy screws 32 and this gear is in mesh with a gear 83 on the shaft 19. r1`he gear f is connected to drive the shaft by a pawl 34- and a ratchet wheel 35 in eXactly the same way as has been described with relation to the gear 1S. By this construction the downward movement of the rack 17 drives the gear 83 in the direction of the arrow on Fig. 3 and the motion is transmitted to the shaft by the ratchet and pawl. 1t is apparent that the direction of theI rotation of the gears 1S and 33 is always opposite so that while one gear is driving the shaft, the other gear is running idly in the opposite direction with -its pawl clicking over the ratchet teeth. The shaft 19 is driven continuously by the action of one of the motors as will be hereinafter described, and, as the weight of the float 15 is not suflicient to drive the shaft of itself, the decreasing ratio of the gears 33, 31, and Q5A lifts the iioat slightly out of the water as the tide ebhs and causes the weight of the iioat to assist in driving the shaft. More briefly stated, the float is allowedto descend by the rotation of a slower speed than the fall of the tide. The shaft 19 is provided with means for transmitting power, such as a pulley 36, and extends through the gears 18 and 33 of each of the motors A, B, and C.

rlllhe float 15 of the motor A rises and falls with every tide. 1n order that the motors B and C may work at times not coincident with the risev` of the tide, a reservoir is provided for the storage of a supply of wa;

that the motor A again takes up the load and rises to the high tide position. When ter at a height greater than the highest tide.' the moto-r A completes its second upward movement the valve 62 is opened to allow Water is delivered to the reservoir through a pipe 40"by a pump 41 having a pipe 42 leading into the water to a point below the low 'waterl line. The pump maybe driven by any suitable means, such as a compressed air motor 43 connected by a pipe 44 with a chamber 45 which is supplied with air from an air compressor actuated by the tide.

In order to operate the motor B from the reservoir 40, the well 13 is connected with lthe reservoir by a pipe 55 of such size that the waterpassin-g through the pipe fills the well atv-a speed lequal to the rise of the tide. The flow through the pipe is controlled byA a valve 56 which is opened by a cord 57. A pipe 58 and valve 59X, operated b-y a cord 59, supply water to the well 14 in the same manner.- Water from the outside may enter .or leave the wells 13 and 14 by a pipe 60 of suitable size to .move the water in the well at tide speed, which may be opened to either of the wells by valves 61 and 62 movable by means of handles 63 and 64.

The valves 61 and 62 are opened when the tide is high and water Hows into the wells until the rising water level in the wells and the falling tide level are nearly equal. The valves 61 and 62 are then closed and the valves 56 and 59c are opened to supply water to the wells from the reservoir 40. When the valves 61 and 62 are opened on the falling or low tide, the water level descends at the same speed at which the tide falls.

lBy this construction the floats of the motors B and C have exactly the same movement as though they were acted upon directly by the tide.

f The operation of this invention is' as follows; Starting with the rise of the tide, the motor A acts until the tide has reached approximately its highest point, as shown in Fig. 2. At this time the valve 61 is opened,

vthe water from the outside high tide to flow into the well 14 of the motor C. This motor acts inthe same manner as the motor B,

' the first part of its upward motion being deand onthe second ebb the floats of the motors A and B. The cycle of the machine is then repeated.

As the weight of the descending floats is not sufficient to turn the shaft 19, the shaft is driven by the float which is rising with the tide or with the water which is admitted lat tide speed. Thus the train of gears 25, 31, and 33 act to retard the downward movement of the descending floats, which, of course, causes the weight of the floats to beapplied toward driving the shaft. From the foregoing description it is apparent that one `of the three'floats is always /rising at tide speed, either from the direct action of the tide or from water admitted from the reservoir.` By this construction the shaft is continuously driven at a constant speed with lrelation to the movement of the tide. Normal variations in the movement of the tide will naturally produce a corresponding variation in the speed of the shaft.

It is to be understood that this invention is capable of wide variation instructure and arrangement of parts, and the invention is which allows water to flow into the well 13"advanta`ges of the invention will be fully unfrom the outside high water and fill itat the same rate at which 'the tide rises. At about the time the oat reaches dotted line position, theI tide will have descended to nearly the same level as the water in the well so that the flow thereto will soon cease. order to `keep the motor B in operation, the valve 61 is now closed and the valve 56 opened which causes the well 13 to be filled with waterfrom the reservoir 40, thus imparting a full movement to the float, which is held in its uppermost position by'keeping both vvalves closed until after' motor A has again risen; after which ythe valve 61 is opened to allow the water to escape from the well 13 and permitting the oats of motors A and B to descend simultaneously. By the time the motor B has completed its upward movement the tide is again at low water so derstood from the foregoing description.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1.. In a tide motor, the combination with a float of'means for transmitting power from the float as the tide rises, means for transmitting power lfrom the'flo'at as the tide falls, and meansl for causing the float to fall at less speed relatively to the speed of the loosely mounted gear in mesh with the rack,

rendeva means for operatively connecting the shaft and the gear when the gear rotates in one direction only, a second gear on the shaft, means for .operatively connecting the gear and the vshaft when the gear rotates in one direction only, and speed increasing gears connecting the rack and the second gear whereby equal movements of the rack in opposite directions will impart a greater movement to the second gear than to the first.

et. A tide motor comprising a float freely movable with the tide, a second float movable independently ofthe tide, means for supplying water to the last named float whereby the float is moved attide speed independently of the movement of the tide and means for transmitting power from the floats.

5. A tide motor comprising a float freely movable with the tide, a float arranged to be lifted at tide speed during an ebb tide, a float arranged to be lifted at tide speed during the next ebb tide and means for transmitting power from the Hoats to the driven mechanism.

6. A tide motor comprising a float freely movable with the tide, a pair of independently movable floats adapted to be lifted alternately at tide speed during two downward movements of the first float and means for transmitting power from the floats to the driven mechanism.

7. A tide motor comprising a float freely movable with the tide, wells containing additional floats, a reservoir above high tide level, means to admit tide water to the Wells, means to admit water from the reservoir to the wells and means for transmittingl power from the floats to the driven mechanism.

S. A tide motor comprising a float freely movable with the tide, wells containing additional floats, a valve in each Well controlling an opening to tide water below low water level, a reservoir above highwvater level, a valve in each well controlling the admission of water from the reservoir, all

of said valves being arranged so that the water level in the wells is moved at tide speed when any one of the valves is open and means for transmitting power from the floats to the driven mechanism.

9. A tide motor comprising a series of floats, connections between the floats, and a shaft and mechanism -whereby power is.

transmitted to the shaft upon movement of each float in either direction, means to per- 'mit some of the floats to be acted upon di- Massa this ith day of April, 1914.

JOHN A. KNOWLTGN.

Witnesses RoswnLL F. HATCH, NATHAN C. LOMBARD.

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