US3456762A

US3456762A - Electrically powered mobile

Info

Publication number: US3456762A
Application number: US659161A
Authority: US
Inventors: Albert Dinnerstein
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1967-08-08
Filing date: 1967-08-08
Publication date: 1969-07-22
Anticipated expiration: 1986-07-22

Description

y 2, 1969 A. DINNERSTEIN 3,456,762

ELECTRICALLY POWERED MOBILE Filed Aug. 8, 1967 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 01 ice 3,456,762 Patented July 22, 1969 3,456,762 ELECTRICALLY POWERED MOBILE Albert Dinnerstein, 14-16 Granada Place, Far Rockaway, N.Y. 11691 Filed Aug. 8, 1967, Ser. No. 659,161 Int. Cl. F03g 1/08; G091? 11/10 US. Cl. 185-40 6 Claims ABSTRACTWOF THE DISCLOSURE A display motor which includes an electric motor attached to a string and when energized winds the string, and a switch which effects a circuit to the electric motor in response to the amount that the string is wound.

mobile commonly consists of one or more cards, or cross arms with dangling objects, suspended by one or more strings from some overhead support; the device, and parts of it, rotates in response to some externally produced or vagrant breeze. While requiring little energy, the movement of these breeze-powered mobiles is no more reliable than the breeze which powers it. Self-powered devices are more reliable but existing powered devices to produce slow rotation either involve gears to reduce speed as in many battery powered toys, and/or require complex or expensive electronic or mechanical elements to cause the motor to operate intermittently.

The battery powered, direct current, electric motor is reasonably efiicient when high speed and high to moderate torque is called for. For slow speeds it is typically necessary to employ gears or similar devices which decrease speed, while increasing torque beyond that required by many tasks. The increased complexity increases construction cost. The friction in motor and gears wastes power and thus, in a continuously operating device, re-

The system stores the energy of some rapidly rotating motor shaft or other moving element; the energy is stored by twisting a length or lengths of cord, string, twine, monofilament, chain, or similar thin and flexible material which is attached to the shaft or other moving element; the system senses when a significant level of energy has been stored, and responds by turning off the motor; the energy stored in the twisted string is released in the form of slow rotation of a suspended object or objects with the speed of rotation being variable by varying the air resistance of the objects; the system senses when the stored energy in the twisted string is significantly depleted and causes the motor to start and to operate until the energy store is significantly replenished; the cycle repeats until the power supply of the electric motor is exhausted.

An object of the invention is to provide one or more slow rates of rotation from a single high speed rotary powered device without the. need of employing reduction gears or pulleys or friction drive wheels.

Another object is to operate a high speed rotary device intermittently, storing the output energy of said device, and releasing it as a slow rate of rotation.

Yet another object is to detect the amount of energy stored in the slow rotation producing system and to turn a power supply on and off so as to periodically add appropriate amounts of energy to the above mentioned energy store.

And yet another object is to be able to vary the number of revolutions per minute of the output without significantly varying the energy requirement per revolutlon.

And still another object is to cause a suspended device to rotate, with the power supply contained completely within the suspended device.

Reference is now made to FIGURES 1 and 2. FIG- URE 1 is an example of an embodiment of the invention in a form employing suspension from a single string. Attached to the base 3 is a small electric motor 8, a power supply such as an electric battery 9 and a normally open electric switch means such as a magnetic reed switch 14. Also attached to the base, but not shown in the figure, is some sign, signs, object or objects which one wants to undergo rotation. These objects could be conveniently attached at 10. All of the above mentioned elements are suspended via the motor shaft 7 by control means such as a length of string 6 which attaches to an actuating means such as magnet 4 which attaches to a rotating energy storage means such as a length of string 2 which attaches to some overhead point 1. The lower string 6 is of such a length that the magnet 4 is adjacent to the magnetic reed switch 14 so that the switch responds to the proximity of the magnet by closing.

With battery in place, the above mentioned switch closure would activatethe motor by means of the

wires

11, 12 and 13. The rotation of the motor wouldtwist the string causing the strings to shorten. The magnet would move, in respect to other elements in the device, to the position shown by the broken line rectangle 5. The magnetic reed switch would respond to the increased distance of the magnet by opening, and the motor would stop. The energy stored in the twisted string would produce a torque in the motor shaft. The friction between motor shaft and motor case would transmit this torque to the base of the device 3 and to any displays or objects attached to the base. The device will rotate along with the objects attached to it. The rate of rotation will be determined in great part, and can be varied, by the air re sistance generated by these objects.

When the string unwinds, the motor will again twist it and the cycle will repeat until the battery is depleted.

If varied rates and directions of rotation are desired to occur simultaneously, objects may be suspended from attachments at various points along the upper string length 2. The higher their point of attachment to the string, the slower their average rate of rotation. This upper string may be a number of feet long.

FIGURE 2 shows an example of an alternative embodiment of the invention in a form employing suspension from a pair of

strings

15 and 16. The battery 9 connects to the motor 8 and to a metal contact element 14 which is fixed to the base 3. The other wire 13 from the motor is attached to one of the suspension strings 16 so that the bare wire rests against the contact strip 14. The output shaft 7 of the motor has a cross arm 17 to which would be attached some card or other object (not shown on the figure) in such a way that shaft rotation would be resisted by air resistance or by some other force. In operation, the motor shaft would turn; resis tance from the cross arm 17 would cause the base 3 to undergo rotation in the opposite direction. The two strings '15 and 16 would twist together as shown by the broken lines in FIGURE 2 causing a break in the circuit energizing the motor. The twisted pair of strings would now provide energy for rotation of the system until contact between wire 13 and contact element 14 was reestablished. The cycle would repeat until the battery Was exhausted.

The form of the invention shown in FIGURE 2 can use a simpler, less sensitive, and less costly form of switch than that required by the single string form shown in FIGURE 1. While easier to construct, the form shown in FIGURE 2 is more likely to jump about during the electric powered phase of its cycle. For this and other reasons, it consumes significantly more current and would require much more frequent replacements of the battery.

The figures and descriptions above do not in any way exhaust the invention. Innumerable modifications are possible. For example: the devices as shown can be turned upside down and suspended by point(s) 10, with the objects to be rotated attached along string length 2. Also, in the variant illustrated in FIGURE 1 the magnet could be replaced by a cup of mercury and the magnetic reed switch could be replaced by a pair of wires which dip into the cup of mercury. In the variant illustrated in FIGURE 2, one can employ any switch requiring only small force for its activation.

This completes the description of the embodiments illustrated herein. However, many modifications and advantages thereof will be apparent to persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. Display apparatus comprising:

(a) an electric motor;

(b) a power supply;

(c) an electric circuit connecting said power supply to said motor;

(d) switch means connected to said electric circuit in series with said power supply and said motor for starting and stopping the operation of said motor;

(e) rotating energy storing means associated with said motor for storing rotating energy;

(1?) actuating means for opening and closing said switch means;

(g) control means operatively associated with said motor and said actuating means and constructed and energized to control the opening and closing of said 4 switch means upon the storing of a' predetermined amount of rotating energy in said rotating energy storing means; and

(h) said rotating energy storing means further comprising twistable support means for suspending the apparatus and display attached thereto.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said control means controls the position of the actuating means relative to the switch means by associated twisting of said twistable support means.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said apparatus is rotated by said motor which applies torque to said twistable support means when said switch means is closed.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said apparatus is rotated by said rotating energy storing means when said switch means is open.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 with means for suspending from said apparatus objects to be rotated by said apparatus.

6. Display apparatus comprising:

(a) an electric motor;

(b) a power supply;

(c) an electric circuit connecting said power supply to said motor;

(f) actuating means for opening and closing said switch means;

(g) control means operatively associated with said motor and said actuating means and constructed and energized to control the opening and closing of said switch means upon the storing of a predetermined amount of rotating energy in said rotating energy storing means; and

(h) said rotating energy storing means further comprising twistable support means for suspending the display attached thereto.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,433,707 10/1922 Ehrenfeld 18540 3,258,086 6/1966 Romo 18540 CARROLL B. DORITY, IR., Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 40--53- -7