WO2009120058A1

WO2009120058A1 - Gravity machine

Info

Publication number: WO2009120058A1
Application number: PCT/MY2008/000021
Authority: WO
Inventors: Seng Chuan Lim
Original assignee: Seng Chuan Lim
Priority date: 2008-03-26
Filing date: 2008-03-26
Publication date: 2009-10-01

Abstract

A method for harnessing the fall of flowable mass including water for producing distributable energy is disclosed. The fall of mass, e.g. water, in one or more pairs of buckets linked by drive chain to one another drives an axle in alternating rotation. The use of the torque converter device converts this alternating bi-directional torque to unidirectional torque to drive, for example, a generator to produce distributable energy in the form of electricity. An apparatus with its various embodiments and configurations is also described.

Description

GRAVITY MACHINE

Field of Invention

This invention relates to a method for harnessing gravity by allowing the fall of mass, including water, to produce torque which may be operatively associated with a suitable machine, such as a generator, to produce distributable energy, e.g. electricity. An apparatus and its various embodiments employing such method is also described.

Background Art

The most prevalent type of machine or plant that utilises gxavity in. some form or stage to produce distributable power such as electricity is the turbine generators driven by water from a hydroelectric dam. The turbine of such generators is driven by the kinetic energy of water flowing down at an inclination through the penstock of the dam. Such kinetic energy is due mainly to the hydraulic pressure caused by the dammed reservoir of water and less to the gravity fall through the penstock's height of inclination.

A second limitation of conventional hydroelectric turbines is the limited actual height of "fall" of water through the penstock means the falling water has a relatively short time to be subjected to the gravitational acceleration of about 9.8 ms^"2 and is thus unable to fully harness the gravitational potential energy. A third limitation is the conversion of kinetic energy of each unit of the falling water to drive the turbine is limited to upon impact against one of the blades or vanes (or buckets in the case of an impulse turbine) of the turbine. The residue kinetic energy of the particular unit of water is not harnessed and the water is quickly discharged into the downstream river.

There are numerous attempts on harnessing unidirectional flow of kinetic energy of falling water. Most of such attempts involve harnessing the movement of water contained in predetermined amounts in containers or buckets and allow them to fall according to gravitational pull to drive a basically unidirectional rotary movement such as an endless or looped chain or drive, wheel and the like.

In these methods, the relatively long downward fall of the water produces mechanical movement to drive a torque in the same rotational direction. The torque may then be used to generate distributable useful energy, e.g. to turn a generator to produce electricity,-

There is a number of energy sources, including water, that may be brought to produce alternating up-and-down driving motions including rise-and-fall, push-and-pull, see-saw lever movement, inflate and deflate and the like. To harness such alternating motion to become useful mechanical work, usually it has to be translated into a unidirectional motion to drive,- for example, a crankshaft, slider crank, bevel gear differential, compound gear train, etc. which in turn runs an electricity generator. Two common examples are (i) the up- and-down pedalling motion of a bicycle rider and (ii) the up- and-down pistons of the internal combustion engine, both of which are translated into unidirectional drive by the crankshaft principle.

To harness kinetic energy of such flow of water in alternating up-and-down movement, however, is very much less attempted in the art. The principle reason for the rarity of prior art for such alternating rise-and-fall of, for example, counter-balanced pair of water containers or like means is the difficulty of converting such alternating drive to become a useful single or unidirectional rotation or torque.

US-4, 403,154 (Reale, efc. al . ) discloses an apparatus having a first cylinder with an open end connected hydraulically with a second cylinder with a closed end. Each cylinder has a piston which may be moved along their respective cylinders due to external fluid forces, including water and air, acting on the open-end cylinder and piston to move the other piston in the closed cylinder. The -latter piston's movement may then be translated to rotational movement (col. 2 line 65) to generate electricity.

US-4, 599, 857 and US-4, 720, 976 ' (both patents by Kim et. al.) also discloses hydraulically connected pairs of pistons and cylinders which are arranged to act upon a lever's ends so as to produce bi-directional torque at an output axis (13) in the earlier patent. The bi-directional torque at the output axis may then be converted to rectilinear motion or rectilinear motion to rotation (col. 2, line 46-47) . In the later patent, Kim discloses a plurality of such pairs of levers may be arranged to provide a combined, continuous torque .

US-4, 052, 856 (Trotta) discloses a method and apparatus for translating the rise and fall of predetermined amounts of water into useful work. The apparatus comprises a pair of spaced-apart shafts having one or more rotary elements provided on the shafts. The rotary element may be a sprocket wheel with unidirectional clutch which allows each shaft to turn in one rotational direction only. In this arrangement, the drive by the fall of a water container may be transmitted to one of the shaft when the unidirectional clutch engages the shaft while the other unidirectional clutch on the other parallel shaft allows said other shaft to slip.

In effect, the drive by the falling of a water container in Trotta only works on any one given shaft of the pair in one permanent direction only. Work by the alternating drive is not transmitted to a single particular shaft. Hence, bidirectional drive produced by pairs of alternating rising and falling containers are transmitted to a pair of parallel shafts so that drive in one direction is transmitted to one of the shaft in one permanent direction only while the other shaft is turned by the alternate drive in the other direction permanently. Thus, none of the pair of shafts can be driven in both directions by the alternating drives .

Objects of the Invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for harnessing gravitational potential energy from the fall of mass in a pair in an alternating manner to produce torque in a single rotational direction.

It is also an object of the invention to provide for an apparatus and its various embodiments employing such method to harness the fall of water and other mass, such as means for charge and discharge of water in or from a container allowed to fall under gravity to drive an axle to produce a torque which may in turn used to drive a machine such as a generator to produce electricity.

It is a further object of the invention to employ a pair of containers and alternately charging and discharging them to achieve alternate falls and driving of an axis in alternate rotational torque, and to use a torque converter to combine the torques, in either direction of rotation to become torque in one specific direction.

Statement of Invention

In accordance with the foregoing objects, the present invention provides . for a method for harnessing the fall of flowable mass including water for producing distributable energy comprising the steps of

(i) directing said flow into the ^"first of at least a pair of containers connected to each other by drive means winding over a driving axle;

(ii) allowing said first container to be filled until the mass is sufficient to weigh down said first container to fall;

(iii) allowing said first container to fall thus pulling up the other second container via the drive means and^' drive said driving axle in a first rotation; (iv) discharging said mass from said first container while charging said second container until mass is sufficient to weigh down said second container to fall; (v) allowing said second container to fall thus pulling up said first container via the drive means and drive said driving axle in the other opposite rotation; (vi) repeating the alternating fall and rise of the pair of containers to produce the alternating rotations of the driving axle and

(vii) converting the alternating rotations of the driving axle to a torque in a single rotational direction.

Preferably, the flowable mass is water provided at an elevation with potential energy ready to fall by gravity to convert to kinetic energy. Preferably still, control means is provided to control the charging of the container with water.

In one embodiment, overweight release means is provided to determine the weighing down of a water-charged container. Preferably, the bottom elevation of the fall is provided with means to mitigate and^" absorb the impact of the charged container's fall. Preferably still, the fall mitigating and absorbing means converts the impaσt to produce useful, distributable energy.

In another embodiment, a plurality of pairs of the containers may be provided, each producing alternating rotations which are respectively converted to a single rotation and are operatively associated to produce torque on a common driven axle. Preferably, the torque is employed to drive a generator to produce electricity.

In yet another embodiment, the driving axle is operatively associated with at least a flywheel means to store kinetic energy and to conserve momentum. Preferably, speed regulating means is provided to regulate the speed of the driven axle.

The present invention also provides for an apparatus for , harnessing the fall of flowable mass including water for producing distributable energy comprising:

- a pair of containers connected to one another by drive means winding over a driving axle which is driven by the alternating falls of the containers; - means for charging mass into a first container sufficiently to weigh down said first container to fall; means for discharging mass from said first qontainer and charging mass into the second container sufficiently to weigh down said second container to fall; whereby the alternating falls of the first and second containers drives the driving axle in alternate rotations in opposing directions and further comprising means for converting the alternating torque of the driving axle to a torque in a single rotational direction on a driven axle .

In one embodiment, the apparatus further comprises means to control the amount of mass flowing into said container. Preferably, the apparatus is provided with counter-weight means to determine the sufficiency of mass charged into the container for over-weight release.

In another embodiment, means to mitigate and absorb the impact of the charged container's fall is provided at the bottom elevation of the fall. In yet another embodiment, a plurality of apparatuses according to Claim 11 wherein their respective unidirectional torque are operatively associated to produce torque on a common driven axle. Preferably, the torque is employed to drive a generator to produce electricity. Preferably, the axle is operatively associated with at least a flywheel means to store kinetic energy and to conserve momentum. Preferably still, speed regulating means is provided to regulate the speed of the driven axle.

Brief Description of Drawings

The aforesaid objects and advantages of the method and apparatus may be better understood by referring to the following drawings , and its accompanying description of a representative configuration of the gravity machine and its various exemplary embodiments in which:

FIGURE 1 shows a simplified side elevational view of a one embodiment of the- gravity machine according to the present invention; FIGURE 2 shows a front elevational view of the gravity machine comprising two pairs of the water bucket drive means ;

FIGURE 3 shows a front elevational view of one embodiment of the gravity machine incorporating a recycle/reserve tank;

FIGURE 4 shows in schematic arrangement a plurality of pairs of water buckets driving a common axle;

FIGURE 5 shows in detail a drive axle with a barrel and sliding cable guide; FIGURE 6 shows the details of one embodiment of the bucket of the gravity machine;

FIGURE 7 shows one embodiment of the fall impact absorbing mechanism of the gravity machine;

FIGURE 8 shows the water charging & control means at the top elevation of the machine;

FIGURE 9 shows an embodiment of the over-weight release mechanism of the machine;

FIGURE 10 shows an embodiment of the flywheel of the gravity machine,- and

FIGURE 11 shows an embodiment of the centrifugal speed governor of gravity machine.

Detailed Description of Specific Embodiments

Although the method and the working principles of the apparatus employing the method according to the present invention may be used for various movable or flowable mass at an elevated position such as in a sand mine or quarry, grain silo, movement of people in and out of an elevator in a building, etc. the following example utilises water from an elevated position.

Unlike the conventional hydroelectric dams where a constant large amount of water is required to drive the turbine, the present invention requires only a small supply of water as each quantity of the water is allowed to fall under gravity a relatively long height. As shown in FIGURE 1, the source of water (10) at an elevated position may be a small reservoir created from a dam across a stream, a waterfall, highland ponds or lakes and like sources of water. Sieve means (12) may be provided to stop objects such as tree leaves, branches and the like from clogging up the water intake conduit (14) to the machine .

The water intake may further be subjected to stopper or valve means (16) to control in general the rate or amount of water flowing into the machine. The machine preferably is a vertical structure of 50 to 200 metres high depending on the construction of the components of the machine as well as topography of the site of the water source.

Generally, the height is preferable one that is sufficient for gravity to act on a falling contained water to achieve the desired downward drive. It is to be appreciated that a shorter fall may not enable gravity to have sufficient time in accelerating the falling water while a higher fall might produce a downward acceleration that is too much for mechanical engineering to cope, particularly the stress and frictional problems arising from the impact of the fall at the bottom elevation.

A pair of buckets (18a, 18b) which, is linked to one another by a chain, cable or like drive means (20) is provided to wind around a drive axle (22) . Pulley means (24) may be provided to lead the drive chain (26) and buckets (18a, 18b) pair away from the drive axle (22) to align the buckets' fall into designated or guided shafts (28) for the respective buckets (18a, 18b) .

Water may be charged into a first bucket- of the pair so that the water-filled bucket's weight is acted upon by gravity to fall down the designated or guided shaft (28) . The fall of full bucket (18a) will pull the chain (2) to drive the axle (22) to turn in one (forward) directional rotational while pulling up the other empty bucket (18b) .

Upon reaching the bottom of the shaft, water may be discharged from the first bucket (18a) while at the same time the second bucket (18b) reaches and top of the shaft (28) and is filled with water. A completely water-charged second bucket (18b) will now fall downward and the now completely discharged first bucket (18a) will be pulled upwardly via the chain (20) . As the chain (20) winds over the drive axle (22), torque is now produced in the reverse rotational direction.

As the operation of the pair of buckets' charge and discharge of water continues, it becomes apparent that alternating fall of the buckets produces bi-directional torque on the drive axle (22) . This bi-directional torque may be converted to become a unidirectional torque using a torque converter (36) or method as disclosed in my co-pending Malaysian patent application No. PI 20010061. With a unidirectional rotation, the torque may then be transmitted" via gear train (30) , flywheel (32) etc. to produce useful work, e.g. drive a generator (34) to produce electricity for distribution.

FIGURE 2 shows a front elevational view of the gravity machine comprising two pairs of the water bucket drive means in a simplified manner. It is shown here how two or multiple pairs of the bucket drive means may be operatively arranged in parallel to drive a single common axle (22) to produce a unidirectional torque with the torque converters (36) to turn a generator (34) to produce electricity and distributed via, for example, a sub-station (37). FIGURE 3 shows an optional embodiment wherein a reserve tank (38) is provided for water discharged from the buckets at the lower elevation .is pumped back thereinto. In the same manner where hydroelectric dams pump water to a reserve lake during periods of low electricity demand, this reserve tank (38) may be used to charge the buckets to generate more electricity during peak consumption periods or the recycle the discharged water for further charging of the gravity machine.

FIGURE 4 shows in schematic arrangement a plurality of pairs of water buckets (18a, 18b) and torque converters operatively arranged to drive a common driven axle (40) in the form of a driven shaft via the appropriate transmission means. To enable the winding of the cable or rope around the drive axle (22) to better transmit the drive, the drive axle (22) may be provided with a barrel- or wheel-like (42) configuration for ease of the chain (20) to wind around it.

FIGURE 5 shows that threading (44) for the winding of the cable (20) may be provided on the barrel (42) so that the cable may grip onto the barrel tightly and transmit the pull fully to turn the drive axle (22) without slipping. To guide the cable (20) to wind and unwind along the threading of barrel so as to prevent entanglement of the cable, a sliding guide (46) may be provided wherein pulleys (48) are mounted on a nut (50) slidable along a threaded screw (52) which threading is identical to that of the barrel (42) and which revolution is synchronised with that of the barrel by roller chain and sprocket wheel (54) .

By employing the method of converting bi-directional torque to unidirectional torque as disclosed in my co-pending Malaysian Patent Application No. PI 20010061, the unidirectional torque may be transmitted to the driven axle (40) by suitable gear arrangements. For example, as shown in Fig. 5, the top end of the drive axle (22) transmits torque to the driven axle (40) in the opposite direction by a 2-gear train (56) . The bottom end of the drive axle (22) transmits torque to the driven axle (40) in the same direction by a 3- gear train (58) in which the intermediate gear (59) is an idler gear.

FIGURE 6 shows the details of one embodiment of the bucket (60) with a single stopper valve (62). The stopper (62) is connected to a transverse bar (64) by a string ,(66) . The transverse bar (64) rests upon notches on the periphery of the bucket with its ends (64a) protruding from the sides of the bucket (60) so that the said ends may be caught and retained by appropriate mechanism as the bucket (60) descends to the bottom elevation of the shaft. As the bar (64) is retained, the stopper (62) tied to the bar by string (66) is also retained and is thus unplugged to release the water. To prevent the bucket from knocking onto the walls of the shaft as it ascend or descend there along, rollers guides (68) may be provided. It should be appreciated that more than one stopper valve (62) or other water discharge means may be provided to hasten the displacement of water from the bucket at the end of the fall.

FIGURE 7 shows one embodiment of the fall impact absorbing mechanism. The transverse bar end (64) is shown caught by retaining means (70) and the stopper (62) is thus pulled out to open the valve to release the water as the bucket ((60) descends further. Various means may be provided to absorb the impact of the fall of the bucket. One example is to provide the bucket with flanges or protrusions (72) which are able to engage and pull counter-weights (73) via pulleys and strings forming the counter-weighing mechanism. Another means is to have similar flanges or protrusions (72a) engage and pull fixed springs (74) via pulleys and strings arrangement as shown.

FIGURE 8 shows one embodiment of the water charging and control means at the top elevation of the machine. The bucket (60) may be provided with flange, pins or like protrusions (80) to hit a mechanical switch (82) which angle of sweep may be limited by adjustable spring with screw means (84) . The angular movement of the mechanical switch (82) may be translated via a vertical shaft (86) to operate a valve controlling the supply of water to open or close as shown.

An ascending bucket may, for instance, cause its protrusion (80) to hit the mechanical switch to push it upwards which angular movement may be translated by vertical shaft (86) to open the valve (88) to allow water to flow through conduit (90) to fill up the bucket (60). A float assembly (92) may be provided at the downward terminal end of the water supply conduit (90) so that when the predetermined water level is reached in the ascended bucket (60) , the water flow may be stopped due to the buoyancy of the floating stopper within the float assembly (92) .

An ascended fully charged bucket would fall due to its weight over the descended fully discharged bucket. The descent of the now fully charge bucket will cause the protrusion (80) to hit the mechanical switch (82) to turn it downwards on the descend. This action will in turn close the valve (88) of the water supply conduit via the vertical shaft (86) . FIGURE 9 shows an embodiment of the over-weight release mechanism for the bucket to be filled with water at the upper end of the elevation. An empty bucket (60) will ascend up the shaft (28) until it reaches and engages the over-weight release mechanism at the top end of the shaft. The bucket may be provided with an inverted T-shape handle (92) which top end may be provided with a pair of rollers (94) .

The over-weight release mechanism essentially comprises of a downward bent arm (96) which pivots at the bend (96c) and which lower end (96a) is connected to a counter-weight (98) . The counter-weight (98) may be provided in the form of a cage enclosing a removable counter-weight such as a water container which amount of water may be varied or adjusted accordingly as required. The horizontal end of the arm (96b) may be provided with horizontal rail surfaces (97) corresponding to the rollers (94) of the handle end.

A pair of inclined elongated roller guide tracks (100) may be provided to guide the rollers (94) at the end of the bucket's handle (92) to ascend at an angle" away from the centre so that the handle (92) may be biased back to centre again when the rollers reach the top end of the roller guide tracks (100) and lodge the rollers (94) on the horizontal rail surfaces (97) . When the water supplied to the bucket (60) exceeds the counterweight, the bucket's weight exerted by the rollers (94) on the horizontal rail surfaces (97) will cause the horizontal end of the arm (96b) to topple and give way to release the rollers (94) . The rollers (94) will then tumble down the inclined roller guide tracks (100) back to the centre position of the inverted T-shape handle (92) on the bucket (60), thus releasing the water-full bucket on its downward fall . FIGURE 10 shows in side elevation view an embodiment of the flywheel (102) of the gravity machine. The common driven axle (40) , which torque is provided by one or more pairs of alternately drive of the buckets, may be arranged to transmit its torque to a flywheel by roller chain (104) and sprocket wheel means (106, 108) provided on the wheel of the common driven axle (40) and flywheel (102) . The momentum progressively stored in the flywheel stabilises and smoothens the drive transmitted to the generator (110) .

FIGURE 11 shows an embodiment of the centrifugal speed governor of gravity machine in controlling the speed of rotation of the axle in order to avoid mechanical problems associated with excessive speed. A bevel gear arrangement

(112) may be provided to transmit the rotational speed of the driven axle (40) to be monitored by the speed governor mechanism. The excess speed of rotation will cause the centrifugal governor's (114) centrifugal balls to be raised together with its axial pin (116) to retract a lever (118) associated therewith. The lever (118) in turn retracts a string connected to a lever to push out a spring-biased pin which extension into the shaft (28) may be adapted to stop the movement of the bucket (60) and thus putting out selected pairs of the buckets from operation and reducing the torque input to the driven axle (40) .

It will be apparent to a skilled person that there is a number of ways to incorporate, configure or include any one or combination of the method and apparatus of the present invention including the various embodiments described herein. It will also be apparent to a person skilled in the art that the methods of the present invention and its various specific embodiments and configurations, or parts or components thereof may be varied or modified without departing from the methods or principle of working described herein. These and other such embodiments not specifically described herein are not to be considered as departures from the present invention and shall be considered as falling within the letter and spirit of the following claims .

Claims

1. A method for harnessing the fall of flowable mass including water for producing distributable energy comprising: directing said flow into the first of at least a pair of containers connected to each other by drive means winding over a driving axle; - allowing said first container to be filled until the mass is sufficient to weigh down said first container to fall; allowing said first container to fall thus pulling up the other second container via the drive means and drive said driving axle in a first rotation; - discharging said mass from said first container while charging said second container until mass is sufficient to weigh down said second container to fall; allowing said second container to fall thus pulling up said first container via the drive means and drive said driving axle in the other opposite rotation; repeating the alternating fall and rise of the pair of containers to produce the alternating rotations of the driving axle and converting the alternating rotations of the driving axle to a torque in a single rotational direction.

2. A method according to Claim 1 wherein the flowable mass including water is provided at an elevation with potential energy ready to fall by gravity to convert to kinetic energy.

3. A method according to Claim 1 wherein the charging of the container is provided with means to control the amount of mass flowing into said container.

4. A method according to Claim 1 wherein the sufficiency of weighing down of the container is predetermined by overweight release means.

5. A method according to Claim 1 wherein the bottom elevation of the fall is provided with means to mitigate and absorb the impact of the charged container's fall.

6. A method according to Claim 5 wherein the fall mitigating and absorbing means converts the impact to produce useful, distributable energy.

7. A method according to Claim 1 wherein a plurality of pairs of the containers are each producing alternating rotations which are respectively converted to a single rotation and are operatively associated to produce torque on a common driven axle.

8. A method according to any one of Claims 1 and 7 wherein the torque is employed to drive a generator to produce electricity.

9. A method according to Claim 1 wherein driving axle is operatively associated with at least a flywheel means to store kinetic energy and to conserve momentum.

10. A method according to Claim 1 wherein speed regulating means is provided to regulate the speed of the driven axle .

11. An apparatus for harnessing the fall of flowable mass including water for producing distributable energy comprising: a pair of containers connected to one another by drive means winding over a driving axle which is driven by the alternating falls of the containers; means for charging mass into a first container sufficiently to weigh down said first container to fall; means for discharging mass from said first container and charging mass into the second container sufficiently to weigh down said second container to fall; whereby the alternating falls of the first and second containers drives the driving axle in alternate rotations in opposing directions and further comprising means for converting the alternating torque of the driving axle to a torque in a single rotational direction on a driven axle .

12. An apparatus according to Claim 11 further comprising means to control the amount of mass flowing into said container .

13. An apparatus according to Claim 11 wherein the sufficiency of mass charged into the container for overweight release is predetermined by counter-weight means .

14. An apparatus according to Claim 11 wherein means to mitigate and absorb the impact of the charged container's fall is provided at the bottom elevation of the fall .

15. A plurality of apparatuses according to Claim 11 wherein their respective unidirectional torque are operatively associated to produce torque on a common driven axle.

16. An apparatus according to any one of Claims 11 and 15 wherein the torque is employed to drive a generator to produce electricity.

17. An apparatus according to Claim 11 wherein the axle is operatively associated with at least a flywheel means to store kinetic energy and to conserve momentum.

18. An apparatus according to Claim 11 wherein speed regulating means is provided to regulate the speed of the driven axle.

19. An electricity generating plant comprising an apparatus according to any one of Claims 11 to 18.

20. An electricity generating plant employing a method according to any one of Claims 1 to 10.