WO2012129379A2

WO2012129379A2 - Oscillating shuttle feedback circuit and method for use in electricity generation

Info

Publication number: WO2012129379A2
Application number: PCT/US2012/030079
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michael J. Mills; Richard A. CARTAGENA
Original assignee: Carmil Energy, Inc.
Priority date: 2011-03-24
Filing date: 2012-03-22
Publication date: 2012-09-27
Also published as: WO2012129379A3

Abstract

An oscillating shuttle feedback circuit includes two electrical machines, one of which is operable as motor to drive the other electrical machine to generate electricity. Each electrical machine has one part that forms a magnetic circuit and includes a primary and a secondary winding. The primary and secondary windings of the electrical machines are connected exclusively by capacitors to form the oscillating shuttle circuit, the capacitors being tunable to optimize energy accumulation when the driven electrical machine is operable at a predetermined frequency, A method of designing and/or constructing a floating ground, capacitor-based nonlinear oscillating-shuttle feedback circuit, includes the steps of operating one electrical machine to drive the other electrical machine, and tuning capacitors in the circuit connecting the primary and secondary windings of the driven electrical machine to optimize the oscillating shuttle effect.

Description

OSCILLATING SHUTTLE FEEDBACK CIRCUIT AND METHOD FOR USE IN ELECTRICITY GENERATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61 /4 67 , 148 , filed March 24 , 2011 , and incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention generally relates to the field of electricity generation, and more particularly to a floating ground, capacitor-based nonlinear oscillating-shuttle feedback circuit for generating and electricity. The oscillating shuttle feedback circuit includes two electrical machines, one of which is operable as motor to drive the other electrical machine to generate electricity. Each electrical machine has one part that forms a magnetic circuit and includes a primary and a secondary winding. The primary and secondary windings of the electrical machines are connected exclusively by capacitors to form the oscillating shuttle circuit, the capacitors being tunable to optimize energy accumulation when the driven electrical machine is operable at a predetermined frequency,

The invention also relates to a method of designing and/or constructing a floating ground, capacitor-based nonlinear oscillating-shuttle feedback circuit, and in particular to a method of tuning capacitors in the circuit to optimize the oscillating shuttle effect.

2, Description of Related Art

Non-linear oscillating shuttle circuits are circuits that utilize ungrounded reactive or inductive components connected between windings of a power generating device to, in effect, intercept resonant energy that would otherwise be released to ground and instead shuttling it to the reactive or inductive components. Such circuits were first designed and built by Nicola Tesla around the beginning of the 20^th century, but the effect was not analyzed or described in detail until Terence Barrett' s analysis some 90 years later, using an extension of Maxwell's equations. Barrett initially applied the oscillating shuttle effect to radio frequency communications, as described in Barrett's U.S. Patent No. 5,493,691, entitled "Oscillator-Shuttle-Circuit (OSC) Networks for Conditioning Energy in Higher-Order Symmetry Algebraic Topological Forms and RF Phase Conjugation, " but then extended the concept to electric motors as described in his U.S. Patent Nos . 7,227,288 {"Apparatus and Method for Increasing Efficiency of Electric Motors") and 7,034, 426 { "Electrical Motor Winding" ) , as well as in his French Patent No. 2841404. The present invention applies the principles of the oscillating shuttle circuit to power generation, and in particular to an oscillating shuttle network that includes at least one synchronous generator, the synchronous generator including at least one magnetic flux carrying part having primary and secondary windings, the primary and secondary windings being connected by a reactive components such as capacitors. This is a new application and extension of Tesla's oscillating shuttle concept and Barrett's subsequent analysis and applications to the fields of communications and motors ,

As explained by Barrett, energy can be made available to a coupled oscillating system by accessing higher symmetry states of the coupled oscillating system, such as the SU(2) state described in Barrett's U.S. Patent No. 5,493,691, when the system of oscillating circuits are not grounded in the usual sense, i.e., when common earth grounds are replaced by floating grounds . The total combined energy is made up of many potential resonant frequencies that are characteristic of the oscillating behavior of the coupled oscillating system. When some or all of these frequencies match those of the coupled nonlinear secondary oscillator system, energy transfer from the oscillating system can take place. In the system described in U.S. Patent No. 5,493,691, the energy transfer is from an RF oscillator to an antenna. The present inventors have created a circuit that utilizes the oscillating shuttle effect to transfer energy that would otherwise be un-utilized, i.e., that result from higher symmetry states of the coupled oscillating system, from a synchronous generator to a capacitor bank, in order to enhance the output of the synchronous generator. There is clearly a need for synchronous electricity generating systems with enhanced efficiency or output.

While the present invention is especially useful in the context of electricity generation, it will be appreciated that the principles of resonant energy transfer at higher symmetry states can be applied to coupled oscillator systems other than the primary and secondary windings of a synchronous generator, and that the specific circuits disclosed herein, insofar as they are structurally different from the circuits disclosed by Barrett, may also be applicable to communications networks, motors, and other applications.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly a first objective of the invention to provide an electricity generating system having enhanced efficiency and/or output.

It is a second objective of the invention to provide a circuit that may be applied to an electricity generating system to achieve an oscillating shuttle effect in an electricity generating system, and that also may have applications in systems other than electricity generating systems .

It is third objective of the invention to provide a circuit that captures or extracts and stores energy present in higher symmetry states of a coupled oscillator system, according to the principles described by Barrett in U.S. Patent No. 5,493, 691, thereby increasing the energy available to the coupled oscillator system.

It is a fourth objective of the invention to provide a method of designing and constructing an oscillating shuttle circuit having optimized access to the energy of higher symmetry states ,

These objectives, which are intended to be non-limiting, are achieved in accordance with principles of a preferred embodiment of the invention by an oscillating shuttle circuit having the following features :

• the oscillation shuttle circuit includes primary and secondary windings of at least two electrical machines, each electrical machine including relatively movable, magnetically interacting parts, one of the two relatively movable parts of each electrical machine having a primary winding and a secondary winding;

• one of the electrical machines is operable as a motor to drive the other of the two electrical machines as a generator;

• the primary and secondary windings are ungrounded and/or connected to a floating ground; and

• the primary and secondary windings of each of the electrical machines are connected to each other exclusively by reactive circuit components such as a capacitor bank.

Preferably, the reactive components or capacitor banks that connect the respective primary and secondary windings of the two electrical machines are in the form of variable capacitors, and in particular air variable capacitors. The variability of the capacitors is used to tune the circuit to achieve an optimal oscillating shuttle effect at a particular frequency or frequencies at which the respective electrical machines are operated. The objectives of the invention are further achieved by a method of designing and/or constructing an oscillating shuttle circuit that includes the steps of:

• wiring respective magnetic parts, such as the stators, of at least two electrical machines to each include both a secondary winding and a primary winding;

• connecting the primary windings to the secondary windings of the respective electrical machines by adjustable reactive components such as a capacitor bank with variable capacitors;

• causing one of the electrical machines to drive the other electrical machine to operate as a generator; and

• adjusting capacitances of the variable capacitors to optimize power output.

By way of example and not limitation, the electrical machines may have a common shaft or be connected by a belt or gear train such that the driven electrical machine is operated at 60 Hz.

The initial impedances of the respective capacitors will depend on the impedances of the windings, which in turn depends on the size of the wires, the number of turns, and the specific wiring configuration. Since the magnetic parts and respective secondary and primary windings of the two electrical machines form transformer circuits, the usual transformer equations apply for voltage and current in relation to impedance. In the case of three-phase windings and a resistive load, "star" or "wye" connections may be used, the impedance of which can be determined using Kennelly' s star-delta transformation {and/or Kennelly' s delta-star transformation) ,

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a schematic circuit diagram of a oscillating shuttle circuit or system constructed in accordance with the principles of a preferred embodiment of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Fig. 1 shows an oscillating shuttle circuit or system constructed in accordance with the principles of a preferred embodiment of the invention. The shuttle circuit includes two electrical machines 1 and 2, each including a primary stator winding 3,4 and a secondary stator winding 5,6. A rotor of electrical machine 1 is coupled to a rotor of electrical machine 2 such that, when electrical machine 1 is driven as a motor by applying a voltage to the primary stator winding 3, electrical machine 1 drives the rotor of electrical machine 2, causing electrical machine 2 to operate as a generator and induce current in each of the primary and secondary windings 5 and 6 of the electrical machine 2.

In the illustrated embodiment, the respective primary and secondary stator windings 3-6 are three phase windings connected in a star or wye configuration. Primary winding 3 of electrical machine 1 is connected between the stator (not shown) of electrical machine 1 and a three phase voltage input 7 that supplies power to the first electrical machine 1 when double-pole, double-throw switches 8-10 are closed. As illustrated, fuses 11-13 are included at the input 7, although the use of fuses, and the positions of the fuses if used, is optional. Secondary winding 5 of electrical machine 1 is also a three-phase winding and is connected via capacitors 20-22 between the stator of electrical machine 1 and the three-phase primary winding 4.

The capacitive connection between the secondary winding 5 and the primary winding 3 of the electrical machine 1 forms part of an oscillating shuttle circuit when electrical machine 1 is operated as a motor to drive electrical machine 2 at a predetermined frequency, with the remaining part of the oscillating shuttle circuit being formed by a corresponding capacitive connection in the second electrical machine 2. The frequency is determined by the procedure described below, which is carried out in association with tuning of the capacitors 20-25 to extract optimal energy from the oscillating shuttle circuit. To complete the oscillating shuttle circuit, primary winding 4 of electrical machine 2 is connected between three-phase output 15 and the stator (not shown) of electrical machine 2 via switches 16-18, while secondary winding 6 of electrical machine 2 is connected via capacitors 23-25 between the stator of the electrical machine 2 and the primary winding 4 of the second electrical machine. Critically, the primary and secondary windings of electrical machines 1 and 2 are not grounded or connected to a fixed ground or reference voltage during operation as an oscillating shuttle circuit. If the primary and secondary windings are connected to ground, then any excess energy in the respective windings will be transferred to ground and lost .

When all of the above elements are configured in the proper manner, the entire system forms a network of oscillating shuttle circuits. When this network is driven with the proper energy to create the necessary rotational speed of the rotor of electrical machine 2, operated as a generator, then power is generated by the system. The illustrated generator is configured in which a way that there are three phases on the primary coil and three phases on the secondary coil, although the presence of exactly three phases is not a requirement of the invention. Output power is taken off of the secondary winding in order to obtain maximum power . When the banks of capacitors are tuned correctly, the continued accumulation of capacitive feedback through the shuttle circuit taken from the secondary winding of electrical machine 2 can be converted through a resistive or capacitive load into an accumulated stored power output.

The first and second electrical machines may be mechanically connected through any type of connection, including direct connection via a common shaft, a belt drive, a gear train, or any combination of belts, gears, and other connecting elements, plus an optional clutch or similar elements/devices for mechanically coupling and uncoupling the electrical machines.

Optimization of the shuttle power and accumulated stored power output depends on the combined values of the individual electrical elements that form the oscillating shuttle circuit network. One way to construct the oscillating shuttle network is to rewire a high efficiency standard motor into a generator configuration that includes an additional coil that serves as the above-described secondary winding, and to select the number of poles, wire gauge, number of turns per winding by the standard, well-known formulas:

• N₃ = 120 -f/P,

β N_s = synchronous speed in rpm,

· f = frequency of applied power, Hz, and

• P = total number of poles per phase, a multiple of 2, the gauge of the copper wire used for the primary winding being given by the formula:

• Wire Gauge (Mils) = (conductor resistivity) (2) (amps) (one way distance in t) {, 866) / (Allowable Voltage Drop), and the number of turns on each part of the primary coil being determined by the formula:

Vsec/Vprim = Nsec/Nprim,

Where Vsec and Vprim are the respective voltages across the secondary and primacy, and Nsec and Nprim are the respective numbers of turns in the secondary and primary windings. In the case of three-phase windings and a resistive load, "star" or "wye" connections may be used, the impedance of which can be determined using Kennelly' s star-delta transformation (and/or Kennelly' s delta-star transformation).

Optionally, the secondary winding 5 may also be connected through switches 8-10 to a common terminal of switch 14 for connection to the neutral line of the three-phase voltage input 7 to enable operation as a conventional motor/generator circuit during non-shuttle operation, for example during initial start-up. However, switch 14 must be open during oscillating shuttle operation. It will be appreciated that switches 8-10 may be replaced by separate switches for the input and secondary winding connections, and that any of the illustrated switches may take a variety of forms, including relays, solid state switches, or any other appropriate switching devices . Also, the neutral line of the three-phase voltage input 7 may be connected to the secondary winding 6 of electrical machine 2 via switches 16-18 and a common terminal of switch 19 for non-shuttle operation. The invention is not limited to a particular type of electrical machine, and includes both motors and generators, as well as electrical machines configured to serve as both motors and generators, so long as the electrical machine include a soft magnetic structure capable of conductive magnetic flux and around which windings 3,4 and 5,6 are respective wound. The electrical machines may be brushed or brushless, and may be DC or AC electrical machines, although a DC input would need to be converted to AC in order to induce flux in the magnetic structure around which the primary and secondary windings are wound. The terra stator is also not intended to be limiting, but rather to describe any structure in which magnetic flux is induced by currents in the windings and/or by a relatively moving facing magnetic structure such as a rotor, and in which magnetic fluxes in the structure induce magnetic fluxes in the primary and secondary windings. As in any electrical machine, either of the facing magnetic structures may be considered to be fixed or movable, or both may be movable, so long as they are relatively movable. The present invention concerns the relationship between currents in the respective primary and secondary windings, which results from magnetic coupling between the respective coils and the magnetic structure around which they are wound, modified by a direct variable-capacitance connection between the windings . The magnetic coupling between the respective coils and the magnetic structure around which the coils are wound may be thought of as a transformer effect. The configuration of other structures of the electrical machines 1 and 2 is not critical to the present invention and may be freely varied, so long as the electrical machines are capable of operating at appropriate freguency or frequencies. For the capacitor values indicated in Fig. 1, a preferred operating frequency for both electrical machines is' 60 Hz, but this operating frequency may be varied as described. Preferably, each of capacitors 20-25 is a variable capacitor to enable tuning of the circuit for optional energy output or capture. In order to form a network of oscillating shuttle circuits according to the principles of the invention, the capacitors 20-25 must be tuned to allow the oscillations to take place at an optimal frequency and energy. Accordingly, the capacitors must be capable of relatively fine adjustment. An especially suitable type of variable capacitor is the air variable capacitor, which consists of a series of semi-circular, rotating aluminum plates on a central shaft placed between a similarly spaced set of static aluminum plates. When the moving plates are rotated, the amount of overlap between the moving and static plates changes, changing the capacitance of the air variable capacitor. In theory, it might be possible to use fixed capacitors, but it would be difficult to predetermine the appropriate capacitance, and therefore variable capacitors are preferred.

In order to construct an oscillating shuttle network of the type illustrated in Fig. 1, it is necessary to provide two electrical machines, each having relatively movable magnetic parts, which may conveniently be referred to as a stator and rotor, although it is also possible for both electrical parts to be moving parts so long as there is relative movement. According to the preferred embodiment, the stator is provided with a primary winding and a secondary winding, either by original design or by re-wiring an existing electrical machine. There is no limitation as to the specific configuration of the electrical machine. The number of turns in each winding, the gauge or gauges of the wires included in the windings, and other parameters of the windings may be determined according to conventional formula, while the capacitance ranges of the variable capacitors that connected the primary and secondary windings are chose to create resonances at the operating frequency of the respective electrical machines. Initial capacitance values for 60 Hz operation are shown in Fig. 1, although different capacitances may be selected for different operating frequencies.

In order to enhance or optimize power output of the oscillating shuttle network, it is necessary for the impedances of the capacitors to be selected so that the resonance in the respective primary and secondary windings match exactly. This is achieved, in the preferred embodiment, by the steps of causing the first electrical machine to drive the second electrical machine at the desired operating frequency and with no load or a predetermined load, and adjusting the capacitors until amount of power at the capacitors is maximized. In general, because of tolerances in electrical components, the capacitances to which the capacitors will be adjusted will differ for each oscillating shuttle system, and therefore this step is not only a design step but also a part of the manufacturing process for each individual system. It will be appreciated, however, that it may also be possible to include a feedback circuit that monitors power output and adjusts the capacitances during normal operation of the system, so that pre-adjustment is not necessary .

Having thus described preferred embodiments of the invention in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to make and use the invention, it will nevertheless be appreciated that numerous variations and modifications of the illustrated embodiment may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the invention not be limited by the above description or accompanying drawings, but that it be defined solely in accordance with the appended claims.

Claims

I claim:

1. An oscillating shuttle circuit, comprising:

primary and secondary windings of at least two electrical machines, each electrical machine including relatively movable, magnetically interacting parts, the primary and secondary windings being wound around one of the two relatively movable parts of each electrical machine, wherein :

the two electrical machines are coupled such that one of the two electrical machines is operable as a motor to drive the other of the two electrical machines as a generator;

the primary and secondary windings are ungrounded and/or connected to a floating ground; and

the primary and secondary windings of each of the electrical machines are connected to each other exclusively by reactive circuit components.

2. An oscillating shuttle circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reactive components form a capacitor bank comprising s plurality of capacitors .

3. An oscillating shuttle circuit as claimed in claim 2, wherein the capacitors are air variable capacitors.

4. An oscillating shuttle circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the primary and secondary windings of each electrical machine are three-phase windings.

5, An oscillating shuttle circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the primary winding of the first electrical machine is connected to a source of electrical power to drive the first electrical machine as a motor.

6. An oscillating shuttle circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein each capacitor of the second electrical machine is switchably connected to an output circuit for selectively connecting the capacitors to a load.

7, An oscillating shuttle circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said electrical machines are mechanically coupled by a common shaft, belt, or gear train.

8. A method of designing or constructing an oscillating shuttle circuit, comprising the steps of:

providing two electrical machines, each including relatively movable, magnetically interacting parts and respective primary and secondary windings wound around one of the two relatively movable parts, the primary and secondary windings being ungrounded or connected to a floating ground, and the primary and secondary windings being connected exclusively by adjustable capacitors; operating a first of the two electrical machines as a motor to drive a second of the two electrical machines as a generator at a predetermined operating frequency; and adjusting capacitances of the capacitors to optimize power drawn from the primary and secondary windings of the second electrical machine.