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US 10,895,407 B2Granted
Foldable parabolic trough concentrator
AssigneeJianhui Hong
InventorAmy Wei Hong
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Abstract
The present disclosure relates to a parabolic trough concentrator to harness the sun's energy. The parabolic trough concentrator 5 comprises a trough concentrator structure 6, two semi-rigid reflecting sheets 50, a receiver 60, a support stand 80 and a telescopic mechanism 90. The parabolic trough concentrator 5 is designed to have a large reflecting surface area when it is in its extended state, and have a very compact footprint when it is disassembled, folded and collapsed to its retracted state.
Claims16
A foldable parabolic trough concentrator for concentrating a wave phenomenon, comprising:
- a) At least two pairs of support ribs;
- wherein each pair of support ribs comprising two support ribs;
- each support rib having a base flange and an edge flange;
- said two support ribs in said pair pivotably connected to form an angle theta, allowing a clamshell-style folding and unfolding by varying said angle theta between a minimum value corresponding to a retracted state and a maximum value corresponding to an extended state in a cross-sectional direction;
- the base flange of each support rib having a curved edge conforming to a parabolic curve, and two grooves, one at each end of the curved edge;
- when said angle is at said maximum value, the curved edges on said pair of support ribs conform to said parabolic curve;
- b) A scissor mechanism pivotably connecting the edge flanges of said pairs of support ribs, allowing the distance between said pairs of support ribs to vary between a minimum distance corresponding to a retracted state and a maximum distance corresponding to an extended state in a longitudinal direction;
- said longitudinal direction having a first end and a second end;
- c) Two pairs of receiver supports;
- each pair of receiver supports comprising two receiver supports pivotably connected, and having a hole for receiving the receiver;
- each pair of receiver supports is pivotably connected to the base flanges of a pair of support ribs at each end of the longitudinal direction;
- d) A plurality of extension arms for holding said angle theta to its maximum value;
- e) A plurality of semi-rigid reflecting sheets, held to conform to the curved edges of the support ribs by the compression force exerted by said grooves;
- said reflecting sheets conforming to a parabolic trough surface and a focal line when the parabolic trough concentrator is extended in both the cross-sectional and the longitudinal directions;
- f) A receiver for the concentrated wave phenomenon extending in the direction of the focal line, said receiver is supported by the two pairs of receiver supports.
12 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.