Solar thermal heliostat
OwnerBrian M. Fitzgerald, John D. Zalewski +6inventors
InventorsBrian M. Fitzgerald, John D. Zalewski, Franz Faschinger, Richard A. Bakowski, Philipp Ebner, David W. Wenthen, Burke Smith, Peter M. Jacobsen
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Abstract
A heliostat for reflecting sunlight toward a target includes a first structure supporting a mirror including inner and outer tubes being rotatable relative to one another. A first actuator includes an electric motor driving a reduction gearset to rotate one of the first tubes and rotate the mirror about a first axis. A second structure also includes inner and outer rotatable tubes. A second actuator includes a second electric motor driving a reduction gearset to rotate the mirror about a second axis.
Claims22
A heliostat for reflecting sunlight toward a target, comprising:
- a mirror;
- a first structure for supporting the mirror including a first outer tube concentrically supported for rotation on a first inner tube, one of the first inner tube and the first outer tube being restricted from movement and coupled to the ground;
- a first actuator including a first electric motor driving a first reduction gearset, the first actuator rotating the other of the first inner and outer tubes relative to the ground to rotate the mirror about a first axis;
- a second structure for supporting the mirror and including a second outer tube concentrically supported for rotation on a second inner tube, one of the second inner tube and the second outer tube being fixed to the other of the first inner and outer tubes;
- and
- a second actuator including a second electric motor driving a second reduction gearset, the second actuator rotating the other of the second inner and outer tubes relative to the one of the second inner tube and the second outer tube to rotate the mirror about a second axis.
A heliostat for reflecting sunlight toward a target, comprising:
- a frame;
- a mirror mounted to the frame;
- and
- a drive mechanism coupled to the frame to orient the mirror relative to the sun, the drive mechanism including an electric motor driving a compound planetary gearset and a worm gearset driven by the compound planetary gearset, the compound planetary gearset including a sun gear, a first ring gear, a second ring gear and a plurality of pinion gears each being in a constant meshed engagement with the sun gear, the first ring gear and the second ring gear, wherein the first ring gear has fewer teeth than the second ring gear.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.