Energy storage and delivery system and method
AssigneeEnergy Vault, Inc.
InventorAndrea Pedretti
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An energy storage and delivery system includes an elevator cage, where the elevator cage is operable to move one or more blocks from a lower elevation to a higher elevation to store energy (e.g., via the potential energy of the block in the higher elevation) and operable to move one or more blocks from the higher elevation to the lower elevation (e.g., by gravity) to generate electricity (e.g., via the kinetic energy of the block when moved to the lower elevation). The blocks are moved between the lower elevation and the higher elevation by an equal vertical distance.
Claims21
(canceled)
An energy storage and delivery system, comprising:
- a frame having a vertical height above a foundation defined by a plurality of rows that extend horizontally along the frame;
- an elevator cage movable relative to an end of the plurality of rows, the elevator cage sized to hold and support one or more blocks;
- and
- a pulley disposed vertically above the elevator cage and operable to maintain one or more cables coupled to the elevator cage in a vertical orientation as the elevator cage moves up and down the frame;
- wherein the elevator cage is configured to move laterally in a first direction and in a second direction opposite the first direction relative to the end of the plurality of rows to pick-up or drop-off the one or more blocks;
- and
- wherein the pulley is actuatable to move laterally with the elevator cage to maintain the vertical orientation of the one or more cables as the elevator cage moves laterally to pick-up or drop-off the one or more blocks.
An energy storage and delivery system, comprising:
- a frame having a vertical height above a foundation defined by a plurality of rows that extend horizontally along the frame;
- an elevator cage movable relative to an end of the plurality of rows, the elevator cage sized to hold and support one or more blocks;
- and
- a lift drive system for moving the elevator cage, the lift drive system comprising:
- an electric motor-generator configured to rotate a shaft;
- and
- one or more cables extending from the elevator cage and around the shaft;
- and
- a pulley disposed vertically above the elevator cage and operable to maintain the one or more cables coupled to the elevator cage in a vertical orientation as the elevator cage moves up and down the frame;
- wherein the pulley is actuatable to move laterally with the elevator cage to maintain the vertical orientation of the one or more cables as the elevator cage moves laterally relative to the end of the plurality of rows to pick-up or drop-off the one or more blocks.
An energy storage and delivery system, comprising:
- a frame having a vertical height above a foundation defined by a plurality of rows that extend horizontally along the frame;
- an elevator cage movable relative to an end of the plurality of rows, the elevator cage sized to hold and support one or more blocks;
- and
- a lift drive system for moving the elevator cage, the lift drive system comprising:
- one or more cables extending from the elevator cage;
- and
- a pulley disposed vertically above the elevator cage and operable to maintain the one or more cables coupled to the elevator cage in a vertical orientation as the elevator cage moves up and down the frame;
- wherein the pulley is actuatable to move laterally with the elevator cage to maintain the vertical orientation of the one or more cables as the elevator cage moves laterally relative to the end of the plurality of rows to pick-up or drop-off the one or more blocks.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.