Road shock energy converter for charging vehicle batteries

Abstract

Energy, from road bed jolts, expended against the wheels and axle or axle housing of either a self-propelled or a trailer vehicle so as to cause the axle to rise and fall is transmitted to a rotatable shaft through a reciprocatory-to-rotary motion transformer including elongated double rack housings containing compression springs engaging relatively-sliding shorter double racks which through their delayed actions due to their inertia and the time required for them to compress their respective springs cause the motion of the racks to lag behind the road-shock induced motions of their respective rack housings, whereupon the thus-compressed springs expand and push their respective racks into the end spaces so opened up within their respective housings, whereupon the thus-tardily moving racks belatedly rotate their respective pinions provided with oppositely-acting unidirectional clutches. The consequent intermittent rotation of the shaft is rendered continuous by a flywheel on the shaft. The rotation of the shaft drives an electric current generator, the electric current output from which is fed to storage batteries, either the propulsion batteries of an electric vehicle or auxiliary storage batteries to charge these batteries. Compression springs engaging the ends of the racks in addition to transmitting the road-shock-induced motions of the housings and axle to the clutches and shaft, also cushion the shocks which might otherwise damage the mechanism.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.