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US 4,163,905 AGranted
Electric generating water power device
OwnerFred E. Davisoninventor
Life of this patent
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OwnerFred E. Davisoninventor
Estimating the term…
A submerged water power machine in which a plurality of vertical blades are connected to two endless chains, one located at the top ends and the other located at the bottom ends of the blades. The blades drive the chains about two endless horizontal tracks, and the chains are drivingly coupled to electric generators. Each blade is mounted on an individual truck supported on the top track and is guided at its bottom by a roller within the bottom track. The endless tracks are arranged as two spaced-apart parallel runs connected by semi-circular end sections. Each blade is adjustable about vertical pivot means on its truck and is controllable so that the blades can be positioned to drive the machine while moving along both runs of the tracks. The blades are adjusted either by electric servo motor drive means controlled by a position programmer or by followers carried by the blades and engaging cam tracks. The trucks, top chain and blade-positioning control elements are contained in a pressurized inverted cup-hole housing so that these parts operate in air rather than water. Over this housing is a flotation air compartment containing the generators. Tether lines are employed to anchor the machine to the ocean floor. The blades are spaced far enough apart to allow a portion of the water to flow past the first row of blades into the path of the second row of blades, with the blades of both rows oriented to develop driving force on the chains in the same direction of chain travel.
A water power machine comprising a generally horizontally elongated frame submerged in the water, means to anchor the frame in a substantially fixed position, a flotation chamber secured on the top portion of the frame and having an inverted cup-like bottom wall portion, air pump means connected to said cup-like bottom portion to pressurize same and form an air compression chamber, respective parallel top and bottom endless rails secured respectively lengthwise in said compression chamber and to the bottom portion of said frame, each of said rails including a pair of relatively long spaced apart runs connected at their opposite ends by relatively short semi-circular runs, a plurality of trucks mounted on the top endless rail at spaced apart intervals for movement therealong, a first flexible endless chain connecting said trucks, electric generator means coupled to said first endless chain, vertical shafts journaled to said trucks and having bottom guide means engaging the bottom endless rail, sleeve means journaled on the lower ends of the shafts, a second endless chain connecting said sleeve means, respective blades mounted on said shafts between the endless chains, and means for rotating said blades around the axes of the shafts to desired positions relative to water currents in accordance with the positions of the blades along the endless rails.
A water power machine comprising a generally horizontally elongated frame, means anchoring said frame submerged in water, a submerged flotation chamber secured on the top portion of the frame and having an inverted cup-like bottom wall portion, air pump means connected to said cup-like bottom portion to pressurize same and form an air compression chamber, an endless rail secured lengthwise in said compression chamber, said rail including a pair of relatively long spaced apart runs connected at their opposite ends by relatively short arcuate runs, a plurality of trucks mounted on the said endless rail at spaced apart intervals for movement therealong, flexible endless chain connecting said trucks, electric generator means in said flotation chamber and coupled to said endless chain, vertical shafts depending from said trucks into said water below the compression chamber, and respective blades mounted on said shafts.
A water power machine, which comprises:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.