Buoyancy prime mover

An apparatus for converting the potential energy of a gas buoyant within a liquid into rotating mechanical energy comprising:

• (a) rotating means supported by a substantially enclosed frame having first and second enclosed columns to contain the liquid, the first column having a substantially larger cross-section than the second column, both columns having open upper ends, said rotating means including at least two upper and lower sprockets freely rotatable about shafts mounted on said frame, the lower sprockets being at least partially immersed within the liquid, each of said upper and lower sprockets supporting a continuous belt for movement about a horizontal axis of rotation;
• and
• (b) a plurality of adjacent buckets immersed in the liquid and coupled to said continuous belts such that the buckets are equidistant and each bucket is in close proximity with an adjacent bucket to nest within said adjacent bucket for streamlined vertical movement about the horizontal axis of rotation, each bucket containing a vertical member to divide the bucket into a first chamber and a second chamber
• whereby upon filling the first chamber of each bucket with a volume of the gas to displace the liquid from the first chamber of each bucket, the gas can expand when the bucket rises vertically through the liquid contained within the first column and can flow from the first chamber into the second chamber to prevent the gas from spilling from the bucket during the vertical rise so that the buckets move through the liquid with minimal turbulence and revolve the rotating means about the horizontal axis of rotation to generate power, the movement of the buckets causing the liquid to flow from the second column into the first column to decrease the resistance to flow of said buckets through said second column.

An apparatus for converting the potential energy of a gas buoyant within a liquid into rotating mechanical energy comprising:

• (a) rotating means supported by a substantially enclosed frame having first and second enclosed columns to contain the liquid, the first column having a substantially larger cross-section than the second column, both columns having open upper ends, said rotating means including at least two upper and lower sprockets freely rotatable about shafts mounted on said frame and being at least partially immersed within the liquid, each of said upper and lower sprockets supporting a continuous chain for movement about a horizontal axis of rotation;
• and
• (b) a plurality of adjacent collapsible buckets immersed in the liquid and coupled at each end to one of said continuous chains such that the buckets, when opened and filled with the gas, are equidistant and each bucket is in close proximity with an adjacent bucket to nest within said adjacent bucket for streamlined vertical movement through said first column, but the buckets can be folded into a flat configuration to pass through the second column
• whereby the buckets move through the liquid with minimal turbulence and revolve the rotating means about the horizontal axis of rotation to generate power and further including means for folding said collapsible buckets which comprises a series of cams disposed along the outer wall of the side of said frame adjacent said second column and a plurality of roller means mounted on said buckets which cooperate with said cams to fold the buckets after said buckets rotate about said upper sprockets.