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US 4,402,817 AGranted
Electrochemical prime mover
OwnerHenri J. R. Magetinventor
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OwnerHenri J. R. Magetinventor
Estimating the term…
A prime mover or motor having one or more compartments in which pressure variations are produced by transporting molecules into and out of the compartment by means of an electrolytic membrane. Devices for converting the pressure changes to mechanical movement are disclosed; the devices effect conversion to mechanical motion without adversely affecting the sealed condition of the compartment. The mechanical motion produced by the apparatus of the invention is typically reciprocating linear motion and means are disclosed for converting such motion into a pumping function, a rocking function or a rotating function. Disposed within the compartments is an electrochemically active material that can exist in the gaseous phase and that can enter into an oxidation/reduction reaction in order to form ions that move across an electrolytic membrane so as to increase or decrease pressure in a compartment in response to application of a voltage gradient of proper duration and polarity across the membrane. Hydrogen is one suitable material for use in the apparatus.
A prime mover comprising means defining a gas-tight chamber, an electrolytic membrane disposed in said chamber, said membrane having a first surface and a second surface spaced from said first surface in substantial parallelism thereto, said membrane being fixed within said chamber so as to form a first compartment bounded in part by said first surface and a second compartment bounded in part by said second surface, a first material pervious electrode disposed on said first membrane surface and a second material pervious electrode disposed on said second membrane surface, said compartments containing an electrochemically active material capable of existing in a gaseous phase and being electrochemically reversibly active so as to enter into a reduction/oxidation reaction at said electrodes and produce ions that are transportable through said membrane, means connected to said electrodes for inducing unidirectional current flow between said electrodes through said membranes so as to ionize said electrochemically active material at one said electrode and transport ions through said membrane from said first compartment to said second compartment thereby effecting a pressure increase in one of said compartments and a pressure reduction in the other said compartment, means operatively associated with at least one of said compartments for converting the pressure change therein to mechanical motion, and means for periodically reversing the polarity of said current flow inducing means to periodically reverse the direction of ion transportation through said membrane.
A prime mover comprising means defining a gas-tight chamber, at least two electrolytic membranes disposed in said chamber in spaced apart relation so as to form a first compartment between said membranes, a second compartment on the side of one of said membranes opposite said first compartment and a third compartment on the side of the other of said membrane's opposite said first compartment, said membranes having surfaces at the boundaries of respective said compartments, said compartments containing an electrochemically active material capable of existing in a gaseous phase and being electrochemically reversibly active so as to enter into a reduction/oxidation reaction at said electrodes and produce ions that are transportable through said membrane, a pervious electrode disposed on each said surface, means connected to said electrodes for establishing a voltage gradient across said membranes, said voltage gradient establishing means being adapted to establish gradients at a first polarity to transport ions through said membranes from said second and third compartments to said first compartment and a second polarity to transport ions through said membranes from said first compartment to said second and third compartments, a first conduit attached to said casing in communication with said first compartment, a second conduit attached to said casing in communication with at least one of said second and third compartments, first and second gas-tight expansible structures connected to respective said conduits remote from said chamber, said expansible structures adapted to expand in response to increase in pressure in the compartment with which they are associated and to contract in response to decrease in pressure in the compartment with which they are associated, and means operatively connected to at least one of said expansible chambers for converting expansion and contraction thereof to mechanical motion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.