Atmospheric pressure power plant

A method of producing power comprising the steps,

• confining a weight,
• producing a partial vacuum, independently of the atmosphere or the pressure thereof, of a value substantially less than atmospheric pressure, over the weight,
• imposing atmospheric pressure directly on the weight in opposition to the partial vacuum and thereby raising the weight, and
• dropping the weight and driving a load by the potential energy of the weight throughout the dropping movement of the weight.

A power plant comprising,

• a pressure chamber for confining a body of air,
• means for producing a body of air in the chamber at a pressure different from that of atmosphere,
• a weight,
• means including passages for establishing communication between said body of air and the atmosphere and thereby producing a stream of air therebetween,
• means responsive to the stream of air for lifting the weight, and
• means for controllably lowering the weight by gravity and driving a load thereby throughout the lowering movement of the weight.

A method of driving a load comprising the steps,

• providing a weight and mounting it for vertical movement,
• providing bodies of air of different pressures,
• applying only the air of the greater pressure against the lower surface of the weight while subjecting the upper surface of the weight to only the air of the lesser pressure, and thereby raising the weight, and
• controllably dropping the weight and thereby driving the load throughout the dropping movement of the weight.

A power plant comprising,

• a main vacuum chamber,
• a power plant unit having a unit vacuum chamber communicating with main vacuum chamber, and of less volume than the main vacuum chamber,
• a working member movably vertically in the power plant unit,
• the power plant unit being open to the atmosphere below the working member,
• means for producing a power medium in the power plant and the power medium so produced thereby extending throughout the main vacuum chamber and the unit vacuum chamber, and
• means for controlling the power medium for applying it to the working member and raising it, and in so applying it, applying a moiety of the whole power medium, as contrasted with an incremental part thereof, and the power medium that remains being of correspondingly reduced effectiveness in producing work successively in successive time increments.