Back to results
US 5,291,847 AGranted
Autonomous propulsion within a volume of fluid
OwnerDouglas C. Webbinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Energy is collected from temperature differentials in a volume of fluid and the energy is used for autonomous propulsion in the fluid.
Claims18
An autonomous engine for use in a volume of fluid, said engine comprising
- an energy collector for collecting energy from temperature differentials in the volume of fluid, said energy collector comprising a medium for storing the collected energy and a movable partition for transferring said energy from a temperature-responsive material, adapted to collect said energy, to said medium,
- a buoyancy shifter for using the collected energy to cause a shift in the buoyancy of the engine and to self-propel the engine autonomously to successive depths within the volume of fluid, and
- a valving mechanism for selectively controlling when said buoyancy shifter uses the collected energy to self-propel the engine to successive depths.
An autonomous engine for use in a volume of fluid, said engine comprising
- a temperature-responsive material which undergoes a state change for collecting energy from the volume of fluid,
- a movable partition,
- a gas medium for storing the collected energy from the thermally-responsive material via the movable partition,
- a filling material for expanding or contracting the chamber under the influence of the movable partition, and
- a valving mechanism for selectively controlling the expanding and contracting of the chamber by said filling material.
2 more elements
A method for autonomously self-propelling an engine in volume of fluid, comprising
- collecting, in a temperature-responsive material, energy from temperature differentials in the volume of fluid,
- using a movable partition to transfer the energy collected in the temperature-responsive material to a storage medium,
- using the collected energy to shift the buoyancy of the engine and self-propel the engine autonomously to successive depths within the volume of fluid, and
- using valving to selectively control when the collected energy is used to shift the buoyancy to propel the engine.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.