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US 5,440,175 AGranted
Waterwheel-driven generating unit
OwnerHoward A. Mayo, Jr., Kenneth R. Broomeinventors
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OwnerHoward A. Mayo, Jr., Kenneth R. Broomeinventors
Estimating the term…
An electric generator assembly driven by a waterwheel wherein the axial length of the waterwheel is substantially greater than the diameter thereof and contains a speed-increasing device for driving a high speed generator. The assembly is supported from a bridge spanning the full axial length of the waterwheel and the width of the stream and said bridge also supports an adjustable chute extending from the dam crest to the waterwheel. The waterwheel has longitudinal buckets designed to develop maximum energy over a wide range of flow of water and also discharge debris. The buckets are vented as necessary to improve filling and discharge and also minimize vibration. The complete bridge assembly is supported adjacent opposite ends by hydraulic cylinder units connected to and adapted to raise the unitary bridge, chute and waterwheel assembly above increased tailwater levels to reduce drag and rotating friction. By providing either a synchronous or induction generator with a rotating rotor and non-rotatable stator of conventional commercial design, electric power leads are brought out through a non-rotating hollow shaft to a local disconnect switch and transformer that is adapted to increase the voltage, as necessary, for transmission. Retention of water in the buckets until each one reaches the lowest point of travel is provided by an adjustable shroud.
An electric power-generating mechanism adapted to be mounted across a waterway adjacent a dam therein and comprising in combination, a vertically adjustable support means including a platform sized to extend across said waterway adjacent the downstream side of the dam, and support members depending from said platform in spaced-relationship in order to suspend a waterwheel unit, said waterwheel unit including a waterwheel wherein the length of said water wheel is substantially greater than the diameter thereof, and said waterwheel being composed of an impervious cylinder and circular end plates respectively fixed to the opposite ends of said cylinder in order to form a watertight enclosure, a plurality of buckets spaced evenly around the circumference of said cylinder and fixed at one edge thereto, an electric generator unit mounted axially within said cylinder and comprising a rotor disposed axially within a stator and drive means operably connecting said waterwheel to said rotor, and securing means fixing said stator to said support means to prevent rotation thereof, an elongated chute adapted to be affixed at the upstream edge thereof to said dam adjacent the dam crest and the opposite downstream edge of said chute clearing the circular path defined by the outer edges of said buckets when said waterwheel is rotating and being supported by an adjustable chute support means extending from said support means and connected to said chute in spaced relation to the upstream edge of said chute and operable to vary the relation of the downstream edge of said chute relative to said circular path of the outer edges of said buckets in a manner to maximize the energy of the water delivered to said waterwheel to generate electric power.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.