Bidirectional rotary motion-converter, wave motors, and various other applications thereof

Energy conversion apparatus for converting energy of an energy source to a useful form, comprising:

• an energy source;
• an input shaft coupled to said energy source so as to be rotated bidirectionally thereby;
• an output shaft having a longitudinal axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the input shaft;
• a drive bevel gear coaxial with, and driven bidirectionally by, said input shaft;
• a pair of driven bevel gears coaxial with said output shaft and meshing with said drive bevel gear on opposite sides of the axis of the drive bevel gear so as to be driven bidirectionally thereby but in opposite directions with respect to said output shaft;
• a pair of one-way clutches coupling said driven bevel gears to said output shaft such that one of said one-way clutches is effective to drive said output shaft only in one direction, and the other of said one-way clutches is effective to drive said output shaft also only in said one direction;
• and a flywheel coupled to said output shaft via a further one-way clutch effective to permit the flywheel to rotate only in said one direction.

Motion measuring apparatus for accumulating and measuring bidirectional movements of an object, comprising:

• an input shaft coupled to said object so as to be rotated bidirectionally by the bidirectional movements of the object;
• an output shaft having a longitudinal axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the input shaft;
• a drive bevel gear coaxial with, and driven bidirectionally by, said input shaft;
• a pair of driven bevel gears coaxial with said output shaft and meshing with said drive bevel gear on opposite sides of the axis of the drive bevel gear so as to be driven bidirectionally thereby but in opposite directions with respect to said output shaft;
• a pair of one-way clutches coupling said driven bevel gears to said output shaft such that one of said one-way clutches is effective to drive said output shaft only in one direction, and the other of said one-way clutches is effective to drive said output shaft also only in said one direction;
• and a measuring device coupled to said output shaft for accumulating and measuring the bidirectional rotary movements of said input shaft.