Thermodynamic free walking beam engine
OwnerCraig R McCreainventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A free walking beam that uses the principles of the Stirling cycle to drive a piston reciprocatatively through a housing cylinder to pivot alternately around a pair of parallel power output shafts to provide a high torque means of generating mechanical energy. The heat differential required for the Stirling cycle is provided by an external heat source such as ambient heat, solar-heated fluid, or recovered waste heat that is applied to the lower end of the housing cylinder when in a substantially vertical position that elevates the piston to the opposing end thereof to create an imbalanced state thereby initiating the rotational freefall of the superior end of the housing cylinder which drives the power output shaft on which it is pivoting. The process is then repeated with the other power output shaft.
Claims26
A thermodynamic free walking beam engine comprising:
- a) a housing cylinder having a hollow interior and a first end and a second end
- b) A first end cap secured to said first end of said housing cylinder and a second end cap secured to said second end to seal said interior chamber;
- c) a pressurized low-boiling working fluid contained within said housing chamber;
- d) a mass in the form of a piston that is driven from one end of said housing cylinder to the other;
- e) a first heat exchanger and a second heat exchanger disposed proximal to and in direct communication with their respective end caps;
- f) an external heat source disposed inferior to the lower end of said housing cylinder when in the vertical position and close enough to apply heat to said heat exchanger to increase the temperature of the proximal working fluid;
- g) a first substantially horizontal, parallel output power shaft and a second substantially horizontal, parallel output power shaft;
- and
- h) a first open pivot clamp and a second open pivot clamp fixedly disposed on the exterior of said housing cylinder and substantially offset from their respective ends thereof and arranged for engagement with their respective power shafts when said housing cylinder is in the fully horizontal position;
- and
- i) a starting point wherein said housing cylinder is angularly displaced from the vertical sufficiently to initiate rotational freefall.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.