Pedal generator
AssigneeFreeplay Market Development Limited
InventorsJohn Edward Hutchinson, Pierre Becker
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A pedal generator having a single foot operated pedal, and spring biased means for converting oscillatory movement of the pedal into drive for an alternator, the pedal comprises a pedal lever (2) connected to a drive shaft (3) and movable between raised position and a lowered position so that a user can impart rotation to the drive shaft (3).
Claims11
A pedal generator comprising a pedal lever connected to a drive shaft and movable between a raised position and a lowered position so that a user can impart rotation to the drive shaft:
- an arm one end of which is mounted on said drive shaft so as to be pivotable through an arc on movement of the pedal lever between its raised and lowered positions so as to cause rotation an input drive pulley in response to movement of the arm;
- a one-way clutch coupling the input drive pulley to the first gear of a gear train arranged to drive an alternator, the first gear being rotated by the drive pulley when the pedal lever is depressed from its raised position, and wherein the end of the arm remote from the drive shaft is coupled to an elongate flexible member which is also coupled to the drive pulley so that movement of the flexible member in response to movement of the arm causes rotation of the input drive pulley.
A pedal generator according to any preceding claim, wherein the alternator comprises a stator stack skewed to reduce cogging effects and surrounded by a multi-pole magnetic ring mounted in a rotor cup rotated by the alternator pinion.
A pedal generator according to any preceding claim and further comprising a mount for mounting a battery, an output terminal for a mounted battery, and a controller for controlling charging of a battery either by the output of said alternator or from an external power source.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.