Precessional device and method
OwnerPeter Winston Hamadyinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A precessional device having independent control of the output torque generated by the device and the oscillation rate of the device is disclosed. The device comprises a rotor supported by an axle wherein the ends of the axle are supported by a circular race. The circular race is rotatable, and may be driven by a motor or other means, thereby controlling the oscillation rate of the device independently of the output torque arising from the rotation rate of the rotor. The motor may be controlled by a control program that adjusts the rotation rate of the circular race to modify the shape of the resistance curve.
Claims21
An apparatus comprising:
- a track that rotates;
- and a rotor having axle tips that frictionally contact the track as the rotor spins about a spin axis at a spin rate and rotates about a rotational axis at a rotation rate;
- wherein rotation of the track modifies a relative rotation rate of the rotor about the rotation axis independent of the spin rate of the rotor about the spin axis, and a clutch having a first configuration that maintains the relationship between the spin rate of the rotor and the rotation rate of the rotor and a second configuration that disrupts the relationship between the spin rate of the rotor and the rotation rate of the rotor.
An apparatus comprising:
- a track that rotates;
- a rotor having axle tips that frictionally contact the track as the rotor spins about a spin axis at a spin rate and rotates about a rotational axis at a rotation rate;
- wherein rotation of the track modifies a relative rotation rate of the rotor about the rotation axis independent of the spin rate of the rotor about the spin axis;
- and a transmission that couples the rotation of the rotor and the rotation of the track, wherein the transmission transforms a rotation of the rotor into a counter-rotation of the track.
An apparatus comprising:
- a track that rotates;
- a rotor having axle tips that frictionally contact the track as the rotor spins about a spin axis at a spin rate and rotates about a rotational axis at a rotation rate;
- wherein rotation of the track modifies a relative rotation rate of the rotor about the rotation axis independent of the spin rate of the rotor about the spin axis;
- a motor that rotates the track;
- and a controller that is coupled to the motor and that controls the rotation rate of the track and thereby modify the relative rotation rate of the rotor about the rotation axis.
An apparatus comprising:
- a track that rotates;
- and a rotor having axle tips that frictionally contact the track as the rotor spins about a spin axis at a spin rate and rotates about a rotational axis at a rotation rate;
- wherein rotation of the track enables the following two modes:
- modifying the rotation rate of the rotor while maintaining a relatively constant spin rate of the rotor about the spin axis, and
- modifying the spin rate of the rotor while maintaining a relatively constant rotation rate of the rotor about the rotation axis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.