Apparatus that harnesses explosive force to do work
AssigneeUniversity of South Florida
InventorsDavid P. Fries, Chad Lembke
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Activation of a propellant in a constant volume container causes a phase change material to rapidly expand so that the pressure in the container increases. Programmability and sequential actuation are enabled by patterning the phase change material into the integrated device. The pressure generated may be used to activate an energy transducer such as a high pressure turbine, a piezoelectric material, and an elastic strain material. This provides a hybrid actuation system of electrical energy, pneumatic and hydraulic power. The pressure change in the constant volume container is also harnessed to provide a microbattery.
Claims11
A method for providing energy on demand by harnessing the energy in compressed fluid to do usable work, comprising the steps of:
- providing a constant volume container;
- positioning a diaphragm in said container to divide said container into a first and a second chamber;
- storing a phase change material in said first chamber of said constant volume container;
- storing a working liquid fluid in said second chamber of said constant volume container;
- explosively actuating said phase change material when energy is needed so that gaseous fluids in said first chamber expand and displace said diaphragm and thereby drive said working liquid fluid out of said second chamber;
- and
- providing fluid communication between a pressure-driven load and said second chamber of said constant volume container so that pressure generated by said explosive actuation of said explosive phase change material drives said working liquid fluid through said pressure-driven load.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.