Tuned rolling wave energy extractor
AssigneeHuntington Ingalls Incorporated
InventorsWilliam J. Laz, Todd L. Sedler
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for extracting wave energy may include a watercraft, a pendulum and an energy converter. The watercraft may be configured to roll in response to wave action and may have roll characteristics that are tunable to characteristics of the wave action. The pendulum may be supported by the watercraft to enable the pendulum to swing in response to the wave action. An energy converter may be configured to convert the relative movement of the pendulum and watercraft into electrical energy. The pendulum may also be tunable to characteristics of the wave action.
Claims18
An apparatus for extracting wave energy, the apparatus comprising:
- a watercraft configured to roll in response to wave action, the watercraft having roll characteristics that are tunable to characteristics of the wave action;
- a pendulum supported by the watercraft to enable the pendulum to swing in response to the wave action;
- and
- an energy converter configured to convert movement of the pendulum relative to the watercraft into electrical energy.
A system for extracting wave energy, the system comprising:
- a tunable rolling wave energy extractor including:
- a watercraft configured to roll in response to wave action, the watercraft having roll characteristics that are tunable to characteristics of the wave action;
- a pendulum supported by the watercraft to enable the pendulum to swing in response to the wave action;
- and
- an energy converter configured to convert movement of the pendulum relative to the watercraft into electrical energy;
- and
- a coupling apparatus configured to receive electrical energy from the energy converter and distribute the received electrical energy.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.