Human powered generator
OwnerConstantinos G Panousis, George C. Panousisinventors
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A human powered electric energy generator equipped with a mechanism for converting a back and forth motion of a user's legs or arms to a unidirectional circular motion. The device includes an engaging mechanism that, according to the back and forth movement of a belt, enables a pilot gear to alternate engagement between a left and a right gear, and a transmission mechanism which transfers the linear kinetic energy from the belt to a unidirectional rotational kinetic energy of the gears. The device also includes a flywheel for storing the rotational kinetic energy of the gears and/or the transmission mechanism, and an electric generator for converting the rotational kinetic energy into electric energy.
Claims20
A device for harvesting a back and forth linear kinetic energy and converting it to a rotational kinetic energy, the device comprising:
- a belt having a first belt end and a second belt end;
- a pilot gear having an axle, wherein the pilot gear is configured to engage a central portion of the belt and the axle is configured to be rotatably accepted within a slot;
- a left gear;
- a right gear;
- and
- a transmission mechanism which provides unidirectional rotation of the left gear and the right gear independent of the motion of the belt and the pilot gear,
- wherein movement of the belt to the left or right moves the pilot gear to the left or right within the slot so that the pilot gear becomes engaged alternatively with the left gear or the right gear.
A device for harvesting biomechanical energy, the device comprising:
- a belt having a first belt end and a second belt end;
- and
- a housing configured to be worn on a body of a human user, the housing comprising:
- a pilot gear having an axle, wherein the pilot gear is configured to engage a central portion of the belt and the axle is configured to be rotatably accepted within a slot;
- a left gear;
- a right gear;
- and
- a transmission mechanism which provides unidirectional rotation of the left gear and the right gear independent of the motion of the belt and the pilot gear,
- wherein movement of the belt to the left or right moves the pilot gear to the left or right within the slot so that the pilot gear becomes engaged alternatively with the left gear or the right gear,
- wherein the linear back and forth movement of a user's legs or arms move the belt to the left or the right.
A method for converting a back and forth movement of human legs to electrical energy, the method comprising:
- attaching a belt of a human powered generator device to the legs of a user, wherein a first belt end is attached about a first leg and a second belt end is attached about a second leg;
- attaching a housing portion of the human powered generator device about a midsection of the user, wherein the housing comprises:
- a pilot gear having an axle, wherein the pilot gear is configured to engage a central portion of the belt and the axle is configured to be rotatably accepted within a slot;
- a left gear;
- a right gear;
- and
- a transmission mechanism which provides unidirectional rotation of the left gear and the right gear independent of the motion of the belt and the pilot gear,
- wherein movement of the belt to the left or right moves the pilot gear to the left or right within the slot so that the pilot gear becomes engaged alternatively with the left gear or the right gear;
- and
- walking in a forward direction so that a linear back and forth movement of the user's legs moves the belt to the left or the right.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.