FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to the field of energy conservation and conversion, in particular a device for converting the kinetic energy expended by a mechanical process into electrical energy.

BACKGROUND

A good many of the mechanical processes carried out routinely expend mechanical energy in the form of kinetic energy and/or potential energy in the course of fulfilling a primary purpose. To illustrate a point, a motor vehicle's primary use is for the transport of a load of passengers or goods, or a combination of both from one location to another.

A motor vehicle is typically powered by an internal combustion engine which consumes fossil fuels such as diesel or petrol to generate the necessary motive force to propel the vehicle. In this example, it can be seen that the kinetic energy imparted on the motor vehicle serves no purpose other than to propel the motor vehicle and its load along a roadway to a destination. The kinetic energy expended does nothing else and appears to go wasted.

In this present day and age where man's dependence on fossil fuels appears to be increasing, more effort could certainly be made to maximize the use of the rapidly dwindling supply of fossil fuels. This may be achieved by deriving a means for converting the mechanical energy expended by a mechanical process for a secondary use.

Coming back to the example of the motor vehicle, let us view each motor vehicle travelling along a road as a source of kinetic energy that is being expended. If we consider the sheer volume of motor vehicle traffic plying the roads these days, it will be obvious that the amount of kinetic energy that is expended by the action of the vehicle wheels rolling on the road surface which goes to waste is staggering. One cannot help but consider whether the kinetic energy expended, which represents a continuous source of expended mechanical energy that is merely allowed to go wasted, could conceivably be harnessed for a secondary purpose.

For example, the wasted kinetic energy expended by a continuous flow of motor vehicle traffic could through the use of a suitable energy conversion device be utilised to generate electrical energy which may then be used to power traffic signal lamps, street lamps or other electric utilities situated along that stretch of roadway.

The very example described above is a possible scenario, and doubtless there are other situations where expended mechanical energy, specifically the kinetic energy that is wasted by a mechanical process may be converted for use in the generation of electrical energy which can be imagined without great difficulty.

In the implementation of an energy conversion device suitable for the conversion of kinetic energy to electrical energy, another consideration would be how such a device actually 'receives' the wasted kinetic energy, and how the 'received' kinetic energy is actually used to drive an electrical power generation device such as an alternator, preferably without introducing any additional fuel-consuming processes.

When an alternator is introduced, the question of how the alternator will be driven arises. An alternator is usually driven by an internal combustion engine or on a larger scale, by a steam turbine, all of which transmit rotational motion to the alternator's rotor shaft via a drive-belt and pulley system. This would make the action of an alternator to generate electrical energy a primary mechanical process in its own right and also a fuel-consuming one at that. The latter is not desirable for an efficient energy conversion device.

It is therefore the objective of the present invention to provide a means of utilizing solely the kinetic energy that is expended and wasted by a primary process as a source of kinetic energy for a secondary process of generating electrical energy, without introducing additional fuel-consuming processes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an energy conversion device for converting kinetic energy into electrical energy, that comprises a toothed rack shaft with an actuating means on one end of the rack shaft and a recoil means on the other end, a free-wheeling pinion which is engaged by the teeth of the rack shaft, and an alternator coupled to the free-wheeling pinion which drives the alternator in only one rotary direction to generate an electric current. The toothed rack shaft is linearly movable back and forth along its axis within a predetermined range of movement, and possesses an actuating means on one end for imparting linear motion to the rack shaft in a first axial direction, and a recoil means on the other end for imparting linear motion to the rack shaft in an opposite direction to the first direction.

The actuating means typically comprises a head member which comes into contact and is actuated by a mechanical process which may be in the form of a mechanical impact on the head member, or the action of an object rolling over the head member. The recoil means typically comprises of a coil spring which is mounted within a casing that receives the other end of the rack shaft.

The free-wheeling pinion is positioned so as to be engaged by the teeth of the rack shaft. This arrangement is to enable the linear motion of the rack shaft in both axial directions to impart a rotational motion to the pinion.

The alternator is coupled to the free-wheeling pinion through a geared bi-directional clutch, which will rotate the alternator's rotor shaft in a single direction to generate an electric current, regardless of which direction the free-wheeling pinion is caused to rotate by the rack shaft's linear motion.

When a linear motion is imparted through the actuating means on one end of the toothed rack shaft, the rack shaft is moved along its axis in a first axial direction. This linear motion of the rack shaft in the first axial direction transmits a rotational motion to the free-wheeling pinion which is engaged by the teeth of the rack shaft, and the free-wheeling pinion rotates until the recoil means on the other end of the rack shaft arrests the linear motion of the rack shaft in the first axial direction, and then imparts a linear motion to the rack shaft in a direction opposite to the first direction. The movement of the rack shaft in a direction opposite to the first axial direction will in the same way transmit a rotational motion to the free-wheeling pinion which will rotate in a direction opposite to the first rotation. The process is repeated each time a linear motion is imparted through the actuating means on one end of the toothed rack shaft.

The alternator coupled to the free-wheeling pinion is imparted a rotational motion by the rotation of the free-wheeling pinion in any direction through a geared bi-directional clutch which ensures that the rotor shaft of the alternator rotates in one rotary direction in order to generate an electric current, specifically an alternating current.

The rack shaft of the present invention of an energy conversion device may be mounted for linear motion in the vertical direction, or mounted for linear motion in the horizontal direction so as to correspond to the direction of the source of expended mechanical energy which will contact the actuating means to impart a linear motion to the rack shaft.

The energy conversion device according to the present invention with the rack shaft mounted for linear motion in the vertical direction could be used in the motor vehicle example described previously, to take advantage of the action of the wheels of a motor vehicle rolling on a road surface as a source of wasted kinetic energy which may be used to actuate the rack shaft, and supply kinetic energy needed by an alternator to generate electrical energy.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is illustrated, though not limited, by the following description of a preferred embodiment that is given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 illustrates an embodiment of the energy conversion device according to the present invention. Figure 2 illustrates an embodiment of the energy conversion device according to the present invention with the rack shaft in a linear motion in a first axial direction.

Figure 3 illustrates an embodiment of the energy conversion device according to the present invention with the rack shaft in a linear motion in a direction opposite to the first axial direction. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description describes the invention in relation to the preferred embodiment of the energy conversion device according to the present invention. The invention is not limited to the embodiment described here, as it serves to exemplify the invention only and possible variations and modifications are readily apparent without departing from the scope of the invention.

Referring to Figure 1 , a preferred embodiment of the energy conversion device according to the present invention is illustrated in a rest or static position.

The energy conversion device 1 comprises the following components: a) a toothed rack shaft with an actuating means on one end, and a recoil means on the other end,

b) a free-wheeling pinion positioned so as to be engaged by the teeth of the rack shaft, and

c) an alternator coupled to the free-wheeling pinion through a geared bi-directional clutch. The toothed rack shaft 2 may be moved linearly back and forth along its axis within a predetermined range of movement. The range of movement of the rack shaft may be determined by the track of the teeth on the rack shaft, and the range of movement of the rack shaft may be increased or reduced by lengthening or shortening the track, as required for a specific use.

The actuating means 3 on one end of the rack shaft is the point through which linear motion is imparted to the rack shaft so that it moves in a first axial direction. The actuating means comprises a head member which a kinetic energy source may actuate by depressing the head member. A kinetic energy source could for example actuate and impart a linear motion on the rack shaft by striking or impacting the head member, or by rolling on the head member.

The recoil means 4 on the other end of the rack shaft has the function of arresting the linear motion of the rack shaft in the first axial direction, and then imparting a linear motion to the rack shaft in an opposite direction to the first direction and comprises a coil spring 5 mounted within a casing 6. When the rack shaft moves in a first axial direction, the other end of the rack shaft compresses the spring 5, thus converting kinetic energy from the linear motion of the rack shaft into potential energy which is stored by the spring. The spring then propels the rack shaft in a direction opposite to the first axial direction, and in doing so expends the stored potential energy.

The process described above is repeated each time a linear motion is imparted on the rack shaft again through the actuating means.

A free-wheeling pinion 7 in the energy conversion device 1 is positioned so as to be engaged by the teeth of the rack shaft, enabling the free-wheeling pinion to rotate when the rack shaft is moving in the first axial direction, or in the direction opposite to the first axial direction.

An alternator 8 is coupled to the free-wheeling pinion 7 through a geared bi-directional clutch 9 mounted on the alternator rotor shaft. The alternator is driven by the rotation of the free-wheeling pinion, and the bi-directional clutch which is coupled to the free-wheeling pinion ensures that the alternator rotor shaft rotates in a single direction regardless of which direction the geared bi-directional clutch is rotated by the free-wheeling pinion. A person skilled in the art will be aware that this is required in order for the alternator to function. The alternator generates an alternating electric current, which may be stored and/or rectified and converted into direct electric current for other uses. In Figure 2, the energy conversion device 1 according to the present invention is shown with the toothed rack shaft 2 in a linear motion in a first axial direction (A), when the actuating means 3 on one end of the rack shaft is acted on by a force, F.

During the linear motion of the rack shaft in the first axial direction (A), the teeth of the rack shaft engaging the free-wheeling pinion 7 causes the pinion to rotate in an anti-clockwise direction. The anti-clockwise rotation of the pinion in turn rotates both the geared bidirectional clutch and the rotor shaft of the alternator 8 in a clockwise direction.

The linear motion of the rack shaft 2 in the first axial direction (A) is arrested by the recoil means 4 on the other end of the rack shaft, whereby, the rack shaft compresses the spring 5 mounted within casing 6. In doing so, the rack shaft's kinetic energy is gained and stored by the spring 5 as potential energy which is then used to impart a linear motion to the rack shaft 2 in a direction which is opposite to the first axial direction as will be seen in Figure 3.

In Figure 3, the energy conversion device 1 according to the present invention is shown with the rack shaft 2 in a linear motion in a direction opposite to the first axial direction (B), when the recoil means 4 imparts a recoiling force, R on the other end of the rack shaft.

When the rack shaft 2 is in linear motion in a direction which is opposite to the first axial direction (B), the teeth of the rack shaft engaging the free-wheeling pinion 7 causes the pinion to rotate in a clockwise direction. The clockwise rotation of the pinion in turn rotates the geared bi-directional clutch in an anti-clockwise direction, while the action of the geared bi-directional clutch ensures that the rotor shaft of the alternator 8 continues to rotate in a clockwise direction in order to function. The processes illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 will be repeated continuously as long as the actuating means 3 continues to receive a force, F. The continuously repeating processes described here provide a constant and stable source of kinetic energy which may be used in the generation of electrical energy. The force, F acting on the actuating means 2, in line with the examples described previously may typically be a source of wasted kinetic energy.

Figures 2 and 3 both illustrate the energy conversion device according to the present invention with a rack shaft 2 that is mounted specifically for linear motion in the vertical direction. The energy conversion device may be adapted for use according to the direction force, F originates from, and the rack shaft 2 may instead be mounted for linear motion in the horizontal direction if so required.

The preferred embodiment of the energy conversion device according to the present invention has demonstrated its function and utility, in that it has demonstrated a means by which the kinetic energy expended and wasted by a mechanical process may be 'recycled' for a secondary purpose, specifically the generation of electrical energy.