FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention belongs to the field of renewable energy-operated engines useful for the industrial and civil sectors to minimize the environmental pollution. More particularly, the present invention relates to a engine which does not use any kind of fuel but only the internal energy of liquids, float making materials, etc., which gets involved in motion under the influence of gravity, also known as the Archimedes force - one of the manifestations of the law of conservation of total energy (including both internal energy and external energy) of physical objects in the potential force field (see, non-patent documents 1 and 2 below).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various engines using the Archimedes force of liquids have been known for a long time and quite diverse, such as: a engine comprising emerging floats in a water tank and immerging floats in the air; a engine comprising floats in the form of either facing-down bowls auxiliarly pumped with air in the emerging direction of the floats or facing-up bowls containing water in the immerging direction of the floats; a engine comprising two kinds of floats of the same shape, namely emerging floats which are pumped with air to expel water inside out, and immerging floats which are pumped with water, etc. The above-mentioned engines all have no practical significance because their output powers are so low that they do not meet the raw material cost efficiency, or said engines cannot be run in practice due to the fact that resistances have not been fully taken into account. Recently, Patent document 1 disclosed a new engine operated by the Archimedes force, wherein the fact that the said engine uses floats with the volume variable in both emerging and immerging directions, wherein air from outside is sucked through a hole on a main shaft of the engine into a hollow gear and a one-way valve to make these floats to emerge upward, helps the engine to gain a high output power, resulting in a high applicability in the practice. This is a breakthrough in the development of engines that do not use any fuel, do not emit any harmful substance or radiation and can achieve the output power large enough for practical applications both in life and industry as well. However, besides these undeniable advantages, the engine using floats with variable volumes which take the air from the outside through the above structure is relatively complex, thereby making the engine more and more bulky. Besides, to discharge the air out of the floats to minimize the volume thereof before immerging, one-way valves on surfaces of the floats are required accordingly. Also, since the floats should be charged with the outside air through the one-way valves fixed on the hollow gears, such floats and oneway valves must always engage exactly with each other like teeth on two gears of a gear train. Consequently, the length of each chain link in which the floats are provided is not allowed to be varied, resulting in a must to periodically replace chain links which have been elongated as well as rubber seals of the one-way valves on the hollow gears which have been stretched during operation, this must increases the operating costs and disrupts the electricity supply if the engine is used to run a generator. Furthermore, this structural complexity reduces the reliability in long-term operation, suffers from friction losses, and reduces performance as well as output power, thereby increasing the product costs per unit of power.

Additionally, the engine disclosed in the Patent document 1 does not have a frequency modulator, the rotational speed of the engine is changed only by varying the water level through pumping water from the outside in and discharging water from the inside out, therefore its responses to the load power variations are very slow. If a generator with a frequency converter is used as a load, the costs become too expensive. Moreover, due to the lack of a braking mechanism, the engine can only be stopped by discharging all the inside water out. The water discharge would require additional tanks, causing an increase in the cost of materials and the installation space for the engine, and would be not simple at all especially in case of a large power range of MW or more where thousands of cubic meters of water are required.

PRIOR ART DOCUMENT

PATENT DOCUMENT

Patent document 1 : WO2016/1 15578A1.

NON-PATENT DOCUMENT Non-patent document 1 : Vu Huy Toan, "The new path for physics", Science and Technology Publisher, Hanoi, 2007, page 56, (see at ^' http://www.ebook.edu.vn/?page=1.23&view=9314).

Non-patent document 2: Vu Huy Toan, "Reviewing the mechanical energy conservation law of physical objects in the potential force field", 2009 (see at https://wordpress.com/stats/day/vuhuytoan.wordpress.com).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a engine operated by the Archimedes force using a chain of the air containing floats which are communicatively connected with each other to form a completely closed loop in which the total volume of air inside the chain is constant.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a engine operated by the Archimedes force which can achieve an output power large enough to be applied in the practice in terms of life and industry, and which has a higher stability than known engines operated by the Archimedes force in the art.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a engine operated by the Archimedes force which can adjust the tension of the float chain.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a engine operated by the Archimedes force which can automatically adjust the rotational speed of the engine.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a engine operated by the Archimedes force which is breakable or stoppable.

In one aspect, the engine operated by the Archimedes force according to the present invention comprises:

a plurality of the floats which are communicatively connected to each other to form a completely closed float chain wherein the total volume of air inside the chain is constant;

first driven wheels in combination with corresponding first float redirecting rails for driving the floats being immerging in liquid, so as to redirect the said floats to the upward emerging side thereof, wherein the gaps defined between the first float redirecting rails and the corresponding sections of belts or chains located on surfaces of the first driven wheels tend to enlarge gradually in the emerging direction of the floats so that whenever the floats in the deflated state underneath the first driven wheels are emerging, the said floats will be inflated by air from the floats above, whereby the pressure in the float chain is constantly maintained;

second driven wheels in combination with corresponding second float redirecting rails for pressing and driving the floats being emerging upward toward the top of the engine, so as to redirect the said floats to the downward immerging side thereof, wherein the gaps defined between the second float redirecting rails and the corresponding sections of the belts or chains located on surfaces of the second driven wheels tend to narrow gradually in the emerging direction of the floats so as to deflate gradually the floats and expel the air inside the said floats back to the next floats being emerging upward;

emerging float guiding rails for guiding the floats in the inflated state to emerge upward;

immerging float guiding rails for guiding the floats in the deflated state to immerge into liquid; and

driving wheels with arms which are pushed by force transmission pins attached to each float when the floats are immerging downward in the case of the driving wheels coaxially attached to the first driven wheels, or when the floats are emerging upward in the case of the driving wheels independently attached to the first driven wheels, whereby a main shaft of the engine is rotated.

The present invention according to this aspect has the following advantages:

1) Since the present engine uses the chain of air containing floats with a suitable pressure which are communicatively connected to each other, wherein the chain is a completely closed loop with the total volume inside being constant, moreover the float chain comprises two halves: the inflated one emerging upward and the deflated one immerging downward, thereby the engine can operate without adding air from the outside, and an exact engagement of floats with the driving wheels like in the case of a coupling between the floats and the gears of the engine disclosed in the Patent document 1 is not required, instead it requires only a relative coordination between the immerged floats when starting to emerge upward toward the arms of the driving wheels to transmit a force to the said arms like a coupling between a chain, particularly the present float chain, to a freewheel, particularly the present driving wheels with arms. This relative coordination does not require a high degree of precision as for the charging of air into the floats through a gear one-way valve disclosed in the Patent document 1. To facilitate the highly stable operation of the engine, whether the floats are stretched or the arms of the driving wheels are worn out, it is only necessary to equip automatic tension adjusting mechanisms for the float chain, like a rear deraileur and a chain tension adjuster on a bicycle, and thereby improving the lifetime of both the floats and the driving wheels with the arms.

2) Opening the floats (i.e., converting from a deflated state to an inflated state) is caused by the pressure of air inside the float which is calculated to be greater than that of water outside the floats when the floats are redirected to emerge upward along the float redirecting rails located at the bottom of the engine, therefore no float opening mechanism as in the known engine of the prior art is required.

3) Deflating the float volume is also compulsorily implemented by a stretching force of the emerging floats applying on the immerging floats when the emerging floats on the top of the engine enter a redirecting gap which tends to narrow gradually. Since the floats are communicatively connected to each other, the total ^' volume of the entire float chain is always constant and thereby the deflation of the volume of an upper float is compensated by an increase in the volume of lower floats, leading to the fact that energy will be consumed insignificantly to open and deflate the floats, but mainly for frictions between the outer layers of the floats with the guiding rails.

In another aspect, the engine according to the present invention further comprises a float chain tension adjusting mechanism which compensates for the elongation of the float chain after a long period of working and which damps to help the engine running more smoothly when the load variations are large.

In another aspect, the engine according to the present invention further comprises a mechanism for automatically adjusting the rotational speed of the engine that is an air containing expansible box located among the second driven wheels, the first driven wheels and the float chain, thereby not increasing the engine volume, the air containing expansible box comprises an one-way air inlet valve and an one-way air outlet valve, wherein the air charging in or the air discharging out of the air containing expansible box is controlled by an automatic electronic controller. Although the rotational speed of the engine still depends on the water level, changing the volume of the air containing expansible box by pumping the air into or out of the box is performed very quickly and much less expensive than the water pumping.

In another aspect, the engine according to the present invention further comprises a braking mechanism comprising:

an endless screw which is rotated by a step engine;

first cranks each has one end attached to a first screw, which is engaged with the endless screw, and the other end attached to the emerging float guiding rail, respectively; and

second cranks each has one end attached to a second screw, which is engaged with the endless screw, and the other end attached to the immerging float guiding rail, respectively;

when received a stop signal from the automatic electronic controller, the step engine rotates the endless screw which enables the first cranks to press the emerging float guiding rails moving nearer toward the first driven wheels so that the floats being emerging cannot receive more air from the other floats above, simultaneously the second cranks push the immerging float guiding rails to be far away from the second driven wheels so that the floats being immerging can receive more air expelled from the side of the pressed emerging floats, until the volumes on both sides are balanced.

The present engine will be stopped by the balance between the volume of the emerging floats and that of the immerging floats through simultaneously displacing the emerging float guiding rails and the immerging float guiding rails. Additionally, the above-mentioned adjustment makes it possible to change the rotational speed of the engine in a wide range to further support for the adjustment of the rotational speed of the engine by using the above-mentioned air containing expansible box.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided herein, with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Fig. 1A is a front view schematically showing a engine operated by the Archimedes force according to an embodiment of the present invention wherein the length of a chain link is variable and the floats are communicated with each other directly through the float couplings between the two floats.

Fig. IB is a left side view schematically showing the engine shown in Fig.

1A.

Fig. 2 is a view schematically showing an inelastic outer layer for protecting the floats , wherein: a) is a front view and b) is a left side view schematically showing a part of the float chain, c) and d) are front and plain views, respectively, schematically showing the float couplings.

Fig. 3 is a view schematically showing a modified embodiment of the floats shown in Fig. 2, wherein the outer layer for protecting the floats is elastic depending on the liquid pressure, wherein: a) is a front view, b) is a left side view schematically showing a part of the float chain.

Fig. 4 is a view schematically showing a mechanism for automatically adjusting the rotational speed of the engine and a braking mechanism according to the present invention.

Fig. 5A is a front view schematically showing a engine modified comparing with the embodiment shown in Fig. 1A in that the driving wheels are completely independent of, and non-coaxial to the first driven wheels.

Fig. 5B is a left side view schematically showing the engine shown in Fig. 5A.

Fig. 6 is a front view schematically showing a engine operated by the Archimedes force according to an embodiment of the present invention wherein the length of a chain link is constant and the floats are communicated with each other indirectly through connection tubes outside the float chain, not through the float couplings.

Fig. 7 is a view showing details of chain links of the float chain of the engine shown in Fig. 6, wherein: (a) showing an emering state of the floats, (b) showing an immerging state of the floats, (c) is a left side view schematically showing the chain link shown in Fig. 7(a), and (d) is a view schematically showing the float being pressed by a float pressing roller.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Next, as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 7, the present engine operated by the Archimedes force using the chain of the air containing floats with a suitable pressure, wherein the floats are communicatively connected to each other to form a completely closed loop according to the present invention will be herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings from Fig. 1 to Fig. 7.

Throughout the following description, similar reference numerals identify similar components of the different embodiments, these components, if described in one embodiment, may not be repeatedly described in another embodiment.

Figs. 1 to 4 are the views schematically showing the engine operated by the Archimedes force according to an embodiment of the present invention wherein the length of a chain link (which is the length between two the adjacent float couplings in the float chain) can be varied. In this embodiment, the engine operated by the Archimedes force comprises: a plurality of the floats 3 are communicatively connected to each other to form a completely closed float chain wherein the total volume of air inside the chain is constant;

first driven wheels 9.1 in combination with corresponding first float redirecting rails 5.1 for driving the floats being immerging in liquid, so as to redirect the said floats to the upward emerging side thereof, wherein the gaps defined between the first float redirecting rails 5.1 and the corresponding sections of belts or chains 4 located on surfaces of the first driven wheels 9.1 tend to enlarge gradually in the emerging direction of the floats 3 so that whenever the floats in the deflated state underneath the first driven wheels 9.1 are emerging, the said floats will be inflated by air from the floats above, whereby the pressure in the float chain is constantly maintained;

second driven wheels 9.2 in combination with corresponding second float redirecting rails 5.2 for pressing and driving the floats 3 being emerging upward toward the top of the engine, so as to redirect the said floats to the downward immersing side thereof, wherein the gaps defined between the second float redirecting rails 5.2 and the corresponding sections of the belts or chains 4 located on surfaces of the second driven wheels 9.2 tend to narrow gradually in the emerging direction of the floats 3 so as to deflate gradually the floats and expel the air inside the floats back to the next floats being emerging upward, it is optional that gradually deflating the floats may be assisted by a float pressing roller 7 in order to assist in a maximal expulsion of air in the pressed floats back to the next floats being emerging upward;

emerging float guiding rails 5 for guiding the floats 3 in the inflated state to emerge upward, there should be balance weights 20 attached to the bottom ends of the rails respectively, to keep the emerging float guiding rails 5 to maintain a relatively vertical state thereby increasing pressing effects on the floats being emerging upward; immerging float guiding rails 8 for guiding the floats 3 in the deflated state to immerge into liquid, there should be balance weights 20 attached to the bottom ends of the rails, respectively, to keep the immerging float guiding rails 8 to maintain a relatively vertical state, thereby increasing opening effects on the floats immerging downward; and

driving wheels 15 with arms 14 which are pushed by force transmission pins 2.1 attached to each float when the floats are immerging downward causing these wheels to be rotated, whereby a main shaft 6 of the engine is rotated.

Since the total volume of the inflated floats emerging upward on the left, is much larger than that of the deflated floats immerging downward on the right, so the resultant Archimedes force applying on the entire float chain tends to push the floats 3, in the inflated state, to move upward. During the upward movement, the power transmission pins 2.1 on the float couplings 2 of the lower floats will push the arms 14 of the driving wheels 15 causing these wheels to rotate clockwise, thereby also rotating the engine's main shaft 6 attached thereto. Herein, the arms 14 together with the drivirig wheels 15 serve as a freewheel with teeth attached to a rear wheel of a bicycle, and the power transmission pins 2.1 together with the float couplings 2 serve as chain links to engage with the teeth of the freewheel. Although the float chain can be loosened, only the float chain tension adjusting mechanism, particularly the positioning rods 9.22 attached to a shaft of the second driven wheels 9.2, and being capable of moving up and down, and rollers 1 1 are necessary so that there is no problem in motion transmission. The positioning rods 9.22 can move up and down like a chain tension adjuster on a enginecycle, the present invention is however not limited to that mechanism, all well known mechanisms capable of lifting, lowering vertically in the technical field can be used.

Each float 3, for example, has a parallelepiped shape with four lateral sides being deflatable or inflatable. Each float comprises two layers, an inner layer 3.1 and an outer layer 3.2, wherein the layer 3.1 is made of rubber or plastic and the layer 3.2 is a hard shell, made of, such as, metal, to withstand the force and protect the inner layer, the outer layer comprises hard plates dynamically linked together by hinges 3.3 or also to the float couplings 2 by hinges 4.2, thereby each float 3 can be deflated or inflated. Alternatively, the inner layer 3.1 of each float is integrally molded to form the float chain as a closed loop, wherein the floats are communicatively connected to each other directly at throat positions in the gaps of the float couplings 2 between two adjacent floats. Alternatively, the inner layer 3.1 of each float of the float chain is made separately, and then airtight and communicatively connected through the gaps of the float couplings 2 between two adjacent floats.

Since whether the length of the chain link is long or short depends on the inflated or deflated state of the floats , on the side of upward emerging floats (in other word, the floatsin the inflated state ), the length of an emerging float branch is shorter than that of an immerging float branch on the side of download immerging floats (the floats in the deflated state), so that the immerging float guiding rails 8 and the belts or chains 4 on the side of downward immerging floats are in a curved shape to compensate for the elongation of the immerging float branch. The belts or chains 4 on a groove of the driving wheels 15 and the second driven wheels 9.2 are stretched by positioning rods 9.22 attached to the shaft of the second driven wheels 9.2 and rollers 11 adjacent to the floats being immerging. The belts or chains 4 act as a bearing for edges of hinges 3.3 of each float when these floats are pressed by the guiding rails 5 or 8 onto power transmission pins 2.1 of the float couplings 2. The bearing does not cause a considerable friction because the floats themselves also move at the same speed with the belts or chains 4. The belts or chains 4 move along the rotational direction of the driving wheels 15 causing the second driven wheels 9.2 to rotate.

When the floats 3 emerge upward, in the case of using the floats having outer layers 3.2 whose elasticity occurs by means of connecting plates 3.3 ' located between them and made of an elastic material (as shown in Fig. 3), then the volume of the emerging floats will be gradually inflated because the pressure of water is gradually reduced and reach a maximum value until the floats emerge on the water surface. This also helps increasing further the Archimedes force applying on the float chain, thereby increasing the output power of the engine compared with using the floats with the inelastic outer layer for protecting the floats.

In one aspect, the engine according to the present invention further comprises a mechanism for automatically adjusting the rotational speed of the engine that is an air containing expansible box 10 located among the second driven wheels, the first driven wheels and the float chain, this box comprises two conducts communicating with an one-way air inlet valve 12 and an one-way air outlet valve 13, wherein the air charging in or the air discharging out of the air containing expansible box 10 is controlled by an automatic electronic controller DK. Depending on load variations of the engine, when load variation increases causing the speed of the engine to decrease, then the automatic electronic controller DK emits a corresponding signal to pump more air into the box 10 through the one-way air inlet valve 12, causing an increase in the water level in the engine, but when the load variation decreases, causing the speed of engine to increase, then the automatic electronic controller DK emits a corresponding signal to discharge a part of air through the one-way air outlet valve 13, causing the water level in the engine to decrease. In addition to the air containing expansible box 10, it is possible to use one or more balance weights 20 (see, Fig. 6), wherein the density of the weights is slightly greater than that of water, and the weights can be lowered down or lifted up by means of a special engine to vary the water level in the engine depending on the requirement of increasing or decreasing the rotational speed of the engine. In this case, the volume of the engine increases significantly. The lifting up or lowering down of the weights is controlled by the automatic electronic controller DK. As shown in Fig. 4, the braking of engine is performed by a braking mechanism comprising:

an endless screw 16 which is rotated by a step engine 17;

first cranks 18 each has one end attached to a first screw 18.1, which is engaged with the endless screw 16, and the other end attached to the emerging float guiding rail 5, respectively; and

second cranks 19 each has one end attached to a second screw 19.1, which is engaged with the endless screw 16, and the other end attached to the immerging float guiding rail 8, respectively;

wherein when receiving a stop signal from DK, the step engine 17 rotates the endless screw 16 which enables the first cranks 18 to press the emerging float guiding rails 5 moving nearer toward the first driven wheels 9.1 to such an extend that prevents the emerging floats from receiving air expelled from the floats above (i.e., prevents such floats from inflating to receive air from the floats above), simultaneously the second cranks 19 push the immerging float guiding rails 8 to be far away from the second driven wheels 9.2 so that the immerging floats can receive more air expelled from the side of the pressed emerging floats until the volumes on both sides are balanced. As a result, the engine will be stopped completely. This braking mechanism can also be used to support for adjusting the engine speed when the load is reduced in such a large range that the above- mentioned air containing expansible box 10 is no longer effective. In particular, this braking mechanism can be used to change relative positions of the guiding float rails 5 and 8 compared with the float chain which causes the air in the emerging floats to shift to the immerging floats in order to vary the resultant Archimedes force applying on the float chain, and as a result, it is possible to adjust the rotational speed of the engine in a wide range without increasing the engine volume too much.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 4, the driving wheels and the first driven wheels 9.1 coaxially attached to each other and the first driven wheels 9.1 can be considered as a part of the driving wheels 15. According to another modified embodiment, as shown in Figs 5A and 5B, to obtain the Archimedes force and convert it into a torque rotating the main shaft of the engine, it is possible to provide the driving wheels 15 with smaller size independently attached and non- coaxial to the first driven wheels 9.1, and the driving wheels 15 coupled only to both the first and second driven wheels 9.1 and 9.2 through the belts or chains 4. The driving wheels 15 with arms 14 are adjacent to the branch of the emerging floats between the first driven wheels 9.1 and the second driven wheels 9.2. This arrangement does not increase the engine volume . Therefore, the size of the first driven wheels 9.1 is reduced to be equal to that of the second driven wheels 9.2 because the fact that there is no need to have long arms 14 results in a reduction in the engine size, and a less water consumption in case that the engine is located inside the engine casing 1 containing water. In this case, arms 14 are pushed by force transmission pins 2.1 attached to each float when the floats emerge upward.

Figs 6-8 show an embodiment of the engine operated by the Archimedes force, wherein the length of a chain link is constant. In this embodiment, except for the float chain, remaining components are provided identically to those in the above-mentioned embodiment shown in Figs 1-5. The lenght of each chain link is determined by two float end positioning plates 3.4, these plates are connected to each other by the float couplings 3.6. Therefore, the floats with two layers will be inflated or deflated within the area of the positioning plates 3.4 without affecting the length of each chain link as well as of the entire of the float chain. In this embodiment, the floats can only be communicated with each other indirectly through connection tubes 3.5 located between the floats 3 and being outside the float chain. Each float 3 also comprises two layers (not shown in figures) as the above-mentioned embodiment, i.e., comprises the inner layer and the outer layer, wherein the inner layer is made of rubber or plastic to contain air and the outer layer is a hard shell that withstands the force and protects the inner layer, the outer layer comprises hard plates dynamically linked together by hinges or by elastic connecting plates and dynamically linked to the float couplings 3.6 by hinges. One end of each float may be stretched freely within the length of the chain link.

The advantage of this embodiment compared with the embodiment wherein the length of each chain link is variable as shown in Figs 1-5 is the almost absolute symmetry between the emerging float branch and the immerging float branch . The automatic electronic controller DK will coordinate operations of the mechanism for adjusting the rotational speed of the engine, the engine braking mechanism and other technical requirements during the engine operation in order to obtain the optimal output power and performance, in particular the output power and performance of the engine according to the present invention can be increased up to 50% compared with the engine disclosed in the Patent document 1.

The engine casing 1 is a tank made of metal, concrete or composite for containing the liquid. In the case of directly using river water, lake water or sea water to rotate the engine, the casing only has the function to prevent the inside components from the collisions, as well as the infiltration of potential harmful objects from the water environment, but has not necessarily to be sealed to hold water because the whole engine will be soaked in the lake, river or sea.

It should be noted that the engine operated by the Archimedes force according to the present invention comprises components described and illustrated herein in order to provide a generalized working principle of the engine. In fact, there may be various variations and modifications with the same purpose to operate the engine operated by the Archimedes force using the closed chain of air containing floats which are communicated with each other with the total volume of air inside being constant. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is only determined by the appended claims.

EFFECT OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The engine according to the present invention allows to increase the output power up to 50% compared with the engine disclosed in the Patent Document 1 with the same size and weight due to an increase in the number of the floats up to 2 times and a reduction in the system loss for closing or opening the floats as well as friction at the gears. In addition, it allows to prolong lifespan of the floats and driving wheels many times, significantly reduce not only the equipment cost but also the operating costs due to the fact that it is unnecessary to so often change the floats and gaskets of gears, significantly increase the stability during the operation even with the variation of the load in a wide range. The loads of the engine according to the present invention are more flexible and diverse, they may be electric generators, machine tools, screws of ships, submarines, etc. Since the air only flows inside the closed chain of floats, the engine can fully immerge in the river water, the lake water or the sea water at a sufficient depth which allows the engine's operation to be stable, less susceptible to fluctuations of water waves, and be especially useful for large ships where other engines belong to this type cannot work.