FIELD OF INVENTION

5This invention relates to power generators and, more particularly to power generators that can be used either to generate electricity or to power machinery.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

lOOver the years many forms of power generators have been developed ranging from steam engines to petrol and diesel driven engines.

Recently, environmental considerations have lead to efforts to design generators that are less atmosphere polluting than most hitherto used generators that

15themselves emit pollutant exhaust gases as is the case with internal combustion engines or are produced by methods that produce gaseous or other forms of pollutants in the case of many methods of electricity generation or use fuels that are produced by such methods such as oil refining. Among the various pollutants associated with older generators are carbon dioxide and other so- 0called "green house" gases and noxious oxides such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides that end up in the atmosphere as acids after reaction with rain water. Among the various attempts that have been made to reduce the polluting effects of generators the most successful have probably been in connection with motor vehicles with the development of electric battery operated motors and hybrid engines mainly for powering small vehicles. While such motors and engines are 5generally cleaner the batteries have to be charged, which uses electricity which has to be generated in some way, usually with the production of pollutants and no satisfactory hybrid engine that does not include an internal combustion element.

10US-6,962,223-B2 describes a flywheel driven vehicle that is powered by an electric motor. The rotation of the flywheel is initiated and maintained by an electric motor which is powered by a plurality of batteries to which a charger assembly is connected. In operation, one battery at a time powers the electric motor while, simultaneously, the other battery is being charged. The charger lSassembly comprises a charger battery that receives electric current from an alternator. Current from the charger battery passes through an inverter to convert the electric flow from DC to AC thereby to actuate the cell charger that is connected to whichever battery is connected to the electric motor at the particular time. A switch is provided to switch the charger from battery to battery and the 0batteries to the motor, as appropriate. As compared to the generator of the invention, the prior art does not allow the batteries to be charged while the vehicle is at a stall, as charging only occurs when the flywheel rotates as powered by the electric motor. The disclosed prior art also claims to be only applicable to a vehicle. Furthermore, the flywheel design does not enhance its rotational speed by any means. However, the generator of the invention is applicable as an electrical energy generator or a kinetic energy generator while enhancing the rotational speed of the flywheel by gyroscopic means.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention provides a simpler and more efficient dual battery motor of the general type described in US- 6,962,223-B2.

According to the invention a power generator comprises a rotary torque generator, an alternator driveable by the rotary torque generator, a drive shaft driveable by the rotary torque generator, and at least two separate energy storage means useable one at a time for powering the rotary torque generator,the drive shaft carrying a flywheel, power transmission means associated with and driven by the flywheel for generating electric or electric and mechanical power, means, which may comprise the alternator, for using a part of the electric power for charging whichever energy storage means is not being used to power the electric motor and switch means for switching the charger means on and offand from one energy storage means to the other and for connecting and disconnecting the rotary torque generator to and from the energy storage means, characterized in that at least two symmetrically arranged gyroscopes are mounted on the flywheel to rotate with the flywheel, the gyroscopes comprising an axle with a gyroscope wheel at one end and drive means for causing the gyroscope wheel to rotate, at or towards the other end.

In operation, the flywheel is caused to rotate using the rotary torque generator 5unt.il it reaches a first threshold speed at which point the drive shaft is disengaged from the rotary torque generators. The rotary torque generator is powered by one of the energy storage means before the drive shaft disengages. Simultaneously, with the powering of the flywheel, the gyroscope drive means causes the gyroscopes to rotate until they also reach a threshold speed at which the the lOgyroscope drive means disengages. In this state, with both the flywheel and the gyroscopes free wheeling and, since the gyroscope wheels are rotating and lifted away from its original position, the precession forces generated by the gyroscopes are added to the momentum of the flywheel substantially adding to the kinetic energy produced.

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When the flywheel slows down, as it must, and its speed drops to a second threshold speed, the drive shaft is reengaged with the rotary torque generator and it is again, powered by one of the energy storage means until the flywheel is reaches its first threshold speed. Similarly the gyroscope drive means may be 0reengaged when necessary and bring the gyroscope wheels back up to speed.

The gyroscopes may be pivotally mounted on the surface of the flywheel in inverted U-shaped saddles in which they are pivoted on pin bearings but preferably the axles of the gyroscopes pass through the rim of the flywheel and are carried in bearings that are pivotally mounted in the flywheel rim.

When the gyroscopes are pivotally mounted the gyroscope drive meanspreferably comprises a drive wheel fixed on the gyroscope axle and a stationary plate fixed and through which the drive shaft passes. In a rest position and until the gyroscope wheel reaches its threshold speed, the drive wheel is in contact with the plate while the flywheel carrying the gyroscopes rotates, thus causing rotation of the gyroscope axle and the gyroscope wheel.

In a still further preferred embodiment, the gyroscope axles are held in a fixed position on the flywheel so that the axles extend substantially parallel to the radial plane of the flywheel. In this case the drive wheel is permanently driven by the plate and is disengageable from the axle, for example, by means of a clutch.The gyroscope wheel may have parallel flat surfaces. Another configuration of the gyroscope wheel may be a gyroscope wheel with an outer convex surface, for example, a dome gyroscope.

Instead of being driven by the drive wheel and plate, it is also possible to use agear arrangement to cause the gyroscope wheel to rotate on its axle.

The energy storage means are preferably twcTDC r ^" batteries ^" όr ^~ b ^~ aftery ^" b ^" anRs ^~ connected in parallel, and which preferably have a much shorter recharge time than discharge time. Alternatively other types of energy storage means such as, for example, ultra-capacitors or super-capacitors may be used, in addition to or instead of batteries. A voltage sensor is preferably provided to monitor voltage from the energy storage means and to automatically operate the switching Sbetween the two energy storage means.

The rotary torque generator may be a DC motor or an AC motor with an inverter and, if necessary, the appropriate inverters for converting DC to AC will be incorporated. 0

The drive shaft of the flywheel may be coaxial with the rotary torque generator or it may be spaced from the rotary torque generator, in which case it may be driven by the rotary torque generator by gearing or a belt and pulley transmission means. 5

One end of the drive shaft is preferably mounted at the top of a frame enclosing the generator system so as to provide stability when the generator is in operation. The second end of the drive shaft is preferably mounted at the bottom of the frame. The connection between the drive shaft and the frame preferably0includes bearings. The flywheel may also be mechanically coupled to the alternator preferably by the drive shaft to allow the conversion of kinetic energy from the flywheel to electrical energy. The power transmission means, if mechanical, may be of any desired form but are preferably either pulley means driven from the drive shaft or a system of gears, preferably bevel gears one part of which is carried on the flywheel. Alternatively the power transmission means of the generator may be solely an alternator, in which case no mechanical transmission means may be required.

The charging means may be integrated to the alternator, and is preferably single phase or a three-phase AC alternator coupled to an inverter, but may be any convenient form of electricity generator which is preferably capable of charging the energy storage means directly to avoid the need for inverters.

The generator of the invention may also incorporate various other sensors in addition to the voltage sensor to help control operation of the generator. These may include, for example a frequency sensor for measuring the rotational speed of the rotor of the alternator or of the rotary torque generator or of the drivenpulley of the drive shaft or of the drive shaft itself and a current sensor to measure the current generated. The current sensor may be a current transformer. The outputs of the various sensors are preferably fed to a controller so that operation of the generator is automated. The controller can be, for example, a discrete digital circuit, a discrete analogue circuit, a hybrid discrete analogue and digital circuit, a digital microprocessor or a digital microcontroller. The controller 5may have an internal power source such as DC battery or may derive power to operate the controller from the energy storage means.

In a preferred embodiment, a thermoelectric coupling means, which may be a thermocouple, could be coupled to the rotary torque generator and/or the lOalternator to recover heat produced by the rotary torque generator and/or the alternator. The voltage difference produced by the thermoelectric effect can be used to power an electromagnet via a pulse induction coil, in which, it enhances the power output when a switch is closed. Preferably after the switch closed, means are provided to change the polarity of the electromagnets by reversing lScurrent flow. Permanent magnets may be arranged around the inner periphery of the flywheel's rim to pair with the electromagnets that may be arranged around the outer periphery of the flywheel's rim. This preferred arrangement of permanent magnets and electromagnets may be used to either break or accelerate the flywheel depending on the polarity of the permanent magnets and 0the electromagnets. The current produced by the thermoelectric coupling means can also be preferably used to charge either one of the energy storage means which is not being used to power the rotary torque generator. The power generator of the invention has multiple uses. It can be used, for example, purely as a generator of electric power or it can be used for powering static or mobile mechanical devices, including motor vehicles. It operates purely by using its own generated electrical power so that it is highly environmentally Sfriendly in that it neither generates atmospheric pollutants nor does its manufacture apart, perhaps, from its use of manufactured components, involve production of pollutants.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 0

The invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which:

Fig.1 is a perspective schematic view of one form of power generator according5to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a diagram of the layout of the power generator of Fig. 1 ;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the power generator of Fig. 1 showing one form of power0transmission means;

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view of the energy generator, including an alternative means for transferring kinetic energy to a receiving system; Fig. 5 is a side view of the flywheel and gyroscopes when the flywheel is at rest, including means for transferring kinetic energy to a receiving system;

Fig. 6 is a side view of the flywheel and gyroscopes when the flywheel is in 5motion, including means for transferring kinetic energy to a receiving system;

Fig. 7 is a top view of the flywheel and gyroscopes, including means for transferring kinetic energy to a receiving system;

lOFig. 8 is a top view of a second form of power generator according to the invention;

Fig. 9 is a side view of the power generator shown in Fig. 8;

15Fig. 10 is a sectional view of the power generator shown in Fig. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

As shown in Figure 1 to 7, one form of power generator comprises an electric 0motor 15, an alternator 16 drivable by the motor 15 via a belt and pulley drive, energy storage means in the form of a pair of battery banks 11 , 12 comprising batteries of the type with a much shorter recharge time than the operating time for providing electrical input to the motor 15, a voltage sensor 13 for monitoring the voltage supplied by the battery banks 1 1 , 12, a frequency sensor 14 for measuring the rotational speed of the rotor of alternator 16, a charging means 17 for charging the battery banks 11 , 12, a current sensor 19 for detecting load condition, a controller 10 for controlling the operation of the generator together 5with attendant operation control switches 21 , 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 and an on-off switch 30 for an operator to switch the generator on and off.

The frequency sensor 14, as mentioned, measures the rotational speed of the rotor of the alternator 16. The current sensor 19 measures the current drawn by lOload 18, excluding the current drawn by the charging means 17. The current sensor 19 is a current transformer.

The outputs of voltage sensor 13, the frequency sensor 14 and the current sensor 19 are connected to the input ports of controller 10. With the signals 15received on the input ports, the controller 10 controls the operation of the generator by sending the necessary commands as to the closing and opening of the various switches 21 to 26.

The controller 10 has one input port electrically connected to the on-off switch 30 0to receive a command from an operator with respect to turning on and off of the generator. The controller 10 has three input ports electrically connected to receive the outputs of the voltage sensor 13, the frequency sensor 14 and the current sensor 19 respectively. The controller 10 is designed a) to monitor and compare the voltage as measured by the voltage sensor 13 against a predefined under voltage condition pre-programmed into the controller 10, b) to monitor and compare the rotational speed as measured by the frequency sensor 14 against a predefined frequency condition pre-programmed into the controller 10 and c) to 5monitor and compare the current as measured by the current sensor 19 against a predefined current condition pre-programmed into the controller 10. The controller 10 has a plurality of output ports to control the opening and closing of the switches 21 to 26.

lOThe battery banks 11 , 12 are connected in parallel to the input terminals of the motor 15 via supply switches 21 , 22 respectively. The supply switches 21 , 22 are designed or pre-programmed to interlock with one another, preferably electrically, so that both battery banks 11 , 12 will not be connected simultaneously to the motor 15.

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The charging means 17 is connected to the output of the alternator 16 via charging switches 23, 24, 26. The opening and closing of the charging switches 23, 24, 26 is controlled by the controller 10. The controller 10 sends a command to open the appropriate charging switch 23, 24, 26 when a full load is needed. 0

Referring to figures 3, 4, 5 and 6 the drive shaft 40 extends axially through motor 15 is coupled to a flywheel 31. The flywheel 31 comprises a plurality of spokes 32 attached to a rim 33. Four inverted "U"-shaped saddles 34 are fixed symmetrically around the rim 33. The axle 37 of a gyroscope 35 passes through each saddle 34 and its radial position relative to the flywheel is maintained by the saddle 34. The gyroscope 35 comprises a gyroscope wheel 36 attached to one end of axle 37 and a gyroscope drive means 47 comprising a drive wheel 38 Sattached to the opposite end of the axle 37 and a stationary plate 39 fixed and through a drive shaft 40. Both the gyroscope wheel 36 and the drive wheel 38 are fixed to axle 37 to rotate therewith.

The gyroscope axle 37 is pivotally mounted on a bearing (not shown) in the slot lOof the saddle 34. The bearing is provided with means for restraining the gyroscope 35 to ascending and descending movements relative to flywheel 31.

The means for positioning the gyroscope 35 is a pair of pins connecting the housing of the bearing to the saddle 34. It is shown in Figure 3 to 5 that, when the flywheel 31 is stationary, the gyroscope wheel 36 rests at an angle no more

15than 10° below the horizontal axis, thus lifting the drive wheel 38 to rest against a stationary plate 39. The balancing of the gyroscope wheel 36 thus is important to ensure the proper functioning of the gyroscope 35. It is then shown in Figure 6 that, when the flywheel is free wheeling, the drive wheel 38 of gyroscope 35 is disengaged from plate 39, and precession forces that is caused by the gyroscope

2035 lift the gyroscope wheel 36 away from its original position.

It is shown in Figure 6 that the mechanical power transmission means 46 is a system of bevel gears. One half of a bevel gear 42 is carried on the rim 33 of the flywheel 31. The other half of the bevel gear 43 is carried on a transmission shaft 44 to power static or mobile mechanical devices.

The operation of the generator is as follows: To start the generator, the operator actuates on-off switch 30 on the controller 10. Before the on-off switch 30 is actuated, at least one of the battery banks 11 or 12 will normally be fully charged. When the on-off switch 30 is actuated, the controller 10 closes the supply switch 21 or 22, depending on which battery bank is to be used.

Assuming that supply switch 21 has been set to close initially. The closing of the supply switch 21 is followed instantly by the closing of motor switch 25 and charging switch 24 by the controller 10. On receiving power supply, the motor 15 is energised converting electrical energy input from the battery bank 11 intokinetic energy of the output, namely the drive shaft 40. The rotation of the drive shaft 40 causes the flywheel 31 to rotate. The rotation of the flywheel 31 causes the drive wheel 38 resting against the stationary plate 39 to rotate, resulting in the rotation of the gyroscope 35. As the gyroscope 35 rotates, the gyroscope wheel 36 lifts away from its original position, thus forcing the drive wheel 38 todescend and disengage from the stationary plate 39. The precession of the gyroscope wheel 36 provides the flywheel 31 with greater momentum during its rotary movement, which enables the flywheel 31 to supply more kinetic energy than it would if the gyroscopes were not present. The kinetic energy stored by the flywheel 31 is converted via the rotation of drive shaft 40 into rotational mechanical energy of the driving rotor of the alternator 16 by a belt and pulley transmission means 45.

5Preferably. the pulley coupled to the rotor of the alternator 16 has a diameter that is at least three times larger than that of the pulley at the motor 15. The drive shaft 40 can therefore rotate at a speed that is greater by the same ratio than that of the rotor of the alternator 16 so as to give the alternator 16 a greater torque. It is also possible that the reverse arrangement, whereby the rotor of the lOalternator 16 rotates at a speed faster than that of the drive shaft 40, can also be applied in the invention, depending on the choice of alternator 16 and motor 15 used. The alternator 16 converts the kinetic energy from the rotor into electrical energy, which is fed to the load 18 or to the charging means 17 or both, as required.

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The generator of the invention can also be used to generate kinetic energy. In this embodiment, the flywheel 31 is mounted with a one half of a bevel gear 42 on the outside of its rim 33. The gear 42 engages with the second half of the bevel gear 43. A transmission shaft 44 is coupled to the gear 43 via bearings 0(not shown).

In operation, when the rotational speed of the flywheel 31 detected by the frequency sensor 14 reaches a first threshold speed, the controller 10 opens the motor switch 25 to de-energise the motor 15. Conversely, when the rotational speed detected by the frequency sensor 14 falls below a second threshold speed, the controller 10 closes the motor switch 25 to energise the motor 15. Hence, the input energy required for the operation of the generator system is Seffectively regulated by the controller 10, motor switch 25 and frequency sensor 14. With the assumption that supply switch 21 is closed, the motor 15 only requires a pulse of energy supply to rotate the flywheel 31 to the first threshold speed from the battery bank 11 while battery bank 12 is charged by charging means 17 if it is depleted or if a full load is not needed. Once the flywheel 31 is lOfree wheeling after reaching its first threshold level, the pulse of energy supply from the battery bank 11 is disconnected but battery bank 12 is continuously charged. The generator of the invention thus utilizes a gyroscope 35 incorported flywheel 31 design that allows for an efficient use of energy from the battery banks 11 , 12 for a substantial period of time without immediate depletion of

15energy supply from the battery banks 11 , 12 and without a need for repetitive charging of the battery banks 11 , 12.

As time goes by, the energy stored in the first battery bank 11 will become depleted and the voltage across its output, as measured by the voltage sensor 2013, will drop. When voltage drops to a predefined voltage level, the controller 10 causes supply switch 22 and charging switch 23 to close and simultaneously, the controller 10 causes the supply switch 21 and charging switch 24 to open so that the necessary power for the operation of the generator will be sourced from the second battery bank 12. When the second battery bank 12 is connected into the system simultaneously as the disconnection of the first battery bank 11 , the power supply to the motor 15 will be continuous. Instantly after closing the supply switch 22, the controller 10 causes charging switch 26 to close, Sconnecting the outputs of the alternator 16 to the inputs of the charging means 17. Part of the power converted from the second battery bank 12 is used to supply current to the load 18 and part for the charging of the first battery bank 11. Since the battery banks 1 1 , 12 have much shorter recharge time than operating time, the first battery bank 11 will be fully charged up before the second battery lObank 12 is depleted. When the first battery bank 1 1 is fully charged up, the controller 10 causes charging switch 26 and charging switch 23 to open. A similar process, involving supply switch 22 instead of supply switch 21 and charging switch 24 instead of charging switch 23, takes place when the second battery bank 12 is depleted. Thus, the energy supply to the motor 15 is switched

15between the first battery bank 11 and the second battery bank 12 as and when required.

The current sensor 19 measures the current drawn by the load 18. As described earlier, the output of the current sensor 19 is connected to an input port of the 0controller 10. When the controller 10 detects a low current of a predetermined value, the controller 10 closes charging switch 26 and either charging switch 23 or 24 that is associated with the battery bank 11 or 12, that is not supplying energy to the motor 15 at the time. This enables the charging of the idling battery bank 11 or 12 while load 18 is drawing a low current. When the controller 10 detects a high current of a predetermined value, the controller 10 opens charging switch 26 and either charging switch 23 or 24 that is associated with the energy storage means 11 or 12 being charged at the time, so as to provide a full current Scapacity to load 18.