BACKGROUND ART Currently, steam power generation, hydraulic power generation and nuclear power generation are mainly used as a method for generating electricity.

Alternatively, wind power generation, solar power generation, tidal power generation and cogeneration have been put into practice and their importance is gradually being greater. However, no method produces electricity as much as the steam power generation. And, natural fuel resources are reaching their limits. Thus, efforts for developing alternative energy sources or energy conservation or recovery methods are urgently required.

In coping with this requirement, apparatuses for generating power from the rotary motion of a moving wheel were known and thereafter, they have been studied and developed into an apparatus of various structures. U. S. Pats. No.

1,916, 873, No. 3, 885, 163, No. 4, 238, 687, No. 6,204, 568, etc. disclose examples of prior art power generation apparatuses.

For instance, the U. S. Pat. No. 4,238, 687 discloses an apparatus for generating power from passages of motor vehicles over a roadway including an actuator plate, an arcuate shaped arm having a pawl element, at least one turbine wheel having ratchet teeth formed along its outer periphery and means to restore the plate to said first position.

Additionally, as shown in Figs. 1A and 1B, the U. S. Pat. No. 6,204, 568 discloses a system for converting mechanical motion of vehicles into electrical energy including a one-way road 12, a plurality of motion converter assemblies 16, a plurality of pumps 36, a plurality of air reservoirs 38 and an air turbine 40.

With reference to Figs. 1A and 1B, the system will be described in more detail. The one-way road 12 has a plurality of laterally spaced gaps 14 formed therein. Each motion converter assembly 16 has a thin rectangular base 18 defined by a top face, a bottom face, and a peripheral side wall. A plurality of supports 20 are formed in the base 18. The base 18 of each motion converter assembly 16 is situated within one of the gaps 14 of the road. Further, each base 18 has a single rod 22 rotatably mounted therein, wherein the rod 22 extends along an entire length of the base 18.

Each motion converter assembly 16 further includes a pair of planar rectangular lever plates 24 each having one end pivotally coupled to the top face of the base 18. A coil spring 26 remains in contact with an underside of the lever plate 24 in order to offer a restoration force to the lever plate 24. A gear strip 30 is pivotally coupled to the other end of the lever plate 24. The gear strip 30 is equipped with a plurality of gear teeth 32. The gear teeth 32 of the gear strip 30 are maintained in engagement with a disk-shaped ratchet gear 34

mounted on the rod 22. In case that a motor vehicle travels on the lever plate 24, power is transferred to the rod 22. In contrast, in case that the gear strip 32 moves upwardly by help of the coil springs 26, no power is transferred to the rod 22.

The pumps 36 are each in communication with the rotating rod 22 of the corresponding base 18 for generating pressurized air.

The plurality of air reservoirs 38 are each connected to the corresponding pumps 36 for receiving and storing the pressurized air. It should be noted that the air reservoirs 38 are interconnected with each other. Finally, an air turbine 40 generates electrical energy upon the receipt of pressurized air from the air reservoirs 38.

However, the prior art power generation apparatus including the system of Figs. 1 A and 1B has the problems to be described later. Prior to a detailed description thereabout, the requirements for a power generation apparatus will now be stated. The power generation apparatus should have a high power generation efficiency and satisfy the requirements as follows : a) the need for repair should be small through a structure with a sufficient strength; b) though a repair has to be done, it should give a minimum disturbance to the passage of a vehicle ; and c) a repair can be finished quickly.

Since a road is a public infrastructure on which a large number of vehicles move every day, a frequent repair would rather eliminate its installation purpose. Considering that it is impossible to use the road, even if only one of a plurality of motion converter assemblies is under repair, the above requirements should be necessarily satisfied.

From this point of view, the prior art power generation apparatus including the system of Figs. 1A and 1B has the following problems. The prior art power generation apparatus is disadvantageous in that it has a weak structure in strength. A moving vehicle has a very heavy as well as it passes on the lever plate 24 at a very high speed. Thus, the lever plate 24 moves instantaneously at a very high downward speed and moves to the horizontal position relative to the road surface. That is, the moving vehicle acts as an impact load on the lever plate 24. Such an impact load is transferred to the gear strip 30 and the ratchet gear 34 via the lever plate 24. The impact load transferred via the lever plate 24 is sustained by only one or two pairs of gear teeth of the gear strip 30 and ratchet gear 34. Therefore, there exists a high risk that the buckling of the gear strip 30 happens and the gear teeth of the gear strip 30 and ratchet gear 34 are broken. Moreover, because the impact load caused by the moving vehicle acts as a variable load, the risk of breakage becomes much higher due to the fatigue of material.

In the system of Figs. 1A and 1B, the lever plate 24 rotates on a hinge joint with a top face of the base 18. The hinge joint with the gear strip 30 moves to the horizontal position relative to the road surface, drawing a circular arc. The hinge joint with the gear strip 30 is not situated on the same vertical line before and after the lever plate 24 rotates, but moves to the left. This leads to the bending of the gear strip 30 and lever plate 24 to accelerate the breakage of the gear strip 30 and lever plate 24 and to cause vibration and noise. Moreover, the impact load is transferred to the hinge joint of the lever plate 24 with the base 18. Increasing the diameter of a slot formed in the base 18 along which the gear

strip 30 moves in order to alleviate such defects leads to an undesirable effect on the engagement between the gear strip 30 and the ratchet gear 34, and, in result, the breakage of the gear teeth and the vibration and bending of the rod 22.

Besides, the prior art power generation apparatus is disadvantageous in that the use of road is impossible during the proceeding of repair. That is, for the repair, the motion converter assemblies 16 shown in Fig. 1B have to be separated from the road and then transported to a working area. Thus, until they are buried in the road after the completion of the repair, it is impossible to use the road due to a dent formed on the road.

Moreover, the prior art power generation apparatus was developed to be used only in a one-way road. Thus, in case that a vehicle crosses the center line on a motorway, the lever plate 24 at an inclined position may bring on the risk of a serious car accident. Also, the life span of the apparatus may decreases due to the breakage of the lever plate 24 and hinge joint between the lever plate 24 and the base 18. Due to these disadvantages, the prior art power generation apparatus has the limitation that it can be mounted only on the road where one-way traveling is ensured.

Further, recently, with rapid increase of the number of vehicles, the traffic jam frequently occurs even in normal times as well as in the holiday season and festival days. Sometimes, backing cars are easily seen in a traffic jam section.

Though the distance of backing car is short, this is one factor of accelerating the breakage of components as described above. Hence, the prior art power generation apparatus has a shorter endurance than the life span expected at

the beginning, thereby its product reliability being spoiled.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION The present invention has been devised to overcome the above-described problems, and its object is to provide a power generation apparatus which can minimize the breakage of the apparatus by laying out a strength-based mechanical design for the structure and power transmission mechanism of the apparatus.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a power generation apparatus which is excellent in strength and minimizes the cause of vibration and noise generation by preventing structural imperfections that accelerate the breakage of each component through a kinematical design of a motion instrument.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a power generation apparatus which minimizes the need of repair and, even if the need of repair is occurred, minimizes obstruction in the passage of vehicles and enables simple and rapid repair.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a power generation apparatus which is mountable in both one-way road and two-way road.

To achieve these and other objects of the invention, there is provided an apparatus for generating power from the rotary motion of a moving wheel, comprising: a frame buried in a road; a first driving shaft rotatably supported and mounted on the frame in the crossing direction of the road; a first lever

plate having one end coupled to the first driving shaft via one or more one-way clutch for supplying a one-way rotary force alone to the first driving shaft and the other end equipped with a guide groove; a second lever plate having one end rotatably coupled to the frame opposite to the side on which the first driving shaft is mounted and the other end coupled to the first lever plate so as to move along the guide groove of the first lever plate ; one or more restoring means coupled to the first lever plate and/or second lever plate for supplying a restoration force to the first lever plate and second lever plate ; and an energy converter coupled to the first driving shaft for converting rotary motion energy of the first driving shaft into electrical energy.

Preferably, as the one-way clutch, a one-way ratchet clutch or a one-way roller clutch is used.

Preferably, the power generation apparatus further comprises a second driving shaft rotatably supported and mounted on the frame, in parallel with the first driving shaft, opposite to the side on which the first driving shaft is mounted, one end of the second lever plate being coupled to the second driving shaft via one or more one-way clutch for supplying a one-way rotary force alone to the second driving shaft, the energy converter being connected to the second driving shaft for generating power from the rotary motion of the second driving shaft.

Preferably, the frame is provided with a vertical through hole, the vertical, through hole having a stopping protrusion on an inner periphery at a predetermined height and an extended opening at a lower end. The restoring means includes a connection link, a mobile rod, a spring and a stopping block.

The connection link has one end fixedly coupled to the other end of the first lever plate or second lever plate and the other end hingeably coupled to one end of the mobile rod, the other end of the mobile rod is provided with an extended protrusion so as to be caught on the bottom face of the stopping protrusion. The spring has one end coupled to the other end of the mobile rod and the other end coupled to the stopping block. The stopping block is insertingly mounted in the extended opening.

Preferably, the power generation apparatus further comprises: a housing in which the frame removably mounted with both side faces across the road and top face opened in the crossing direction of the road; and a covering, removably in the crossing direction of the road, coupled to the housing for covering the top face of the housing.

By this structure, the present invention minimizes obstruction in the passage of vehicles and allows a repair job to be done rapidly and simply even if repair is carried out. In other words, the repair is carried out after inserting the covering through the roadside for continuing the passage of vehicles, and then, removing the frame and components mounted therein from the housing through the roadside. After the repair, the frame and the components mounted therein are inserted in the housing again through the roadside and, then, the covering is removed, thereby the repair job being finished.

Preferably, a fly wheel is coupled to the first driving shaft. The fly wheel executes the function of making the driving shaft rotate continuously and uniformly in spite of discontinuous passage of vehicles by using an inertia force.

Preferably, the energy converter comprises: a pump in communication

with the first driving shaft for generating pressurized air ; an air reservoir for receiving and storing the pressurized air from the pump; and an air turbine for generating electrical energy upon the receipt of the pressurized air from the air reservoir.

Preferably, the frame includes an upper frame and a lower frame, the upper frame and lower frame being removably fixed to each other. Therefore, even though there occurs a need for replacing the frame by the breakage caused by repetitive collision with the lever plate, the repair job can be finished rapidly by merely replacing the upper frame alone, unlike a prior art power generation apparatus in which the entire frame has to be replaced and the components to be mounted in the frame have to be remounted in a new frame.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 A is a perspective view schematically showing the overall construction of a prior art power generation apparatus; Fig. 1 B is a lateral sectional view schematically showing the construction of a motion converter assembly of the power generation apparatus of Fig. 1A ; Fig. 2A is a plan view schematically showing the overall construction of a power generation apparatus in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2B is a partial expanded view of B of Fig. 2A; Fig. 3 is a lateral sectional view taken along line A-A of Fig. 2A schematically showing the positional relation of components when a first lever plate is at an initial inclined position;

Fig. 4 is a lateral sectional view schematically showing the state of the first lever plate of Fig. 3 moved from the inclined position to a horizontal position relative to a road with a covering covered on the top of a housing; Figs. 5A and 5B are reference views for explaining a concept of operation of a one-way clutch of Figs. 3 and 4, which are partially sectional views illustrating a one-way ratchet clutch and a one-way roller clutch respectively that are most representative ones; and Fig. 6 is a lateral sectional view showing a construction in which a second driving shaft can be coupled to a second lever plate of Fig. 3 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 2A is a plan view schematically showing the overall construction of a power generation apparatus in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention and Fig. 2B is a partial expanded view of B of Fig. 2A.

As illustrated therein, a housing 110 and its internal components are buried in a road. A rotary motion transmitted through a driving shaft is received by an energy converter 190 and then is converted into electrical energy to thus generate power.

Although the energy converter 190 can be simply constructed by directly connecting the driving shaft and a generator, it is preferably that it includes a pump in communication with a driving shaft for generating pressurized air, an

air reservoir for receiving and storing the pressurized air from the pump and an air turbine for generating electrical energy upon the receipt of the pressurized air from the air reservoir.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line A-A schematically showing the power generation apparatus of Fig. 2A.

As illustrated therein, the power generation apparatus in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a housing 110, a frame 120, a first driving shaft 140, a first lever plate 130, a second lever plate 150, a restoring means 170 and an energy converter 190.

More specifically, the housing 110 is buried in a road with the both side faces across the road and top face opened and components of the present invention are mounted in the housing 110. The frame 120 can be removed from the housing 110 through the roadside and, upon repair, a covering 180 is covered on the top of the housing 110.

The frame 120 mounted within the housing 110 is split into an upper frame 124 and a lower frame 122. This split type frame structure offers the easiness of mounting the driving shaft and the like and the possibility of replacing the upper frame 124 alone, thereby improving the easiness and rapidness of installing and repairing the power generation apparatus. The frame 120 is provided with a vertical through hole 126 at the center so that the restoring means 170 can be mounted. The vertical through hole 126 is equipped with a stopping protrusion 128 on an inner periphery at a predetermined height and an extended opening 129 at a lower end.

The upper frame 124 is made from elastic material for thereby

attenuating the impact force caused by collision with the lever plate and preventing breakage.

The first driving shaft 140 is mounted in the crossing direction of the road on the splitting plane between the upper frame 124 and lower frame 122. Even if the power generation apparatus is mounted across a plurality of traffic lanes, the first driving shaft 140 is mounted as a single axis in the crossing direction of the road, or at least, a plurality of first driving shafts arranged in the crossing direction of the road are interconnected by coupling. In other words, as illustrated in Fig. 2A, even if the power generation apparatus is mounted across two lanes in one way, the first driving shafts is formed as a single axis, or at least, a plurality of driving shafts arranged in the crossing direction of the road are interconnected by coupling. The first driving shaft 140 is rotatably supported on the frame 120 by a bearing. Since the first driving shaft 140 is mounted on the splitting plane between the upper frame 124 and lower frame 122, when the first driving shaft 140 is mounted across a plurality of traffic lanes, it is possible to acquire a working environment for easily carrying out shaft coupling.

The first lever plate 130 performs a rotary motion from an inclined position to a horizontal position relative to the road, while a vehicle passes on the top face of the first lever plate 130, and, then, performs a restoring motion to the initial inclined position by help of the restoring means 170. One end of the first lever plate 130 is coupled to the first driving shaft 140 via a one-way clutch 136.

In case that the first lever plate 130 rotates from the initial inclined position to the horizontal position relative to the road, the one-way clutch 136

allows a torque to be transmitted to the first driving shaft 140. In contrast, in case that the first lever plate 130 is restored to the initial inclined position from the horizontal position relative to the road, the one-way clutch 136 does not allow a reverse torque to be transmitted to the first driving shaft 140. As the one-way clutch 136, a one-way ratchet clutch, one-way roller clutch and the like are used.

On the other end of the first lever plate 130, a plurality of connecting projections 131 are provided, each of the connecting projections 131 being equipped with a guide groove 132.

The one-way clutch is coupled to the first lever plate in the similar form to a gear engagement. Thus, the impact load transmitted through the first lever plate is sustained and shared by plural pairs of teeth, thereby a breakage due to. load concentration being able to be minimized. This is in definite contrast to the power generation apparatus as shown in Figs. 1A and 1B in which only one or two pairs of teeth of the gear strip and ratchet gear sustaining the impact load.

One end of the second lever plate 150 is rotatably coupled to the frame 150 opposite to the side on which the first driving shaft 140 is mounted. Fig. 3 illustrates the embodiment where one end of the second lever plate 150 is simply rotatably supported on the frame, but the invention is not limited thereto and, as shown in Fig. 6, one end of the second lever plate 150 can be coupled to a second driving shaft via the one-way clutch.

The second lever plate 150 is provided on the other end with a plurality of connecting recesses 151 corresponding to the connecting projections 131 of the first lever plate 130, with a roller 152 being mounted across the space

formed at the connecting recesses 151. The roller 152 performs a rolling motion along the guide groove 132 formed at the connecting projections 131 of the first lever plate 130.

The restoring means 170 is coupled to the other end of the first lever plate 130 and executes the function of supplying a restoration force to the first lever plate 130 so that the first lever plate 130 can be restored to the initial inclined position from the horizontal position relative to the road. Even though Fig. 3 illustrates the embodiment where the restoring means 170 is coupled to the other end of the first lever plate, the present invention is not limited thereto and the restoring means 170 may be coupled to the second lever plate 150.

The restoring means 170 has a number of variations in shape and structure. In its simples form, a single spring is contacted or fixedly coupled to the bottom face of the first lever plate 130 or second lever plate 150. In addition, the spring is not limited to a coil spring. A variety of springs such as a plate spring or the like can be used.

Fig. 3 illustrates a restoring means 170 including a connection link 172, a mobile rod 173, a spring 175 and a stopping block 176 in accordance with a preferred embodiment. One end of the connection link 172 is fixedly coupled to the other end of the first lever plate 130 and the other end of the connection link 172 is hingeably coupled to one end of the mobile rod 173. The other end of the mobile rod 173 is provided with an extended protrusion 174 so that it can be caught on the bottom face of the stopping protrusion 128. One end of the spring 175 is coupled to the other end of the mobile rod 173 and the other end of the spring 175 is coupled to the stopping block 176. The stopping block 176 is

insertingly mounted in the extended opening 129 for fixing the position of the restoring means 170.

Fig. 4 is a view schematically showing a state where the covering 180 is covered on the housing 110 in order to install or repair the power generation apparatus of Fig. 2A. As illustrated therein, by the covering 180 for covering the top of the housing 110, the passage of vehicles is not disturbed at all. A plurality of the housings 110 and coverings 180 as many as traffic lanes can be mounted across the road, or a single housing and a single covering can be mounted across a plurality of traffic lanes.

A process of mounting the power generation apparatus will be described concretely. Firstly, the housing 110 is buried in the road so that the upper end thereof can be consistent with a road surface and then the covering 180 is covered thereon. Thereafter, a plurality of the frames 120 and the components assembled therein as many as traffic lanes are pushed into the space formed between the housing 110 and the covering 180 in the crossing direction of the <BR> <BR> road, i. e. , from the roadside and then the covering 180 is removed from the housing 110. At this moment, the lever plate is inclined raised by the restoration force of the spring 175 to such a proper height that will not obstruct the passage of vehicles.

Next, a process of repairing the power generation apparatus will be described concretely. Firstly, the covering 180 is covered on the top of the housing 110 by being pushed from the roadside. Coupling recesses 112 and 114 are formed along the top faces of walls of the housing 110, and coupling projections 182 and 184 are formed on the bottom face of the covering 180.

Next, the frame 120 and the components assembled therein are removed from the housing 110 through the roadside, too. Afterwards, a component in need of repair is repaired and is thereafter pushed into the housing 110 again through the roadside. Then, the covering 180 is removed from the housing 110 through the roadside, thereby the repair job being finished.

Figs. 5A and 5B are reference views for explaining a concept of operation of the one-way clutch 136 of Figs. 3 and 4, which are views illustrating a one-way ratchet clutch 136'and a one-way roller clutch 136"respectively that are most representative ones. Fig. 5A illustrates the one-way ratchet clutch 136', wherein, in case that a driving wheel 136a rotates clockwise, it is caught on a pawl 136b to be rotated integrally with a driven wheel, i. e. , the first driving shaft 140. However, in case that the driving wheel 136a rotates counter clockwise, the power of the driving wheel 136a is not transmitted to the first driving shaft 140 and the driving wheel 136a idles. Unexplained reference numerals 136c, 136d and 136e represent a pawl spring, a pawn pin and the teeth of an internal ratchet gear, respectively. A representative example using this type of one-way ratchet clutch 136'includes a free wheel of a bicycle.

Additionally, the one-way roller clutch 136"of Fig. 5A is equipped with inclined grooves. When the driving wheel 136f rotates clockwise, a roller 136g is inserted into a narrow portion of the groove and then is firmly fitted thereto just like a wedge, thereby the driven wheel, i. e. , the first driving shaft 140 rotating clockwise integrally with the driving wheel 136f. However, in case that the driving wheel 136f rotates counter clockwise, the roller 136g is inserted into a

wide portion of the groove and the power of the driving wheel 136f is not transmitted to the first driving shaft 140 and the driving wheel 136f idles. A representative example using this type of one-way roller clutch includes a free wheel of an automobile.

Fig. 6 is a lateral sectional view showing a construction in which a second driving shaft 160 can be coupled to the second lever plate of Fig. 3 via the one-way clutch 136 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. In this case, the second driving shaft 160 is connected to the energy converter 190 for serving as a power generating component.